Chapter 661: Bypassing Charles and defeating the enemy

I wish you all a happy new year and a prosperous Year of the Snake!

The young author wishes everyone a happy new year, and hopes that everyone will always smile and have good luck!

…

Under Charles' leadership, the "freedom of navigation" of the French navy and merchant ships underwent fundamental changes and even reversals.

Before this, French ships had no freedom in the Atlantic Ocean and could even be said to be under the control of the British Royal Navy.

Under the pretext of war, Britain controlled traffic in most sea areas, especially the English Channel. Any ship passing through had to be inspected and guided and escorted by warships, including French merchant ships and fleets.

The British reason was: the inspection was to prevent merchant ships from carrying contraband to Germany, and the guidance and escort were to prevent ships from mistakenly entering minefields, which was for the safety of all ships.

These seem reasonable, but in fact they ignore France's territorial rights.

If the British Royal Navy can do this, can the French Navy also blockade the strait on the French side and inspect British merchant ships and the Royal Navy?

Does the passage of the British Royal Navy also require the consent and "escort" of the French Navy?

The rights and interests of both parties are equal. Originally, whatever the British Royal Navy can do, the French Navy should also be able to do.

But the French Parliament did not have such backbone. They took it for granted that the British Royal Navy was the best in the world and believed that the French Navy could not rival it. So not only did they not resist, they also thought of moving the Brest shipyard and naval port to Toulon.

The result was that when Charles' army penetrated into Antwerp, the French Navy clearly had the ability to reinforce Antwerp, but was still strangled by the British Royal Navy.

All this changed under Charles's operation.

Charles used the German Navy to clamp down on the British Royal Navy. Although there was no explicit agreement, the two sides had reached a certain degree of tacit understanding.

The German Navy only attacked British convoys and merchant ships, and turned a blind eye to merchant ships flying the French flag even if they had no escort fleet.

Charles explained it as: "The Germans knew that the French destroyers could detect their submarines, and the French also had torpedo attack planes, so the Germans did not dare to act rashly."

The French escort fleet also reciprocated the favor. Even when British merchant ships were attacked nearby and cried for help again and again, the French escort fleet remained indifferent.

Charles has even more reason for this:

"Our warships are needed to protect our merchant ships, and we don't have any extra ships to rescue them."

"And we are not sure whether the Germans are using a tactic of luring the tiger away from the mountain. They may wait for us to come to the rescue and then take the opportunity to attack the French merchant ships."

"We must first protect the interests of our own merchant ships before considering other things. Any country would do the same."

…

This made the British Minister of Munitions and the Secretary of the Admiralty very angry, but they were helpless and could not even blame anyone.

Alliance with the German Navy?

It doesn't exist, we just do what we are supposed to do.

The British Royal Navy is the world's number one navy. You have always claimed that you do not need the French Navy to intervene. Now the French Navy has only the ability to protect itself and is not yet able to help the British Royal Navy!

As a result, a very magical scene appeared in the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea:

The British Royal Navy is responsible for blocking the English Channel. They still check, guide and escort, just like guarding a house.

However, merchant ships from various countries paid "protection fees" to France and were incorporated into Charles' escort fleet, because they knew that only the French fleet could protect their safety.

…

At the General Staff in Berlin, the map before Falkenhayn extended to the North Sea.

Originally, the North Sea did not need to be considered by the Chief of Staff Falkenhayn, after all, he commanded the army and the German Navy had almost no chance of participating in the war.

But the situation is different now.

The German navy became increasingly active, even to the point of overpowering the army.

This can be both good and bad for Falkenham.

The good thing is that the active navy can reduce the pressure on the army, especially after the control of supplies shifted to the Shire, the combat effectiveness of the British Expeditionary Force was significantly weakened.

The bad thing is that the army's resources were diverted to the navy, and even the newly developed bombers and R&D teams were given to the navy free of charge.

Falkenhayn had also intended to use it as a secret weapon to bomb the Shire's airfield.

Charles was unaware that Germany had bombers and was therefore unprepared. When the bombers suddenly appeared over his airport, they would likely catch the French army off guard and destroy a large number of Camel fighters.

By then, Germany will be able to regain air superiority with the help of new fighter jets.

Now, everything has come to nothing!

"General, Colonel Erwin is here." the guard reported.

Falkenhayn said "hmm" and closed the file: "Take him to the conference room. I'll wait for him there."

"Yes, General."

…

There were only two people in the huge conference room: Colonel Falkenhayn and Colonel Elwin.

This time Falkenhayn did not call Lieutenant General Nicolas. After reading the combat report, he felt that Lieutenant General Nicolas was the one who restricted Colonel Erwin's performance.

In the battle of Antwerp, Lieutenant General Nicolas insisted on using heavy troops to ensure the safety of the defense lines on both wings, which made Colonel Erwin seriously insufficient in the force for the penetration.

It turned out that Lieutenant General Nicolas's deployment did not work at all. Charles' troops went straight to Hasselt instead of returning to support Antwerp.

"I'm very sorry, General." Colonel Erwin said with a guilty look on his face: "I have failed to live up to your expectations."

Falkenhayn raised his hand to stop Colonel Erwin from continuing.

"I won't hold you responsible, Colonel." Falkenhayn said expressionlessly, "If I held everyone who was defeated by Charles responsible, then Germany might not have any officers left to command at the front."

But Falkenhayn added: "However, there is no reason for the battlefield, do you understand?"

"Yes, General," Colonel Erwin stepped forward and answered.

Defeat is defeat, even if the opponent is Charles, you still have to bear the losses and responsibilities of defeat.

Falkenhayn motioned for Colonel Elwin to sit down in front of him and asked directly, "What are your plans?"

Colonel Erwin had a look of helplessness on his face:

"I think it will be difficult for us to defeat Ciel head-on."

"Whether it's strategy, equipment, or the quality of the armored forces he has, they are much better than ours."

"Trying to defeat him head-on is just courting humiliation. Even if you can, you'll have to pay a heavy price."

Falkenhayn's eyes were filled with doubt: "You mean, we can bypass the Shire and defeat the enemy?"

"The British, General," Colonel Erwin replied. "Charles' main force is in Belgium, facing the fortress of Liege. He has nothing to penetrate."

Falkenhayn seemed to understand what Colonel Elwin meant.

The Liege Fortress was a bridgehead used by the Belgians to block the German army. It was adjacent to the Dutch border to the north and the Ardennes Forest to the south, and it was difficult for Charles' armored corps to pose a threat to it.

This allowed the German 1st Tank Division to break away and attack other positions.

So……

Falkenhayn turned his eyes to the map on the wall and found the location of the Somme River.

(End of this chapter)