18th century total war

Chapter 278 Make a Peace

"That's good news. I didn't expect that Napoleon was such a talented person that he destroyed the Principality of Hesse with only one regiment of troops.

Make a note of Napoleon. After this battle, Napoleon is qualified to lead a division alone. "

Carl ordered in a brisk tone.

After Napoleon occupied Kassel, the capital of the Principality of Hesse, all parts of the Principality of Hesse immediately lost their spirit of resistance. The remaining cities surrendered to the French Defense Forces without any resistance, and Nizza's First Division took the opportunity to occupy the northern part of the entire war zone. And there is still enough power to send two regiments of troops to help the friendly forces attacking the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands.

These are two regiments of the French Defense Forces!
As a result, the coalition forces of the Kingdom of Belgium and the French Empire took less than a week to capture Amsterdam, the capital of the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands!

At this point, the entire lowland region was included in the French Empire.

Under the fierce offensive of the French Empire, the main force of the Holy Roman Empire headed by Austria in the anti-French alliance was unable to attack at all, and could only hide in the Baden-Wurttemberg area and stand firm.

Of course, the Piedmont region of the Kingdom of Sardinia did not hold out for even three days before it was occupied by the French Empire again. The Sardinian royal family probably gained experience by running away and returned to Sardinia by a familiar route...

However, after occupying the Piedmont region this time, the French Defense Forces were attacked by many local guerrillas from the Kingdom of Sardinia.

The vast majority of these guerrillas were composed of surviving members of local aristocratic and middle-class families that had been bankrupted by the French Defense Forces.

The French Wehrmacht even found armed children and women among the partisans!

The number of these guerrillas was small, but because they had a blood feud with the French Defense Forces and were familiar with the terrain, they caused a lot of trouble for the French Defense Forces. In order to reduce casualties, the French army occupying the Piedmont region had to abandon large areas of villages and towns.

Fortunately, most of the poor in the Piedmont region did not have the spirit of fighting against the French Defense Forces, which had little impact on the overall situation of the war.

After occupying the Piedmont region, the French army dispatched all the way to attack the Italian peninsula, while many Italian states, with the support of Britain and Austria, barely pulled together an Italian coalition army of tens of thousands.

Then this Italian coalition created another humiliating record in Europe. Facing the French Foreign Legion with less than one division, tens of thousands of people collapsed without holding on for an hour. The casualties caused by the French Foreign Legion were rare single digits!

Since then, the ruling classes of many Italian states have once again started the mass escape mode. Ordinary Italian people are completely disappointed with their state governments, and no one likes a regime that flees at every turn.

Pius VII, who was the loudest clamorer before and publicly expelled Li Wei's religious membership, ran directly to Vienna, the capital of Austria. Only there could he feel a sense of security...

Soon, the French Foreign Legion marching into Italy discovered that it was not the enemy that prevented them from controlling the entire Italian peninsula, but the damn guerrillas and the bad road conditions in south-central Italy!

The last time the French Defense Forces killed too much, resulting in many people in Italy who were extremely hostile to the French Defense Forces. Although the number of middle-class and noble families was far less than that of poor families, they were not in the minority.

These people, regardless of age or sex, were stubborn to the end, which increased the pressure on the French Foreign Legion.

As a result, the French army's partial division, the French Italian Legion (the Foreign Legion is nominally under the command of the High Command of the Defense Forces), after occupying the entire Italian peninsula and Piedmont, basically lost the ability to continue attacking the Austrian mainland because of its divided troops. .

All of this is within the calculations of the Austrian generals. They only need to leave a regular army of 2 to block the northward route of the French army, which occupies too much territory.

The real decisive battle between the two sides was still in the area of ​​Baden-Wurttemberg where the heavy troops gathered.

A few days before the winter of 1798, the main force of the First Army of the French Defense Forces brazenly launched the Battle of Baden and the Battle of Württemberg, launching a fierce attack on the Allied Forces of the Holy Roman Empire defending the fortifications and cities from two fronts at the same time.

Under the self-destruct tactics of the French Defense Forces, in just one day, more than 3 allied forces of the Holy Roman Empire were annihilated, and more than a dozen fortresses were lost!
The main forces of Baden and Württemberg were even more damaged, and their morale collapsed.

This is the first time that the French Defense Force has shown its claws against other states of the Holy Roman Empire!
During the advancing process of the French Defense Forces, it took a lot of time to build traffic trenches and transport mortars to bombard the bastion. The entire battle lasted more than ten days!
The result of the battle was no surprise. The French Defense Forces, who were not afraid of death, won the fruits of victory, and the Austrian army as the main force of the Holy Roman Empire declared its collapse.

The main force of Austria was massed and wiped out more than 13 people, and the rest of the troops either retreated or retreated!

This battle was launched by Karl before the Prussian army joined the battle, so the Prussian army did not have time to participate in the battle. Later, after the battle was doomed, the Prussian army was even more unwilling to come and die...

In the post-war inventory, the French Defense Forces lost more than 200 infantry guards, more than [-] sharpshooters, and more than [-] guard cavalry.

Among the main forces of the annihilated enemy, more than half of the troops became prisoners of war of the French Defense Forces.

After the war ended, the states of the Holy Roman Empire were deterred by the fighting power of the French Empire. All the states of the Holy Roman Empire, including Prussia, took the initiative to send peace envoys to the French army to end the war.

And the little army of Tsarist Russia did not dare to participate in this battle at all!
The main purpose of Tsarist Russia's participation in the anti-French alliance this time was to consume the French Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. Unexpectedly, the fighting power of the French Empire was frighteningly high. Assisting in the defense of the Bavarian region.

Karl wanted to send the envoys from various countries negotiating to Paris, but those envoys were unwilling to do so. They were afraid that they would be hypnotized by Levi!

Eventually the two sides reached an agreement, and the French Empire sent diplomats to the city of Ulm to negotiate.

The main reason why Livy was so anxious for peace talks was that during the war in Europe, the British suddenly exerted their strength, a revolutionary uprising broke out in Madrid, and the incompetent Carlos IV was placed under house arrest by the Revolutionary Party led by Spanish nobles!
Carlos IV's confidant, Prime Minister Godoy, was beheaded in public.

Because the Spanish Revolutionary Army was led by nobles, they didn't have the guts to cut off the king's head, and the British father behind it couldn't agree!
This was a premeditated revolution. Not only were the Spanish people dissatisfied with the rule of Carlos IV and Prime Minister Godoy, many Spanish nobles were also dissatisfied with the tyrants of the Spanish Kingdom who surrendered to the French Empire, so the British and the Spanish The opposition nobles had long colluded.

In fact, the alliance between the two parties has long been able to set off a revolutionary uprising in Madrid, but the French Empire next door is a supporter of Carlos IV. They are worried that the French Defense Forces will come to Madrid again. What is the point of their uprising to overthrow Carlos IV? ?

Therefore, the opposition of the Kingdom of Spain and the British, when they chose the time when the French Empire went to war with the Anti-French Alliance, set off a revolutionary uprising.

By the time the Livy regime defeated the Holy Roman Empire coalition, the situation in the Kingdom of Spain had been controlled by the opposition nobles, and Carlos IV was forced to give way to his son Ferdinand VII.

After Ferdinand VII came to power, under the threat of the London government and the persecution of the Spanish nobles, he signed an armistice treaty with the Kingdom of Portugal, returned all the occupied territories of the Kingdom of Portugal, and joined the second anti-French alliance.

At the same time, it began to rectify the decadent regular army of the Kingdom of Spain, actively preparing for war, replenishing its troops, and planning to invade the territory of the French Empire from the southern front.

Just to the surprise of the London government, the Holy Roman Empire failed too quickly!
While the Kingdom of Spain was still preparing for war, on the other hand, many states of the Holy Roman Empire had already started peace negotiations with the Li Wei government.

This is undoubtedly a great irony.

Even if the Kingdom of Spain sends troops now, it must first deal with the Kingdom of Catalonia, the younger brother of the French Empire. It is not that the French Empire has no garrisons in the south, but Carlos IV abdicated so fast that even the French Defense Forces could not arrive. madrid.

Of course, the Holy Roman Empire, which had just experienced a new defeat, would naturally not consider the interests of the British and the fate of the Kingdom of Spain. They just wanted to break free from this failed war and avoid losing more!
It's not that the Holy Roman Empire can't continue to fight. Prussia is still full of health, and the Russian army has not retreated. Even Austria, which suffered the most losses, still has more than [-] well-trained regular troops in the country!
It's just that the balance of military power between the two sides has undergone tremendous changes. The Holy Roman Empire has no hope of victory, so naturally it doesn't want to continue fighting.

And Li Wei wanted to completely solve his southern front problem and solve the dilemma of the future two-front battle once and for all, and also tended to temporarily truce with the Holy Roman Empire.

However, Li Wei proposed a condition that embarrassed the Holy Roman Emperor.

Demand the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire!

Livy's diplomats referred to historical facts, listed the backwardness of the Holy Roman Empire system, and warned the Austrian envoys that the Holy Roman Empire was not a real empire at all. If they continued to hold on, they would risk Vienna being attacked!

The emperor of the Holy Roman Empire is naturally unwilling to give up the title of emperor. Although the Holy Roman Empire is neither holy nor Roman nor an empire, at least it has a legally orthodox name. The Habsburg Dynasty can quickly gather more than half of the Holy Roman Empire. Didn't the Allied Forces rely on this orthodox name?

This orthodox name is sometimes very useful.

Since no agreement can be reached, the war can only continue.

At this time, the Holy Roman Empire remembered that the British had supported a great ally. Although the Spanish army's combat effectiveness was not good, but its geographical location was good, and it happened to be stuck on the weakness of the French Empire.

Any big country is very aware of the pain of fighting on two fronts!

There are really not too many mainland powers that have been defeated in two-front battles in history.

Thus, the Kingdom of Spain officially declared war on the Kingdom of Catalonia.

Only by removing this nail can we better attack the French Empire.

Originally, the Kingdom of Spain thought that the Kingdom of Catalonia was being attacked, and the main southern force of the French Empire would definitely support it. At that time, the Kingdom of Spain could detach another army to attack the empty southern defense line of the French Empire!

It's a pity that the French Empire obviously doesn't take its little brother, the Kingdom of Catalonia, seriously...

While the King of Aragon called on all the Catalan people to take up arms against the Spanish invasion, he secretly prepared to run away...

Unsurprisingly, the Catalan people, who had not recovered their strength, were once again beaten by the Spanish army.

You must know that this time the army of the Kingdom of Spain is mixed with many revolutionaries. These people are relatively capable of fighting, and they are pure soldiers who have not been polluted by the corruption in the army. The war is defeated all the way.

If the King of Aragon had not recruited and armed all the young men he could find among the Catalans, it is estimated that the Kingdom of Catalonia would not even be able to achieve its purpose of delaying time.

However, it was precisely because the resistance of the Catalans was so fierce that it angered the Spanish army. Every time they captured a piece of land, they would carry out brutal massacres.

This time it is not a selective massacre, but an organized genocide. All Catalan people will be massacred by the Spanish army!

This order was not issued by Ferdinand VII. The newly appointed Ferdinand VII is more like a rubber stamp. He has the power of a king, but he is afraid of the terror of revolution and does not want to be like his father. Most of the proposals put forward by the reorganized cabinet ministers are not opposed if they can not be opposed.

As long as the cabinet can meet his personal enjoyment and expenses, Ferdinand VII is very happy.

Both Ferdinand VII and his father Carlos IV were dubbed the Pig Kings by the Spaniards.

Not only because the father and son are greedy for pleasure, but more importantly because both the father and son are very fat and ugly!

When the Catalans were genocide, the French Defense Forces launched another offensive, this time more ferocious. Levi personally conveyed instructions to Karl to conquer the Holy Roman Empire!
So, after about a week of bloody battles, the Kingdom of Bavaria fell!
The Russian army that assisted in the defense lost more than half of its troops and fled back to the country in a hurry. However, the number of troops sent by the Russian army was less than 1, so the loss was not large...

The biggest loss was undoubtedly Bavaria, which was destroyed. Bavaria was a regional power in the Holy Roman Empire, second only to Austria and Prussia!
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(End of this chapter)