Chapter 243: An Ironic Twist of Fate

Chapter 243: An Ironic Twist of Fate

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Leon stood on the edges of the French and Luxembourgish Border. Frankly speaking, the German troops in the Grand Duchy had been focusing more on building defenses around the capital, which was the most strategically important region of the minor and neutral European nation.

While this gave the French time to rearm, and resupply, as well as tend to the wounded. Few reinforcements were provided to them. With the losses sustained currently, and their focus being primarily on invading Belgium, what with Luxembourg already being a lost cause.

The French Republic only gave Leon a few brigades worth of men to replenish his losses, but no more than that. His orders hold the line no matter what the cost. Once victory in Belgium had been achieved, 250,000 men would be sent to aid him.

So, he dug in deep just outside the city. However, time and time again, small raiding parties would harass the French lines, allowing for a greater number of German troops to break into their trenches with minimal effort. The French in Luxembourg had been trounced by stormtroopers armed with semi-automatic trench guns, semi-automatic rifles, automatic sub-machine guns, and general-purpose machine guns.

There was, however, another introduction into Luxembourg that served as the first use of its kind on a battlefield. The German stormtroopers, whose bodies were protected by hardened steel plate armor similar in design to those issued to German soldiers at the end of WWI, came running into the trenches with a terrifying new killing machine.

41 was a man portable, lightweight flamethrower that Bruno had specifically designed for use in the upcoming Great War in years past. The weapon was modelled after those used by German soldiers during the Second World War of his past life, with one major difference. He introduced napalm as its primary incendiary, though it was capable of using more conventional flames. This was an incredibly nasty thing to do, as napalm when touching the flesh could not be put out through normal means, and if one dared to try to pat out the fire, it would spread and burn brighter.

The bursts of napalm flame tore through the French trenches by the men who wore Stahlhelms marked with the fabled Totenkopf, not the design from the Second World War, but the one that Bruno had adopted for the iron division.

Supported by lightweight 60mm mortars from men hiding in no-man's-land, as well as the overwhelming rate of fire from the MG-34, these stormtroopers obliterated the Front lines of the French in the midst of night without any need for an armored column to advance before them.

Once the French soldiers had either been killed or charred into dust, an entire Brigade of German Infantry would advance through the choke point the stormtroopers created thoroughly breaking the French lines until they were forced to retreat, leaving behind artillery and machine guns as they fled further back.

The result of these repeated skirmishes that turned into significant retreats was that even Leon, a General who refused to get his hands dirty was covered in mud, oil, and blood, some of it his own, after being personally shot by an MP-34 machine gun in the arm.

The Medic simply scoffed as he cleaned up what remained of Leon's wound, assuring the man that it was nothing to be so angered over.

"Relax sir, it was simply something to dull the pain..."

Leon, however, did not feel the drug take effect, and instead began to complain about how poor of a job the Medic and all of his men were doing.

"Honestly, it's just like you lot to be so fucking incompetent at your jobs. If you would all just listen and obey my orders, we would have won this war by now! But instead you're all a bunch of filthy cow-"

Leon's words fell short, as he noticed he no longer had the means to speak his mind, no matter how nonsensical his drivel was. He looked over at the medic, who stood up and only now realized the hatred in the man's eyes as he walked away.

The medic nodded towards the other soldiers, who had for too long bore the burden of Leon's incompetence and rotten personality. However, just as the medic was about to turn away so that he would not have to gaze upon the gruesome affair that was about to occur, he left behind some final words.

"You really should have treated your men with more respect, General... You see, your incompetence is one thing, but your selfishness is another entirely. I just received word that my brother died because you decided to prioritize the treatment of your flesh wound over that of far more seriously injured soldiers beneath your command.

Soldiers who had fought valiantly to hold the line in this miserable failure of a campaign you have led us into."

After saying this, the Medic walked off, as the Bloodied and bruised French veterans pulled out their trench clubs and began to menacingly approach Leon's paralyzed body on the ground. As much as the man wanted to scream for help he could not do so, nor could he utter a single sound of agony as he was brutally beaten to death by the men beneath his command to a state so unrecognizable it could be claimed he was killed by German artillery. And Leon, despite his drug induced paralysis, felt every single ounce of pain dealt to him by the men he had utterly failed.

Thus ending the incompetent French General, and would be Marxist revolutionary's role in this war before it ever truly began... It was truly an ironic and fitting end for Leon. As a man

who had spent his entire life professing himself to be fighting for the good of the common man. It was those same very men who ended up taking his life in the most brutal fashion

possible.