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 state, and if this status quo can be changed, it will become an urgent problem for William.
question.
After all, the ideal country in William's mind was 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!
A sage from Europe once said, "The so-called Holy Roman Empire is neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire."
Letting these princes come to Frankfurt was William's move to test people's hearts.
As long as these princes rush to Frankfurt, with heavy troops gathering 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 on the surface 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 advice.
William announced that all vassal states under orders from Prussia must arrive in Frankfurt before Christmas. Those who fail to do so will be regarded as challenging the emperor's authority, and this behavior can only lead to one consequence, which is the attack of the Prussian army.
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In addition, William also announced in his order that he would hold a grand banquet on Christmas Eve as the first Christmas ceremony after His Majesty the Emperor's coronation.
William's order spread to various states in the Holy Roman Empire in the shortest possible time.
From Poland in the east, to northern Italy and the Balkans in the south, to Switzerland in the west, and to 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 was issued, it was conservatively estimated that the imperial princes would lead a total of 38,000 troops to Frankfurt.
In addition to 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, and Felix ascended to the papal throne with a slight advantage.
As early as September, Felix, who ascended the throne of the Pope, announced that the church properties in the Mainz Basin would be handed over to the government of the Holy Roman Empire. All clergy should abandon all secular property and serve God wholeheartedly!
Although this order aroused dissatisfaction among 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.
Prussia mobilized, France marched on the border, and William began to recruit troops from city-states under the Holy Roman Empire on a large scale. 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 move, the Royal Navy will be dispatched to look for 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 the main force of the Prussian navy is defeated, then our country may lose all the territory of the European continent. But our country can definitely send the navy 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 had not finished speaking, 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 dispersed and deployed in various coastal areas. The current defensive strength of major cities on the Baltic coast of Prussia does not exceed 2,000 troops. Even if it is a temporary emergency call-up,
It cannot exceed five thousand 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 only have one request, and that is, even if we have to give up territory on the European continent, we must not let the Prussians benefit!
In addition, North America should not give up. All troops from the West Indies and Gibraltar will be sent to North America for reinforcements and to discuss with the Spanish government. Our country can return Gibraltar, but Spain will also have to pay a considerable price!
Also, I am sending a message to Indochina, the Prussians have just established a colony there, and I request the Indochina army to destroy this Prussian colony for me!"
The North American War entered its most intense phase. Watton Hall, who first saw through the falsehoods of the Fourth Colonial Division, led his army to attack Albery's Prussian army. Although Albery tried his best to resist, after five days of fighting,
Among them, the 4th Colonial Division was defeated by the British army, and Arbery led the remaining troops to retreat all the way south.
However, just as Arbery retreated to the border of North Carolina, his reinforcements, the Prussian Colonial Second Division, came up as reinforcements. Then Arbery regained 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, there were different voices within the British army. Some British generals felt that the top priority now 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 it should be
Decisively and sadly looking for an opportunity to fight the main force of the Prussian Western Front.
Both voices have their own truths. 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 to prepare the entire army to leave immediately. We will go south to destroy those damn Prussian troops first.
Then go directly to Atlanta, and at worst, compete with the Prussians in speed to see if they can conquer Philadelphia first or we can conquer Atlanta first!"
Subsequently, under Wodenhall's obviously broken mood, the British army of 20,000 troops plus 10,000 young men forcibly recruited to serve as auxiliary troops embarked on the road south.
At this time, Scharnhorst's troops were still on their way to Harrisburg.
On 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 many of the generals in the division were drawn from the main Prussian divisions.
Moreover, in the more than ten years of expansion history of Prussia's North American colonies, the Second Colonial Division has always played the role of 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 exceeded that of the First Colonial Division, because the Second Division had 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 still 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 was built by the British colonial government.
Seeing that the Prussians had voluntarily abandoned the Drai River, Wodenhauer was overjoyed and immediately ordered his troops 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 and immediately ordered his troops to set up a defensive line with their backs 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 small boats rushed towards the bridge on the Tarai River at high speed.
These small boats moved very quickly, and 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 in advance, 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 10,000 auxiliary troops.
After approaching the bridge, I saw these small boats rushing towards the pillars under the bridge without slowing down.
The British army wanted to stop them 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.
Sure enough, not long afterward, explosions were heard from the pillars under these bridges, and then a large area of the bridge suddenly collapsed.
The explosion destroyed the bridge.
It turned out that the Prussian army had buried some gunpowder under the bridge in advance when they retreated, just to have the 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 point of view, although it is possible to risk one's life and survive, in more cases, a last-ditch fight and a cutoff will only cause the army to 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, Wodenhauer made a surrender request to the Prussian army.
On December 9, the battle ended completely, and even 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 14. Prussian troops entered Philadelphia.
The Governorate of Pittsburgh in British North America officially fell, except for Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which were 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 goals 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 Bruneck has set his sights on the British Governorate of Canada, which currently has less than 2,000 troops garrisoned.
On December 17, London received news that Wodenhall 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.
"War must be declared 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 our territory in Europe. I think we should start peace negotiations with the Prussians at this time!"
"When has the Kingdom of Great Britain ever suffered such humiliation? His Royal Highness the Regent should immediately reprimand the Prussians for their rude invasion and ask them to return our territory immediately. Otherwise, declare war on Prussia immediately!"
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The entire palace seemed to have become a large duck farm, and the noise was endless. Augustus suddenly felt that his head seemed to be as big as two.
From a deeper perspective, Augustus was not actually a hardline person. The reason why he previously declared that he would not hesitate to fight Prussia was also a kind of political art of Augustus.
George III is a very famous tough monarch, and this tough monarch is also very supportive in the UK. After all, Augustus is currently the regent with the temporary king's power. No matter what the situation, he can't
Change the previous political attitude of the UK, otherwise you will be drowned in the saliva of the UK.
But Augustus did not expect that the Prussian people's eating habits would be so ugly. It was under this situation 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 expression changed, and then he ignored the noisy ministers in the palace and said:
"Fox, you come with me, the rest of you stay here!"
After saying that, Augustus hurried towards the palace of George III, surrounded by his attendants.
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 being carefully examined by a doctor.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, you have recovered for the time being. 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, an attendant immediately reported to Augustus Stone.
Seeing Augustus and Fox enter his palace, George III frowned but still said a little unintentionally:
"Where's Prime Minister Peter Jr.? And call the cabinet ministers immediately. I want to hear your reports!"
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 has been removed by the Parliament. The current Prime Minister of the government is Mr. Fox.
!”
Hearing that Little Pitt was dismissed, George III narrowed his eyes and said:
"Well, since it is a decision made by 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 has been 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...)