Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Only a day later, the French General Staff received news that 80,000 Austrian troops had reached the north of Mantua.

Bertier had returned to Paris from the front line a month ago and immediately rushed to the Palace of Versailles to report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

“Hmm, Austria’s mobilization speed is much slower than I expected.” Joseph folded the report after just a glance, saying calmly to the Chief of Staff, “Just execute according to the planned scheme.”

Indeed, even before Alvinczy left Vienna, the Intelligence Bureau had already sent back news to Paris that “Austria has decided to reinforce Mantua.”

Such a large troop movement, as long as one wasn’t deaf, could be heard about for sure.

Subsequently, Joseph, together with Bertier and other officers from the General Staff, formulated a series of follow-up plans.

The two corps involved in the plan set off one and a half months ago and were already in place, merely awaiting the commencement of hostilities on the Mantua side to take action.

…

Spain.

Madrid.

The Spanish Minister of War, Count Aranda, looked somewhat displeased at the French Lieutenant Colonel in front of him: “Lieutenant Colonel Juno, Olivenza is undoubtedly the most crucial strategic point; after His Majesty the King and your Crown Prince met, we have transported a large quantity of logistical supplies to Badajoz.

“And now you are asking my army to turn towards Salamanca?”

Juno laid out the orders from the General Staff on the table, which bore the Crown Prince’s cipher signature—France’s main officials and officers each had their own unique cipher, which could be sent via the Sharp Signal Tower, meaning the owner of the cipher signed it. The cipher was calculated using a complex algorithm and decrypted with specific keys, with no security issues at all.

“Olivenza indeed holds significant strategic value, but the Crown Prince believes that it is separated from Lisbon by the Tejo River, and its strategic intentions are too obvious, which might lead the Portuguese to retreat to the west bank of the Tejo River.”

Juno stated, “However, if we start from Salamanca, occupying Almeida Fortress can both push south to threaten Lisbon—there are virtually no obstacles between there and Lisbon. Simultaneously, we can continue to advance west toward Porto.

“By then, the Portuguese will have to divide their forces for defense. We will grasp absolute initiative.”

Count Aranda looked at the documents from the French General Staff and exchanged glances with Chief Minister Count of Florida Blanca, insisting, “Perhaps we could first try at Olivenza; if successful, repeated transportation of war supplies wouldn’t be necessary.”

Juno secretly sighed, thinking, as expected, completely in line with the Crown Prince’s prediction, the foolish Spaniards…

Of course, Joseph wasn’t speculating without basis, but rather he knew that in the early 19th century, Spain’s first military action against Portugal started with the assault on Olivenza.

Because it had economically valuable oranges.

Short-sighted Spanish politicians didn’t consider much of the military aspects and directly targeted Olivenza’s orange-producing area—every year the Spanish Royal Family had to spend a lot of gold coins importing oranges from there.

As a result, although the Spaniards captured the Elvas Fortress at Olivenza while Portugal was unprepared, this also gave Portugal time to react.

Later, Portugal began using its rivers for layered defenses, and eventually, the Spanish army ran out of steam, having to opt for a ceasefire.

Portugal didn’t even have to seek assistance from England and was able to sign the Badajoz Treaty with Spain, only losing the border area of Olivenza.

This also led to, seven years later, France having to declare war on Portugal again alongside Spain to eliminate the British presence on the western side of the Mediterranean, as it was also the largest naval port on the European Continent.

But this time Portugal was already on guard, immediately seeking assistance from England.

Meanwhile, due to Napoleon’s turbulent maneuvers—deposing Charles IV, making his brother Joseph Bonaparte the King of Spain.

This stirred up a Spanish people’s uprising.

France continually invested forces in Spain, and even Napoleon personally campaigned in Spain, losing countless troops and military funds there. Later even Napoleon himself said, “The Spanish War ruined me. It was a genuine ulcer…”

Thus, when Joseph was formulating the Iberian Peninsula campaign plan, he knew he had to avoid the Spaniards repeating the Olivenza pitfall for those oranges.

The best operational plan should be the choice of the Franco-Spanish Allied Forces during their second invasion of Portugal—start from the Almeida Fortress in north-central Portugal, forcing the Portuguese to face challenges both front and rear.

This would also lead Portugal, due to insufficient forces, to seek assistance from England earlier.

Following this, the French Army would give Spain a helping hand, and Portugal would become England’s “ulcer.”

Following the Crown Prince’s instructions, Juno continued:

“Count Aranda, in fact, the war supplies you have stored in Badajoz have not been wasted.

“I believe that Portuguese spies are surely aware that preparations are being made there, which will serve to greatly confuse the enemy.

“After we move our troops, the Portuguese will only believe it’s an attack on Olivenza.

“When we launch the attack on Almeida Fortress, it will undoubtedly catch them off guard.”

Badajoz is the bordering province of Spain adjacent to Olivenza.

Seeing several Spanish top officials still hesitating, Juno presented the “trump card” given by the Crown Prince:

“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has already transported 80 cannons to

——————

Still some ending left unfinished

In this artwork, the three forces each occupy a part of the scene, and due to the union of soldiers and those in power, death was brought to these insurgents, so what made it even more chilling was not the despair of the gunshot victims, but that those dignitaries standing safe and sound on high tower tops, were calmly observing this judgment!

“The unfortunate Spanish War ruined me. It was a genuine ulcer, a cause of France’s downfall. If I had imagined this war would bring such serious disaster to him, I would never have started it,” such were the words of the once arrogant French King Napoleon Bonaparte during his exile, so why would this sharpened French King utter such a furious lament? How did France end up suffering a tragic defeat in this duel between the French Empire (the predecessor of France) and Spain?

In 1796, Napoleon had not yet become the French King, yet at this time, he was already a dazzling rising star. At the age of 26, Napoleon was appointed by the French Republic as the General-in-Chief against the Italian army; this young commander did not disappoint the country’s high hopes, multiple times defeating the Italian army, and indeed made a name for himself across Europe. And Napoleon’s ambition wasn’t small either; he led France’s soldiers and eventually occupied Italy, thus becoming a hero of France. In 1804, the French Republic transformed into the French Empire, and this social change directly pushed Napoleon onto the imperial throne! From then on, Napoleon began his path of external expansion; he conquered one European country after another, forcing the European nations to unite against the French Empire together, yet even so, it couldn’t stop the French Empire’s footsteps of expansion,