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Chapter 357: Going in Circles

Joseph was acutely aware of how difficult life was for the common people in that era. If their grain and livestock were taken without payment, an entire family would likely starve to death.

Moreover, requisitioning supplies locally was far more cost-effective than transporting them from within France through long, narrow supply lines. After all, with no transport costs or losses, there was no need to haggle over the peasants' meager earnings.

Furthermore, paying for supplies would leave a good impression on the people of the Southern Netherlands, making future local requisitions easier. Perhaps some locals might even actively bring goods to the Guards Corps camp to sell, hoping to profit from the mark-up.

At 3 PM, the Guards Corps began moving southwest, circumventing the southern side of Antwerp and skirting the border of Brussels to push directly into Ghent Province.

Joseph continued to ride on the left flank of the marching column, occasionally waving to the soldiers to boost their morale, who in turn responded with excited cheers.

Berthier spurred his horse to catch up, bowing slightly. "Your Highness, Major Masson sent word that he chose not to attack because the Hanoverian forces were too tightly arrayed."

Joseph nodded. "He did well. The essence of an infiltration tactic isn't to seize every opportunity for an advantage, but to prioritize preserving one's own forces and to fragment the enemy formation as completely as possible."

Masson's battalion, augmented by two companies of soldiers—a total of less than a thousand men—operated as a mobile force near the main Hanoverian army.

Joseph's orders to him were to carry out an infiltration operation when the enemy was bogged down and became disorganized, further disrupting their formation.

Currently, the Guards Corps still had too few officers capable of independent command. Lefebvre was left with Leo to assist, leaving only Berthier. As for Davout, Napoleon, and others, they were still relatively inexperienced, and their ranks were insufficient to lead a corps on their own.

As for Masson, he had proven quite sharp during the previous exercise with Vonck, making him the sole commander of the mobile unit.

If Emperor Napoleon and others were ready for significant command, or if Joseph could recruit formidable generals like Masséna, Moreau, or Lannes, he could certainly have shredded the Hanoverian army with infiltration tactics.

'Talent truly is the most valuable resource...' Joseph sighed inwardly. Yet he knew that cultivating a military was never an overnight endeavor; in fact, the Guards Corps' growth rate was already astonishing.

He believed that if they could achieve a glorious victory in the Southern Netherlands this time, the Guards Corps would attract even more talent, ushering in its next major blowout of growth.

In the middle-to-rear of the marching column, Napoleon once again pulled his regimental commander aside to ask, "So, our true objective is Ghent?"

Before Colonel Dumont could reply, he quickly realized, "No, Ghent doesn't have any objective that would move the enemy...'"

Colonel Dumont smiled faintly. "Precisely. There are only just over eight thousand Netherlandish Rebels there."

"That's the main rebel force," Napoleon suddenly declared, his eyes lighting up. "Our objective isn't Ghent, but Brussels!"

Colonel Dumont stared at the young major in astonishment. When he had been in the General Staff meeting, he hadn't considered any connection between Ghent and Brussels; it was only when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had pointed it out that he had experienced a sudden realization.

Yet this Buonaparte had figured it out in mere seconds!

He pressed, a hint of reluctance in his tone, "Oh? And what leads you to this conclusion?"

Napoleon replied with rapid-fire words, "It's simple. If the main rebel force in Ghent is annihilated, then Brussels becomes an apple ripe for the picking. The rebel council might even surrender to us directly."

"Then why don't we attack Brussels directly?" Colonel Dumont continued to press.

"That would put our army in a perilous situation. If the Hanoverian army rapidly returned to reinforce, and the main rebel force from Ghent simultaneously advanced on Brussels, our forces could very well be caught in a pincer movement."

Ignoring his regimental commander's astonished gaze, he continued, "Even if the enemy lacked proper coordination, our attack on Brussels would likely cause the rebel council to flee to Ghent. In that case, even if we occupied the city, we wouldn't gain any strategic advantage; it would merely be an isolated city deep behind enemy lines."

Colonel Dumont almost blurted out, 'Absolutely right.'

He composed himself and cleared his throat. "You are truly a promising young man. Perhaps in just a few years, this regiment will be in your hands."

Napoleon simply replied, "Thank you for the compliment," but in his heart, he was filled with admiration for the young Crown Prince who had devised this series of tactics. He was barely sixteen, had only studied military theory at the Paris Police Academy, yet possessed such an unimaginable command ability!

'If Corsica had such an outstanding leader, the path to nation-building would surely be smooth sailing,' he mused inwardly.

East of Brussels.

Karl II gazed westward, his brows furrowed tightly.

General Bronckhorst, the Dutch commander, looked at the intelligence report in his hand, perplexed. "The French just circled around Antwerp and left? West? Where are they heading?"

"Ghent." Karl II uttered a single word, then reluctantly summoned a messenger. "Order the entire army to immediately turn west.

"Orders: accelerate the march! Unnecessary baggage to the rear! Speed, I want speed!"

"Yes, Marshal!"

Bronckhorst hesitated. "Your Excellency, Marshal, if the French are going to Ghent, we don't need to concern ourselves with them."

"And then?" Karl II's voice was low. "Wit's army is no match for the French."

He still clearly remembered when Wit's five thousand-strong army was surrounded by little more than a regiment—fewer than two thousand French soldiers—and almost annihilated.

"If the main Southern Netherlands army is gone, those in Brussels will surrender immediately!"

Bronckhorst paused, instantly grasped the connection, and hastily ordered the Dutch forces to turn around as well.

On the other side, the Southern Netherlands rebel army in Ghent also received the news and began nervously preparing their defensive positions.

However, just as the Hanoverian army had marched northwest for three days, and was on the verge of reaching Ghent, Karl II suddenly received another report from his Hussars: the French army had changed direction again, heading southeast.

Karl II hastily spread out his map, marked the French movements, and then realized with alarm that in pursuing the French, he had veered too far north. Now, the Hanoverian army and the French were roughly equidistant from Liège.

A cold sweat broke out on him. It turned out the French had been going in circles, but their true objective was the Prussian army in Liège!

He frantically ordered an immediate reinforcement march to Liège.

What he failed to notice, however, was that due to several days of forced marches, the Hanoverian army, with its superior troop quality, had already outdistanced the Dutch by seven or eight kilometers.