Chapter 812 US Army Landing Day

It was a sunny day with a cloudless blue sky, and a convoy was traveling on the road to Dunkirk.

July 14th is France's National Day.

Originally, France was going to hold a military parade in Paris to boost morale, but the authorities eventually canceled the plan due to the incessant bombing of the "Paris Cannon".

Gathering a crowd under gunpoint is obviously not a wise choice.

Charles, who was sitting in the car, made a joke when he heard the news:

"What would happen if the Paris cannon happened to hit the Arc de Triomphe and blew a hole in it or even collapsed it?"

“Will the citizens of France be frustrated by this?”

"Or do you just surrender?"

Tijani, who was sitting nearby, answered with certainty: "No, General, they won't."

Then he explained: "Because you are the Arc de Triomphe in the hearts of French citizens."

Charles snorted, "If you were half as good at flattery as you are at battlefield, the Germans would have surrendered long ago!"

Tijani laughed. “I’m telling the truth, but there’s another reason.”

"You mean the U.S. military?"

“Yes!” Tijani nodded. “The United States’ declaration of war and decision to send troops have made everyone believe that victory in this war belongs to us.”

Ciel nodded.

This is both good and bad for Charles.

The good news is that in order to help Shire expand its production capacity, the United States provided a low-interest loan of US$2 billion in one go.

This instantly gave Shire enough funds and equipment to acquire high-quality domestic assets.

Charles is secretly abusing public power for personal gain.

Once the coal mines, steel, power stations, etc. controlled by Shire, which have a large number of equipment from the United States, expand their production, it means that the share of Shire's domestic assets will increase, and Shire's "macro-control" will become possible.

The bad thing is that because the United States declared war on Germany, everyone was confident of victory.

This caused the asset price to rise again, and because of Shire's rush to buy it, it became "scarce", causing it to triple in an instant.

Charles immediately decided to suspend the acquisition as the stock price was high at that time and it was obviously not cost-effective to buy in.

He planned to use this opportunity to make the capitalists bleed again:

At this time, capitalists generally believed that there would be no suspense after the US military joined the war, and the Allies would definitely win, so they couldn't wait to buy in large quantities.

Charles thought that it was time to give them a big surprise.

Capitalists rely on funds and good news to operate.

And Charles's manipulation relies on controlling the outcome of the war!

This is definitely "backstage dealing" and "stock market manipulation", a shameless crime.

But Charles could leave everyone speechless.

After all, the battlefield is changing rapidly, who can say that Charles is in control of its victory or defeat?

As I was thinking about it, the car gradually slowed down.

"We've arrived at the port, General," the driver reminded.

When Charles looked up, he saw British soldiers and people who came to welcome him standing on both sides of the road. Some of them held flowers in their hands, and some held small national flags from various countries, which fluttered in the sea breeze.

Today is the day when the first batch of American troops land. Two days ago, Pershing strongly invited Charles to the scene.

"You are their idol, General." Pershing rushed to the Bizangxi training base for this purpose: "If you could be here, I believe it would boost their morale!"

Charles couldn't refuse. After all, the weapons and equipment used by the American soldiers in the future would be produced by Bernard, so he could be considered Charles's financial sponsor.

Users are God and must be pleased!

The car slowly stopped by the roadside, and Charles opened the door and stepped out.

When people saw clearly that it was Charles, they screamed and crowded over, completely forgetting that this was a ceremony to welcome the American troops.

Fortunately, the British soldiers were well prepared. They quickly formed a human wall and tried to keep people outside the cordon.

Pershing came up quickly and shook hands with Charles enthusiastically: "Welcome, General. On behalf of all the soldiers, I would like to thank you!"

"This is what I should do, General." Charles answered modestly: "Welcome to the warriors on the battlefield. Just like a beacon lighting the way forward, I am honored to be their guide!"

Pershing laughed heartily: "Well said, you are worthy of being called the guide!"

Kitchener and Haig then stepped forward and shook hands with Charles, their expressions not quite natural:

"I've heard a lot about you, Lieutenant General."

"Nice to meet you, Admiral!"

Charles's eyes lingered on Kitchener. "Your Excellency, Marshal, I may need some translations. The British Expeditionary Force is very experienced in this area. I wonder if you are willing to give them up?"

Pershing almost couldn't hold back his laughter and pretended to cough to cover it up.

Good boy, Charles hit two pain points of Kitchener in one sentence:

"Borrowed in translation" is a dig at Kitchener for losing the right to train American troops.

Saying that "the British Expeditionary Force is very experienced in this area" is an allusion to the fact that the British Expeditionary Force is not good at fighting.

Kitchener and Haig were both veterans, so how could they not understand the meaning of Charles' words? Their faces were immediately filled with black lines, but they were unable to react.

Kitchener suppressed his anger and squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: "Of course, Lieutenant General, this is what I should do."

Charles thanked him politely.

While waiting, Pershing took the time to ask Charles for advice:

"That's right. I know I need to expand the team to ensure firepower advantage, but I don't plan to increase the establishment."

"In short, it is an infantry division of about 27,000 people."

"That's more than your 17,000 people. Do you think that's feasible?"

Charles responded:

"Of course, General."

"This is a good and creative idea. It simplifies command while ensuring the firepower of the troops."

“Like I said, this is in the American context.”

After receiving Charles's affirmation, Pershing was delighted:

"Yes, I think so too."

"Our soldiers may be able to get training and equipment may be purchased."

"But mid-level and junior commanders have no experience in combat, so the command needs to be simplified as much as possible."

This idea is correct, and it also proves Pershing's military talent.

With the same number of 27,000 people, it would be much more complicated in terms of command and coordination if they were organized into two divisions rather than one division.

The former will involve coordination between divisions and require an army-level command to unify operations.

The latter requires only a divisional command staff.

More importantly, to maintain the tactic of "firepower advantage", it does not require too many commanders, but rather requires more soldiers and more equipment to concentrate forces to attack a certain point.

Hubbard also took this opportunity to ask Tijani through an interpreter about issues that needed attention in logistics supply.

In sharp contrast to the people who were having a lively conversation were Kitchener and Haig who were standing aside.

They were deserted and no one paid any attention to them, as if they were just standing guard, staring at each other with embarrassment written all over their faces.

Fortunately, the lookout on the platform shouted: "Here it comes, the Leviathan!"

(End of this chapter)