Chapter 418: Liberation of Brussels
Major General Khalil was about to order reinforcements when he was interrupted by a deafening roar.
The ground shook violently like an earthquake, and shattered glass fell down with a "clatter". Several fragments broke out and left a bloody mark on Major General Khalid's face.
Afuli's hand, which was holding onto the windowsill, was also pierced by the glass and was bleeding, but they didn't care about it. It was not worth mentioning.
"It's the ammunition depot." Aifuri looked at Major General Khalil in horror: "It might have been blown up!"
The "maybe" should be removed, thought Major General Khalil. It was obvious.
Everyone in the command center was in shock. They stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the explosion. A huge cloud of smoke was rising from there, and faint cries and wails could be heard.
At this time, the signalman hurried over to report: "General, the guerrillas attacked the ammunition depot."
The veins on Major General Khalil's forehead jumped. He ignored the signalman and asked Afuri through gritted teeth: "How much ammunition do we have?"
"Only training ammunition, General," Afuri replied. "That's thirty rounds per man, and maybe just over three thousand grenades."
This is the number before training. Now it is almost noon, and half a day of training may consume half of it.
"Where are the other ammunition reserves?" Major General Khalil asked again.
Avri shook his head.
Brussels is the rear area, at least it used to be the rear area, and no one would store ammunition here. This only ammunition depot is for training.
Without hesitation, Major General Khalil turned around and reprimanded the bewildered staff officers in the room: "What are you still standing there for? Immediately contact any possible unit, anyone anywhere, as long as they have ammunition!"
"Yes." The staff officers took action immediately. Some contacted their superiors to report the situation, some contacted nearby troops, and some contacted the train.
Three hours. If we move fast enough, it seems that we can still transport the ammunition by train.
But Aifuri shook his head slightly: "It will be useless, General. The French have air supremacy. Since Charles has gone to great lengths to blow up the ammunition depot, it is impossible for him to leave such a big flaw to give us a chance to replenish ammunition."
Major General Khalil felt as if he had been electrocuted. He stared at Afuli in a daze and was unable to speak.
…
Avry was only half right. At this time, Charles was indeed using bombers to attack Brussels' transportation lines, especially the railways.
But at that time there were not enough bombers. They had to suppress the German howitzers, cooperate with the guerrillas, and bomb important German targets. It was beyond their ability to take on the task of destroying transportation lines and blockading Brussels.
On the other hand, Charles took into consideration that using bombers to attack traffic lines was not ideal, especially roads. A batch of bombs would only create a small hole in the road surface, which could be filled with soil and traffic could resume normally.
Therefore, this task was more often completed by guerrillas.
They attacked everywhere and artificially created "landslides" on the railways and roads leading to Brussels.
Some even started preparations a month in advance. They dug a hollow in the road foundation and used logs to support it. When traffic needed to be cut off, they simply sawed off the logs.
As a result, Brussels, which was originally well-connected, had only two routes left: the road and railway from Mons to Brussels, and from Brussels to Antwerp, which were reserved for Charles' troops to pass through.
But even for these two routes, the high ground on both sides was occupied by the guerrillas, and explosives were buried on the road, so any German ammunition trucks passing by would still be blown up.
…
After making some contacts, Major General Khalid finally understood his situation. Brussels was almost surrounded.
Not to mention ammunition, even food was difficult to transport in, let alone reinforcements, as they were either far away in Germany or on the front line a hundred kilometers away, and there was a possibility that they were in the process of collapse.
The telegram brought an order from Lieutenant General Diem, the commander of the army group: "No matter what difficulties we encounter, we must hold on to Brussels and not retreat a single step!"
Major General Khalil glanced at the telegram, crumpled it up and threw it on the ground.
"Call back." Khalil said calmly and firmly, "Tell the lieutenant general that we cannot complete the mission. We can do nothing but surrender if we continue to stay here. Therefore, I refuse to follow the order!"
As he spoke, Khalil turned his inquiring gaze towards Afuri.
Avery gave a slight nod of agreement.
With a unit without ammunition in the capital of Belgium, surrounded by guerrillas who wanted to kill the Germans, Charles's troops would arrive in a few hours...
What can we use to defend?
If you stay, you will either be killed by the enemy or captured. There is no third possibility.
…
Brussels was not captured by Charles; it was liberated before Charles' troops arrived.
At first people did not react much. Even when they saw the Germans withdrawing from the city like lost dogs, they thought it was a normal movement of the Germans.
The guerrillas who knew the situation took to the streets with their guns and shouted: "Come out, gentlemen, we are free! The days of the German occupation are over!"
People couldn't believe it was true. They asked doubtfully:
"We really won?"
"But why don't we see our troops?"
…
It is indeed hard to believe that the Germans were driven out of Belgium with just a few guerrillas and a few broken guns.
The guerrillas responded proudly:
"It's Charles, Charles' troops are advancing towards Brussels!"
"The Germans knew they could not defeat Charles's troops, so they had no choice but to flee."
"They won't come back, as long as we help Ciel win!"
…
Only then did people gradually believe it. They cheered as if it were a festival. The whole city was boiling. People rushed to the streets to celebrate with each other, and some people spontaneously organized to welcome Charles' troops.
It took more than an hour for Charles' troops to reach Brussels.
The French army was welcomed like heroes. The Belgians generously presented flowers and food to the troops. Some Belgian women even excitedly gave hugs and kisses to the French soldiers.
Charles and Tijani made some preparations before entering the city. They changed into military uniforms of lower-ranking officers such as major and second lieutenant, and hid things such as the radio that would expose their identities.
This was to prevent the German army from leaving manpower in the city to carry out assassinations.
Charles was unwilling to die just to receive cheers and thanks. In his opinion, these were dispensable, but his life was his own, and he only had one.
But Charles was eventually recognized.
A young girl holding flowers and lifting her skirt chased the armored vehicle madly, and after catching up, she climbed up desperately.
After she stood up, she handed the flowers to Charles breathlessly: "Thank you, sir, I am very grateful..."
The voice stopped, the smile froze on her face, and then her beautiful blue eyes suddenly flashed with excitement, and she exclaimed: "Charles, God, you are Charles!"
(End of this chapter)
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