The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 894 A short victory

Before the Crimean War, Louis XIV wrote to the commander-in-chief:

"The vast extent of the great nation (the French) is limited only by the boundaries given by nature, not by those determined by the British or the Qi people."

His Majesty the Emperor of France demanded that the French territory be redivided according to the natural topography.

According to this division method, France's territory extends to the Polar Ural Mountains in the east (66°10′E, 67°46′N), Cape Marroqui (5°36′W, 36°N) in the south, Cape Roca (9°31′W, 38°47′N) in the west, and Cape Norchen (27°42′E, 71°08′N) in the north.

In other words, all of Europe would be under the rule of the Sun King.

Louis XIV encouraged his generals to expand outward as much as possible, to use the French sword to open up land for the French plow, and to defeat and destroy "those hypocritical and cowardly anti-French coalition forces."

However, the situation did not develop smoothly.

Under the counterattack of Britain, Great Qi and other countries, the Sun King's ambition to annex Europe stopped at the Crimean Peninsula.

Under the repeated attacks of Qi's "Justice Army", the French army's offensive in the direction of Crimea came to a standstill.

A year later, the originally planned expansion of territory turned into the loss of troops and territory. The emperor's so-called restoration of Roman glory had become a war to defend the French nation.
By the winter of 1721, both sides had suffered heavy casualties and were exhausted. In London and the city of St. Petersburg, the people launched a vigorous anti-war movement.

It turns out that freedom comes at a price.

However, not all people are willing to become the price.

After the glory of Rome turned into an illusion, Louis XIV sent envoys to Tianxin City many times, hoping to "end the dispute peacefully."

The cabinet headed by Kang Guangxu decisively rejected the French request.

Prime Minister Kang imitated the French, shrugged helplessly, touched his nose and said, "War is like Pandora's Box. Once started, it cannot be easily ended. When your emperor ordered the attack on our garrison, he should have anticipated this day."

Louis XIV certainly did not expect that such a day would come.

What was even more unexpected to him was that the people of Qi were willing to take risks for the British. Was it just because old George wanted to marry his daughter to Tianxin City?
Kang Guangxu, who was over 60 years old, held on to his old body and ended the last round of negotiations. Before leaving, he told the dusty French envoy.

"Please tell your emperor," the old prime minister continued, "Da Qi has experienced an era of militarism. We know the cruelty of war."

"There are still vast tracts of land in Africa and America waiting to be explored. There's no need for nations to slaughter each other here. If France doesn't want to lose everything, please take the initiative to end this boring war. I will persuade Congress to give you a discount on the war reparations you need to pay."

The messenger obviously did not understand the old man's kindness. He just cursed something in French, touched his nose and walked away.

So the war continued.

The French, equipped with better hot air balloons and airships, often crossed the positions of both sides and bombarded the Qi army's supply lines from hundreds of meters in the air.

The British airships were too far away from the battlefield to provide effective assistance to the Qi army.

The Qi people's own aircraft, in the words of their opponents, were "obsolete things from the last century."

The performance of the old airships that the Justice Army brought abroad was questionable.

It’s not because the Qi Air Force is completely outdated, but because the troops sent to Crimea to fight this time are not the main force of the Qi Army, and are not equipped with the most advanced air combat weapons in Qi.

As for the reason, the technical bureaucrats of Tianxin City Air Force Academy said that the technology (of the new generation of aircraft) is too advanced to be displayed.

So, those airships that were on the verge of being obsolete slowly drove to the European battlefield.

Once airships were in the air, it was difficult to maintain stability for long. The slightest turbulence would cause the cockpit to shake like an old woman with cold legs. Coupled with the lack of high-precision optical equipment, the aiming system's accuracy was extremely low. Once the airship exceeded two thousand meters, the bombardier's drop was essentially a matter of luck.

What’s even more terrible is that the range of the Qi army’s aircraft is often only half of that of the French, and their flying speed is also not as fast as their opponents. On the battlefield, they are often in the embarrassing situation of “unable to catch up, unable to escape”.

At least in the early stages of the war, air supremacy over Crimea was basically in the hands of the French.

The Qi infantry on the front line hid in the trenches and endured the heavy bombardment from above their heads. Fortunately, the trench fortifications could greatly reduce the damage caused by air strikes to their own side. However, Louis XIV's army could use the air advantage to launch ground attacks and quickly achieve results.

The Qi army soldiers often hid in the fortifications, enduring the artillery attacks from above their heads and enduring the French encroachment on their positions, struggling until dark.

Until the enemy airships withdrew from the battlefield, the soldiers came out of the criss-crossing trenches, organized a counterattack against the French army, and used the cover of night to retake the position.

When it was daytime, accompanied by the humming sound of steam engines, the French airships once again covered the sky and the sun. After a fierce bombardment, the well-equipped French light infantry launched an attack, and the front-line positions were lost again...
This went on for more than a month until British aid arrived.

The British not only brought more powerful airships, a steady stream of fresh troops, curry-flavored bread, coffee from America, and all kinds of strange and bizarre supplies, but their main focus was on providing a large amount of food to satisfy your hunger...

In any case, the balance of victory on the European battlefield began to tilt little by little towards the "European Justice League".

In January 1722, the exhausted French army began to retreat from Crimea to the interior, and the British and French allied forces immediately launched a pursuit.

The Grand Ecumenical Union of Ukraine, supported by both countries, immediately announced the restoration of its homeland and the restoration of Ukrainian rule on the Crimean Peninsula.

In order to repay this loyal younger brother and to demonstrate freedom and justice, at the suggestion of King George, several allies unanimously agreed to cede part of the territory that originally belonged to the Russian Empire and now belongs to France to Grand Duke Lianzekis and his new kingdom.

After all, Russia and Ukraine have the same origin, so this can be considered as keeping the benefits within the family.

In order to prevent the French army from continuing to retreat westward, Louis XIV increased the number of marshals and strengthened control over the frontline soldiers.

At the same time, Dr. Guillotin, the chief scientist of the University of Paris, improved the old guillotine.

In the past, the wooden guillotine blade fell slowly and was not fast enough to cut off the head. Guillotin replaced the wooden slide with a copper trough that was not easy to block, so the guillotine could fall quickly.

The old doctor also placed a rubber buffer on the guillotine to prevent the blade from rebounding and damaging the corpse.

Those French soldiers who tried to evade military service and escape from the battlefield, if they did not die at the hands of the guerrillas, would most likely be escorted back to Paris, beheaded on the guillotine, and begin a new life experience.

Europeans attach great importance to the ritual sense of the death penalty. The government believes that public executions can promote the majesty of God and deter crime, so the death penalty is also applicable to deserters.

In the past, the main form of execution for deserters was beheading. The exciting scene of the execution satisfied people's curiosity, but many people also criticized the beheading process as inhumane.

It is said that when an officer was beheaded before, the executioner failed to chop off his head three times in a row, and several noble ladies who were watching were frightened to faint.

Therefore, people generally believe that the death penalty not only deprives the prisoner of life, but also causes the prisoner to endure great pain.

Dr. Guillotin conducted an experiment on sheep and found that the sheep were beheaded in less than a second without showing any panic.

People praised it as an unprecedented merciful torture device and gave it the nickname "Patriotic Razor".

Thus, during the months when the French army in Crimea was on the verge of collapse, the patriotic razor played its full role.

The patriotic razor demonstrated amazing execution efficiency. According to statistics, during the entire Crimean War, a total of 36594 French deserters or those who refused to perform military service died on the new guillotine, which exceeded the total number of people beheaded in the four hundred years since the invention of this torture device.

(End of this chapter)