Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

However, Joseph quickly understood the underlying reasons.

The current British Government isn’t as affluent as in history, so it can only choose to sacrifice Portugal’s interests to stabilize the Porto defense line.

This actually counts as a significant victory for France.

Historically, France had to dispatch as many as 65,000 troops, along with renowned generals like Massena, Ney, and Juno, taking nearly two years, before forcing the Duke of Wellington to execute a scorched earth policy.

And now Juno only led 5,000 French troops to Portugal to achieve the same outcome.

However, looking at the scorched earth situation, Spanish logistics will soon become unsustainable.

Then the original plan would be completely unimplementable—

Once the Spanish Army, whose logistics have been depleted, is counterattacked by Wellesley, they will surely be unable to retreat in an orderly manner, and their structure will be thoroughly disrupted.

Even if Juno launches an ambush at Lagoa Azul, as long as the Anglo-Portuguese Army isn’t completely annihilated—a maximum of 5,000 troops can only rout tens of thousands of enemy troops—France would end up bearing the brunt of the conflict in Portugal.

Joseph wants Spain to consume the British, but not for France and Britain to exhaust each other.

Therefore, the urgency now is to first secure the 30,000 troops at Talavera.

He immediately instructed Bertier: “Have the Marquis Talavera quickly retreat to Almeida Fortress.

“At the same time, order the Juno Corps to abandon the ambush plan and head to Porto to assist the Spaniards.”

Bertier, surprised, said: “Your Highness, this is tantamount to giving up all the achievements previously gained.”

Almeida Fortress is at the Spanish-Portuguese border, essentially retreating home directly.

Duke of Broglie quickly added: “Your Highness, Madrid is fully preparing logistics materials, ensuring they can sustain the consumption of at least 50,000 troops.”

Joseph shook his head: “That’s exactly what the British hope for.

“In a situation where the route is largely desolate, our logistical consumption will be several times higher than the enemy’s.

“In at most half a year, the Spanish finances will be unsustainable.”

Duke of Broglie cautiously reminded: “Your Highness, Spain’s investment is massive. If there are no results, they will certainly be very displeased.”

Joseph waved his hand: “The war is not over, but we need to revise our operational plans.”

Bertier said: “Your Highness, we can wait until next year when the Portuguese around Porto return to their residences, then launch the attack again.”

Joseph could not help but frown in thought.

The reason this operation went so smoothly this time was largely due to Portugal being unprepared.

By next year, they will definitely build fortresses everywhere with British help, and the difficulty of attacking will increase several fold.

Moreover, even if they fight back to Porto, Wellesley can execute the scorched earth tactic again.

Would the solution be to retreat again by then?

In that case, several tens of thousands of troops would be mobilized back and forth, only to be consumed by the British…

He lightly tapped on the table, speaking in a deep voice, “We must avoid withdrawing from Portugal due to the enormous logistical consumption.”

Next to them, the Trade Minister Bailly, a military layman, muttered, “Actually, the Portuguese are consumed much more than we are. More than a third of the towns and villages in their Northwest Region have been destroyed…”

Joseph was about to say, “The British don’t care about Portugal’s losses,” but suddenly had an epiphany.

Wait, the British don’t care, but the Portuguese certainly do.

Executing a scorched earth tactic comes with incredibly severe losses. It will take decades for the Porto area to recover as it was.

If a similar ‘scorched earth’ occurs again, what will the Portuguese think—

Is the British here to help me, or to destroy me? The Spaniards at most requisition some grain, but you uproot everything entirely!

If coupled with some guided public opinion, who would still cooperate with the British in establishing a scorched earth strategy?

It’s like a person daring to stab themselves unknowingly, but after experiencing the intense pain, they surely wouldn’t dare to stab themselves a second time.

Joseph gestured for Eman to retrieve a map, and soon locked onto the central western Portuguese city—Coimbra.

This is the fourth largest city in Portugal, and it also guards the northern gateway to Lisbon. If it is captured, it can be used as a base for continuing the assault on Lisbon.

Most importantly, departing from Porto and heading south over the Douro River, there are almost no obstacles stopping them from reaching Coimbra.

His brows immediately eased, pointing to the map he said: “Then let the Marquis Talavera proceed to Coimbra.

“The Juno Corps still needs to provide cover, while detaching some forces to feign a retreat to Almeida Fortress…”

After he finished describing the general deployment, Bertier was already nodding repeatedly: “This really is an excellent plan, Your Highness. Changing the direction of the attack means even the fortifications the British built around Porto will become useless.

“Oh, by the way, we should deploy the supply line from Rodrigo to Coimbra in advance.”

Joseph nodded: “Please have the General Staff quickly prepare a detailed operational plan for me.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The Cabinet meeting ended at half-past ten in the morning.

There were actually many matters left unaddressed, but this noon, the Italian Front Army was returning to Paris, and Joseph had to join the King and Queen to welcome the victorious troops.

As Joseph reached the gates of the Palace of Versailles, he saw Count Robel, the director of the under-construction “French Security Bureau,” striding over from the left corridor.

“Your Highness, there is an important matter that needs to be reported to you immediately,” said Robel, sidestepping and showing respect.

Joseph gestured toward the carriage outside: “Let’s talk in the carriage.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Before long, the luxurious convoy slowly exited the Marble Courtyard.

In one of the gemstone-shaped carriages in the middle, Robel laid out a stack of documents before the Crown Prince and said: “Your Highness, during the setup of the Security Bureau’s overseas network, some unusual situations were discovered.”

The French Security Bureau was the department Joseph planned to manage foreign intelligence, side by side with the domestic Intelligence Bureau.

Since it also needed to reorganize the Secret Police and recruit spies and informants, the preparation time would be longer and it had not yet started operating officially.

Unexpectedly, they discovered significant intelligence.

Currently, the entire Security Bureau has a very strong ‘aggressive approach’ because the position of the deputy director of the Security Bureau has not yet been appointed, and three people have the highest likelihood of obtaining it.

Thus, the three engaged in fierce competition, which meant working desperately on intelligence.

The result was significant findings indeed.

Robel first pointed to the topmost document and said: “Your Highness, first of all, Mr. Randa Li’s men discovered that recently, the Intelligence Bureau has reallocated a large number of personnel to Klagenfurt.

“Initially, he didn’t pay much attention, but soon he learned from informants within the Intelligence Bureau that they also allocated a budget of up to 150,000 francs for spies in Klagenfurt.”

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