Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 957 - 865: Reminiscing about the Roman Era

As the Finance Minister, Brian was surprisingly excited rather than worried about the huge expenditure: "The military expenses are indeed very high, Your Highness, but they are absolutely necessary.

"I have talked with the Duke of Broglie, and we both believe that if the war goes smoothly, in at most two years, or even a year and a half, we could completely conquer the Germanic Region!

"Our army will eventually reach the Vistula River..."

Joseph immediately held his forehead; the Vistula River is already at the border of Poland. Is the Chief Minister planning to swallow up Western and Central Europe in one go?!

He looked at Mirabeau and Venio with a questioning gaze.

The two immediately nodded, expressing agreement.

Joseph couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

He had always stayed with the army before, thinking that such war frenzy existed only within the military. Now it seems that even the French Cabinet has been carried away by the previous series of victories.

Indeed, France is truly a country that values martial prowess.

It appears that historically, Napoleon’s march all the way to Moscow was propelled by national enthusiasm.

But Joseph knew very clearly that such a militaristic approach is very dangerous.

He looked seriously at Brian and said, "Why do we want to occupy the entire Germany?"

"Why?" Brian was taken aback for a moment, then replied matter-of-factly, "Our army is unbeatable, Your Highness. Right now, is the perfect opportunity for France’s glory to shine across Europe!"

Joseph shook his head slightly: "Do you think our national strength is enough to support us in doing so?"

"Of course..."

Joseph interrupted him: "No, Archbishop Brienne, it is far from enough.

"I believe if we pour all our national resources into it, our brave army might defeat all major opponents on the European continent and occupy Berlin and Vienna.

The eyes of Brian and others flashed with wild joy, but then they heard the Crown Prince’s change in tone:

"But that is not what we need at the moment.

"Please always remember that competition between nations is influenced by multiple factors such as politics, economics, and culture, with war being only one decisive factor.

"What we want is real territory, provinces that identify themselves as French and loyal to the King of France, not a heap of continuously rebellious ’problem regions’.

"Occupying Germany will only cause our finances to continually drain in the effort to maintain order in the occupied regions. Don’t forget, before this, we had almost exhausted our national power due to large-scale war.

"The end result is only one, and that is rebellion dragging down our finances, eventually forcing us to withdraw from those places."

Joseph had another point he didn’t express, which is that such occupation would accelerate German national awakening, ultimately leading to the unification of Germany.

History has proven that Germany will become a century-long nightmare for France, repeatedly obstructing extremely important development opportunities.

Brian and Mirabeau exchanged glances, somewhat puzzled and unwilling, and asked: "Your Highness, but at the moment General Massena’s troops are rushing to Switzerland and attacking Bavaria from there.

"General Bertier’s heavy forces are converging in Koblenz, ready to cross the Rhine River and occupy North Rhine at any time. Meanwhile, Napoleon’s army is also fiercely attacking Mantua...

"And these armies are advancing continuously according to your orders. Isn’t this a full-scale attack against Germany?"

Joseph couldn’t help but laugh, waving his hand: "You may have misunderstood my strategic intentions."

He signaled Eman to bring the map to the table, moving his finger down the Rhine River: "Natural borders, gentlemen, this is our most pragmatic goal at the moment."

The so-called "natural border theory" suggests that France’s most perfect territory should feature natural barriers extending in any direction.

To the south are the Pyrenees, to the east are the Alps, and to the west is a long coastline.

To the north is the narrow Rhine River.

The northern side of France is predominantly plains, which historically has made it difficult for France to effectively defend against enemies from the north.

Only by obtaining the West Bank of the Rhine can one guard along the Rhine River, thus solving the northern border issue.

From over a hundred years ago, French politicians have believed that the Rhine River is the boundary given to France by nature.

Mirabeau continued: "Your Highness, we have already obtained the West Bank of the Rhine."

"Merely occupied," Joseph corrected him, "haven’t truly obtained it yet."

He looked at the prominent ministers before him: "In the coming years, our nation’s most central task is to integrate the Rhineland into France.

"And the actions of attacking Bavaria and stationing troops in Koblenz are all for the security of Rhineland.

"Oh, at the cabinet meeting the day after tomorrow, I will discuss this matter with everyone in detail.

"As for Northern Italy, our main goal is to increase our control over there and completely push Austria out.

"Of course, before that, Mantua will serve as a trap, continuously depleting Austria’s forces."

Brian was still a bit struggling: "Your Highness, are we going to stop at the West Bank of the Rhine forever?"

Joseph looked at the broad European continent on the map and smiled: "When the Rhineland can serve as our advance base, when Italy becomes our backyard, when we possess all of North Africa, and when our national strength overshadows all of Europe, perhaps we can give it a try."

A thought suddenly popped into his mind: if that day really comes, the territory controlled by France, apart from the Ottoman Empire, would be very close to the Roman era...

Northern Italy.

Mantua Fortress. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

Boileau watched countless French troops retreating like a tide, almost shedding tears of joy.

He had been surrounded by Napoleon in this damned place for more than a month, able to eat only the salted meat stored in the fortress and sour wine, enduring the constant cannon fire from the French army, several times almost abandoning the fortress to surrender.

Fortunately, the Vilmze Corps finally broke through the layers of French obstruction and arrived here.

And that darn Napoleon was very sensible, not daring to confront the great army—Vilmze Corps had over 30,000 troops, and then His Majesty the Emperor transferred 10,000 troops from the direction of Switzerland, plus the Argentoratum Legion withdrawn to the fortress, and the routed troops he gathered successively, bringing the total strength to over 70,000.

Napoleon only brought 50,000 troops and more than 10,000 weak Sardinian troops and had to split more than half of the troops to go north to Verona to intercept reinforcements sent by the Empire.

However, General Vilmze very cleverly divided the troops into three routes, quickly bypassing Verona, rendering the northern French army useless.

And the 25,000 French troops near Mantua quickly retreated under the threat of the Vilmze Corps.