The French Army at this moment lived up to its name, the Gallic Rooster. Even when they were driven into a dead end, even knowing they would die if they refused to surrender, the remnants of the French Army still charged at the Prussian positions under Aimable Pélissier's command.
The Prussian brutes were no pushovers, though. The French-speaking Swiss mountaineers under William of Grapeshot fired their guns in unison and even launched a counterattack.
But compared with the militia under William of Grapeshot, the French expeditionary force was clearly superior. The two sides exchanged fire at a distance, and the Prussian army could barely hold its ground through sheer numbers and high morale.
However, William of Grapeshot, carried away by his own fervor, launched a countercharge. The gap in the soldiers' quality was magnified a hundredfold in close combat.
The private troops sent by the local nobles became the biggest breach. Their flight triggered the collapse of the entire defensive line, and the Neuchâtel militia, seeing their allies flee, instantly turned into a flock of headless flies, each fighting on their own.
Fortunately, William of Grapeshot himself did not lack courage. He shoved aside his adjutant and led the Royal Guard into the fray.
The Fribourg Army and the Luxembourg Army were no troops who would sit tight while their allies were in danger, either. Seeing the Prussian army on the verge of collapse, both forces immediately attacked the French rear with all their might.
In the end, Aimable Pélissier and his expeditionary force failed to work a miracle. Of the 24,000 men in the expeditionary force, 1,565 wounded had returned home early. Of the remaining 22,435, 17,112 were killed, 3,864 were captured, and 1,459 were missing.
The commander and deputy commander, along with every officer of colonel rank or