Since the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War, the bell tower of this Gothic-style Holy Cross Church has not rung. But today, the white-haired bishop is standing in the fierce wind wearing a mass robe, looking at the flames with compassion. city of Orleans.
Looking around, everything in the field of vision is a hell-like scene, with flames, thick smoke, pungent blood... There are corpses everywhere, and groups of fighting humans are like an army of ants fighting for territory.
The sound of cannons rumbled in the distance, sweeping across like muffled thunder. The shouts of killing were so loud that they even overwhelmed the rumbling sounds of cannons!
"God! It's time for this to end!"
"My children! Although we have dedicated our lives to God, we must not forget that this is our hometown!"
“It is their bread and wine that nourish us, so that we can serve God without any worries!”
"It's time to do something for them! We can't really become parasites in the mouths of those revolutionary thugs!"
"Ring the bell! Let the voice of God inspire the warriors of France! Raise the Cross of Lorraine flag! Joan of Arc... hold the flag!"
Dang, Dang, Dang... Several priests pulled the bell rope vigorously together, and the loud and resounding bells suddenly rang in the city of Orleans. At that moment, countless soldiers forgot about fighting, and they subconsciously turned their heads to find the source of the bells.
"Archbishop! Look...it's the Archbishop of Holy Cross! God bless France!"
Countless French soldiers knelt down and prayed facing the church, tears falling uncontrollably, and then a strange flag suddenly rose!
This is a cross flag, but what is very different is that there is a small horizontal bar above the cross bar!
From a distance, it looks like the Chinese character 'Wei', but without the apostrophe and ni below!
Gambetta put down his telescope and burst into tears, "The Cross of Lorraine! The Cathedral of the Holy Cross has taken out the Cross of Lorraine flag...the flag that Joan of Arc once held!"
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" Gambida knelt on the ground and cried like a child!
"My motherland... woo woo... France... my motherland... ah!" Gambida, who was crying and howling, was completely crazy!
The cross was the instrument of torture used by Christ during his crucifixion, and was finally canonized as a holy object and symbol by the Catholic Church!
But crosses in the world are all different. Catholic crosses have carved images of Jesus nailed to the cross.
And Protestantism, also known as post-secular Christianity, is a bare cross with no image of Christ on it!
The Orthodox cross has a cross above and below the horizontal line. The lower cross is tilted, representing the directions of heaven and hell.
In addition to these three well-known cross styles, there is another cross that is known as the highest level cross in Catholicism, and that is the Cross of Lorraine.
The horizontal crossbar on the top is said to be a small wooden sign that was originally on the cross of Christ's crucifixion. The words written on the wooden sign are "King of the Jews"
This is the origin of the Cross of Lorraine, and for the French, this sacred cross has another meaning, because it was the cross flag held by Joan of Arc back then!
During the Hundred Years' War between England and France, if there had not been Joan of Arc, European history might have been rewritten, and France might not have been a country!
Joan of Arc is of great significance to France. This is the original origin of the French national spirit!
The Saint's battle flag has been kept in the Holy Cross Cathedral, but she never imagined that the church would no longer remain neutral during the national crisis. They hung the battle flag and officially joined the war in the name of the French people!
The Cross of Lorraine flag flutters in the wind, and on the top of the bell tower of the cathedral, the commanding height of the city, the spirit of the saint who led the French to defeat England more than four hundred years ago is back again!
The whole army roared, Orleans has completely fallen into a frenzy!
"Fight to the death! Don't retreat! Treat death as home!" The 300,000 French troops expressed the same anger, and the entire army immediately launched a final charge!
All stone bridges and pontoon bridges were filled with charging soldiers. The Prussian army positions were under unprecedented pressure, and almost every street was filled with dense waves of soldiers.
Amid the waves of people, the Holy Cross Cathedral opened its doors. Dozens of priests sang hymns and took to the streets carrying wooden crosses, heading in the direction of the enemy!
"God bless you... brave men of France!"
"God bless us...France, my country!"
These two blessings went back and forth, but all the soldiers who heard the blessing went crazy. At that moment, fatigue, fear, pain, sadness...all the negative emotions disappeared!
The three hundred thousand French troops have only one thought, and that is to fight to the end, inspired by the Cross of Lorraine flag!
In the Prussian military headquarters, Commander-in-Chief Haltermann's face turned pale with fright. He knew that the situation was over!
"The order was given...the whole army began to retreat, and they gradually retreated in accordance with the regulations to block the steps..."
"The French have woken up, at least the south of France has woken up!"
"I'm afraid that this war... our military strength can only stop here! Don't make fearless sacrifices, let all the ministries start to retreat according to the previous preparation plan..."
The order was issued to the entire army, and all units began to act according to the order. The documents that could not be taken away from the headquarters at all levels began to be burned, and the engineers were preparing to destroy all telegraph lines before retreating!
The wounded battalion took the lead in riding carriages to go north, and the rest of the troops separated from the elite in the rear and retreated north in a ladder-like manner!
The retreat of 100,000 troops to the north is a big project. If you are not careful, you will be eaten up by the 300,000 troops chasing you!
Only the rigorous Prussian army could complete such a task. The most tenacious troops became the backbone of the rear. They blocked the violent attacks of the French army like a rock, and fought and retreated to create opportunities for the friendly forces to survive. .
As the Prussian army retreated, French flags were raised one after another in the city of Orleans, and gradually the tricolor flag was flying in the entire city!
Gambida felt extremely heavy. He walked to the land on the north bank almost without stopping. Looking at the corpses within sight, he suddenly let out a long breath!
"Send message to...Paris!"
"Send... to all of France!"
"Orléans...is restored!"
Hearing a pop, Gambida, who had not slept for three days and three nights, passed out and fell to the ground. Before falling asleep, he said, "I'm so sleepy..."
In the three-day bloody battle of Orleans, the Prussian army suffered more than 30,000 casualties, while the French suffered nearly 60,000 casualties. However, after the war ended, the strength of both sides reversed.
Although France suffered many casualties, their soldiers suddenly increased from 200,000 before the war to 330,000 after the war, and the number continues to increase!
As for all kinds of materials, there are countless them!
The war lasted until October 1870, and France, which had been stunned, finally woke up!
