Desperation was the mother of stupid decisions; when one felt cornered, they tended to become anxious, and when humans became anxious, they generally did not think through their decisions properly before putting them into motion.
And this was the case for the French Army and their leadership. It was a tale as old as time itself, or at least as old as democracy… Politicians hid themselves away while starting wars neither they nor their privileged children had any intent to fight.
At least monarchs generally fought in the wars they started-or they had in years past. In fact, during Bruno’s past life, the last national leader to fight in a war was actually King Albert I, who had rallied his forces and fought alongside them in a defensive operation against the Germans at the start of the Great War.
In this timeline, however, Belgium continued to remain neutral, as Germany had chosen to fight on the defensive within the Western Front as a result of Bruno’s recommendations. This, however, would ultimately not succeed in keeping Belgium out of the war.
Because, as Germany had warned Belgium at the start of the Great War when going through proper diplomatic channels to seek military access in order to strike at France, the French Army was not polite enough to afford the same courtesy.
The French had, without provocation or prior statement, walked their soldiers into the borders of Belgium and Luxembourg alike, and on the same day no less. The immediate result was Luxembourg calling upon Germany for aid, as the Kaiser had previously promised the House of Luxembourg armed support in the event of a French invasion.
As a result, the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg had immediately sent a telegram to the Kaiser asking for his previously promised support. Wilhelm’s response was simple:
“Within the hour, the French invaders will come to sorely regret their decision to invade a neutral nation.”
The Kaiser also recommended the House of Luxembourg arm any form of resistance they could to buy the German Army time to reach their aid. This, in and of itself, was, while common sense, not exactly a practical solution for a small nation like Luxembourg, which did not have an actual standing army.
At best, they had two companies of what were essentially volunteer units who performed the roles of civil defense and law enforcement. It was not exactly a force capable of opposing a French invasion, nor did they have the arms necessary to create an emergency militia.
Thus, for the most part, Leon and his men were able to march through Luxembourg with relative impunity.
Years had passed since Leon was first given the rank of Général de brigade, which was the lowest General Officer rank within the French Army, and he had only recently been promoted at the start of the war to the rank of Général de division.
Was a division of 25,000 men overkill when deployed against a nation such as Luxembourg, which could at most field 240 men in defense of its borders? Absolutely…
However, Luxembourg was merely meant to be a staging point to attack German borders, which the French had, under a lack of intelligence and wrongful assumptions, presumed their enemy had not fortified due to sharing a border with a neutral nation.
So long as the 25,000 Frenchmen could strike at what they assumed was a weak point in German defenses and overcome those presumed lack of defenders, then they could easily march a corps-sized unit straight into the fatherland.
Hence why Leon was incredibly smug when he and his men stood within the Luxembourg Palace, staring arrogantly at the current Grand Duchess, Marie-Adélaïde, who had only turned twenty years old a month before the war broke out.
Her father, the previous Grand Duke of Luxembourg, had passed away in 1912 with no sons and six daughters. As the oldest of her sisters, Marie-Adélaïde was the heir presumptive at the time of her father’s passing and was coronated as the independent and neutral nation’s first female monarch shortly after her predecessor’s burial.
By all accounts, Marie-Adélaïde was a rather attractive woman. Having existed in an era before makeup became so advanced that it could magically conceal a woman’s imperfections, she had facial features that most men would consider to be appealing.
And it was perhaps because of this that there was a mixture of lust included in the smug expression on Leon’s face as he demanded the woman’s full cooperation.
“As you can see, Your Highness, the French Republic now controls your petty little monarchy. Frankly speaking, I think it would be in your best interest to treat me, your new overlord, with a bit more respect and grace than you have shown toward me up until this point… Being friendly with your occupiers is simply a matter of common courtesy, no?”
It was not as if the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg wasn’t aware of who Leon was. The French had, after all, made a big deal about the man and his supposed abilities as a military commander. Rumor had it he was the Republic’s answer to the Wolf of Prussia.
But upon meeting the man in person, Marie-Adélaïde could not help but show the French general nothing short of disdain. Even her gaze toward him was as if he were beneath her in every manner. And this was not some snobbish noble attitude; rather, she truly felt that Leon was a lowly creature, one undeserving of the reputation he seemed to have.
Because of this, she rather fearlessly chided the man for his ill-earned reputation as a capable commander.
“Am I supposed to believe that a little rat like yourself is somehow the equal to the Wolf of Prussia, a man who, in his mid-twenties, routed the Russians at Port Arthur and annihilated their army in Mukden?
Only for a year later to march a division of volunteers into the Russian heartland, breaking the siege at Saint Petersburg, and hounding the Reds across the Siberian landscape, sniffing them out and tearing them apart down to the last man?
A general so capable that he smashed half of the Serbian Army at their border within the first hours of your so-called Great European War, only to annihilate what remained of their forces at Belgrade less than a month later?
What, pray tell, have you, General, done that is remotely so terrifying as to equal the Butcher of Belgrade in terms of command and ferocity? Your sole claim to fame is that you massacred a few uppity savages in Madagascar.
And that somehow earned you the infamy you allegedly possess? Allow me to be frank, General… Even if you invade my lands and occupy my home, there is nothing you can do to force me to concede my family’s lands to you. You are simply undeserving of such an admission of defeat…”
Leon was not a man known for his composure, and because of this, his face turned ugly just a moment before his hand struck, slapping the Grand Duchess violently across the face and knocking her to the ground as he did so.
Even so, she did not squeal in agony like a common pig. Not a sound escaped her lips as she wiped the blood from her mouth, cursing the Frenchman in her own native tongue, which he could not comprehend.
Knowing that she had insulted him, Leon lifted the woman up and screamed in her face while practically foaming at the mouth.
“What did you just say to me, you fucking whore?”
The Grand Duchess of Luxembourg simply smirked smugly as she once more spoke in perfect French so the fool knew exactly what she had said about him.
“I said you hit like a little girl…”
The Frenchman raised his open palm once more, prepared to strike the woman, when an explosion rocked the foundations of the palace. This was followed by the echo of gunfire, which tried to shoot down the German bombers in the sky above Luxembourg, but failed miserably to do so, as the French machine guns and rifles severely lacked the range capable of
such a feat.
A French soldier instantly rushed into the room, with a shaken appearance, almost as if he had seen something horrible. He was covered in blood and dust as he informed his commanding
officer what had happened to him.
“Sir… Our front line… It’s… It’s gone!”
Leon, having thought he heard the most absurd thing in his life, let go of his grip over the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, forgetting all about his wrath toward her as he laughed at the words that were spoken to him by his subordinate, almost as if he had completely misheard. “Gone? What do you mean, gone? You’re telling me the brigade I sent to secure the eastern border of the city is gone? What do you mean, gone? Gone as in deserted? Gone as in moved forward with our plans to secure the German border? Gone how?! Spit it out, you fool!” The soldier quickly overcame the shell shock he was suffering from as he informed Leon of what exactly had happened to their forces and how the Germans had so quickly punched through into the city.
“Sir! The First Brigade has been completely annihilated! Down to the last man! The Germans
have begun to encircle the city and are using armored cars to protect their troops from our gunfire in their advance. If we do not retreat now, we will be surrounded within the hour!”
Leon could hardly believe his words. He was not aware of any armored car that could remotely be used as a shield to soak up bullets for the infantry behind them. Then again, the armored cars of the era were made of inferior steel riveted together at angles that were easy to
penetrate.
The same could not be said about the German Armored Cars which until now had remained undetected by French intelligence and had primarily been utilized in the field of
reconnaissance. Leon naturally had a hard time comprehending his current reality because of
this.
But, ultimately, he was forced to make a decision, stand and fight against a German division armed with air support and armored cars. Or… retreat from the City of Luxembourg and take up a line of defense further in the west. In doing so, allow the Germans to effectively occupy the most strategically important region of the Grand Duchy. Time was of the essence, and Leon did not know how to decide at that moment.