Capítulo 166: Chapter 166: Arresting Duke Gan
"Cease fire, infantry advance!" Seeing the situation, Roland decisively ordered an attack.
"Attack!" With Roland's command, the French soldiers immediately formed up and pressed towards the city of Baden. This was where the role of the veteran soldiers became apparent.
Faced with intense artillery fire, these soldiers showed no signs of nervousness. Instead, the French soldiers gripped their long spears, their faces solemn, slowly advancing towards the city before them.
"We can't hold on anymore. The French attack is too fierce. What should we do?"
"Surrender, we surrender! We can't fight anymore, or we'll all die!"
Faced with the French assault outside the city, the rebel forces inside Baden had completely lost their nerve. Their immediate reaction was to surrender. The overwhelming firepower of the French had terrified them to the point of confusion, and no one had the courage to continue fighting.
"Surrender!"
"We surrender!"
With morale collapsing, countless rebel soldiers threw down their weapons and began to walk out from the walls, surrendering to the French soldiers.
"Don't worry about them. The most important thing now is to capture Duke Gan." Watching the surrendering soldiers, Roland's expression remained unchanged. He knew these soldiers were just small fry. The real prize was Duke Gan.
So Roland continued to urge his troops. Capturing the rebels was not important; what mattered was capturing their leader.
Under Roland's command, the French immediately crossed the rebel lines and headed straight for the inner city of Baden.
With the outer defenses breached, chaos reigned inside Baden. Some of the wealthy were already packing their belongings, preparing to flee. They saw the current situation clearly.
The royalist army inside the city was useless, a mere rabble. Trying to overthrow Napoleon's "tyranny" with such a force was nothing but a fool's dream. They might as well escape now before the French troops entered.
Inside the city, in the municipal hall, the situation was no better than outside. People could be seen hurrying to escape everywhere, showing that no one had any confidence in holding onto Baden.
"Duke Gan, the soldiers outside are losing ground. The French have already breached the city. You must run, or you'll be captured by the French."
"Yes, my lord Duke, as long as we can escape, we still have a chance."
In the hall, a group of royalist supporters surrounded Duke Gan, their faces filled with anxiety. They crowded around him, urging him to leave.
"Now what? Should we break out? But can we really make it out? Remember, it's not just Roland's infantry outside, but also Mura's cavalry." Duke Gan said in despair.
Indeed, the city outside had long been surrounded by Mura's cavalry. Attempting to break out of the city was tantamount to suicide. How could ordinary infantry possibly contend with cavalry? However, even staying inside the city, these rebel insurgents had no sense of security because Roland's infantry had already breached the city.
"Report! Sir, the frontline soldiers have identified the leader of the insurgents. Duke Gan is currently inside the municipal hall." A messenger rushed to Roland's presence, delivering the news urgently.
"Everyone, attack the municipal hall. Duke Gan is in there." Upon hearing the soldier's report, Roland immediately ordered the attacking troops to change direction and march towards Duke Gan's location.
The municipal hall of Baden was located in the southern half of the city, a two-story small building.
"Hurry, surround that place, don't let anyone escape." Upon receiving the specific whereabouts of Duke Gan, Roland led the French army to completely surround the area.
"Duke, it's bad, the French are coming. They've surrounded us." Inside the municipal hall, the royalist supporters were extremely nervous, watching the densely packed French soldiers below, too scared to even breathe.
"What should we do?" One of them asked, his face pale, whether he was asking the people around him or himself was unclear.
What should they do next? That was the same thought running through the minds of all the French soldiers present.
"Listen up, you rebels! Surrender immediately, or we won't be gentle." At the same time, French soldiers with trumpets were shouting at the rebels.
While shouting, all the French soldiers also raised their rifles. If these rebels dared to continue resisting, they would be shot immediately, turning them into sieves.
"Surrender immediately, or we'll attack." The French continued to shout. At the same time, to make the intimidation more effective, several French soldiers began firing their rifles into the sky while shouting.
At that moment, the fate of Duke Gan and the other rebels seemed to be sealed.
"Duke Gan, what should we do?" A trembling attendant beside Duke Gan asked, his lips cracking from fear.
"What should we do?"
"Upon hearing this, Duke Gan also fell into contemplation. What to do next? He didn't know. Should he continue to resist to the end? That would mean a dead end for himself. Did he really have the courage to face death? After pondering for a moment, the answer was no.
"We are defeated. Surrender!" Duke Gan said reluctantly.
The situation was clear now. Continuing the fight would only lead to death, while surrender might offer a glimmer of hope. Duke Gan was afraid of death; otherwise, he would have chosen to fight from the beginning, instead of hiding in a small town like this.
"Surrender!"
As Duke Gan made his decision, all the rebel insurgents hiding in the municipal hall put down their weapons and walked out, surrendering to the French army.
"Go, arrest him." Upon seeing Duke Gan come out, Roland immediately ordered the surrounding soldiers to seize him.
At Roland's command, several fierce-looking French soldiers rushed towards Duke Gan and bound him with ropes.
With the capture of Duke Gan, less than an hour after the start of the operation, Baden fell into the hands of the French army. Roland's excellent command skills had quelled the rebellion.
In this battle, the French army arrested more than 10,000 armed rebels and killed over a thousand. French losses were less than ten men, making it a remarkably successful operation.
...
Four days later, Duke Gan was secretly transported to the ancient castle of Wansen. At the same time, Napoleon also arrived here.
"Uncle Napoleon." Roland had been waiting here for a long time. He knew how seriously Napoleon took this matter and was certain he would come in person.
"What's the situation?" Napoleon asked Roland as soon as he entered.
"Duke Gan has been detained here. I've also ordered the soldiers to search his office, but we didn't find any suspicious documents. I suspect he destroyed them before we arrived," Roland reported truthfully.
"Napoleon, the rebellion is an unforgivable crime. I recommend using the most severe legal punishment against them," suggested the cunning Talon, insisting on military tribunal and the harshest penalties. His goal was to push Napoleon towards a moral judgment, for his own future gain.
Roland seemed to have seen something. He reminded Napoleon that back when he was still in military school, they all had great respect for Kong Dai.
Roland suggests sparing the descendants of this famous figure.
"Napoleon, I disagree with what Roland said. Duke Gan, a descendant of the Kong Dai family and a relative of the Bourbon dynasty, is currently supported by the British government. He is most likely involved in this case, having lived on the Rhine border for many years to gather intelligence on France. He idles away his days, maintaining close contact with spies from southern Germany. We must make an example of him, and strike at this royal figure! Only then can we deter the Bourbon dynasty members who are in exile!"
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