I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France - Chapter 601

c593 Great opportunity to attack

Charles got the news from Foch.

It wasn’t Wei Gang who gave it to him. It was Foch who sent a telegram to Charles openly and openly. The wording had a strong official tone:

“In view of the fact that part of our army’s ammunition comes from the UK, it has been decided to hand over the supply of troops located in the Belgian defense zone to the UK.”

This doesn’t seem unreasonable on the surface.

Britain and France were allies, and it was normal to provide supplies to their allies.

In addition, there is no problem if the materials shipped from the United States land in Antwerp and then be transferred to the Belgian front line. The principle of proximity is adopted.

However, anyone with a discerning eye will immediately understand the problem, and it is a big problem.

Tijani said “ha” when he saw the telegram:

“Great, Parliament has handed us over to the British, and they have the power of life and death over us!”

“We will do whatever the British ask us to do from now on.”

“Otherwise we’ll have to starve and freeze, or point an unloaded rifle at the Germans!”

Charles ignored him and just read the newspaper.

The Lusitania, a cruise ship full of British and American tourists, was sunk by a German submarine. 1,198 passengers and crew members sank into the sea, including at least 124 American passengers.

(The picture above shows the “Lusitania” cruise ship, which is known as the cruise ship that changed the history of World War I because the United States used its sinking as an excuse to enter the war a year later)

This set off a storm of public opinion in Britain, the United States and Germany. Britain and the United States strongly condemned Germany’s act of sinking civilian ships, calling it a kind of murder and banditry.

Germany argued that the cruise ship contained a large amount of munitions because it sank to the seabed in just 18 minutes after being hit by a torpedo, which was abnormal, and stated that it had become a tool of war and was not a “civilian ship.”

(Note: The Lusitania was later found to contain arms and contraband)

But of course Britain and the United States would not admit it. They used their right to speak to launch wave after wave of offensives against the German army in the media.

“Don’t you say something?” Tijani held the telegram and raised it to Charles.

“What can I say?” Charles asked.

“I understand!” Tijani guessed: “Your submarine hunting plan will start soon. We will take the initiative in terms of supplies, so you don’t have to worry about this.”

Charles smiled and shook his head: “No, General, it’s not time yet.”

“Not yet?” Tijani looked puzzled.

Seeing that the 6th Army and the 1st Armored Corps are about to fall into a material crisis, it should be imminent now, but Charles actually said “it’s not yet time”?

At this time, a guard came in and reported: “General, General Winter is here and he wants to see you.”

Charles put away the newspaper and stood up, and said to Tijani: “It seems you are not the only one who is anxious.”

Tijani didn’t understand what this meant at first. It wasn’t until General Winter came in that he suddenly realized that the British also wanted to launch a submarine hunting war, to be precise, the British Navy.

Sure enough, after General Winter congratulated Charles on his promotion to lieutenant general, he immediately turned the topic to submarines.

“The situation is much more serious than imagined.” General Winter took out a piece of information from his briefcase and handed it to Charles: “We lost 181 ships in October, and this increased to 259 ships in November. This month is not over yet. 325 ships have been lost, and the tonnage lost in one month has reached 500,000 tons. ”

General Winter and Tijani unanimously turned their attention to Ciel, as if to say, should we take action in this situation?

But Charles still said the same thing: “Wait a little longer.”

“But, what are we waiting for?” General Winter didn’t understand.

Then he added: “There is something I think you need to know. The ‘Secretary of the Admiralty’ has returned to China to serve as the ‘Minister of Munitions.'”

(Note: Historically, Churchill was appointed “Minister of Munitions” in July 1917 and was responsible for anti-submarine warfare)

The subtext of this statement is: If the submarine problem cannot be solved or even continues to worsen, the “Minister of Munitions” will be dismissed soon.

Charles answered simply: “The destroyers are not ready yet, General, they will take some time.”

General Winter was helpless. This was a problem with the French Navy and he did not know the progress.

Tijani looked at Ciel in shock, knowing that this was not true.

…

Wilhelmstrasse, Berlin, German General Staff.

Falkenhayn was receiving Lieutenant General Nicholas and Colonel Erwin (promoted from lieutenant colonel to colonel) in the conference room.

Falkenhayn shook hands with the two of them politely and invited them to sit down.

“Although we lost Namur.” Falkenhay glanced at the two of them, and his eyes paused on Colonel Erwin for a while: “But I have seen the entire command process, and I think you did a good job in the battle, especially It is the final retreat that preserves our army’s strength and prevents the enemy from fully breaking through our defense lines.”

The final retreat order was suggested by Colonel Erwin. Falkenhayn believed that the young officer named Erwin was probably more talented than his superiors.

“Thank you for your approval, General.” Nicholas replied.

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Falkenhayn stood up and took a few steps. He tried to liven up the atmosphere in this way: “I heard that Colonel Erwin has studied the tactics of Charles?”

Colonel Erwin quickly stood up and straightened his chest: “I just don’t want to die in the hands of Charles, General.”

Falkenhayn glanced at Erwin unexpectedly, stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, seemingly satisfied with Colonel Erwin’s answer.

“So,” Falkenhayn asked, “Do you have any ideas? I mean, can you guess what Charles will do next?”

Falkenhayn laughed unconsciously. It was basically impossible to guess Charles’ next move.

“Report to the general.” Colonel Erwin replied with a serious face, “I may not be able to guess what Charles will do next, but I may be able to guess what he has to do.”

Falkenhayn said “Oh” and looked at Erwin with interest: “What does he have to do?”

Colonel Erwin glanced at the map hanging on the wall.

Falkenhayn understood and nodded slightly in agreement.

Colonel Erwin stepped forward confidently, gesturing at the map and saying:

“Charles’ troops are concentrated in Belgium, and recently the Allies have handed over Belgium’s supplies to the British.”

“A key point is that both the British and the French Parliament want to suppress Charles and his troops.”

“So I judge that Charles’ troops are likely to be short of supplies, including gasoline needed by the armored forces.”

Falkenhayn’s eyes lit up instantly. This is an opportunity, an excellent opportunity to attack!

“So, what do you think…” Falkenhayn asked.

Erwin pointed at the location of Antwerp:

“The British have used Antwerp as a distribution port for supplies.”

“If we surround Antwerp at lightning speed and strengthen the blockade of submarines at sea, the enemy on the Western Front may face a serious shortage of supplies!”

Falkenhayn and Lieutenant General Nicolas looked at each other, and both saw shock in each other’s eyes. This plan involves the entire Western Front!