Chapter 2414 Reclaimed Eden (Part 2)

Charleroi is located on the north bank of the Sambre River. Since it was built in 1666, it has been used to monitor the crossing of the Sambre River to France. Therefore, the south of the fortress is very strong, and the reinforced lower city is deep into the flooded grass that can be filled with water. Dianli, the city wall overlooks the Sambre River. The northern part of the city is relatively weakly defended, with the terrain sloping slowly up through the woods.

But after a siege in 1794, the city defenses of Charleroi began to be dilapidated. At that time, Jourdan and Kleber were in charge of defending the city, and Prince Koberg of Austria was attacking.

It was a bitter battle, and although the French finally won, they suffered heavy casualties. This small city has a total of 5,000 residents, and it is impossible to provide the food and grass needed by 70,000 people. It thrives on coal, and has garment and glassware factories, but coal is the mainstay of the region. Coal is mined in large quantities from the surrounding woods, and the town's main trade partner is France, so the only local language spoken is French.

After the war is over, the soldiers are gone, and the local people continue to live. From Charleroi to Brussels there is a country road paved with gravel, which is often blackened by coal wagons. In addition to supplying the residents of Brussels, these coals are also used for industrial use in Brussels. This road passes through a small town called Waterloo. This road happens to be located in a sunken lane of a hill, and the road runs north-south. Intersecting with an ancient Roman road running east-west, the road is almost completely straight.

After so many years, the ancient Roman road can still be used barely, but the gravel road will become difficult to walk when it rains, mainly because the cinders scattered on the ground will stick to the water, Sometimes days of heavy rain erode the pavement, so someone decided to dig a canal to connect Charleroi and Brussels.

When the Brussels post road was still unobstructed, it only took 3 days to travel from Paris to Brussels. The road from Brussels to Mons is relatively good at the moment, and the section from Valenciennes to Mons is worse, it is almost unusable.

In 1793, Valenciennes was also besieged, and the fighting was equally fierce. The road from Valenciennes to Paris is unimpeded, which means that if Valenciennes falls, the British coalition led by Austria and the Duke of York can go straight to Paris. Prior to this, the French experienced a disastrous defeat at Remap near Mons. Emperor Franz personally went to the front line to condolences to the victorious Austrians and encouraged them to pursue the victory.

The guard Durouet sent a team of hot air balloons. After completing the aerial reconnaissance mission, they found Jourdan and brought reinforcements. Leading the troops was Pischglu, who sabotaged the road in order to delay the arrival of Archduke Karl, and then engaged the Anglo-Austrian forces. Possibly because of the Emperor's presence, the officers did not dare to appear so savage that they looked lifeless and were eventually defeated in the engagement with Pishigru.

Still the same, the soldiers will leave after the war, and the locals will still live there. In the past, Austria would use corvée to build roads, and the main roads were major roads. Other country roads are almost dirt roads, which are muddy when it rains. . After experiencing the devastation caused by the war, the newly ruling French Republic abolished corvee service, and no one has repaired this road.

There is also a wonderful thing about this section of the road. Mons belongs to Belgium, and Valenciennes belongs to France. The Treaty of Lunéville has passed a French referendum, and it is believed that Belgium as a whole should be included in the borders of France. If so, then It should be repaired at the expense of France.

The early tactics of the Republic Army was to brave the enemy's artillery fire, charge regardless of life and death, and hit the enemy's front line like waves. Although artillery and skirmishers paved the way for the charge, this desperate style of play would bring a death rate close to 17:1. For every 5,000 French killed, more than 300 coalition soldiers were killed.

There were deserters on either side, and some of these deserters hid in the forest near Soigny, also near Mons. Some of them formed gangs, large and small, and lived by robbery with Belgian draft dodgers.

In November 1792, Austria and France also fought a battle in Remap. At that time, it was Dumrière, the general who later became a traitor, who led 40,000 soldiers to defeat the army stationed in Remap. The Austrians, in turn, besieged Antwerp along the banks of the Scheldt. These 40,000 people were almost the total force of France at that time. In January of the following year, news came that the king was beheaded. In February and March, the French were still winning in Belgium, but Dubrier's performance became It is very strange that after driving the Austrians out of Namur, he ignored the order of the National Convention, stopped pursuing the victory, and stationed troops in Namur. Then there is the logistics supply of the French army. Dubrier distributed it to several Belgian dealers, and 30 million francs flowed into Belgium every month. Dubrier said it was to win the hearts of the locals and buy time. However, the Republic's finances were stretched at the time, and Dumriere's behavior of "eating the inside out" undoubtedly added fuel to the fire.

With the situation in such chaos, it is impossible to determine whose pocket the money ended up in. After all, many people became rich because of the war. Lupe is the son of a doctor, and later he went to seminary and joined the sect of the poor, but now he pays the most taxes in Brussels.

This is the rule of the new French celebrities, whoever pays the most taxes is eligible to join the electoral college. If you don't think about it, what did he do wrong? In particular, he protects the interests of Belgium everywhere, and even offends the notorious French police minister Fouche. How do you know whether Fouche will take the opportunity of the investigation to retaliate against Lupe?

The mayor of Brussels at this stage is not elected by the people, but appointed by the French Central Committee. Apart from Lupe, Langenhofen is one of the few candidates. After the last ball was pocketed, Bonaparte took everyone back to the city hall opposite, where Langenhofen's wife and two daughters were waiting for him, and when they saw him appear, they immediately stood beside him. around.

After reaching the center of the crowd, Bonaparte delivered a short speech:

Citizens, peace has come, but we have difficulties to face, but as long as we stand firm, we will restore order, prosperity and happiness...

Georgiana stood behind him, her eyes quickly swept over the officers in bright uniforms.

At this moment, it was difficult for her to associate them with the ragged and scarred appearance after the gunpowder smoke and bitter battle, and it was even more difficult for her to imagine their poor and frightened appearance when they were first conscripted.

In "Pride and Prejudice", Lydia was very curious about the soldiers passing by. She was not the only one. Along the way, Georgiana saw many girls cast admiring eyes on the handsome guard cavalry. People no longer I think being a soldier is for poor people who can't afford the military service tax.

Putting on new clothes, people can't help but take a look in the mirror, and they will inevitably be proud of themselves when they look at their heroic and handsome self. She once heard a story about two sons of a slave owner who went to serve in the army, the eldest son died in battle, and the younger son was about to go to war. A slave said loudly to the younger son looking in the mirror, "Look at that damned soldier." ", the slave owner happened to hear it, and he immediately became angry.

He asked another slave to fetch a shotgun, and asked the speaking slave to unbutton his shirt to expose his chest.

The two slaves were obedient, one fetched the shotgun, the other unbuttoned her blouse, Miss Sally pleaded hard, but her father shook her off, so she opened her arms and stood between her father and the big slave.

Any violence, if it is not based on a solid, spiritual foundation, will sooner or later be shaken and unreliable.

Force does not produce rights, people only temporarily bow to force, not out of their own will, at best it is a stopgap measure...

At this moment, Bonaparte finished his speech and applauded around him. He took Georgiana's hand and left the venue.

However, they did not live in the palace of Louis XIV opposite, but boarded a carriage and left the center of Brussels, which was once razed by shells and has now been rebuilt to become the "most beautiful living room" in Europe.