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Volume 1 Chapter 776 George III wakes up

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    Just as Karl imagined, William ordered the imperial princes to lead the army to Frankfurt. The real reason was not just that he wanted to use these princes and their troops to fight for Prussia.  For William now, although he has become the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire is essentially a loose federal country, and if this status quo can be changed, it has become an urgent problem for William.  question.  After all, the ideal country in William's mind is a highly centralized country.  William¡¯s idea was only revealed to several senior Prussian officials. William¡¯s idea was quite bold. He wanted to re-establish a country called the German Empire on the ruins of the Holy Roman Empire!  There was once a sage from the European continent who said, "The so-called Holy Roman Empire is neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire."  Allowing these princes to come to Frankfurt was William's move to test people's hearts.  As long as these princes rush to Frankfurt, then with the heavy concentration of troops in Frankfurt, Prussia, even if these princes are unwilling, they may have to accept William's order.  And if some princes disobey orders and come to Frankfurt, it will actually be better for William.  Because enemies in the open are always more frightening than enemies in the dark.  William¡¯s mobilization order was not issued to the northern Italian city-states, but William also asked the northern Italian princes belonging to the Holy Roman Empire to immediately cancel trade with the British.  Although William was skeptical about whether the city-states in northern Italy would implement his orders and even how vigorously they would implement them, after all, this was just William asking for directions.  William announced that all princely states ordered by Prussia must arrive in Frankfurt before Christmas.  Those who fail to do so will be seen as challenging the emperor's authority, and such behavior can only lead to one consequence, which is an attack by the Prussian army.  In addition, William also announced in the order that he would hold a grand banquet on Christmas Eve as the first Christmas ceremony after the coronation of His Majesty the Emperor.  William¡¯s order spread to various states in the Holy Roman Empire in the shortest possible time.  East to Poland.  From Italy and the Balkans in the south to Switzerland in the west and Denmark in the north, all the princes in the entire Holy Roman Empire began to pack their bags.  According to the calculations of the Prussian government, after William's order is issued, it is conservatively estimated that the imperial princes will lead a total of 38,000 troops to Frankfurt.  Except for these imperial princes.  William also sent people to Rome to invite the new Pope Felix to Frankfurt.  Because of the defection on the Prussian side, Giovanni, who was expected to become pope, was defeated in the election of the College of Cardinals, while Felix ascended to the papal throne with a slight advantage.  As early as September, Felix, who ascended the papal throne, announced that the church properties in the Mainz basin would be handed over to the government of the Holy Roman Empire for management.  All clergy should abandon all worldly possessions and serve God wholeheartedly!  Although this order aroused the dissatisfaction of a large number of cardinals in the Holy See, with the support of the Prussians and the suppression of Felix himself, this proposal was finally passed in the Holy See.  Prussian mobilization, France's border troops, and William's large-scale recruitment of troops from city-states under the Holy Roman Empire, these bad news were placed in front of the British cabinet and the regent Augustus one after another.  "Your Highness, a war is inevitable. What we need to do most right now is to do our best to ensure that we can win this war!" Fox said to Augustus with a heavy face.  "The Admiralty has fully reduced its forces. In just half a month, the main force of our navy will gather in the English Channel. By then, even if the Prussian Navy does not make any changes, the Royal Navy will be dispatched to wait for an opportunity to find the main force of the Prussian Navy for a decisive battle! Although  After unifying the fleets of various countries, the Prussian Navy is not far different from our Royal Navy in size, but I believe that our country will win! As long as we defeat the main force of the Prussian Navy, our country may lose all the territory of the European continent.  The navy can be sent to load the army troops into the Baltic Sea. By then, the territories along the Prussian coast will become a threat to our country!" After seeing that Augustus did not finish his words.  Fox had no choice but to start telling Augustus about the relevant plans of the British cabinet.  Although the Prussians have more than 300,000 troops, it is obvious that these troops cannot be divided.?The defenses are deployed in various coastal areas, and the current defensive strength of major cities on the Prussian Baltic coast does not exceed 2,000 people. Even if it is a temporary emergency call, it cannot exceed 5,000 at most.  Once Britain gained control of the sea, the British army would completely threaten Prussia's territorial security from the rear.  "Well, just follow the government's plan. I have only one request, and that is, even if we have to give up territory on the European continent, the Prussians must not benefit! In addition, North America should not give up and transfer the West Indies and  All the troops in Gibraltar were sent to North America for reinforcements to negotiate with the Spanish government. Our country can return Gibraltar, but Spain will also have to pay a considerable price! Also, the Prussians have just established a colony there. I want Indochina.  The army must destroy this Prussian colony for me!"    In early December 1794, the North American War entered its most intense phase. First, Wharton Hall, who saw through the falsehoods of the Fourth Colonial Division, led the army to attack Albery's Prussian army, although Albery tried his best to resist it.  , but in five days of fighting, the Fourth Colonial Division was still defeated by the British army, and Arbery led the remaining troops to retreat all the way south.     but.  As Arbery retreated to the North Carolina border, his reinforcements, the 2nd Division of the Prussian Colonies, arrived.  Arbery then re-boosted his morale and followed the Second Division northward again.  Although he defeated Arbery, it was not easy for Wodenhall. Although he later received reinforcements from Canada and the West Indies, the current strength of the British army was still only 20,000.  Among the 20,000, many were forcibly recruited from Virginia to fill the gap in casualties from previous battles.  Under this situation, different voices also sounded within the British army.  Some British generals felt that the immediate priority was to hold on to Virginia and several surrounding coastal states, but some generals believed that after coming into contact with the threat in southern Virginia.  Now we should decisively look for opportunities to fight the main force of the Prussian Western Front.  Both of these voices have their own reasons. Under this situation, Wharton Hall couldn't help but hesitate in his heart.  It was at this time that the British army received information that the Prussian army on the southern front had received reinforcements from a reorganized division.  "Mader, don't make any noise. Since the Prussians are now fighting to the death with us, there is no future for holding on to Virginia. Therefore, I decided that the entire army should prepare for departure immediately. We will go south to destroy those damn Prussian troops first.  Then go directly to Atlanta, and compete with the Prussians in terms of speed to see whether they can conquer Philadelphia first or we can conquer Atlanta first!" Then, in the obvious mood of Wharton Hall, he was in a desperate mood!  Down.  The British army of 20,000 troops plus 10,000 young men forcibly recruited as auxiliaries embarked on the road south.  At this time, Scharnhorst¡¯s troops were still on their way to Harrisburg.  December 5th.  In the Danville area of ??Virginia, 30,000 British troops collided head-on with 15,000 Prussian troops.  Subsequently, a war broke out between the two sides.  Unlike the Fourth Colonial Division, the Second Colonial Division was one of the earliest divisions established in the North American colonies. Even a large number of generals in the division were drawn from the main Prussian division.  And in the more than ten years of expansion history of Prussia's North American colonies, the Second Colonial Division has always acted as a pioneer.  This can be seen from the fact that before the war began, the Prussian Colonial Second Division was deployed in Arkansas, the westernmost part of Prussia's North American colony.  Therefore, to a certain extent, the combat effectiveness of the Second Colonial Division even exceeds that of the First Colonial Division, because the Second Division has been immersed in war for more than ten years.  On the afternoon of December 5, a British outpost division was besieged by the Prussian army with a superior force of more than 10,000 men. Then, under the command of Wodenhall, British reinforcements from one division reinforced the forward, and another division  It bypassed the Prussian army's battle line and penetrated directly into the rear of the Prussian army.  On December 7, the Prussian army voluntarily abandoned the previously constructed defense line on the Drai River north of Danville and retreated.  The Dale River is a river in the north of Danville. The river is not big, but it is also small. Obviously it is still difficult for people to swim across it. Therefore, the main channel on both sides of the Dale River is the bridge on the river.  There is only one bridge on the Terai River, and this bridge isIt was built by the Chinese colonial government.  Seeing that the Prussians had voluntarily abandoned the Drai River, Wodenhauer was overjoyed and immediately ordered his army to follow the Prussian army across the Drai River.  On December 8, the British army suddenly discovered that the Prussian army, which seemed to have disappeared yesterday, once again appeared in front of it and on both sides. In other words, the British army was surrounded.  Seeing this situation, Wodenhall was shocked. He immediately ordered the army to set up a defense line with his back to the Drai River.  But not long after the British army had just deployed its defense line, several small boats suddenly appeared from the upper reaches of the Tarai River. These boats rushed towards the bridge on the Tarai River at high speed.  These small boats moved very quickly. Before the British army could react, they approached the only bridge on the Terai River, which was the life channel behind the British army.  You must know that in order to be on guard against the Prussians, Wodenhall did not lead all the troops across the other side. Instead, he personally led 15,000 British troops and stationed them on the south bank, while 5,000 British troops were left on the north bank.  and ten thousand auxiliary troops.  After approaching the bridge, I saw these small boats rushing towards several pillars under the bridge without slowing down.  The British army wanted to stop it but it was too late.  After the boats approached the pillars, someone stretched out a torch from the boat and lit them at the pillars.  Wharton Hall suddenly had a very bad premonition in his heart.  As expected, not long afterward.  Explosions were heard from the pillars under these bridges, and then large areas of the bridge suddenly collapsed.  The explosion destroyed the bridge.  It turns out that the Prussian army buried some gunpowder under the bridge in advance when they retreated, just for the purpose of exerting its effect now.  "Damn it!" Wharton Hall was furious.  As the bridge was bombed, the entire British army fell into a panic. At this time, the Prussian army, which had surrounded the British army in advance, immediately launched an attack.  From a military perspective, although it is possible to put oneself to death and survive, there are more cases.  Fighting against the odds and cutting off all retreats can only make the army lose the courage to continue fighting.  The British troops squeezed on the river bank were constantly under heavy attack from Prussian artillery fire.  As a last resort, at the end of the day, Wodenhall made a surrender request to the Prussian army.  December 9th.  The battle was completely over, and most of the British troops previously stationed north of the Terai River surrendered to Prussia.  At this point, the British lost most of their armed forces in the colonies, and it was obvious that the remaining militiamen could not continue to withstand the Prussian army's offensive.  December 14th.  Prussian troops enter Philadelphia.  The Viceroyalty of Pittsburgh in British North America officially fell.  Except for Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which are close to Canada.  On the one hand, Bruneck dispatched a large number of officials from the colonial government to establish grassroots governance institutions in the newly occupied areas, and on the other hand, he also issued strict orders to Scharnhorst.  That is, the goal of the Prussian army should not just be focused on the immediate future, but should be more long-term. A Governorate of Pittsburgh cannot satisfy Prussia's appetite.  The implication is that Bruneke has set his sights on the British Governorate of Canada, which currently has less than 2,000 troops garrisoned.   December 17, London  News was received that Wharton Hall had surrendered and the main force of the British army had been wiped out.  After receiving this news, the British senior officials became somewhat silent for a while. Obviously, the rapid fall of North America greatly exceeded the expectations of the British senior officials.  "We must declare war on the Prussians immediately. Otherwise, we will lose more!" "What a joke. Now that the main force in North America has been wiped out, declaring war on the Prussians at this time will only cause us to lose even our European territory.  , I think we should negotiate peace with the Prussians at this time!" "When has the Kingdom of Great Britain ever suffered such humiliation? His Highness the Regent should immediately reprimand the Prussians for their rude invasion and ask them to return our territory immediately, otherwise, he will immediately attack Prussia.  Declaration of war!"  The entire palace seemed to have become a large duck farm, noisy  The noises were endless, and Augustus suddenly felt as if one of his heads had become as big as two.  From a deeper perspective, Augustus is actually not a hardline person. The reason why he previously declared that he would not hesitate to fight Prussia is also a kind of political art of Augustus.  George III was a very famous tough monarch, and the British people are also very supportive of this tough monarch. After all, Augustus is currently the regent with the power of the temporary king. No matter what the situation is, he cannot change the previous political attitude of the United Kingdom, otherwise  Wouldn't it mean that he would be drowned in the saliva of the British people?  "But Augustus did not expect that the Prussian people would eat so ugly. It was under this circumstance that Britain and Prussia actually came to the point where they were at odds with each other.  "Your Highness, His Majesty the King has woken up!" A palace attendant hurried to Augustus and whispered.  When he heard the news that George III was awake, Augustus's face changed, and then he ignored the noisy ministers in the palace and said: "Fox, you come with me, the rest stay here!" After that,  Augustus, surrounded by his attendants, hurried towards the palace of George III.  George III did wake up, to be precise, his spirit returned to normal.  When Augustus entered the palace of George III, the Lord of Great Britain was undergoing a careful examination by a doctor.  "Congratulations, Your Majesty, you have recovered temporarily. However, the possibility of recurrence of this disease does not rule out. Please control your diet during this period and do not get angry easily!" "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is here!" Just after the doctor finished speaking,  Immediately afterwards, a page reported for Augustus Stone.  Seeing Augustus and Fox walking into his palace, George III frowned but still said a little unintentionally: "Where is Prime Minister Peter? And call the ministers of the cabinet immediately, I want to listen to you  Report!¡± When George III mentioned Little Pitt, Augustus and Fox¡¯s expressions changed.  After that, Augustus paused and said: "Your Majesty, because of the sudden incident, the Parliament appointed me as the regent of the country. However, Prime Minister Peter Jr. had different opinions from the Parliament on some things, so his position as Prime Minister was removed.  He has been dismissed by Parliament, and the current Prime Minister of the government is Mr. Fox! "Hearing that Peter was dismissed, George III narrowed his eyes and said: "Well, since it is the decision of the Parliament, it is not easy for me to interfere, so Fox  , as the prime minister of the government, please tell me in detail about the government's work during this period!" Seeing George III's eyes turning to himself, Fox said bravely: "Your Majesty, the government's main energy during this period is  It is focused on military expansion. In addition, due to the resurgence of rebellion in the Continental Congress in North America, it is currently being suppressed!" (To be continued)
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