Holy Roman Empire-Chapter 909 - 172: The Turning Point of the War

The curtain call of the Airship troops occurred under the watchful eyes of hundreds of thousands. They witnessed it firsthand and the news spread quickly.

In fact, there was no need for the news to spread, as General Udino’s headquarters weren’t far from the frontlines. Though the ground combat was obscured and invisible from the headquarters, the aerial dogfights occurring in the sky above were in plain sight.

Having personally witnessed the demise of the Airship troops, General Udino felt completely drained.

Constructing this airship squadron had cost the French Military dearly; nearly one-tenth of the army’s annual budget had been poured into it.

Now, after merely performing a meteor shower for the audience of hundreds of thousands, they took their grand exit. General Udino had no idea how to explain this to the nation.

Of course, not all of the French Army’s airship fleet was lost here, but the outcome of the aerial battle had proven to the world that the skies no longer belonged to airships.

"General, it’s time for dinner."

The Guard’s voice brought Udino back from his stupor to reality.

"No need, I’m not hungry now."

"Send out the orders, there will be a military conference tonight. Except for the personnel required for duty, all officers with the rank of Colonel and above in the headquarters must attend."

The Airship troops were finished, but the war would continue. From now on, the skies would no longer belong to France, and Udino was acutely aware of what that meant.

To say nothing of strategic bombing; even gathering basic intelligence on the enemy was no longer possible. From now on, the French Army had no choice but to endure bombings.

...

The weather gradually grew dim, the afterglow of the sunset spilled onto the earth, illuminating the dismembered limbs on the ground, a ready-made horror movie set.

The atmosphere in the French camp was particularly eerie at this moment. The call to gather the troops had been sounded, but the number of soldiers returning was few.

Such fierce battles had occurred in the past. Normally, this would be the climax of the "playing dead" tactic, but today was an exception, with very few soldiers standing up from the ground.

Colonel Fuxi, who had just taken over as the Commander of the 9th Division, had a bad feeling and immediately ordered, "Call out to the Austrians, we need to send a team to collect the dead.

And tell those temperamental fellows that if they don’t come back now, they need not return at all. Have the Supervisory Team keep records; I’ll deal with these guys later."

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Fuxi couldn’t imagine that all his men were dead. History is important, after witnessing the tactic of playing dead, the French military leadership had grown desensitized to casualty numbers.

After all, only half of the 9th Division’s strength had returned to camp.

If it were true that half the force was lost in one day’s attack, then his tenure as the newly appointed Division Commander would also be over.

Fuxi chose to believe his men were just throwing a fit. After all, the 9th Division had been through a stroke of bad luck recently, losing its Commander even before the battle began.

They were supposed to launch the attack under the cover of the Airship troops, but everyone had seen France’s ace squadron plummet to the ground. They hadn’t provided any cover but living through the bombardment hadn’t been spared.

In fact, it wasn’t just the French Army’s airships that were finished. The airships of the Allied Forces, as well as the navy’s artillery, could still function normally, and this psychological gap was very demoralizing.

"Yes, Colonel!"

After speaking, the Messenger hurriedly ran out.

Collecting the dead on the battlefield is a tradition in Europe. No matter how fiercely fought during the day, during the collection of the dead, neither side would interfere.

After all, the numerous corpses on the battlefield needed to be dealt with quickly to prevent the outbreak of epidemics, a situation neither side wanted to see.

Sometimes, the corpse collecting teams from two warring nations would greet each other, and then take away the bodies of their own fallen soldiers.

Today was a typical offensive-defensive battle. The Austrian army largely remained in the trenches, and the French, encountering machine gun fire for the first time, did not know how to respond and simply charged forward, resulting in tragedy.

In the end, the French Army was strewn with corpses, with very few casualties on the Austrian side.

Even if they died, they did so on their own territory, and their bodies had already been dealt with. So now, it was only the French tasked with collecting the dead.

Shortly after the collection of the dead began, a young officer rushed over, "Colonel, something big has happened."

Colonel Fuxi frowned deeply, very annoyed, "What’s all the fuss about, have the troops on the frontlines mutinied?"

The sound of gunfire had already ceased, so it definitely wasn’t the Austrian army launching a counterattack. Thus, the most significant issue left could only be a mutiny by the soldiers.

That wasn’t anything new, it just rarely happened in divisions dominated by French people like the 9th.

Put in the Italian divisions, however, and as soon as they were given the task of bearing the brunt of the casualties, there was a 90 percent chance they would act up.

The instability of the Italian soldiers was a significant factor that limited the combat effectiveness of the French Army. If it weren’t for these draggers, the Luxembourg Line would have been breached long ago.

This problem had long been recognized by those aware within the French Army. Unfortunately, there was no solution, as the French people were limited in human resources and had to recruit Italian soldiers.

"Colonel, you should see for yourself! I guarantee, the situation is a hundred times, a thousand times worse than this..."

Clearly, the young officer realized that the news he brought was too shocking to be believed, so he simply let Colonel Fuxi see for himself.

"Hmph!"

After expressing strong dissatisfaction, Colonel Fuxi still stepped out of the headquarters.

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At this point in time, it was the moment for the corpse collection teams and clergymen to take over, and the safety was still guaranteed.

Having come to the frontlines, seeing the corpses littered everywhere and occasionally hearing the moans of the injured, Colonel Fuxi felt completely bewildered.

They were all dead, and even those who weren’t dead yet were about to die.

Given the medical conditions of the era, if wounded on the battlefield for a few hours without any treatment, the chances of being rescued were virtually zero.

With the number of medics in the Ninth Division, they were too busy just to bandage the lightly wounded who had been evacuated from the frontlines; no one could take care of those in the back.

Having glanced over the site, Colonel Fuxi returned to the command post, soul-struck. The problem was indeed a thousand times more serious than a mutiny; the entire Ninth Division was ruined.

Having witnessed such a cruel scene, the morale of the officers and soldiers who survived was completely gone.

If the enemy were to attack now, perhaps a simple charge would be enough to collapse the Ninth Division.

After a moment of silence, Colonel Fuxi, having calmed down, sighed with resignation and said, "Send out the order, no officers are to sleep tonight, all are to go down to their troops to soothe their spirits and prevent a mutiny."

One didn’t need to think too hard to know that the Ninth Division’s camp would inevitably be anything but calm tonight.

If nothing unexpected happened, this elite unit of the French Army would not be able to return to the battlefield for a very long time to come.

...

As time ticked by, the casualty report soon came out. In reality, the count was simple, as Colonel Fuxi had only requested a tally of the living in the camp.

The others, whether killed, missing, or captured, were all counted as killed in action.

There was no helping it, as the number of dead was too many and many bodies were dismembered. It was utterly impossible to piece them together quickly, let alone identify the deceased.

To ensure that the fallen soldiers would receive their government pensions, Colonel Fuxi could only bureaucratize the process this once.

Looking at the shocking number of casualties, Fuxi could hardly believe his own eyes and, despite being mentally prepared, was still stunned.

The Ninth Division alone had created a record during the daytime offensive with 4367 wounded and 3816 killed.

Indeed, this was the highest casualty figure the French Army had seen in a single day since the war began.

Behind their own grievous losses, the achievements were negligible. The Ninth Division had been decimated before even reaching the enemy’s position, and Colonel Fuxi no longer knew how to describe the combat that had taken place during the day.

As Colonel Fuxi was nursing a headache over how to explain to his superiors, the voice of the Guard rang out again, "Colonel, orders from above. You’re to attend the military meeting tonight."

Colonel Fuxi answered coldly, "Understood, I’ll be there immediately! Send the orders, double the sentries on duty tonight, and be on high alert for enemy sneak attacks."

...

General Udino’s command post wasn’t far from the Ninth Division’s station, just a few kilometers away, a round trip by horse taking only about twenty to thirty minutes, which was quite convenient.

But at this moment, Colonel Fuxi wished the journey were longer so that he could delay facing the inevitable.

It wasn’t only Colonel Fuxi who was troubled, every unit that had taken part in today’s offensive had suffered the same tragedy.

Small tragedies gathered together into a great tragedy. General Udino, who was still grieving over the annihilation of the Airship troops, was directly stunned by the figures before him.

"Fellas, is it April Fool’s Day? This joke is not funny at all."

"Tell me this isn’t real!"

...

After repeatedly confirming and receiving positive responses, General Udino, overwhelmed with fury and sorrow, fainted dramatically.

A chaotic scene ensued, but he was eventually revived. However, for General Udino personally, perhaps never waking up would have been the best outcome.

Reality was too cruel, this battle by the Rhine River was a replica of the historical Somme and campaigns, with France playing the role of the British Army.

Starting today, General Udino would leave a deep mark in the annals of human warfare, as future military textbooks around the world would certainly include this negative example.

Especially his order of "attack at all costs," which condemned him to the pillars of historical infamy.

Butcher, executioner, fool, idiot... all kinds of vile words would be pinned on him by posterity.

The now awake General Udino, with a bitter tone, said, "Carry on, everybody. Today’s battle was my personal command failure, it has nothing to do with you all, and I will take responsibility.

"In the coming battles, I implore you all to return to your troops and strengthen defenses, and beware of the enemy’s sneak attacks tonight.

"Filite, you are responsible for organizing the situation here, report separately to the Marshal and our homeland. Tell them, I have failed the Empire..."

Today’s blow was too great for General Udino; now he was filled with nothing but "self-reproach," so much so that he couldn’t even bother to shift the blame anymore.

Of course, at this point, no matter how much General Udino tried to shirk responsibility, he could not evade blame.

Through this battle, the French Army’s hard-won momentum of invincibility was lost in an instant. The dream of a quick victory and swiftly tearing through the Rhine Defense line had become a fantasy.