Chapter 219: Invasion of Luxembourg Part I
Desperation was the mother of stupid decisions; when one felt cornered, they tended to become anxious, and when humans became anxious, they generally did not think through their decisions properly before putting them into motion.
And this was the case for the French Army and their leadership. It was a tale as old as time itself, or at least as old as democracy... Politicians hid themselves away while starting wars neither they nor their privileged children had any intent to fight.
At least monarchs generally fought in the wars they started-or they had in years past. In fact, during Bruno's past life, the last national leader to fight in a war was actually King Albert I, who had rallied his forces and fought alongside them in a defensive operation against the Germans at the start of the Great War.
In this timeline, however, Belgium continued to remain neutral, as Germany had chosen to fight on the defensive within the Western Front as a result of Bruno's recommendations. This, however, would ultimately not succeed in keeping Belgium out of the war.
Because, as Germany had warned Belgium at the start of the Great War when going through proper diplomatic channels to seek military access in order to strike at France, the French Army was not polite enough to afford the same courtesy.
The French had, without provocation or prior statement, walked their soldiers into the borders of Belgium and Luxembourg alike, and on the same day no less. The immediate result was Luxembourg calling upon Germany for aid, as the Kaiser had previously promised the House of Luxembourg armed support in the event of a French invasion.
As a result, the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg had immediately sent a telegram to the Kaiser asking for his previously promised support. Wilhelm's response was simple:
"Within the hour, the French invaders will come to sorely regret their decision to invade a neutral nation."
The Kaiser also recommended the House of Luxembourg arm any form of resistance they could to buy the German Army time to reach their aid. This, in and of itself, was, while common sense, not exactly a practical solution for a small nation like Luxembourg, which did not have an actual standing army.
At best, they had two companies of what were essentially volunteer units who performed the roles of civil defense and law enforcement. It was not exactly a force capable of opposing a French invasion, nor did they have the arms necessary to create an emergency militia.
Thus, for the most part, Leon and his men were able to march through Luxembourg with relative impunity.
Years had passed since Leon was first given the rank of Général de brigade, which was the lowest General Officer rank within the French Army, and he had only recently been promoted at the start of the war to the rank of Général de division.