Chapter 214 This Day is Finally Coming

After the victory of the battle, Charles received mostly blessings and good news.

The only thing that did not satisfy him was that he had once again become a hot topic among the citizens of Paris.

At around seven o'clock that evening, less than half an hour after the successful breakout, Parisian citizens who heard the news of victory gathered in groups outside the city defense headquarters and cheered.

It was already dark and snowing outside, but the cold weather could not stop the enthusiasm of the people of Paris. They shouted upstairs:

"Thank you, Ciel, you saved my son!"

"I received the news that Andre is safe. He asked me to express his gratitude to you!"

"You are a hero of France!"

…

The ones shouting the loudest were the military dependents.

Many soldiers in the 1st and 2nd Special Artillery Divisions came from Paris.

This was not intentional, but when these two divisions were formed, many children of aristocrats or capitalists squeezed in through connections.

These second-generation rich and second-generation officials would bring with them the soldiers they were familiar with, so there were many Parisians or people living around Paris among the soldiers.

Those military families were extremely anxious when they learned that their troops were surrounded. They hoped that Charles could do something but they did not have the energy or channel to speak out. Now that they knew that Charles had successfully led the troops to break out, they could not help but burst into tears of gratitude and gathered here spontaneously to express their gratitude.

Charles secretly glanced through the window at the huge crowd outside. There were at least hundreds of thousands of people, who surrounded the 4th District where the city defense headquarters was located in three layers inside and outside. The police station was frightened and had to be dispatched urgently to maintain public order and divert traffic.

Under the street lights, many people had snowflakes on their shoulders, but they were still reluctant to leave.

"What do they want to do?" Charles was a little confused. Is this the way people of this era chase stars?

Kobdo came up and explained, "Some soldiers were unable to return. The families of these soldiers hope that you can think of a solution."

Charles was silent.

Of the more than 40,000 troops, only 32,000 were able to break through, and more than 10,000 were killed or missing.

But Charles was powerless, this was all he could do.

Soon, Ciel learned that this was not the only bad news...

"General!" Lieutenant Colonel Fernan answered a call and looked at Gallieni nervously: "Captain Carter called, five planes are still missing, including a machine gun plane!"

Gallieni was startled and immediately turned his gaze to Charles.

Charles shook his head slightly. This was beyond his ability. Now he could only hope that the machine gun plane crashed or landed in the French-controlled area, otherwise a fierce air battle would officially begin soon.

…

Wilhelmstrasse, Berlin.

The phones at the General Staff Headquarters kept ringing one after another, all with questions about the battle situation and even asking whether there were any follow-up plans that could turn the tide.

Falkenhayn had completely given up. He refused to answer any questions and left everything to Colonel Moritz. He stayed alone in the lounge, sitting on the edge of the bed, with his upper body half bent over, his head drooping, and his hands weakly supporting his knees, like a defeated rooster.

Falkenhayn didn't know how to report to William II, so he came up with several versions in his mind:

"Your Majesty, this was a mistake on my part. We were deceived by Charles!"

"Your Majesty, this is due to a lack of intelligence. We were not aware that Ciel had deployed new tanks."

"We don't have air superiority. Although the enemy is surrounded by our army, the intelligence is not equal from beginning to end. The enemy knows everything about us and can command ground forces through aircraft, but we know nothing about the enemy's actions!"

…

However, no matter which version it is, it is unable to cover up the fact of failure.

William II has always supported Falkenhayn's Western Front strategy under great pressure. Now, it seems that he can only shift the strategic focus to the Eastern Front.

At this time, Colonel Moritz pushed the door open and shouted: "General, you should listen to this call..."

"I told you!" Falkenhayn raised his head suddenly and interrupted Colonel Moritz rudely: "I won't answer any calls, all of them!"

Colonel Moritz still insisted: "No, General. This call is different. It is about the secret of Charles's plane. We captured a plane with a machine gun!"

Falkenhayn was so shocked that he was stunned for a moment and then jumped up as if he had been pricked by a needle. He ran to the headquarters while shouting incoherently: "Tell them to protect it... Where is it, which phone..."

The staff officer raised the microphone high, and Falkenhayn rushed forward and snatched it away. Without waiting for the other party to speak, he asked impatiently: "Are you sure it's Charles' machine gun plane?"

"We're not sure, General!" the voice on the phone replied, "but it does have two machine guns in the nose, it looks like it!"

"How did you seize it?" Falkenhayn asked again.

"It made an emergency landing due to a fuel tank leak. The pilot seemed to want to destroy something, but we stopped him in time..."

Falkenhayn was overjoyed when he heard this. This was almost certain, otherwise the pilot's attempt to sabotage would mean he wanted to cover up the secret.

Falkenhayn almost shouted an order: "Secure it immediately, mobilize all your troops and pilots. Don't allow anyone to get close! No one!"

Then he added: "Don't let anyone know, understand?"

"clear!"

After hanging up the phone, Falkenhayn looked up and ordered everyone: "Put aside everything and immediately organize troops and vehicles to transport it back!"

The staff officers immediately got busy, some mobilizing troops and some contacting vehicles and personnel.

Falkenhayn could no longer sit still. He paced a few steps and said to Colonel Moritz beside him, "Get ready. We'll go there right away. I want to see it as soon as possible!"

…

Charles followed Gallieni and several staff officers to the headquarters of the 1st Flying Brigade. Gallieni hoped to use the resources at hand to find the missing machine gun plane as soon as possible.

When he saw Carter, he shook his head and reported, "Still no news. It was a plane from the 2nd Squadron. It was covering the troops' breakout. During the battle, it was separated from the other members, and no one knew about it since then."

Aircraft during this period were not equipped with radios, so once a battle began, they basically fought independently.

Moreover, the plane was fast, and after a few dives towards the target, it was discovered that the team members were missing, and the location had to be completely guessed.

The headquarters couldn't even get any news about them and could only wait at the airport.

Only after waiting for a while and finding that the plane had not returned, did we realize that something might have happened, and it was still "possible" and still could not be confirmed.

Gallieni was unwilling to miss any opportunity, so he ordered his staff to make phone calls to the areas near where the plane disappeared.

But Charles realized that this day was finally coming.

(End of this chapter)