Chapter 929 Quagmire
In fact, Luxembourg at this time was no longer a small country in the strict sense. After the Luxembourg crisis, it acquired the Limburg region of the Netherlands and at the same time regained West Luxembourg occupied by Belgium.
The land area directly increased three times, and the population increased 1.5 times.
After Switzerland joined the German Confederation in bulk, Luxembourg gained administration of the canton of Bern.
The canton of Bern already has a large German-speaking population, and Luxembourg's strong economic strength makes it easy to secure this enclave.
Due to the emergence of Franz, the economy of Switzerland was far inferior to that of the same period in history. Austria joined the German Customs Union and at the same time established the Apennine Customs Union. In addition, the French did not want others to take away their market.
So this second-rate Swiss businessman lost his job.
Compared with the external environment, its own backward industry and poor agriculture are the fundamental reasons. Even the watch manufacturing and tourism industries have lost their share to Franz.
One of the main reasons why the civil war broke out in Switzerland was that no one could reveal the blame and someone needed to sacrifice.
And no one is willing to be the victim.
Luxembourg is completely different. In this industrial era, Luxembourg is a natural industrial area.
Coal and iron resources are abundant and easy to mine, and it is backed by the super market of the German Zollverein Union.
Coupled with a relatively clean and efficient government and a large number of high-quality talents, it will be difficult for them not to take off.
The area of Luxembourg has increased 4.8 times in recent years, and the total population has approached 800,000 (210,000 during the same period in history).
This was an unimaginable number for Luxembourg, but for a great power like France, its danger level has only risen from a fly to a mosquito level.
Among the 12,000 people who came to reinforce Belgium at this time, there were 7,000 Luxembourg soldiers and 5,000 volunteers from other countries.
This number may not be shocking, but in fact it is almost half of the country’s military strength.
Moreover, this is a lone army, and there will not be the army of a big country behind it like the previous times.
The worst case scenario is that if the Belgians cannot hold on, they will face the powerful French army alone.
In addition, due to their geographical location, even if they win, they will become the priority target of revenge by the French.
So this is not only a lonely army, but also a mourning army.
But one advantage of this kind of army is that it is not afraid of death.
The Luxembourgers who had just crossed the top of the mountain were not shocked by the tragic scene in front of them. Instead, they rushed towards the French rear line like a pack of wolves that smelled the smell of blood.
The French cavalry also attacked very quickly and directly attacked the new army that suddenly appeared on the edge of the battlefield. The two waves seemed to be colliding head-on.
This is unusual though, as infantry and cavalry generally don't clash.
First of all, cavalry in this era would not choose to fight with cavalry, and it was unheard of for infantry to attack cavalry.
Let alone cavalry, normal people would be frightened when they see a galloping horse.
For modern people, there are very few opportunities to come into contact with horses. Even if they see most of them, they are drag horses or ponies in amusement parks and shopping malls.
It is difficult for this kind of horse to bring too much shock to people, and a real war horse will evoke the most primitive fear of human beings.
The fear of huge creatures moving at high speeds is engraved in my bones.
A war horse usually weighs six to seven hundred kilograms, has a height of nearly two meters when running (its own height + height above the ground), and can easily beat Bolt in terms of speed and explosive power.
Facing a group of war horses, almost no soldiers would choose to confront them head-on.
On one side are the elite French Guards Cavalry, and on the other side are the lonely Luxembourg Volunteers.
One side has the advantage of war horses, and the other side is condescending.
However, there was no scene of humans and horses colliding and blood and flesh flying everywhere.
In fact, both sides stopped once they entered the mud. Because both sides charged too hard, some people were turned upside down, and some were even trampled to death by their own people.
Before the battle started, one of our own people fell first. Both sides were stuck in the mud and looked at each other. The scene was very embarrassing for a time.
However, this humorous scene did not last long. After all, this was a battlefield, and soon both sides began to draw guns and shoot at each other.
The battle is bloody and slow. In this kind of close combat, the accuracy of the firearms and the quality of the soldiers are not important, because there are almost no misses at this time.
There were people everywhere, crowded against each other, and the fighting was bloody and cruel.
Especially the soldiers standing in the front row, they didn't even have a chance to escape, the way back was blocked.
Some cowardly soldiers could only reload their bullets while crying, praying that the enemy would die before all of their own people.
However, most people's luck will not last long. However, those in the front row who die first are lucky, because others will continue to endure the torture of sudden death at any time.
Major Compaore in the rear could not see clearly what was happening in front. He only knew that the cavalry suddenly stopped before engaging the enemy.
"Cowards! Damn cowards! They don't deserve to be French at all!"
Then Major Compaore grabbed one of his officers by the collar.
"Damn it! You take the supervising team up now! You must not let them go back! Do you understand?"
The officer nodded quickly, Compaoré let go of his hand, and the officer quickly ran away holding his hat as if he had been granted amnesty.
In fact, such a battle is disadvantageous to the French army, because it is a bit of a waste of talent to use cavalry and infantry to shoot at each other.
Moreover, the French cavalry is not superior in numbers, and their weapons are not conducive to such close-range shooting.
At the same time, no matter how much training the horses have undergone, they are still animals, and animals cannot overcome the instinct of fear of death.
At first, the cavalry still hid behind the horses to shoot, but the horses would be injured and die after being shot.
Soon the horses could not bear the fear and began to run away. The power of the horses rushing through the crowd was greater than the enemy's bullets.
And this fear is contagious. As the battle became more intense, more and more people fell to the ground, and more and more crazy horses were also seen.
This elite French army suffered much greater losses than the Luxembourgers and the volunteers of the German Confederation, and the actual losses were more shocking than the apparent exchange ratio.
Because the French lost elite cavalry, and most of the Luxembourg army and the volunteers of the German Confederation were temporary civilians.
The commander of this French cavalry was not a coward, but he really didn't want his elite troops to die here.
To be honest, the French cavalry fought very hard, dismounting and shooting at the infantry in such a dense formation.
If it weren't for the elite French troops, they would have collapsed long ago, but even the elite French troops could not accept such losses.
"Retreat!"
The French cavalry commander had no choice but to issue a retreat order. If he continued to fight like this, his cavalry would be exhausted.
Rather than letting his morale collapse and becoming a deserter, he might as well withdraw his troops and regroup.
The cavalry in front just breathed a sigh of relief, and when they were still thinking about how to escape alive, a voice rang out.
"No retreat!"