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Chapter 650: The Games

Prince Poniatowski immediately looked up at Father Sais:

"You mean?"

"The Prussians." The latter raised a hand and pointed to Gdańsk, northwest of Poland on the map. "I guarantee that as soon as Russia declares war on you, William II will immediately attack here."

"While I appreciate your caution, all current signs indicate that Prussia has not betrayed the 'Polish-Prussian Alliance'," the Prince politely countered. "In fact, His Majesty William II sent a personal letter just a few months ago, expressing his enthusiastic support for our new Constitution."

Although Joseph had warned the Poles to be wary of Prussia long ago, William II's deception was simply too effective, making it difficult for the Poles to harbor any suspicion.

For instance, Polish intelligence had recently detected Russian military movements, so when France warned of a potential Russian invasion, they immediately began active preparations for war without hesitation.

However, there was no troop or logistical movement on the Prussian side, making it seem entirely unlike they were preparing for war.

Of course, at that moment, perhaps only Joseph in the entire world knew that William II had no intention of launching a large-scale war. Instead, he planned to wait for Russia to draw all of Poland's forces before striking from behind.

Historically, Prussia indeed didn't mobilize on a large scale. They simply deployed a few tens of thousands of eastern garrison troops, essentially conducting an armed tour, and reached about 50 kilometers west of Warsaw.

Prince Poniatowski continued:

"To be frank, the Federal Military Commission's plan to counter an eastern invasion still requires Prussian forces to enter the Livno area to engage the Russians."

Father Sais suddenly recalled one of the key points in the Polish defense plan the Crown Prince had entrusted him with, and quickly asked:

"So, Prussian officers are still serving in the Polish army?"

"That is indeed the case. While I have tried my best to reassign foreign commanders from the army, there are some officers who have made significant contributions to Poland, and it's difficult for me to have them leave."

Father Sais sighed inwardly. After advising for a while longer and seeing that the Prince was merely being perfunctory, he dropped the matter and moved on to the next topic:

"Then, do you believe the standing army can be expanded to 100,000 within six months?"

"That... would indeed be difficult to achieve," the Prince admitted with some helplessness. "Austria no longer requires our army's assistance in suppressing rebellions, which has made military funding and training extremely challenging.

"The Federal Military Commission plans to recruit an additional 20,000 soldiers before the end of this year."

Father Sais could do little more than nod; after all, this was already Poland's limit.

He continued, "What about the construction of the eastern defense line?"

"The line from Minsk through Pinsk to Volhynia has been quite thoroughly prepared. The Military Commission intends to build some star forts along the river east of Volhynia."

"Pinsk? Volhynia?" Father Sais exclaimed, surprised. "Are you saying you're prepared to abandon the West Bank of the Dnieper River and the entire Podolia region?"

"If a full-scale war breaks out with Russia, this is the only viable defense strategy," the Prince replied, clearly despondent.

Pinsk was almost in the heartland of Poland, meaning Poland was preparing to lose its entire southeastern territory the moment war began.

However, the region from Turov to Vinnytsia in eastern Poland was extremely barren. If they tried to hold their ground there, they might not even be able to requisition local logistical supplies.

Only the eastern part of Poland, specifically the area from Minsk to Okhtyrka, could be defended. Other areas were either utterly impoverished or had already been thoroughly infiltrated by Russia, making them entirely unsuitable for combat.

An hour later, Father Sais left the Tin-Roofed Palace, his brow deeply furrowed.

Upon returning to his quarters, he immediately penned a letter to His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, reporting on Poland's dismal state of war preparedness, and expressed profound self-reproach for his 'dereliction of duty' at the end of the letter.

In truth, he didn't know that, compared to Poland's historical situation, things were already far better now.

At that time, Poland wasn't even preparing for war; its internal debates were still focused on whether Russia would invade, parliament members were busy refining the Constitution, and the Targowica Confederation was already actively bribing the army, preparing to welcome the Tsar's "royal army" into Poland.

More than two weeks later. Paris.

In his second-floor office at the Tuileries Palace, Joseph read Father Sais's letter and rubbed his temples, a pained expression on his face.

When a nation insists on hurtling headfirst into the abyss, you simply cannot pull them back, no matter how hard you try.

Given the current circumstances, Poland would at most hold out for another year or two longer than it did historically, ultimately still facing the fate of partition.

The crucial question now was how to make Poland entirely compliant with his plans.

Joseph pondered for a long time, then raised a hand to signal Eman. "Please immediately inform General Berthier to recall the military advisory group sent to Poland."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Before long, Berthier hurried to Joseph's office and saluted. "Your Highness, are we adjusting our strategic stance towards Poland?"

"Of course not."

"Then recalling the advisory group..."

Joseph sighed. "Have Prince Poniatowski come to Paris; I need to meet with him.

"It just so happens that the 'Future and Peace Games' will be held here next month. If he comes then, it won't attract undue attention. Polish officers can also accompany him as his retinue."

"As you command, Your Highness."

...

May 15, 1792.

Several unassuming black carriages drove through the streets of Paris.

Inside the middle carriage, Prince Poniatowski's eyes widened as he gazed at the scenes outside the window, his heart filled with nothing but shock and envy.

Only three years had passed since his last visit to Paris, yet the city was now entirely different from how he remembered it.

Grand Gas Streetlights lined both sides of the avenues. Merchants set up their stalls beneath uniform awnings. All the shops had been freshly painted, and colorful flags, bearing slogans like "Welcome to Paris" or "First Future and Peace Games," fluttered outside them.

Down the center of the streets ran straight wooden tracks. From time to time, massive horse-drawn omnibuses would thunder past along these rails.

Every so often, street cleaners could be seen tidying the thoroughfares. The entire road surface was paved with expensive asphalt mixed with crushed stone, making it clean and level, with no mud in sight. Public restrooms and trash cans were ubiquitous, meaning there was barely any litter on the ground.

Of course, he didn't realize that Paris's asphalt roads weren't actually expensive to construct.

In the little over a year since Paris's Gas Streetlights were put into use, a rudimentary Coal Tar processing industry had already been established.

During the distillation of coal to produce gas, large quantities of Coal Tar were generated. After initial refining, at least one-third of this coal tar would be transformed into asphalt.

This asphalt fell into the category of industrial waste. Compared to specially transporting asphalt from the Middle East or even the Caribbean Sea for paving, the cost of Paris's asphalt roads was almost negligible.