William led his army east to Prussia, of course, William's itinerary was not directly back to Brandenburg, but also to Cologne to meet Maximilian and to the Main region to convene a council of the princes of the Holy Roman Empire.
Previously, Maximilian was going to Vienna, and it was the news that Maximilian was going to Vienna that stimulated Leopold II to some extent, and it can be said that Leopold II's death was also related to this incident.
After the death of Leopold II, Maximilian who got the news was originally going to continue to Vienna, in Maximilian's view, he was driven out of Vienna during Leopold II's lifetime, and now if Leopold II can reign in Vienna after his death, it will not be a great revenge.
But then, dissuaded by the Prussian government, Maximilian changed his itinerary.
On the one hand, the Prussians did not want to provoke the Austrians further, and although the Austrians were defeated at the moment, this defeat was reluctant for most Austrians. ”。
Even if Tuha suffered a lot of losses at the hands of the Prussians, these losses were not the main reason for Austria's defeat, and even if Austria had gone all out, the number of victories and defeats would still be five or five.
Thus, even though Alexander had already taken control of Vienna, many Austrians were still not convinced by the new Austrian archduke, despite Alexander's military might.
If at this time, Maximilian goes to Vienna again.
Then, no matter how reluctant Alexander was, he was sure to receive Maximilian, which would inevitably make more Austrians hate Alexander.
For the time being, the present situation in Austria was in the interests of Prussia, if Alexander's agitated Austrians overthrew it.
This meant that the armistice signed between Prussia and Alexander was null and void, which was unacceptable to Prussia.
So no matter how much Maximilian wanted to return to Vienna, the Prussian government would never let him do so.
After Wilhelm decided to withdraw his troops and return east, at Wilhelm's behest, the Prussian government also informed Maximilian that Wilhelm was coming to Cologne.
The reason why he went to Cologne was, on the one hand, to calm the heart of the Holy Roman Emperor.
Although Maximilian was only the nominal emperor, and even his emperor could be regarded as a puppet of the Prussians, but no matter what.
Prussia was also to give Maximilian relative respect.
After Cologne, William's next stop was Frankfurt, where he was to convene a congress of the imperial princes in Frankfurt, and with Prussia's successive victories over Austria and France, he would deter the princes of the Rhine and Main valleys.
End of June 1793.
Wilhelm visits Cologne.
Wilhelm was accompanied only by the Royal Guard, while the 4th and 6th Divisions were to escort the bodies and nameplates of Prussian fallen soldiers back to Brandenburg on Wilhelm's orders.
In Cologne, Maximilian held a grand triumphal ceremony for Wilhelm, and nearly 100,000 residents of Cologne took to the streets on both sides of the street to form a neat formation to welcome the Prussian army led by Wilhelm into Cologne.
The gates of Cologne were dressed up, many beautiful girls stood on the gates with flower baskets in their hands, and flowers were placed on both sides of the main road in Cologne, and Maximilian and a group of Cologne magnates stood at the gates of Cologne to welcome William and his army.
As soon as the banner of the Prussian army came into view, the large band, which had already been arranged by the Cologne gate, immediately sang a triumphant song.
The Prussian army was lined up in a neat formation.
At the forefront were the officers of the Prussian Royal Guard, led by William.
"His Majesty Wilhelm, welcome to Cologne!"
By the time William and his party came to a distance of less than a hundred meters from Maximilian.
As a sign of respect, Wilhelm stepped off his horse first, and after Wilhelm dismounted, the entire Prussian army marched to a halt like a wall and remained motionless.
The strong killing aura came to his face, which made Maximilian and the powerful people of Cologne change color one after another.
Fortunately, after a while, Maximilian reacted, and greeted William when he was still some distance away from him, and as soon as the two met, William bent down slightly and saluted Maximilian, and Maximilian was obviously flattered after seeing William salute, so without waiting for William to speak, Maximilian took the lead in speaking.
In Maximilian's words, he did not treat William as his subordinate at all, and the tone in his words completely regarded William as an existence equal to himself, and seeing Maximilian so knowledgeable, William's face also showed a smile "His Majesty the Emperor of Labor came to greet him in person, and he was flattered!"
He was flattered when he said it, but there was no surprise on his face, and Maximilian complained slightly in his heart, but obviously he didn't dare to say it to William in person.
"Where, His Majesty William led the army to annihilate the French ** team in the Netherlands, greatly boosting the morale and military prestige of our Holy Roman Empire, which is really a blessing for the Empire!
Going out of town to greet is not enough in case!
” Maximilian's posture was very low, but William was not complacent or even arrogant because of Maximilian's posture.
"All this depends on God's blessing and His Majesty's blessing, and what I have done is really my duty!"
After saying that, William and Maximilian looked at each other and smiled.
"His Majesty William, please!
Let the people of Cologne also see the imperial majesty!
” After speaking, under the service of the attendants, Maximilian and Wilhelm also stepped on their horses and walked towards the interior of the Cologne gate, and after Wilhelm rode his horse, the entire Prussian army was like coming to life, and the Prussian soldiers in each phalanx tried their best to maintain their military appearance, eager to leave an invincible image of Prussia in the hearts of the entire Cologne people!
When William and Maximilian galloped to the Cologne gate, the Cologne girls on the gate shouted and threw down the petals in the basket in their hands, and the petals in the sky became William's embellishment.
Seeing the large number of Colognens on both sides of the street, whether these Cologneites came to greet William voluntarily or passively, at least in William's heart, he was quite satisfied with Maximilian's reception.
William was followed by the officers of the Royal Guard, the cavalry of the Guard, and the infantry at the rear.
When the royal guards in grand dresses appeared under the city of Cologne, screams rang out one after another among the Cologne maidens on the city gates.
The Prussian cavalry wearing bright white cuirasses walked in the front, and the Prussian cavalry with gorgeous helmets on their heads were blooming their gorgeous feathers like proud peacocks, and under the sunlight, the bodies of these cavalrymen were covered with layers of faint halos, like God's royal soldiers.
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Behind these cuirassiers are Prussian light cavalry and lancer troops, compared with the cuirassiers, these light cavalry are undoubtedly a lot less interesting, but this does not prevent the Prussian cavalry from showing their mighty side, and the resolute Prussian cavalry killed a large number of girls on the Cologne city gate in seconds.
With cavalry in front, infantry was much inferior in comparison.
However, the infantry also had their own characteristics, that is, under the command of the musicians and drums in the military formation, the whole Prussian military formation was like one person, although there were hundreds and thousands of people in the military formation, but the footsteps on the ground were all the same.
The rumbling military might undoubtedly made all the Colognes who were lucky enough to see it gasp, compared to the cavalry in front, the blood on these infantry was thicker and more terrifying.
Of course, Cologne did not have so many places to accommodate the entire Prussian Royal Guard, so except for the 1st Regiment of the Royal Guard, which was with him to protect William, the rest of the army would all rush out of the gate on the other side of Cologne after the triumphal ceremony, and camp in the barracks that Maximilian had already prepared outside the city.
After the triumphal ceremony, Wilhelm and a group of officers from the middle rank and above of the royal guard gathered in the Cologne Cathedral, where the current Archbishop of Cologne, Maximilian's son, Louvid, was performing a requiem ceremony for all the Imperial soldiers who had died in the war.
"Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
For all is yours in the kingdom and the power and the glory forever!
” After a prayer, the crowd walked out of Cologne Cathedral with Maximilian and William, and Maximilian said to William affectionately: "In order to welcome His Majesty Wilhelm to Cologne, you are invited to attend a grand welcome dinner in Cologne this evening!"
"Of course, His Majesty the Emperor's kindness, how can I refuse!"
The two smiled and embraced, and then, led by an attendant, William and his party left the church.
After William and his party had gone away, a man came to Maximilian and said: "Your Majesty the Emperor, it has been arranged, but the people below are a little worried....."
Although the man did not continue, Maximilian's eyes narrowed and he whispered: "Those cowards, things have come to this point, if you don't seize this opportunity, then maybe when will the next time!"