Chapter 464 Retreat

"Your Majesty, more than 100,000 French troops have already landed in Kapelsejer. We have no chance of winning. Hurry up and admit defeat to the French and ask for peace." Swedish Prime Minister Gut and Foreign Minister Aubrey cried bitterly. . Now, the capital Stockholm is already in the middle of the French army's north-south attack, and the back road has been completely cut off by the French army. All the troops were completely surrounded, and Sweden had no chance of winning.

"Peace? Huh! Do you think that we will let us go if we only ask for peace with the French? You know, we initiated this war. Although the Americans are behind the instigation, do you think the French will listen to our explanations? This war has turned the whole of Eastern Europe into ruins. How much manpower, material and financial resources the French will have to invest to recover. How many French people died in the war. More importantly, this war has greatly restrained France The limited strength puts France at a disadvantage in the confrontation with the United States and Canada. And the French will definitely blame us for this. So, do you think the French will let us go?" Gustav IV said coldly. He saw all these very clearly, otherwise he would not have such a strong demand to fight France to the end.

Gut and Aubrey were silent. They knew that these consequences were enough for France to completely destroy Sweden. Even if they humbly beg for forgiveness from France, France will definitely put forward conditions that are difficult for Sweden to accept. Even those conditions will be much more serious than the demise of Sweden.

Seeing that the two were still hesitating to speak, Gustav IV said: "Okay, you two don't need to say more. I have made up my mind to live and die with Stockholm."

"Your Majesty, in fact, we still have another option, which is to withdraw from Stockholm and retreat to the Scandinavian mountains in the north with only a few elite troops. As long as we can persist until winter, then we will be able to resist the French The attack. Thus waiting for the opportunity to restore the country." Aubrey said.

Gustav IV was silent, and no one did not cherish his life. However, after careful consideration, he still rejected Aubrey's suggestion. "The main target of the French is me. If I am not caught or killed by them, they will not stop their march. However, you are the building of the country, and you can evacuate Stockholm and save Sweden. A little strength."

"No, Your Majesty. I am determined to fight with Your Majesty to the end." Gut said firmly. And Aubrey quickly agreed. In fact, when Gustav IV asked them to evacuate Stockholm, he couldn't mention how happy he was. However, Gut was so ignorant and demanded to fight to the end, isn't this courting death? Although Aubrey showed great indignation on his face, in fact, he had already greeted all the female members of the Gut family countless times in his heart.

"This is an order, you must evacuate Stockholm. Lord Gut, Lord Aubrey, my son and family have also ordered to leave. I declare that after my death, the throne will be inherited by my son, who will be the new Swedish King, Gustav V. I hope you two can help him well and make him a great king." Gustav IV said solemnly.

Hearing what Gustav IV said, Gut no longer insisted on staying in Stockholm, and Aubrey was also relieved. In addition, he also realized that this is definitely a very good opportunity for him. If the Swedish prince can be captured and dedicated to the French, he will definitely be able to keep his glory and wealth. Therefore, Aubrey asked: "Your Majesty, where should we go to find His Royal Highness?"

"Go to Östersund in the north. The prince and queen will go there first. Only the prince knows where the treasures of the royal family are buried. Use the wealth accumulated by the ancestors to help His Royal Highness establish a powerful Swedish kingdom." Gustav IV said.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, we will definitely assist His Highness the Prince." Gut and Aubrey said at the same time. It's just that Gut is sincere, while Aubrey is simply perfunctory.

At the urging of Gustav IV, Gut and Aubrey left Stockholm under the **** of a team of elite palace guards. Before that, one of Aubrey's confidants left the city earlier, Travel to the southern part of Sweden.

While Gustav IV was busy preparing for the final resistance and transferring talents and wealth, the French army had already begun to act. First of all, Monty's 89th Army and the armies of several vassal states, with a total of more than 300,000 people, launched a fierce attack on the Swedish army from Norrköping. As a result, the more than 200,000 Swedish troops confronting the French army were exhausted, and it was impossible to mobilize troops to return to Stockholm.

The French 3rd Army of Lance also sent troops southward, advancing towards Stockholm. The 3rd Marine Division was stationed at Capelcher, guarding this important material distribution center and protecting the logistical supply lines of the French 3rd Army.

"Your Majesty, the Nyköping garrison has an urgent message. The French army has launched a fierce attack on me since today, and the frontline troops are almost unable to hold on, so they request to retreat." Swedish Minister of War Alfred said with a dejected expression. .

"What's the matter? Isn't there more than 200,000 elite troops on the front line? Although the French army has more than 300,000 troops, we only need to pay attention to the French 89th Army. The other French slave troops don't have much combat effectiveness at all. How could it be so quickly unable to withstand the attack of the French army?" Gustav IV was full of disbelief. Originally, he planned to transfer tens of thousands of troops from the front line back to Stockholm. But now it seems that this is simply impossible. It's good that the frontline doesn't ask for support.

"Your Majesty, we have been deceived by the French from the very beginning. Their combat effectiveness is much higher than ours. The reason why we chose to confront our army in the Norrköping area is just to get a chance to wipe out our army. .” Alfred said with a sad face. Of course, he couldn't tell Gustav IV that the so-called elite Swedish troops had no higher combat effectiveness than the French slave army.

"How many troops are there in Stockholm now?" Gustav IV asked.

"Now in Stockholm, we still have 80,000 'elite' troops and 200,000 newly recruited troops." Alfred said honestly. Although the current army in Stockholm seems to be very large, almost 300,000. But in fact, the combat effectiveness of those newly recruited troops is very low. The vast majority of them have no formal military training at all, they just learned how to shoot. And the accuracy is also very poor. If you want to hit the target, you can basically only pray for God's blessing.

"Then how about we send some troops south to support the front line?" Gustav IV asked. In military affairs, he was basically a layman, so he would usually ask Alfred for his opinion on military matters.

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely unacceptable. Although we seem to have a very large army now, in fact, the overall combat effectiveness is far behind the French army. Now the French 3rd Army in France is moving southward at a rapid pace, and tomorrow afternoon at the latest , it will be invested in the attack on Stockholm. It is very unfavorable for us to defend Stockholm by deploying troops now." Alfred persuaded.

"How can the crisis on the southern front be resolved? If the French army breaks through our line of defense, the situation will become even more threatening. At that time, both French armies will approach the city of Stockholm. At that time, it will be even more impossible for us to resist The French army is attacking." Gustav IV said.

"Your Majesty, there is another way. That is to order the southern frontline troops to abandon their current positions and retreat to the north. Retreat to the South Talije area. The terrain there is relatively narrow and large-scale battles cannot be carried out. In that case, our troops will not be enough. The situation can be improved. Even use the favorable terrain to resist the attack of the French army." Yalfer said.

"This method is good, just do as you said, and give orders to the front line." Gustav agreed.

"However, this also faces a problem. That is, the current battle situation is very unfavorable to our army. If the troops are suddenly ordered to retreat, it is very likely to cause the troops to be defeated~lightnovelpub.net~ In that case, our situation will be even worse It's terrible. Even directly lost this war." Alfred said.

Sure enough, after Alfred expressed his concerns, Gustav IV hesitated. If the front-line troops form a rout, it will face disastrous consequences for Sweden. Then there is no need for this war to continue. The Swedish army would no longer be able to stop the advance of the French army.

"Is there any way to avoid this consequence?" Gustav IV asked.

Alfred shook his head: "It can only depend on the adaptability of the frontline generals. If the handling is good, the troops can successfully retreat to Sodertalye, but if the handling is not good, it is very likely to cause a rout."

"Who is the general at the front?" Gustav IV asked.

"It's General Kyle. He performed very well in the Battle of Gothenburg. Therefore, he was promoted to general and commanded the southern army. I can remind him and let him pay attention. But it's hard to know the effect. ’” Alfred said.

"Okay then, go and give the order." Gustav IV said helplessly.