I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France - Chapter 623

The Netherlands closed the border and did not allow “refugees” to pass through, thus ending the hope of the German army to withdraw to Germany through the Netherlands.

This caused irreparable losses to the trapped German troops: they lost the best opportunity to break out, and at the same time undermined the confidence and morale of the German troops.

There is a saying that the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

It would be fine if there was no hope of withdrawing from the Netherlands from the beginning. The German army would break out from the direction of Hasselt at all costs.

Now there is hope but it is ruthlessly extinguished. This will put the German army in a generally passive state, and many people are even unwilling to break through and wait to surrender.

Lieutenant General Nicholas and Colonel Erwin were unwilling to give in. They organized more than 100,000 remnant troops to break out in several routes.

But in the end, only about 10,000 people broke out of the encirclement.

This has to do with Ciel’s preparation.

As the German troops gathered on the Dutch border, the Shire had transferred a large number of landmines and rockets from the country.

The parliament gave uncharacteristically full support and sent more than 40 trains for transportation day and night. On average, one train arrived in Namur every hour to unload the arms and then transport them to the front line by car.

Then, a large number of landmines, especially “S” type jumping mines, were laid on the crossing line from Namur to Hasselt, and the Belgian 1st Special Reconnaissance Army was also equipped with rocket launchers and rockets.

Once the German army breaks through, they first have to wade through the minefields, then withstand the baptism of rockets, then the Belgian infantry defense line, and finally they have to escape the pursuit of the Charles 1st Armored Corps and air power.

Very few of them were able to successfully break through. Most of them chose to give up during the process of breaking through and surrendered directly to the Belgian and French troops.

Lieutenant General Nicholas and Colonel Erwin managed to escape and were picked up by plane.

If there is any loophole in this encirclement, it is that the plane flies out of the encirclement at night. This is the safest and fastest method. At this time, the fighter jets do not have the ability to fight at night, so they can only be allowed to fly out.

…

It’s snowing heavily in Paris, France.

It was still dark after five o’clock in the morning, and many people were still sleeping. Only the housewife, yawning, turned on the light and got up to prepare breakfast for her family.

The street was empty, with the occasional car passing by, its headlights making shadows of snowflakes on the walls on both sides.

Suddenly someone cheered loudly: “The Shire is victorious and the Germans surrender!”

Some people excitedly opened their windows and shouted outside: “The Charles has won, he captured 210,000 Germans, 210,000!”

The voices spread one after another, the lights turned on one by one, and soon the whole city was boiling.

Some people rushed to the streets in pajamas to cheer, some ran to tell each other, and some people ran naked on the streets, shouting hysterically as they ran, like crazy people.

Brianne received the call at home.

“Really? Are you sure? 210,000 German troops surrendered?”

“God, he saved France again, he performed miracles again!”

“Inform Clemenceau and ask him to come to my office immediately!”

…

City Hall of Paris, Office of the Prime Minister.

Clemenceau walked in sleepily. He took off his hat and coat and threw them on the sofa. When he sat down, he put his briefcase aside and opened his mouth to yawn.

Clemenceau also heard the news of Charles’ victory, but he didn’t think it was worth getting out of bed and braving the cold wind and heavy snow to get here.

“Do you think this is good news, Prime Minister?” Clemenceau asked.

“Isn’t it?” Briand, who was reading the detailed report, asked back: “Think about it, not long ago we were worried about the collapse of the supply line and the Germans would attack Paris. Now everything has been solved, and we have captured 21 prisoners. Thousands of Germans. 210,000, Mr. Commissioner!”

Briand stood up and handed Clemenceau a glass of red wine, and then said: “I think we should learn a lesson, I mean, we almost put France in danger.”

What this means is that the Parliament should restrain itself from suppressing Ciel, and don’t let it go as far as it did this time.

Clemenceau shook his head slightly: “You have overlooked one point, Your Excellency Prime Minister. All of this seems to be within Charles’ plan, including our suppression of him.”

“You mean…” Brian was stunned.

Clemenceau took the briefcase beside him, rummaged through it and took out a document, stood up and handed it to Brianne who was sitting opposite.

“This is the investigation report of the Second Bureau.” Clemenceau replied: “Charle has been conserving ammunition and supplies since he left Jeanboulou. When we thought that Charles’s troops would lose combat effectiveness due to lack of supplies, we were worried. Charles is in control.”

Brian opened the document and flipped through it, then looked at Clemenceau in astonishment: “So, the situation is not as dangerous as we thought?”

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“Yes.” Clemenceau nodded: “There are also British people. Charles actually achieved some kind of cooperation with the British Navy and the ‘Minister of Munitions’. His ‘Echo Detector’ was used in the French Navy and Successfully opened the blockade of the German submarine route. Do you know what this means?”

Brian nodded thoughtfully: “This means that Charles is developing his power in the direction of the navy. At the same time, he controls supplies to a certain extent.”

Clemenceau leaned back and concluded with a lazy look: “Char’s power is getting bigger and bigger. Almost all soldiers and civilians are his loyal fans. Now he has reached out to the navy and Supplies. But we are thinking about whether to loosen his bonds?”

Clemenceau asked himself and answered: “No, I don’t think we should do this.”

Briand fell into silence, he felt that he was deceived by Charles.

Charles is using his military genius to continuously enhance his prestige and power, and now has the momentum to get rid of the control of the parliament.

But what should be done now?

Briand thought of Foch.

“So, we should support Foch.” Briand said.

Clemenceau nodded in agreement: “If under Foch’s command, the battles of Verdun and the Somme can be successfully concluded, coupled with his background, we can form a force to compete with Charles.”

“That’s not enough.” Briand’s eyes flashed with a trace of worry.

“Yes.” Clemenceau agreed.

But he was also helpless. Charles could win on the battlefield again and again, and each time was remarkable.

Just based on this, Charles was enough to defeat anyone who stood in front of him.

Briand thought for a while and said: “So, we should nominate Charles as commander-in-chief.”

Clemenceau suddenly raised his head and looked at Briand in shock.

Is he crazy? Nominating Charles as the commander-in-chief?

This is something the parliament has always avoided mentioning, fearing that it will come true, but Briand is taking the initiative to nominate.

But the next second, Clemenceau understood what was going on.