Chapter 957 Sea of ​​Fire

Lamosilier's army encountered almost no resistance when invading Lorraine. Almost all cities surrendered at the sight of the enemy, and the losses caused by sporadic resistance were negligible.

In fact, before the 17th century, Alsace-Lorraine had always been the territory of the Holy Roman Empire, and it was the territory ruled by the Habsburg family.

However, after all, more than two hundred years have passed. If the French still cannot cultivate a group of loyal dogs, it would be their real dereliction of duty.

Of course, this group of loyal dogs is also the group that suffered the most losses after the Alsace-Lorraine crisis. Their transcendent status has been challenged, and their property and rights have suffered varying degrees of loss. Therefore, their counterattack at this time is particularly fierce, even more active than the French army.

This is the limitation of nationalism at this time, and it is not inclusive enough. However, Franz really does not want to tolerate this group of garbage, scum and traitors. It is a good thing for everyone if they can jump out.

The French army can advance quickly, and they can regain their former rights, and Franz saves the effort of finding thorns.

Thorns in the flesh are the most painful and the hardest to find.

However, the army of the Second French Republic was advancing so fast at this time, and it can only be said that the Orleans Dynasty was rotten to the core.

Lamosilier's main force arrived at the city of Metz without any obstacles. He looked at this fortress city with complete defense facilities and located at the intersection of two rivers and couldn't help but sighed.

Metz was once the center of the Holy Roman Empire's rule over Lorraine, and later became a military stronghold for France to fight against the Holy Roman Empire. A city that had been repeatedly reinforced for thousands of years was captured so easily by him, which made Lamosilier feel a little unreal.

He was ready to fill the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers under the city of Metz to capture this strong city.

"If the soldiers of the Orleans Dynasty are brave and want to defend this city to the death, how many people will we need to lose? How long will it take to take this city?"

Adjutant Brown hesitated for a while, then said.

"If the army of the old kingdom defends the city, it will take at least three days and at most a week. But if our army comes to defend, even if the army of the old kingdom has 100,000 people, they will not be able to capture it for several months."

Lamosilier nodded and did not continue the topic.

He rode to the front of the team, pulled the reins, and raised the four hooves of the warhorse high. At the same time, he waved the whip and shouted.

"Soldiers! Enter the city! Cleanse!"

The fatigue on the faces of the French soldiers disappeared instantly, and they rushed to the open city gate like wolves and tigers.

The so-called cleansing is a decent way of looting. Some gentlemen who have surrendered and some are willing to swear allegiance to the Second French Republic and can provide enough money and materials to serve the army can be spared.

As for others, they must pay taxes and enforce the obligation to serve the army.

Looting is actually like killing pigs. It looks simple, but it is actually a delicate job. If the method is not used correctly, not only may you not eat pork, you may even be kicked away or killed by the pig.

Although the generals who planned the looting had to plan carefully and carefully divide the residents of the entire city, it was almost the same for the soldiers.

As the soldiers with fierce eyes rushed into the city, the streets were filled with terror and chaos. Innocent civilians were frightened and scattered, closing their doors and windows like frightened beasts hiding in their caves.

But this was just a cover-up. Soon the door was knocked. As time went on, the soldiers outside the door gradually lost their patience and knocked on the door and broke it.

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Finally, accompanied by angry curses, the door was roughly broken open. The soldiers broke into the room and began to loot everything valuable, gold, jewelry, cloth, food...

Especially tobacco, alcohol, sugar, tea, and spices were the focus of the soldiers' search.

Of course, there were also the indispensable long-haired creatures in the end. They would be gathered together and then disbanded after the army left.

Crying, screaming, whistling, cheering, cursing mixed together, and occasionally there would be one or two gunshots and screams.

The senior generals of the French army did not have this special habit. Some of them even paid out of their own pockets to give money to the suffering women and children.

However, the war was imminent, and they needed to inspire the morale of the soldiers, and this was undoubtedly the most effective and direct way, so they could only make the people suffer again.

"Everything is for France."

But for the nationalists at this time, this was undoubtedly a way for the country to purify itself. They wanted to take the opportunity to eliminate those impure, inferior, and inferior foreign nationalities.

Lamosilier chose to attack in a divided way, and he undoubtedly achieved an overwhelming victory in the Lorraine region.

However, the French army in Alsace suffered a head-on blow, and Sélestat, the gateway to the Alsace province, refused to surrender.

The French army attacked for a week in a row, with a loss of more than 8,000 people. The military and civilians in Sélestat suffered even greater losses. If it weren't for a group of mercenaries resting in the city, they might not have been able to hold it at this time.

The battle was extremely tragic, because Sélestat was not a fortress, but more often a commercial city in history.

It had no iconic bastions, high walls, or even a regular army.

But the city's residents were determined because they had witnessed the brutality of the French army, and the brutal artillery executions on the banks of the Rhine were still vivid in their minds.

Even if they failed, the French army did not forget to set fire to stop the Allied forces from pursuing them.

As the main battlefield of the last Alsace-Lorraine crisis, the shadow of pain and death is not so easy to wipe out.

Bonnot de Couron was the commander of the French army ordered to attack Alsace. He did not want to stay here for long. He was ordered to capture Strasbourg and then beat the German coalition forces that came to reinforce.

Unable to attack, Bonnot de Couron thought of taking a detour almost immediately.

However, in order to stop the French army's advance, the Alsatians turned tens of thousands of acres of cotton fields into a sea of ​​fire, blocked the canal with boulders, and blew up every bridge they could see.

The men took up arms, and the old, weak, women and children fled to the Vosges Mountains for refuge.

Bonnot de Couron looked at the burning earth in front of him, and for the first time he felt the insignificance, powerlessness, strength and fearlessness of human beings.

Bonnot de Couron was not an incompetent general. On the contrary, he was well-versed in ancient and modern times, especially good at artillery and logistics, sympathetic to his subordinates, and deeply loved by officers and soldiers.

But at this time, he could not enter Alsace no matter how hard he tried. There was almost no flat land outside the city of Sélestat. All the buildings outside were in ruins, and above the ruins was a new battlefield.

Bonnot de Couronne had to admire the courage and determination of the Alsatians from the bottom of his heart. In another direction, the troops sent by Lamosilier to pursue Thiers also encountered unprecedented stubborn resistance in Sarrebourg.