Chapter 1015: Shirking Responsibility

Celestad was lost! This news exploded in Lamosilier's mind like a thunderbolt. He immediately thought of the rear route being cut off, the central route being lost, and the German coalition ravaging the hinterland of France, heading straight for Paris.

Countless terrible scenes flashed through Lamosilier's mind, but he quickly regained consciousness.

"Celestad was lost? You didn't take it at all!"

Lamosilier's words were full of sarcasm, which made the herald's heart skip a beat.

The loss of Celesta was the statement given to him by Bonnot de Couron. The reason was naturally to shirk responsibility and save face, but on the other hand, it was also to allow Lamosilier to send troops to rescue.

After all, the loss meant resistance, so it could still weaken the strength of the German coalition to some extent.

However, Lamosilier didn't buy it at all. He was indeed the commander-in-chief of the central army, but the Alsace theater was under the charge of Bonnot de Couron.

This was decided by Bellevue himself. He wanted to share the credit of the central army's siege and attack. But he failed to gain anything, so he should bear the blame.

It is for this reason that Lamosilier acted unusually cold.

"Marshal, General Bonnot de Couronne and you are in a relationship of mutual dependence. If the general loses, the Austrians will definitely come to cut off your retreat!"

The messenger was so anxious that he almost cried, describing the terrible future that might happen in a vivid and emotional way.

However, Lamosilier just replied coldly.

"Then let them come, I can take care of them all at once."

This surprised the messenger of Bonnot de Couronne. In fact, Lamosilier had already thought it through just now. It was impossible for the German coalition to bypass the Vosges Mountains to attack him.

Because the German coalition had too many people, and the Vosges Mountains were not so easy to bypass.

Besides, the gentlemen in Paris were not idiots. They would organize defense as soon as they knew about the actions of the German coalition.

According to the style of the Austrians, they would attack cities one by one along the way. By the time they reached Paris, the war would have been decided.

As long as he could defend Salbourg, his merits would outweigh his faults. He might even be able to enter the cabinet as a prime minister like Soult, and even have the opportunity to quell the chaos and become the first citizen like Napoleon.

It must be said that Napoleon played a not-so-good leading role at this time. The ambitions of French soldiers began to expand infinitely from him.

"But what if the German coalition invaded our country? Our people would be massacred, villages and cities would be razed to the ground, and civilization would no longer survive on this land."

"Enough! France expects every Frenchman to fulfill his duties."

Lamosilier used Nelson's famous saying to evade the other party's moral kidnapping, which was really murderous.

Bonnot de Couron's herald was speechless. He could only report the truth to Paris and wait for the decision of the Second Republic government.

Just as he was about to leave, Lamosilier suddenly spoke.

"Wait."

The herald looked at Lamosilier hopefully.

"Take a bath before leaving. It smells bad. Is it horse blood?"

It would take at least a few days to ride from the battlefield of Sélestat to Salbourg on horseback, and the herald's blood that had not yet dried was obviously a show.

This is also the reason why Lamosilier kept sneer, he didn't like to be deceived, especially by his own people.

However, the failure of the Battle of Sélestat made Lamosilier determined to defend Salbourg, because in his heart, the war had already failed at this time, and there was no suspense.

The British would definitely watch both sides bleed to the last drop of blood, and then negotiate a good price for themselves. One would do this, after all, they have always done this.

Every war on the European continent will strengthen the power of the British, from the Netherlands to Spain, and now to France.

The British, like hounds, tore flesh and blood from these European hegemons and continued to expand their power. After the Anti-French War, France, once the world's second largest colonial empire, lost all its overseas territories.

At this time, almost the same script was about to be staged again. The Orleans Dynasty finally made France the world's second largest colonial empire again, and it was because of Britain that France almost lost all its colonies.

This made Lamosilier worried. He thought that this war itself might be a mistake.

However, before he had time to think about it, the news of Pelissier's defeat and death in Switzerland came again.

Aiménabel Pelissier was a tough guy. Lamosilier didn't expect such a person to die in a small ravine like Switzerland.

From the intelligence received, Prussia, Fribourg and Luxembourg had divided up France's territory in Switzerland, Vaud, under the banner of the German coalition, and the fall of Geneva was a matter of time.

This time, Paris reacted quickly and organized defense against Switzerland at the first time. In Lamosilier's view, the French hinterland was unlikely to be attacked by the Swiss region.

Because those ravines were not suitable for the army to march, and those mountains and valleys were natural barriers for France and Switzerland.

Just as Lamosilier was giving instructions in his headquarters, suddenly a large number of artillery shells and rockets flew into the air and then fell heavily on the position of Salbourg.

On July 7, 1848, the siege of Salbourg officially began.

Under the guidance of the reconnaissance hot air balloon, the artillery units of the German coalition launched continuous devastating attacks on the artillery positions of the French army's Salbourg position.

In addition to the precise strikes of the artillery, there were also rockets covering the sky.

The French artillery in Salbourg suffered huge losses just after the battle began. Whether they were on duty on the position or resting in the barracks, they were all taken care of by the German coalition.

The German coalition seemed to be fighting all day long, but in fact they were testing the artillery and paralyzing the French army. Only by letting the other side be careless can the best surprise effect be achieved.

While bombarding, the coalition's scattered soldiers had approached the French position, and the precision shooters named the French soldiers who showed up one by one.

In particular, those French artillery and those who tried to rescue the artillery were taken care of by the scattered soldiers. These scattered soldiers gathered in groups of three or two and hid behind the same bunker and took turns shooting at the French army.

Although the French army suffered little overall loss, Lamosilier in the distance discovered a problem. The area near the artillery position was almost cleared by the German coalition.

In addition, many defenses on the front line had cracks, and the defenders in some positions were deliberately suppressed, but he had no idea why the other side did this.

Lamosilier raised the telescope again, and he saw that the Austrian reconnaissance balloons kept sending some kind of signal downwards with flags.