Welcome to 19th-century Europe, where strength reigns supreme

Napoleon III's declaration of war caught everyone's expectations, and his actions caused an uproar all over the world. When he learned that Belgium would be merged with the Netherlands, he was very anxious and ordered a declaration of war. The reason was to regain the lost territory and regain France.

Although this makes no sense, France had recognized Belgium's independence in 1831, which was equivalent to breaking its promise. When the Netherlands and Belgium merged, the French army had already crossed the border and launched an attack on Belgium. A full-scale attack.

King Leopold I of Belgium only allowed half of the territory to be merged with the Netherlands, and he took the other half of the territory to be independent with all the Guards. Facing the powerful French Empire, this behavior can be said to have protected the Netherlands. If the Netherlands did this When there was a conflict with France, the worst-case scenario would be to start the Second Napoleonic War, and the whole of Europe would once again be riddled with holes.

The French army's army strength far exceeds that of any other European country at present. It's just that Napoleon III couldn't play well. If he put down the keyboard and didn't worry about the miracles of his micro management, France could actually win many wars easily.

The day after the French army officially declared war, they were crowned in Brussels and the new Kingdom of Belgium was established. Most of the Belgians in these four places fled to the north. They did not want to be French prisoners of war. They could go to the Netherlands to accumulate strength and wait for one day. Able to take revenge on France and regain this lost territory.

On the second day after the war began, the French army rushed all the way to Kortrijk, dividing Belgium into two halves, and then mobilized about [-] troops to march towards West Flanders. Most of Belgium was plain, and there was no way to With so many natural moats to resist the French army, the Belgians could only hide in their houses and wait for the French artillery bombardment to end before attacking the French army. However, there are only [-] people here, but they have to face several times their own number. of the French army.

The situation is desperate. They can't get supplies or military intelligence from the east, and they don't know how many French troops have mobilized to attack here. But at the critical moment, the Netherlands cleared a road for them. This is a small road, Belgium. Supplies can be continuously sent to West Flanders from here, and there is no need to worry about being blocked by the French army in the Netherlands.

This is a very risky move, because lending the road to a warring country is considered an act of war. Therefore, the Netherlands must carefully protect this path and cannot be discovered by anyone. Tolbeck argued against all the opinions in the parliament. He said , "Our country will remain neutral, but I want all members to understand one thing. Even neutral countries cannot confuse right and wrong, and even neutral countries cannot violate their conscience."

The Belgian and French armies engaged in a fierce street battle in Rousselal. The Belgians hid in the ruins looking for the lone French army, and unexpectedly appeared to harvest the French soldiers. They only had twenty artillery pieces, and the French army brought They have more than two hundred artillery pieces and well-trained cavalry, but they are difficult to play in the city.

France cannot smoothly deploy formations in the city, which is very beneficial to guerrilla warfare, but the problem is relative. Belgian artillery cannot hit the French army, and the French army is not without training in street fighting. Over time, Belgium has not been trained. The soldiers gradually became unable to support themselves.

War is very objective and does not depend on personal will or perseverance. France has more professional officers, well-trained troops, and more complete weapons. These qualities crushed the Belgian militia, and in the end it took less than three days. , the Belgian army in Roeselare was defeated by the French army, two thousand people were captured, three thousand people died, and the remaining people fled to the northern city of Ostend with the defeated soldiers.

The French offensive in the west was also extremely fierce, attacking all the way to the vicinity of La Louvière. Residents in Brussels could even see gunpowder smoke in the distance.

Leopold II was waiting anxiously in the church. He had heard that the province of Hainaut had almost been completely occupied, and a large number of refugees gathered around him. As a former crown prince, he saw his father in the clouds of waves. He won democracy and freedom for Belgium in a turbulent Europe, and he also wanted to do something big to make Belgium strong and great.

But Belgium is a small country. It is too inconspicuous. Compared with other big countries, Belgium is too weak. When Belgium has no backing, it will inevitably be involved in wars and cannot survive alone.

In the face of Napoleon III's aggressive behavior, Prussia made tepid diplomatic protests against him, and Britain also made some diplomatic protests against it, and ordered France to cease fire immediately. Of course, Napoleon III did not listen, and Britain except for diplomatic protests Indeed, there is no sequel.

At the rear, Napoleon III opened champagne at halftime. He thought he had won, and immediately began to speak harshly against Belgium and the Netherlands. He tried to transfer the hatred between the two countries to Prussia, so he made it public. A Franco-German Versailles Contract stated that Prussia assigned Belgium to France, and it was Prussia that betrayed Belgium.

As a signer of the Treaty of Versailles, Prussian Prime Minister Tina said, "I don't know anything about this kind of thing. I didn't sign this thing. Don't talk nonsense with your eyes open. You see, we in Prussia have always been reputable. , if we really signed this treaty, why didn’t Prussia give the Rhineland to France?”

This time, Napoleon III was confused. Good boy, you still know that you owe me the Rhineland! But in the eyes of others, this thing can be said to be very outrageous. France is a big country after all, so why is the method of transferring hatred so crude? Why didn't you say that the Prussian army forced you to fight Belgium when it invaded Paris?

Napoleon III was about to burst into tears: "Damn it, don't believe it. She really signed it. If Prussia doesn't keep its word, it won't give it to the Rhineland. What can I do?"

Although Napoleon III's protest was a bit magical, it also made France even more of a ghost in the eyes of others. If the treaty is true, why don't you beat Prussia together? Doesn't this further reflect your nature of bullying the weak and fearing the strong?

In the mutual scolding, Napoleon III did not get any benefits. Instead, he caused a wave of trouble for himself and suffered huge losses. Moreover, the British were a little surprised after learning about this incident, "Hey, take it. It's been a few days since you laid off the roof, right? I didn't punish you because I saw you as an honest person, but now you've lost your temper, right? The lion is so open-minded, why are you still thinking about how you push the natural boundaries?"

However, the speed of the French attack can be said to be extremely fast. Tina sent some generals disguised as war reporters to the battlefield to see the situation and to see the true strength of the French army.

The French army would line up in a neat square formation on the Great Plains. The cavalry would follow the infantry on both sides to prevent the opposite cavalry from rushing into the infantry formation. The infantry would fire a volley from each row. Their weapons were not weak. The French army with breech-loading guns has a faster rate of fire. The performance of their rifles is very good. The design speed is actually similar to the Type 63 rifle installed by Prussia, but the penetration and range are slightly smaller.

But it was still a bit surprising. After observing the French army's battle, the Prussian general commented that it was "a well-trained, neatly arranged unit with extremely high morale."

This put Tina under a lot of pressure. The generals she chose were all those who had many achievements and had led troops. Their vision was generally more accurate. It was obvious at a glance the quality of the army. France was indeed united by Germany. The final boss.

She asked Ron with some dissatisfaction, "When will we defeat France?"

Ron replied calmly, "It only takes me five years to train a force that will not lose to the French army. As long as our second round of military reforms are effective, it is not impossible to defeat France."