Chapter 741: Expanded General Staff Meeting
As for Corsica, though it was relatively barren, it held immense strategic significance for Sardinia.
Sardinia's territory comprised two main parts: the Savoy and Piedmont regions on the Apennine Peninsula, and the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea. Corsica lay directly between them.
This made Turin's governance and trade with the island of Sardinia rather awkward.
If Sardinia could acquire Corsica, it would form a contiguous territory in northwestern Italy, making the nation more cohesive in both political administration and military defense.
This condition was undeniably very tempting for Amedeo III.
The next day.
An Austrian diplomat's carriage rolled out of the Turin Royal Palace.
Inside the carriage, the Austrian envoy to Sardinia straightened the diplomatic documents in his hand and turned to Count Rheinfels. "Count, perhaps we could be more assertive. I believe Sardinia would be willing to send an army to assist us, rather than merely granting military passage and logistical support."
After repeated deliberations with his ministers, Amedeo III had ultimately agreed only to allow Austrian troops passage through Sardinian territory and to provide logistical support for 30,000 Austrian soldiers. Upon the war's conclusion, Sardinia would acquire Genoa and Corsica.
Seeing the envoy's puzzled expression, he took advantage of his good mood to explain, "Firstly, we will not send troops to protect Sardinia's supply convoys. They will have no choice but to deploy their own army for protection.
"Secondly, General Beaulieu can 'accidentally' leave the route between the French army and Chambéry open, and the Sardinian army will immediately rush to the front line to prevent the French from seizing the opportunity to attack Turin.
"And once Sardinian troops engage the French in battle, then General Beaulieu will call the shots."
...
Southern suburbs of Paris.
A black military carriage sped smoothly along the wooden tracks.
Inside the compartment, Napoleon looked at the young second lieutenant across from him, tapping the small wooden table with his index finger. "Lucien, you must come with me to the front. You need to understand, this war is an excellent opportunity. We will use it to escape that small place, Corsica."
The young officer was indeed his brother, Lucien Buonaparte. While Lucien's military academy grades were quite ordinary, he had at least managed to graduate from the Brienne Military Academy.
Coincidentally, Napoleon had just begun serving as the acting commander of the Corsican Legion, so he transferred his younger brother to serve under him as an orderly.
Lucien, however, frowned and countered, "I believe this war will be extremely dangerous. It's said that Britain, Prussia, Austria, and other nations have dispatched over 300,000 troops, while France possesses only half that strength.
"Perhaps the opportunity you speak of won't arrive before we're torn apart by cannon fire."
A flicker of disdain crossed Napoleon's eyes, and he spoke with a slightly admonishing tone, "If you had seen how our Crown Prince fights, you wouldn't utter such childish words.
"The armies of the 'Evil Alliance' are significantly inferior in quality to the Crown Prince's troops, and they will struggle to maintain unified command.
"Just wait and see; they are bound to lose this war."
"Furthermore," he added, pointing to the ground without waiting for his brother to speak further, "these wooden tracks are also our guarantee of victory."
"What does that have to do with the wooden tracks?"
"The speed of troop and logistical movement is the most powerful weapon in war, even more important than cannons," Napoleon instructed his less-than-stellar student of a brother. "Where there are wooden tracks, our armies and supplies can complete their mobilization several days ahead of the enemy, allowing us to easily arrange tactics and formations.
"I imagine you know how many wooden tracks have been built across the country in recent years, don't you?"
Lucien pursed his lips.
He had wanted to say, 'Wooden tracks have been laid all the way from Artois to Strasbourg,' but he ultimately chose silence, fearing his brother would use the topic as an excuse to question him about logistical supplies.
He had long since forgotten most of his military academy lessons.
Napoleon didn't press him further, instead shifting to his grand ambitions. "This time, I'd ideally like to fight in the Southern Netherlands. You know, I've fought battles in Namur and Brussels, among other places, and I'm very familiar with the terrain there. The General Staff Headquarters will likely transfer me there..."
Two hours later, Napoleon's carriage stopped in front of the General Staff Headquarters building, southeast of Versailles.
Napoleon instructed his brother to wait outside, then turned and quickly entered the General Staff Headquarters.
Outside the operations conference room on the second floor of the building, several guards checked Napoleon's credentials, then stood to attention and opened the large door for him.
This important expanded General Staff meeting had clearly been underway for some time. General Berthier was speaking in front of a map, and seeing Napoleon enter, he merely gestured for him to take a seat at the furthest position on the west side.
As Napoleon's garrison was very far from Paris — second only to the North African provinces in distance — no one chastised him for being late.
In fact, he had traveled day and night, arriving quite swiftly.
Napoleon surveyed the conference room. Besides the Crown Prince and high-ranking military officials, the Chief Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Director of the Intelligence Bureau, and even the Minister of Industry were all in attendance.
Lefebvre, who was nearby, saw his old acquaintance arrive and thoughtfully slid the previous meeting minutes towards him.
"Thank you very much!"
Napoleon thanked him quietly, then quickly scanned through the documents in front of him.
The previous session had primarily discussed material allocation. At this moment, the Chief of General Staff was likely outlining the enemy's strategic deployment.
"Aside from the Geldern-Verdun line being highly probable as the main battlefield, the Southern Netherlands region to the north must also be heavily defended."
Berthier said, looking towards Fouché, who was seated in the second row.
The latter rose and nodded. "Recently, a large number of suspicious individuals from the Flanders Region have entered Wallonia. The Intelligence Bureau has secretly arrested some of them and confirmed they belong to Austrian intelligence, though their specific mission has not yet been determined.
"However, I estimate they are preparing to sow chaos in Wallonia."
The Flanders Region was the Dutch-speaking area in the northern Southern Netherlands. Due to the rapid development of Wallonia's coal and iron industries, a large amount of labor was required, making it common for residents of the nearby Flanders Region to move south for work.
This also meant that if the Austrian government wished to stir up trouble in Wallonia, it would be quite easy.
An elderly General officer turned to the Crown Prince. "Your Royal Highness, perhaps we should dispatch troops to Wallonia in advance to stabilize the situation there."
Joseph pondered briefly, then shook his head slightly.
"General Dumouriez, do you know how many French people reside in Wallonia?"
"Approximately 200,000, Your Royal Highness."
"Yes, and that means there are still over a million Southern Netherlands residents there."
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