Chapter 281 Tijani's persistence
In the Paris Chamber of Deputies, the "attack" on Gallieni became more intense:
"The Allied fleet had to stop its nighttime bombing. Do you know what this means?"
"The positions captured by the landing troops during the day would be beaten back by the enemy at night because there was no artillery support."
"Our troops have been fighting the enemy on the shore for a long time. After a long time, the Allies will only fail!"
…
Gallieni looked coldly at these parliamentarians who stood on the moral high ground, thinking, is this Charles' fault? He has warned the decision-makers again and again not to fight this battle.
Now that the situation has gotten like this, shouldn't we go find the people who made the decisions?
Greve stood up.
Unlike before, he seemed quite calm this time. He seemed to know that the situation had been decided and all he had to do now was give a final push.
"General," Grevi said lightly, "I understand your desire to protect Charles, but going to the battlefield is the duty of every soldier. If you always keep Charles by your side, it will be unfair to all the soldiers who suffer and even lose their lives on the battlefield!"
There was an immediate echo in the conference room.
Bastard, Gallieni cursed in his heart. Just one sentence put Charles and the soldiers at odds with each other, and would also make the soldiers' families hate Charles.
"Gentlemen!" Armand waved to the parliamentarians behind him. "We also hope that the military can guarantee Charles' safety. Even if we reach the Dardanelles, we hope that he will just stay on the warships in the rear. They should not encounter situations similar to 'Goliath'!"
Shameless, Gallieni gritted his teeth in hatred, and with just one sentence he put Charles' safety on the hands of the military.
But Gallieni said nothing, he just stood quietly on the stage waiting.
The meeting room gradually became quiet, as if they were waiting for Gallieni to give them a satisfactory answer.
"I'm very sorry!" Gallieni said calmly, "I can't fulfill your wishes!"
There was a burst of boos in the meeting hall.
Gallieni added: "Charles means that he doesn't want to stay on the safe battleship in the rear, he wants to land and fight with a troop!"
The meeting place fell silent instantly. Everyone stared at Gallieni in a daze. Many people even suspected that they had heard it wrongly.
"Yes." Gallieni nodded affirmatively: "He will go into battle and lead an army! So..."
Gallieni turned his eyes to Greve and said, with a double meaning: "As you wish, Mr. Greve!"
Grevi responded with a stiff smile, feeling quite bitter in his heart: Charles would rather lead an army to the battlefield than accept his advice and cooperate with him!
…
At the Brest Shipyards, Wells and Tijani are testing newly produced landing craft.
The two were surprised to find that there were basically no problems with it and it could be used normally as soon as it was produced. Wells even had workers go on it and act as soldiers through the entire process.
The test went incredibly smoothly. As soon as the pedal was lowered, the soldiers were able to rush to the shore through the open hatch.
Wells was a little worried: "If the enemy's machine guns were pointed directly at our hatch, the moment the pedals were lowered, everyone on the ship would be shot to pieces!"
"Don't worry, father." Tijani replied, "Our warships at sea will provide them with firepower reinforcements. Besides, there is never an absolutely safe place on the battlefield."
"I was wondering..." Wells hesitated, "Should we open the door on the side?"
"It's useless." Tijani shook his head. "As long as the soldiers rush to the shore, there must be a path between the hull and the river bank, no matter whether the hatch is on the front or the side."
Welsch nodded in agreement.
Opening the door from the side seemed safe on the surface, but in fact the soldiers went ashore through a smaller passage. At that time, they didn't even need a machine gun, only a few rifles were enough to block the small passage.
And Charles seemed to have considered all these issues long ago.
At this moment, Wells saw the butler hurried over with another newspaper.
Wells frowned: "Could it be that another battleship was sunk?"
"Sir!" The butler said before he arrived: "Charles is going to the battlefield. He plans to lead a troop to land in the Dardanelles!"
Tijani exclaimed: "He's going there in person?"
Shouldn't he be conducting from Paris as before?
"Yes, he went there in person." The butler ran up and handed over the newspaper: "This is what it says."
Tijani snatched the newspaper and took a look at it. His expression changed again and again. He turned his head to glance at the landing craft and the landing ship being made, and finally turned his gaze to Wells.
Wells understood what Tijani meant, and he shook his head decisively: "No, I don't agree!"
"Father!" Tijani said, "Charter may need me. This is the ship we produced. At the same time, I am an army. I may be the only one who knows both the navy and the army."
"No, he doesn't need you," Wells replied. "Shire knows a lot more than you do, both in the Navy and the Army."
"You may be right." Tijani had to admit, but he still insisted: "But Charles is the commander, he needs someone on the front line..."
"God, you actually want to command from the front line?" Wells interrupted Tijani: "Do you know how dangerous that is?"
"Of course I know," Tijani replied, "I tried it the last time we were surrounded!"
"Then what makes you want to come again?" Wells' voice became louder and louder: "Because Charles saved your life? That was just a mission, Tijani, Charles said so too!"
"No, father." Tijani shook his head and slowed down his speech. He raised his head towards the landing craft with emotion: "It's because of them!"
"Because of them?" Wells looked at Tijani in confusion.
Aren’t there as many small boats as we want?
Tijani seemed to see through Wells's thoughts, explaining:
"You don't understand, Father."
“They are most exciting and thrilling only when they are put into use on the battlefield.”
"I will never forget the scene of the 'Char A1' tank appearing in front of me and making the enemy flee in panic. I hope to be a witness of them, or to be more precise, a part of them!"
Wells was stunned for a moment, and he seemed to understand Tijani's persistence.
At this moment, Wells felt like he had just met Tijani. Even though they had been together for more than 20 years, he thought he knew Tijani very well, but only now did he know what true "understanding" meant.
Finally, Wells sighed and replied with difficulty: "Go, before I regret it. However, Charles may not agree. In his eyes, you are just a dandy who is greedy for fame and fortune."
(The picture above is a bird's-eye view of modern Brest)
(End of this chapter)
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