Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 789 - 697 Civil War

Chapter 789: Chapter 697 “Civil War

Chapter 789: Chapter 697 “Civil War

Central-Western Province of Poland, Henzi.

In a marching column of hundreds, Herbert Schmidt hummed a newly learned tune:

“Poland forever, forever strong!

As long as I am alive,

No matter what the enemy takes from within,

I shall regain it with my sword!

Forward, Kosciuszko…”

It’s the famous “Poland Is Not Yet Lost”, which is also the future national anthem of Poland. However, its author Joseph Wibicki named it “Poland Forever Strong”, and words like “perish” disappeared from the lyrics.

At this time in history, the Russian Army had already besieged Warsaw. But Poland’s defensive lines are still on the eastern border.

Schmidt marched forward to the sound of the military drums, his fingers fumbling for a letter in his pocket.

It was from his brother last week, stating that he had set off with the legion to Poland and should meet him soon to join the glorious Holy War together.

Hmm, his elder brother Molt Schmidt was a Captain in the Austrian Royal Carpathian Legion.

However, the officer’s status also restricted him.

Herbert Schmidt himself had run away from his hometown in Nowy Sącz to Poland over half a month ago and had received the rank of Sergeant in the “Holy Cross Crusade Army”, now rushing to the battlefield.

And his brother had just set off.

Perhaps by the time his brother encountered the Russians, he himself would have been promoted to a rank similar to his brother’s.

Herbert Schmidt imagined this, his lips curling into a smile. The Crusades, what a romantic experience!

The army marched a long distance, presumably now in the outskirts of Warsaw, when suddenly a few horses caught up from behind the troops, a Polish Major shouted loudly: “Wait a moment! Stop!”

Commander Major Feikot immediately signaled the Order Officer, the drumming clumsily changed, and the soldiers halted their steps.

The Polish Major spoke softly to Feikot for a few moments, after which the latter’s face turned ashen. Hesitating for a moment, he jumped onto a half-man-high boulder and loudly said in German: “Listen everyone, Major Charles Troque has something to say to us all.”

All officers and soldiers immediately turned to face him.

Troque said a few excited sentences in Polish.

Feikot frowned, but soon translated:

“Regrettably, His Majesty the King… cough, declared war on Poland several days ago.”

The soldiers immediately stirred.

Herbert Schmidt exclaimed incredulously: “Commander, did you say ‘declare war’ rather than ‘form an alliance’?”

“Yes, declared war,” Feikot nodded, then muttered under his breath, “Damn, it’s just like crap!”

Major Troch continued, “At this moment, an Austrian army of 25,000 is passing through Nusonczi, expected to launch an attack on Krakow in four to seven days.”

Feikot translated helplessly.

While his team was in an uproar, “Why invade Poland?”

“This must not be an order from His Majesty the King, right?”

“Which bastard is conspiring with the Russian heretics?”

“Is this how they repay the friends who once helped us defend Vienna?”

This team consisted of volunteers from Austria coming to support Poland in the Holy War. They had assumed that the Austrian government would send troops to help Poland resist Russia, but were shocked to hear such news.

Troch first bowed deeply to everyone, then said, “Krakow is almost unguarded; we never expected Vienna to attack there.

“So, Warsaw has no choice but to send all available soldiers to Krakow. And you, being the most experienced fighters here, I, on behalf of His Majesty the King, implore you to help us defend Krakow.

“Please, for the love of Jesus!”

Herbert Schmidt stepped forward with a grim expression and said loudly, “I will go!”

Immediately, others started shouting, “I will go too.”

“I want to teach those fools a lesson!”

“And me…”

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Half an hour later, this team of over 800 people turned southwest, rushing towards Krakow.

Krakow.

Outside Chebiny Town, on the south side of Tarnovsk Mountain Silver Mine.

One Austrian gunner reluctantly stuffed the cannonball into the barrel. The loader casually pounded it a few times with the ramrod, then the fire starter lit the fuse.

With a roar, the cannonball arched into the shrubs on the east side.

The company commander, using binoculars, saw this and didn’t reprimand the gunner. Instead, he just sat down on the ammunition box, letting his men perform as they would.

Yes, they only realized they were to fight the Poles upon entering Polish territory.

Before that, aside from the senior officers, the Austrian soldiers thought they were going to fight the Russians on the eastern front of Poland.

Soon, General Wilmze’s guard troops arrived at the artillery position as supervising officers.

Here, after bombarding for a whole morning, only one cannonball had hit the Polish position, and the General was furious.

Indeed, the one who hit the Polish position had previously been vehemently cursed by his comrades. He felt somewhat wronged; it was really a case of poor skills, having aimed incorrectly.

————

Russian borrows extensively from German, particularly in the context of the ancient Russian court. Of course, Peter the Great’s modernization of Russia, learning from the West, was primarily through Germany. Although he wasn’t a “German stick” like Peter III or Paul later, he did borrow extensively from Germany. For example, the new city he built, Saint Petersburg, is pronounced following the German Sankt-Peterburg. He established a Western-style court, and court ranks were in German, such as Kammerherr (Attendant), Hofmeister (Court Master), Schenk (Cup-Bearer), etc. He also reformed the nobility system, sidelining the traditional Russian “boyar” nobility system (boyars were the highest class of Russian nobles before Peter’s reforms, appointed by the Tsar, gradually phasing out) and introducing a Western-style nobility system. For example, the Russian “Earl” (Граф) directly transcribes the German Graf, a title borrowed from the German count (Graf). During the Great Northern War, the famous Russian military leader Boris Sheremetev (Boris Sheremetev, 1652—1719, Russian statesman and army marshal, once served as commander-in-chief of the Russian army during the Great Northern War, where he famously defeated the Swedish army in the Battle of Poltava in 1709) became Russia’s first Earl in 1706.

The old town is bordered by Zamkowy Square, protected by city walls. A statue holding a cross stands on Zamkowy Square, commemorating Sigismund III who moved the Polish capital from Klaf to Warsaw. The old Royal Palace, starting renovations in 1971, has now become a museum open to the public, housing many valuable treasures from successive Polish dynasties, including exquisite royal collections. The most attractive exhibits for tourists in the Royal Palace Museum are the authentic works of Bernardo and Bertoldo.