Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

The South Netherlands Insurgent Army, inspired by Vice-President Onck, began to launch a fierce attack on the French surrounding General Witte.

Contrary to their expectations, the French Army nearly collapsed upon contact; within less than 20 minutes, a huge gap appeared in the encirclement.

Witte evidently noticed the anomaly, and when he could barely make out the flag of the Southern Netherland National Army through his telescope, his heart surged with joy. He ordered the officers beside him to brace up and break through with him.

Under the pressure from both inside and outside, the Guard Corps led by Mason found it increasingly "difficult to defend," and soldiers of the Netherlands Army nearby began to flee in panic.

In just under an hour, Witte had met up with Major Acht, who had come to reinforce him.

General Witte glanced at the retreating French, stepped forward, and embraced Acht tightly, patting his back excitedly, "You arrived just in time, my dear friend! You are like the first ray of dawn that suddenly appears on a cold snowy night…"

The latter extracted himself from the embrace and gestured toward Onck not far away, "General, actually, it is Chairman Onck who is the true dawn. He bravely went against the majority opinion and led us to rescue you."

"Onck?" General Witte was startled, finding it hard to associate the greedy and irresolute politician with bravery.

But Acht would not deceive him, perhaps all the negative stories about Onck were just rumors. Thinking this, Witte quickly adjusted his uniform, approached Onck, and gave him a sincere chest salute, "You saved me and thousands of revolutionaries with peerless courage. Please allow me to express to you the highest respect and earnest gratitude."

Onck returned the smile and the salute, took the horse that a guard had brought over, and gestured for General Witte to mount, "Now is not the time for idle chat. I have heard that the French have defeated General Blucher and they could reinforce this area at any time. We'd better head back to Liege first."

"You are right, preserving these revolutionaries is of utmost importance." Witte mounted the horse, then found his staff officer in the crowd, and ordered him to assemble the troops and retreat to Liege immediately.

However, the French swiftly rallied and pursued them.

The soldiers of Witte Corps, whose morale had been shattered by the Mounted Artillery of the Guard Corps, did not dare to fight and ran faster than each other. With their low level of training, the marching columns soon showed signs of disintegration.

As Witte was anxiously trying to calm the soldiers, Onck stepped forward again, offering to lead a battalion to cover the retreat.

About 20 minutes later, Mason's Mounted Artillery of the Guard Corps caught up and began exchanging fire with the more than 500 men of the Netherlands Army that stood in front of them.

After firing at each other for a good half hour, one of Onck's confidants slipped away to a small forest not far from the battlefield and met a French officer there.

"Mr. Onck said that this should be about it," the confidant said in French as if he were talking to an acquaintance, "The next battlefield is near Aleviko Village. Please retreat first."
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The French officer nodded, "Okay, see you at Aleviko Village."

As he turned to leave, he stopped and fixed a piercing gaze on the other, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked me to remind Mr. Onck not to forget the agreement."

"Yes, of course. How could we forget? Mr. Onck's reputation for reliability is known to all of Brussels."

"That's good to hear."

Then, the French pursuers "could not withstand" the valiant South Netherland soldiers led by Onck and began to retreat.

In the thunderous cheers of the soldiers, Onck began to lead his troops to speed up the pursuit of Witte's main force, and caught up with them before nightfall.

In the following two days, Onck twice took the initiative to cover the rear and, each time with inferior forces, miraculously drove off the pursuers, allowing Witte Corps to safely arrive at Liege.

As Witte's soldiers and the South Netherlanders who came to welcome them converged, Onck's fame immediately spread throughout Liege.

The Dutch soldiers he had saved from danger time and again even gave him a nickname—Henri Onck, the Miracle Maker.

After returning to Brussels with the wounded soldiers for rest and recuperation, this nickname, along with Onck's deeds, quickly became well-known to all the Southern Netherland Rebels.

In the States-General of the Netherlands meeting the next day, the previously almost voiceless conservative members appeared energized, speaking louder than before. And their opinions were clearly taken more seriously by the other members.

This was the political effect brought about by the conservative leader Henri Onck's miraculous military performance, winning him enormous support among the revolutionaries.

...

Northwest of Luxembourg, in Wincel Town.

When the Guard Corps arrived here, General Blucher's troops had left a day and a half ago.

Inside the trading center's large building, Joseph dictated a letter to his uncle Joseph II, with a clerk recording it by his side.

Suddenly, Eman hurried over and whispered, "Your Highness, Major Mason has returned."

Joseph signaled the clerk to pause and said to Eman, "Please let him in quickly."

Moments later, the Major, who had been promoted from the Crown Prince's guard to the Guard Corps, entered the room, led by Eman, and saluted Joseph with a hand to his chest, "Your Highness, the mission has been successfully completed."

Joseph nodded with a smile, "You did very well."

"Thank you for your praise," said Mason. "Your Highness, Henri Onck has stated that the main force of the South Netherlands Army will gradually withdraw south of Brussels within three months at the earliest. However, he mentioned that convincing some members of Congress is necessary, thus an additional five hundred thousand livres will be needed for expenses."

"He really dares to ask," Joseph laughed and said to Eman, "Instruct the intelligence bureau to take fifty thousand livres to Onck. Tell him, to withdraw from the Walloon Region within two months."

The area south of Brussels roughly corresponds to the Walloon Region.

Major Mason cautiously said from the side, "Your Highness, if that Onck does not keep his promise..."

"He wouldn't dare," said Joseph with a dismissive shake of his head, "He knows what would happen if Vandernoot learns that he has collaborated with us."

Vandernoot was the leader of the Liberals in the Southern Netherlands, Onck's political rival. Historically, not long after, the Liberals ousted Onck and other conservatives from Congress and began to monopolize power.

Joseph continued, "Even if Onck truly breaks his word, it doesn't matter. As long as he remains in the States-General of the Netherlands, my purpose is achieved.

"This is the so-called largest weakness of the election system."

He was very aware that with the current fervor of the Southern Netherland Rebels and the emerging signs of national awakening, it would be difficult for France to secure a firm hold on the Walloon Region.

Even if they occupied it by force, they would face uprisings sparked by the revolutionaries everywhere.

In that case, the Walloon Region would not only fail to bring profits to France, but it would also become a severe drain on resources.

Therefore, it was essential to disintegrate the parliament of the Southern Netherland Insurgent Army, causing them to be engulfed in internal strife, and in turn, diverting all the revolutionaries' attention to political struggles.