Chapter 1008 Stern Military Discipline
At this time, the French army was worthy of the title of Gallic Rooster. Even if it was put to death, even if it knew that it would die if it did not surrender, the remaining French army still rushed towards the Prussian front under the leadership of Emenabre Pellissier. position.
However, the Prussian barbarians were not invincible. The French-Swiss mountaineers, led by William the Shotgun, fired volleys of guns and even launched a countercharge.
However, compared to the militiamen under Shotgun William, the quality of the French Expeditionary Force was obviously superior. The two sides were shooting at each other from a distance, and the Prussian army could still manage to maintain its strength by relying on its numerical advantage and high morale.
However, the hot-blooded William William launched a counterattack, and the quality gap between the soldiers on both sides was infinitely magnified in the close combat.
The private soldiers sent by the local nobles became the biggest breakthrough. Their escape led to the collapse of the entire defense line. When the militiamen in Neuchâtel saw the friendly troops fleeing, they instantly turned into headless flies and fought on their own.
Fortunately, Shotgun William himself did not lack courage. He pushed aside his attendants and led the royal guards to attack.
The Friborg Army and the Luxembourg Army were not the kind of troops that could not stand still when their friendly forces were in trouble. When they saw the Prussian Army showing signs of collapse, both sides immediately attacked the French army's rear with all their strength.
In the end, Emenabre Pellissier and his expeditionary force failed to create a miracle. In addition to the 1,565 wounded soldiers who returned home early, of the 24,000-strong expeditionary force, 17,112 of the remaining 22,435 people were killed, and 3,864 were captured. 1,459 People are missing.
All the commanders, deputy commanders, and officers above the school level were killed, and none surrendered.
The body of Emmenable Pélissier was bought by Prince Shotgun from the Count of Chambord for three hundred thousand talers and sent to the capital Berlin.
After King William IV learned of this, he threw his wine glass angrily and suffered a stroke.
On the outskirts of Celesta, the temporary residence of the coalition commander.
In order to avoid unnecessary things happening, Franz did not choose to enter Celesta City to live. On the third day after the Battle of Celesta, Franz started a reconstruction plan.
Since the plan had been drawn up in advance, everything was proceeding in an orderly manner. Most of the German Allied Forces were temporary recruits, many of whom had skills.
During the reconstruction work, Franz paid people according to their different abilities and work efficiency, and even agreed to restore some people to their original places, so people were very enthusiastic about their work.
Even soldiers with no skills can earn considerable military pay for carrying sand, materials, and cleaning up building ruins.
Franz demanded strict military discipline while giving high treatment to the soldiers. The gendarmerie and military judges were busy all day long, and the soldiers who were whipped had to line up every day, but no one complained.
After all, the treatment given by Franz was very generous, and it was the soldiers who were at fault first. As for why these soldiers insisted on robbing or stealing money even though they had money in their hands, and why they insisted on trying the law even though they knew they would be whipped?
The first is a matter of habit. The armies of this era have long been accustomed to burning, killing, and looting. Robbery is even the main means of making money for the armies of most countries at this time.
Military pay can only guarantee that they will not starve to death. Only war, plunder, and even corpse theft can allow them to change their destiny.
Especially the soldiers at the bottom, who are originally a group of people who are excluded from society. Once they are turned over, they will naturally want to do things they usually dare not do.
The second person had a sense of luck. Many soldiers felt that the new military law might not really be that strict. It might just be Archduke Franz's whim, or it might be a new way to show the kindness of the Habsburg family.
Especially some veterans, they felt that most of the time the young Grand Duke had never seen being tortured. As long as he saw the bloody scenes, he would definitely stop on his own like those nobles and nobles.
So someone really took the initiative to commit trouble and wanted to see how good Franz was. These ruffians in the Austrian army also had the demeanor of oriental gangsters asking for a fight, but they obviously underestimated Franz.
Franz was not in the mood to care about these bad things at all. He directly chose to let Zoche be imprisoned. After all, people like Colonel Bordeaux and Monta may be cruel to the enemy, but they may not be cruel to their own soldiers.
And those who can do it, such as Hainaut and Baron Brooke, have more important things to be busy with.
On the one hand, letting Zoche be imprisoned can show Franz's attitude, and on the other hand, he can take the blame. After all, hating foreigners is much cheaper than hating the royal family.
In addition, Zuoqie can also make executions relatively objective. From an objective point of view, she is relatively difficult to bribe, and she will have less sympathy for those who are being tortured.
But the reality is that Zuoqi is completely worthy of the name Franz gave her. Zuoqi watched every execution with a cold eye like a real executioner, and even suggested to Franz the use of beheading.
In fact, Austria does have beheading, but in theory it can only be used on high-ranking nobles and high-ranking generals. However, usually when high-ranking nobles and high-ranking military officers make mistakes, the Habsburg family will mercifully choose to pardon their crimes.
Therefore, at this time, there were mainly two types of criminal methods implemented in the Austrian army, one was hanging and the other was flogging.
Hanging, as the name suggests, involves hanging someone to death with a noose, and flogging in Austria is actually a very severe punishment.
Unlike the usual long whip or the nine-tailed whip commonly used by the British, the Austrian whip specially used for execution should actually be called a heavy riding whip.
Its wooden handle is usually a wooden stick about fifty centimeters long and three centimeters in diameter. The length of the whip rope is usually more than four meters. It was used as a weapon on the battlefield in the Middle Ages. Legend has it that it can strike with one blow with full swing. Turn over a war horse.
I don't know if Franz can whip the war horse over, but a whip can definitely make a person's skin and flesh go to pieces.
Fortunately, most people's offenses were minor offenses of a few lashes, such as drinking, injuring others, or stealing.
However, there were also some people who wanted to test whether Franz dared to kill someone. Most of them could not withstand a few blows. They would start crying and howling as soon as the whip was applied. Usually, after five or six whips, there would be no movement.
Franz's strict military discipline did have a selfish motive to win over the local Germans, but on the other hand, he was also protecting the soldiers.
This protection is twofold. On the one hand, it protects the interests of law-abiding soldiers, because not punishing those who violate laws and disciplines is tantamount to trampling on the rights and interests of law-abiding soldiers.
On the other hand, it also prevents the occurrence of immortal jump and "six son dilemma".
After all, strictly speaking, Franz and Mayor Blanqui are both outsiders. If they are not protected, a bunch of Huang Shilang or defenders will pop up.
It's just that Franz is not a fool, he is already over forty years old at heart, and Austria is not the kind of precarious empire in history that cannot protect itself.
There were no better customers than wealthy and disciplined soldiers, and these men greatly stimulated the recovery of the local economy.
In contrast, the morale of the Orleans army is much worse. They regard themselves as victors and masters.
If there were no German Allied Forces for comparison, the residents of Celesta could still endure it. After all, they could comfort themselves that soldiers were like this.