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Chapter 470: The Vexed Leopold II

The chill wind of early spring bent the wild grass outside Guile Village low, revealing the vast crowd gathered below the slope.

The Austrian officer leading them pointed towards the distant French camp and loudly rallied their spirits, "Let the Frenchmen know what we're capable of!"

The seven or eight hundred Austrian soldiers behind him immediately thundered their agreement, "Teach those bastards a lesson!"

"Make them pay!"

However, as they aggressively reached the top of the slope, they collectively halted.

On the open ground outside the French camp stood twice their number of Frenchmen, arranged in a semicircle and watching them with cold sneers.

"You..." The Austrian officer swallowed hard and pointed at the French battalion commander he was supposed to fight. "To bring so many men—that's utterly despicable!"

The battalion commander stepped forward a few paces and chuckled, "If you're scared, then go back home."

His words immediately drew guffaws from the French soldiers.

"My ability to gather so many men is my own skill." The French battalion commander glanced behind him. "You can go back and call for more men too, but I doubt those timid Austrians would even dare to show up."

"Hmph, so what if you have more men? Austria has plenty of brave warriors!"

The French battalion commander pulled out his pocket watch and flipped open its cover. "Alright, I'll give you two hours. Let's see how many men you can rustle up."

Several Austrian officers returned to their respective quarters and described the arrogant behavior of the French. The Austrian soldiers, who had initially been reluctant to fight due to fear of punishment, were instantly enraged. They rushed heedlessly towards the open ground outside the French camp.

Two hours later.

Nearly two thousand Austrian soldiers triumphantly watched the visibly nervous Frenchmen, and at an officer's command, they swarmed forward.

Seeing this, the French battalion commander, a smile flashing across his lips, turned to shout at his soldiers, "There are too many of them, retreat!"

The Frenchmen immediately scrambled back towards their camp in a disorderly fashion, but many were still caught by the Austrian soldiers and inevitably took a few blows.

News of the victory in the brawl quickly spread back to the Austrian camp, and soon more soldiers, emboldened by it, rushed out to watch the spectacle or join in.

Almost an hour later, over 3,000 Austrians were crowded outside the French camp, watching their bruised and swollen opponents cowering inside, afraid to come out. They taunted them relentlessly, venting all their accumulated frustrations.

Just then, the thundering sound of many hoofbeats came from afar. Before the Austrian soldiers could react, Marshal Lacy appeared, sweeping in with his personal guard and a large contingent of cavalry.

Early that morning, Lacy had received a "report" stating that some soldiers, punished for a previous brawl, were planning to retaliate against the French.

He had just been reprimanded by Leopold II for this very issue a few days prior, so he immediately rushed back from the Breslau front with his men. That's when he witnessed the scene before him.

Soon, both parties involved in the brawl were gathered together, heads hanging low. Then, Berthier also arrived and quickly had his subordinates tally the number of injured French soldiers—a total of over 420 casualties.

Marshal Lacy looked at the Frenchmen involved in the fight with suspicion, feeling that they didn't seem to be seriously injured.

Berthier said with a dark expression, "The injured have already been sent to the field hospital. Marshal, your men came into our camp to cause trouble and wounded so many, you must punish them severely!"

Lacy's face also darkened. He glared fiercely at the troublemaking soldiers and nodded, "Rest assured, I will not be lenient!"

......

Leopold II, busy with the Prince-Elector voting matters, frowned as he read the report on the brawl between French and Austrian soldiers and felt a surge of irritation.

The number of personnel involved from both sides actually reached over ten thousand. According to the precedent set by the French army last time, if anyone from a company participated in a fight, all officers in that company would be punished. Thus, a huge number of people were implicated.

The report stated that all punished French soldiers had been recalled home for reorganization. Adding those recalled previously for fighting, Kellermann's corps remaining in Silesia was now only at half strength.

He also recalled the report submitted by the Minister of Finance a few days earlier, which stated that the French army's supply consumption in Silesia was almost double that of an equally sized Austrian army.

Even the Hungarian troops who had just arrived in Liegnitz had their logistical supplies squeezed because of this.

'These pampered Frenchmen are still so unruly...'

Leopold II rubbed his forehead. Not long ago, he had heard that French soldiers even insisted on boiling their water before drinking it.

Just then, his attendant handed him a letter that had just arrived from Paris.

Leopold II opened it to read. It was from the Crown Prince of France, and its main content was a strong protest against the Austrian military for assaulting French soldiers.

Indeed, the incident had occurred within the French camp, and French soldiers were unilaterally beaten. This, therefore, served as proof that Austrian soldiers had come to instigate trouble and commit assault!

The Artillery Battalion commander who provoked the Austrians was precisely the one Berthier had arranged under Joseph's instructions.

Before this mass brawl began, he had already instructed his soldiers in advance to run as soon as the fighting started, and not to fight back.

Because they ran quickly, fewer than 50 French soldiers were actually hit, and all sustained only minor injuries. However, it was Berthier's subordinates who tallied the injured, and the incident occurred within the French camp. In such a chaotic situation, it was naturally his word that counted.

The Crown Prince of France expressed his dissatisfaction with the discipline of the Austrian soldiers in the letter and suggested that the French and Austrian armies should be temporarily separated to reorganize their discipline.

That afternoon, Walter's assembled anti-French ministers also began to stir up public opinion. Of course, they claimed that the French army's discipline was corrupt and severely impacting the Coalition Forces' combat effectiveness.

Ultimately, Leopold II, exasperated by the string of troublesome incidents, replied to Joseph, agreeing to let the French army temporarily withdraw from Silesia for reorganization.

This would also free up supplies for the newly transferred Hungarian troops.

On April 19, 1790, the last French troops withdrew from Silesia and began their journey home.

......

Paris.

Inside the carriage, Joseph looked at Berthier's itinerary for the French army's withdrawal from Silesia and couldn't help but reveal a pleased smile.

He had initially thought he'd have to stir up more trouble several times before Leopold II would agree to 'get rid of the nuisance,' but he hadn't expected the French army to be dismissed so quickly.

He figured it must be because the Hungarian nobles, due to the cancellation of reforms, had offered the Emperor significant support, giving him the confidence.

Now, Silesia had become a 'private feud' between Prussia and Austria. France could easily reap the benefits, then sell supplies to both sides.

If this international situation could be maintained for a few years, France catching up to Britain's national power was not a fantasy.

Joseph then recalled Perna's contributions to this incident and was pondering whether to award her a Medal or something similar, unaware that Camelia, seated across from him, was blushing deeply as she prepared something.