Chapter 951: Chapter 859 Coup
The Duke of Brunswick frowned and murmured, “70,000 French Army troops are besieging Cologne, and once it falls, they could cross the Rhine River and attack Dusseldorf at any mont.
“And there are no defenses between Dusseldorf and Braunschweig, and then it’s Magdeburg…”
Magdeburg is adjacent to the west of Potsdam. If the French Army reaches there, essentially both Potsdam and Berlin will be impossible to hold.
Wilhelmina pressed, “What do you think we should do?”
“Imdiately withdraw from the Anti-French Alliance,” said the Duke of Brunswick. “I have spoken with the Crown Prince of France, and I can tell he is still hesitating.”
“Hesitating about what?”
“France’s main attack direction,” the old man said urgently, “If we can reach a ceasefire agreent with the French people before Cologne falls, then France’s troops will shift to the south of the Rhine, threatening Bavaria and Austria.
“Moreover, the French people promise that as long as we withdraw from the Anti-French Alliance, they will release the captured troops. We cannot lose those more than 40,000 veterans, or we won’t be able to maintain leadership in Northern Germany.”
The Duke of Brunswick quickened his pace, “I have to go talk to Prince Henry…”
Wilhelmina stood her ground, “You know, the Prince will never agree to surrender, and Baron Friedrich is even less likely to agree.”
The Duke of Brunswick turned his head, “But I must persuade them.”
“I support the ceasefire,” Wilhelmina suddenly said, “His Majesty will certainly listen to . But this is assuming the pro-war faction does not advise His Majesty first.”
The Duke of Brunswick looked at the woman in surprise.
He had heard before returning to Potsdam that for the past half year, His Majesty the King had been increasingly unwell due to excessive overeating and drinking, leaving state affairs almost entirely in the hands of his mistress.
Judging by the tone of this woman, the rumors must be true.
He hesitated for a mont and asked, “How do you plan to do this?”
Wilhelmina lowered her voice, “If you want to ceasefire quickly, you must keep Prince Henry and Baron Friedrich away from the center of power.”
The Duke of Brunswick’s pupils contracted montarily, “This, how can it be?”
“Sir Auguste and Count Schloenberger will support .”
The old man was shocked once more.
Auguste von Hardenburg is a new political star in Potsdam, highly favored by His Majesty the King, managing Prussia’s judicial system. Schloenberger is the Assistant Foreign Minister.
Both of these key ministers are actually Wilhelmina’s people!
The King’s mistress glanced at the old man, “If I also have your support and that of the military, even Prince Henry won’t be able to stop .”
The Duke of Brunswick’s forehead was sweating coldly.
Prince Henry is the most powerful minister in Prussia, toppling him would be almost like a coup.
But he must broker the ceasefire. Only by retrieving that 43,000 captured soldiers could the losses in the Luxembourg campaign not be too severe, allowing him to maintain his position in the military.
He slightly bowed to Wilhelmina, “I will seriously consider it, madam.”
The latter added just as he turned around, “Also, Julie must leave Sanssouci Palace.”
The old man’s steps faltered for a mont, then he nodded, “Understood.”
Julie von Fos is William II’s third mistress. Although she hasn’t directly intervened in state affairs, the Fos family is a significant force within Prussia’s bureaucratic system.
Wilhelmina is taking this opportunity to resolve her as well.
Two days later.
Prussian Foreign Minister Ewald Friedrich was prosecuted for embezzlent, and diplomacy was temporarily entrusted fully to the Assistant Foreign Minister.
Then, a large number of wounded soldiers and their families appeared on the streets of Potsdam protesting, demanding the governnt fulfill its pension commitnts—as Prussia had suffered repeated defeats, military funds were nearly depleted, and the pensions for over ten thousand disabled soldiers hadn’t been disbursed.
Afterward, it was sohow revealed that chaos in logistics, under Prince Henry’s responsibility, led to frequent corruption and thus front-line failures.
In this matter, Prince Henry could not explain himself.
There was systemic corruption in Prussia’s bureaucracy—this problem could not be avoided in any old bureaucratic system of this era—so a thorough investigation would certainly uncover many corruption issues given the large transactions in military logistics.
And these accounts would ultimately be blad on him, the logistics chief. Besides, he truly profited from logistics procurent.
Sanssouci Palace was thrown into turmoil over this incident. Wilhelmina quickly issued a decree in William II’s na, severely rebuked Prince Henry, and ordered him to reflect at ho.
With the fall from power of two leaders of the Prussian pro-war faction, calls for a ceasefire quickly filled Sanssouci Palace.
Within a few days, Count Schloenberger was appointed as the ceasefire negotiation representative and set out for Paris.
…
Cologne Fortress.
The whole world seed filled with the endless roar of cannons and the piercing “whistle” of shells flying.
Captain Zimrman of the Austrian Erz Mountains Army pointed to the corpses by the fortification embrasure, shouting vigorously to his soldiers behind him, “Move them away. You few, go and bring the shells over. Hurry up!”
Dozens of Austrian soldiers hurriedly dragged away the corpses, collected artillery equipnt scattered around, and pushed the 18-pound cannon back into position.
From another emplacent located 30 ters to the left, soldiers saw their hurried movents and anxiously waved and shouted, “Duck down!”
“Stay away from the embrasure!”
“Be careful…”
However, the thunderous cannon fire drowned their sounds, causing Zimrman’s Company to stop in confusion and loudly ask, “What are you saying?”
Just then, Zimrman’s order officer suddenly let out a muffled groan and fell to the ground.
Everyone turned to see a plate-sized hole appear in his chest, with dark red blood gushing forth.
Zimrman furiously cursed at the distance from the embrasure built with stone slabs, “Damn French bastards, I’ll send you all to hell…”
His words abruptly stopped midway, his body falling back, his entire face smashed by a lead pellet, resembling a shattered earthenware doll in a shop.
Zimrman’s Company barely managed to hear that the nearby emplacent was shouting “Stay away from the embrasure” and “Duck down.”
They hadn’t reacted yet when several bullets squeezed through the gaps of the embrasure, hitting them accurately.
Austrian soldiers looked out in terror; with such a high hit rate, could it be the main enemy forces were attacking?
However, they could only vaguely see a dozen white-uniford figures shuttling back and forth in the dry grass below the fortress.
When those figures quickly completed loading and raised their guns to shoot here, seven or eight still peeking Austrian soldiers imdiately fell dead.
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