I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France - Chapter 619

I have something to do today, so there is only one chapter, sorry!

…

At 4:30 in the morning, Charles’s troops arrived in Hasselt ahead of schedule.

Originally, Charles planned to rest for two hours and wait until dawn to launch the attack. After all, fighting street battles in the dark is very disadvantageous to tanks. Several bundles of cluster grenades can be thrown out from buildings and ruins at any time to paralyze tanks.

However, when Charles arrived, he found that this was unnecessary.

Before the army entered the city, Hasselt was already full of gunfire.

Many buildings were set on fire, and the whole city was like a burning torch. There were Belgians running around and cheering everywhere. In the firelight, you can vaguely see a few lone German soldiers being beaten by Belgian civilians.

When the French army arrived, the Belgians lined the streets to welcome them. They held various weapons in their hands, including rifles, sticks, farm tools and kitchen knives.

Tijani was cautious enough. He sent his staff to inquire about the situation, but the answers he got from more than a dozen people were different:

“Hurry up and chase them, my friends. The Germans are about to escape.”

“They have a line of defense in the city, and we can’t break through it.”

“I heard that the Germans have sent reinforcements to counterattack. You have to be careful!”

…

Then Tijani gave up asking, because he found that if he continued to ask, he might get a hundred different answers, and he didn’t dare to act rashly without understanding the situation.

It wasn’t until half an hour later that he found a militia leader who had infiltrated the city.

To be precise, it was not “found”, but the leader took the initiative to find him after knowing that Charles’ troops had arrived.

It was an officer wearing a civilian uniform but a military cap and a pistol on his waist. When he was brought to Charles, he excitedly reported to Charles:

“It’s an honor to meet you, General.”

“We captured part of the train station and armed the people with the captured weapons.”

“Now most of the area is occupied by our army. Only the train station and the city government and some German troops are resisting stubbornly.”

Tijani spread the map in front of him and asked: “Can you point out where the enemy is and how many people there are?”

The leader hesitated for a long time looking at the map and couldn’t tell the reason.

“The situation is very chaotic, General.” The leader replied: “Some buildings cannot be determined whether they are in the hands of the Germans or our own people.”

Tijani shrugged helplessly and cast his eyes on Charles.

Meaning, the information obtained is very limited, and the troops still don’t know where to attack.

Charles expressed his understanding of this situation. Street fighting and night fighting, sometimes even the regular army can’t figure out the situation, let alone the guerrillas, militia, and civilians with weapons.

It was good that they didn’t fight each other, or it had happened before, and more than once.

But they didn’t care, because they could blame the Germans.

“Send the tanks.” Charles ordered.

“General.” Tijani hurriedly stopped him: “This may cause unnecessary casualties. I think we should wait until dawn.”

Tanks can’t play a big role in the dark, but they will become targets for the Germans.

But Charles insisted on his point of view:

“We need to end the battle as soon as possible to avoid more trouble at night.”

“If the Germans are holding on in the buildings, tanks can play a role.”

“We don’t attack as a unit of the army, but disperse the tanks into the militia group, let the militia guide the tanks to attack, and target those fire points that cannot be conquered.”

The militia may not be able to tell what the situation is on the map, but in every specific direction and position, the militia fighting knows where they are resisted and cannot move forward.

The battle situation did develop as Charles imagined. After the tanks were put into use, the advancement speed was much faster than before. As soon as the sky dawned, Hasselt was completely under the control of the French army amid cheers.

The seized supplies were much more than expected.

There were a total of 23 large underground warehouses in the train station, which were filled with supplies, including countless food, guns, and ammunition.

Five of the warehouses were filled with fuel, both for tanks and aircraft.

These were scarce supplies for the French army, and the fuel pressure of the First Armored Army was instantly gone.

Then Charles also transferred a batch of fighters, which echoed with Brussels and Namur airports, and set up an air defense network against the German Air Force to prevent the withdrawal of German fighter planes.

…

Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, was a small fishing village in the 12th century, and now it has become the most important port and the largest city in the Netherlands.

Queen Wilhelmina finished her morning business, stood in front of the office window and looked at the snow scene downstairs, holding a glass of wine and shaking it gently.

Her mentality is like the heavy snow, covering all the ugly things, and all she can see is the beauty.

(The picture above is Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands)

A correct version at 16-9, 1 book, 1 bar!

The war had entered its third year, and Queen Wilhelmina was not aware of the development of the war. Even Charles, who was famous all over the world at that time, had only heard a little about it.

The Netherlands was a neutral country, and she would not participate in this war that had nothing to do with her, so there was no need to pay attention.

Or the queen was afraid to pay attention, because if she paid attention, she might be unconsciously involved.

At this time, the crisp footsteps of the secretary’s high heels sounded behind her, and she seemed a little impatient.

The queen did not look back, she thought that as long as she did not participate in the war, there would be no trouble that could not be solved.

However, trouble finally came to her.

“Your Majesty,” Secretary Louise reported, “The German ambassador wants to talk to you.”

The Queen frowned and asked, “What about it?”

“I think the Germans may want to go through the Netherlands,” Louise replied.

The Queen turned around suddenly and looked at the secretary in shock.

Louise handed the Queen a document, and when the Queen took it and flipped through it, she introduced: “Last night, Charles led the First Armored Army to encircle more than 200,000 German troops. The Germans have only two options to escape the encirclement. One is to break through the defense line built by Charles, and the other is…”

“Go through the Netherlands?” The Queen saw the situation map, and it was clear at a glance that the Germans had no way out.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

The Queen felt a chill on her face, as if a gust of cold wind blew over.

Damn Charles, he shouldn’t have used the Dutch border to encircle the Germans. He should have known that this was diverting the disaster to the Netherlands.

What to do now?

“Your Majesty,” Louise reminded, “The German ambassador is still waiting outside.”

After hesitating for a while, the queen replied, “Tell him to come later, I’m busy!”

Louise shook her head helplessly, “I already said that, but he said he would wait outside all the time.”

“Let him in!” The queen sighed in her heart.

The queen was a little annoyed that she should have gone abroad for a few days today. She should have known the war situation in advance, especially when the battlefield was approaching the Netherlands.