Chapter 430 Exchange of Interests

Charles admitted that he had underestimated Albert I.

Before this, Charles only knew about the existence of guerrillas. He contacted the guerrillas through the "Madame in White" and formulated combat plans. He also knew that some guerrillas were cooperating with the French army to maintain public order and even directly participated in the battle.

But he didn't know how many guerrillas there were, nor did he know where they were, and he would not be able to command them in battle if a war broke out.

After Albert I arrived, he immediately organized the guerrillas scattered everywhere under unified command.

…

The next morning, Charles was in the fortress command center, carefully calculating the fuel cost with Tijani. They were considering how to keep the tanks patrolling the city while still having some spare.

Charles had an urge to let Albert I organize guerrillas to transport oil from civilians, not only from Antwerp, but also from the surrounding areas of Antwerp. Transporting all the civilian gasoline within a radius of dozens of miles might be able to solve the urgent needs of the armored forces.

But this is not a good idea.

This was clearly telling the Germans that Charles' troops were short of oil, and then they would be able to escape through the gap without any worries.

Therefore, Charles could only reject this idea.

At this time, Albert I came in, holding a briefcase in his hand. His face was a little pale due to fatigue, but still showed excitement.

Albert I was followed by an officer in Belgian military uniform.

When Charles was puzzled, Albert I introduced him sideways: "This is Colonel Eden, Brigadier General. I decided to put him in charge of the guerrillas in Antwerp. You can give him orders directly if you have anything."

Charles took a look at Colonel Eden, a soldier in his forties with a mustache. What was strange was that his rank on his uniform was major.

Then Charles realized that he was promoted to colonel on the front line and had no time to change his military uniform, or he had no conditions to change it.

Colonel Eden obviously lacked charisma. He stepped forward to salute Charles at a loss. He wanted to shake hands with Charles but was worried about being presumptuous. In the end, it was Charles who took the initiative to extend his hand.

"Hello, Colonel."

"Hello, General." Colonel Eden responded quickly: "It is an honor to be your subordinate. We are ready. Please give us your orders. Is there anything you need us to do?"

"Do what you are doing," Ciel replied. "Maintain law and order, and search for any remaining enemies."

"Yes, General." Colonel Eden responded excitedly, looking at Charles with respect.

He was the general who fought his way from Cambrai to Antwerp in one day. He looked like a child, but he was able to achieve such brilliant achievements.

Albert I took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to Charles: "This is the Antwerp guerrillas. We will temporarily organize it into the 21st Division, and the division commander is Colonel Eden."

Ciel took the document in confusion.

This is another strange point. Shouldn’t the division commander be a major general?

Later, Charles found out that this was because Charles's military rank was brigadier general, and as Charles' subordinate, Eden should of course be colonel.

Charles took the document and opened it, and was surprised: "Antwerp can actually organize tens of thousands of people?"

Charles distributed only more than 6,000 rifles, which were all seized in Antwerp, including defective guns.

Albert I nodded and said, "Some of them are female soldiers. They strongly request to join the army. I don't think we should discourage their enthusiasm."

Charles said "Oh".

Female soldiers were a strange existence during this period, with only Tsarist Russia having a female soldier unit, but they are very common in modern times.

So Charles didn't think there was anything strange about it, nor did he find it unacceptable.

Everything is moving in the right direction, Charles thought. With the guerrillas stationed here, as soon as the British transport ships arrive tomorrow, the armored forces will be able to turn back and head to Tibiz to fill the gap.

No, the mechanized division should go ahead, it is faster.

However, at this moment, the signalman handed Charles a telegram: "General, General Winter called and said that the fuel transport ship was delayed by the German submarine. In addition, he asked if you could reinforce the Dardanelles."

Charles was stunned. Didn't he clearly refuse?

The next second, Charles understood.

"The fuel tanker was delayed by German submarines" was an excuse, and there was a reason why General Winter put it together with "whether the Dardanelles could be reinforced."

This is obviously a hint.

…

This was not what General Winter wanted, but what the "Secretary of the Admiralty" meant.

The "Secretary of the Navy" was originally unaware of Charles's lack of fuel.

General Winter kept his mouth shut because he knew it was a military secret and if leaked it would directly affect the war in Belgium.

However, General Winter should never have written "Dardanelles military supplies" on the reason for the call.

After the "Secretary of the Admiralty" withdrew from the center of power in disgrace, he served as a member of the Dardanelles Commission.

He was surprised to see General Winter transferring gasoline from mainland Britain.

At this time, Britain was under blockade by German submarines, and she also needed to buy oil from the Middle East. How could the war in the Dardanelles require transportation from Britain instead of nearby?

When asked, General Winter had no choice but to tell the truth.

The "Secretary of the Navy" was overjoyed. He sent a telegram to General Winter: "This is an opportunity, Winter, an opportunity to exchange interests with Charles."

General Winter didn't understand what kind of "exchange of interests" there was, and then he thought of the fact that the "Secretary of the Navy" had hoped that Charles would save the mess in Gallipoli not long ago.

He called back in surprise: "Your Excellency, are you talking about sending Charles to Gallipoli? This is not an exchange of interests. Charles' victory is also in the interests of Britain. We need this victory!"

"I know," the Admiral replied, "but everything has its priorities, and Charles is clearly more anxious than we are in this regard."

What he meant was that if Charles could not get fuel, it might be surrounded by the German army, which would be a real pain for Charles.

General Winter was so shocked by the shamelessness of the "Secretary of the Admiralty" that he couldn't even believe it was true.

But General Winter knew very well that this was what the "Secretary of the Navy" could do, just as he had used cannons to suppress workers' strike marches three years ago.

(Note: This incident refers to the Sedney Street Massacre in 1911, where the "Secretary of the Navy" personally arrived at the scene to direct the operation)

General Winter wanted to argue, but knew it would be useless, so he could only send a cryptic telegram to Charles.

…

Charles couldn't help but laugh when he understood the meaning of the telegram.

The Battle of the Dardanelles was launched because the frontal attack was unsuccessful, so a new battlefield was opened up from the flank.

Now, Charles has won the victory on the front line, and they are dragging their feet for their own personal political interests!

(End of this chapter)