Descending On France 1780
Chapter 247 - 240 What is called people’s war?

Chapter 247: 240 What is called people’s war?

Time rewinds to an hour ago.

Prince Schwarzenberg had just returned to the military camp, his mood sour.

"Today’s attack has made absolutely no progress!" he exclaimed angrily.

The Chief of Staff immediately attempted to placate him: "The enemy hides in their fortifications and shoots like cowards. In doing so, they avoid their biggest disadvantage—lack of training. It’s not that our forces are incompetent, it’s that the enemy is too crafty!"

Prince Schwarzenberg muttered to himself, echoing his Chief of Staff’s words: "Crafty, crafty!"

If Frost were here, he would have laughed out loud, for he would certainly have thought of a certain colonel.

But Frost was not here.

Schwarzenberg said, "Let the troops eat well and sleep well today. Tomorrow we will launch a more determined attack."

Just then, a Messenger Soldier entered the tent, announcing loudly, "Your Highness, a troop of French civilians have followed the supply convoy up here!"

Prince Schwarzenberg: "What? French civilians, who allowed them to come?"

Messenger Soldier: "Well, you better come out and see for yourself."

The Prince frowned, pushed aside the Messenger Soldier, flung the tent flap open, and stepped out of the tent, only to see a group of extravagantly dressed French women getting off the vehicles.

"What’s going on here?" he asked loudly.

A Frenchman, dressed like a noble, stepped forward and bowed deeply: "General, we have come to reward the soldiers fighting to restore France!"

The Prince looked at him suspiciously: "And you are?"

"I am Pierre de Aynrich, and from my name, you can tell I am a noble. The Revolution destroyed everything I had, and I had to hide my identity to escape disaster! In order to support the coalition’s effort to restore the legitimate rule of France, I paid out of my own pocket to bring these ladies and prepare fine wine for you!"

Prince Schwarzenberg turned to look at the long convoy: "All these are wine?"

"Yes, I have bought out all the vineyards in town. This is Champagne from Epernay, the good stuff; it was originally going to be shipped to Paris, a bargain for those peasants!"

Prince Schwarzenberg was still pondering when a pretty French woman approached, poutingly saying, "General, after fighting for a whole day, let the soldiers have a good rest, won’t you?"

The Prince himself, worldly and experienced, maintained his composure, but his Chief of Staff was beginning to lose his grip: "Your Highness, a proper relaxation is conducive to morale recovery and can counteract the impact of today’s defeat!"

After some thought, the Prince finally nodded and said to the Frenchman: "Let the courtesans and fine wine you brought pleasure our soldiers well!"

The Frenchman doffed his hat and nodded: "Leave it to me, I assure you, the coalition soldiers’ morale will be restored to optimal levels."

The Pu-Austrian coalition was an old army that did not have nationalism to sustain morale.

As for the possibility of these civilians having ulterior motives, it never crossed the Prince’s mind. Nationalism was a new phenomenon that previously did not exist in Europe, and his experience told him that, no matter which country he fought in, civilians always adopted an "it’s none of my business" attitude.

To the Prince, it was normal for the army to fight to death or survival while civilians nonchalantly worked and aided the enemy without a care.

Because civilians had no sense of honor or loyalty.

The Prince did not realize that times in France had already changed.

**

An hour later, the entire coalition camp was filled with laughter and joyous voices.

As night fell, the coalition soldiers were immersed in fine wine and the tenderness of French women.

At this moment, the "Pierre de Aynrich" quietly slipped to the side of the wine transport cart he had brought, climbed up, and gently rapped on the barrel.

He knocked rhythmically, first two consecutive taps, then a single one.

Then the lid of the barrel was pushed open, revealing a pair of eyes that looked out warily at the "French noble."

"We’re set, come out now, it’s action time!"

The person in the barrel lifted the lid and climbed straight out of the barrel, then whistled twice towards the wine cart parked in the coalition camp.

The next moment, the lids of the barrels were opened one by one, and brawny men emerged from them, each holding weapons.

Just then, a coalition sentry who was on patrol noticed something unusual and loudly asked in German, "Who’s there?"

Before the echo faded, several stout men charged at him, first covering his mouth, then wrestling him to the ground and choking him until he quickly passed out.

The first to emerge commanded, "Grab the torches! Quick!"

One after another, empty barrels were opened, torches taken out, and then lit with the coalition’s own torches.

Soon, dozens of Frenchmen were all holding bright, flaming torches.

"We only set fires, no killing! For France!"

Together, the men quietly responded, "For France!"

Then they turned and ran in all directions.

**

Back to present, Anning watched the great fire on the other side of the river in the enemy’s camp.

And the number of fires was still increasing.

French Army soldiers also poured out of their tents, puzzled by the growing blaze on the opposite side.

Someone speculated, "Could it be that the enemy is retreating and burning their tents?"

Someone immediately retorted, "They wouldn’t start burning tents just after nightfall; it’d be normal to sleep for the night and burn them in the morning! Could it be that the enemy is retreating overnight?"

Anning thought to himself, that’s right, even the ordinary soldiers know it doesn’t make sense to burn tents at this time.

Anyway, he had to head back to the headquarters first; perhaps Bertier knew what was happening.

So, Anning quickly found his horse, mounted it, and galloped towards the direction of the headquarters.

Halfway there, he ran into two messenger soldiers, who immediately asked loudly, "Is it General?"

Anning: "Yes, it’s me. What’s happening? Did Bertier send you?"

"Yes, the Chief of Staff sent us to find you and ask you to return to the headquarters."

"Does the Chief of Staff know what’s happening over there?"

"We don’t know, he wanted to ask you what’s going on?"

I have no idea; I’m only known as the "Magician of the Battlefield," not a real magician who can light up the enemy’s camp across the river with magic!

Anning was too lazy to complain any further and rode at full speed towards the headquarters.

Upon reaching the headquarters, he saw Lasalle pacing back and forth in front of the headquarters tent and asked, "Lasalle, do you know what’s going on over there?"

"I don’t know. But... is it possible that the locals set fire to the Austrian camp?"

Anning: "Locals?"

"Yeah, when I was wandering in the enemy-occupied area, the locals were extremely supportive of me; wherever I went, I had supplies and places to stay. Many people wanted to come with us.

"So I think, it’s not too strange that they took action and set the Austrian tents on fire."

Anning raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling that it was possible.

After all, he had already witnessed the power of people’s war.

At that moment, Bertier came out after hearing the noise, and the Chief of Staff looked at Anning with a serious expression, "Did you do something? Why didn’t you inform me beforehand?"

Anning: "No, I really didn’t do this. However, we can’t miss this opportunity. Organize a suicide squad and cross the river to see what’s going on!"