Chapter 6 Battle for the Center.

By the orders of Sarge, a small ten year old girl that is, the Prussians at the southern bridge opened up the central barricade. They set three wagons on fire and pushed them through the opening, over French bodies and before the bridge.

The enemy fire was great but imprecise, giving the Prussians just enough time to loot the dozens of bodies that littered the Prussian side of the bridge. From them they gained many of the French superior Chassepot rifles, and with a single French soldier usually carrying a hundred rounds the Prussians also gained plenty of needed ammo.

Watching this all from a top a small southern hill overlooking the town was French General Frossard. Seeing his men beaten back at the southern bridge he frowned, but kept his cool.

As a cautious man he had already began building defensive positions for his artillery batteries a top the hill that he was upon. If need be he at least had an defensive position on the hill. While his men had their superior rifles that he was sure would in time beat back the Prussian defenders from the town no matter how much they fought back.

However with orders to take the town having come straight from Emperor Napoleon the 3rd, and with the 14 year old Louis-Napoléon, the Crown Prince of France in his care, he was sadly pressed on time to capture the town of Saarbrücken.

Especially as there was no telling when enemy reinforcements would arrive, or from where they would be coming from, or even if they were coming in the first place. If only he would have had some cavalry units willing to go on scouting missions. Then he could have assessed his situation better and acted accordingly. But since the cavalry were all of the upper class, they thought of scouting as being beneath them.

Instead the Cavalry were already laying down their tents on the hill and settling down. They would only move against the enemy once a chance for a glorious charge would present itself to them. For charging into battle like the cavalry in the Napoleonic era was all that they had been trained for.

Thinking of this General Frossard scratched the back of his head in frustration and quickly came up with another idea. Seeing as his assault on the southern bridge was being blocked, General Frossard pointed to one of his lieutenant's and then ordered.

"Send word to the men, I want them to break through the center since they apparently lack the capability to do so in the south. Tell them to gather in force and not stop the assault until the river is taken. And if the men's courage is the problem, then tell them to march shoulder to shoulder and volley fire upon the enemy. But no matter what I want to see the town taken before the day is out, we outnumbered them nearly 30 to 1, this should be easy. Now go and carry out my orders."

The lieutenant nodding in affirmation of his commands quickly sprung his horse forward and down the hill into the city. While the young 14 year old Louis-Napoléon was quick to complain about this by saying.

"Your just wasting time General Frossard, just let me fire the cannon already. Surely those Prussians will run at the first sound of French cannons firing."

General Frossard making a fake polite smile was quick to try and calm down the Prince by explaining.

"Aha yes I understand your highness, but you see at this distance it would be extremely hard to hit the enemy. We might even accidentally hit our own men if we fired now, and the civilians would also be in great danger. Its best we just rely on our superior rifles and numbers now. Afterward I will be sure to let you fire the cannon at the enemy, ok?"

Prince Louise though was clearly not pleased as he complained.

"But I wanna shoot the cannon already. I don't want to sit here all day, its so boring! Besides my father promised me that you'd let me fire the cannon's, he even brought the press here and everything."

General Frossard not looking to anger his countries young Prince and future ruler was quick to pull out an collapsible steel telescope. Handing it to the boy he commented.

"You're Highness please use this and watch as our men take this town by storm. I'm sure you will not be disappointed by the show, and the sight of those Prussians running like cowards for their lives. Just trust me, time will go by fast and later I will let you fire a cannon. But for now firing a cannon especially within a town full of civilians is not something that we can do, especially if we ever wish to have the international communities support for our war, and possibly have one other country join us in this war against the Prussian dogs as well."

The Prince though reluctant, took the telescope and peered through it, and for a moment he stayed in utter silence. While General Frossard kept silent as well as he watched his men gathering for an attack upon the center bridge.

However as he used his telescope to watch the battle he soon began to notice oddedies. He could have sworn that he could see two small girls running amongst the Prussian lines, and wherever they went it was almost as if more Prussian soldiers just appeared into the battle.

It was almost as if whenever men fell wounded on the ground those girls would rush over and raise that wounded man back up. In fact on more and more soldiers he could see red stains and one even had a hole in his helmet, and yet they continued to fight?

Prince Louise although seemed to find something funny about it all. His eyes watched the girls as well and saw the older of the two yelling what seemed like orders to the men, and the men actually seemed to listen. For Prince Louise this seemed like a funny thing, grown men, well trained Prussian Soldiers no less actually were listening to a little girls orders.

Pointing at the scene taking place in the center Prince Louise jokingly said to General Frossard.

"Hahaha, look General, those Prussians in the center are taking orders from a little girl! They truly must have lost their minds, hahaha! Maybe your right, maybe these imbeciles will in fact be easy to route in no time, especially if its a bunch of girls who they are listening to now."

General Fossard focusing on the center then also noticed it and said.

"I I I see, but why? What in God's name are they doing? Is this a joke, are they mocking us?"

At the same time the French men were already being marched in multiple huge columns 10 men wide, and 20 men deep down the cobblestone road towards the central bridge. In the front a single French captain with but a sword led each marching column onwards.

Thanks to their army being professional and one that had served for a long time, the men marched beautifully in synchronization with eachother. All the thousands of men's feet hit the ground at the same time, chins were raised high and their free hands swung from side to side.

Until finally they turned a corner and came into view of the bridge. There smoke was rising from the Prussian sides needle guns, while French skirmishers on the southern side returned fire and tried to clear a path for the marching men.

Bodies of the fallen were dragged aside, along with debris as the huge columns marched on by. And then as they had entered the needle rifles 600 meter range bullets began to fly. Instantly French men were hit, they staggered, fell and became wounded.

However due to the needle rifles minimum damage especially at over 400 meters the wounds were minor. With some help from the men at the back, the wounded French men pushed onwards and those who were unlucky enough to die were merely stepped over and passed.

Marching over the bridge the French captain was then soon quick to fall. With a precise bullet straight to the head the man fell like a rock to the ground and was quickly replaced by a lower ranking lieutenant who was quick to bring the men to an halt at the center of the bridge.

There despite being shot at and men falling every second he bravely and calmly ordered the men to present, and then fire. Like a wave of thunder the first French line then fired starting from the left and rolling to the right, until they all fired and then crouched to let the men at the back then fire.

All the while the men were being shot at and the ones at the back did nothing but merely waited in place while shaking in fear. At any moment the men knew that a bullet could be coming to end their lives or to wound them, and yet they didn't dare to break ranks.

Through years of service a fanatical need to obey orders without questions had been planted in their minds, and so they held strong. Only moving done was done when the men Infront fell and his place needed to be taken.

Luckily though to the men, the lieutenant didn't wait for long till he gave the order to charge. With bayonets already fixed the men instantly with a singular command broke out into a charge with their bayonets pointed forward.

The enemy hearing the command was although quick to stand up from their covers and begin firing their guns. Instantly French men fell dead to the ground, their dark blue uniforms and bright red pants bloodied and with bullet holes.

The lieutenant in front also with his sabre was quick to wince in pain as he fell to his knees while clutching at his bleeding stomach. His sabre lay at his feet as his men ran past him in a mad charge yelling glory to France and Emperor Napoleon.

Until suddenly the wagons at the enemy barricade were set a flame and pushed towards the charging men. The heat of the fires hit the men, as smoke obscured the battlefield, and then from beyond the fires small balls of cloth with fuses came.

They were but white things with what seemed like a few forks, knives and some other metallic items sticking out, all held together by a white bandage. They seemed like harmless things even if they were to directly hit a man, until suddenly when their short fuses burned within the balls and explosions followed.

All of a sudden as the men were running past them they blew up next to the men's feet in small, but powerful little explosions that sent metal fragments flying all around. Like shrapnel the metal pierced the men's legs, tore through pants, flesh, and even bone.

Instantly men fell with torn legs, and many painful leg and feet wounds to the ground screaming in pain. Only for more small bombs then to come and blow up more men. Locked in their blind charge at the enemies flame and smoke covered positions, the men were packed on the street making a singular bomb wound and tear tens of legs apart at once.

And those who fell quickly found themselves trampled by their country men as men madly ran into the smoke. Only to after exiting the smoke be met by a chest high barricade with many bayonets waiting there for them, and more rifles at the back ready to shoot all who got past the bayonets.

Still by sheer force the French pushed against the barricade. Bayonets clashed and stabbed over the barricade at the enemy. While at one part men pulled boxes and sacks of grain off of the barricade and began to climb over it.

Instantly the French men trying to climb were shot or stabbed to death. Although still from a top the barricade some French men managed to drive their bayonets down straight into the Prussian bodies before death.

The sounds of gunfire, shouting, and the clash of metal created a mad cacophony of sounds. While men's bodies fuelled by adrenaline caused their eyes to become bloodshot and the fear of death be pushed aside.

From above the men, from the windows of the many buildings bullets rained down on the French and some small bombs fell as well. Blood and limb's flew, the smell of blood and death was everywhere and yet the men pushed onwards. Only to soon be engaged in the brutal reality of hand-to-hand fighting.

And for those wounded by bombs, bullets, bayonets and the hard back ends of rifles weren't given the luxury of escaping. In the front it was either kill or be killed, as if the soldiers didn't push forward then they would be crushed under the feet and bodies of the eager men behind them.

At the same time as the battle raged at the central barricade other French soldiers spread out from the bridge. Some tried to break into barricaded buildings, go through smaller alley's or other streets only to everywhere find more barricades and more Prussian soldiers.

And soon from buildings burning sacks, barrels and whatever the Prussians could get their hands on and burn, was tossed onto the streets before the bridge to burn the French and impede their movements.

Soon the heat began building up on the streets and as burning barrels were tossed into the mass of French soldiers at the central barricade, some men began to burn alive. Screams were heard and soon fear began to spread.

Still from across the bridge more French flooded into the fray while yelling enthusiastically their battle cries.

"En avant! Vive l'Empereur! Vive la France!"

French Major Brebis seeing his men's fearsome, but what he feared was a fruitless charge was quick to take his horse and go see the General. For him it was obvious that cannons should be used before such assaults no matter the superiority in numbers.

However most other Majors present didn't seem to mind the current situation at all. Only at the very front did there seem to be concerns.

For unknown to anybody but them, something horrific was happening at the central barricade. There the Prussians soldier's seemed to have become immortal.

Almost all the Prussians had their dark blue uniforms be torn and bloodied. It was as if they were dressed in rags and their bodies were painted completely red with blood like some demons, and yet they kept smiling and fighting as if there were no wounds on them.

French Private Canard was an farmer at heart. All his life he had worked on the land and was strong thanks to it, and yet even he faltered before the enemy. Coming close to the barricade he could see one man stab his bayonet over the barricade straight into the neck of an Prussian soldier, a sure kill he thought.

However the Prussian merely smiled, and used his own bayonet to stab back at the French man killing him with a quick stab in the eye. While the Prussian mans wound after the bayonet left it merely seemed to close up and become healed.

Seeing this Private Canard hesitated, but also felt curious of what was going on. And as his time came to fight he decided to use the bodies of his country men to climb up so that he could see beyond the barricade and attack the Prussians from there.

And as he did so, a bullet from further back in the Prussian lines came and immediately struck his chest and yet still he held strong. Picking out his target from one of the bloodied Prussians standing at the barricade, he lifted up his bayonet and prepared to strike as did the Prussian man.

And then simultaneously he stabbed the Prussian in the chest with his bayonet as the Prussian struck him deep into his chest as well. Instantly he could taste the metallic taste of blood within his mouth and his strength beginning to fade.

Private Canard felt that his end was close, but he was determined not to go until he at least did his part by taking out one enemy. Moving his bayonet around in the Prussians wound Canard tried to expand the Prussian soldiers wound and carve the man's body up, as the Prussian tried doing so to him as well.

Like two sculptors they opened up eachothers bodies to the point that both froze in shock. Death was near, and yet in that moment the Prussian man merely smiled as a cute little blonde haired girl ran to him.

The girl's big deep blue eyes seemed a bit teary, face sweaty, breathing heavy and yet she seemed so cute. Especially as she looked at him with those tiery eyes of hers, and in that moment he saw her cute face in full view and it changed him.

She seemed like a vision of pure enchantment, as if a porcelain doll had been given breath and an angel had stepped down to walk among mortals. Her luminous eyes, wide and shimmering like dew-kissed petals, hold a depth that speaks of both childlike wonder and a wisdom untouched by time. Long, silken locks, soft as the finest gossamer, cascade around her delicate features, framing a face so flawless it seems sculpted by divine hands.

Her skin seemed to glow with an unearthly radiance, fair and smooth like fresh snowfall under moonlight, kissed with just the faintest blush of roses. Her lips, a perfect bow of soft pink, were in a slight frown that could melt even the coldest of hearts.

Every gesture, every blink of her long, feathery lashes, carries an innocence untouched by the world, yet there is a quiet magic about her—an otherworldly presence that whispers of something beyond the ordinary. She is as fragile as a porcelain doll and as radiant as the morning sun piercing through the clouds—a dream made flesh, a melody of light and softness.

She is not just beautiful—she is enchanting, a creature too perfect for this world, yet here she stands, a living angel wrapped in human form amidst all this dying, misery and death.

Suddenly at the sight of her he felt at peace, as if he had just seen an angel before his very eyes.

However this angel merely seemed to give strength to the Prussian soldier, who then with his bayonet pushed him off of the barricade. Private Canard feeling weak fell upon his comrades who dropped him to the ground wounded and dying, and in shock.

Within his last moments the image of the girl and those eyes played within his head. There was something magical about that girl, for never had he seen such a pure looking girl before with such perfect features, and within her eyes there seemed to be some unnatural light deep within.

He felt as if he had indeed seen an angel, but this angel for whatever reason was not on their side. God was not on their side. Tears came to Private Canards eyes at the thought of this as his world fell into darkness.

Despite the French attempting to push through with force soon the casualties and fire became too intense and the morale began to break. Words and shouts of the Prussians being demons began to spread only increasing the fear amongst the French, until they began to soon run.

Stumbling over one another they dropped their weapons and turned their backs to the Prussians. Seeing it the bloodied red Prussians were quick to get over the barricade and give chace increasing the French soldiers panic even more.

Men massed up on the bridge while others jumped over the stone railing and ran down to the river bank, from where they tried to swim across. The Prussians only watched the rivers currents take them away, as they used their bayonets to cut down as many French soldiers as they possibly could.

The French cried and begged for mercy, but after declaring war on Prussia and coming upon their land they found no mercy from the Prussians. Although this was mostly just because the little 10 year old girl yelling out orders said.

"Cut them down, show these vile heretics and traitors no mercy! For the glory of the Imperium cut them all down to the last, and relieve us from the burden of guarding some heretical prisoners that we don't have the men to take care of!"

And without question the Prussian men did as the girl commanded, their major being quick to encourage them onwards as well.

"You heard our little lady's words men, now see them done! Kill all the French, for the father land!"

Although the men were quick to halt and not push their luck too much. Instead they turned back, scavenged whatever bullets and rifles they could from the French and ran back behind their barricades then.

In what had only been a quick half an hour had taken over 600 French lives and wounded hundreds more. French General Fossard seeing it all could only watch with his mouth wide open in shock.

Three thousand men he had sent in and gotten merely a bit over two thousand back alive, but bloodied. General Fossard now scratching his head really furiously, silently cursed his luck.

"Fuck, fuck fuck fuck, why now? Why me, why?"

Prince Louise however was quick to ask.

"So can we use the cannons now?"

General Fossard was not happy, but seeing the worried looks on his subordinates faces, and the press sitting further away writing and drawing all that they saw, he relented.

"Fine, alright we will fire the cannons. But not just yet, we merely launched two assaults thus far. And we still have plenty of men to use, just a few more assaults and I'm sure we will break the Prussian lines. After that we will fire the cannons."

Prince Louise was although not happy to hear this, just as Major Brebis who had ridden to the hill wasn't. Major Brebis hoped to save his men from certain death, but it seemed that instead General Fossard now ordered him and his men onto the charge next.

Like so more charges were ordered and all knew that the next hours would be extremely bloody ones. So far for the French the Franco-Prussian War was starting to seem like an extremely bloody affair now. This was definitely not how the French command had envisioned the war starting.