Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

The massive armies of up to 100,000 men each clashing in the Silesian campaign had made Joseph acutely aware of the need to expand the size of the Guard Corps.

After all, no matter how strong your combat capabilities were, it was going to be tough to win when facing an enemy four or five times your size. Experience more on

So, he seized this windfall opportunity to attract a new group of soldiers and, at the same time, to boost the morale of the Guard Corps.

Joseph looked at the remaining three carriages and, after pondering for a moment, gave his order, "The rest should be deposited in the Bank of France Reserve for now. I’ll use it to acquire military academies when I get back."

It was something he had been wanting to do for a while.

Currently, there were a total of 12 top military academies in France, but apart from the Paris Military Academy, their sizes were modest.

Take for instance, Napoleon’s alma mater, Brienne Military Academy; it had just over a hundred students, and the other academies were essentially the same.

But these academies had previously been intended for training noble officers, so their intake was naturally limited, making their size perfectly sufficient.

The small size was actually an advantage for Joseph, as it meant the acquisition cost wouldn’t be too high.

Furthermore, most of the academies were affiliated with local army corps, usually stationed on military grounds, so there was no issue with the academies’ unwillingness to be acquired—the military grounds were managed by the General Staff.

Joseph planned to use 2 million francs to "buy out" at least 10 of the top academies and then carry out a complete reformation.

At the very least, he wanted to make the academies accessible to commoners.

Of course, some privileges might need to be reserved for the nobility in the early stages, such as exemption from entrance exams, since they did pay substantial tuition fees.

On the other hand, commoner students with outstanding achievements or exceptional talent could enjoy free tuition.

Then came the expansion of the academies’ sizes and their consolidation, which meant additional investment would be necessary.

However, once these academies were reformed in the mold of the Paris Police Academy, Joseph would have a steady influx of high-quality soldiers and could fundamentally solve the problem of noble control over the military.

The distant sound of cannon fire gradually thinned out, and Joseph knew this meant that both sides’ main forces had begun the decisive battle. Glancing once more at the Gold Coins, he signaled Kesode to bring his horse, and he headed straight for Marshal Lacy’s battlefield command post.

Atop the high ground to the east of Debar Village, Marshal Lacy greeted Joseph with a beaming smile, raising his hat in salute before handing him a pair of binoculars and pointing to the front lines below, "Just as you predicted, the Prussian defense is extremely weak.

"Our heavy artillery broke through the enemy’s first infantry line, and now our boys are attacking the second."

He took a cup of coffee from an Attendant and handed it to Joseph, "Your Highness, have something warm. If all goes well, today we could capture the fork in the road before the forest."

Through the binoculars, Joseph saw a large number of Austrian soldiers converging on the Prussian Army from three directions; the battle’s outcome seemed to lack suspense already.

The fork in the road Marshal Lacy referred to was the last suitable place for a corps to deploy; after taking that position, the elite Austrian skirmishers would quickly sweep through the small defending forces.

Marshal Lacy continued with an emphatic tone, "Your Highness, after that we’ll head straight for the City of Liegnitz. By the end of the month, we can hold a victory banquet there."

Joseph contemplated and said, "Marshal, my suggestion is to leave the City of Liegnitz be for now."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"We are to the south of Liegnitz, while the city is to the north," Joseph replied. "Instead of a long march, it would be better to launch a direct assault on Breslau."

Breslau was the capital of Silesia, located to the east of Liegnitz. From Fordham Town here, the distance to the City of Liegnitz and Breslau was basically close.

Marshal Lacy immediately smiled and shook his head, "Your Highness, that’s too risky. Breslau has strong fortresses, and if we can’t break through there swiftly, Ferdinand is likely to build a solid defensive line near the City of Liegnitz.

"At that time, we might end up unable to seize either Liegnitz or Breslau."

Joseph looked at him and asked, "If you were the Duke of Brunswick, would you dare bet that the Breslau fortress wouldn’t be rapidly breached by sixty to seventy thousand enemy troops?"

Marshal Lacy fell into deep thought. The defense force of Breslau should not exceed four thousand, and even if Ferdinand were to urgently reinforce the troops, there would be at most ten thousand men.

On the battlefield, situations change in a blink of an eye, and no one could guarantee the fortress wouldn’t suffer an unexpected fate in the face of an attack from an Austrian Allied Forces that was more than six times greater.

If Breslau was lost, it would mean that more than 80% of Silesia was gone—following the flow of the Oder River down from Breslau, it would be easy to capture both the provinces of Oberon and Ratibor.

Ferdinand definitely wouldn’t dare to take that gamble!

...

Vienna.

In a luxurious villa to the southwest of Vienna, a salon was currently underway.

Baron Walter appeared to be in a good mood, having drunk quite a lot; he was already a bit tipsy.

"Ha, all that is just government propaganda," he said casually to a few of the young nobles beside him, "I’m privy to the inside story. Let me tell you, the situation in Silesia is not as good as the newspapers say."

"Uh—" He burped from the alcohol, "Don’t spread this around, but the Allied Forces have been at a stalemate with the Prussians near Liegnitz all this time."

The young nobles exchanged glances, asking in astonishment, "Is what you are saying true?"

"Of course, I heard it from the Minister of War," Walter suddenly burst out laughing, "You know what, even the Crown Prince of France has been surrounded by the Prussians in the Oberon region, haha."

He took another big gulp of wine and continued, "That fool only brought over ten thousand men and recklessly left the camp, getting surrounded by thirty thousand Prussian troops. Marshal Lacy had to write to His Majesty the Emperor for help because of it.

"In my opinion, that French guy is probably already captured or even dead by now, haha, it’s truly satisfying!"

He seemed a bit drunk and grabbed a young noble he often drank and gambled with, saying proudly, "Frank, that wench’s protector is finally gone, hahaha! Once she returns to Vienna with the troops, I’m curious to see how she’ll get out of my grasp... Eh—, that little face of hers, tsk tsk, I’ve never forgotten it..."

As he was laughing wantonly, the musician playing the piano in the corner had a pale face, his hands trembling slightly, causing him to play several wrong notes in succession.

That musician was Bazel, and he knew all too well that the "wench" Walter was referring to was his own beloved Camellia.

He bit down on his teeth tightly, originally thinking that his student had finally found a lifelong home and would become a noble of Paris, yet he hadn’t expected that as if God were jealous of her, the Crown Prince of France would meet a tragic death on the battlefield... or being taken to Potsdam, it was all the same.

In any case, she had lost her protection.

Bazel’s icy gaze shot towards Baron Walter, and that scoundrel was not going to let her go.

He curled up painfully in his chair, feeling as if his heart was breaking.

Suddenly, Walter’s burst of loud laughter jolted him.

He sat up abruptly, his hands shaking even more, yet in his heart, there was an astonishing resolve: without the Crown Prince of France, let me be the one to clear all dangers for Vienna’s flower!

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!