Chapter 118 Intentional Misunderstanding

Ypres, Belgium.

The heavy rain hit the ground hard, and the dense water network covered the earth like a waterfall. There were streams and quagmires gathered together everywhere, putting the whole world under the mist.

Between the enemy and our own defense lines was a dark gray death zone several kilometers wide. The scattered craters and sparsely populated corpses seemed to indicate that the battle here had just begun.

A dozen kilometers to the west of it, behind an inconspicuous hill lies a civil engineering structure of a dozen square meters, which is the headquarters of the Belgian army.

Major General Charles, commander of the First Belgian Army, advised King Albert I in the rain:

"Your Majesty, I think we should retreat!"

"Ypres formed a salient in the entire line of defense, and the west was flat and the east was hilly, which gave the Germans an advantage over us."

"And we are naturally surrounded by the Germans. It is difficult for us to hold on!"

Albert I was silent for a while, then calmly asked, "General, where can we retreat to?"

"As long as we retreat about 20 kilometers to the rear, we can level the entire defense line!" Major General Charles said to the map, "It will be much easier this way!"

Albert I asked again: "Is that Ypres? Is that Belgium?"

Charles was silent. Twenty kilometers behind him, they had crossed the border into France.

Albert I said earnestly:

"Ypres is the last Belgian land, General!"

"Losing her means the loss of the country, means failure, and means Belgium has withdrawn from this war!"

"It also means that the Belgian military and civilians will lose confidence and give up resistance!"

Therefore, Ypres could not be abandoned at all costs, even though there were no fortresses or fortifications here, and the defenders had only six weak Belgian divisions and two understaffed British and French divisions, while the German army on the front might have 11 divisions.

The reason why I say "possibly" is because Belgium at that time couldn't even figure out the enemy's situation.

Charles was silent for a while, then pointed to a point on the map and said, "Then we have no choice but to open the Nieuwpoort Floodgate. The seawater will flow back into Ypres to buy us time. Only in this way can we wait for the arrival of reinforcements!"

This time it was Albert I's turn to remain silent. He was unwilling to do so until the last moment. Although it could temporarily block the German attack and cause them trouble, the people of Ypres would also suffer greatly.

"Where are the reinforcements?" Albert I asked in a muffled voice.

"The French only have one cavalry division!" Charles replied, "The British have one infantry division, and they are stationed north of the Boreal Forest!"

This was far from enough. On this flat terrain, one German division could defeat two Allied divisions.

Albert I asked again: "What about Charles? Did he respond?"

In the eyes of Albert I, all the reinforcements from Charles were useful. As long as he stood here, the morale of all the depressed soldiers and civilians would be boosted as if they had been given a shot of adrenaline.

"No!" Major General Charles looked a little embarrassed: "General Gallieni believes that we have not yet solved our internal problems, so it is not appropriate to send Charles to command!"

Albert I just hummed and said nothing.

This was indeed a problem. Even he could not guarantee that if Charles appeared here, would someone try to secretly hand Charles over to the Germans like General Guise did.

After all, the war now seemed hopeless, and most people believed that Belgium was heading for failure, and everything would end easily if Charles was handed over to the Germans!

Albert I walked slowly to the gate of the fortification. The rain outside had gradually subsided and even some sunlight could be seen.

This is the weather at the seaside, the rain comes quickly and goes away quickly.

But this is not a good thing, as the Germans often launch attacks at this time.

Sure enough, soon there were several artillery fire from the front line, and then a communications soldier covered in mud crawled in almost on all fours.

He stumbled to his feet, saluted weakly to Albert I, and reported: "Your Majesty, the Germans have launched another attack, and this time the attack is more fierce than the last time!"

Albert I did not respond. He stared at the map in front of him, and finally said to Major General Charles helplessly: "Prepare to open the sluice gates!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Major General Charles immediately instructed his staff to pass on the order.

However……

The signalman guarding the radio station suddenly stood up and reported: "Your Majesty, General Gallieni called and said that France will send artillery and aircraft to reinforce Ypres. The aircraft will be ready in two hours, and the artillery will arrive tonight! Your Majesty, please hold on until tomorrow!"

Albert I smiled, and the image of the muddy ground outside the fortifications emerged in his mind.

The artillery should not be able to come, Albert I thought. Even if they came, it would be meaningless as they would always be stuck in the mud and unable to move, and the shells could not be transported up.

As for the plane, is there a place to land?

Or land to provide reinforcements to Ypres?

Just as he was thinking, the signalman added: "General Gallieni said that these troops are commanded by Charles!"

"Charles?" Albert I turned around suddenly and stared at the signalman in a daze.

The others were also stunned, staring at the signalman.

Ciel will come again? Did I hear that correctly?

Albert I quickly stepped forward and snatched the telegram. He read it for a while under the dim light, then excitedly raised the telegram in the air, his voice trembling with excitement: "This is true, Charles is coming to reinforce us!"

The headquarters instantly erupted in cheers. Some people excitedly rushed out of the door, crawled through the mud for a while, and shouted to the soldiers hiding in the trenches and bunkers, "Charles is coming to reinforce us! Charles is coming!"

Cheers immediately rang out on the battlefield, and the soldiers passed the good news one by one, and there was thunderous cheers one after another.

Major General Charles took the telegram from Albert I and looked at it in confusion, then looked up at Albert I with questioning eyes.

Literally, this does not mean that Charles will reinforce Ypres, but that Charles will command these troops to reinforce Ypres.

Albert I smiled and shook his head slightly. Major General Charles immediately understood that Albert I actually knew this and he had deliberately misunderstood the meaning of the telegram.

Major General Charles acquiesced to this approach and asked, "Your Majesty, do we still need to open the sluice gates?"

"No!" Albert I's tone became relaxed: "We have Charles, of course we don't need seawater, let the Germans come!"

Major General Charles nodded. With the current morale of the Belgian army, it should not be a problem to hold on and wait for reinforcements.

It turned out that Charles had such magical power that the soldiers who were about to collapse turned into fearless warriors just by hearing that he was coming!

(The picture above shows the real scene of Ypres after the rain)

Thanks to Oak Duke for the tip! Thank you very much!

(End of this chapter)