After Brankov finished speaking, several generals immediately showed panic on their faces. It was very clear what it would mean if Alexander fought back, and if they wanted to keep their current glory and wealth,
Obviously Alexander needs to be defeated.
But the reason for these generals' panic was not Alexander.
Even if Alexander returns to Russia, it is impossible to cause any waves, because there are almost no troops loyal to Alexander in the Russian Empire now, but Brankov said that Alexander had the support of Prussia and the Swedes.
The Prussian Army dare not be called the best in the world, but it is definitely the best in Europe. As for the Swedes, despite the fact that the Swedish army suffered several big losses at the hands of Bagration some time ago, this does not mean that it is the best in the world.
It doesn't mean that the Swedes are not good at fighting.
If Prussia and the Swedes really joined forces to support Alexander and sent troops to help Alexander restore his country, there would undoubtedly be a lot of pressure on the rebels.
"What are we afraid of? The soldiers will cover up the water and the earth. We are also afraid of the Prussians and Swedes. Since we can fight from the Black Sea to St. Petersburg, there is nothing wrong with fighting from St. Petersburg to Brandenburg! As long as His Royal Highness the Prince
Order, then I will lead my troops as the vanguard of the army and fight to the death with the Prussians and Swedes!"
After a while, Nikolaevich stood up and shouted.
And just after Nikolaevitch finished speaking, Brankov immediately cheered;
"Okay, Nikolaevich, you really didn't disappoint me. I appointed you as the Governor of Estonia. Now you immediately go to Estonia to prepare defenses and wait for me to lead the army. This time we must take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness.
Before that, tear off two pieces of flesh from the Swede!"
Before anyone else could get tired of it, Brankov had already made his decision.
For Brankov, if he wants to consolidate his position and rule, he must not show weakness to the outside world. People in the world always obey the strong. If Brankov is intimidated by Prussia and the Swedes,
If he is too courageous, then what will he do to rule the vast Russian Empire?
Therefore, even if Brankov didn't want to, he could only bite the bullet and persevere.
Furthermore, from Brankov's point of view, he may not necessarily fail this time.
Although Brankov's army did not expand after capturing St. Petersburg, there were still more than 50,000 troops gathered in the St. Petersburg area, and there were still 20,000 troops loyal to Brankov in Moscow. In this way, Brankov
There are currently more than 70,000 troops under actual control.
In contrast to the Russian army, although the Swedes have aggressively increased their domestic troops in Lithuania and Poland, their current total strength is only 80,000.
And these 80,000 people are not concentrated in everything. These troops are dispersed and stationed by the Swedes in various major cities in the controlled areas to achieve the purpose of actually controlling this territory.
In Estonia, although Osten personally led a large army to be stationed in Estonia, the Swedish army under his command only numbered 30,000 people.
Under this situation, if Brankov is really ruthless, it is not impossible to defeat the Swedish army by concentrating 50,000 troops in St. Petersburg to attack Estonia.
.....................................
In the Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, Du Li was sitting on a rocking chair, and the person standing next to her was clearly William.
After William arrived in Brandenburg, considering that Du Li's health had improved, and William also missed Du Li very much, he sent someone to take Du Li from Parets to Sanssouci Palace.
In addition to Du Li, Karina and Lilissa were also summoned by William to the Palace of Sanssouci.
"Du Li, I have called you to the Wuyou Palace this time. I have something to explain to you!"
"Speak, my esteemed majesty"
Hearing William say this, Du Li immediately stopped moving and looked quietly into William's eyes.
"It's like this. Your father, Marquis Hans, hopes to be able to offload the burden of the Intelligence Department and return to his hometown to retire. However, you also know that the current situation is difficult and he has left your father. I don't know who should leave all the matters in the Intelligence Department to
Go and take care of it.
Therefore, I hope you can convince your father to let him continue to serve. After all, he is not yet old enough to retire. Of course, I can understand his difficulties, so I hope you can share some of the burden for Margrave Hans!"
After William finished speaking, not only Du Li, but also Karina and Lilissa who were listening had expressions of surprise on their faces.
The Prussian Intelligence Department has received great attention from the Prussian high-level officials because of its great contributions in previous wars. The government invests an astronomical amount of money into it every year. Not only that, the Prussian Intelligence Department also has a team of two thousand people.
The members of the Einsatzgruppe were all selected from the elite of the Prussian army.
William's words not only meant that Du Li could re-enter the Intelligence Department, but also implied that the Intelligence Department would be handed over to Du Li in the future.
Powerful, wealthy and armed, the intelligence department is powerful enough to make anyone jealous.
Seeing the hesitant look on Du Li's face, William continued:
"I know what you are thinking, but I can tell you clearly that you don't have to worry about Anna and the high-level government officials. I have already vented my anger on Rocks about this matter. Besides, I am just assisting your father.
It's not a replacement!
However, Du Li, I also want to pay attention to you, that is, never use the official equipment of the Intelligence Department for personal use. I don’t want what happened to Anna to happen again!"
William said, a trace of severity flashed in his eyes, and under William's gaze, Du Li could only nod her head meekly.
After seeing Du Li nodding, William breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to Karina and said:
"Karina, your grandfather and I have discussed your future. Your Excellency the Prime Minister means that you should experience in the government. He plans to place you in the education department. What do you mean?"
"Your Majesty, I have no objection."
Rocks had already been angry with Karina about Karina's arrangement.
Prussia is a militaristic country, and militaristic countries generally believe in respecting the strong. As a woman, she naturally has shortcomings compared to men.
Under such circumstances, it is undoubtedly an extremely safe arrangement for Karina to work in the government's education department. After all, in the education department, one is not so conspicuous, and the other is that compared to other departments, the government's education department
The number of women is several times that of other departments.
Finally, William looked at Lilissa.
If among William's four women, who feels most cherished by William, then there is no doubt that it is Lilissa. Both Du Li and Karina have support from their family backgrounds, but Lilissa is alone.
Life in Prussia.
"Lilissa, I am going to transfer you to my side as a female officer. You will always follow me from now on. What do you think?"
After William finished speaking, Lilissa's face instantly showed a look of surprise.
"Your Majesty, I am willing, I am willing to follow you all the time!"
Among several women, Lilissa is undoubtedly the most pitiful existence. Without the help of her family, and being in a dilemma in the fight between Du Li, Karina and Anna, Lilissa almost became a doormat.
After talking about the arrangements for the three women, William thought of the beautiful figure of the woman in Frankfurt again.
.....................................
"Hurry, faster!"
Stewart rode awkwardly on his horse and kept shouting at the soldiers surrounding him.
At this moment, Stewart was leading two thousand British troops towards Columbus, the capital of Ohio.
At this time, it had been a week since Dayton was captured by the Continental Army. During this week, the situation in the entire Ohio state had changed drastically.
Two thousand Continental Army soldiers who had been sent by Washington as a surprise team suddenly appeared outside the city of Columbus, causing turmoil inside and outside Columbus. Fortunately, the 500 British soldiers defending the city with the cooperation of 300 militiamen resisted the attack.
Support the Continental Army's partial division attack.
But even so, Columbus sent his horse to deliver the news of the Continental Army under the city to Stewart urgently. But after receiving the news, Stewart could no longer sit still.
Originally, according to the agreement between Stewart and Monroe, Stewart should now lead two thousand British troops to support the British troops in the Dayton Fortress and help Monroe safely evacuate the British soldiers from these fortresses.
But now that he had learned about the presence of the Continental Army under the city of Columbus, Stewart no longer cared so much.
Columbus is not only the capital of Ohio, but also plays an extremely important role in terms of strategic position. If Columbus is captured by the Continental Army, then other colonial states in the Governor's District of Pittsburgh will also be exposed to the Continental Army.
The important thing is that there are almost no key points to defend along the way from Columbus to Pittsburgh.
For Stewart, therefore, Columbus' importance was unparalleled.
While Stewart was leading the British army to retreat, Monroe was standing on the watch tower of the fort, looking anxiously toward the east.
Previously, Monroe and Stewart had agreed that today, Stewart would lead the army to approach the fort from east to west, and then under the cover of Stewart's army, Monroe would lead the British troops in the fort to slowly withdraw.
But now it was noon, and Monroe, who was standing on the guard tower, did not even see the shadow of Stewart's army, which gave Monroe an ominous premonition in his heart.
"Your Majesty General, the soldiers have been assembled and are waiting for your orders!"
An officer hurriedly walked to Monroe and said to Monroe.
After hearing the officer's words, the wrinkles on Monroe's forehead seemed to deepen.
"Wait a moment longer and order the soldiers to be on temporary alert and be prepared for possible attacks by the rebellious Continental Army gang at all times!"
After Monroe's order, the officer showed a look of embarrassment on his face and said:
"Your Excellency General, the soldiers' rations have been eaten. If we don't break out, I'm afraid the soldiers' physical strength will not be able to hold on!"
The food in the fort had already been exhausted. It was originally planned that Monroe would lead the army to break out today, so the soldiers ate all the food in the fort early in the morning.
Several hours have passed now. If there is no breakthrough, how effective the British soldiers can be under the attack of hunger has become a huge problem.
"Let's do this. At two o'clock in the afternoon at the latest, when the time is up, even if the governor's army does not show up, we will immediately start to break out. In addition, after the time is up, we will light the beacon to notify the defenders on the other side to break out immediately!"
After giving the instructions, Monroe once again raised his telescope and looked hard at the east.
While Monroe was planning a breakout, Washington was also planning an attack on the British fortress in Dayton.
According to the information obtained from the British prisoners, the food in the British fortress could not last long. In other words, one week so far has been the limit. Under this situation, Washington was prepared to take advantage of the situation.
With the British army weakened, they launched an offensive against the fortresses on both sides.
"Your Excellency, Marshal, the soldiers are ready, but some black soldiers in the army complain that their weapons are insufficient. To launch an attack rashly is equivalent to letting them die!"
Just as Washington was making arrangements for the British fortress, a Continental Army officer stood up and said to Washington.
After hearing what this officer said, Washington showed a look of anger. Before Washington could speak, he heard a general say:
"Those black slaves, it's good enough to give them clothes and food, but don't you know that our army is very short of weapons? They have no combat experience, and they actually complain about not having enough weapons. What a damn thing!"
After the officer finished speaking, he immediately attracted the approval of many Continental Army generals in the room.
"That's right, let me see. I was too kind to those black slaves. Some time ago, a black slave dared to come to me and complain about their poor food. Bah, they can only be slaves.
It’s good to eat, and you can be very picky!”
Another Continental Army officer spoke.
But just after he finished speaking, Washington immediately shouted angrily:
"That's enough. Since those black people have joined our army and fought for us, then we naturally need to treat them equally. Let's mobilize a thousand rifles from the weapons warehouse and distribute them to these black soldiers. The officers must appease the emotions of these soldiers.
!”
After Washington shouted angrily, the Continental Army generals in the room suddenly fell silent.
Although the Continental Congress passed the bill to emancipate the black slaves and officially granted the status of freedmen to the black slaves who joined the Continental Army, racial discrimination was still very serious in the Continental Army.
Within a week of the capture of Dayton, conflicts between black and white soldiers in Dayton had never been uncommon. Under such circumstances, Washington could only strictly order the officers to restrain their troops.
But in terms of the distribution of military supplies, Washington could only turn a blind eye to what the officers below did. After all, Washington did not think highly of black people in his heart.
Subsequently, the Continental Army in the Dayton area was instantly divided into two front armies. One front army of 10,000 people, led by Washington himself, would attack the fort where Monroe was stationed, while the other front army, led by Putnam, would attack the other side.
British fort.
"The enemies across from us have already had their last meal, and their physical strength has been severely exhausted. Therefore, we must conquer these fortresses in one fell swoop. Destroying these British troops means that there will no longer be a chance for us to stay in Ohio."
No army can resist our advance, the Continental Army will win!"
Washington stood on his horse in front of the army square and shouted to the Continental Army soldiers. Just after he shouted the Continental Army's victory slogan, a huge victory slogan also sounded throughout the Continental Army formation.
!
After seeing that the morale of the army had been improved, Washington waved the riding crop in his hand and shouted:
"go ahead!"
Naturally, the movements in Dayton could not be concealed from the guard towers in the British fortress. At least as soon as the Continental Army left the gate of Dayton, their traces were exposed to the eyes of the British army.
"General, I'm sorry, the Continental Army in Dayton has made some changes. They are marching towards our fortress. According to the enemy's formation, the enemy's strength is no less than 10,000!"
At one o'clock in the afternoon, a British officer hurried to Monroe to report.
After hearing the movement of the Continental Army, Monroe stamped his feet fiercely.
The reinforcements he had high hopes for have not yet appeared, but who knows, the Continental Army seems to have an eye now, and is preparing to launch a large-scale attack on the fortress on the eve of the British army's retreat. This makes Monroe's previous plan completely different.
A place of use.
"We can't wait any longer. Order the army to start retreating immediately. In addition, all the artillery pieces will be left behind. Before we retreat, order people to light all these artillery pieces and artillery shells. I want the Continental Army to get nothing but ruins!"
Monroe said with a ferocious expression, obviously he was already cruel in his heart.
Although there are not many food reserves in the fortress, there are a lot of weapons and equipment. Originally, Monroe hoped that these fortresses could stand firm under the fierce attack of the Continental Army, so he also equipped the fortress with a large number of
weapons and ammunition.
But now the British army is about to retreat, and it is obvious that these heavy artillery, shells and some weapons and equipment cannot be carried at all. If forced, it will only slow down the army's withdrawal speed.
Therefore, Monroe felt that rather than taking advantage of the Continental Army's rebellion, it would be better to destroy all these things.
The Continental Army began to form a formation in front of the fortress, and the Continental Army officers kept shuttling among the formations. They needed to let the new recruits, who had not yet had much combat experience, understand what they should do in the subsequent battles.