Chapter 435: Can’t you let the Germans go?

The battle of Mons lasted for five days. After a hard fight and suffering tens of thousands of casualties, the German army finally gained the upper hand and controlled most of the area.

Falkenhayn considered the sacrifice worthwhile, as it opened a gap in the Shire's encirclement and enabled the evacuation of the remaining 110,000 troops.

At the same time, Falkenhayn made full preparations for the upcoming attack by Shire.

The streets and alleys of Mons were blocked by obstacles built by the German army. It was not difficult to do this in the city. All they had to do was pile stones and debris between the buildings and then lay barbed wire. An infantry company could block a street and prevent the enemy from attacking.

Even for the streets left for the German army to pass, Falkenhayn ordered his soldiers to bury explosives on the buildings on both sides.

Once Charles' armored forces arrived, they would only need directional blasting to use the ruins of the buildings to block the streets and make it impossible for the tanks to move.

Falkenhayn thought he had found a way to deal with tanks. Cities were the graves of tanks, which was why Charles had always hoped to pull the main force of the German army into open areas.

In this regard, Falkenhayn gave Colonel Moritz full recognition: "You did a great job, Colonel. If anyone can defeat Charles, it must be you."

"Thank you, General," Colonel Moritz replied, his exhausted face showing some excitement. "But we can't underestimate Charles. He has always been our most troublesome opponent, and the outcome is still undecided."

"Yes," Falkenhayn agreed. He leaned back in his chair, looking at Mons on the map, and said in a relaxed tone, "But now, we can breathe a sigh of relief."

Colonel Moritz nodded. At this point in the battle, even Charles could not stop the German army from breaking through.

He was very proud of this, because that was Charles, Charles, who was called "Mars of France", and he was actually at a disadvantage when playing against him.

This means that after this battle, his name will immediately become known to the world, just like the name Charles became popular all over the world.

(The picture above shows Mars, the god of earth, war, agriculture and spring in Roman mythology. He is one of the twelve main gods of Rome, the lover of Venus, and the most important god worshipped by the Roman legions)

Just as Colonel Moritz was immersed in his own world, a signalman suddenly ran out of the telecommunications room and reported nervously: "General, Colonel, Charles' armored forces appeared in the village of Pourville."

"Puville?" Colonel Moritz and Falkenhayn bent down at the same time to look for its location on the map.

When the moving fingers finally stopped at the location of Puwell Village, the two men's faces changed instantly. They looked up at each other, and saw shock in each other's eyes.

"It, it's outside Mons." Moritz's eyes flashed with fear.

"Charles has created a new encirclement." Falkenhayn's eyes were dull: "He has surrounded us again!"

…

Not only Falkenhayn and Moritz didn't expect this, but Tijani, who had been following Charles, also didn't expect this.

As the fuel became more and more sufficient, Tijani's tense nerves gradually relaxed.

He, who had been paying attention to the war, threw the telegram in his hand and glared at Charles: "Tell me, you liar, what shameful things have you done?"

"What?" Charles was confused by Tijani's sudden words.

"It's obvious that you are an expert in deception," Tijani said seriously. "The Germans have not yet woken up to your lies, even though the British told them the truth."

Then he pointed his finger at Charles in the air, as if he could see through him:

"So, I have reason to suspect that you have deceived us in some way."

"And we knew nothing, just like the Germans do now!"

Charles rolled his eyes and replied half-truthfully: "Okay, I admit that I deceived your feelings, everyone's!"

Tijani laughed: "This is much more serious than deceiving the Germans!"

Charles pondered Tijani's words and asked, "You seem certain that the 'Secretary of the Navy' told the Germans the truth?"

This was something that Charles didn't know, and the "Lady in White" hadn't found out about it either.

Tijani nodded proudly: "You seem to have forgotten my father. Things related to the navy usually cannot escape his eyes and ears."

Charles said "Oh" and understood.

Wells had a complicated relationship with the navy, and the "Secretary of the Admiralty" was likely to be in contact with the French Minister of the Navy, so Wells could obtain first-hand information.

In this regard, the newly formed "Ladies in White" is unable to do so. After all, it is a non-governmental organization, and the vast majority of its members are lower-class citizens, and there is an insurmountable gap between them and the upper class.

As if showing off in front of Charles, Tijani told what happened: "Although the 'Secretary of the Navy' didn't say anything, a double agent mysteriously disappeared a few days ago. The reason we know about this is because we discovered this spy and informed the British, and the Second Bureau has been keeping an eye on his movements."

Charles hummed. Needless to say, this double agent became the victim of this "secret war".

It has two possibilities:

The "Secretary of the Navy" made him disappear in order to silence him.

Or maybe it was the Germans who discovered his identity as a double agent.

Charles believed it was the latter, as the Germans were still attacking Mons, which meant they were not trusting the truth provided by the "Secretary of the Navy".

"Want to know how my father praised you?" Tijani said.

"Wells?" said Charles, smiling. "He doesn't seem to praise people very often."

"It's not that I don't praise him often, but I almost never do." Tijani complained: "Think about it, I grew up in this oppressive atmosphere. This may be the reason why I always go against him now."

At this point, Tijani's eyes were filled with envy: "But he praised you. He said that if you concentrate on doing business or intend to enter politics, no one will be your opponent, and the whole of France will be yours."

Charles nodded seriously: "He is right, General, he is a man with great vision!"

Tijani let out an exaggerated "Ha!", his eyes turned into one of disdain, and he cursed, "Shame on you!"

Then Tijani looked at the map and said unconvincedly: "Anyway, you succeeded. We collected enough fuel. Now, when do you plan to attack Mons?"

"Attack Mons?" Charles shook his head: "I didn't say to attack Mons!"

"Then we..." Tijani's eyes wandered over the map: "Are you satisfied with just defeating Tibitz?"

Then Tijani asked himself and answered: "Perhaps you are right. Mons is indeed not suitable for armored operations. That is a problem that Foch should consider."

"No, General," Charles answered. "We are going to attack Pourville, a village with less than a hundred inhabitants."

Tijani quickly found Pwil on the map. He looked up at Charles in astonishment: "God, can't you let the Germans go? They just jumped out of the encirclement!"

(End of this chapter)