In the golden autumn of October, on a breezy dawn, we drove from Paris to the town of Waterloo. Along the way, we chatted while admiring the beautiful scenery along the way, stopped from time to time to pick just ripe hazelnuts beside the road. After more than two hours of driving, we arrived at the town of Waterloo. The town of Waterloo is located on the southern outskirts of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Like small towns in other European countries, Waterloo Town is quaint and quiet, without many features, but its name is resounding all over the world, because the famous Battle of Waterloo took place here.
On June 18, 1815, the British-Prussian army commanded by the Duke of Wellington and the French army commanded by Napoleon launched a thrilling decisive battle here. The two sides invested more than 140,000 troops, including 70,000 coalition troops and 156 cannons, and 72,000 French troops and 270 cannons. The battle was repeated several times, the fighting was extremely fierce, and the fields were blood-red. The decisive battle lasted for about 12 hours. Napoleon, who had dominated Europe for a while, suffered a tragic defeat and the entire French army was wiped out. Millions of anti-French coalition forces drove straight to the French border. On July 7, the coalition forces entered Paris, and Napoleon announced his abdication, ending his "Hundred Days Reign". Before long, Napoleon was exiled to the island of St. Helena in the southern Atlantic Ocean, far from the European continent, until his death in May 1821.
In the history of world wars, the Battle of Waterloo is famous for its short front, short duration, great influence and unexpected ending. As the great French writer Victor Hugo said: Waterloo is a first-class war, and the victors are second-class generals. As for the reason, Victor Hugo described it in the chapter "Les Misérables Waterloo": The day before the war, there was a sudden heavy rain, the whole Waterloo field turned into a quagmire, and Napoleon Bonaparte's main force The artillery unit struggled in the quagmire and could not enter the position for a long time, so the attacking artillery was late, and defeat was a foregone conclusion. If there was no heavy rain, the offensive artillery fired early, and the war ended before the Prussians surrounded it, would history be written in another way?
The Battle of Waterloo not only completely ended Napoleon's military and political life, but also changed the European landscape. The process of history has also made this large land where the bones of more than 60,000 soldiers and soldiers are buried forever in the annals of history, and has become an ancient battlefield for generations to pay tribute to.
To commemorate the world-famous Battle of Waterloo, conical hills about 50 meters high were piled up on this ancient battlefield in 1826. There were no bulldozers at that time, and it is said that the earth and stones of the hills were carried by local women with a basket from a distance of two kilometers. We climbed up the hillside and climbed 226 stone steps straight to the top of the mountain. On the top of the mountain stands a 18-ton cast iron lion. It stands majestically on a high stone platform, facing the south of France. It seems to be roaring and laughing wildly. According to legend, it was cast from the guns and cannons left by the French army on the battlefield, the Duke of Wellington, the commander of the Allied Forces, known as the Lion of Waterloo. There is no inscription on the stele under the lion, only the words "1815.6.18" are simply engraved. There is also a huge metal plate on the side of the top platform, which is engraved with a schematic diagram of the Battle of Waterloo. From this lion mountain leaning on the railing, the ancient battlefield has a panoramic view.
The headquarters where Napoleon commanded the campaign was located at the southern end of the battlefield. It's a two-story building. Now the building displays the saber, binoculars and camp beds for rest that Napoleon commanded. The commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces, the Duke of Wellington, had his headquarters at an old castle at the northern end of the battlefield. The farmhouses in this area used to serve as temporary field hospitals, and they are now easily repurposed. Some have been turned into wax museums to display wax statues of officers and soldiers from both sides of the war; some have been turned into shops to sell souvenirs about the Battle of Waterloo; The farmhouse was converted into a small hotel to receive tourists who came to visit.
There is a small movie theater at the entrance of the ancient battlefield of Waterloo, which shows a movie - "The Battle of Waterloo" all year round. The audience can learn about the historical background and fighting situation of the battle through the movie. There is a full-length statue of Napoleon next to the cinema. Napoleon was dressed in military uniform, wearing a three-cornered hat, crossed his arms and crossed his chest, looked straight ahead, and put his feet in a soldier's "resting" posture. The bronze statue and the base are 4 meters high, and tourists often take pictures here.
There is also a small hotel where the world-famous writer Victor Hugo stayed. Hugo was contemplating by the window of this small hotel, writing the chapter about the Battle of Waterloo in the novel "Les Miserables".
Walking down the Lion Rock is the Memorial of the Battle of Waterloo. The shape of the memorial hall resembles an upside-down round iron barrel. The exhibits in the museum are mainly a panoramic oil painting with a height of 12 meters and a length of 120 meters on the annular wall on the second floor. It is the elaborate work of French painter Louis Dumorain and 5 other co-authors, completed in 1912. The author faithfully recreates the battle of Waterloo that shook the world with astonishing vigor. The oil paintings are bright in color, vivid in image and imposing. At a glance, there are swords, lights, swords and shadows, artillery fire is in the sky, people are turning their heads and horses are turned, it seems that drums are sounding in unison, and people are shouting horses neighing. As the picture unfolds, it is like visiting the battlefield in person and witnessing the tragic and solemn nature of Napoleon's cavalry. Between the oil painting and the central ring stand, there are also clay sculptures of the real scenes on the battlefield: the dead soldiers and horses on the battlefield, the abandoned weapons and baggage, the crooked wooden houses and the dead branches and grass trampled by the soldiers and horses. Under the radiance of the lights, it makes you feel like you are in the fierce battle between the two armies.
After visiting the ancient battlefield of Waterloo, I was filled with emotion. Napoleon, who dominated Europe for a while, was finally placed under house arrest by the Allied forces on the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean, where he spent the rest of his life. However, throughout history, Napoleon Bonaparte remained a great statesman and strategist. Victor Hugo said, "Failure makes the loser more noble, and the fallen Napoleon Bonaparte seems to be taller than the standing Napoleon Bonaparte." This is history.
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