Chapter 475 Parliamentary Questioning
At the Antwerp Airport Command, Charles sat at his desk, enjoying afternoon tea and reading documents. He was quite satisfied with the current equipment condition.
For more than a month, each squad of armored and mechanized troops was equipped with a shotgun.
Due to insufficient production, submachine guns are currently only equipped to armored units.
Tijani protested: "The mechanized troops are the ones who actually fight the enemy infantry, so why are the armored troops equipped with submachine guns first?"
Charles' answer was simple: "If you are willing to be at the front, I will ask them to give you their submachine guns right away."
Tijani fell silent immediately.
The armored forces are the ones that rush to the front and tear open the enemy's defense lines. Of course, they should be equipped with new weapons first, especially the infantry, who have to enter the trenches and engage in close combat with the enemy.
Tijani was not unaware of this, he just wanted to see if he could take advantage of it.
At this time, the staff sent a telegram: "General, General Foch has been dismissed."
"What?"
Charles and Tijani exclaimed and looked at the staff officer at the same time.
The Northern Army Group was the main force cooperating with Charles in the battle. They had cooperated well before, but Foch was dismissed at this time!
"It happened this morning," the staff officer reported, "General Foch was transferred back to Paris to serve as the 'Director of the Military Research Center.'"
Charles was confused, he didn't know what this position was about.
Tijani explained: "Working in military theory can sometimes also serve as a combat advisor, a nominal position."
Charles suddenly realized that he was being sidelined.
Then Charles asked, "Who will take over?"
This is very important for future operations and is related to the coordination between the two armies.
"It's General Despere," the staff officer replied.
Charles was completely unfamiliar with the name.
Tijani raised his eyebrows helplessly: "In your eyes, everyone is the same. They can all be said to have no record."
Then Tijani added: "But this General Despere is different. He had been commanding battles in Morocco before the war."
(The picture above shows General Despere, a French marshal who was known as the "Frenchman of Death" for his bravery in battle)
Charles still had no idea, or didn't think that this was a practical general.
Tactics are changing too fast in this era. The combat and command experience accumulated by General Despere in the colonies may not be applicable to the current battlefield.
Later, Charles found that this idea was correct. General Despere preferred to use brave cavalry to attack the enemy on the battlefield.
Cavalry, at this time, when the Germans were generally equipped with heavy machine guns and large numbers of artillery.
"General." At this time, a signalman came forward and reported: "A telegram from Paris, the parliament asked you to appear in the House of Representatives before nine o'clock tomorrow morning to answer questions."
Charles' face was filled with black lines.
The army group commander has just been replaced and the morale of the troops is unstable. Is it appropriate to call him back now to answer questions from parliament?
But Charles immediately thought that this might be related to Joffre.
…
Charles guessed correctly, and Joffre sent Carnet to Paris to win the approval of the parliament and the government for him.
The parliament believes that they should not only listen to Joffre's one-sided opinion, but also that there should be a villain to debate with Kanais.
Gallieni might have been a good choice, but he had not participated in any battles except the Defense of Paris and did not have a deep understanding of modern warfare.
So they decided to call Charles back from Belgium.
No one understands modern warfare better than Charles, and he will definitely be able to find Kanais's flaw.
…
This was the second time Ciel had walked into the House of Representatives.
The last time was about the replacement of military uniforms. Many people were opposed to it and were therefore hostile to Charles.
This time was different. As soon as Charles entered the House of Representatives, he received warm applause.
The congressmen looked at Charles with respect, envy and approval, regardless of whether they were in the same camp as Charles or not, and even James was no exception.
"He is a talented military strategist." James applauded and said to the people around him, "He is also a respectable and formidable opponent!"
It must be acknowledged that no one could have turned the tide of the war and liberated one-third of Belgium in one day.
Kanais was standing on the podium. He saw Charles walk to the first row and sit down calmly. In an instant, an invisible pressure rolled over him, and his head, which had been held high, lowered unconsciously.
Most of the parliamentarians don't understand war, so it's easy to fool them, but that's not the case with Charles!
The applause gradually died down, and Kanais began his speech:
"Gentlemen, many people believe that the Battle of Verdun was a mistake for which General Joffre was responsible."
“But in reality, there are many things that we cannot decide.”
"For example, the Germans had the offensive initiative. If we had not transferred our forces to Belfort, the Germans would have likely launched an attack in Belfort."
"I mean, this is a decision made by the Germans and cannot be simply attributed to 'misjudgment'..."
Charles stood up and interrupted Kanais: "General, can you tell me how long the Germans carried out artillery preparation before the attack?"
Kanais hesitated and answered with difficulty: "5, 5 hours, Brigadier General."
Charles asked again, "Five hours of artillery preparation, based on thousands of guns, would require at least several hundred thousand shells, right?"
Kanais nodded: "Yes, yes!"
At five or six shells per minute, 1,000 artillery pieces can fire 1.5 million shells in five hours. Even if all the time for rest and malfunctions is deducted, the total can easily reach hundreds of thousands of shells.
Charles stared at Kanais on the stage and spoke slowly: "So, you still think that a place that can fire hundreds of thousands of shells in one go would be a feint attack point? Can it be changed at will?"
Kanais was speechless.
The members of parliament immediately echoed loudly:
"You're right. The Germans have far more than a few hundred thousand shells, and they're still bombarding us."
"Their artillery firepower was always superior. This was not something that could be achieved with just one or two days of preparation. They prepared for at least a month."
"And Joffre knew nothing about it, despite Colonel De Leon's repeated warnings!"
…
As soon as Colonel De Leon was mentioned, another group of congressmen immediately started to criticize Canais:
"Joffre didn't care about what was happening at the front. He was just formulating his plans in his head."
"He is totally out of touch with reality and won't listen to any advice."
"He is the one who killed Colonel Deleon and so many other brave French soldiers!"
…
Kanais was sweating profusely, but he still mustered up the courage to shout to the audience:
"No, gentlemen."
"That's not the case. It's not General Joffre's fault. We have the British intelligence support."
"Besides, I believe that no one could do better in the same situation..."
The lawmakers in the audience laughed out loud.
Armand said to Kanais in a frivolous tone, "General, have you forgotten that the person sitting in front of you is Charles?"
The MPs laughed again.
(End of this chapter)
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