William II's Decision

Duke of Brunswick immediately ordered the main force of the Prussian Army to hold their ground and defend. He told Blücher to ascertain the enemy's situation as quickly as possible and not attack rashly. Then he dispatched three infantry regiments and one cavalry regiment to establish a twenty-kilometer defensive line from Amstelveen to Utrecht, protecting the supply lines.

Before noon, he received more bad news—Blücher's corps had clashed fiercely with the Dutch at the Sibella River, suffering heavy bombardment and an enemy pincer attack. More than eight hundred men had been killed or wounded.

Duke of Brunswick drew a deep breath. He had not expected the Dutch to still have the strength to struggle, and hastily sent men to support Blücher.

By the time the Prussian Army's logistical defensive line had been completed and the vanguard had regrouped, two days had already passed.

Duke of Brunswick did not mind the little time that had been wasted. He had plugged the gaps caused by his overly rapid advance, and now it was time to crush the Dutch with overwhelming numbers.

At noon on the fourth day after Diboa had driven back the Prussian vanguard, he faced Duke of Brunswick's fiercest assault.

On the plains south of Amstelveen, there was no room for strategy—only the savage collision of iron and blood!

Diboa commanded twelve cannon, relentlessly shelling the densest concentrations of Prussian soldiers. Andre led the cavalry in continual harassment around the Prussian Army's flanks, firmly drawing the attention of the Prussian cavalry.

The Dutch held the higher ground. Fired up by their great victory a few days earlier, their morale soared, and they unleashed astonishing combat strength. The Prussian Army attacked fiercely until nightfall, yet still failed to bite through the Dutch defensive line.

At first light the next day, Duke of Brunswick resumed the offensive. Dense musket volleys flashed between both sides while cannonballs ravaged the battlefield, which was soon carpeted with thousands of corpses.

The fighting was simply too intense. Before two in the afternoon, the French Artillery had already exhausted its shells.

When Andre saw Captain Diboa leading the artillerymen away from their gun positions, taking up muskets to join the infantry, he knew things had gone badly wrong.

He looked toward the Prussian cannon, still spitting fire without cease, made the sign of the cross over his chest, raised his saber high, and shouted to the blood-soaked soldiers behind him, "Follow me! We're going to break through the Prussians' artillery positions!"

The French cavalry immediately slammed their sword hilts against their breastplates and roared, "Yes!"

Duke of Brunswick frowned at the smoke-shrouded battlefield. He had not expected the Dutch resistance to be so tenacious. Their artillery in particular, though they had only half as many cannon as he did, had matched his own through astonishing marksmanship.

At this rate, taking Amsterdam would likely exact no small price. This had completely strayed from his original expectations.

He was considering whether to commit the reserves in one most ferocious assault when a guard arrived with an envoy from the King.

Duke of Brunswick looked at the withdrawal order personally signed by King William II and frowned. "What exactly is going on?"

The envoy answered awkwardly, "It has been confirmed that Princess Wilhelmina is not in Dutch hands."

"What? That's impossible!" Duke of Brunswick's eyes widened. The purpose of this war had been to rescue Wilhelmina, and now he was being told she was not even here?!

The envoy said helplessly, "She was found in the Southern Netherlands. It is said that a group of Italian-speaking kidnappers was responsible. The police in Antwerp rescued her and killed two of the bandits."

The Southern Netherlands he referred to was the later Belgium, currently Austrian territory.

"Kidnappers? Impossible!"

The envoy continued, "Your Grace, Princess Wilhelmina has already returned to Prussia..."

Duke of Brunswick looked once more at the withdrawal order and said unwillingly, "Even so, we can use this opportunity to wipe out the rebels and restore Prince of Orange to the Netherlands!"

The envoy gave another awkward smile. "Actually, yesterday the Dutch Parliament formally announced that it would accept Prince of Orange's return to Amsterdam and reappoint him as Stadtholder."

Duke of Brunswick stood stunned for a long while before finally waving helplessly at the Orderly Officer beside him. "Order the entire army to withdraw."

William V's return to the Netherlands had naturally been Joseph's arrangement. At first, the Patriot Party had flatly refused, but French Envoy Colbert relayed the Crown Prince's words to them: the position of Stadtholder could be entirely ceremonial. Rather than let William V stir up trouble outside, it would be better to bring him back to Amsterdam and keep him under watch. William V's power base was in The Hague, while they controlled the army—they could even use him as a hostage.

The Patriot Party then happily accepted the proposal.

Three days earlier, French spies had laid an ambush in Nijmegen and abducted Wilhelmina on her way to church. The Prussian princess believed her hiding place was utterly secret, so she had gone out with only seven or eight guards. As a result, she was seized by the Italian-speaking kidnappers with barely any resistance.

Though Prussia had occupied the southern Netherlands, it controlled only the major cities. Small towns and villages remained in the Patriot Party's hands, so the French spies left the Netherlands without obstruction and took Wilhelmina to the Southern Netherlands. Along the way, they even sent William II a ransom letter.

Afterward, their contact in Antwerp procured two corpses to serve as the slain kidnappers, informed the local police about suspicious outsiders, and arranged for newspaper reporters to follow and cover the incident.

After Wilhelmina was publicly rescued by the police, she could no longer pretend that she had been held hostage by the Patriot Party. Thus, King William II of Prussia's greatest pretext for sending troops into the Netherlands vanished.

The Patriot Party then made further concessions. France also held a massive military exercise in southern Luxembourg, while Duke of Brunswick had failed to bite through Amsterdam.

In the end, William II looked at his pitifully thin purse and decided to withdraw his army.

Andre looked at the thousand or more enemy troops deployed around the Prussian artillery positions, as well as the Prussian cavalry that had kept their eyes fixed on him. He knew that he would likely spill his blood across the battlefield before he ever reached the Prussian cannon.

But this was the only way to save the situation. So long as there was even a one-percent chance, he had to try. He lightly pressed his heels to his horse's flanks and gradually accelerated. Just as he was about to approach the right wing of the Prussian infantry, a horn suddenly sounded from within the Prussian ranks, and the Prussian Infantry Line began to fall back...

He pulled on the reins and remained there until the Prussians had nearly vanished beyond his sight. Only when the Dutch around him began to cheer did he finally believe it—the enemy had retreated.

He made the sign of the cross over his chest and looked up at the sky, his heart surging. It was the Child of Divine Grace. He had truly done it!

At first light, Joseph took a carriage toward Paris.

Today was the opening day of Paris Angel's exclusive shop on the Champs-Élysées, and he had to arrive by noon to cut the ribbon.

Though it was merely the opening of a shop, the shop itself was also a commodity. Naturally, he had to make the ceremony as grand as possible to increase its added value.

News of the opening had long been spread far and wide through newspaper advertisements. By the time he reached the Champs-Élysées, the avenue was already packed shoulder to shoulder. The middle section of the avenue, where Paris Angel's new shop stood, had become completely impassable.