The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 913 Gang Fight Against France

In early November 1814.

When Napoleon arrived in Belgrade, of the 125,000 French troops who set out, less than 90,000 remained, having lost more than 30,000 men.

Most of them died in battle while covering the rear or were captured, while a small number were separated from their units or escaped in secret.

Moreover, the loss of more than 30,000 people does not include the 10,000 men of Marshal Udino who went to greet Napoleon.

Louis Davout looked guilty, while Napoleon was also furious.

But seeing the ruined city of Belgrade and the heavy casualties of the army, he knew that Louis Davout and his troops had done their best.

“It’s not entirely your fault; I know your abilities.” Napoleon patted Davout on the shoulder, then sighed.

“I also bear responsibility. I underestimated the resilience of the Seres. Their past impressions have seriously deceived us all.”

The serious deception Napoleon spoke of referred to the general impression that the Xia army had given to Europeans over the past two decades.

In many instances, because the main force of the Xia army came from the east in rotation, the number of officers truly under the command of Mo Zirong and his son Mo Gongze was only a few dozen.

The veterans who had spent years in Europe with the father and son, namely the samurai families from the former Owari and Tosa domains of Japan, arranged for them by the Hong family of Xiangshan and Mo Tianci, numbered only around two thousand in total.

This led to two problems. First, the cost was high and the number of personnel was small. Given that the weaponry of the Great Yu Dynasty was not far behind that of Europe, Mo Zirong and his son were reluctant to use the Xia army they had painstakingly built up to be executed in a line.

Secondly, the territory of the Xia vassal state was not actually stable or clear. It started in Hungary, then moved to Belgium, then to the Greater Netherlands and the Rhineland, and then back to Hungary.

During this time, the soldiers and officers under Mo Gongze witnessed firsthand how many tricks he had been fooled and how many grievances he had suffered.

This led some of the Xia vassal troops who were rotated into the army to feel that there was no future in Europe and they had no heart to fight to the death for Mo Zirong and his son Mo Gongze.

So for the previous two or three decades, the biggest impression that the Xia army gave to Europeans was that they were well-equipped and had decent combat power, but they always seemed a bit cunning and sly, afraid of hard and bloody battles, and would often run away before suffering fatal damage, lacking strong willpower.

This indeed misled Napoleon and the French army to a great extent.

Furthermore, Mogongze then implemented a strategy of continuous retreat, stretching out the French army's supply lines, and even abandoned Budapest and Transylvania along the way.

This further reinforced the stereotypes about the French army, leading the entire army, including Châteauneuf-du-Claude, to disregard the Seres army.

As a result, they crashed headlong into it, ending up bloodied and bruised, only to discover that the Seres army was generally comparable to the French army, but its elite troops far surpassed the French elite.

For example, the Imperial Guard of the Seres Empire was comparable only to Napoleon's Old Guard and Young Guard.

Napoleon's Old Guard and Young Guard combined numbered only 13,000 to 14,000, while Serres's Guard numbered as many as 120,000.

But Napoleon actually underestimated the situation, because he mistook many of the Beijing garrison troops for imperial guards.

To be honest, with the same equipment, the combat strength of Napoleon's Old Guard and Young Guard was indeed at the level of the Twelve Guards of the Great Yu Imperial Guard.

However, the weapons of the Great Yu were far more advanced, which made it difficult for Napoleon's 13,000 to 14,000 true guards to achieve a one-to-one exchange ratio on the battlefield, even when facing the Beijing garrison.

Not to mention, the Great Yu Imperial Guards only had twelve guards and the Capital Garrison only had sixteen armies; it wasn't that the Great Yu only had so few elite troops.

It's not for financial reasons, but also because there's no equally matched competitor, so there's no need to support so many.

If they really wanted to mass-produce troops, it wouldn't be surprising if they produced a million Imperial Guards and the Beijing Garrison. How could Napoleon and the French army not be defeated when faced with such monsters?

After settling his army in Belgrade for a day of rest, Napoleon discovered a new problem.

That is, the order Louis Davout had previously received was to open up the Danube as soon as possible to support the main forces downstream.

Therefore, in order to transport supplies as soon as Belgrade was captured, Louis Davu concentrated more than 70% of the supplies in Novi Sad, upstream of Belgrade and its surrounding area, while the remaining 30% was scattered around Budapest.

This means that the food supplies for the 210,000-strong army—the 90,000 men Napoleon withdrew, plus Louis Davout's 120,000—for the next three months were all in Novi Sad, less than 80 kilometers from Belgrade.

Napoleon had only two choices.

They could either go to Novi Sad and hold their ground while withdrawing their troops, because so much food couldn't be transported away immediately, and if it wasn't, the troops would have nothing to eat.

Either abandon all the supplies, have the soldiers carry half a month's worth of rations, quickly retreat to the vicinity of Rhineland, recuperate, and then deal with Mo Gongze.

Napoleon was immediately faced with a dilemma. After much deliberation, he ultimately decided to hold Novi Sad.

If he chooses the second option, although there is a high probability that he can preserve his army, there is also a possibility that Austria and Prussia will react in time and join forces to intercept him. There is also a possibility that due to insufficient food, the army will be unable to recover after just one defeat.

The second option is good, but if a low-probability event occurs, then the whole thing will be lost.

Then, at the end of April, the Danube River entered its flood season, with water levels more than three times higher than in winter, which further reinforced Napoleon's decision.

Hold Novi Sad and withdraw the main force in batches.

Similarly, the arrival of the flood season on the Danube River and the rainy season in southeastern Europe also posed great difficulties for Mogonze's pursuit.

The river current was rapid, and the steam engine's horsepower was low at that time, greatly limiting the transportation capacity.

The rainy season also made the roads extremely muddy, which is why Southeast Europe was not a good place in later generations. Romania and Albania were notorious for their gangs, and at this time they were even worse places.

Although the climate is pleasant and the resources are plentiful, this place is a site of fierce clashes between the two great civilizations of Christianity and Islam, where they fought a bloody war for eight or nine hundred years, leaving virtually no infrastructure.

When the anti-French army pursued them by land, it was basically a situation where men and horses were rolling around in the mud. Apart from the light cavalry that were chasing the French, the rest of them could cover more than ten kilometers a day, which was considered quite fast.

. . . .

French Empire, Paris, Tuileries Palace.

Count Talleyrand, the French Foreign Minister, stared in disbelief as the woman slowly walked toward him from afar.

"My God, Krishnamurti, you look so much like your grandmother!"
My God, it's like I've been transported back to my youth. She was so beautiful then, dazzling and radiant, making me feel utterly inadequate.

This imperial foreign minister, who had attempted to participate in the rebellion but whom Napoleon had no choice but to continue to rely on as a French political strongman, was now muttering to himself as if his soul had left his body.

The person who could make Count Talleyrand say such things was none other than the grandmother of Clessand, the Duchess of Polignac, a close friend of Queen Antoinette, the decapitated queen.

Duchess Polignac was the most captivating beauty in all of French high society before the French Revolution.

It is said that her beauty prevented Queen Antoinette, who was also a woman, from feeling jealous, and they became best friends.

This shows just how ridiculously beautiful she is, because jealousy only fails to work when the gap between the two sides is truly too great.

Count Talleyrand came from an old French family and belonged to the upper nobility during the Bourbon dynasty.

He was five years younger than Duchess Polignac. Because of a leg ailment, or more precisely, a limp, he was very self-conscious in his youth and only dared to harbor a secret crush from afar.

This is absolutely incredible. A teenage boy with a limp met an extremely beautiful older sister. You can only imagine how much Duchess Polignac must have captivated Talleyrand back then.

Indeed, the radiant Duchess of that time was Count Talleyrand's eternal white moonlight and dream goddess.

She is the kind of goddess you often dream about throughout your life, and whose mere mention of her name sends shivers down your spine.

“It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness. You are one of the few surviving elders in France.” The twenty-two-year-old Christand responded very politely, clearly having received special training.

These words struck a chord with Count Talleyrand, and tears began to well up in his eyes.

The count thought of his many friends from his youth and middle age, most of whom were no longer with him after the fall of the Bourbon dynasty. “François, Jacques, Pierre were beheaded with the king, Bishop Lamoure died in the September Massacre, Jean-François Stahl organized an army to resist and died in Provence, and your grandmother died in Vienna.”

The people Count Talleyrand was talking about were all his best friends from his youth.

Older people often reminisce about their younger days, about how they were once spirited, strong, and energetic.

“Child, don’t call me Prince, call me Grandpa.” Count Talleyrand was immersed in grief and it took him a long time to come back to his senses. He also refused to let Christandre Drummond call him His Highness.

His title of Prince Benevento was bestowed upon him by Napoleon and belonged to the French Empire.

A glint flashed in Krissander's eyes; she knew her mission was very likely to be accomplished.

“Yes, Grandpa Talleyrand, many people died painfully in that terrible turmoil.”

My maternal grandmother also fell ill with depression after hearing the news of the queen's brutal murder, and passed away less than six months later.

After that, my mother, the Duchess of Gramont, took me with Princess Charlotte to the East, where we received the protection of His Majesty Emperor Seres, a close friend of King Louis XVI.

At this time, in European propaganda, Emperor Maupassant was already considered Louis XVI's closest friend during his lifetime.

It was that kind of great friendship where someone would send an army from afar to try to save their best friend and preserve their last bloodline.

Among the exiles of the French Bourbon dynasty today, the vast majority of them regard Mozibu as their greatest support, and there is even a strange feeling that Mozibu is their sovereign and father.

Yes, that's pretty much true. Within the territory of Dayu, including the Beihezhou Protectorate, there are a total of 480,000 French people, making it the largest overseas French community.

Mo Guangzhi's Zhongshan State was known in Europe as New France. The exiles, including Louis XVIII, received 300,000 silver dollars annually from Mo Zibu to cover their basic expenses.

He's not your father, and he doesn't want to be your father. Who would do so much for you?

Upon hearing Crysander state without hesitation that he came from Seris, Count Talleyrand's sorrow vanished instantly, and his face regained the shrewdness befitting a seasoned, powerful politician.

"My mother, Countess Aclere of Gramont, was the granddaughter of His Majesty Louis XVI and the godmother and wet nurse of His Highness the Duke of Shen of the Seres Empire."

The Duke has been elected by the Swedish Parliament and will soon become King of Sweden. I have returned to Sweden to oversee the renovation of the new royal palace.

Krysander pretended to be eager to talk and began to ramble on. Historically, after her grandmother's death, her whole family followed Louis XVIII to the Kingdom of England and later settled in Edinburgh, Scotland.

His mother, Agley, died in an accidental fire in 1803, and Crysander married the fifth Earl of Tuckwell of England three years later.

This timeline is completely different. Her mother, Agley, is alive and well, while Krishnamurti has joined the Embroidered Uniform Guard and was sent to Europe last year to oversee the intelligence gathering center that will soon be established in Amsterdam.

Count Talleyrand looked at Crysander and shook his head regretfully. This girl isn't very bright!
“Cristand, my dear, you shouldn’t have said you were from Seris, because that would have immediately put me on my guard. All the groundwork you laid with your grandmother has been wasted.”

However, upon hearing Count Talleyrand's words, Crysander looked at the count with a sincere expression and said, "Grandpa Talleyrand, I have never intended to hide anything."

I mentioned my maternal grandmother because she often spoke of you to my mother, saying that you were the wisest and most visionary person she had ever met, and that even your leg ailment could not overshadow your talent.

“I am from Seres, there is no need to hide it, because France is also my homeland, and I am not here to harm my homeland.”

Sincerity is the ultimate weapon, and Count Talleyrand's expression immediately changed.

Especially when he heard his former love praise him so highly, although reason told Talleyrand that it might have been embellished, every cell in his body told him that it was true.

“Thank you, child. You are a sincere person. I take back what I just said.” Count Talleyrand rarely admitted his mistake.

“You are not wrong, Grandpa Talleyrand.” Clisand seized the opportunity to take Count Talleyrand’s hand, his eyes shining with the light of a granddaughter in love with her grandfather.

"As a patriot and a minister willing to shoulder great responsibilities for the country, vigilance is a reflection of your excellent qualities."

Cough cough cough, actually Count Talleyrand was not noble at all. This guy was very greedy and had an affair with Queen Louise of Prussia. For this, he betrayed a lot of French intelligence to Prussia and Austria.

The two chatted intimately for a while longer, and only after Count Talleyrand genuinely treated her as a junior did Clysand continue:
"Grandpa Talleyrand, I also love France and hope that France can be as civilized and powerful as it used to be."

But reality was quite different; everything Napoleon did destroyed the country.

We seem to have greatly expanded our territory, but we have offended everyone; the whole of Europe is against us.

If this continues, it's very likely that none of the territory we've conquered with the help of hundreds of thousands of French warriors will be able to hold onto!

These words struck a chord with Count Talleyrand, because that was exactly what he thought.

So much so that a few years ago, Count Talleyrand even attempted to launch a coup with Fouché while Napoleon was in Spain quelling harassment, to overthrow Napoleon and make Joachim Murat King of France.

He only abandoned the coup attempt after discovering Murat's world-class problem below the neck.

"Yes, dear Krissand, though I hate to admit it, that's the reality."

We have already occupied so much territory; we could have easily sat down and digested it at our own pace. But the emperor insisted on starting war after war, plunging France into a terrible situation of being hostile to everyone.

Talleyrand represented the sentiments of a large portion of French capitalists, landowners, officials, and even some of the French imperial nobility.

But this was exactly the opposite of what Napoleon wanted.

France could pause and gradually digest the territories it occupied, such as Spain, Belgium, and northern Italy, but Napoleon could not.

Because even Napoleon wasn't exactly a pure Frenchman. This might not be a problem in Russia or England, but it wouldn't be in France, the heart of European civilization.

Like the Chinese, the French find it extremely difficult to accept being ruled by a foreign power.

Therefore, once Napoleon stopped the war, it meant that the French people no longer needed him, and opponents would certainly emerge quickly.

Therefore, Napoleon needed to keep the country in a state of war, using war to keep the army under his control and using victories to adorn him with layer after layer of glory.

This is similar to the situation of Ukrainian actors and the chamber pot of Esleigh in later generations. A ceasefire means the end of both political and physical life, and even the end of just one is extremely difficult to bear.

"What do you need me to do, or rather, what does Emperor Seris need me to do?" Having figured out that Krysander shared his opinion, Count Talleyrand decided to stop beating around the bush.

"Count, we need your channels to persuade the Prussian high command to join the Sixth Coalition against France and unite with the Austrian Empire to intercept Napoleon as he flees back in disarray in Vienna."

At the same time, we hope that you can contact the influential local leaders in the Kingdom of Sweden and ask them to support Lieutenant General Qin Dingyang's military reorganization plan and prepare to send troops within two months.

Furthermore, we have heard that Major General Briand in Antwerp, Belgium, is your wife's nephew, and we hope to persuade him to cooperate with us in launching a major uprising in Antwerp.

At present, Prussia hates France to the core.

The Portuguese volunteer commander of Dayu, Qin Sanqin Dingyang, has left the Iberian Peninsula and arrived in Stockholm, where he is training the Swedish army in preparation for joining the campaign against France.

Although King Carl XIII of Sweden was terminally ill and the enthronement ceremony would be held upon the arrival of Duke Mo Guangzhi in Stockholm, some Swedish nobles were still quite resistant.

As for Antwerp, even when Mogongze was in dire straits from Napoleon's attack, he didn't transfer the Antwerp Independent Regiment stationed in the British Isles, just waiting to teach Napoleon a lesson in Belgium.

Upon hearing these three suggestions, Talleyrand immediately decided to join.

Because any one of these three points is aimed at Napoleon's vitals, with unparalleled precision.

Clearly, a top-notch strategist with a keen eye for the big picture was devising this plan, far surpassing even Napoleon in this regard.

Napoleon is doomed to lose. The Sixth Coalition against France, which is about to be formed, will surely win a great victory and may even march into Paris.

(End of this chapter)