The Crown Prince of France - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: William II's Decision

The Duke of Brunswick immediately ordered the main Prussian forces to hold their positions defensively. He tasked Blücher with quickly assessing the enemy's situation without launching a reckless attack. Meanwhile, he dispatched three infantry regiments and one cavalry regiment to establish a 20-kilometer defensive line from Amstelveen to Utrecht to secure logistics.

Before noon, bad news arrived—Blücher's corps had engaged the Dutch at the Sibbeldijk River. They were fiercely bombarded and encircled by the enemy, suffering over 800 casualties.

The Duke of Brunswick took a deep breath. He hadn't anticipated that the Dutch would still have the strength to resist and hurriedly sent reinforcements to assist Blücher.

By the time the Prussian defensive lines were completed, and the vanguard forces reorganized, two days had passed.

The Duke paid no mind to this minor delay. He had already addressed the vulnerabilities caused by the rapid advance of his army. Now, he planned to crush the Dutch with overwhelming force.

Four days after Dubois repelled the Prussian vanguard, he faced the Duke of Brunswick's most ferocious offensive.

On the plains south of Amstelveen, there was no room for strategy—only a brutal clash of iron and blood! Dubois commanded 12 cannons, relentlessly targeting the densest formations of Prussian soldiers. André led the cavalry in continuous harassment of the Prussian flanks, effectively distracting their cavalry.

The Dutch occupied higher ground, and their morale, bolstered by the triumphs of recent days, was astonishingly high. Their combat effectiveness shocked even the Prussians, who attacked until nightfall but failed to breach the Dutch defenses.

At dawn the next day, the Duke launched another assault. Intense musket volleys and artillery fire filled the battlefield, leaving thousands of corpses in their wake.

The battle was so fierce that by 2 PM, the French artillery had exhausted its ammunition.

André noticed Captain Dubois withdrawing with his artillerymen, muskets in hand, to join the infantry. Realizing the dire situation, he turned his gaze to the still-flaming Prussian artillery. He crossed himself, raised his saber high, and shouted to his bloodied soldiers, "Follow me! We’ll break through their artillery positions!"

The French cavalry immediately struck their breastplates with the hilts of their swords, roaring, "Yes, sir!"

The Duke of Brunswick frowned as he surveyed the smoke-filled battlefield. He hadn’t expected such tenacious resistance from the Dutch, particularly their artillery. Although they had only half the number of cannons as his forces, their astonishing accuracy had brought the battle to a stalemate.

Given the current situation, capturing Amsterdam would likely come at a steep price, far beyond his initial expectations.

As he deliberated whether to commit his reserves to a final, all-out assault, a royal envoy arrived with an order from King William II, personally signed, commanding a retreat.

The Duke frowned. "What is the meaning of this?"

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

"What? Impossible!" The Duke's eyes widened. The entire purpose of this campaign had been to rescue Princess Wilhelmina, and now he was being told she wasn’t even there?

The envoy sighed. "She was found in the Southern Netherlands, reportedly abducted by a group of Italian-speaking kidnappers. Antwerp police rescued her, killing two of the culprits."

The so-called Southern Netherlands, now part of modern Belgium, was under Austrian control.

"Kidnappers? That’s absurd!"

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

The Duke glanced at the retreat order again, unwilling to accept the situation. "Even so, we can use this opportunity to eliminate the rebels and restore Prince William V to the Netherlands!"

The envoy smiled awkwardly once more. "Actually, the Dutch Parliament formally announced yesterday that they’ve accepted Prince William V's return to Amsterdam as Stadtholder."

The Duke stared blankly for a long moment before finally, reluctantly, waving to his aide-de-camp. "Order the army to retreat."

William V's return to the Netherlands was, of course, orchestrated by Joseph. Initially, the Patriots staunchly rejected the idea, but the French envoy, Colbert, relayed the Crown Prince's suggestion: "The position of Stadtholder can be entirely ceremonial. Instead of allowing William V to stir trouble abroad, why not bring him back to Amsterdam where you can keep him under watch? You control the army and could even use him as a hostage."

The Patriots eagerly accepted this proposal.

Three days earlier, French spies had ambushed Wilhelmina in Nijmegen as she traveled to church. Believing her hiding place to be completely secure, she had brought only seven or eight guards and was swiftly overpowered by the so-called "Italian-speaking kidnappers."

Though Prussia had seized major Dutch cities in the south, smaller towns and villages remained under Patriot control. The French spies had no trouble smuggling Wilhelmina out of the Netherlands and into the Southern Netherlands. Along the way, they even sent a ransom letter to William II.

In Antwerp, local operatives procured two corpses to pose as the "dead kidnappers" and alerted the police to suspicious foreigners. A newspaper journalist was also tipped off to ensure public coverage of the "rescue."

With Wilhelmina publicly freed by the police, she could no longer claim to have been held hostage by the Patriots. Prussia's primary justification for invading the Netherlands evaporated.

Meanwhile, the Patriots offered further concessions. France staged a large-scale military exercise in southern Luxembourg, and the Duke of Brunswick failed to capture Amsterdam. Ultimately, William II, glancing at his dwindling treasury, decided to withdraw his forces.

...

André gazed at the thousands of Prussian troops surrounding their artillery positions, knowing that even reaching the cannons would likely cost him his life. But it was the only way to turn the tide. If there was even a one percent chance of success, he had to try.

He nudged his horse forward, gradually picking up speed. Just as he neared the Prussian right flank, a bugle sounded from their lines, and the Prussian infantry began to retreat.

Reining in his horse, André watched as the Prussian forces faded into the distance. Cheers erupted around him from the Dutch soldiers. Only then did he finally believe—they had won.

He crossed himself and looked to the heavens, his heart swelling. "The Son of God… he truly made it happen!"

...

At dawn, Joseph set off for Paris.

Today was the grand opening of the Paris Angel boutique on the Champs-Élysées, and he planned to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon.

Though it was merely a store opening, the boutique itself was a symbol of luxury. Joseph intended to make the most of the occasion to enhance its prestige and market value.

The opening had been widely advertised in the newspapers, and by the time he arrived on the Champs-Élysées, the crowd was immense. The central stretch of the boulevard, where the new boutique was located, was completely impassable.

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