Chapter 486 Kick Xia Fei Down

There was silence in the House of Representatives, and the members of the House of Representatives did not make any noise, which was uncharacteristic.

Everyone was staring at Kanais or at Charles. They wanted to find the answer from the two of them and wanted to know who won and who lost.

Kanais was stunned for a moment. Seeing Charles so calm, he secretly thought that something was wrong, but he still pretended to be calm and puffed out his chest: "I don't think there is anything else to say, Brigadier General, the result is already obvious, you failed to change the situation. I hope you can abide by our previous agreement..."

Charles didn't say anything. He sat steadily in the chair and looked at Kanais quietly.

"Really?" Major Jules asked back. He stood up, turned to the congressman behind him and announced loudly: "The Brigadier General led us to kill and wound more than 7,000 Germans last night, and his own casualties were only more than 300!"

There was an uproar among the parliamentarians, and then suddenly there was warm applause.

Previously on the battlefield of Verdun, the French casualties had always been greater than those of the German army, and much greater.

Especially during the French counterattack phase, the casualties reached tens of thousands every day, which was twice, three times or even more than that of the German army, and the front line made no progress at all.

As soon as Charles arrived, he caused more than 7,000 German casualties at the cost of more than 300 people, which completely changed the situation of the war.

Gallieni nodded with satisfaction. The little guy did it, and only he could do it!

Kanais's expression changed, but he quickly calmed down:

"The casualty data is not up to you, Major. This needs to be counted."

"Besides, it is difficult to get accurate data on German casualties."

"Besides, I don't think this changes the situation. You have been on the defensive the whole time..."

Major Jules interrupted Kanais: "No, General, you must not know that we launched a counterattack to pursue our victory."

Kanais was speechless, he really didn't know.

"You don't know that we have recaptured Fort Douaumont," Major Jules continued.

Kanais looked at Major Jules in disbelief, then looked at Charles: "No, this is impossible! This is not true!"

The parliamentarians were talking about it. It was a fortress, and the most important large fortress located in the center of Verdun. The Germans used more than 100,000 troops and thousands of artillery pieces, and it took them a whole day to take it down even though they were fully prepared.

Charles took the remnants of Verdun and recaptured it in just one night with such an absolutely inferior force?

Are you just bragging?

Even Gallieni couldn't believe it. This was not something that could be done by human power.

Major Jules continued:

"And the Douaumont Line. We have successfully recaptured the Douaumont Line, General."

"This cannot be faked, because our people are standing on this line of defense, guarding this fortress."

Then Major Jules showed the bloodstains on his uniform and said proudly:

"This is what was left over from the attack on Fort Douaumont."

"Now……"

Major Jules took out his pocket watch and looked at it: "Major General Lacoste should have announced the results of the battle to the newspaper. The whole world will receive this exciting victory news!"

Sure enough, cheers were heard from the streets.

The parliamentarians' entourage hurried in one after another, bringing the latest news from Verdun.

Armand said nothing, he just led the applause.

The congressmen followed suit, and the applause gradually increased and the pace became faster. Soon it became a loud clamor that lasted for several minutes.

Gallieni clapped his hands and shook his head slightly, his eyes always looking in the direction of Charles. He thought he knew Charles very well, but now it seemed that he only knew the surface.

Kanais on the podium didn't care about his loss of composure. He walked off the stage in embarrassment and ordered his subordinates to verify it.

His panic and embarrassment made the parliamentarians laugh, and someone shouted at him: "No one would lie about such a thing, unless it was Joffre!"

The MPs burst into laughter.

Joffre did indeed do such a thing. When Fort Douaumont fell, in order to avoid being blamed by the parliament, he deliberately concealed the fact on the grounds of "avoiding affecting the morale of the troops."

He thought that as long as he launched a counterattack and recaptured Fort Douaumont, he could pretend that it had never been lost. Unfortunately, Fort Douaumont was never recaptured, and it was only a day later that the truth could no longer be concealed and had to be exposed.

(Note: Joffre concealed the fact that Fort Douaumont fell, which was based on historical facts)

Armand stood up and walked slowly up to the podium, pretending to be helpless:

"Gentlemen, I once did not want to change the generals in the middle of the battle because I thought it was not a good thing."

"I also once thought that it was impossible to compare Charles with Joffre. After all, Joffre is three times the size of Charles."

The congressmen were amused, knowing that this was a joke about Joffre's obesity.

If you think about it carefully, there are indeed few people in the French army who can be so fat, even the generals.

Armand continued:

"However, Joffre's numerous attempts are not as good as Charles's one attempt."

"Using the same troops, on the same battlefield, it took Ciel less than a day."

"I don't think this can be explained by Ciel's cleverness. It can only mean one thing: our commander-in-chief is probably not doing his job."

The MPs nodded in agreement.

The fact that Charles could easily achieve such a result under so many restrictions can only prove Joffre's incompetence.

"He could even have a negative impact, because all he does besides eating and sleeping is order his troops to attack."

The deputies nodded again, and this seemed to be what Joffre did.

"Well then." Armand emphasized and spoke faster:

"Why do we still have someone like this in the position of commander-in-chief?"

"Will he lead his troops to death or lead France to defeat?"

"Or will it drag all of us into the abyss, into the quagmire of war and make us unable to extricate ourselves?"

"Is this what we want?!"

Armand's words were very inflammatory, and the parliamentarians stood up and shouted:

"No, we don't need this."

"Kick Xiafei down!"

"France doesn't need such a commander-in-chief!"

…

Kanais turned pale, he knew that Joffre was finished.

…

Lagden, the headquarters is still as peaceful as usual.

Xiafei had just finished breakfast and was sitting leisurely at his desk, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee.

"General." The staff officer stepped forward and reported tremblingly, "They said that our army had recaptured Fort Douaumont and the Douaumont Line last night."

Xia Fei said "hmm", and his first reaction was that this was good news.

But he changed his mind, turned his head and looked at the staff officer. After a moment's pause, he laughed: "Are you kidding? Recapture Fort Douaumont? And the Douaumont Line? They only have more than 7,000 people, while the Germans have more than 100,000!"

This is impossible. In just one night, are all Germans pigs?

The staff officer didn't dare to speak, for fear of getting into trouble.

At this time, the phone rang. It was Major General Lacoste calling.

Xiafei hurriedly put down his coffee cup and picked up the microphone. After listening for a while, he was stunned. He sat in the chair in a daze and didn't even notice that the microphone fell from his hand.

(End of this chapter)