Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

The voting results were out in just over ten minutes—80 votes in favor, 2 abstentions, and none against.

From this moment, the Walloon Region of the Southern Netherlands was officially incorporated as three provinces of France.

As Shevenemang finished reading the results, the hall erupted in enthusiastic cheers.

Someone, whose identity was unclear, started chanting:

“Long live His Majesty the King!”

The crowd immediately followed with resounding shouts:

“Long live His Majesty the King!”

“Long live France!”

“Long live His Highness the Crown Prince!”

“Aha, now we’re all French!”

When the noise gradually subsided, General Jia Ya’er raised his arm and declared aloud:

“Then, from now on, we must devote all our efforts to ensuring one thing: that France wins this war.”

The chamber’s members all nodded in agreement.

Jia Ya’er continued, “I propose to immediately begin mass conscription of soldiers to head to the Brussels front and reinforce the French Army—or rather, our grand army!”

…

Vienna.

Schonbrunn Palace.

British Foreign Minister Lord Grenville and the Marquess of Wellesley bowed together before Franz II, nodded to the Prussian Foreign Minister standing nearby, and then exited the Grand Gallery Hall.

As faint sounds of angry outbursts reached Wellesley from behind, he turned to Grenville and asked, “Why did you deliberately refuse the Holy Rome Emperor?

“The Dutch Army’s combat effectiveness is utterly unreliable. After Prince of Coburg was defeated, there’s no army left on the western front capable of stopping the French Army.

“Judging by the battlefield situation, Duke of York should quickly deploy reinforcements to the Southern Netherlands, or else the situation there will soon become unmanageable.”

Two days ago, news of the Austrian Army’s defeat in the Southern Netherlands reached Vienna. A full week had already passed since the Battle of Wavre.

The English, Austrians, and their allies were still unaware that Joseph had already surrounded Brussels, where 30,000 troops were assaulting the city in relentless attacks.

Earlier, Grenville had refused a request for Duke of York to assist Prince of Coburg, citing “Vienna’s unilateral decision to advance prematurely into the Walloon Region, which led to the current mess.”

As per the Allied Forces’ previously established strategic plan, Prince of Coburg was to launch an offensive alongside the allied forces along the Rhine, pressuring the French Army and forcing them to spread their defenses, revealing vulnerabilities.

However, Franz II, eager to gain greater leverage in the Rhine front battles—given that many German states were situated along the Rhine River and demonstrating Austria’s military prowess here would facilitate future unification of these small states—decided to wrap up the Southern Germany campaign early before redeploying Prince of Coburg’s troops to the Rhine area.

However, the western front’s Austrian Army was defeated faster than anyone anticipated, forcing Franz to put aside his pride and seek help from the British forces…

Lord Grenville offered a faint smile:

“The Austrians must learn a lesson.

“Moreover, only when His Imperial Majesty feels a sense of urgency will he commit his full efforts to the war.”

Wellesley frowned. “But the situation on the western front can no longer be delayed…”

Grenville nodded, “You’re absolutely right, but if I’m not mistaken, His Royal Highness Duke of York should already be en route to the Southern Netherlands.”

Wellesley sighed, “Originally, this force should have been deployed to attack Luxembourg. Instead, due to the Austrians’ shortsightedness and arrogance, it’s been tied down in the Southern Netherlands.”

Grenville chuckled, “Frankly speaking, haven’t some of our own lords also been shortsighted and arrogant? If you were commanding the army, you wouldn’t still be lingering in Utrecht.”

Wellesley, the current British Minister of the Army and the main force behind British Army reforms, was seen by many as too young and inexperienced. As a result, the responsibility of commanding the British Army fell to the British Prince, Duke of York.

To be fair, Duke of York was undoubtedly among Britain’s top-tier military minds, but in Grenville’s opinion, his old friend Wellesley was the ideal choice to lead the army.

Wellesley shook his head, “It’s not entirely His Royal Highness’s fault; his troops lack proper training. It would be the same no matter who was in charge.”

Grenville looked at him and asked, “By the way, when will your new army be ready for deployment?”

“The war broke out too early. Their weapons haven’t even been fully distributed yet.” Wellesley furrowed his brow as he continued, “That damned gas streetlamp scam caused many factories in London to go bankrupt, which severely delayed the production of new weapons.”

“How much longer will it take?”

“Currently, we’re producing 1,300 caplock guns per month, but we still need around 5,000 more.”

Indeed, one crucial aspect of Wellesley’s military reforms was the imitation of the French caplock gun.

The moment he first saw this weapon, he realized it would dominate future battlefields.

Thus, after being appointed Minister of the Army, he immediately ordered military factories to begin copying it.

Thanks to Britain’s advanced manufacturing industry and its vast pool of skilled craftsmen, it took just one year and four months and nearly £100,000 to successfully replicate the caplock gun.

Although its precision was slightly inferior to the August 1788 model, it at least closed the technological gap.

However, the London gas streetlamp incident subsequently occurred, bankrupting many downstream factories and severely hindering the production of military equipment.

Only with Wellesley’s aggressive funding support did the military factories manage to establish an independent production chain, which greatly improved their output capacity.

Nonetheless, even by this time, Wellesley’s 30,000-strong new army had not been fully equipped with caplock guns.

The next day at noon.

Lord Grenville returned to the Grand Gallery Hall.

Franz II, wearing a stern expression, signaled to Baron Tugut, who sighed deeply before addressing the British representatives, “His Majesty has decided to accept the suggestions you proposed yesterday.

“Our nation will initiate a general mobilization and deploy an additional 50,000 to 70,000 troops to the Rhine front within six months.”

This declaration meant Austria was about to drain its national resources to sustain the war effort.

It also implied that the Emperor would offer concessions to the nobility groups in Hungary and Bohemia to secure their increased support.

“You’ve made the most prudent decision,” Grenville bowed to Franz II. “Our nation will also increase loan provisions to assist you in maintaining your army operations.”

Tugut continued, “His Majesty will also summon the German states under the Holy Rome banner, compelling them to contribute more troops.”

Previously, Franz II had already declared war on France in the name of the Holy Roman Empire, theoretically involving all German states in the conflict.

However, most of the German states, which had long been effectively independent, were reluctant to entangle themselves in this chaotic struggle, resulting in very few actually committing troops.

This time, Grenville demanded that the Holy Rome Emperor issue a firm mandate to the German states, warning them that failure to contribute troops would result in joint punitive measures from Austria and Prussia.

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