Chapter 202 This is part of the plan

Charles did not let Gallieni go. He continued, "I need them to convene the parliament today to make a resolution, otherwise I will refuse to reinforce Cape Town!"

Gallieni was quite surprised by Charles' words. He gave the assurance in order to argue with the parliamentarians and persuade them to make this decision.

He believed that if Charles rescued his sons and nephews, the congressmen would agree to let Charles command the troops he trained instead of being sidelined as he was now.

However……

"Isn't this a matter for the future?" Gallieni looked at Charles expressionlessly: "The parliament may discuss this matter for a few days, but your rescue of Cape Town is imminent..."

Gallieni understood before he finished speaking. He nodded slightly with a look of sudden realization: "Is this part of your battle plan?"

"Yes!" Charles answered calmly, "I am angry about the transfer of the First Flying Squadron, and I am taking this opportunity to ask the parliament for a guarantee."

Gallieni praised: "Good idea! Only in this way, the Germans will think that they are dealing with Joffre instead of Charles."

Then Gallieni added: "Then you'd better hurry, Major! The German reinforcements may be on the way. The longer you delay, the more dangerous it will be."

…

Wells, dressed in a suit, was pacing around in his villa like an ant on a hot pot. He paced in the living room with his hands behind his back, cursing angrily:

"He should have died on the battlefield!"

"This bastard, I clearly have reserved a position for him in the Navy, and there is a bright future waiting for him, but he insisted on joining the infantry."

Mrs. Brest was so frightened that her face turned pale. She dared not say anything and just sat on the sofa sobbing softly.

She secretly regretted that if she had known what would happen today, she should not have supported Tijani and allowed him to enter the Saint-Cyr Military Academy.

Wells paused and asked, "Tijani has been in charge of logistics in Paris. When did he become the commander of the Second Special Artillery Division?"

Mrs. Brest did not dare to answer, and the butler bravely replied in a low voice: "Sir, Master Tijanyi is fascinated by tanks. He heard that Joffre was forming a second special artillery division, so he signed up without telling you..."

Wells was furious for a moment. It seemed that everyone knew the truth except him.

Wells gritted his teeth and snorted coldly, his tone was quite unwilling: "Our family built half a fleet for France, but he was obsessed with a small tank!"

"Sir," the butler replied, "Master Tijani believes that weapons are only attractive on the battlefield. Otherwise, they are just..."

Wells glared at the butler, who quickly swallowed the rest of his words.

That's what Tijani often said: "Weapons that don't need to go to the battlefield are just vases in the living room, no matter how good their data is and how beautiful they look. Real weapons are meant to be used on the battlefield. They can only shine to their fullest in the blood and death of the battlefield!"

Obviously, the French Navy was just a "vase placed in the living room" and there was almost no need for them to fight because the powerful British Royal Navy would deal with all their enemies.

This is why Tijani joined the army despite Wells' opposition and even wanted to sever his father-son relationship with Wells.

Wells had no idea what to do with his only son. He thought that the harsh and arduous training in the army would make Tijani change his mind, but he didn't expect that Tijani would persist in the military academy and stay there for seven years.

Only then did Wells realize that Tijani's fantasy of becoming the second Napoleon was not just talk, but might be his lifelong dream.

“Ring, ring, ring!”

The ringing of the phone startled Mrs. Brest. She looked up in the direction of the sound as if she was awakened from a dream, with fear in her eyes, as if she was worried that it was another worse news.

The butler was about to answer it but was stopped by Wells.

Wells quickly stepped forward to answer the phone, knowing it might be Gallieni calling.

Sure enough, Gallieni's slightly hoarse voice came from the microphone, slowly and steadily: "I'm very sorry, Mr. Wells, in this matter, I think only Charles can rescue the trapped troops."

Wells quickly replied: "Yes, I think the same as you, General! We should let Charles take command!"

"But there are two problems now, sir."

"What's the problem?"

"First, the command is no longer in Charles' hands. It is still Joffre who is commanding the troops in Cape Town."

"That is not a question. Parliament has already determined the status of the Paris Defence Command. It was Joffre who cut off contact with the Paris Defence Commander. Now he has failed and is helpless in the dilemma he created. The command should naturally pass to you."

Gallieni did not answer. He continued, "Another question. Do you know the First Flying Squadron? It was an aircraft unit trained by Charles himself. It included the rocket plane and machine gun plane he invented, but it was transferred by Joffre before the war..."

"I know about this." Wells replied impatiently: "The command of the flying squadron should of course be returned to Charles. Don't worry, I will take care of this matter."

"No, sir!" Gallieni said, emphatically, "that's not what I meant. I meant that Charles wanted more than that."

"So what does he want?" Wells asked puzzledly.

He wanted to end the conversation quickly and send reinforcements immediately, but Gallieni was taking his time.

"He hopes that something like this won't happen again," Gallieni replied. "You know, he still has a tank unit, which he trained, and there may be other units in the future. He doesn't want to spend so much effort to train them, only to be transferred away with a transfer order. He thinks..."

"I'll take care of it!" Wells interrupted Gallieni, "I'll take care of all these things. This request is very reasonable. There is no reason for others to take away his achievements. This will make Charles and others lose their enthusiasm..."

“He’s lost his motivation.”

"What?"

Gallieni sighed softly: "He is unwilling to take over the command unless the parliament gives him an explanation!"

"But now is not the time to discuss this..."

"I know that reinforcements are needed urgently," Gallieni replied, "but Charles is still a minor in principle, he still has childish tempers, and we can't do anything about him!"

Wells was stunned. There was indeed nothing he could do about Charles in this matter. Was he going to be sent to a military court just because he refused to take command?

As a minor, he has a hundred reasons to refuse command, and they are all reasonable!

Wells replied helplessly: "I will convene the parliament to discuss it immediately and give Charles a satisfactory answer!"

(End of this chapter)