Round and round

Joseph knew all too well how difficult life was for the lower classes in that era; if their food and livestock were taken away without money, the whole family might starve to death.

Moreover, local resupply is much cheaper than transporting supplies from within France via a long and narrow supply line. After all, transportation costs and losses are eliminated, so there's really no need to skimp on the farmers' livelihood.

Furthermore, paying for supplies can leave a good impression on the Southern Netherlands, making future on-site resupply easier. Perhaps some locals will even bring supplies to the Royal Guard Legion Camp sell, hoping to earn a small profit.

At 3 p. m., the Royal Guard Legion began to maneuver the South, bypassing the south side of Antwerp, hugging the border of Brussels, and heading straight for Ghent Province.

Joseph continued to ride on the left side of the marching column, waving to the soldiers from time to time to boost morale, and the soldiers responded with excited cheers.

Berthier urged his horse forward and bowed slightly to him, saying, "Your Highness, Major Mason has sent word that because Hanover Army is in a relatively compact formation, he has not chosen to launch an attack."

Joseph nodded. "He did the right thing. The key to infiltration tactics is not to seize every opportunity to gain an advantage, but to prioritize preserving your own manpower and cutting through the enemy's formation as completely as possible."

Mason's battalion, plus two companies of soldiers, totaling less than a thousand men, operated as a mobile force near Hanover's army.

Joseph's orders to him were to carry out infiltration operations while the enemy was tied down and in disarray, in order to further disrupt the enemy's formation.

At present, the Royal Guard Legion has too few officers who can lead independently. Lefebvre was left to assist Leo, leaving only Berthier. As for Davout, Napoleon, and others, they are still relatively inexperienced, and their ranks are not high enough to lead a legion on their own.

As for Mason, he had shown remarkable resourcefulness in the previous exercises in conjunction with Onck, and thus became the only mobile unit.

If Napoleon and others were capable of great service, or if fierce generals such as Massena, Moreau, and Lannes were recruited, Joseph would surely be able to riddle the Hanover Army with holes.

"Talent is always the most valuable resource..." Joseph sighed inwardly. However, he also knew that the training of an army was not something that could be accomplished overnight. To be honest, the growth rate of the Royal Guard Legion was already quite astonishing.

If they can achieve a resounding victory in the Southern Netherlands this time, the Royal Guard Legion will be able to attract more talent, thus ushering in the next wave of explosive growth.

In the rear of the marching column, Napoleon pulled aside the commander and asked, "So, our real target is Ghent?"

Before Colonel Dumont could say anything, he immediately realized, "No, Ghent has no target to mobilize the enemy forces..."

Colonel Dumont smiled and said, "That's right, there are only about 8,000 Southern Netherlands Rebels there."

"That's the main force of the rebels." Napoleon's eyes suddenly lit up. "Our target isn't Ghent, it's Brussels!"

Colonel Dumont looked at the young Major in surprise. He hadn't considered the connection between Ghent and Brussels during the meeting at the General Staff until His Crown Prince mentioned it, at which point he suddenly realized.

But Bonaparte figured it out in just a few seconds!

Somewhat unwillingly, he pressed on, "Oh? Why did you make that deduction?"

Napoleon replied rapidly, "It's simple. If the main rebel force in Ghent is wiped out, then Brussels is an apple that can be picked at any time. The rebel Parliament might even surrender to us directly."

"Then why don't we just attack Brussels directly?" Colonel Dumont continued.

"That would put our army in danger. If the Hanover Army quickly returns to reinforce, and the Ghent also heads to Brussels at the same time, they could very well create a pincer movement against our army."

Ignoring the commander's surprised look, he continued, "Even if the enemy doesn't coordinate well, our attack on Brussels might cause the Rebellion Parliament to flee to Ghent. In that case, even if we capture that city, we won't gain any strategic advantage, since it's just an isolated city deep behind enemy lines."

Colonel Dumont nearly blurted out "All correct!"

He calmed himself down and coughed lightly, "You are truly young and promising. Perhaps in a few years, this troupe will be handed over to you."

Napoleon simply replied with "Thank you for your praise," but in his heart he was filled with admiration for the young Crown Prince who had proposed this series of tactics. He was not yet 16 years old and had only studied Military Theory at the Paris Police Academy, yet he possessed such incredible command abilities!

"If Corsica had such an outstanding leader, the road to nation-building would surely be smooth sailing," he thought to himself.

East of Brussels.

Karl II gazed westward into the distance, his brows furrowed.

Netherlands commander General Bronckhorst looked at the intelligence report in his hand and wondered, "The France only circled around Antwerp and then left? Heading west? Where are they going?"

"Ghent," Karl II uttered a single word, then reluctantly summoned his Orderly Officer, "Order the entire army to turn west immediately."

"Send the order to speed up the march! Leave all unnecessary supplies to the rear guard! Speed, I need speed!"

"Yes, Marshal!"

Bronckhorst hesitated, then said, "Your Marshal, if the France want to go to Ghent, we don't need to pay them any attention."

"And then?" Karl II asked in a low voice, "Witt's army is no match for the France."

He clearly remembered that Witt's 5,000-strong army had been surrounded by a regiment of the French Army, less than 2,000, and was almost annihilated.

"If the main force of the Southern Netherlands Army is lost, those people in Brussels will surrender immediately!"

Bronckhorst paused for a moment, then immediately understood the connection and hurriedly ordered the Netherlands Army to turn around immediately.

Meanwhile, the Southern Netherlands Rebel Army in Ghent also received the news and began to prepare their defensive positions.

However, just as the Hanover Army had marched northwest for three days and was about to reach Ghent, Karl II suddenly received a report from the Hussars that the French Army had turned back and the South.

Karl II hurriedly unfolded a map and marked the movements of the French Army on it. He was then astonished to find that in his pursuit of the France, he had gone too far north, and the Hanover Army and the French Army were now almost at the same distance from the Liège.

He was immediately terrified; it turned out that the France had been circling around all along, and their real target was the Prussian Army in Liège!

He hastily ordered an immediate march to Liège to provide reinforcements.

What he failed to notice was that, due to several days of high-speed marches, the Hanover Army, whose soldiers were of better quality, had already left the Dutch people seven or eight kilometers behind.