649 The Toulon Change

Louis XVI and his family were burned to death, and the next day, the Jacobins staged a coup d'état to oust the weak Girondists and take advantage of this trend to officially proclaim the establishment of the French Republic. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

In the original history, the Austrian Emperor Leopold II died suddenly after forming an alliance with Prussia to prepare for the anti-French war, which also delayed the outbreak of the anti-French war for a certain time. However, in this plane, due to the influence of Tang medical technology on Europe, Leopold II's illness was brought under control, and the emperor appointed Crown Prince Franz to preside over the military administration, while recuperating himself and paying limited attention to the war.

The spread of the telegraph in Europe made the monarchies connect more quickly, and these monarchies did not have a complete coordination plan, let alone a relationship of mutual command, only a general direction of attack, and the purpose was relatively large and vague, that is, to overthrow the current revolutionary government in France and restore the French royal rule.

At the end of September 1792, under the auspices of Austria, Britain, Prussia, the Netherlands, Spain, the Kingdom of Sardinia, Naples and other countries formed an anti-French alliance and began to attack France from many directions, and France was in a state of emergency.

At this time, there was a strange situation, in view of the declaration of war between France and Germany, the anti-French alliance even approached Germany and involved Germany in the war. The Prussians even put forward conditions that Germany would open its borders and allow Prussian troops to cross into France.

Even the most limited IQ people know that this is an extremely absurd thing, and China has an allusion to the destruction of false ways, and the German government ignores the Prussians. Helpless William? Frederick II had to choose to use Austria. Go around in a big circle. Or by British and Dutch ships carrying Prussian troops to France.

Also in the way of the anti-French coalition was another republic. That was the newly founded Belgium. Compared to Germany, which would still be feared, the newly formed Belgium was not taken seriously by Britain and the Netherlands at all. The British and Dutch intervention forces of 14,000 men invaded Belgium without declaring war, and the Belgian side was militarily weak and sudden, and was quickly defeated by the coalition forces. In this process, there was also the impetus of the original counter-revolutionaries and the black hands of the Austrians.

A very serious problem arose, through this battle, the British seized a part of the advanced weapons and equipment from the Tang Dynasty in the hands of the Belgian army, enough to arm nearly a division. Although the ammunition was not very abundant, it made the British side of Whitehall extremely excited, as if they had defeated the Don.

The intervention forces moved further and besieged Dunkirk, an important port in northern France, and the British seemed to see greater hope, and George III wanted to further increase his troops and expand the fruits of the war. Not only that, but the British Royal Navy fleet united with the Spanish Navy and prepared an attack on Provence in the south of France in the Mediterranean direction. The Sardinian intervention forces approached Grenoble from the east. The Spanish intervention forces crossed the Eastern Pyrenees from the south.

Relatively speaking, although Austria shouted the highest tune. But it was not easy for Austria to send troops, since the establishment of Germany. Austria wanted to send troops to France only by taking the road of northern Italy, but fortunately, the Kingdom of Sardinia, which occupied northern Italy, was also a member of the alliance and accepted the request to borrow the road, but the foothills of the Alps were not such a good place to march, so the progress was affected.

Of course, what is more troublesome for France is that with the establishment of the anti-French alliance, domestic demons and monsters also appeared at the same time. For example, Di Mourier, who led troops to fight with the German army before, actually changed himself at this time, pulled up a team and swore to restore the monarchy and restore the glory of France. The rebellion spread like a plague to more than 60 of France's 83 departments at the time. On the whole, the situation facing the republican government is extremely dire.

And the heaviest blow also appeared at this time, when the royalists entrenched in the city of Toulon actually lured the wolf into the house. In order to prevent the government from occupying the territory of Toulon and in exchange for the protection of the British army, they handed over the fortress of Toulon and the French Mediterranean fleet with more than 30 ships to the British and the Spaniards, so that the British and Spanish armies could easily occupy Toulon without firing a single shot.

Toulon is a city on the Mediterranean coast in the southern part of the Var department of France, and although it was only a few square kilometers and had more than 100,000 inhabitants, it was an important port in the south of France and a good naval base. It was a remarkable place for both France and the European powers. Thus, after the entry of British and Western armies, the armies of Naples, Piedmont and Gibraltar also set foot in the port.

By November, there were 14,000 foreign troops. Among them were 3,000 British troops, 5,000 Spanish troops, 4,000 Neapolitan troops, and 2,000 Piedmontese troops. After the allied forces occupied the territory of Lun, in order to protect the safety of the large and small anchorages and protect the fleet from the fire blockade of the other side, they first dismantled all the coastal forts along the large and small anchorages, occupied the Hyères Islands, and built fortifications on the heights of Cape Buren and Cape Kerr respectively to control the Cape Bren, Egiliyat and Barago forts, which pose the greatest threat to the large and small anchorages (these forts could directly fire at foreign warships anchored in the large and small anchorages). In addition, the Allied forces also deployed a large number of troops on the approach road between Oliouure and Lavalet, in the Franc Mountains, to prevent the French from attacking Toulon from the west and east.

The opening of the gateway to Toulon allowed the intervention forces of the anti-French alliance to enter France from the south of France, putting great pressure on the French republican government. At this time, the situation in France was absolutely critical, not long ago they had just suffered defeat at the hands of the Germans, their morale and spirit were a little low, and now almost all of Europe was crusading against France, which made many of the people who were swaying in the revolution abandon the republican government and choose to surrender to the royalists and foreign powers.

Of course, at this time, there are countless people with lofty ideals who have stepped forward to fight for the country. This is the moment when countless heroes begin to emerge. Even the Tang people who were far away on the North American continent were holding their breath and looking forward to a small, young and energetic figure appearing on the battlefield of Toulon.

That man is called - Napoleon? Bonaparte.

(To be continued.) )