French Empire: But Napoleon IV

Chapter 78 De Fai's Surrender: Sinner or Hero?

Instead of launching an immediate attack, the infantry brigade reported the news to Boze. Boze, who was busy hunting down French troops, did not take these remnants seriously.

The Prussian lieutenant general ordered the infantry brigade to launch an immediate attack. With orders from their superiors, the Prussian soldiers, who paid no attention to the French troops in the village, brazenly formed a dense line and charged towards the village.

But as they approached the village entrance, the French Mitrajoz machine guns opened fire.

The firing of four large-caliber Mitrajoz machine guns, which could even be described as cannons, from the entrance to the village was undoubtedly fatal to the unsuspecting Prussian troops who were clustered together.

The Prussian soldiers at the forefront fell in droves, only then realizing that the French firepower opposite them was far greater than they had imagined. The Prussian soldiers hurriedly lay down and began firing into the village, trying to suppress the French firepower.

However, most of the French soldiers were hiding in sturdy stone houses, and the 15.4 mm bullets fired by the Prussian Dreyse rifles could not penetrate the stone walls at all.

Instead of immediately seeking help from Boze, the infantry brigade launched three consecutive attacks on its own, all of which were repelled by the French army. After suffering more than 2000 casualties, they finally reported the encounter with a large French force to Boze.

In this pursuit, even his own army suffered thousands of casualties. Upon learning the news, an enraged Boze, on his way to the battlefield, ordered six Krupp C/64 6-pound field guns to be brought in and bombard the village.

With the advantage of artillery, the battle situation changed again.

Just like the French army besieged in Sedan and forced to endure bombings, the tens of thousands of French troops assembled by De Fay could only silently endure the shells falling on the village, destroying houses and barricades, and causing increasing casualties among French soldiers.

The battle lasted all night, during which the Prussian army launched several attacks, but all of them were repelled by the French army. It wasn't until 5 a.m. the next day that the Prussian army finally broke through the outer defenses of the village and rushed into the village.

Inside the village, the two sides engaged in a house-to-house and alley-to-alley battle, with French troops hiding in houses and firing at Prussian troops through cracks in doors and windows.

The foundation of the Second Empire was the peasantry, so the French army, supported by the French people, could hide in many cellars dug by the French people.

When the Prussian army passed by, the soldiers suddenly rushed out and launched a surprise attack on the Prussian army from the rear. The French soldiers, who were not afraid of the German army, engaged in bayonet fighting directly in the village.

At 9 a.m., De Fay led the remaining 4000 soldiers to retreat to the church in the center of the village.

The church was built of hard limestone, with walls up to a meter thick, making it difficult for Prussian field artillery to destroy.

This was built during the Middle Ages, a time when Catholicism was at its peak in France. It was constructed by the French churches that ruthlessly exploited the people, and now it's being used by French soldiers.

After paying the price of 500 lives lost, the now-docile Boser ordered the arrival of two 16-pound bronze muzzle-loading cannons.

Although Prussian artillery had been largely replaced by breech-loading cannons, these 6-pound and 4-pound field guns were clearly insufficient to pose a threat to the various French fortresses.

For the purpose of siege warfare, the Prussian army still retained heavy bronze cannons weighing 16 pounds and even 24 pounds.

The threat posed by a 16-pounder cannon with a caliber of 118 mm to a church was far greater than that of a 6-pounder field gun.

Heavy shells fired from the two 16-pound bronze cannons slammed into the church walls, causing the entire structure to tremble. After the smoke cleared, the Prussian soldiers outside could clearly see huge, outward-spreading cracks at the site of the explosions.

Rumble~

It's really unlucky; when you're down on your luck, even drinking cold water can cause problems.

This was the case in De Fay; under artillery bombardment, the church's bell tower was hit by a shell and collapsed instantly, killing dozens of French soldiers underneath.

"General, we're almost out of bullets."

Not only were the church's artillery defenses no longer secure, but to make matters worse, supplies were also running out after nearly a day of fighting.

A lieutenant who was commanding the battle at the front rushed up to General de Fay and anxiously told the commander about their predicament.

In order to evacuate, a lot of supplies were destroyed at the original Meuse River position, and the logistics team that followed the troops was scattered by the Prussian army.

By the end of the day, the soldiers had used up all the ammunition they carried with them, and at this stage of the battle, they really didn't have much ammunition left.

Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice. Unable to conjure bullets for Lieutenant De Fay, he turned to look at the soldiers around him.

The intense fighting took a toll on their bodies, and the unfavorable battle situation had a psychological impact, making these elite French regulars look extremely exhausted.

Without exception, all the soldiers, even De Fay, had faces covered in dust and blood.

However, a regular army is a regular army. During the Franco-Prussian War, there was never a case of French soldiers deserting their posts and surrendering, forcing their generals to surrender, even in the most difficult times.

The same was true at this moment. Even though they had reached the end of their predicament and the cliff was just around the corner, the soldiers' eyes told De Fai that they had not retreated in the slightest because of the current situation.

"Brothers, we've held out for 15? Or 18? Or 20 hours, okay, I can't remember, but we've bought enough time for our brothers on the North Road."

Now, as your commander, I order you to lay down your weapons... surrender, and stop making unnecessary sacrifices."

It was difficult for De Fay to say these words, but he had to take the lead.

If they continued fighting until only one or two hundred men remained, and then surrendered to Prussia, it wouldn't have much impact on De Fay. He couldn't possibly reduce Prussian casualties by surrendering early, and Prussia wouldn't give him an official position.

De Fay was not afraid of death; he could accept dying in battle. But he didn't want to see his buddies, who fought alongside him, die on this battlefield. They had already done enough.

De Fai's words did not elicit a response from the soldiers below. They looked at De Fai, hoping to win back their commander's favor.

"General (Commander), we will not surrender. Let us fight to the very end!"

Faced with the soldiers' cries, De Fay's eyes filled with tears, but he still gritted his teeth and made the decision to become a sinner of France.

"No, brothers, you have done your duty. Live on, live on for the future of France."

After saying that, he ignored the soldiers who wanted to continue persuading him and were unwilling to surrender.

De Fay personally picked up a white flag made of a white shirt and, under the watchful eyes of the soldiers, walked out of the church and surrendered to the Prussian troops outside.

When the French soldiers in the church saw that the general had really surrendered, they had no choice but to lay down their weapons.

The French forces in the central sector failed to break out, but their mission of containing the enemy was indeed accomplished successfully. Of the 33000 soldiers, approximately 11200 were killed in action and 8700 were wounded. 16700 were captured, and only slightly more than 5000 managed to escape.

As for De Fay, he naturally became a prisoner of the Prussian army and would remain in the POW camp until the end of the war.