Chapter 848 The Fragile Alliance
October 16, 1793.
The Luxembourg surrender ceremony, which was prepared for many days, was officially held in Dickich.
This is more than 20 kilometers away from the real surrender of the coalition forces, Rhodeshausen. However, the town of Rhodeshausen is too desolate, so the General Staff decided to change it to the second place in Luxembourg, Dickich. Large cities held.
The invited journalists from all over the world have already occupied the best positions on both sides of the road, and the art merchants even smelled business opportunities and sent a large number of painters to set off and prepare to record this historic moment.
Behind them, more than 5,000 people came to watch. You know, there are only less than 30,000 residents in Dickich, and at this time the city is almost empty.
At 10 o'clock in the morning, several Prussian black eagle flags appeared in people's sight amid the sound of the music of the organ, trumpet, recorder and snare drum.
Although the blue and gray uniforms of the Prussian soldiers were ragged, they were carrying flintlock rifles and marching backpacks behind them. The queue was very neat, and even the distance between the parades was maintained. They didn't look like they were defeated soldiers. .
This is because the Prussians overemphasize cohort training - more than 70% of daily training are cohort training, and the soldiers formed a profound muscle memory of queuing.
On the other hand, it is Joseph's request. He is to show the "magnificence" of the Pu army. The stronger the enemy appears, the stronger the contrast when surrendering will bring.
The surrender queue was very long, and it took more than an hour to arrive at the site of the surrender ceremony under the "escort" of more than a thousand French cavalry.
In fact, there are only more than 7,000 coalition soldiers here, and the others have long been scattered in prison camps everywhere. Otherwise, more than 40,000 people would be crowded here, and chaos would be easily caused.
Then, Joseph, wearing a straight Hussar uniform and ink-blue triangle hat, walked up to the oak platform in the middle of the field, surrounded by a group of French officers.
The music around suddenly became louder, and the tune was replaced by the majestic "Long Live Henry IV".
The crowd of onlookers burst into cheers like a tsunami, "Long live the prince!"
"Glory belongs to His Highness the Prince!"
"God protects the son of God..."
"France is invincible!"
In fact, most of the here are Luxembourg People, they were still under Austrian rule three or four years ago, but this did not prevent them from taking full control of the role of the French at this time.
Because France is really too powerful, it’s really good to be a Frenchman!
Fortunately, Luxembourgians have outstanding "language talent". They need to be proficient in German, French, and Luxembourg since childhood. At this time, there is no slight sluggishness when they shout.
Joseph raised his hand to signal the military music to pause.
When everyone thought he was going to deliver a speech like "The glory and strength of France", the prince heard the prince shouting loudly: "Let the French warriors who died for this battle observe silence for three seconds. In the minute, they defeated the enemy with their supreme courage and perseverance. May their souls enjoy peace in heaven forever."
The surroundings instantly calmed down, and everyone followed Joseph with his fingers crossed, lowered his head and posed for prayer. pose.
The French soldiers present all had red eyes. They are not only commemorating their dead comrades, but also moving France has not forgotten their efforts.
After the silence ended, Joseph did not give any other speeches and nodded directly to Berthier beside him.
The latter immediately whispered: "Start the 'sword ceremony'!"
A Prussian brigadier walked slowly onto the wooden platform with a serious expression and untied the hilt of the sword from his waist. He was engraved with the eagle's head and bowed and handed the hilt to the French prince. The French officers in the audience immediately started to whisper, "Who is the one who came up to take the sword?"
"I don't know, but it's obviously not Ferdinand."
"It seems to be Baron Murren, the commander of the Ukmark Legion."
"Where is Ferdinand? I'm sure General Massena captured him."
"It may be that he was seriously injured …”
At this time, the Duke of Brunswick, who was standing under the wooden table, wearing an ordinary black dress and pressing the brim of the hat very low, looked at Joseph gratefully, and his heart was long Have a sigh of relief.
The touching words the prince of France said to him three days ago were in his mind.
Joseph said righteously, "The failure of this war is not your responsibility at all. On the contrary, with your outstanding command and fearless courage, you demonstrated the excellent military capabilities of the inheritor of Frederick the Great.
"If it weren't for Franz II's sudden transfer of Count Clayfat's 30,000 troops to the South Netherlands, our army would face an extremely arduous war - then your army was still in absolute advantage, I didn't have a good chance.
"It is the selfish and short-sighted behavior of the Austrians that ruined the victory you may have.
No mistakes, one song, one content, one in one 6, one 9, one book Let's take a look!
"I always admire you and the heroic Prussian army. So, I don't think you should be humiliated by the surrender ceremony. ”
At this time, the French prince really fulfilled his promise and preserved his reputation.
Of course, Joseph did this not because he admired this Prussian veteran, but to divide the Prussian and Austrian leagues to the greatest extent. These two countries had a fundamental conflict of interest in order to be German hegemons. This time, Britain was forcibly tied together to declare war on France.
As long as you can seize the opportunity, it is actually not difficult to break up their alliance.
Historically, Prussia is also one of the most active countries to withdraw from the anti-French alliance.
In addition, the Duke of Brunswick has a very old experience in the Prussian military and is relatively useless. If he was allowed to return to Prussia with dignity, he might continue to take control of the Prussian army.
In this way, the mad dog and paranoid who "bite it and don't let go" would have no chance to get to power. Joseph had already received news last week that Blüchel miraculously got rid of the French pursuit and fled Back to Prussia.
On the oak platform covered with the red carpet, Joseph held the sword handed by Brigadier General Meron and tapped the broken sword tip three times on the latter's right shoulder.
This is a customary ceremony, which means that the General General of the Army completely gave up resistance and handed over the control of the army to the winner.
Breaking the sword tip is the decency left to them by the winner, which means "the honor has not been damaged, only the sharp blade has been broken."
Dense drum beats sounded again around. The crowd of onlookers made more intense cheers than before.
In the open space in front of the wooden platform, Prussian soldiers began to throw their weapons and equipment into the wooden fence in turn, making a rhythmic "Bangbang" collision.
After a while, the flintlock rifle and backpack were piled up like a hill, and the black barrel reflected the sunlight, full of a solemn atmosphere.
The reporters and people present realized at this moment that the mighty Prussian army in front of them had been completely defeated by the French and the prince holding the enemy's sword on the stage!
(This chapter ends)