Chapter 225: The Arrogant British

When he woke up, Charles was lucky to have his vacation again.

However, before he could get up, there was a knock on the dormitory door.

Charles thought there was some urgent military situation in the headquarters, so he quickly got out of the warm bed, put on his infantry coat and went to open the door in slippers.

The person who appeared at the door startled him. It was General Winter.

"Hello, Colonel!" General Winter smiled and shook hands with Charles. His hands were as cold as ice.

Charles saw that General Winter looked tired, so he stepped aside to let him in and asked curiously, "General, did you come to Paris specially? Did you just arrive?"

"Yes!" General Winter yawned and looked around Charles's quarters. "I came here just to see you, Colonel!"

Charles, who was putting on his military uniform, paused for a moment, then realized that it must be about the North and South landings. His purpose here should be the opposite of Albert I. He hoped that Charles could change his mind.

Charles shivered with cold. Without having time to think about anything else, he quickly put on his military uniform and then put on his infantry coat again.

It seems that this coat is the only military uniform that can keep you warm.

Adrian, the orderly, thoughtfully brought hot coffee to the two of them, and took this opportunity to ask Charles: "Do you need breakfast delivered, Colonel?"

Charles turned his gaze to General Winter, who raised the coffee in his hand and replied, "Thank you very much, I have already eaten on the way, this is enough for me!"

Charles believed this was true. This was the advantage of Western food. Bread could be eaten anytime and anywhere, and it was even possible to eat it while walking.

Adrian understood and closed the door when he went out.

"So," Charles asked first, "what Albert I said worked?"

Winter's face looked a little strange. "I think your words worked, Colonel. Originally they preferred to land in the south, but because of your analysis and Albert I's lobbying, they are now beginning to carefully consider landing in the north."

"Because it's very tempting." Charles put on his boots and stomped his feet on the ground to make them more comfortable. "It would be even better if we could land in the Netherlands. It would be safer and faster, and we could directly attack the German army in Belgium from both sides..."

"But the Netherlands is a neutral country." General Winter interrupted Charles: "Doing this may push the Netherlands to the Allies!"

"It's not like you haven't done this before!" Charles said sarcastically, picked up the coffee and took a sip, then found that it was a little cold.

General Winter knew that Charles was referring to the Ottoman Empire, and replied helplessly: "Well, this is indeed our fault. We didn't expect things to develop to this point..."

"You should have thought about it." Charles said mercilessly: "Those two warships are just two insignificant data for you on the basis of dozens of battleships, but for the Ottoman Empire, the funds were raised by mobilizing the people of the whole country to donate. If you had investigated these before the seizure, you would certainly have imagined how much public indignation this kind of robbery would arouse, and the public indignation would force the government to make a series of policies and propaganda that are unfavorable to the Allies!"

General Winter was filled with shame.

Charles was right, the Lord Admiral knew nothing when he decided to seize the ships, he simply said "war is coming, we need these ships!".

Then they were withheld without any mention of breach of contract, money or compensation.

"The Secretary of the Navy believes that we can achieve victory at a very small cost." Admiral Winter turned the subject to the point: "He is the representative of the attack in the south."

Charles sat in his chair and looked at General Winter quietly. If he knew what the British had lost by detaining the two battleships, they might have directly thrown the Minister of the Navy into jail:

The capture of two battleships led to the Ottoman Empire's transition from a neutral country to a member of the Central Powers.

The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, and the shipping route from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea and then to Russia was blocked.

Russia ultimately lost the Eastern Front due to a lack of supplies.

In other words, the impact of Britain's seizure of two warships was not only the 250,000 deaths in the Dardanelles War and the six battleships sunk by mines and coastal defense guns, as well as the joining of several neutral countries including the Ottoman Empire to the enemy, but the most serious was the loss of the entire Eastern Front.

If the United States had not joined the war, the Allies might have lost the war.

The First Lord of the Admiralty, who had nearly brought down World War I single-handedly, was now vigorously advocating a battle in the Dardanelles to the south.

General Winter stood in front of Charles' desk, pointing to the Dardanelles on the map. "The Minister of the Navy believes that as long as our fleet enters the Sea of ​​Marmara through here, we can set up our naval guns under the city of Constantinople, and then the Ottoman Empire will surrender. Therefore, the situation you described will not happen..."

Charles looked at General Winter with an incredulous look in his eyes: "You mean, you can make the Ottoman Empire surrender with just a few navy ships?"

General Winter spread his hands and asked, "Any questions?"

Charles snorted with disdain. He understood the Navy Minister's mentality in detaining the two warships.

The Navy Minister thought that the two warships were more important than the Ottoman Empire, and that only the two warships were needed to make the Ottoman Empire surrender. After weighing the pros and cons, of course he chose the warships over the Ottoman Empire.

Arrogant, stupid, prejudiced British people!

"Please go back, General!" Charles ordered him to leave.

There was no need to discuss this situation any further. In their eyes, the enemy was just an ant that could be easily crushed to death. Of course, there were no difficulties or dangers. The strategic locations on the map were just waiting for their warships to occupy them.

"No, no, Colonel," said General Winter. "I want to hear your opinion..."

"I stick to my point of view." Charles said firmly: "It is obviously more suitable to land in the north."

Charles originally intended to talk about the north in setting up a trap for the Germans, but now he feels that landing in the north might not be a bad thing.

At the very least, landing from the north would attract the attention of the British, who knew they were facing a powerful opponent: Germany!

General Winter was silent for a moment, then looked at Charles and said, "You don't support opening a new front, do you? You don't support landings on any side, so you said you were trying to stop the landings on the north side."

Charles did not deny that he did have such an idea.

"But they will eventually choose to land on one side." General Winter was somewhat helpless: "This is Britain!"

Britain is a maritime power, and their offensive tactics have always been the coordination of sea and land, just like the French always emphasize offensive tactics.

This is a combat experience that has been rooted in their minds for hundreds of years, and they will not give up until they try it.

(End of this chapter)