When Hermann Neu wasn't embarrassed, it was Lamoricière who found himself in an awkward spot.
Lamoricière was clearly just trying to buy time, and Hermann Neu wasn't in a hurry either. Though he seemed aggressive on the surface, he hadn't actually backed anyone into a corner.
In truth, this was what Franz had ordered. The so-called German Allied Forces were nothing more than armies from various states hastily thrown together. Though there was now a National Assembly, their organization had made no real progress since the Luxembourg Crisis.
Even with the Austrian army less than five kilometers from the enemy, some state armies had yet to finish assembling.
It wasn't that the Austrian army couldn't beat the French without support from the other states. On the contrary, Albrecht believed he could command his troops better without those state armies holding him back.
But Franz was thinking about what would happen after victory. Once the Allied Forces broke through Sarrebourg, the flat Lorraine Plateau would lie before them.
To the people of Lorraine, who had lived under the long rule of the House of Bourbon, the French Second Republic was undoubtedly an invader. But the so-called German Allied Forces were hardly any better.
To keep from reinforcing that impression, Franz needed troops and officials from the House of Orleans to accompany the army.
With Albrecht leading them and their pay fully provided, the Austrian Imperial Army was unlikely to do anything too outrageous.
But there was no guarantee with the other state armies. "We fight wars to loot and rape" wasn't an empty saying at the time; it was the creed of many armies.
The German Allied Forces were fighting under the banner of nationalism. If those men were allowed to commit such vile acts, the war itself would become a