The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 918 The Three Kings Divide the Spoils
With Napoleon's escape, the Battle of Budapest was essentially over, marking the imminent end of the French Empire.

Unlike the Battle of Waterloo in history, the French army made almost no mistakes in the Battle of Budapest, and some battles were even fought brilliantly.

Unfortunately, Napoleon failed to quickly unite the European continent.

Of course, this wasn't his fault; it was simply that no matter who came, it wouldn't have worked.

The time was too short. You have to understand that for the Qin Dynasty to unify the world, not only did the Zhou emperor, the sovereign of the world, accompany it until the very end, but it also went through hundreds of years of continuous adjustment during the Spring and Autumn Period before it finally took shape.

Even after Qin Shi Huang, from Emperor Gaozu of Han to Emperor Wu of Han, there were continuous patching and repairs, and only the Chinese themselves know the various hardships and setbacks involved.

Westerners say that Rome wasn't built in a day, and the establishment of the Chinese Empire, which was even more comprehensive than the Roman Empire, was an even more protracted process.

Therefore, it is nothing short of a pipe dream for France to think that it can unite the whole of Europe in just twenty or thirty years through the Enlightenment; it would take two or three hundred years.

This underlying nature determined the ultimate fate of the Napoleonic Empire.

However, Napoleon was indeed a born leader. He didn't have the means to unify Europe, but he was very good at planning escape routes.

Napoleon chose the perfect route: from Tornau westward, directly to Croatia, and finally through Slovenia into Italy.

After the Austrian Empire was reduced to the Electorate of Vienna by Napoleon, and most of Hungary was occupied by the French army, the nobles of Croatia and Slovenia were largely freed from the control of the Austrian Empire.

A large portion of them accepted Napoleon's investiture and became vassals of the French Empire.

Even in the Vellebit Mountains, where Slovenia borders northern Italy, there were fortresses garrisoned by French troops.

Now, while the local strongmen in Croatia and Slovenia are still unaware of the French army's crushing defeat, it shouldn't be too difficult to quickly pass through with a few thousand guards.

However, while Napoleon was able to escape, the remaining French troops were not so lucky.

After a fierce battle with the anti-French forces in Tornau, the original 85,000 French troops were reduced to just over 50,000.

They resisted for most of the day, but when they returned to camp at night, they found that Napoleon had already fled with his confidants. The army was running out of food, and their morale collapsed immediately. They scattered like birds and beasts in the night.

The anti-French coalition forces only learned the next day that French Emperor Napoleon had fled, and that the French army had not broken out the previous night but had collapsed on its own.

These Europeans had developed a stereotype of Napoleon because of his undefeated record over the past decade or so, believing him to be a god-like figure clad in golden armor.

But they forgot that this guy started out as a speculator and had a precedent of abandoning his officers and soldiers and running away on the Egyptian battlefield.

On August 28, 1814, after six days of searching, the elite French army that Napoleon had abandoned at Tornau was almost completely wiped out.

Marshal François Joseph Lefèvre and his son were killed in action while covering Napoleon's retreat.

Marshal Adolphe Mortier, known as the Prince of Peace, drowned when the pontoon bridge collapsed while he was crossing the river.

Marshal Marmont and Marshal McDonald were captured.

Of the remaining generals, more than fifty were killed in battle or captured. Basically, the entire French Imperial Army, except for those stationed in the Iberian Peninsula, was almost entirely wiped out, from officers to soldiers.

On September 4, the anti-French forces received an epic boost.

Yang Fang, deputy commander of the second expeditionary force, led 15,000 elite troops to the scene, bringing with him a large amount of food and supplies, which greatly alleviated the food crisis of the anti-French army.

When Yang Fang arrived, Mo Gongze and Li Xingtai were erecting a monument for the fallen soldiers who fought against the French.

Although the Battle of Budapest ended in a complete victory for the French forces, the casualties were considerable.

In the Battle of Tornau alone, two major generals and three brigadier generals were killed, and 13,000 men, or 40 percent of the total force, were killed or wounded and unable to return to the army.

If we start counting from the beginning of the war in 1812, the anti-French army lost about 25,000 men, which is basically 40% of the total force.

Of course, this is not the case that every battle resulted in such losses. If the losses were that high, the army would have collapsed long ago. This figure is calculated after continuous losses and replenishment of troops.

All things considered, the losses suffered by the anti-French forces were almost equivalent to those of the Russian forces, which had more than three times their strength, demonstrating the ferocity of the battle.

But thankfully, it was all worth it.

French Emperor Napoleon mobilized nearly 300,000 troops to attack Maukrond. After more than two years of fighting, only about 10,000 people were able to return to France with Napoleon.

The rest were either captured or killed in battle; it is no exaggeration to say that Napoleon barely escaped with his life in this battle.

Even compared to Napoleon's conquest of Russia in history, it is not far off.

Historically, in the 1812 invasion of Russia, 650,000 French troops went to war, and about 75,000 returned.

In the 1812 campaign against the Mosuo, 310,000 men went out to fight, and 14,000 to 15,000 returned.

"Please accept my condolences, Fourth Brother. The culprit, Napoleon, has not yet been captured, and the French Empire has not yet been punished. Everyone is waiting for you to decide on the next military action."

Mo Gongze was immersed in grief and could not get over it for a long time. The losses were too great, especially his Xia Fan Three Guards, which were reduced from 27,000 to 12,000, a full 60% loss.

Many of these people were old brothers who had followed them for over a decade, how could Mo Gongze not feel heartbroken?

The one who persuaded him was Liao King Mo Zhouzhao, who had just arrived. He stood on the hill of Tuornao, the hill that Gui Han's troops were defending, and looked south, feeling endless emotions.

"I have to say something very cold-blooded and cruel: this battle was extremely important to us, and we fought exceptionally well."

Liao King Mo Zhouzhao pointed south and said, "Of the 800,000 Moldavia and Wallachia people, only 300,000 remain."

Of the original 440,000 Serbs, only 210,000 remain.

Of the 130,000 people in the Principality of Moldova, only a little over 40,000 remain.

The land now vacated will become the land where our people live and thrive. Without this war, we would never have had the opportunity to eliminate so many people.

The Moldavia and Varachia mentioned by Mo Zhouzhan were roughly equivalent to Romania in later times, excluding Transylvania but including one-third of Bulgaria.

In later generations, this land covered approximately 200,000 square kilometers, roughly the size of two Zhejiang provinces, and had a population of about 22 million. Now, however, it has fewer than 400,000 people.

Even with the productivity of this era, feeding four million people would be a piece of cake, and this is a cultivated land that they have been developing for thousands of years, not the wild lands like Beihezhou and Dazhanzhou.

Even in a place like Moldova, there were more than two million people in later generations, but now there are only 30,000, of whom less than 10,000 are men due to the war.

With a size like that, forget about nationalism; 100,000 male immigrants would be swallowed up in one gulp.

Therefore, King Mo Zhouzhan of Liao came out to persuade King Mo Gongze of Xia that although the losses were great, they had gained a perfect land that was roughly the size of Italy, with a population of less than 400,000.

However, despite saying that, Mo Zhouzhan personally carried a long tray of offerings, lit several sticks of incense, and began to commemorate the soldiers who died in the Liaodong war.

In this battle, the Liao Kingdom sent 6,000 soldiers, and another 8,000 volunteers came to serve. Among them, more than 1,500 were killed or wounded and retreated. They also lost two generals: Bao Youxin, the commander of the Liao Kingdom's Left Guard, and Li Yunlong, the deputy commander of the Right Guard.

"Ah-Zhan, what kind of compensation do you want? How about we use the Danube River as the boundary?" It's a foregone conclusion that the Liao vassal state will move from Gaoliang Prefecture (Caucasus) to replace the Ottoman Empire's ecological niche. Once France is dealt with, the Great Yu will launch a war to destroy the Ottoman Empire.

Mogongze proposed using the Danube River as the boundary, roughly following the later border between Romania and Bulgaria.

Mo Zhouzhan shook his head. "I don't want anything north of the Balkan Mountains. You can have the entire lower Danube plain. This is what you deserve, Fourth Brother."

But I hope to acquire the Principality of Moldova and the Crimean Khanate, so that I may have enough food to feed the millions of people in Constantinople.”

Mo Gongze raised his head and gave Mo Zhouzhao a serious look.

Our Prince Xia's military skills are at best above average, but his political acumen is among the best of the second generation of the Mo family, only slightly inferior to Crown Prince Sen.

So he immediately understood what Mo Zhouzhao wanted. He had given Moldova and Crimea to Mo Zhouzhao, so he needed something to connect the two places.

Moldova and Crimea are located north of the Black Sea, while Constantinople is south of the Black Sea. The best way to form a kingdom and ensure unimpeded access would be to possess a powerful Black Sea fleet.

The current situation is clear: the Great Emperor will only entrust the Black Sea Fleet to a vassal king, because the Great Yu needs this fleet to safeguard the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean, especially the upcoming Suez Canal.

The Great Yu Black Sea Fleet wasn't particularly strong to begin with. If the three vassal states each had a share, it might not achieve the desired effect, so only one would be given a share.

“If you want to ensure food security, I suggest you take Syria and Egypt. There are no powerful forces around these two places, so once you take them, you can hold them. It’s much better than Moldova and Crimea,” Mo Gongze probed Mo Zhouzhao slightly.

"Fourth Brother, don't tease me. You don't even want Serbia, so can't you see how terrible Syria and Egypt are?"

If I were willing to convert to Islam and become a Caliph, then Syria and Egypt might be somewhat acceptable, but I certainly couldn't do such a thing.

The Ottoman Empire was like a centipede, dead but not stiff. The best way to dismantle it was to incite the Arabs to rebel.

The goal was to force the Arabs to reject the Ottoman Empire from a doctrinal, spiritual, and cultural perspective.

To prevent the Arabs from re-establishing a Great Arab Empire after the Ottomans were gone, their sectarian and ethnic conflicts should be exploited to create a dozen or even dozens of kingdoms of varying sizes throughout the Far West.

Syria and Egypt, these two richest territories, I will grant to those among them who are willing to cooperate with me, support them, and use them to monitor others.

Mo Zhouzhao's method was the same tactic that Britain and the United States used in the Middle East in history: first, use the religious authority of the Arabs to overthrow the legitimacy of the Ottomans, and then let the Arabs crumble into pieces.

This Prince of Liao was very clear about his position. If Mo Gongze was the glue that held East and West together, then he was the watchdog that his father, Emperor Guangzhong, and the Dayu court had placed in the West.

Why do you need such a large territory and so many conflicts, you watchdog? If you eat yourself into a pig, how can you still guard the gate?

A gatekeeper needs to be short and sharp, with enough strength to bite, and just enough to keep the gate in check.

Therefore, Mo Zhouzhao did not want Egypt and Syria, but only the area around Constantinople, parts of Asia Minor, as well as Greece and Bulgaria.

The ceding of the most prosperous half of Bulgaria was actually a ploy to get Mogongze to agree to give him control of Moldova and Crimea, two territories with little connection to Islamist culture.

In the future, Mo Zhouzhao doesn't even want Greece; he plans to pass it on to any of his sons who cannot inherit the title of King of Liao.

Let this son marry a princess from any of England, France, or Prussia, then make him King of Greece, and expel Greece directly from the sphere of influence of the Chinese states, making it a vassal state.

Because Greek culture has roots, just like Islamic culture, you can't eliminate it. Incorporating it would clash with Chinese culture.

"No wonder Fifth Uncle chose you to be the Lord of Constantinople," Mo Gongze remarked.

“Okay, I agree to this. You give me the plains north of the Balkan Mountains and south of the Danube River, and let me own the entire lower Danube plain.”

In return, I will give you Moldova, join forces with you to conquer Crimea, and give you the entire Black Sea Fleet.

This was a small division of spoils between the two brothers, and both were quite satisfied with the result.

As for Li Xingtai's reward, Mo Zibu had already prepared it.

He would be given everything south of Rostov and north of the Caucasus, and he would also be granted special permission for the Liangzhou region to cultivate tea and receive financial subsidies.

At the same time, Mo Gongze also promised to help Li Xingtai's fourth son marry a princess from Austria or the Holy Roman Empire, so that he could become the Duke of Luxembourg and rule over part of Luxembourg, Limburg, and the Diocese of Liège.

On September 10, 1814, Mo Gongze, along with Li Xingtai and Mo Zhouzhan, led a large army back to Vienna, preparing for a complete reckoning with the French Empire.

Mo Zhouzhao is now playing a significant role; he is the glue that holds Austrian Emperor Franz and Mo Gongze together.

Because he was not only Mogongze's cousin, but also the eldest son-in-law of Emperor Franz of Austria.

Many key issues that Emperor Franz of Austria couldn't understand or feared lacked security were addressed and guaranteed by Mozambique, ensuring a close and cooperative relationship between Austria and Hungary.

Ryanstein, meanwhile, was stationed in Budapest, where he oversaw the requisitioning of supplies and laborers after the war, as well as the restoration of production.

On September 12, England, Austria, Prussia, Sweden, Naples, Sardinia, and the three kingdoms of Da Yu formally formed the Sixth Anti-French Coalition in Vienna.

The nations elected King Mönchonze of Hungary, who had made the greatest contribution in the previous war, as the Grand Marshal of the Allied Forces.

A general staff was established for the Allied forces, with key members including Li Xingtai, Archduke Karl, and Blücher, to coordinate military operations.

Although the anti-French coalition has been established six times and this one may seem no different, it is actually very different this time.

Because among the countries participating in the Sixth Coalition Against France were the three vassal states of Xia, Liao, and Liang of the Great Yu.

This indicates that after demonstrating absolute strength and playing a crucial role, the European countries have psychologically accepted the fact that the Great Yu is a level above them, or at least that the Great Yu emperor is a level above their kings.

As for when we will fully accept it, that's just a matter of time.

After the Sixth Coalition against France was formally established, the Allied Army Headquarters immediately formulated an operational plan.

The Kingdom of Sweden deployed 20,000 troops, transported by the English fleet, to land in Antwerp, Belgium, to reinforce the impending Antwerp Uprising.

At this time, the Kingdom of England was still fighting on the Iberian Peninsula and in the Second Anglo-American War, so it could not spare many troops to participate in the Antwerp landing and could only serve as a transport team.

The Austrian Empire mobilized 60,000 troops, 40,000 of whom were led by Archduke Charles, to attack Switzerland. After capturing Switzerland, they opened up the Italian front.

The Kingdom of Prussia mobilized 80,000 troops, the Three Feudatories mobilized 60,000, the Austrian Empire mobilized 20,000, and the rebellious German states (the Confederation of the Rhine) mobilized 30,000, forming the main force of the allied army, with a total strength of 190,000. They crossed the Lorraine region and marched straight towards Paris.

The second batch of 3,000 troops from the Great Yu army, along with 20,000 British Indian troops, reinforced the Spanish battlefield. After assisting Arthur Wellesley in conquering the Iberian Peninsula, they also marched north to attack Paris.

The second expeditionary force of the Great Yu Dynasty dispatched seven battleships, transporting 20,000 Egyptian soldiers, and landed in Sardinia and Sicily, dismantling French rule in western and southern Italy.

It is clear that, unlike the battles of Leipzig and Waterloo in history, this Maurice plan was aimed at eradicating the foundation of the French Empire in one fell swoop.

Or perhaps Moggallès was being very cautious; he wanted to resolve the trouble with France carefully before rebuilding his war-torn country and considering how to become the regent of Austria.

(End of this chapter)