Louis XVI's reward

Leopold II continued, "According to the latest news sent back from the Southern Netherlands, General Leo, with the assistance of the France, is launching a counterattack against Liège."

"With Blücher's army currently experiencing low morale, General Leo is likely to achieve considerable success."

Joseph II nodded with satisfaction. "Draft an order to commend Franz Sigmund Leo, and also, send another 4,000 troops to reinforce him. Perhaps another military genius is about to emerge in Austria."

Austria's military strength is currently very strained, and the fact that so many people have been transferred demonstrates His Majesty the Emperor's high regard for Leo.

As the two were talking, Count Kaunitz, the State Minister, hurriedly knocked on the door and entered, carrying a document in his hand.

Seeing his stern expression, Leopold II quickly asked in a deep voice, "What has happened in Silesia?"

"No, Your Majesty, the war in Silesia remains at a stalemate." Kaunitz handed him the document. "The international situation has changed. Hanover has reinforced its troops by 30,000, and it is said that more will follow."

Leopold II's heart tightened immediately. Hanover had already sent more than 10,000 troops to Silesia, and with these 30,000, it was almost all of Hanover's military strength.

If they want to continue increasing their troops, they will have to conscript on a large scale, which will inevitably have a significant impact on their domestic agriculture and trade.

Hanover's desperate efforts could only mean one thing: the United Kingdom had decided to fully support Prussia.

Kaunitz chimed in, "The only saving grace is that our Spy in Hanover have confirmed that only 10,000 Hanover Army are reinforcing Silesia; the rest will be heading to the Southern Netherlands. Meanwhile, Prussia is also preparing to allocate 10,000 soldiers to Blücher."

After meeting with the Hanover envoy, William II consulted with Prince Heinrich and decided to send reinforcements to the Southern Netherlands. Since they couldn't persuade the United Kingdom, they decided to cooperate with them to quickly eliminate the Austrian and French forces in the Low Countries. This would also prevent France-Austria from taking advantage of their previous victories to retake the Southern Netherlands.

According to their plan, with 20,000 Hanover Army, Blücher's 14,000 men, and several thousand Southern Netherlands Army, and if Blücher were to be given an additional 10,000 men, they would have nearly 50,000 troops in the Southern Netherlands.

France-Austria didn't even have 25,000 soldiers there.

With such a huge numerical advantage, the French and Austrian Army of Luxembourg could be defeated in a month at most, and then the 50,000 Prussian Army would march to Silesia to secure victory.

Joseph II struggled to sit up straight, propping himself up on his pillows, and said in a hoarse voice, "Fortunately, the United Kingdom are very concerned about the expansion of France influence in the Southern Netherlands..."

Leopold II continued, "Perhaps you could give General Leo a greater reward; his victory has greatly reduced the pressure on us in Silesia."

Joseph II nodded slightly. "We should allocate more troops to General Leo. France will likely reinforce its troops after the battle with Hanover. In that case, Southern Netherlands will be able to draw a large number of Prussia soldiers."

Leopold II wholeheartedly agreed, saying, "And we will seize this opportunity to mobilize the entire nation's forces and achieve a decisive victory in Silesia!"

In the streets of Paris, countless citizens spontaneously took to the streets to celebrate the Royal Guard Legion's great victory in Luxembourg.

Since their defeat in the Seven Years' War, the France had not won a war against a major Europe power for a long time.

As for the American War of Independence, firstly, it was just France "civilian volunteer army," and secondly, the main force that won was the United States Continental Army, so the French People didn't pay much attention to it.

This time, however, it was the regular France army that, with inferior forces, decisively defeated the Prussian Army head-on, making the France feel that the Sun King of yesteryear was about to return.

It's important to understand that the France at this time did not yet possess the "white flag skills" that would later become known; on the contrary, they were extremely warlike.

The victory in the war even made them forget the worry of not having bread for their next meal. In this respect, only the Russia could rival them.

This is why Napoleon was able to easily seize power in a coup, and even after being exiled, he was able to regain power and easily gain the support of the entire nation—he was able to win battles!

Of course, Joseph's manipulation of public opinion through the news media also played a role.

Recently, major newspapers have been publishing articles about the Battle of Luxembourg, from His Crown Prince personally leading the army on the battlefield, to the performance of outstanding officers, and the heroic actions of individual soldiers.

This quickly generated a lot of buzz, causing people to completely overlook the fact that food shortages were still looming over France.

Around noon, the celebratory crowds had arrived near the Versailles Palace, Versailles Commercial Street saw another surge in sales.

Queen Mary did not complain this time about her son's presence on the dangerous battlefield—she had already grown accustomed to it. In any case, as Archbishop Brienne had said, the Crown Prince was only a few dozen kilometers away from the battlefield, there would be no accidents.

Hearing the commotion coming from the square, she gestured to her maid, Count de Berninac, "Please open the window."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The huge arched French windows were pushed open, and the cheers outside immediately reached Queen Mary's ears.

Long live His Highness the Crown Prince!

"The Child of Divine Grace has brought us victory!"

Long live His Majesty the King! God protect France!

"March into the Southern Netherlands and reclaim Wallonia!"

"The Royal Guard Legion is invincible, glory belongs to you..."

Queen Mary's face immediately lit up with joy. Since arriving in France, she had never seen such high levels of public support for the Royal House.

And all of this was brought about by the son's great victory.

She hurriedly instructed her maids, "Order the guards to open the square gates and let people in to celebrate. Oh, prepare some food for everyone, and a band; there must be music and dancing at times like this."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The cheers of tens of thousands of people quickly filled the Versailles Palace. Queen Mary, arm in arm with Louis XVI who had rushed over upon hearing the news, asked loudly, "Shouldn't we give Joseph some reward?"

Louis XVI also raised his voice to drown out the shouts in the square, "Yes, then what do you think would be a suitable reward?"

"I hope to be a beautiful and kind wife..."

"You're rewarding that lucky princess," Louis XVI laughed, then after a moment's thought, he said loudly, "How about we erect a statue for our Child of Divine Grace in the Versailles Palace Square?"

Just as the Allied Forces of Hanover and Prussia were heading to Luxembourg, in the far the South the Indian Peninsula, Tipu Sultan, the leader of Mysore, was also reviewing his army.

It was a powerful army of 60,000 men, equipped with Charleville or Brown Bess Flintlock Gun and arranged in neat European ranks.