Chapter 996 "See"

Fanny Cote's experience was legendary enough, and more importantly, she carried enough gold and silver, so Louis Philippe naturally accepted everyone who came, and at the same time he also needed to set an example for his followers.

Although Louis Philippe did not have too profound political wisdom, he was actually not short of smart people around him.

For example, Thiers, this was a smart and shameless guy, but it cannot be ignored that his political wisdom was far superior to those guys sitting in the Paris Parliament Hall at this time.

Under Thiers's plan, Louis Philippe chose to meet Fanny Cote in Metz and appointed her as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Orleans army, and ordered her to garrison Strasbourg.

In addition, Duchess Fanny Cote was allowed to recruit and train an army loyal to Louis Philippe himself.

The so-called deputy commander-in-chief was actually not an official position, but more like an honorary title. Strasbourg, at the time, seemed to be a place where war was absolutely impossible.

As for recruiting and training new soldiers, the Orleans government did not give her money and food, and did not give her equipment. Even the trained army had to be loyal to the royal family in the end.

Thiers's behavior can be said to have taken his shameless political style to the extreme, but Franz knew that Thiers could be even more shameless if he had the chance.

However, Fanny Cote still had some skills, and the 30,000 Orleans troops in the coalition at this time were the best proof.

30,000 troops seemed to be nothing in the eyes of powers like Austria and France, but at this time the total population of Alsace and Lorraine combined was less than one million.

So Fanny Cote was still very influential and appealing in the local area.

There is a word that is very suitable to describe the equipment of this army of the Orleans Dynasty at this time-made by all nations.

The main rifle of this army was actually the Charleville 1777 flintlock rifle, and the rest was donated from the German states.

Except for a few small states such as Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and Frankfurt, the donations from various states were all to clear out the inventory, and the Dutch even sent matchlock guns that required flint and ammunition bags.

Even though the equipment was extremely poor and they had to bring their own dry food and mules, Fanny Cote led the army to the battlefield. Franz still admired her for this.

The door of the headquarters was pushed open. Yes, it was a door. Apart from the door, Franz had all kinds of furniture, even two coffee machines and a bookshelf.

In the past few days, the engineering troops of the coalition built a headquarters and a single-family wooden villa for Franz.

A tall woman with slender legs walked in with a firm step. She was wearing the common officer uniform of the Orleans Dynasty, which was mainly blue, white and gold.

The military uniform designed specifically for men was unexpectedly decent on her, especially the combination of white tights and black riding boots, which looked much more pleasing to the eyes of Franz, a modern man, than on a group of men.

The mountain on the chest was tightly bound by the double-breasted coat, which made it look more majestic. The medals and ribbons hanging on the side seemed to be a little more proud.

The waistband was empty, and the sword and pistol were probably taken away before entering the door. Franz was a special person after all, so he still had to take the most basic safety precautions.

Judging from her attire, the woman in front of him was the famous Duchess. Fanny Cote had a pair of hazel eyes and thin and long eyelashes, which made her look strong and tender.

Her short hair was particularly eye-catching, and the cut was not neat. Needless to say, she probably cut it herself, or even with a knife.

In general, the Duchess gave Franz a good first impression, but he soon found that the "Joan of Arc" in front of him was more like a clumsy imitator.

The first thing Fanny Cote did after entering Franz's temporary headquarters was to carefully look at Colonel Bordeaux and Monta, and even Zoche.

(In history, the French Crown Prince Charles once deliberately asked someone to pretend to be him in order to test Joan of Arc.)

"Sorry, we are on the battlefield now, and we don't have time to play such boring games."

Until Franz pointed it out, Fanny Court retracted her gaze in dismay.

"Hello, Your Highness Dauphin, no! Archduke Franz."

Dauphin is actually a special name for the crown prince in France. Generally speaking, foreigners don't understand it, but Franz is not so ordinary.

Seeing this scene, he couldn't help but complain in his heart: "It seems that this cosplay hasn't had enough."

But on the surface, he still smiled politely but awkwardly, and Fanny Court also responded with an equally awkward smile.

In fact, it is usually okay to call the crown prince the crown prince, but Franz's situation is a little different. His father is not the emperor, but his uncle is.

Moreover, the Crown Prince and the Crown Prince have different opinions.

"Do you want wine or tea? Of course, we also have coffee and mint water."

Europe is still very hot in July, and mint water, a heat-clearing and summer-heat-relieving beverage, is also very popular.

"May I ask why you want to stop the attack? Our enemies are about to collapse!"

But Fanny Cote was obviously not in that mood, and she got straight to the point.

"The invaders of the Second French Republic have lost the ability to continue expanding, and we should avoid meaningless killing."

Franz was well prepared, and his answer was naturally very high-sounding.

In fact, what he thought in his heart was that it was not appropriate to weaken France too much, otherwise he would be the next Napoleon, and a large network of anti-Austrian alliances would cover the whole of Europe.

Franz had to face the situation of being surrounded by enemies on all sides, and most of the painstaking efforts over the years would be in vain, and even become someone else's wedding dress.

Domestic reforms would regress, and high-pressure rule would have to be implemented in order to gather combat power and stabilize people's hearts.

Franz's enemies could fail countless times, but he would be completely liquidated as long as he failed once, and the contradictions that had been suppressed for many years would usher in a total outbreak.

However, Fanny Cote didn't know this, and she still insisted.

"We have warned the invaders, and I have personally written to Bonnot de Coulon and Dan Gira.

I told them that if they did not lay down their arms and leave the land of Orleans immediately before the war, then they would all die here, and I could not break my oath!"

Franz was speechless for a while, and couldn't help but continue to complain in his heart.

"Why are you still making pre-war declarations? Do you really think you are Joan of Arc?

Are you going to commit suicide by the Rhine River after breaking your oath? Are you ashamed to face the people of the west of the Rhine? (Alsace is west of the Rhine River)

And what does the promise you, Fanny Court, made on behalf of the Orleans government have to do with me, Franz, the commander of the German coalition forces?"

Franz continued to speak in an official tone.

"Enough blood has been shed. The vast majority of soldiers are innocent. They are just lambs held hostage by a few ambitious people."

"Please forgive me for not agreeing with your point of view! Ignorance and innocence cannot be an excuse for them to become invaders.

On the contrary, we should use the iron hammer of justice on them, so that those truly innocent dead can rest in peace and the living can live in peace."

Fanny Court became more and more excited as she spoke, and her chest rose and fell violently, especially the two rows of tight buttons that seemed to be about to collapse at any time.