Chapter 38 William II’s decision

The Duke of Brunswick immediately ordered that the main force of the Prussian army defend on the spot, allowing Blücher to find out the enemy's situation as soon as possible and not to attack rashly, and then sent three infantry regiments and one cavalry regiment along Amstelveen to A defense line stretching 20 kilometers was built in Utrecht to protect logistics.

Before noon, he received another bad news - Blücher's regiment had a fierce battle with the Dutch on the Sibera River. It was violently shelled and double-teamed by the enemy, resulting in more than 800 casualties.

The Duke of Brunswick took a deep breath. Unexpectedly, the Dutch still had the strength to struggle, and quickly sent people to meet Blücher.

It was already two days before the Prussian army's logistics defense line was completed and the forward troops were reorganized.

The Duke of Brunswick didn't care about the wasted time. He had already plugged the loopholes caused by advancing too quickly in the early stage. The next step was to crush the Dutch with absolutely superior force.

At noon on the fourth day after Dubois repulsed the Prussian forward, he ushered in the Duke of Brunswick's most violent attack.

On the plains south of Amstelveen, there is no strategy to be used, only the violent collision of iron and blood!

Dubois commanded 12 cannons and continuously bombarded the most densely populated locations of Prussian soldiers. Andre also led the cavalry, constantly harassing the surrounding Prussian army, firmly attracting the attention of the Prussian cavalry.

The Dutch occupied a higher ground. Encouraged by the great victory a few days ago, their morale was extremely high, and they unleashed an astonishing combat effectiveness. The Prussian army stormed until dark, but failed to break through the Dutch defense line.

At dawn the next day, the Duke of Brunswick continued his attack. Both sides exchanged intensive musketry and shells, and thousands of corpses were soon left on the battlefield.

The battle was so fierce that before 2 p.m., the French artillery had exhausted its shells.

When Andre saw Captain Dubois withdrawing from the gun position with the artillery, holding a musket and preparing to join the infantry, he knew that the situation was not good.

He looked at the cannons on the Prussian side that were still spitting out fire, crossed himself on his chest, raised his saber high, and shouted to the blood-covered soldiers behind him: "Follow me! Break through the Prussian artillery positions!" "

The French cavalry immediately hit the breastplate with the hilt of the sword and shouted angrily: "Yes!"

The Duke of Brunswick frowned and looked at the smoke-filled battlefield. He did not expect that the Dutch resistance would be so tenacious, especially their artillery. Although the number of cannons was less than half of his own, they relied on their amazing shooting skills to defeat them. Evenly matched.

According to the current situation, taking Amsterdam will probably cost a lot. This has completely deviated from my original vision.

He was thinking about whether to use his reserves to launch the most violent attack, but the guards came with the king's envoy.

The Duke of Brunswick looked at the withdrawal order signed by King William II personally brought by the envoy, and frowned: "What on earth is going on?"

The special envoy said awkwardly: "It has been confirmed that Princess Wilhelmina is not in the hands of the Dutch."

"What? This is impossible!" The Duke of Brunswick's eyes widened. His purpose in this battle was to rescue Wilhelmina, but now he was told that she was not here? !

The special envoy said helplessly: "She was found in the Southern Netherlands. It is said that she was kidnapped by a group of Italian-speaking kidnappers. The police in Antwerp rescued her and shot two of the kidnappers to death."

The Southern Netherlands he was talking about was what later became Belgium and is now the territory of Austria.

"Kidnapper? This is impossible!"

The special envoy continued: "Your Excellency, Princess Wilhelmina has returned to Prussia..."

The Duke of Brunswick looked at the withdrawal order again and said unwillingly: "Even so, we can take this opportunity to wipe out the rebels and let the Prince of Orange return to the Netherlands!"

The special envoy smiled awkwardly again: "In fact, yesterday the Dutch Parliament officially announced that it would accept the Prince of Orange to return to Amsterdam and resume his post as consul."

The Duke of Brunswick was stunned for a long time, and finally waved to the herald next to him helplessly: "Order the entire army to retreat."

It was naturally Joseph's arrangement for William V to return to the Netherlands. The Patriot Party flatly rejected this at first, but the French envoy Kolbet relayed the words of the Crown Prince to them, "The so-called consul can be a ceremonial position. You and I Instead of letting William V stir up trouble outside, it is better to take him back to Amsterdam and take care of him. William V's power is in The Hague, and you control the army, and you can even use him as a hostage."

Then the Patriot Party happily accepted this suggestion.

Three days ago, French spies set up an ambush in Nijmegen and kidnapped Wilhelmina on her way to church. The Prussian princess believed that her hiding place was undetected, so she went out with only seven or eight bodyguards. As a result, she was kidnapped by "Italian-speaking kidnappers" without much resistance.

Although Prussia captured the southern Netherlands, it was only in the big cities, and the small towns and villages were still in the hands of the Patriots. Therefore, the French spies left the Netherlands unimpeded and brought Wilhelmina to the Southern Netherlands. Send a letter demanding ransom to Wilhelm II.

Subsequently, the contact in Antwerp obtained two corpses to serve as the dead kidnappers, notified the local police that "there were suspicious foreigners", and also found a newspaper reporter to follow and report.

Wilhelmina, who was rescued in public by the police, could no longer pretend that she was being held hostage by the Patriot Party. The biggest excuse for King Wilhelm II of Prussia to send troops to the Netherlands disappeared.

Furthermore, the Patriot Party expressed concessions, and France held a massive military exercise in southern Luxembourg. At the same time, the Duke of Brunswick failed to take over Amsterdam.

In the end, William II looked at his poor money bag and decided to withdraw his troops.

Andre looked at the thousands of enemy troops stationed around the Prussian artillery position and the Prussian cavalry who were always staring at him. He knew that he would probably shed blood on the battlefield before he even touched the Prussian cannon.

But this is the only way to save the crisis, and he will try it as long as there is one percent chance. He gently pinched the horse's belly and gradually accelerated, and he was about to approach the right wing of the Prussian infantry. Suddenly, a horn sounded from the Prussian army, and the Prussian infantry line began to retreat...

He reined in his horse and stood there until the Prussians almost disappeared from sight and the Dutch around him began to cheer, and he was finally convinced that the enemy had retreated.

He made a sign of the cross on his chest, looked up to the sky, and felt a surge in his chest, "He is the son of God, he really did it!"

...

At dawn, Joseph took the car and rushed to Paris.

Today is the opening day of Paris Angel's store on the Champs Elysées. He will go there to cut the ribbon at noon.

Although it is just a store opening, the store itself is also a commodity, so it is natural for him to add a sense of ceremony to increase its added value.

The news of the opening had already been publicized through newspaper advertisements. When he arrived at the Champs Elysées, the place was already crowded with people, especially the middle section of the avenue where the new Paris Angel store was located, which was completely impassable.