Chapter 440 A Very Clever Intention

Lieutenant Colonel Fernando walked into the club. He sat down at the bar and nodded to Lucia: "Same old, absinthe."

"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel."

Lucia skillfully poured 30 ml of absinthe into the cup, placed a special flat spoon with holes horizontally on the mouth of the cup, and carefully placed a piece of sugar cube on it to dilute the bitterness of the wine.

Then, Lucia took the ice water and slowly poured it in, stopping when it reached 90 ml.

"Your wine, Lieutenant Colonel." Lucia pushed the glass in front of Lieutenant Colonel Fernando.

Lieutenant Colonel Fernando kept his eyes on the wine glass. After taking it, he couldn't wait to take a sip. Then he breathed a sigh of relief with satisfaction, as if he had put down a heavy burden.

"Have you been busy lately?" Lucia maintained a polite smile: "You seem exhausted."

Chatting with guests is a good habit. It not only helps the club to win more business, but is also the main way for Lucia to obtain intelligence.

"Busy?" Lieutenant Colonel Fernand replied: "No, not at all. Charles has done everything for us. But you know what's more painful? General Gallieni is trying to find another Charles among us!"

Garrel beside him couldn't help laughing: "Then he must be disappointed. There is only one Ciel in the world."

As he said this, Garrel glanced at Lucia with envy.

"Of course." Lieutenant Colonel Fernan replied distressedly: "We are all going crazy. I wish Charles had never worked in the city defense headquarters."

After taking another sip of wine, Lieutenant Colonel Fernand complained under the influence of alcohol: "We are suffering here, but Charles is having a good time outside..."

Lucia was stunned: "Romantic and happy?"

"I'm sorry," Colonel Fernan replied, "I meant fighting. That seems to be his version of 'joyful living'. After all, he's pretty good at it."

Everyone around started laughing.

"Not long ago," Lieutenant Colonel Fernan continued, "Charles threatened the Germans. He dropped leaflets to the Germans: If you dare to harm the Belgians, I will send you to the guillotine one by one! God, this is what I dream of doing!"

Lucia, who was mixing a cocktail, was stunned when she heard this, and her movements slowed down unconsciously: "What did you say? Charles threatened the Germans?"

"Yes." Lieutenant Colonel Fernan nodded. "And it seems to have worked. The Germans calmed down. After all, they don't want to lose their lives."

"Is this true?" Lucia was doubtful. Was this definitely not drunken talk?

"Of course." Lieutenant Colonel Fernando replied, then looked at Lucia with a puzzled look: "It's not a big deal, there's no need for me to lie!"

Lucia suddenly burst into tears of joy, put down the cocktail shaker, hugged Gabriel and cried excitedly.

She was wrong, Charles could not only save Belgium, he could save her family!

Lieutenant Colonel Fernando was confused. Did he say something wrong?

…

Antwerp, Charles' headquarters.

At this time, Charles finally had time to visit the fortress where he was.

There are two sizes of fortresses in Antwerp, one is pentagonal and the other is triangular. The former has more space and more artillery.

The fortress where Charles is located is pentagonal. It has a total of 2 150MM guns, 4 120MM guns, 2 200MM mortars, and 4 77MM rapid-fire guns.

(Note: The triangular fortress lacks 2 120MM guns, and may lack 1 mortar depending on space conditions.)

To Charles' surprise, except for the 77MM rapid-fire gun, all other guns were equipped with dedicated elevators, which could lower the entire turret to the ground to avoid attack when necessary.

This is a good idea. It prevents the enemy from attacking it, and then it can be raised up and bombarded when the enemy infantry attacks.

But the German "Big Bertha" was not aimed at these turrets, but at knocking down the entire fortress.

Charles became interested and asked his men to start the elevator to sink a 150MM cannon into the ground.

This was not a good experience. The engine roared, but its sound was trapped inside the fortress and could not be heard outside. This made the fortress like a bell, making a "buzzing" noise when it was struck, and Charles and others were inside the bell.

The air was soon filled with the smell of gasoline and exhaust. The air became turbid and small particles could be seen floating around under the light with the naked eye. It was clearly man-made smog.

Charles quickly called a halt, complaining in his heart about this inhuman design.

But when you think about it, it seems normal. This is a world war, and ensuring safety is the most important thing. If you consider comfort, it means money and time, which is not something a small country like Belgium can afford.

At this time, Albert I walked in, covering his nose.

"We should go outside, Your Majesty," Ciel suggested. "You might not be able to stand the smell."

"No, it's all right," Albert I replied, "I can just experience the hardships that the soldiers go through in battle."

As he said this, he put his hand down and tried to breathe as usual, but soon he started coughing due to choking.

In the end, a few people chose to "hide from the limelight" outside the fortress. The open iron gate behind them continued to emit smoke, as if there was a fire inside.

"I am alive again." Tijani kept taking deep breaths and sighed, "Give me a tent, I will sleep outside tonight."

"Where are the guards?" Charles asked back, "Are they with you? I don't care whether you are safe or not, but I believe they are unwilling to die with you."

Tijani rolled his eyes, this guy was more concerned about the guards' lives.

"It wasn't originally like this." Albert I was a little embarrassed: "Each engine has a dedicated ventilation hole, but the ventilation system seems to have a problem due to long-term disrepair."

Charles nodded and said "hmm". The Germans did not have much interest in maintaining it after they captured it, which means it has not been moved for nearly a year. It is a miracle that it is still functioning now.

After a pause, Albert I asked, "Commodore, I am thinking about something. I wonder if you are interested?"

"What?"

"It's like this," Albert I said, "There is a piece of land for sale in the north of Antwerp. It's very cheap, only three million francs, less than half the market price. I was wondering why you don't buy it and build a factory here? I mean, Antwerp has a port and is only separated from Britain by a strait. It's a good place for you to do business."

Tijani exclaimed, “Wow!” “Your Majesty, you have already started to think about post-war reconstruction.”

"Of course." Albert I nodded with a smile: "Everyone knows that Charles is not only good at leading troops in battle, but also a very good capitalist!"

Ciel smiled.

He believed that the reason why Albert I was so eager to attract his investment with such a favorable price was not only to express his gratitude, but also for other reasons.

A very clever idea!

(End of this chapter)