Chapter 257 Confrontation

On the morning of July 3, the 88th Army and the cavalry army of the Iberian Army had nearly 200,000 people. The border between France and Iran was divided into three routes and quickly advanced northward. Xiao Jie gave them the order that within a week, they must reach the banks of the Loire River, that is, the entire eastern and southern part of France must be in the hands of the French army.

Since Napoleon almost transferred all French troops to the front line to fight, the troops in other parts of France were extremely empty, and there was no garrison in many places, and even police were rare. The Iberian army was like entering a no-man. In addition, Xiao Jie was under the banner of protecting the French people and resisting the invasion of the anti-French alliance, so they were basically unobstructed along the way. Originally, because the anti-French alliance army entered France, the French people from all over the country were preparing to flee, but when they saw the Iberian army entering France, they stopped. In their eyes, the Iberian army had become synonymous with strength. With their protection, can they still use to fear the anti-French alliance army?

On July 8, Xiao Jie entered France with the 1st Iberian Army. He did not encounter any resistance along the way. Many French people even welcomed Xiao Jie back to France. They did not call Xiao Jie the Prince, but the Crown Prince. It seems that they still support Xiao Jie very much. There were also many smart officials who immediately expressed their loyalty to Xiao Jie. Xiao Jie accepted all his loyalty to these people. Such a large area always needs people to manage. It is definitely not possible to send people from Iberia, as this may trigger resistance from the French, so Xiao Jie had to rely on the French to govern these areas.

On July 10, the 88th Legion and the Cavalry Legion successfully arrived at the Loire River, successfully completed the task assigned to them by Xiao Jie and asked for the next step of action. Considering that Napoleon was still in Paris and was injured, Xiao Jie did not intend to continue to advance without Napoleon's order to pass the throne to Xiao Jie. He ordered the 88th Legion and the Cavalry Legion to set up defenses on the spot to prevent the army of other countries, including France, from crossing their defense lines.

Dugor implemented Xiao Jie's order well. Under his arrangement, the 88th Legion and the Cavalry Legion built a nearly 600-kilometer defense line along the Loire River. The existence of the Loire River saved a lot of troops and only needed to deploy troops in important cities. In this way, France was split into two halves by Xiao Jie.

The participation of the Iberian army brought huge variables to the war. Originally, the anti-French alliance began to attack Amiens from July 5, but since the Iberian army entered France, Kutuzov and others had to stop the attack before figuring out Iberia's true intentions, leaving Dawu with a breathing time.

On July 8, the same day that Xiao Jie entered France, Dawu saw no hope of resistance and led the last 40,000 remaining troops to withdraw from Amiens and retreat towards Paris.

After seeing the Iberian army stop advancing in the Loire, Kutuzov immediately understood that Iberia was taking advantage of the situation. On the one hand, it demanded that the country send more reinforcements again, and on the other hand, it began to march towards Paris. On July 15, 200,000 anti-French alliance troops came to the city of Paris. Napoleon's empire reached its last moment.

After Napoleon was shot, his injuries were very serious. After returning to Paris from the front, he fell into a coma. Napoleon's coma left Paris with no leader. In order to compete for power, the royal family and ministers split into several factions. Those loyal ministers supported Francois, who was less than 3 years old, to succeed to the throne and inherit Napoleon's cause. They hoped to negotiate with the anti-French alliance to establish Frank Ice's rule. However, their views were strongly opposed by others, especially Louis and others. Their reasons were also very sufficient. Francois was less than 3 years old and knew nothing at all and was easily controlled by others. Therefore, they strongly demanded that a capable royal officer temporarily exercise the emperor's power. After Napoleon recovered

Or wait until Francois grows up before returning power. Louis's proposal also received support from some people, but their power is much weaker than those who support the "King of Rome". The last view is to ask Xiao Jie to succeed the throne. Most of the people who hold this view are from the military. They urgently hope to get the help of the Iberian army to defeat the anti-French alliance and achieve the final victory of the war. Among them, Marshal Dawu and Prime Minister Conbaceres were headed. Because these people controlled the army, they had a great power and had a great advantage in the struggle. They also sent envoys to contact Xiao Jie to express their welcome to Paris. Xiao Jie expressed great interest in their invitation. If they could take over the entire France with justification, it would be of course a great thing.

But this was not something that Xiao Jie could decide alone. In Orleans, Xiao Jie summoned his subordinates to discuss the request of Marshal Dawu. Joseph also participated in the discussion. When Napoleon was defeated, he left Paris with his wife.

"Andrecy, I think this is an opportunity. If we can take over Paris, we will save a lot of trouble in the future." Joseph was a little moved.

"But don't forget that there are more than 200,000 anti-French coalition forces outside Paris. If we go north, we will not be able to avoid a great war with them. In addition, we also received information: Russian Emperor Alexander, Austrian Francis I, Pr. Friedrich William III and British Prime Minister Liverpool met again to discuss the continued sending troops into France. In that case, we will probably face more than 200,000 anti-French coalition forces." Eck said with some concern. In his opinion, as long as we can defend the territory we are now occupied, it will not be too late to launch a northward attack after digestion.

"How is their increase in troops? We are not afraid of any more people coming. I am completely confident to defeat them." Dugor expressed a different opinion. Now that there is such a good opportunity, he certainly doesn't want to give up just like this.

"After this war, France has consumed a lot of money. I believe the anti-French alliance consumed a lot of money. According to statistics, France lost more than 700,000 troops on the battlefield, and the anti-French alliance also suffered a lot of money, almost reaching 1 million. After such heavy losses, I think it is difficult for them to recover. If we take the opportunity to go north, they should not have much strength to stop us." Misend also analyzed that he was very interested in going north to enter Paris.

After listening to everyone's opinions, Xiao Jie fell into deep thought. To be honest, Xiao Jie was still very moved by the opportunity to enter Paris now. But at the same time, he had to consider the risks. Although Napoleon fell into a coma, if he recovered, he would still be the French emperor. If he asked himself to withdraw from France at that time, it would be more troublesome. Although he could rely on his strong strength to stay in Paris, morally, he would be untenable. Napoleon's support in the minds of the people was much higher than that of him. In the end, he paid a huge price, but Napoleon and Francois benefited, so he was unwilling to do such stupid things.

Just as Xiao Jie was worried about whether to take the opportunity to enter Paris, a message from Paris gave him aside. On July 17, Napoleon woke up from a coma, but his health was still very bad. After diagnosis, the doctor told the queen and royal family that Napoleon was now looking back. That afternoon, Napoleon ordered the arrest of Davu and Conbaceres and other officials, and officially announced the throne to Francois. He also asked his subordinates to assist Francois and negotiate with the anti-French alliance to strive to recreate the glory of the French Empire in the future. After arranging these, Napoleon passed away at 2:25 am on July 19.

After Napoleon's death, the cabinet members immediately sent envoys to negotiate with the Anti-French Alliance. However, the Anti-French Alliance insisted on the abdication of the Bonaparte family and restored the Bourbon dynasty. As a result, both sides were not satisfied with each other's request and the negotiations broke down.

On July 21, the anti-French alliance launched an attack on Paris. On the 23rd, Paris was captured and the anti-French alliance occupied Paris. All members of the French government cabinet were captured, and Francois, who had not yet had time to ascend the throne, also became a prisoner of the anti-French alliance.

As Napoleon has passed away, Francois and other members of the Bonaparte family have become prisoners of the anti-French alliance. On July 24, Xiao Jie announced that he had officially declared war on the anti-French alliance, expressing his intention to drive them out of France.

On July 25, the 1st Division and the 2nd Division of the 88th Legion had three cavalry regiments from the Cavalry Legion set out from Orleans and attacked Paris. Kutuzov personally led a 100,000 army south to fight. On July 27, the two sides launched a fierce battle 50 kilometers south of the country, and the battle continued from morning to afternoon. The Iberian army finally defeated the anti-French alliance and came to the city of Paris. However, more than 100,000 anti-French alliances relied on the strong walls of Paris to defend, and the Iberian army could not occupy Paris for a while.
Chapter completed!