"Is what it says true? Did we win? Did the French really just retreat?"
The officer beside her looked utterly incredulous. After all, the French Army had looked determined to win before this, pouring in so much manpower and matériel that ash from the rocket explosions carpeted the streets.
And now they were retreating?
"They aren't trying to fool us, are they?"
Fanny Cotte's tone was certain.
"They aren't. Austria's army truly has that kind of capability."
Yet the other officers were even more bewildered.
"Austria is nearly four hundred kilometers from here. Did they fly here?"
The officer who spoke found it utterly absurd, yet everyone present felt that, coming from the Austrian Empire's army, it somehow seemed entirely plausible.
The Austrian Empire's army often did unexpected things, but covering nearly four hundred kilometers in two days was still somewhat ridiculous.
Since both sides had made preparations in advance, the French Army's initial offensive had not gone smoothly.
"Everything will become clear in two hours."
An arc appeared at the corner of Fanny Cotte's lips, one she herself had not noticed, though there was also a trace of loneliness in her eyes that did not belong to a victor.
The news spread quickly, and the morning sun rose with it. Newspaper-selling children ran through the streets, kicking up dust all along the way.
It only made people hate the French Army's method of attack even more. The greatest harm those rockets had inflicted upon the people of Metz was the ash that seemed to be everywhere.
"We won! We really won!"
As young voices roared one after another, the entire city boiled over. People hiding in cellars emerged from their burrows, cheering as they cursed the French for their shamelessness.
Many houses had already collapsed beneath the rockets' relentless