Re: Blood and Iron

220  Invasion of Luxembourg Part II

Time was running out, and Leon had two options. How he chose to proceed with his current circumstances would determine the future of his and his men. If he stood his ground and tried to defend the city against the German division which was currently encircling them, then there was a high chance of defeat.

However, if he chose to retreat back out of the only real region of strategic interest within the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, then Leon was not only admitting defeat, but would be forced to fight on the defensive going forward, risking total expulsion, and thus failing to achieve the goals he had been tasked with by the French High Command, who were more or less panicking at the moment.

Standing and fighting was a major risk. He had already lost his veteran brigade who were the most capable forces under his command. And it was unknown how many losses precisely the German relief force had suffered.

But if they were using armored cars as shields for their infantry, then there was a high chance that the losses they sustained were substantially smaller than those his men had already endured. Meaning that at this moment, he was more or less numerically disadvantaged.

With this in mind, Leon wisely chose to withdraw from Luxembourg so that he could live to fight another day. Glowering at the Grand Duchess as he ordered his men to organize a retreat.

"We have no choice. We will fall back from the city temporarily and establish a front line farther back towards our own borders. Once we have reinforcements, we will retake this city!"

The Grand Duchess of Luxembourg cast Leon a smug grin as the man snarled like a beast while he and his men withdrew from the woman's palace, which they had been until now occupying as if it were their property.

Marie-Adélaïde sighed in relief while watching the French Army issue a full retreat and pull out of her city altogether just in time for the cavalry to arrive. German soldiers rode into battle on the backs of the Armored Cars which strolled into the city. The camouflage netting and paint schemes only slightly fettered and dinged from the bullets which struck their slopped hulls.

The Grand Duchess made a rather inappropriate comment to one of her younger sisters who had been by her side as Leon threatened them all.

"I have never before in my life been so happy to see a bunch of armed German men enter my home. Shall we go thank our liberators for the swiftness of their aid?"

Marie did not wait for her sister's response, and instead rushed out of her palace into the courtyard to greet the men who had come to her aid. The officer in charge of the armored brigade, which acted as the vanguard in the German Division's assault, quickly took off his Stahlhelm and bowed before the Grand Duchess as he was merely a common man.

"Your highness, I must apologize for the tardiness of our arrival. It took longer than we anticipated readying the armored cars for the advance into Luxembourg, but as promised, we are here to prevent the French from occupying your territory for as long as you request our presence.

I hope that you and your people remained unharmed from the hostile soldiers we have just driven out!"

The Grand Duchess was rather pleased with the German Colonel's attitude, he was treating her with far more respect than Leon had. And was even apologizing for the length of time it took for him and his men to arrive, which was far faster than she had expected.

It was reasonable for this to be the case. The Germans advanced into Luxembourg on the backs of Armored Cars, and within the cargo beds of 3.5 ton trucks. It was no exaggeration to say that they had moved with the swiftness of a proper motorized division during a time where horses and forced marches were the primary means of transporting troops.

Of course, the Grand Duchess was marveling at the machines of war which had brought the German soldiers into her home. Almost awestruck at the expert engineering that went into them. It was not a luxury that the Luxembourgish Gendarme could afford, and because of this she couldn't help but gaze upon the Spahpanzer's as if they were some form of alien technology.

It took Marie-Adélaïde several moments to realize she had remained utterly silent, and awkwardly so, prompting her to immediately thank the German officer again while asking what his plans were for the future.

"There is truly no need to apologize, but I have to ask, how do we proceed? Am I to expect you and your men to stay here and protect Luxembourg for the duration of the war? Now that the French have seen fit to violate my sovereignty and invade my home without even the slightest declaration, I can't help but feel we are truly helpless without the Kaiser's aid…"

Before the Colonel could answer this question, another man arrived having been driven in the back of a military vehicle created by Bruno's Volkswagen corporation known as the Kübelwagen. The man was dressed in the uniform of a Generalleutnant.

The German General was quick to answer the question with a smug look on his face.

"For the time being, my men will reinforce our position here in your city, while I sent a few brigades to go chase those French rats out of your territory. Once all of Luxembourg has been liberated, we will dig in at your borders and hold the line against the aggression of your western neighbors for as long as you request of us…"

Upon hearing this news, the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg was truly relieved. She, of course, would not have been so if she fully understood the implications of calling upon the German Army for aid. But because of her ignorance she treated the men who were more or less here for the sake of annexation as if they were liberators and heroes rather than conquerors.

"You have my thanks brave defenders of Luxembourg. If not for you all , and the kindness of your Kaiser, I fear Luxembourg would have been destined to become yet another province of the French Republic!"

Naturally, none of the German soldiers were going to tell the woman that she had more or less just been tricked into giving up her sovereignty to the Kaiser, but discussions for official annexation could wait until the war was over.

For now, the German Army needed to prepare proper defenses in the event of another French attack. As it was entirely likely that the French General was calling for reinforcements now that he and his men had been violently driven out of the city.

Thus, the General immediately began to relay such orders to his men. While he spoke in more detail about their current operations with the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.

---

Leon was rather furious, though he and his men had just barely managed to break out of a total encirclement by the German Division they had left behind their objective in coming into Luxembourg to begin with, and had more or less retreated back towards the borders of France with nothing but the death of their men to show for their efforts.

It was no secret that the leaders of the allies were starting to panic. In every front currently being fought, they had lost the initial engagements with the Imperial Powers. Even in the colonial theater, they had been trounced by the Japanese and the Lion of Africa.

The Public would not support such substantial losses for long. The French needed a victory, and Leon had planned to be the one to give them that. Unfortunately, the German Army had managed to outpace him and his men.

By the time they had seized the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Germans were already on their way, and in full force. A division of men, where the vanguard was equipped with Armored Cars had dealt a considerable blow to the French invaders.

The fact of the matter is, the only thing capable of dealing a fatal blow to one of these advanced armored vehicles was a direct shot from an artillery piece. And they had been caught by surprise when the Germans came out of nowhere, rapidly firing 20mm High Explosive shells at their barely fortified positions.

But when his superiors learned of what he had done, there would be hell to pay. Another loss in a series of disastrous defeats was not what the French were expecting when they invaded their neutral neighbor without warning.

And this only further gave them a reputation on the world stage as an aggressor. Luckily for France, Leon's invasion of Luxembourg was met with a far larger offensive launched into Belgium for the same result. And the French were currently engaging a battle with the Belgian Army which it was looking like they would emerge the victors of. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

But Leon did not know this fact, and since that was the case, he could not help but vent his rage in the way he always did by harassing the men beneath his command and blaming them for his failures.