Lamoricière's army met almost no resistance as it invaded Lorraine. Nearly every city surrendered at the first sign of trouble, and the losses caused by scattered resistance were negligible.
In fact, before the seventeenth century, Alsace and Lorraine had always been territories of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by the House of Habsburg.
But two hundred years had passed, after all. If the French still hadn't managed to cultivate a pack of loyal dogs by then, that would have been their true failure.
Of course, this pack of loyal dogs had also suffered the heaviest losses in the Alsace-Lorraine Crisis. Their privileged status had been challenged, and they had lost varying amounts of property and rights. So now their counterattack was especially fierce—they were even more zealous than the French Army.
This was the limitation of nationalism at the time: it lacked inclusiveness. But Franz had no desire to include this pack of trash, vermin, and traitors. Their willingness to show themselves was a good thing for everyone.
The French Army could advance swiftly, and they could reclaim the rights they had once enjoyed, while Franz was spared the trouble of rooting out the thorns himself.
Thorns in the flesh hurt the most—and were the hardest to find.
Still, the French Second Republic's army was advancing at such speed that one could only say the House of Orleans was rotten to the core.
Lamoricière's main force made its way to the walls of Metz without hindrance. Looking at the fortified city, with its defenses in good order and its position at the confluence of two rivers, he couldn't help but feel a rush of emotion.
Metz had once been the center of the Holy Roman Empire's rule over Lorraine. Later, it had become a French military stronghold against the Holy