The distance from Chalons to Sedan is only 70 kilometers, and the distance from Sedan to the Belgian town of Syny is only 15 kilometers!
The eighty-five-kilometer journey is just one day for the cavalry, especially since the equipment Alfred brought was carefully selected based on this mission.
Abandoning all artillery and heavy machine guns, each cavalryman carried a rifle and thirty rounds of ammunition. The individual soldier's rations were only enough to last for two days, and the horse feed was completely supplied along the way.
It was about supplies along the way. Alfred was already prepared to grab them openly. If there was not enough alfalfa for the horses to eat, then they would just eat the green crops and wheat fields. Whatever the people eat, they would be given to the horses!
But no one carried two sabers, and no one could pull off the iconic metal stamped breastplate of the Guards.
This shows that Alfred was going to launch a surprise attack based on speed, and he was also prepared to fight with a bayonet in hand-to-hand combat!
In the 19th century, the main combat method of cavalry did not change much. Although they were equipped with rifles, people more often relied on the speed of war horses for assaults.
In the era before heavy machine guns were popularized, the firepower network formed by individual rifles could not stop the cavalry tide at all. At that time, the trampling of war horses and the sabers of cavalry could easily harvest lives.
The team directly under Xiao Letian will not exceed 2,000 people. I believe the number should be much less than this, because everyone knows that Xiao Letian has a lot of officers, and their important task this time is to observe and learn.
If you deduct half of it, it would be great to have a thousand people around Xiao Letian!
And Alfred knew very well that Belgium would never allow the Prussian army to enter due to diplomatic reasons. Belgium had always adhered to neutrality in this war.
In other words, the important task of protecting Xiao Letian is placed on the Belgian army, but can the Belgian army fight? Alfred scoffed.
Ten thousand elite cavalrymen raided a small town fifteen kilometers outside the border. Such a mission could be said to begin in the morning and evening, and they might be able to return safely in half a day.
Nothing to worry about, nothing to worry about!
More importantly, Xiao Letian didn't even know that he had been betrayed by his apprentice at this moment. He was prepared and unprepared, and his troops still had an absolute advantage. If he still couldn't win, Alfred might as well commit suicide.
The wave of cavalry pressed toward the north like a black dragon in the night. The civilians in countless villages covered their doors with furniture in fear. The sound of horse hooves on the street was deafening, and the long queue seemed to have no end.
"God, how many people are there outside? Why haven't you finished it after so long...Honey, hide your daughter in the cellar, hurry up..."
The frightened man took out the ax. He knew that it was of no use, but as the head of the family, he had no choice but to bite the bullet.
The town was lifeless, and Alfred's heart sank. He still remembered that when the war just started, which was just over a month ago, when his troops passed through these villages and towns, they were treated like stars.
At that time, countless people rushed out and gave the army wine, bread, flowers and cheers!
The people were waiting for the army to bring news of victory, but they did not expect that in just over a month, the war would deteriorate to this point, and what followed was the people's disappointment and fear.
Failure is a kind of viral plague. It can turn the disciplined iron army into bandits, and it can also turn the patriotic people into indifferent passers-by.
Of course Alfred knew what these defeated troops had done. The local security in Chalon had collapsed to the extreme.
These people are completely scared!
"Wait for our good news! When I come back from Belgium, I will make you excited again!"
"Speed up the march... Rest for half an hour before dawn... Add fodder and water to the horses... We must break through the border at five o'clock in the afternoon... Speed up..."
The bugle sounded in the night, and the cavalry units began to speed up!
Throughout the night, the cavalry passed through countless villages and farmland, heading towards Sedan under the horrified eyes of countless people. At five in the morning, these soldiers dragged their tired bodies and jumped off their horses.
They could not rest. The half hour given by the commander was just to let the war horses take a breath. More than 10,000 war horses rushed into the wheat fields like locusts and began to eat the green crops regardless of the pleas of the villagers.
What made the people even more angry was that Alfred ordered all horse feed and food in surrounding villages to be confiscated, and all the food was given to the war horses.
"God! You can't do this. These oats and barley are our last bit of food. What will you do if you take them away from us..."
"Go away! This is war, we are fighting for France... Don't you, as a member of the Empire, have any dedication?"
With a snap, the whip hit the village chief's forehead, so bloody that he couldn't even open his eyes.
The cavalry smashed open the village's granary, and the bandits took out the last bits of food the villagers had.
Crash, clatter... The grains were dumped on the land, and the hungry horses devoured them. The beasts didn't care whether it was someone else's life-saving food!
The village chief and the villagers, whose foreheads were bloody, dared not speak out in anger. They looked at these beasts that were destroying crops and food with hatred, and swore viciously in their hearts.
"It's okay not to want such an empire! Such an emperor should have died long ago!"
"We curse you!"
Half an hour passed by in a flash. After the war horses had eaten and drank enough, they set off on their journey again, but the people of more than a dozen villages were left behind to guard the mess and cry and curse.
Without this food, this winter will be extremely difficult!
This cavalry force that suddenly appeared in the north of Chalons caused great pain to the surrounding people, and the actions of these cavalry naturally attracted the attention of some Prussian spies.
In the early hours of the morning, nearly six Prussian secret posts began to send urgent intelligence to the rear. All intelligence showed that nearly 10,000 French cavalry were rapidly approaching Sedan. Their mission was not yet known.
The horses galloped across the field, and the light cavalry quickly searched for the nearest Prussian troops. By eight o'clock in the morning, the first spy finally found a Prussian vanguard unit carrying a telegraph machine.
This most important information was finally sent to Verdun, the temporary base camp of the Prussian army!
Old Moltke was confused when he read the telegram, "Ten thousand cavalry are approaching Sedan? What does the French Emperor want to do? Is he really not going to retreat to Paris?"
"Of course not!" Bismarck said coldly from the side, "Paris is in chaos at the moment, and all forces are restraining their anger and maintaining a fragile balance!"
"Napoleon III's retreat to Chalons has reached his limit! If he dares to take another step closer to Paris, what awaits him will be an earth-shaking revolution!"
"The people have had enough of him and no one will support him again!"
