Duchy of Alsace-Lorraine, temporary capital, Metz.

Thiers stretched as he pushed the document in front of him with his hand.

There was no doubt that the former high-ranking officials of Alsace-Lorraine were mediocre people who only knew how to accumulate money, and the affairs of the province were in shambles, and the accounts were even more unclear.

What Louis Philippe handed over to him was a complete mess, with a mountain of government affairs that could not be handled at all, and many things were very chaotic and clueless.

But at this time, Thiers was as energetic as he was when he was younger, and perhaps this is what it feels like to be self-made.

After more than three months of hard work, the province of Alsace-Lorraine is finally on the right track.

The food crisis and economic crisis in the province were solved, thanks to the smuggling trade with the German Confederation.

In addition to the coal and iron resources of Alsace-Lorraine, cotton, wood and marble are all best-selling goods in Germany.

The wide river provides convenient transportation, and everything is developing in a good direction.

At this moment a senior officer came in in a rage, and Mr. Mithra was a very capable man.

Thiers trusted and admired him very much, and was bent on cultivating him as his successor, so it was necessary to enlighten him as a senior.

But before Thiers could speak, Monsieur Mithra said with a grim face.

"The army of the Second French Republic is coming!"

The light-hearted smile on Thiers' face vanished immediately, replaced by horror and anger.

"Where?"

"It's past Nancy."

"What, isn't that less than fifty kilometers away?"

There was anger in Thiers' tone, he hated both the invading French army and the soldiers who resisted passively.

He had been intimidating the Englishman Thiers on Egypt, he had run away in Paris, and now he felt that he had to do something.

Tell the world that he, Louis-Adolphe Thiers, was not a coward!

"How many days do they have to get here? Mr. Mithra. ”

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, five days at most, and as soon as tomorrow you will be under the city of Metz."

Mithra's face was still pale, but he immediately went to work, and swallowed all the words he wanted to complain about.

Mithra took out a map and spread it out on the table, outlining with a pen the location of the French army.

Thiers took a deep breath and said.

"Mr. Mithra, how many men do we have at our disposal now?"

"There were three thousand men in the palace guard, and fifteen hundred in the city. In addition to the original 10,000 garrisons outside the city, we have 5,000 new soldiers. ”

Thiers nodded, with the financial resources of the Dukedom of Orleans at this time, it was already the limit to be able to support an army of less than 20,000 people near Metz.

"What about the rebels?"

(Thiers' reference to the rebels was the army of the Second French Republic.) ）

"The number is ominous, claimed to be 200,000, but in fact it will not be less than 100,000. Since the rebels invaded simultaneously from all sides, our men could not judge the exact number. ”

"Damn, didn't those cowards even do symbolic resistance?"

"No, sir, they may have brought the rebels in."

Thiers' blood pressure rose again, but he was understandable because the French army in Alsace-Lorraine was limited as a result of the previous Alsace-Lorraine crisis.

At this time, most of the soldiers in the Dukedom of Orleans were temporarily recruited, and their loyalty was extremely limited, and their fighting qualities and ability to control the situation were even more scarce.

"Strasbourg."

"What?"

"Everyone bring everything they can and we'll go to Strasbourg."

(Strasbourg has been described in detail in detail above, so I won't go into too much detail here, as long as it is clearly an important military city in Alsace and adjacent to Germany.) ）

"Why? We have the power of two rivers, as long as we mobilize the people of the city to hold it for a few months. Isn't the allied forces of Germany ready? ”

"Mr. Mithra, have you ever experienced war yourself?"

"Ugh"

"Do you know how brutal the siege can be?"

Mithra hesitated slightly.

"I'm not afraid of death!"

"What about your family?"

Mithra was silent, but then emphasized.

"It's not out of the question that we just have to defend Metz City. We are not far from the German coalition. ”

"But are we Germans?"

"It's not.."

"Then they want us to rule the land forever?"

"This is the Duke of Orleans, who rules here, and the jurisprudence of rule also comes from the duke's power."

Thiers shook his head.

"I tell you Mithra, the real power and power are soldiers and money. Without these, we can only be a puppet at best, and we are now retreating to preserve the foundation of the Orleans dynasty. ”

Mithra nodded, holding the city may be able to keep a good reputation and contain the main force of the French army, but it will inevitably end up being a fish and a broken net.

The fire of the Orleans dynasty on the European continent could not be folded in their hands

"Good! I'll tell our people to prepare to evacuate. ”

"Who is the commander of the rebels?"

Thiers asked.

"Marshal Ramosirier."

"Then not only the officials and soldiers will be evacuated, but the people will also be evacuated?"

"Why?" Mithra asked, puzzled, "The people will slow down our march." ”

"Ramosilier is not well governed, and his soldiers will surely plunder when they enter the city. And even if you inform the people, they don't necessarily come with us if they have a family or a business in the city. ”

"And what are we going to tell them to do?"

"We're coming back! Lorraine belongs to France! ”

"Good! I'll do it when I've got my family arranged! ”

"Wait! Your family should also go with you. ”

"Why? They are all French. ”

"Does it matter if you are French or German? In their eyes you are all fat sheep. ”

Mithra felt a little uncomfortable, but nodded anyway.

I have to say that Thiers and Mithra are still very capable, they completed the mobilization in one day, and the next day a huge team set off.

The local people didn't really care about who was in power, and they just thought it was ridiculous that the Duke of Orleans had fled overnight.

Watch as officials, soldiers, and merchants and nobles tied to the Orleans family leave the city in disarray.

Many citizens came to see the excitement, and if it weren't for Thiers' deliberate retention of some people to maintain order in the city, I'm afraid the city would have been in chaos.

Command of the Central Army of the Second French Republic.

Ramosirier was depressed, and the early attack of Henri Arsène and Belvey completely disrupted his plans.

The forces of the Central Army have not yet arrived, and it is too hasty to start the war now.

What's even worse is that no matter whether he wins or loses this battle, he must bear a notoriety of slaughtering civilians, and I am afraid that he will not have a chance to be the prime minister in this life.

Naturally, this was planned by Belvey early on, and the academic Henri Arsène obviously posed no threat to himself, so letting Ramosirier do the dirty work was a triple win.

(End of chapter)