C2860 Struggle for Peace (1/2)
On September 1, 1870, at four o'clock in the morning, the interior of the fortress of Sedan was brightly lit: corridors, walls, barracks, stables. Torches and bonfires were lit in all areas. Countless soldiers slept soundly wrapped in blankets, while countless others could not sleep at night as they carried out all kinds of war preparations.
Sedan City was not a real city. It was just a strategic military fortress at the border. Normally, there were more than 10,000 French soldiers stationed here, but during wartime, this complex fortress could accommodate more than 60,000 regular soldiers.
There were more than two thousand residents in the city, but they had all fled. All of the homes of the residents had been commandeered by the military officers, and the entire city had been transformed into a military camp.
At this moment, French Emperor had handed over the command of the entire army to General McMahon. Old Marshal, who was under great pressure, couldn't fall asleep at all.
”To the east of the city, the Prism Castle s will need another fifteen cannons. The firepower is still not enough …” ”How many cannons do we have?”
”Reporting to Marshal, 650 doors …” ”However, we don't have enough cannons. According to the average combat consumption, we can only last about four days …”
”Four days! This could be considered good news, it was still better than nothing … ”Believe me, in four days this damned war may be over!”
”You mean …” The surrounding military officers immediately surrounded him.
McMahon stood on top of the city wall, looking at the endless Prussian army camp in all directions, the enemy's bonfires were as dense as the milky way on a midsummer night.
”I know you guys are tired. You guys are tired!” Actually, wasn't I the same as well … Right now, the number of enemies is three to four times more than us, so we will definitely not win this battle! ”
”But even if we can't win, we have to fight, and we have to fight with extreme ferocity! We must let Prussian know how powerful we are! ”
”This is related not only to glory, but also to the well-being of our future!”
”To tell you the truth, someone has already suggested for His Majesty to surrender! But I don't think it's advisable to surrender. What we should do is to fight for peace! ”
”Make peace through war?” Everyone exclaimed as if they had understood something!
Right, to fight for peace! It is absolutely undesirable to surrender, because as long as we do, our empire will immediately collapse and those fanatics in Paris will immediately proclaim the establishment of a republic! ”
”Gentlemen, don't forget your identities. Your Nobility only recognizes that as a nation, we will lose not only our rights now, but we will also be sent to court for trial!”
”I definitely don't believe those madmen... Oh yeah, do you know what Prime Minister Ao Liwei is doing now? ”
sighed and said, ”He's a smart person. Ever since he was treated as the scapegoat and was ousted, he went to Italy to seek help from his relatives and friends without any hesitation …”
”He has already seen through the faces of the fanatics in Paris. Once the Revolution breaks out, they will surely massacre all the nobles and capitalists!”
”Do you want such an outcome? Or do you want to escape from our homeland, France, and become a asylum seeker in another country? ”
His words moved the generals present. ”Oh my God!” Had the situation eroded to this point? Another revolution? My God, what happened to our country? ”
”So, if we want to protect our own interests, we have to protect the empire! ”Our biggest concession is the constitutional monarchy. If we allow His Majesty to abdicate, we can help the Crown Prince ascend the throne and become a constitutional monarchy like Britain!”
”This is the only way to get out of this mess!” And all of this is inseparable from the existence of our army, which means that we must go back to Paris in formation, to suppress those ambitious people who try to rebel! ”