Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 777 - 685 Madman

Chapter 777: Chapter 685: Madman

Chapter 777: Chapter 685: Madman

As the Cavalry messenger explained the situation on Smirnov’s end, Morco’s face instantly darkened.

“This useless fool!”

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He cursed vehemently, then lifted his eyes to the direction of Mozhili City.

According to the Cavalry’s report, the Polish Army that attacked Smirnov numbered at least 15,000, while Mozhili’s defending force totaled just over 50,000.

That meant, factoring in casualties, there were now fewer than 30,000 Polish Army members inside the city of Mozhili.

And he had nearly 60,000 troops at his disposal. If he launched a fierce attack on Mozhili, he should be able to take the city quickly.

Yet, he hesitated.

If the Polish Army attacked Kyiv, Chapelev would likely be unable to hold out.

Kyiv was the main logistical and material storage point for his army. Even though he could still receive supplies from Smolensk if he lost it, letting the Poles occupy the Empire’s richest city in the west, even for just one day, would be a monumental disgrace to the Empire!

The Tsar might strip him of his command for this, or even throw him in jail.

With these thoughts, Morco angrily bent his riding crop with force and ordered his staff, “Send out the orders, leave the Zaporosky Army to defend this place. The rest will rest for half a day, by morning we head to Kyiv to catch that rat!”

The next day,

Morco led an army of 30,000 toward Kyiv in person and sent orders for Chapelev to cooperate from the south.

However, by the time he arrived in Kyiv four days later, the Poles were nowhere to be seen.

After a vast number of Cavalry Scouts canvassed the area near Kyiv, they finally learned from the local farmers that the Polish Army had already “fled” toward the northeast four days earlier.

Morco immediately set off in hot pursuit, only to discover traces of the Polish Army at the Loyev Ferry, but those were merely signs of their departure.

The Polish Army easily took control of the minimally defended ferry, crossing the Dnieper River and heading deep into Russian territory.

Morco’s temples throbbed visibly as he flung his riding crop to the ground, roaring, “These damned Polish madmen!”

Yes, the Poles must have gone mad.

With the Dnieper River barrier, they could not possibly get any resupply.

Which meant, in at most half a month, these Polish soldiers would starve.

Even if they managed to seize food along the way, they could not secure enough ammunition.

The Russian local garrisons simply needed to harass them continuously, depleting their ammunition, and after a little over a month, they could easily capture this unarmed army.

Yet, the Poles still chose to venture deeper into Russia.

Morco could foresee, they would first attack Chernigov—the nearest target, which only had a small reserve of troops for reinforcement of Mozhili and could not possibly resist an invasion by thousands from the Polish Army.

After looting the place, the Polish Army would bypass the north of the Sula River and continue eastward, skirting the southern side of Smolensk, heading straight for Kaluga.

Kaluga was the second richest region in the central-west part of the Empire, second only to Moscow.

Yes, this cursed place was right next to Moscow!

The most cunning aspect of the Poles was that the route of their attack skillfully avoided the fortress of Smolensk to the north and the fortress of Kursk to the south—the Empire had completely failed to consider that the very heart of their territory could come under attack.

Normally, the enemy would attack Russia using Minsk as a base, and they would have to face a series of sturdy fortresses stretching from Smolensk to Viazma.

Launching an attack from Mozhili, on the other hand, would mean being cut off by a great river, making it impossible to supply the troops.

But the Poles had precisely chosen this dead-end route.

Morco knew very well that the 15,000-strong Polish Army would definitely not be able to penetrate Moscow—which as the old capital of the Empire and economic center of the middle region—was garrisoned by the Moscow Corps with its tens of thousands of soldiers.

However, the mere appearance of the Polish Army on the outskirts of Moscow, even without firing a single shot, would lead to losses estimated in the tens of millions of Rubles, due to public panic.

This Polish Army was determined to bite a chunk out of the Empire before their impending death.

By that time, even if Morco wanted to go to prison, he wouldn’t be able to—execution would be his only fate.

After much hesitation, Morco first dispatched two courier teams, one to warn Kaluga and Moscow to prepare their defenses in advance, and the other to report the bad news to Saint Petersburg.

Then he divided his entire cavalry force of 3,500, crossing the Dnieper River in pursuit of the Poles.

During the little more than half a month that he had devoted to encircling Kosciuszko’s Department, the Polish Army in Mozhili had gotten a rare chance to catch their breath.

Prince Poniatowski had summoned several thousand new soldiers from the rear, and with the help of civilians, they re-fortified the Mozhili defensive line.

He would be facing a fierce battle, but it was not without hope…

Paris.

Palace of Versailles.

An ordinary morning, no different from any other, a soft voice gently called by Joseph’s bedside, “Your Highness, it’s already 7 o’clock, and today you are to preside over the inauguration ceremony of the Paris Agricultural Futures Exchange.”

Joseph turned over, but having stayed up too late the night before reviewing documents from the Caribbean Sea, fatigue clung heavily to his eyelids.

Perna called out to him a few more times—recently, Camellia had been feverish from her last bout with chilling in the water, her body very weak, so the task of caring for the Crown Prince’s daily routine had been temporarily delegated to her—seeing no reaction from His Highness, she glanced back at the two maids holding shirts, and noticing they weren’t paying attention, she quickly bent down and pecked a kiss on his cheek.

“You really need to get up now.”

The tender touch helped Joseph shake off the sleepiness, he opened his eyes to see Perna’s beautiful, emerald-like eyes.

“You’re up quite early,” he yawned.

Perna’s cheeks turned red in an instant, and she hurriedly glanced back at the maids; fortunately, they still hadn’t noticed.

Well, as a servant to the Crown Prince, she certainly had to have that much discretion.

After Joseph finished his ablutions, he allowed Perna to perform a series of checks on his eyes, throat, and pulse, and then pulled her to sit with him at the dining table.

While waiting for the dishes to be served, he habitually picked up a document from the side, and the top one read: Polish casualties at the Minsk defense line exceeded 4,000, having retreated to the suburbs of Minsk.

Colonel Kosinski, for his part, led two infantry battalions and five cavalry squadrons northward.

The document did not reveal Kosinski’s target, but Joseph was very clear that he was heading straight for Riga.

————

The previous congratulations were merely a matter of diplomatic courtesy due to alliance obligations, and now the King of Prussia had shed his hypocritical mask, bluntly expressing his distaste for the new constitution and implying that Prussia would renege on the alliance treaty signed with Bo Pu just one year earlier.