A wedge and the means of breaking them apart

Encouraged by Vice Speaker Onck, the Southern Netherlands Rebel Army launched a fierce attack on the France who were besieging General Witt.

Contrary to their expectations, the French Army collapsed almost immediately, and within 20 minutes, a huge gap appeared in the encirclement.

Witt also noticed something amiss. When he vaguely saw the flag of the Southern Netherlands National Guard through his Telescope, he was overjoyed and ordered the officers around him to be alert and break out with him.

Under attack from both inside and outside, Mason's Royal Guard Legion was increasingly unable to withstand the onslaught, and soldiers near the Netherlands Army fled in panic.

In less than an hour, Witt met up with Major Acht, who had come to reinforce them.

General Witt glanced at the disarraying France retreat, then stepped forward and embraced Acht tightly, patting him on the back with emotion, saying, "You've come just in time, my dear friend! You're like the first ray of dawn suddenly appearing in a cold, snowy night..."

The latter pulled away from his embrace and gestured to Onck, who was not far away. "General, in fact, Speaker Onck is the real ray of hope. It was he who bravely defied all opposition and led us to rescue you."

"Onck?" General Witt was taken aback, finding it hard to reconcile the image of that money-grubbing and irresponsible politician with bravery.

But Acht shouldn't be lying to himself; perhaps all the unsavory things about Onck were just rumors. With that thought, Witt quickly straightened his Military Uniform, approached Onck, and solemnly saluted, placing his hand on his chest. "You saved me and thousands of revolutionaries with your unparalleled Courage. Please allow me to express my highest respect and sincerest gratitude."

Onck smiled and returned the greeting, taking the horse brought by the Guard and gesturing for General Witt to sit on it. "Now is not the time for idle chatter. I've heard the France defeated General Blücher, and they may send reinforcements here at any time. Let's return to Liège first."

"You're right, preserving these revolutionaries is the most important thing." Witt mounted his horse, found his advisor in the crowd, and ordered him to assemble the troops and retreat to Liège immediately.

However, the France quickly rallied and caught up.

The soldiers of the Witt's Legion, whose morale had been crushed by the Royal Guard Legion's Horse Artillery, dared not fight back and ran away faster than anyone else. Coupled with their extremely low level of training, their marching formation soon showed signs of collapse.

As Witt anxiously tried to reassure the soldiers, Onck stepped forward again, offering to lead a battalion to cover the rear.

Twenty minutes later, the pursuing Mason's Regiment of the Royal Guard Legion engaged in a firefight with more than 500 Netherlands Army in front of them.

After the two sides had been fighting fiercely for a good half hour, one of Onck's trusted men slipped away to a grove of trees not far from the battlefield, where he met a France officer.

"Mr. Onck says that's about enough," the confidant said in French, as if seeing an old friend. "The next battlefield is near the Elivico Village. Please withdraw now."

The France officer nodded. "Okay, see you at Elivico Village."

He was about to turn around, but then stopped, his sharp eyes fixed on the other man as he said, "His Crown Prince asked me to remind Onck not to forget the agreement."

"Yes, yes. How could I forget? Onck's reputation for keeping his word is known throughout Brussels."

"That's good."

Immediately, the France pursuers, unable to withstand the valiant Southern Netherlands soldiers under the command of Onck, began to retreat.

Amidst the thunderous cheers of his soldiers, Onck began to lead his troops to accelerate their pursuit of Witt's main force, and caught up with him before nightfall.

Over the next two days, Onck twice again took the initiative to cover the rear, and each time miraculously drove off the pursuers with inferior forces, allowing Witt's Legion to safely reach Liège.

When Witt's soldiers joined up with the Southern Netherlands who came to greet them, Onck's name immediately spread throughout Liège.

The Netherlands soldiers who had been rescued from danger by him on several occasions even gave him a nickname— Miracle Maker Onck.

As the wounded soldiers returned to Brussels to rest, the nickname, along with Onck's deeds, quickly became known to all the Southern Netherlands Rebel Army.

At the Southern Netherlands Parliament the following day, the Conservatives members, who had previously had almost no say, appeared radiant and spoke in louder voices. Their opinions were also clearly given more attention by the other members.

This was all due to the political effect of Conservatives leader Henry Onck winning enormous support among revolutionaries through his remarkable military prowess.

Winceler Town in northwestern Luxembourg.

When the Royal Guard Legion arrived, Blücher's army had been gone for a day and a half.

Inside the town's trading center building, Joseph was dictating a letter to his uncle Joseph II, while a clerk recorded it beside him.

Suddenly, Eman strode over and whispered, "Your Highness, Major Mason has returned."

Joseph gestured for the clerk to pause, and said to Eman, "Quickly, invite him in."

A moment later, the Major who had been promoted from the Crown Prince's Royal Guards to the Royal Guard Legion entered the room, led by Eman, and bowed to Joseph, saying, "Your Highness, the mission has been successfully completed."

Joseph smiled and nodded, "You did a very good job."

"Thank you for your praise," Mason added. "Your Highness, Henry Onck indicated that the main force of the Southern Netherlands Army will gradually withdraw south of Brussels within three months at the earliest. However, he said this requires convincing some members of parliament, so we will need your assistance of 500,000 Livre in terms of funding."

"He really dares to ask for it." Joseph chuckled and said to Eman, "Instruct the Intelligence Bureau to deliver 50,000 Livre to Onck. Tell him to evacuate the Wallonia within two months."

The area south of Brussels roughly corresponds to the Wallonia.

Mason cautiously interjected, "Your Highness, what if that Onck doesn't keep his promise..."

"He wouldn't dare," Joseph shook his head calmly. "He knows what the consequences would be if Van der Noot received news of his cooperation with us."

Van der Noot was the leader of the Southern Netherlands Liberals and Onck's political rival. Historically, the Liberals soon ousted Onck and other Conservatives from Parliament and began to consolidate their power.

Joseph continued, "Even if Onck really goes back on his word, it doesn't matter. As long as he remains in the Southern Netherlands Parliament, my goal has been achieved."

"This is the biggest weakness of the so-called electoral system."

He knew very well that, given the current fervor of the Southern Netherlands insurgents and the emerging signs of national awakening, it would be difficult for France to hold onto Wallonia.

Even if we occupy it by force, we will still face uprisings caused by revolutionaries everywhere.

In that case, the Wallonia would not only fail to bring benefits to France, but would instead become a serious drain on its resources.

Therefore, it was necessary to dismantle the Parliament of the Southern Netherlands Rebel Army, plunging them into internal strife, and thus diverting the attention of all revolutionaries to political struggle.