Chapter 458: The Music Teacher's Devotion
The Silesian campaign, with its massive armies of hundreds of thousands clashing, had made Joseph acutely aware of the urgent need to expand the Guards Corps.
After all, no matter how formidable your fighting power, it was incredibly difficult to win when facing enemies four or five times your number.
So, he decided to use this unexpected windfall to attract a new wave of recruits, while simultaneously boosting the morale of the Guards Corps.
Joseph glanced at the remaining three carriages, pondered for a moment, and then instructed:
"Deposit the rest in the French Reserve Bank for now. When I return, I'll use it to acquire military academies."
This was something he had long intended to do.
Currently, France had a total of twelve top-tier military academies. However, apart from the Paris Military School, none of them were particularly large.
For instance, Emperor Napoleon's alma mater, the Brienne Military School, had just over a hundred students. Most other military academies were similar in size.
These academies had previously been used to train aristocratic officers, so their student populations were naturally limited, and this scale was entirely sufficient for their original purpose.
Moreover, most military academies were affiliated with local legions and were typically situated on military training grounds. Therefore, there was no risk of the school administrations being unwilling to be acquired — military training grounds were managed by the General Staff Headquarters.
Joseph planned to "buy out" at least ten top military academies for two million francs and then completely reform them.
At the very least, commoners had to be allowed to enter the military academies.
Of course, in the initial stages, some privileges might still be retained for nobles, such as admission without examination, considering they paid substantial tuition fees.
Commoner students with outstanding academic performance or exceptional talent, however, would be granted tuition waivers.
Following that, he would need to expand the academies and merge them, which would require further investment.
However, once these military academies were reformed according to the Paris Police Academy model, Joseph would receive a continuous stream of high-quality recruits, and it would also fundamentally solve the problem of aristocratic control over the military.
The distant cannon fire gradually grew sparse, and Joseph knew this meant the main forces of both sides had begun their decisive battle. He glanced at the gold coins again, motioned for Clauzel to bring his horse, and then rode directly to Marshal Lacy's field command post.
On the high ground east of Balde Village, Marshal Lacy approached with a smile, saluting Joseph with his hat before handing him a telescope and pointing to the battle line below:
"Just as you predicted, the Prussian defenses are incredibly thin. Our heavy artillery has breached the enemy's first infantry line, and now the lads are assaulting the second."
He took a cup of coffee from an attendant and offered it to Joseph:
"Your Highness, have a little something to warm up. If all goes well, we should take that crossroads before the forest today."
Through the telescope, Joseph saw a large number of Austrian soldiers converging on the Prussian forces from three directions—the battle was already a foregone conclusion.
The crossroads Lacy mentioned was the last suitable place for a large formation to deploy. Once it was captured, the elite Austrian skirmishers would swiftly clear out any small pockets of defenders.
Marshal Lacy continued, his voice exultant: "Your Highness, afterwards we will march directly to Liegnitz. We'll be able to hold our victory banquet there by the end of the month."
Joseph mused, "Marshal, I suggest we disregard Liegnitz for now."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
"We are south of Liegnitz, and the city is to the north," Joseph explained. "Instead of a long march there, it would be better to attack Breslau directly."
Breslau was the capital of Silesia, located east of Liegnitz. The distance from Fordum Town to Liegnitz and Breslau was roughly the same.
Marshal Lacy immediately smiled and shook his head:
"Your Highness, that's too risky. Breslau possesses a strong fortress. If we fail to breach it quickly, Ferdinand might construct robust defenses near Liegnitz. In that scenario, we could end up with neither Liegnitz nor Breslau."
Joseph looked at him and said:
"If you were the Duke of Brunswick, would you gamble that the Breslau fortress wouldn't be swiftly overwhelmed by sixty or seventy thousand enemy troops?"
Marshal Lacy fell into deep thought. Breslau's garrison shouldn't exceed four thousand men; even with Ferdinand's emergency reinforcements, it would be at most ten thousand.
The battlefield was ever-changing, and no one could guarantee that the fortress wouldn't fall unexpectedly when facing an attack from Austrian Coalition Forces outnumbering them sixfold.
Once Breslau was lost, it would mean over 80% of Silesia was gone—downstream along the Oder River from Breslau, it would be easy to capture the provinces of Oberon and Ratibor.
Ferdinand certainly wouldn't dare to gamble!
...
Vienna.
A salon was being held in a luxurious villa southwest of Vienna.
Baron Walter was clearly in high spirits, having drunk a considerable amount of wine, and was now feeling rather light-headed.
"Ha, that's all just government propaganda," he boomed carelessly to the noble youths beside him. "I know the inside story. Yes, the inside story. Let me tell you, the situation in Silesia isn't nearly as good as the newspapers claim."
"Er—" He let out a burp. "Don't tell anyone, but the Coalition Forces have actually been stalemated with the Prussians at Liegnitz."
The noble youths exchanged glances, startled.
"Is that truly what you're saying?"
"Of course! I heard it from the Minister of War himself," Walter burst out laughing. "Do you know, even that French Crown Prince was surrounded by Prussians near Oberon? Haha!"
He took another long gulp of wine and continued:
"That fool only took a little over ten thousand men, left his camp without orders, and got surrounded by thirty thousand Prussian troops. Marshal Lacy even sent an urgent letter to His Imperial Majesty about it. In my opinion, that Frenchman must already be captured, or even dead, haha, what a relief!"
He seemed rather drunk, and, pulling a young noble he usually caroused with, he crowed triumphantly:
"Frank, that bitch's patron is finally gone, hahahaha! When she returns to Vienna with the army, let's see how she'll escape my grasp... Er—, her pretty little face, tsk tsk, I've never forgotten it..."
As he guffawed freely, the musician playing the piano in the corner turned pale, his hands trembling slightly, causing him to hit several wrong notes in a row.
The musician was none other than Basel. And he knew full well that the "bitch" Walter spoke of was Camelia, who haunted his dreams.
He clenched his teeth, having believed his student had finally found her lifelong refuge, destined to become a high-society noble in Paris. Yet, unexpectedly, it seemed God had grown jealous, allowing the French Crown Prince to die a tragic death on the battlefield... or to be taken to Potsdam as a captive; it was all the same.
In short, she had lost her protection.
Basel's cold gaze darted towards Baron Walter, knowing that scoundrel would never let her go.
He curled up miserably in his chair, feeling as if his heart were shattering.
Suddenly, a burst of Walter's wild laughter made him jolt.
He abruptly straightened up, his hands trembling even more violently, but his heart had grown strangely resolute: 'No, Vienna's flower must not fall into the devil's hands! If the French Crown Prince is gone, then I will be the one to resolve all dangers for her!'
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