Imperial Elite

Chapter 48 What the hell are those Gallic people doing!
"Your Highness, have you ever been to Paris?"

Under the moonlight, a troop of Teutonic hussars, dressed in magnificent black uniforms and wearing black fur hats adorned with skull emblems, moved across the fields like a flock of low-flying crows.

If someone familiar with the Teutonic cavalry were here, he would be able to recognize these raven-like riders by their black uniforms and skull insignia as hussars from the oldest hussar unit in Prussia, which had been established since the 18th century, either the 1st or 2nd Guards Hussar Regiment.

This ancient cavalry unit participated in almost all the wars after the founding of the Teutonic Kingdom, from the War of the Succession to the Seven Years' War, and even in the Battle of Waterloo, which buried the Great and his old guard. It was this hussar unit that was the first to arrive at the battlefield to support the Bunitania forces.

After arriving at the battlefield, these cavalrymen only rested briefly before launching a ruthless charge, ignoring the artillery fire and casualties, completely burying the emperor's last hope of victory.

Like the Buntanian Janissaries who were also fighting at Waterloo, the Emperor buried his old Janissaries, who had never been defeated on the battlefield before, in memory of them after the battle.

The Teutonic Guards Hussars also wore the black top hats taken from the corpses of the old guards.

Before the Battle of Waterloo, there was only one Royal Guard in the world; after the Battle of Waterloo, there were Royal Guards everywhere in the world.

However, unlike the Buntanian Janissaries who simply wore bearskin hats, the Teutonic Guards hussars added skull and crossbones insignia to their bearskin hats.

The official explanation for this skull insignia is that it symbolizes the death threat to the enemy and the fearless spirit of the soldiers.

But in reality, for the hussars, this skull insignia only meant two things: "to die rather than surrender" and "to leave no survivors."

"Paris?"

The young man riding a black horse at the front of the line shook his head.

“I’ve never been to Paris, but I’ve heard that the women there are very passionate, especially when it comes to strong, foreign men.”

The young man's words caused the cavalry to burst into laughter.

If the person familiar with the Teutonic cavalry happened to have read the Teutonic reports on the Battle of Lake Masuri in September 1914.

Then that person would be able to identify the young man by the horrifying scar on his face, the Iron Cross First Class on his chest, and the Blue Cross around his neck: the youngest son of the Teutonic Emperor, the hero of Lake Masuri, a cavalryman born in the wrong era, Prince Joachim.

"Your Highness, if Parisian women are so fond of foreigners, may I bring one back with me?"

Prince Joachim turned to the cavalryman who had been making the joke and said earnestly, “Of course you can take a Parisian woman back with you, but you can only treat her as a maid and not marry her. That way, you’ll feel a little better when you find out that you can run into nine men with her just by going out to buy a pack of cigarettes.”

Upon hearing Prince Joachim's words, the cavalrymen burst into laughter once again.

Amid the laughter, the mischievous cavalryman, as the cavalryman next to him reached out and patted him on the shoulder, said, "In that case, I should take a few more back with me, so that I won't have to work anymore after I retire!"

Upon hearing this, another cavalryman immediately shouted, "That's great! After I retire, I'll become a policeman. That way, I only need to visit you once a week, and I can become the police chief before I retire!"

The cavalrymen advanced amidst laughter and chatter, as if they were merely a group of travelers on a leisurely outing.

As the cavalrymen crossed the hillside, a brightly lit city suddenly appeared before them.

As they gazed upon the brightly lit city before them, the hussars instinctively pulled on their reins, halting their horses and staring at the vast city and the two enormous iron towers in its center.

"Guys..."

Prince Joachim said, looking at the city in the distance.

"We've finally arrived in Paris!"

"Paris!"

As Prince Joachim shouted 'Paris,' a cheer erupted from the hilltop.

Amid cheers, Prince Joachim took out his binoculars and carefully examined the city and the roads leading to it.

Soon Prince Joachim saw through his telescope that the Gauls were digging trenches around the city and setting up barbed wire.

However, the vast majority of these Gauls who dug the trenches were not wearing military uniforms, but simply had a white cloth strip tied around their right arm.

Prince Joachim even saw many women digging trenches among the crowd.

Clearly, the Gauls have not yet completed their defenses, and as Prince Joachim has seen along the way, their forces here are inexplicably depleted.

Putting away his binoculars, Prince Joachim drew his saber from his waist.

"For the King and the Motherland!"

The cavalrymen also drew their sabers.

With a battle cry of "Death to the enemy!", the hussars charged down the hillside toward the Gauls who were building fortifications.

Under the moonlight, as the standard-bearer unfurled the company flag, the Gauls who were building fortifications either heard the sound of hooves or noticed the cavalry charging forward.

Instantly, a riot broke out among the Gauls who were building the fortifications.

Some people put down their shovels and tried to find their rifles, while others stood there blankly, watching the hussars charging towards them, seemingly not understanding what was happening.

Some people dropped their shovels and ran back to the rear of the position amidst screams.

The chaotic crowd led the few veterans and officers who knew what to do to realize that shouting at the top of their lungs couldn't bring the panicked conscripts back to their senses and start organizing resistance.

In despair, he raised his rifle and aimed at the hussars who were charging towards them like death owls.

With just a few rifles, these veterans could not stop the hussars from approaching. As the hussars rode across the trenches, brandishing their sabers...

This small resistance was completely crushed. Seeing the veterans and officers being cut down by the cavalry like wheat, the Gauls who had originally wanted to resist lost their courage and dropped their shovels or other weapons, running to the rear of the position.

After crushing this negligible resistance, Joachim brandished his saber and shouted to his hussars not to scatter and hunt down the fleeing lone enemies, nor to rush after the screaming Parisian women, but to continue the charge and drive them into the city of Paris.

The follow-up troops were not far behind them. Now that they had the upper hand, they should continue to expand their advantage.

As an elite force with a long history, the hussars turned their horses around and began to follow Prince Joachim as he drove the fleeing Gauls toward the city of Paris.

Meanwhile, Jean-Pierre was personally using a shovel to build fortifications with the soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 19th arrondissement of Paris.

As an officer and a wounded soldier who had just been discharged from the hospital, Jean-Pierre had no need to engage in such physically demanding activities.

However, ever since he was promoted to officer, Jean-Pierre has chosen to mingle with the soldiers whenever possible, do the same work as them, and share his officer's rations with them.

Even though this style was absolutely out of the ordinary in the Gallic army, it did not affect the affection Jean-Pierre's subordinates had for him. Any soldier who served under Jean-Pierre would think that Jean-Pierre was a good man.

Jean-Pierre remembered the names of these soldiers, their hobbies, and even their family situations, which made his soldiers feel that although Jean-Pierre was an officer, he gave the impression of being more like a strict older brother.

However, even the easygoing Jean-Pierre, after bringing his old subordinates to meet his "soldiers" from the 1st Battalion of the 19th arrondissement of Paris, still had a difficult time.

Jean-Pierre felt that even if he had committed many evil deeds in this life and the previous one, his past sins would be wiped clean once he became the commander of these "soldiers".

Since the Paris National Guard was a brand-new unit established no more than 48 hours ago, the officers under Jean-Pierre were also all new; these clean-uniformed, baby-faced guys were all cadets from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy.

Although Jean-Pierre himself graduated from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy and was very clear about the quality of teaching there, looking at the excessively young faces of the officers assigned to his command, Jean-Pierre couldn't help but wonder how many of his juniors were actually adults.

While these new officers were so new that it was questionable whether they even had the ability to be officers, the non-commissioned officers were far too old.

Jean-Pierre even doubted whether these veteran sergeants still had enough stamina to fight, given the old-fashioned uniforms with their ornate decorations, even the newest ones being from over a decade ago.

If it's not bad enough that the officers are too inexperienced and the sergeants are too old, then the soldiers who have just been recruited and don't even know how to line up are in an even bigger mess.

Since the 19th arrondissement is an industrial area on the outskirts of Paris, its residents are mainly factory workers, railway employees, and immigrants from other provinces. It is conceivable that compared to the 5th or 8th arrondissement in the city center, there is not much money to be made in this area.

As a result, the public officials and police officers here often demonstrate a strong sense of life, which is not only about the future but also about making do in the present.

Therefore, their past experiences dealing with the Paris police instilled in these recruits, who were still trying to figure out the situation, a fighting spirit towards Jean-Pierre. After Jean-Pierre gave the order, the soldiers told him that although he was their superior, he couldn't do whatever he wanted. It was already dark, and they hadn't had any rest since they were forcibly brought into the camp.

They now want food, water, and a comfortable bed to sleep in. Once these conditions are met, they will get up and dig trenches at dawn tomorrow, making sure the trenches are dug properly.

The women, in particular, who were forcibly conscripted, made even more demands of Jean-Pierre.

They didn't want to serve in the trenches. They believed that neither digging trenches nor fighting in them was a woman's job. They thought they should do other jobs, such as being cooks, which they thought would be fine.

Only a few white-haired veterans who had served in the military silently obeyed Jean-Pierre's arrangements, and even dragged some new recruits with whom they had a good relationship to carry out Jean-Pierre's orders.

The new recruits, who were particularly combative, angrily denounced the veterans as scabs and a bunch of old guys who couldn't see the situation clearly.

Faced with these noisy recruits, Jean-Pierre initially tried to reason with them.

Jean-Pierre tried to tell them that the Teutons were not some distant, mythical devils, or beings that existed only in newspapers on the other side of the world; they were real, killing machines about to enter Paris.

They will not hesitate to kill anyone who tries to resist them, and if they do not prepare fortifications now, they will face a complete massacre.

But when Jean-Pierre advised against it, the recruits said, "Don't give me that. You can't expect us to carry out any of your orders until our conditions are met. We are citizens, and we have the right to vote!"
After his final warning to the recruits went unheeded, Jean-Pierre pulled out his pistol and fired at the most booing guy in the crowd.

However, perhaps because he hadn't yet adjusted to his vision after losing an eye, Jean-Pierre, who fired six shots, didn't kill anyone, but only wounded five of the most troublesome guys.

After Jean-Pierre fired, the recruits were stunned for a moment, then let out a piercing scream.

"Oh my god! This is terrible! Murder!"

Before these recruits, who had forgotten they were carrying guns, could run a few more steps, the sergeants raised their bayonets and blocked their way. Seeing the sergeants' actions, the young officers remembered to draw their pistols and swords to maintain order.

After the sergeants used their rifle butts to calm the recruits down.

Jean-Pierre conveyed his three principles to the new recruits.

First, everyone had to fight the Teutons in the trenches or fortify their positions, and anyone who disobeyed orders would be shot.

Second, any act of leaving the trench without permission was considered desertion, and sergeants and officers had the right to execute deserters on the spot.

Third, provided that the above two conditions are met, Jean-Pierre will not interfere with their daily activities and will do his best to ensure their needs for necessities, including food.

After saying this, Jean-Pierre took the lead and picked up a shovel to start digging trenches, and said that if he saw anyone not in the trenches an hour later, that person would be treated as a deserter.

So Jean-Pierre and the soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 19th arrondissement of Paris rolled up their sleeves with the ferocity of wishing they had more hands, and under the command of their officers, they dug trenches with all their might amidst the screams and pleas of the five unfortunate men.

Jean-Pierre was not so sure that he heard gunshots and screams coming from the nearby positions.

At first, Jean-Pierre thought it was just officers from other units giving these new recruits, who were still confused about the situation, some military training.

But Jean-Pierre soon realized that the dense gunfire was definitely not right.

Jean-Pierre immediately ordered his troops to stop constructing the trenches and to prepare for battle.

At this point, the veteran sergeants who had previously threatened the new recruits with their gleaming bayonets to stop them from running away, and then used their rifle butts to calm them down, began to teach the new recruits how to use their rifles.

Soon, amidst a flurry of footsteps and screams, a group of figures appeared in front of the position of the 1st Battalion in the 19th arrondissement of Paris.

Before Jean-Pierre could make out who those figures were, perhaps a rifle accidentally discharged on the position, or perhaps a nervous soldier pulled the trigger without orders.

After a single shot rang out, a barrage of gunfire erupted across the entire position.

The recruits poured bullets at the figure, and some even mechanically repeated the action of pulling the bolt to chamber a round and then pulling the trigger after emptying their magazines.

After the frenzied shooting, the figures fell into the night outside Paris.

The intense gunfire erupting from the 1st Battalion's position in the 19th arrondissement of Paris also put other troops in the vicinity who were still building fortifications on high alert.

Soon, dense gunfire erupted throughout Paris, and reports of Teutonic attacks flooded General Henry's command post.

The sheer volume of reports and the frenzied gunfire led General Henry to suspect that the Teutons had committed all their forces to the attack on Paris, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to create such a commotion.

General Henry, who only had two divisions of regular troops as reserves, was momentarily at a loss as to where to send his troops to provide reinforcements.

General Henry could only send out all the messengers he could to the defenses of each district to check on the situation and see how fierce the Teutons' attacks were.

Meanwhile, the gunfire that echoed throughout the city terrified those citizens who had not yet left Paris or were stuck in traffic, realizing with horror that the Teutons had indeed begun their attack on Paris.

As a result, many citizens, panicked and fearing they would run away before it was too late, abandoned their vehicles and belongings and chose to leave the road and walk south, which further exacerbated the traffic congestion.

With large amounts of luggage and vehicles abandoned on the highway, these items quickly attracted the attention of some observant individuals.

At first, these people were just "kindly helping others pack their luggage," but they quickly evolved into "actively helping passersby pack their luggage."

Meanwhile, as gunfire erupted from various positions around Paris, rumors began to spread like wildfire: "The Teutons have stormed the Élysée Palace," "General Henry has been killed in battle," and "Paris is completely surrounded by the Teutons, who are preparing to massacre the city."

With a large number of police and gendarmes incorporated into the National Guard, Paris lacked the effective force to maintain order, and riots quickly spread like wildfire throughout the city, with various violent incidents sweeping across the entire city.

In this turbulent time, the military train that Joe was on finally slowly entered Paris after overcoming numerous hardships.

Although he was somewhat prepared for the possibility that the Teutons might have already stormed Paris by the time he arrived, the chaotic state of Paris still took him quite a shock when he arrived.

What the hell is going on? A mutiny? A revolution? Or have the Teutons already invaded?
Faced with this vibrant scene of life and everything thriving, Joe was momentarily at a loss as to whether he should order the troops to disembark or put a gun to the train conductor's head and force him to drive the train back to Amiens.

Just as Joe was at a loss, the liaison officer of the Brittany Expeditionary Force's Paris office, who had been waiting for Joe on the platform for two days, found him.

Heavens above! Earth below! You have finally come!

The liaison officer of the Brittany Expeditionary Force's Paris office, who had been waiting on the platform for almost two days, looked extremely disheveled. His uniform was wrinkled, and his bird's nest-like hair was covered in a clump of spider webs, making him look as if he had rolled around on the front lines.

When the liaison officer found Joe, his expression was like that of a stray dog ​​that had finally found its owner. He told Joe the story with tears streaming down his face.

Starting this morning, the Expeditionary Force's Paris office began to evacuate along with the Paris government, so he lost contact with the Expeditionary Force's Paris office. Moreover, because he missed the last evacuation time, he can't leave now. Paris is in such chaos now, Joe must protect him!

Of course, compared to the minor matter of the expeditionary force's Paris office having already withdrawn from Paris with the Gallic government, the news the liaison officer told Joe was far more mind-numbing.

The liaison officer, looking utterly dejected, told Joe that he had heard the Teutons had already stormed Paris, and that General Henry, now Commander-in-Chief of the Gallic Army, was leading his troops in a final resistance at Les Invalides. If nothing unexpected happened, Paris was about to fall!

I've only been away from London for a few days, can't Paris even last that long?!
What the hell are those Gallic people doing?!

--------------

The Battle of Paris began with an overly successful raid, and it remains a matter of debate which cavalry raid was the most successful in the entire war.

The raid on Paris on the night of March 17, 1917, by a cavalry company of the 3st Hussars Regiment led by Prince Joachim was undoubtedly the most successful and destructive raid on the Western Front during the war.

In this raid, Prince Joachim not only routed six battalions of defenders but also captured more than three hundred men, causing Paris to almost lose its important northeastern gateway, the Park de la Villette, at the very beginning of the battle.

A small cavalry unit even reached the Eiffel Tower amidst the chaos and hoisted the Teutonic flag atop the North Tower.

If you've watched our previous episodes, you'll know that the person who hung the Teutonic flag on the North Tower of the Eiffel Tower is our longtime guest from Mouse Universe, the hardcore tough guy Hans Irweg who's always getting lost.

However, today's story is not about Prince Joachim, who is experiencing the highlight of his life, nor is it about Hans, who is about to get lost. Instead, it is about the Paris National Guard, which has lost six battalions!

——————How to Defend Paris from the Teutons? [The Amazing Organization 07]

(End of this chapter)