Chapter 1261: Medical Expenses
Queen Louisa shot to her feet, declaring loudly,
"God, we absolutely cannot give up territory so easily!"
Baron vom Stein hastily replied,
"Your Majesty, these areas are currently either under French control or can be occupied by them at any moment. Furthermore, the French have promised to compensate us with Celle in the future."
Prince Heinrich chimed in,
"Judging from the French Prince's attitude just now, we might even be able to secure more."
Queen Louisa paused, stunned. 'Celle is in the eastern provinces of Hanover, isn't it?'
She said anxiously, "This will lead the British to declare war on us!"
"The French will send troops to help us," Baron vom Stein stated. "They have mobilized 380,000 soldiers. If these armies don't confront the British and Austrians, they will appear facing us instead..."
Indeed, Prussia now had no army left to refuse the French. Fortunately, the French could offer more benefits than the British.
Prince Heinrich murmured, joining the conversation,
"Actually, if Britain declares war on us, it wouldn't be entirely bad. We could 'postpone' repaying the loans we owe London."
The Prussian Queen remained silent for a long moment, then finally nodded:
"Then, you shall be fully responsible for signing the agreement with the French."
Prussia had borrowed millions of pounds sterling from the British. If they could use this opportunity to default on those loans, it would almost offset the war reparations they owed France.
The negotiation process was swift. Just two days later, on February 17th, France and Prussia officially signed the Treaty of Berlin, declaring a military alliance.
According to the treaty, both nations would jointly establish a Joint Staff Department to coordinate their military movements.
At the same time, Prussia announced it would relinquish Schleswig-Holstein, the Danish territory it had recently occupied, as well as Polish lands such as Gdańsk and Poznan. It also ceded all its North German enclaves to France.
In return, France pledged to help Prussia acquire Celle, Lüneburg, and Lauenburg in Hanover, along with Stargard, Sweden's continental territory.
Calculated by area, Prussia was still at a disadvantage. However, they were quite willing to trade barren Eastern European lands for prosperous Western European towns.
Joseph, however, valued Prussia's North German enclaves more.
After losing these areas, Prussia's control over North Germany would significantly diminish. In the future, it would be forced to remain a mid-tier power in northern continental Europe.
...
Karlsruhe.
Outside the Baden Royal Palace, Joseph put an arm around his younger brother's shoulder, a radiant smile on his face:
"Time flies so quickly. The little scamp who used to run wild in Versailles has now become a capable diplomat. You did an excellent job in Berlin this time, and now we can transition to a full-scale counteroffensive."
Just moments before, Charles had handed him the text of the recently signed treaty. Essentially, all the objectives set before their departure had been achieved.
Receiving his older brother's praise, Charles's face flushed with excitement. He puffed out his chest and declared:
"Those Prussians were quite difficult to deal with; I had to observe their expressions change three times a second. Fortunately, Archbishop Talleyrand taught me some tricks..."
"You'll see, I'll help you with even more things in the future!"
"Oh, right, I've been studying battlefield command recently. So, do you think I could join you on the front lines for this counteroffensive..."
Joseph smiled and nodded. "You'll need to dedicate at least three hours every day to your university studies."
"Okay, I promise! So you agree?" Charles bounced with joy, then immediately felt that such behavior wasn't dignified enough. He quickly returned to his brother's side and swiftly straightened his clothes.
"Oh, by the way, there's one more thing." Charles suddenly recalled bidding farewell to King William III before leaving Berlin. "The Prussian King's condition is probably not very good."
"Elaborate."
"You know, he was shot in the leg, and I could smell the stench of rotting flesh from three meters away," Charles recounted. "He's been running a fever, and the doctors say he probably won't last past next week."
Joseph's brow furrowed.
William III had only a four-year-old son and no brothers. If he died, Prussia would most likely rapidly decline.
Russia and Austria would inevitably seize the opportunity to carve up Prussia.
He had just taken Prussia under his wing as a 'junior ally' and needed it to balance power in the German region. He couldn't just watch it collapse.
Therefore, he had to find a way to save William III.
He certainly couldn't rely on Prussian doctors; French physicians would have to go.
Furthermore, judging by Charles's description, William III must have developed a wound infection.
In the late eighteenth century, this would most likely mean waiting for God's call. But now, Joseph possessed a miracle cure: penicillin.
The thought made Joseph's heart ache slightly.
Although Lamarck had cultivated improved penicillin strains in recent years, the annual production of penicillin was still under 100 doses, enough to treat only 10 to 20 cases of infection.
During this war, he had Perna bring over 200 doses to store in the field hospitals, but now William III would benefit from them.
He absolutely had to make that fellow pay a hefty medical fee.
...
South of Bayreuth, Coalition Forces Headquarters.
Archduke Charles frowned as he finished reading the freshly delivered battle report. Suppressing his irritation, he gestured to the officer at the door:
"Major Stolben, please assemble all senior officers for a meeting."
He had spent nearly half a month finally cornering Moreau's army, which had been darting around like wild hares, near Amberg, east of Nuremberg. Yet, after mobilizing nearly 100,000 troops and besieging them for four or five days, he couldn't even breach the French army's outer defenses.
He now had to commit more troops to the Nuremberg front, but this would further delay the plan to attack Baden.
As the staff officer departed, Archduke Charles turned to Verocher. "Where is Milius' Corps?"
"The report received yesterday afternoon stated they had just passed Leipzig."
Archduke Charles shook his head. "Order them to speed up. If Berlin is occupied, it will severely demoralize the Coalition Forces."
A week ago, he had received news that Augereau's Corps had breached the Weimar Line. He was then astonished to discover that the Prussian heartland was so undefended it couldn't stop this French force of under 10,000 men.
Thus, he hastily dispatched Milius with 25,000 soldiers to reinforce Potsdam.
"Yes, Marshal."
Just as Verocher was about to relay the orders, a messenger, looking frantic, knocked and burst through the door, reporting to Archduke Charles:
"Marshal, news just arrived: Berlin announced its surrender yesterday at noon and signed a military alliance with France."
"What?!" Archduke Charles's eyes widened in shock. Suddenly, foam frothed at the corners of his mouth, and he collapsed, convulsing violently on the ground.
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