Re: Blood and Iron

While Bruno was forging a future with diplomacy, De Gaulle was rebuilding the very war-torn foundations of a nation with steel in hand, and blood slaked across his bayonet. And I don’t mean that last part figuratively.

The Parisian commune may have been obliterated down to its last member, so thoroughly that even their own family members couldn’t help but be caught up in the process. But the warlords of the other major cities and provinces of France had continued to fight on.

De Gaulle had soon realized that his Gallian Militia was outnumbered, surrounded, and outgunned by enemies all backed by some foreign power wanting their own puppet installed on the vacant throne of France.

France had in many ways entered a warlord era of its own, a land that once prided itself on being the beacon of republican virtue had sunk into the mud, ruled by bayonets and breadlines.

One where a handful of powerful leaders gained control over administrative regions, and the means of production, acting as petty dictators, doing what they could to restore order to the lands their troops occupied, but having no desire to work together in a way that functionally unified the country.

Among which were other notable names from the history of the world Bruno had previously lived in during his past life. Such as Henri Giraud, Philippe Pétain, Georges Catroux, Maxime Weygand, and a few other less than honorable mentions.

These men had each staked their claim to territory, each representing a different banner and a different loose collection of ideals. Whatever rallied the people beneath their flag in practice was generally espoused in some way that could be used for recruitment.

Nearly the entirety of the young generation, aged 16-24 was obliterated during the great war, at least from the French perspective. Those fighting now were either the few survivors, their older cousins, or their younger brothers.

Led by the previous generation of men, who had largely acted as NCOs and junior officers during the war. After all, there was little love and loyalty for any man in the general staff, as most were seen as the architects of the lost generation and their meaningless sacrifice on the altar of French revanchism.

Philippe Pétain was one of the few of this old guard with enough stock to organize an armed force to such a capacity which he was able to seize stable ground. Banditry, brigandry, highwaymen, petty gang warfare, and all other means of violence were still commonplace, especially in the rural areas.

Only the fortress cities were under lock and key, guarded by heavily armed, and likely substance abusing militiamen, who needed but one excuse to make an agitator, a dissident, or simply a voice of reason disappear entirely.

But unlike the Gallian Militia, which maintained a stockpile of largely looted, surplus, and mismatched arms. Pétain’s own armed force was far more organized, far better equipped. No doubt because they controlled the coastal and border regions of Hauts de France and Grand Est, which allowed the international procurement of arms and armament for his forces.

Germany, as part of its treaty had decided to stay out of whatever was happening west of their borders, and simply protecting the fatherland in any way they could. But that did not mean that there weren’t other nations that would seek to profit off of the downfall of France.

The United States, for example, despite having issues on its own border, was more than happy to begin profiting from international trade once more, and there were few products more profitable than the sale of arms.

Because of this, the aging general who had been pulled out of retirement to secure France’s future by those who felt he was the best option was currently gazing upon his own soldiers. Uniforms in an earthly green tone, based upon the French WWI cut, and matching Adrian style helmets.

In addition to this, their weaponry was modern, and straight out of the United States arsenal. Springfield 1903 bolt action rifles chambered in .30-06, brand new issued Colt 1911s in .45 ACP, browning m1918 automatic rifles which utilized the same round as the standard infantry rifle.

All of these were clear and present among the soldiers lined up, and with the expressions of men who had taken far too many lives to show the slightest emotion. Especially when under scrutiny of their employer.

But what was perhaps most terrifying of all was the new machine guns they got their hands on from the same manufacturer of their automatic rifles. The Browning machine gun, cal. .50, M2.

This was a weapon, during a time where machine guns were ruling supreme in the streets of every French city that terrified the enemies of Pétain. Fortifications previously thought invulnerable to standard machine gun fire could be rendered completely to debris in the span of seconds by the overwhelming firepower and rate in which this invention launched it.

Sure, mobile warfare was out of their reach at this moment, but when supported by artillery, these were the men who Pétain was willing to bet his life on winning the upcoming war.

After all, in an era of warlords who had fought for two years with iron and blood for control of what little they had gained, there was no option other than war to unify the already fragmented nation of France.

With all of this in mind, Pétain gazed upon his army, and chuckled before shaking his head, daring to challenge the grit of a man who had proven time and time again to endure whatever hell life threw at him and his men.

“I dare that bastard de Gaulle to come challenge me now! With the weapons my men have at their disposal, and the supply lines flowing endlessly, it will only be a matter of time before I am the next king of France.

The time for constitutions, and demagoguery masquerading as enlightenment has come to an end. The time of kings and emperors is on the rise, and I won’t have France fall behind the rest of the world, least of all those barbarians in the east!”

With that said, France was about to enter the second, and far more brutal, portion of its ongoing civil war.

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