Joseph nodded and continued to ask, “What about Saxony?”
“When I left Vienna, the person set out for Dresden,” Talleyrand said. “By now, they must have already made contact with General Morris.”
General Morris was the Commander of the Saxon Army.
Joseph gestured for him to sit down in a chair, “Are the people you used reliable?” Experience new tales on empire
“Please rest assured, they were chosen by the intelligence bureau, and I secretly brought them to Saxony through diplomatic channels. They are genuine Bavarians who don’t even speak French.”
“You’ve done well,” Joseph said with a smile. “Oh, by the way, you maximized the efficiency of the funds when you bribed the assistant to the Austrian Minister of the Interior, as well as the representatives from Baden. That’s very good. Therefore, keep half of the income from ‘selling’ intelligence in Southern Netherlands and Saxony as a bonus for you and your subordinates.”
Joseph spoke lightly, yet Talleyrand felt a twinge of tension upon hearing this.
In the process of bribing officials in Germany, due to the difficulty, he had barely gotten anything for himself. When the Crown Prince just now mentioned “maximizing the efficiency of the funds,” it was clear he was referring to this matter.
So, whether or not he had kept some of the money for himself, the Crown Prince probably knew all about it.
And previously in the United States and Russia, the bribes he had taken…
He swallowed hard, cold sweat forming on his forehead, and as he struggled internally with how to confess to the Crown Prince, he heard Joseph say, “Bribery is common in diplomatic circles, all you need to do is to report back afterwards. You did exert effort to get money from foreign governments, so you can keep a part of it as a bonus. Of course, you must never let the pursuit of money interfere with your work.”
Talleyrand was taken aback. Did the Crown Prince mean that from now on he should accept bribes from foreign countries, and as long as he turned in the funds, he would get a share of the bonus?
He stole a glance at Joseph, who looked very serious, and a wave of relief washed over him; no longer would he need to secretly worry about collecting money.
Then he recalled the profits from this round of “selling intelligence,” and could hardly conceal the smile on his face.
He had followed the Crown Prince’s instructions to first send someone to the Southern Netherlands, selling the information that “the main force of the Austrian Army in Luxembourg had already withdrawn to Vienna” for 16,000 florins to the Duke of Brunswick from Prussia. Later, his man also sold the information that “Austria is assembling a large army to attack Silesia” to Saxony, earning 20,000 florins.
That totaled 90,000 livres. The Crown Prince had casually given half of it as a bonus to him, how could he not be overjoyed!
Indeed, remaining loyal to the Crown Prince was the best decision he had ever made in his life!
Talleyrand forcefully pulled his thoughts from the sea of livres, expressing his loyalty to Joseph, before continuing with the matter at hand, “Your Highness, before I left Vienna, Leopold II had summoned me, saying he hoped France could influence Russia to ensure they do not interfere with the conflict in Silesia.”
Joseph nodded slightly, thinking to himself that Leopold II’s political experience was indeed rich, having almost immediately considered the issue with Russia.
Catherine II had always been committed to involving Prussia and Austria in the partition of Poland, so she definitely didn’t want the two countries to start fighting.
But how could he convince her to stay out of it?
After pondering for a while, Joseph finally looked at Talleyrand and said, “It seems you will have to take another trip to Saint Petersburg. After you meet the Tsar, you should say this…”
After giving detailed instructions, Joseph added, “I will also try to provide you with support from my end, and you will need to adapt according to the news you hear.”
“Yes, Your Highness, I certainly won’t disappoint you!”
After Talleyrand had left, Duke of Broglie, the Minister of War, and Bertier came to the Crown Prince’s study.
The two presented the drafted plan for deploying troops to Joseph, and the Chief of Staff explained, “Your Highness, as per your orders, we will deploy a corps of 35,000 men towards Austria.
“The core is composed of the Lorraine Corps, Champagne Corps, and Rhine Corps, and we have selected some soldiers from the north who speak German.”
Duke of Broglie seemed a bit nervous; although the Crown Prince had previously stated that he would let him decide which troops to send to Austria in exchange for his support for the deployment, he had mostly selected corps related to him. He feared the Crown Prince might have objections.
However, Joseph simply nodded with a smile, “Very good, these troops are quite suitable.”
He had originally intended to send the old army to Austria. If they could win a few battles, he could use that as a pretext to demand favors from Vienna; if they were defeated and a bunch of hereditary military nobility died, it would be no harm done—the capable people in these old armies had long since requested to be transferred to the Guard Corps. Those left were either hardliners or incompetents; it wouldn’t be a shame if any of them died.
Relieved by these words, Duke of Broglie gestured for Bertier to continue.
The latter hurriedly said, “Your Highness, according to the latest message from Vienna, the Austrian Army will complete their deployment in about three weeks and will officially launch their attack.”
Mobilizing a large army of nearly one hundred thousand is an extremely tedious affair, nothing like in games where you just drag the mouse and click to move them.
In reality, prior to attacking a certain area, strategic planning is required to calculate the enemy’s transport routes, logistics supply lines, and the paths for advancing or retreating troops. Then the troops are reasonably moved to positions that can most quickly threaten these points, while also paying attention to concealment.
During the army’s mobilization, the logistics supply must also follow, and the domestic personnel and material conscription need to keep up.
Only when everything is in place can the main forces begin their offensive.
Therefore, the fact that Austria could complete all these preparations in a month and a half is already considered relatively quick.
Joseph then asked the question he cared about most, “What’s the situation with the Guard Corps?”
“Your Highness, the supply stations north of Verdun have been completed, and supplies will be fully replenished within a week,” said the Chief of Staff. “To facilitate resupply, a wooden track has even been built from Lorraine to Verdun, but it’s still more than three months from completion.
“Currently, the first and second Guard Corps, along with Murat’s Corps, totaling nearly twenty thousand men, have finished assembling and are ready to fight at any time.”
A smile flashed in Joseph’s eyes.
What Silesian War—he didn’t care about that at all.
His focus was on the Southern Netherlands!
All of France’s strongest Guard Corps were deployed here, just waiting for the Prussian Army in the Southern Netherlands to surprise Vilmos’ Army stationed in Luxembourg with a huge shock when the Silesians got into a mess.
At that time, Joseph II would be unable to pull together any available troops and could only seek the help of France, the closest to the Southern Netherlands, to take action.
For this reason, Joseph had even given Duke of Brunswick a “heads up,” pointing out the situation of the depleted Austrian forces in Luxembourg.