On the outskirts of Sélestat, Benoît de Coulon hurled Franz's "letter urging surrender" to the ground.
"Bullshit! You tell that green kid this: French soldiers never surrender! We'll make you pay in blood!"
Max Weissmann, the Allied Forces' messenger, had no interest in listening to the loser's barking. He was waiting to go back and attend the banquet.
Seeing how powerful the Allied Forces were and how they had gained the upper hand, the local notables of Alsace had flocked to offer their support.
The people of Alsace were likewise enthusiastic about the Allied Forces, swept up in the tide of nationalism. And since House of Habsburg had once ruled this land, they felt complicated emotions toward the Austrian army that had returned.
"Honorable commander-in-chief of the German Allied Forces, Grand Marshal of the Confederation, honorary emperor of the German Empire, great King of Rome, His Royal Highness Archduke Franz Joseph of Habsburg, Austria, generously grants you one day to consider.
The deadline is noon sharp on June 29, 1848.
If your army still refuses to withdraw from Alsatian soil, we will wipe out every last invader remaining in Alsace.
Will you accept?"
At their first meeting, Max Weissmann had felt some reverence for France and the general before him. But after the fighting began, the disparity in strength between the two sides and the fanatical nationalists around him filled the messenger with pride. He couldn't help but carry himself with a touch of arrogance.
Benoît de Coulon wanted nothing more than to punch the man in front of him to the ground, then immediately go to war and slaughter every last member of the German Allied Forces.
But he needed time. The recent battle had dealt the French Army a devastating blow, and the losses had all been veteran