Chapter 954

Germans are grateful, but they also hold grudges.

To be precise, countries should talk about "interests" rather than "gratitude" and "grudges", which seems naive.

But it is quite different if we consider the specific situation.

Charles knew that in the future the German emperor and his regime would be overthrown and a democratically elected regime would be established.

One of the characteristics of a democratically elected government is that those in power should take the emotions and ideas of citizens into consideration as much as possible.

If the German people generally believed that the British and American governments supported the German emperor and persecuted Germany during World War I, and dragged Germany into the war in order to obtain loans, and finally made Germany bear huge reparations and made its citizens suffer.

At that time, the German people would regard Britain and the United States as enemies and the initiators of putting shackles on Germany and forcing it to sign unequal treaties.

France and Charles are a light in the hearts of the German people.

Charles always supported the German people and was the one who least wanted war. He had nothing but favors for Germany.

Although Charles defeated the German army, it was to defend the country, and there is nothing wrong with anyone doing so.

What's more, it was Germany that started the war.

Charles did not blame the German people. He only repaid evil with kindness against Emperor Wilhelm II and helped the German people overthrow the autocratic regime and liberate them from the slavery of the Emperor.

The German people have no reason to hate France or Charles. Not only that, Charles is Germany's benefactor.

Under this kind of public opinion, the German authorities had no reason to attack France and break the Maginot Line as soon as the war broke out as they had done in history.

Even if those in power want to do this, they will face doubts from the military and civilians:

"Why should we attack France, who has been helping us?"

"France has Charles, who has the most powerful army. Is it wise to attack France?"

"What reason do we have to attack France? If we repay kindness with hatred, who in the world will help Germany in the future?"

…

Of course, Charles is well aware that these are unreliable, and his motto is "Never leave the decision-making power to others."

So what Charles has to do is to turn the seemingly useless "super line of defense" in his hand into a useful line of defense.

The defense line was built in the middle of the Franco-German border and was insurmountable, even filling the gap in the Ardennes Mountains.

Then, behind this line of defense, Charles continued to develop France's navy, army and air force, turning it into a major military power and a powerful nation.

In addition, there is Charles, the "Mars of France", in charge.

France to the west of Germany is an iron wall. As long as the German authorities are not stupid, they are unlikely to head in this direction.

As a result, the German army could only fight eastward on land and could only attack Britain at sea and in the air.

France, on the other hand, can remain neutral and watch the fight between tigers from the mountain.

(Note: Historically, Britain and France also had this intention when they built the Maginot Line: to build an impenetrable line of defense on the Franco-German border so that Germany could not attack. Britain was across the Channel and then implemented a policy of appeasement towards Germany to loosen its constraints. As a result, Germany could only attack the Eastern Front with different ideologies. Unexpectedly, Germany attacked France first.)

…

Charles continued to modify the design of the "Super Defense Line".

The biggest drawback of this line of defense is that it is "too passive". All defenses and firepower, as well as transportation and ammunition reserves are on the ground and underground and cannot move, just waiting for the enemy to attack.

To change this, it should be able to have both offensive and defensive capabilities.

It is not easy to break through the defense line. In the future, the Germans will transform the Hindenburg Line into the "Siegfried Line" to confront the "Super Line".

It is difficult for mobile forces, armored forces, etc. to move forward to fight, which will cause heavy casualties.

Then the "attack" can only be placed on the second line.

Charles plans to establish several military bases behind the "cross-level defense line" to deploy mechanized troops and strengthen road and railway infrastructure.

Once the "super defense line" is in danger or breached by the enemy, the military base in the rear will immediately launch a counterattack against the enemy that has broken into the defense line.

At this time, the guard came forward and reported: "General, Queen Mary is here, she wants to talk to you!"

"Queen Marie?" Charles almost forgot the name. It took him a while to remember that she was the Queen of Romania.

"Let her in!"

Charles knew what Queen Marie was up to.

After the French army occupied Saarbrücken, the German army stopped its offensive in the Italian direction and retreated completely, but still maintained its offensive in the Romanian direction.

Charles muttered to himself, "It would be enough to have the representative in Paris come. Does it require the Queen to fly in person from Romania?"

It was indeed safe to fly during World War I, but after all, you had to fly over the airspace of a hostile country.

Soon, the charming Queen Marie appeared in front of Charles.

"Long time no see, Lieutenant General." She looked around and teased with a smile, "I thought you would choose another place to meet."

Charles glanced at the British and American headquarters on both sides. Although there were many people and eyes, it didn't matter. There was nothing that couldn't be known by others.

Charles leaned back in his chair and got straight to the point: "I know about Romania. The Germans have not withdrawn."

"Yes." Queen Marie breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Charles with gratitude, which showed that Charles was always concerned about the safety of Romania.

She took the briefcase from the attendant and handed the documents to Charles as she sat down on the chair:

"These are the numbers and strength of the German troops in Romania. We have conducted as detailed a reconnaissance as possible."

"I wonder if your troops could continue their attack eastwards from Saarbrücken, pretending to attack Austria-Hungary."

"At the same time, we continue to warn Germany through the League of Nations, so as to force the German army to stop the attack."

(The picture above shows the direction that Queen Marie hoped Charles would attack, so that she could form a pincer attack on the Austro-Hungarian Empire and force it to cease fire.)

Charles replied: "I'm afraid it's not as simple as you think, Queen. We are attacking the Hindenburg Line and the Germans are still resisting."

This is both true and not true.

The Allied forces were indeed attacking the Hindenburg Line, but it was the British and American forces fighting, and the French army stopped in Saarbrücken and did not advance further.

If there is no benefit, why would the French army fight for you?

Queen Marie smiled softly, took out another document from her briefcase, and handed it to Charles in a lazy manner: "Don't worry, Lieutenant General, we have what you need."

Charles took it and took a look. It turned out to be a share in the Campina oil field, the second largest oil field in Romania.

Queen Mary reminded:

"I must remind you, Admiral."

"Once these oil fields were occupied by the Germans, even if they were later recaptured."

"Their equity will also be redistributed, do you understand what I mean?"

Ciel didn't object and nodded in agreement.

This means the Shire must keep them!

(End of this chapter)