Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Chapter 1268: Chapter 1173: The Night Before the War

“…I will command the secret police to guard outside the Gatchina Palace to prevent Paul from escaping. Count Zubov will lead the officers to enter the Imperial Palace at dawn under the guise of reporting urgent military affairs. Then proceed to Paul’s chamber via the side door. Rest assured, we have our people along the way…”

After Count Palen finished speaking about the coup plan, Zubov immediately frowned and said, “Wait, isn’t the Crown Prince involved in the action?”

Count Palen smiled, “His Highness is merely a frightened young man. He will wait for the abdication decree in his room.”

The group recalled Alexander’s usual submissive demeanor before Paul I and ceased insisting — having him command the coup might lead to retreating out of fear.

Then, a dozen or so people in the room began to vow, pledging to “sacrifice their lives to save Russia’s future.”

The south side of the Gatchina Palace.

Alexander looked at the soldiers of the Guard Cavalry Regiment patrolling back and forth outside the window, his face showing no trace of nervousness, but rather a cold excitement.

He said to the attendant beside him, “Vladislav, keep an eye on Count Palen; he might have special actions soon.”

“As you command, Your Highness.”

Alexander sighed lightly and murmured, “Wishing these ambitious ones the best of luck.”

He was fully aware that Palen, Zubov, and others wanted to use him, the “inexperienced, weak young man,” to regain their positions due to their career paths being blocked by his father.

And wasn’t he using them to stabilize his shaky position as Crown Prince?

In a small palace on Neva Street, Saint Petersburg city center, a middle-aged man dressed as a merchant placed his routine report before Count Bobrinsky: “Sir, recently Count Palen, Count Zubov, and others have been in close contact with some officers.”

Count Bobrinsky frowned, “Is there anything unusual at the Gatchina Palace?”

The “merchant” thought for a moment and said, “It seems several senior officers of the Guard Cavalry Regiment have been secretly arrested by the secret police on suspicion of dealings with ‘Austrian liberals.’”

Count Bobrinsky immediately stood up and said to his attendant, “Looks like I must visit the Emperor.”

Indeed, Joseph was concerned about Paul I’s safety, so he entrusted Count Bobrinsky to stay in Saint Petersburg to monitor Zubov and others.

This illegitimate child of Ye Er was perhaps the closest person to Paul I and all of Russia.

…

Paris.

Palace of Versailles.

“I’m afraid it’s not enough.” Joseph looked at the numbers on the map before him and shook his head slightly.

Those numbers refer to the troops recently gathered by England, Prussia, and Austria along the border.

Although war hasn’t been declared yet, the European continent seemed to be in that last calm moment before the storm.

According to intelligence gathered by the Security Bureau, there were at least 140,000 Prussian Army on the north bank of the Rhine River. To the east of Switzerland, there were nearly 200,000 Austrian soldiers.

Although the 50,000 British Army was still in their homeland, with the British Navy’s delivery capability, it would take only half a month to deploy in the Germanic region.

Furthermore, Britain recruited 60,000 troops in the states of Hesse, Thuringia, and Brunswick, as well as 23,000 troops in Hanover.

Intelligence also indicated that Saxon might be coerced into sending troops.

In other words, this time, the British have rallied a total of 470,000 troops!

Moreover, Joseph knew Prussia hadn’t deployed all their domestic manpower, and Austria had just begun implementing the “conscription system,” and could further mobilize at least 100,000 soldiers.

If Saxon joins the war, they could also muster around 50,000 troops.

Under extreme conditions, France would face an assault by over 600,000 enemy troops.

Currently, France has only four army corps and one independent infantry division, totaling 160,000 troops, and even including local garrison forces, barely surpassing 210,000.

Although French Army soldiers are far more combat effective than the enemy, following the principle of overestimating the enemy, France should not be overly disadvantaged in terms of manpower.

After all, unlike Britain, France cannot afford to lose and then try again…

France cannot afford to lose a national war even once, or it will face irreparable consequences.

Of course, France has its own allies.

Spain and the various Northern Italian countries should provide 60,000 to 70,000 reinforcements. But Joseph was well aware of their combat capabilities; they were merely support for the French troops.

Furthermore, he didn’t want to rely on other nations to decide his fate.

Bertier beside him nodded, “Your Highness, the General Staff believes at least one more army corps should be recruited, and the 9th Infantry Division should be expanded to army corps level.”

Moro supplemented, “The local garrison also needs strengthening, especially from Alsace to the Switzerland line, to ensure some delay if the enemy forces try to forcibly cross the Alps.”

After Joseph enacted the second military reform, France had completely abolished the private troops of local nobles, unifying all soldiers under the General Staff. “Direct Army Corps” had become a customary term representing regular field troops.

Although the local garrison was slightly inferior in equipment and combat ability, their training mode was identical to the Direct Army Corps, just with reduced training intensity.

These troops could then serve as reserve forces, readily supplementing the Direct Army Corps.

Bertier pulled a stack of documents from the table and handed it to Joseph, “Your Highness, this is the recruitment plan formulated by the General Staff. It’s estimated that within three months, total troops could rise to 270,000.”

The enthusiasm of the French populace for enlistment was the highest among European nations. If necessary, mobilizing 350,000 troops posed no issue.

Joseph flipped through the plan and nodded, “Then proceed with this.”

“Training must be strict; we’d rather have slightly fewer troops than deploy undertrained soldiers into battle.”

“Oh, and weapon production must be expedited. What is the daily output of Minie balls now?”

Bertier quickly scanned his notes, “Currently only 30,000 rounds per day, Your Highness. However, the ‘precision equipment’ from the Engineering Design Institute has arrived, and the Royal Armory will soon be able to mass-produce molds. Mr. Gaman estimates that next month, daily output will reach 70,000 rounds.”

He was referring to Louis XVI’s Christmas gift — a high-precision milling machine, the second one in all of France. But even someone at Bertier’s level didn’t know what it specifically was.

With it, the development of forging machines had significantly progressed. Low-power forging machines for die-casting have even started mass production.

Joseph turned to Bertier again, “Then, what tactics does the General Staff think the enemies will employ this time?”

“Several possibilities,” the Chief of Staff walked to the map, “first, initiating an attack from Wurttemberg towards Baden…”