MTLNOVEL Chapter 344 The Hero of France
The Commander of the Austrian army in the Southern Netherlands, Leao, looked even more distressed.
Accompanying the reinforcements that arrived in Luxembourg was a secret letter from Joseph II. The letter instructed him to drag the French Army into battle against the Prussians and the Hanoverians if possible, and if necessary, lead the enemy forces into the Luxembourg area.
However, Leao knew better than anyone how cunning the French people were, through his interactions with the French Army during this period.
They constantly provoked him to engage in a decisive battle with Blucher, while setting up their camp at the rear of the Austrian troops and beginning to construct breastworks along the borders of Luxembourg and Liege—a form of simple defensive fortification, as if they were preparing to defend Luxembourg to the death.
Previously, Leao had used the excuse of insufficient troops to delay for nearly half a month. Now, with the 8,000 reinforcements from Joseph II in place, he found himself squeezed between the Emperor and the French, as if on the edge of a knife.
He turned his gaze towards Lefevre, his tone carrying a plea, "My dearest friend, you will surely send me reinforcements when I am battling the Prussians, won't you?"
He had witnessed the combat prowess of the Lefevre Group, especially during that chase, where more than 2,000 French soldiers had the nearly 5,000 men of the Alterman Corps fleeing in panic. With his help, maybe he would be able to contend with Blucher's army of 14,000.
Lefevre had been waiting for these words, yet he put on a very distressed expression, "I would be very glad to help you, General. We forged our friendship in blood on the battlefield. But as you know, I cannot move the troops on my own accord. To be frank, my orders are to stay at Defretille Mountain."
"But..."
Before Leao could continue his plea, Lefevre leaned in close to his old friend and whispered consolingly, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is at Kleve Town, maybe you could ask him. The Prince is kind-hearted and easy to talk to."
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In the northern part of Luxembourg, Kleve Town.
The sights on both sides of the road were quite desolate. When the Prussian Army retreated from here, they took away all the goods they could loot. Not only were all sorts of livestock "requisitioned," but even some people's bed linens and blankets were taken to be used as bandages.
Joseph watched the Luxembourg farmers pass by the carriage window and worried about military expenses in his heart.
This morning, he had received a report from Brian in Paris, which detailed the expenses of the French forces in various locations over this period.
The troops in Tunisia had been stationed the longest and had spent 4.5 million livres.
Although the French forces in Silesia and Luxembourg had only been mobilized for a month, the total expenditure had reached as high as tens of millions of livres due to the fierce fighting.
This was without counting the pensions for the wounded soldiers, as well as the substantial supplies provided to the French forces in Silesia by Joseph II.
If the pensions were included, the military expenses for this period would be around 17 million livres.
And this was just for a little over a month of fighting.
Joseph frowned slightly, fully aware that to achieve his strategic plans for the Southern Netherlands, the war might last for half a year or even longer.
The necessary military expenses would definitely exceed 100 million livres.
One must remember, France had spent a full 1.3 billion livres supporting the United States in the War of Independence over eight years! And for several of the early years, it was just "volunteer" forces skirmishing. It was only from 1780, when the Count of Rochambeau took 6,000 French troops to America, until the independence of the United States in 1783, that the annual military expenses exceeded 300 million livres. Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire
War is always a devouring beast of gold in any era.
Although victory in war would bring enormous dividends, France needed to invest a massive amount of funds upfront at the moment.
If handled improperly, the French finances, which had just recovered from the brink, might well plunge back into the abyss.
How to raise the military funds?
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Following the standard practices of the era, the general approaches were to borrow from banks or private lenders, issue war bonds, and increase wartime taxes.
Joseph couldn't help but sigh lightly, recognizing these were pitfalls.
The first two methods would saddle the nation with heavy interest burdens—such wartime loans had exorbitantly high-interest rates, even exceeding 40%.
Increasing taxes was even more detrimental. He had just managed to subdue the enthusiasm of the old district's people for playing the "Bastille dungeon" levels, and he didn't want to lose all his hard work due to high tax rates. Besides, Louis XV had already imposed a military service tax, which wasn't revoked even after the war's end.
Inwardly, he reviewed all the modern short-term financing methods he knew.
The first thing that came to mind was banknotes.
It just so happened that the "banknotes" from the Bank of France Reserve had not yet been officially declared as France's sole legal tender, which would allow for an increase in circulation with this batch.
Moreover, the move was beneficial for France's current economic situation—the French industry was experiencing rapid development, and moderate inflation at this time would stimulate consumption, advantageous for the sale of goods.
Then he remembered the French Commercial Insurance Company, as the insurance industry was an important pillar of the financial system in later times.
But at the end of the 18th century, the insurance industry wasn't yet developed, limited to marine, fire, and property insurance.
The market was just too small…
As Joseph reflected on this, he suddenly laughed and shook his head.
Isn't this thinking too rigid?
If the market is small, it means there is a significant void! If customers don't have demands, then guide them to develop demands.
If he could push the insurance industry forward, financing military expenditure for one or two years wouldn't be an issue at all. There might even be surplus funds for investment in industrial construction.
He immediately took out paper and pen and began writing quickly at the small wooden table in his carriage: health insurance…
business insurance…
financial management insurance…
Soon, Joseph's carriage stopped near the Guard Corps' camp to the north of town, and a squad of soldiers on duty promptly ran to welcome him, forming a line in front of the Crown Prince's carriage.
From the soldiers' proudly raised heads and their straight spines, one could tell how high their morale was at the moment.
Joseph smiled and nodded to the soldiers and then let a Major who came to greet him lead him directly to the wounded soldiers' camp area.
Several farmhouses in the suburbs had been temporarily rented as a field hospital, and with tents set up between the buildings, there were more than three hundred wounded being treated here.
Perna was busy bustling about with the nurses; having heard the Crown Prince had arrived, she curtseyed from a distance to Joseph before being called away by the shouts of the injured.
A large number of Luxembourg locals had been hired to help. Situated at the intersection of France, Germany, and the Netherlands, the people here were masters of languages, mastering three foreign languages from a young age, so coming to work here posed no obstacle.
They also didn't have much opinion on who should rule the country.
When the wounded saw that the Crown Prince had come, they struggled to rise and salute, but were stopped by accompanying officers. Instead, it was Joseph who first saluted them seriously with his hat, sincerely saying, "You are the heroes of France, and France is honored by your sacrifices and contributions!"
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