Twenty kilometers southwest of Karlsruhe, a convoy of carriages moved slowly along the east bank of the Rhine River under the escort of the imposing French Personal Guard Grenadiers.
Inside the carriage at the center of the convoy, Chief of Staff Berthier was preparing to report the latest military developments to the Crown Prince when he suddenly remembered something and said hesitantly:
"Your Highness, I heard Archbishop Brienne has something extremely urgent to discuss with you. By my reckoning, he should have already passed Mirecourt by now. If you wait for him here for a few days..."
Before he could finish, the Director of Security Bureau sitting beside him shot him a strange sidelong glance. These officers really only know how to fight. The Crown Prince is obviously trying to avoid our Prime Minister.
Lavalette coughed lightly. "General Berthier, have you forgotten that Nancy has been suffering torrential rain lately? Perhaps by the time His Highness returns home, Archbishop Brienne still won't have reached Strasbourg. You know, his health is not very good, and he cannot travel by train." Joseph silently gave Lavalette his approval.
After thinking for several seconds, the Chief of Staff truly could not recall Nancy's weather and could only nod before returning to the main matter.
"Your Highness, news has just arrived from Warsaw. As of last Wednesday, Poland's Wojciechów Corps had recaptured Minsk. At present, the main force of the Russian Army is retreating toward the East Bank of Dnieper.
"More than fifty thousand Polish soldiers have assembled at Mozyr and Mogilev, preparing to cross the river in pursuit..."
Joseph could not help frowning. "Why have they not attacked Kiev first?"
Kiev lay in southeastern Poland, on the West Bank of Dnieper. More than a century ago, through a series of wars, Russia had forced