Napoleon II Reborn

Chapter 354: mediate

"This is a good idea. You should prepare well and come up with a plan. After I read it, you can go directly to London and propose marriage to King George IV." Xiao Jie said with a smile.

"Then do you want to discuss it with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince first?" Gregory asked.

"No, I have the final say on this matter." Xiao Jie said domineeringly. Indeed, people in the royal family have no freedom at all, especially when it comes to marriage, everything is in the interests of the country and the royal family.

That night, Xiao Jie found Borchardt and told his decision in front of his mother, Queen Angel of the French Empire, but to his surprise, Borchardt did not refute, which made him Saved a lot of worry. Borchardt is Xiao Jie's first son, and Xiao Jie has always trained him as his successor. He has worked hard in education and has always instilled in him the interests of the country and the royal family. Thought. So Borchardt did not refuse when he heard that Xiao Jie was going to get him engaged to Victoria, because it would be very beneficial to France.

While Xiao Jie and the others were planning against Britain, the war on the British Isles was in full swing. After obtaining the equipment of two infantry divisions from France, and adding the weapons produced by itself, it is enough to equip an infantry division, which made the UK have three more infantry divisions in one fell swoop, which can be said to have greatly increased its strength. Subsequently, the British Army sent two additional infantry divisions to the front line of the Wye River, bringing the number of British troops on the front line of the Wye River to more than 60,000, exceeding the 40,000 Irish Army. On February 8, the British army launched a counterattack. Tens of thousands of British troops crossed the Wye River and attacked the Irish army positions. The resistance of the Irish army is also extremely tenacious. They know that the strength of the two sides has changed now. If they cannot withstand the attack of the British army, then they are likely to be driven back to Ireland. The fierce battle lasted for two days and two nights, and finally the British army broke through the defense line of the Irish army, but for this, they paid a price of tens of thousands of people. was dyed red.

During the Battle of the Wye River, the Irish Army also lost more than 6,000 people. After the line of defense was breached, they chose to retreat and retreat to Newport to defend. At the same time, they asked for help from the country and asked them to send troops for support. On February 12, the British army stormed Newport. After resisting for three days, the Irish army had to continue retreating to Cardiff, the capital of Wales, due to heavy casualties. After this battle, the Irish army had only 20,000 men left, while the British army was twice as many.

The Irish army suffered heavy losses in Wales, which made it impossible for the Irish government to give up, and paid such a large number of casualties. If Wales could not be in their hands, their losses would not be in vain. But now the British army is on the offensive. If no reinforcements are sent, the army in Ireland is likely to be wiped out. After discussion, Harrison decided to send two infantry divisions and an independent cavalry brigade to Wales again. At the same time, the domestic army also stepped up training and expanded its establishment by four infantry divisions again.

In Ireland's offensive, Britain also suffered heavy losses. Therefore, there is absolutely no possibility of reconciliation between them and Ireland. With the increase of troops on both sides, the war can only become more and more intense, which is exactly what France hopes to see.

On February 18, 35,000 Irish troops set off from Wexford, landed at Milford Harbor in Wales, and then quickly marched towards Cardiff. Now the battle between the Irish army and the British army in Cardiff has entered a fierce state. Generally speaking, the British army has the advantage. If the Irish army does not arrive with reinforcements, the Irish army besieged in Cardiff is likely to die. was wiped out.

On February 21, Irish reinforcements joined the battlefield. They violently attacked the British positions from the flanks, especially the independent cavalry brigade, which almost tore through the British defense line during the first charge. The Irish army also cooperated with the reinforcements outside the city to launch a counterattack. Under the attack from both sides of the Irish army, the British army's defense line completely collapsed. Tens of thousands of British troops had to retreat. On February 27, the British army was driven back to the east bank of the Wye River. At this time, the British army had dropped from the original 60,000 to 25,000, and the Irish army suffered heavy casualties. The 50,000 people who landed in a wave have basically lost their casualties, and now there are less than 40,000 troops left in Ireland. There was another apparent stalemate between the Irish army and the British army. In order to break this situation, both sides stepped up their armed forces. At the same time, they also ordered a large number of arms from France again, which made France a windfall.

Similarly, when the British sent reinforcements to the Wye River, they also sent reinforcements of an infantry division to the northern front, bringing the number of British troops on the northern front to about 25,000. And their opponent, the Scottish army, has also been supplemented, and the front-line army has reached 35,000 people. Although the Scottish army has an advantage in strength, they did not have the upper hand in the battle. Instead, they felt that they were beaten by the British army and had no power to fight back. The reason is very simple. The so-called Scottish army is nothing more than those urgently recruited herdsmen or farmers who have undergone simple training. Most of them have only learned how to shoot. The British army is different, although they The training of the army is also not in place, but it is much better than the Scottish army. By February 20th, the British army had driven the Scottish army out of England, and the war began in Scotland. Scotland is mostly hills and highlands, and the terrain is very favorable for defense. After the Scottish army failed on the battlefield, it switched from offense to defense, which was able to withstand the attack of the British army.

In early March, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an announcement that they would send a delegation headed by Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Compenny to visit the three British countries. France is willing to mediate for the three countries and end the war on the British Isles. Of course, this does not mean that France wants to achieve peace in the British Isles, but that the scale of the war between Xiao Jiexian and the three countries is too small. In the eyes of France, a war involving tens of thousands of people is simply not enough. After some time to brew, then the scale of the subsequent war will definitely be greatly escalated. The temporary truce between the three countries was only Compini's first diplomatic mission. The second diplomatic mission was to propose to Victoria for Borchardt. Xiao Jie's death order to Campini was that no matter what method he used, such as threats and intimidation, King George IV must agree to the marriage.

In private, the three countries despise France's request for mediation. At this point in the war, they all fully understood that this was nothing more than France's provocation. However, even if they knew the reason, they did not dare to refuse openly. If France was angered, the situation would be bad. Even if the three countries of England add up their current forces, they will definitely not be the opponent of a French army. Therefore, they expressed their "strong" welcome to the French mediation.

At the request of France, the three countries temporarily stopped attacking each other, and sent special delegations, preparing to obtain the greatest benefits for their own countries in the negotiations.

The location of the negotiation was chosen as the Isle of Wight, which is used by France as a military base. The French army deployed a squadron of the Channel Fleet and the 5th Marine Division here, which can be regarded as a support for the troops stationed in the London area. If there is a change, the 5th Marine Division will become the main force to respond to the French troops stationed in the London area.

On March 20, the representative of the kingdom of Scotland, the furthest away, was the last to reach the Isle of Wight. Negotiations will also be held on the 21st. The French side was attended by Compigny, the British side was composed of Foreign Secretary Palmerston and Home Secretary Edward, Duke of Kent, the Irish side was the government Jemasp, and the Kingdom of Scotland sent Matthew ? Douglas, Kate? Douglas's second son. As soon as we met, Jemasp and Matthew Douglas showed a very good friendship~lightnovelpub.net~After all, if the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Scotland face the UK alone, it will definitely not be the UK opponent. In order to deal with Britain, the two countries had to join forces, which is why the two are so close. Sure enough, seeing the appearance of the two of them, Palmerston's face was a little gloomy, while Edward's face was full of anger.

"Okay, now that everyone is here, let's start. His Majesty the Emperor of our country has expressed strong concern and concern about the recent war in the British Isles. The long-term war has caused great harm to the people. Therefore, the emperor of our country must think that the three parties can calm down, and that any problems can be resolved at the negotiating table, so why bother to use guns?" Compenay said with a face full of regret, as if he was thinking about dying in the war like the people praying.

Seeing Compini's appearance, almost everyone curled their lips in disdain. Everyone knows that without the help of France, this war would not have been fought at all. Now Compagni is here crying cats and pretending to be merciful, which makes people feel very disgusted.

"If there is a truce, the Irish rebels must immediately withdraw from the UK, Scotland must return to the British Empire, and the Douglas family must give up the throne and plead guilty to the royal family." Edward said angrily. In his eyes, these people were all traitors to the British Empire. If it wasn't for his limited strength, he would have had them all pulled out and killed.