Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

At 12 o'clock in the morning on October 7, 1869, when William IV's delegation arrived in British Gibraltar, the world was shocked by a piece of information from the Franco-Prussian War. The Prussian army actually crossed over from the west of the Dutch Principality of Luxembourg. When they came out, the French army in Namur Province was caught off guard and suffered a crushing defeat. In the end, most of the 130,000 people in the Charon Army were annihilated, and the remaining approximately 60,000 people fled to Sedan alive and were surrounded.

After the news broke, it shocked Europe and even the world.

On October 8, 1869, Bazin, who was in charge of the Rhine Army in the Lorraine area, suddenly panicked when he heard that most of the Chalon Army that supported him had been annihilated.

He never expected that the Principality of Luxembourg would become a sudden attack path for the Prussian army.

It is estimated that no one in France would have thought of this possibility.

He was thinking about Xialong Group

"Marshal Bazan, no, no, no, we are surrounded."

Marshal Bazan's face changed greatly when he heard this. He stepped forward and grabbed the person in front of him, and asked hurriedly: "What did you say?"

The man said in fear: "In the morning, when our scouts went to investigate the surrounding areas, they discovered densely packed Prussian soldiers. Now not only the Prussian army in the east, but also the Alsace Prussian army in the south came out to press against our army.

The western and northern parts of our Rhine Army were suddenly filled with Prussians. Marshal, we are surrounded by Prussian troops."

Besieged by Prussian troops?

North and west?

At this time, his staff couldn't help but said: "Marshal Bazin, at this time, it is not clear where the Chalong Army was annihilated because of a surprise attack by the Prussian Army from the Principality of Luxembourg. And we are obviously facing the same situation now. , it’s just that the Xialong Army faced a joint attack by the Prussian First Army and the Second Army, but now we are facing the Prussian Third Army and the Second Army, or the Third Army. Joint operation between the Corps and the 1st and 2nd Mixed Corps"

He raised his head nervously and advised: "Marshal, time is not waiting for me, so we should break out of the encirclement quickly."

Yes, breakout.

Bazin's talent was not outstanding among the many generals in France, but he was very loyal to Napoleon III. This is why he was reused even though he had no talent.

In response to that sentence, the loyalty of the untalented makes the boss like to reuse him more than the arrogance of the talented.

What is not known about this person is that he is very timid and afraid of getting into trouble.

After hearing the advice of the staff, why would you consider other things?

At 15:00 on October 8, 1869, General Bazin, Marshal of the Rhine Army of the French Empire, led the 110,000 French troops besieged in the Metz Fortress in the Lorraine area to break through. Unfortunately, it was too late. The Prussian troops arranged in a disorderly manner. The troops were deployed. Although General Bazin led 110,000 French troops and struggled for a long time, they finally failed to break through. In addition to less than 5,000 people who escaped, a total of 70,000 others were killed and injured. The number of French troops who surrendered following General Bazin reached more than 30,000. The battle became the deadliest and deadliest war between France and Prussia.

In addition to the 60,000 losses caused by the previous raid on the Charon Legion, the French army lost more than 130,000 people in these three days, which is about the same number as a French legion.

In particular, Marshal Bazin surrendered to Prussia with 30,000 people, which severely damaged France.

If the Xia Long Army was raided and annihilated before, which made Europeans change their temper, then now Bazin's Rhine Army was also surrounded and annihilated, which really shocked the world.

The most surprising thing is that the reason for these two sieges came from one reason, that is, the Principality of Luxembourg unexpectedly chose to support Prussia. The Principality turned out to be a springboard for Prussia to launch a surprise attack. Let France and everyone in the world be taught a vivid lesson about the unpredictability of war.

At this time, I still don’t understand that the neutral country of the Principality of Luxembourg is no longer neutral.

What about the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which governs it above?

No one would think that this is just what the Principality of Luxembourg means, but 24 hours have passed and the Netherlands has not issued any explanation statement for this. It seems that the Netherlands has something that has nothing to do with it.

However, the French Empire would not think that the Kingdom of the Netherlands was innocent because of this.

On October 9, 1869, Queen Eugenie, who was regent of France, gave a national mobilization speech at the French Parliament in Paris.

"Our French Empire, as one of the most powerful countries in Europe, has never been bullied so much. During the Napoleon I period, we were the strongest in Europe, allowing us to use our right to raise our head and look down upon other countries in Europe.

But look at it, although the French Empire still has strength, it is facing the eager gaze from surrounding countries.

Prussia intended to replace us as the hegemonic land power in Western Europe. Therefore, after reaping the benefits after the Prussian-Danish War and the Prussian-Austrosian War, its greedy and sinful hands reached out to us. It is ridiculous that many of us are still fighting for William I of Prussia. He and Bismarck pretended to be gentlemen, but they didn't expect that they were playing a double act.

The current situation is no longer a question of whether we choose to go to war or not, but a question of how we should choose to fight.

For the safety of Paris, our great Majesty Napoleon III is still stationed in Reims, between Paris and Sedan, for the purpose of maintaining the defense of Paris.

Even His Majesty is so devoted to guarding the French Empire, it’s time for you to do your best.”

Under the vivid speech of Queen Eugenie, the French Parliament passed the bill for general mobilization in France proposed by the French cabinet government of her regency. At the same time, the French Parliament also passed a bill that will withdraw 80,000 French troops from the Far East, North Vietnam and Siam, Cambodia, and 80,000 to support the mainland, leaving only 70,000 French troops to defend the Far East.

Since it was conducted in the French Parliament, all parties quickly received this information from within France through channels.

Although the Paris government vigorously promoted propaganda, the previous tragic defeats of the Chalon Army and the Rhine Army made the French people uneasy. They were afraid that the Prussian army in eastern France would suddenly enter the hinterland of France, even though the Prussian army currently occupied only 5% of the French territory. But war tends to cause panic.

Therefore, the discipline of the French army deteriorated greatly after that. At the same time, the war between the French and Prussian armies and Sedan to encircle and annihilate the 60,000-person Charon Army was also in progress. All European countries focused their attention there, because they knew that if the battle of Sedan failed, , then it means that after the Rhine Army, the Château Long Army was also wiped out, and two of the four regular local legions of the French army (the fifth leg was the South Vietnamese Army in the Far East) were wiped out. It can be said that France will face the vast territory next. It will be very difficult to defend against the Prussian invasion.

On October 9, 1869, French Prime Minister Charles summoned the Dutch Ambassador to France, Jefferson Breen, and asked the Kingdom of the Netherlands to explain the issue of Prussia's attack on French territory from the Principality of Luxembourg.

However, there was no reply from the Netherlands.

As a result, France dispatched 30,000 border guards on the French-Dutch border in the north and stationed themselves in Tournai, the capital of the French-Belgian province of Hainaut. At the same time, France also stationed 10,000 French militia troops in Lille in the north, close to the Dutch province of West Flanders in Belgium.

On October 10, French Prime Minister Charles stated that in view of the Netherlands’ bad attitude, the French government announced that all personnel from the Dutch Embassy would be expelled from the country. And said that France would break off diplomatic relations with the Netherlands.

At the same time, the front of the French army on the Dutch-French border advanced 20 kilometers and reached the Dutch border.

When the failure of the Franco-Prussian War enveloped the French people, it seemed that if Paris wanted to gain no benefit from Prussia, it would be a better choice to attack the Netherlands. However, can France really succeed?