Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Chapter 442: Chapter 356: On-Site Resupply and Banknotes (Last Day of May, Seeking Monthly Votes)

As the messenger set off to seek help from the Hanoverian Army, the president of the States-General of the Netherlands, Vandernoot, still felt uneasy. He quickly wrote another letter, handing it to a member who had good relations with England, instructing him to personally seek out Charles II.

Afterward, he proposed an emergency motion, demanding that General Witte lead the main force of the Southern Netherlands National Guard to immediately defend Brussels, and to temporarily conscript 6,000 soldiers.

The States-General of the Netherlands was in utter chaos. Among the conservative faction, members were surrounding Weng Ke with questions.

"Chairman Weng Ke, you said not to interfere in the decisive battle between the French people and the Prussian Army, but now the French Army has suddenly appeared behind us?”

"Perhaps, you should go and contact the French again to confirm your secret agreement?”

"It was your proposal, and our troops are all left in Ghent!”

Weng Ke’s face was ashen as he gripped his cane. After a long while, his trembling lips quietly uttered, “I will go and confirm.

"However, the French must have reasons… They might be targeting the Dutch—Antonov is right next to the Dutch Breda!”

At this moment, he absolutely couldn’t admit he had been used by France, otherwise the Liberals in the Congress might beat him to death on the spot.

"Yes, it must be so!” He seemed to find an answer, his voice suddenly growing louder, “This time, Holland betrayed France, turning to support England. It wouldn’t be surprising if the French wanted to teach them a lesson.”

As he spoke, he stood up, his eyes shining, “If that’s the case, we should actually cooperate with the actions of the French Army, taking the opportunity to eliminate the Austrian influence in our territory, and also forcing the Dutch to abandon any plans to unify the Southern Netherlands

The conservative members of the Southern Netherlands were mainly the Capitalist Nobility, with a small number of enlightened nobility. They had joined the uprising merely because Joseph II wanted to raise commercial taxes and weaken their privileges.

As long as they could escape the Austrian government’s reform policies, they didn’t care about whether they introduced French influence or aligned with the British.

As for the “freedom,” “human rights,” and “independence” advocated by the Liberals, they had no interest in that whatsoever, even some aversion.

Weng Ke’s words immediately won some approval from conservative members, especially those from the south. It was rumored that France had recently enacted a series of laws favorable to industrial and commercial development, and had even opened up the markets in Southern Germany. They even started thinking, “Even being incorporated into France might not be out of the question.”

…

In the Northern Province of Namur, Southern Netherlands.

Charles II, having dispatched the member from the Southern Netherlands seeking help, turned to the orderly officer with a grim face, “Order the army to immediately turn around and return to Antonov!”

Next to him, General Bronckhorst, the commander of the Dutch Army, furrowed his brows, “The French want to quickly destroy the South Netherlands Army and restore Austrian rule here, depriving us of any reason to intervene.”

"You’re right, General.” Charles II turned his horse around, his voice cold, “But they’ve made a fatal mistake!

"Antonov and Brussels are in the hands of the States-General of the Netherlands. The French Army has ventured too deep, and their supply lines can easily be cut by us.

"Moreover, if they fail to quickly conquer Antonov, once our forces come to the rescue, we will be able to strike hard at their rear!”

He forcefully spurred his horse’s flanks, “I will make the French pay for their rashness!”

The Hanoverian and Dutch Allied Forces quickly halted their advance on the order of their officers, who hurried back and forth, and began to turn.

However, it was not a simple task for an army of 24,000 soldiers, arranged in a marching column two kilometers long, to change direction.

It took the officers more than two hours to ensure every soldier understood the command of Charles II, followed by a chaotic process of coordination.

Some of the quicker units completed their turn and began moving north, while the slower ones were still getting into formation and collided head-on with the former. Both sides were immediately stuck in place.

The artillerymen were especially loud in their complaints. The tight sequence of carts and horses meant they had to first detach the several hundred kilogram cannons from the horses and then use manpower to rotate them 180 degrees, while simultaneously driving the horses to the other side to reharness them to the carts. The transport of ammunition wagons followed a similar method, only the turning was even more difficult. Sometimes a clear space had to be specially made so that the horses could pull the ammunition wagons around in a big circle to complete the turn.

From noon, when the States-General of the Netherlands came to ask for help, the army had been busy until 5:30 in the afternoon, when they finally resumed marching north. But after just over an hour’s march, they had to start setting up camp for the night…

…

On the outskirts of Antwerp.

Joseph could already vaguely see the outline of the city. He was preparing to convene his staff to discuss the next steps—if the Hanoverian Army was slow to react, he wouldn’t mind attempting an attack on Antwerp to provoke Charles II.

It was at this moment that two dust-covered Cavalry Scouts rushed over on their horses and reported in exhausted voices, “Report! The Hanoverian and Dutch Allied Forces have returned north. They entered the Brussels area yesterday afternoon.”

On hearing this, Joseph and Bertier exchanged glances, both revealing smiles.

The enemy’s movements were exactly as they had anticipated. With this, the strategic initiative fell into the hands of the Guard Corps.

Honestly, Joseph was actually afraid that Charles II would be a hothead who would rush to join up with the Prussian Army without consideration. In that case, he would have had to march quickly back to Liege to rescue Leao.

Although that could have potentially resulted in an effective pincer movement, there were too many uncertainties. For instance, if Leao couldn’t hold on for even two days, Luxembourg would be in serious danger.

Luckily, the commander of the Hanoverian Army was an experienced and steady general who did not overlook political factors and decided to go back to rescue the South Netherlands Insurgent Army.

Bertier didn’t need instructions from Joseph to immediately tell the orderly officer, “Have the squads collecting supplies return at once.”

The Chief of Staff glanced at his pocket watch, “Everyone else rest in place. We set off for Ghent at three o’clock sharp in the afternoon.”

"Yes, General!”

Soon, the detachments gathering supplies converged hastily with horse-drawn wagons and the main force of the Guard.

Different from Napoleon’s past approach, Joseph strictly ordered the supply units to pay the farmers, and even a little more than the market price.

Of course, the main method of payment was banknotes issued by the Bank of France Reserve. After nearly half a year of promotion, these banknotes had achieved considerable acceptance within France. Most people only exchanged their large-denomination banknotes for silver coins or deposited them in banks every two weeks. As for “small change” of less than five livres, it was almost entirely a market for paper currency.

In the Southern Netherlands, close to France, the presence of French banknotes also emerged, although they were not yet widely accepted.

Joseph took the opportunity to use “local resupply” to expand the influence of the banknotes.

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