Chapter 313: The True Objective
Joseph nodded, continuing, "And what about Saxony?"
"The envoy departed for Dresden when I left Vienna," Talleyrand stated. "He must have already made contact with General Maurice by now."
General Maurice was the commander of the Saxon army.
Joseph gestured for him to take a seat. "Are the people you employed reliable?"
"Please rest assured, they were selected by the Intelligence Bureau. I discreetly brought them into Saxony through diplomatic channels. They are genuine Bavarians, incapable of even speaking French."
"You've done well." Joseph smiled. "Oh, by the way, you maximized the efficiency of the funds when you bribed the Austrian Interior Minister's assistant and the Baden negotiator this time. That's excellent. Therefore, half of the income from 'selling' intelligence in the Southern Netherlands and Saxony will be set aside as a bonus for you and your subordinates."
Joseph spoke lightly, but Talleyrand's heart clenched at his words.
During his bribery mission in Germany, the difficulty was so high that he hadn't managed to pocket a single coin himself. The Crown Prince's remark about "maximizing the efficiency of the funds" clearly referred to this.
'This means His Royal Highness probably knows exactly whether or not I've enriched myself.'
He swallowed hard, cold sweat beading on his forehead. As he struggled internally with how to confess to the Crown Prince, Joseph continued, "Bribery is often involved in diplomacy. You simply need to report it when you return. If you can acquire money from foreign governments, you've expended effort, and you can keep a portion of it as a bonus. Of course, you must never interfere with your work purely for the sake of making money."
Talleyrand froze. 'Does His Royal Highness mean that from now on, I should accept bribes from abroad, and as long as I report the money received, I can get a proportionate bonus?'
He cast a quick glance at Joseph, seeing the latter's utterly serious expression, and his heart swelled with delight. 'From now on, I won't have to worry about securing funds anymore.'
Then he remembered the profits from this "intelligence sale," and a smile he couldn't hide spread across his face.
Following the Crown Prince's instructions, he first sent someone to the Southern Netherlands to sell the news that "the main Austrian forces in Luxembourg have withdrawn to Vienna" to the Duke of Brunswick of Prussia for 16,000 Florins. Afterwards, his people sold the information that "Austria is massing a large army to invade Silesia" to Saxony, earning 20,000 Florins.
This amounted to 90,000 Livre in total. The Crown Prince had, with a wave of his hand, granted him half of it as a bonus. How could he not be ecstatic?
'Indeed, pledging allegiance to His Royal Highness was the most correct decision I've ever made in my life!'
Talleyrand struggled to pull his thoughts from the sea of Livre, expressed his loyalty to Joseph, and then resumed the main topic. "Your Royal Highness, when I left Vienna, Leopold II summoned me. He expressed his hope that France could exert influence on Russia to ensure they do not interfere in the war in Silesia."
Joseph nodded slightly, thinking, 'Leopold II's political experience is indeed profound; he considered the Russian issue almost immediately.'
Catherine II had always sought to involve Prussia and Austria in the partition of Poland, so she certainly wouldn't want these two nations to fight each other.
'But how could I possibly persuade her to stand by idly?'
Joseph pondered for a long time before looking at Talleyrand. "It seems you'll have to make another trip to Petersburg. Once you meet with the Tsar, tell her this..."
After giving detailed instructions, Joseph added, "I will also arrange for support from my side, and you must adapt to any news you hear."
"Yes, Your Royal Highness, I will not disappoint you!"
Once Talleyrand departed, the Duke of Broglie, Minister of War, and Berthier arrived at the Crown Prince's study.
The two presented the finalized deployment plan to Joseph, while the Chief of General Staff explained, "Your Royal Highness, according to your instructions, a corps of 35,000 soldiers will be dispatched towards Austria.
"Its core will consist of the Lorraine Legion, the Champagne Legion, and the Rhine Legion, supplemented by soldiers from the north who speak German."
The Duke of Broglie appeared somewhat nervous. Although the Crown Prince had previously said he could decide which troops would go to Austria in exchange for his support for the deployment, the units he had chosen were mostly those connected to him. He feared the Crown Prince might object.
However, Joseph merely nodded and smiled. "Excellent, these units are very suitable."
'He had originally intended to send the old army to Austria anyway. If they won a few battles, he could use it as leverage to demand concessions from Vienna. If they lost, the death of a batch of hereditary military nobles would be beneficial, not harmful. After all, the truly capable individuals in these old armies had long since applied for transfers to the Guards Corps; those who remained were either die-hard conservatives or utterly incompetent.'
The Duke of Broglie instantly relaxed upon hearing this, gesturing for Berthier to continue.
Berthier quickly spoke, "Your Royal Highness, according to the latest reports from Vienna, the Austrian army will complete its deployment and officially launch its offensive in approximately three weeks."
Moving a grand army of nearly 100,000 soldiers was an incredibly complex undertaking, far from the simple "click and go" of a video game.
In reality, before attacking an area, strategic planning had to be conducted first. Enemy communication routes, logistical supply lines, and advance and retreat paths all needed to be meticulously calculated. Then, troops had to be rationally deployed to positions that could most quickly threaten these points, all while maintaining strict concealment.
As the army moved, logistical supplies had to follow, and domestic personnel and material requisitions also needed to keep pace.
Only when all these preparations were complete could the main forces begin their offensive.
For Austria to complete this entire series of preparations in a month and a half was already considered a relatively swift pace.
Joseph then asked the question he cared about most: "What's the situation with the Guards Corps?"
"Your Royal Highness, the military depots north of Verdun have been completed, and supplies can be fully replenished within a week," the Chief of General Staff reported. "To facilitate logistics, a wooden railway track has even been constructed from Lorraine to Verdun, though it will still take over three months to complete.
"Currently, the 1st and 2nd Guards Corps, along with the Moulins Legion, totaling nearly 20,000 soldiers, have finished assembling and are ready for combat at any time."
A smile flickered in Joseph's eyes.
'The Silesian War? He didn't care about it at all.'
'The Southern Netherlands was his true focus!'
France's most powerful Guards Corps were all deployed there, just waiting for the Silesian front to erupt into a brutal conflict, at which point the Prussian army in the Southern Netherlands would deliver a massive surprise to Wurmser's forces stationed in Luxembourg.
By then, Joseph II would be unable to spare any troops and would have no choice but to appeal to France, the closest nation to the Southern Netherlands, for intervention.
For this purpose, Joseph had specifically "alerted" the Duke of Brunswick, drawing his attention to the depleted state of the Austrian forces in Luxembourg.
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