Chapter 490 Means
Britain was also short of supplies, or even "more short" of them, after all, the Germans were using submarines to impose a blockade on the British mainland.
However, the British relied on their reputation as "the world's number one power" and the friendship of the United States to obtain loans and purchase large quantities of arms and supplies.
Now, they are using these supplies to force France, which doesn't even have enough military boots, to surrender, and try to gain control of the war on French soil.
…
Charles is having dinner with Steed and Dominic at the Ritz.
Charles had never found steak and tuna tempting, but after eating too much bread, he suddenly realized that they were delicacies. He gobbled them up at the table, stuffing his mouth with food and impatiently taking a sip of red wine.
When I finally stopped eating and drinking, I touched my stomach and found that I was too full.
Steed looked at Charles in disbelief and said, "You should bring some food, General."
As a partner, he knew that Charles was very rich and would not starve even if supplies were scarce. Now it seemed that this was not the case.
Charles swallowed the last bite of food and greedily drank a sip of red wine, and replied helplessly: "As a commander, if you take the food and enjoy it alone, what do you think the soldiers will think?"
Steed was stunned. As a businessman, he had never thought about this problem. He always thought it was natural that the general's food was better than that of the soldiers.
Dominic agreed: "If you do this, the soldiers will certainly not believe that you can stand with them. They will think that the commander is just using them, and then they will not believe anything the commander says, which means they have lost trust."
"Yes." Charles took the napkin and wiped his mouth. This was the main reason why Charles strictly required himself to have the same food standards as the soldiers.
It is difficult to build a dam, but it only takes a few tiny anthills to destroy it.
Steed nodded with emotion. Commanding operations on the front line was not as easy as it seemed. It was much more difficult than imagined.
But then he laughed again. It depends on the person. Commander-in-Chief Joffre had it easy. He always ate and slept on time and was even proud of it.
"They decided to expel Joffre from the army," Steed said. "Joffre will have to spend the rest of his life in Walsalt."
The city of Vossalte was Joffre's hometown, where he had an old house.
If he retires normally, he will receive a villa allocated by the government, three service officers, and generous allowances.
There is nothing now.
Dominic shook his head: "He still tells everyone that everything is Charles' conspiracy. Is he really crazy?"
"Nobody cares about that," Steed said.
Charles did not respond. In his mind, Joffre had already been eliminated. There was no need to discuss the future of a person who had no future.
Steed seemed to notice this and tactfully changed the subject: "Considering that you need to command in Belgium, the parliament intends to appoint Pétain as the commander of the Verdun theater. What do you think?"
The underlying meaning of Steed's words was that if Charles was not satisfied with this arrangement, he could still fight for it in Parliament.
But Charles just said "hmm" and didn't react at all.
It was natural to use Pétain to defend Verdun. Historically, he was the one who defended it, and he did it successfully.
Although he was somewhat cruel in the process of defending, he formed a supervision team and drew a "supervision line", and anyone who dared to retreat to this line would be killed without mercy.
But he held on anyway.
Steed found it hard to understand Charles' reaction: "Do you have any objection to this, Brigadier General?"
Ciel looked confused: "Do I need to have an opinion on this?"
This question stumped Steed. He stared at Charles blankly, not knowing how to continue.
Dominic explained:
"The battle of Verdun has improved under your command, Brigadier General."
"Everyone knows that Fort Douaumont is important and its recovery will have great significance for the defense of Verdun."
"This is a credit to you. You should have continued to command and marched to victory."
“But now it’s being taken over by someone else, and they’re just sitting back and enjoying the fruits of their labor.”
Steed nodded:
"Yes, I heard that Pétain has arrived in Verdun to learn your 'reverse slope defense tactics'."
"There are also directional mines. He has placed an order with us through the military."
After a pause, Steed added: "But we can refuse..."
Dominic hastened to object: "If we refuse, people will immediately associate it with Charles. They will think that Charles disregarded the battle and the lives of the soldiers for his own benefit."
Steed smiled softly: "There are many ways to refuse, such as insufficient production capacity, poor quality, and raising the price."
I produce this thing, so don’t I have the final say on whether it is round or square?
"Father." Dominic was a little anxious: "We can't do this."
Dominic has always been a kind-hearted person. He believes that the overall interests of the country must be taken into consideration no matter what.
Steed glared at Dominic with a straight face: "What else? Let others take away the credit for the Commodore's work?"
Dominic was speechless. This was indeed unfair to Charles.
Steed turned his gaze to Ciel. "I think it's time to put pressure on the Council, Brigadier General, and let them know that they don't have the final say on everything."
Charles didn't answer immediately. He asked the waiter to replace the red wine with coffee, added sugar and stirred it gently with a coffee spoon. He asked, "Do you think it's that simple, Mr. Steed?"
"Well, what else can it be?" Steed's eyes were filled with surprise and confusion.
Is there anything you haven't seen?
"The parliament is creating an enemy for me, sir." Charles said calmly: "If this continues, my reputation in the army will be unmatched. They hope to find someone who can compete with me."
Steed said "Oh" and suddenly realized: "That's right, that's why they deliberately gave the credit to Pétain."
"Putting pressure on the parliament with directional mines will only please the parliament," Charles analyzed. "They would like to see my image in people's minds collapse, while Pétain is fighting hard against the enemy in Verdun and his reputation is growing day by day."
"But what can we do?" Steed said helplessly, "Let Pétain win this battle? His reputation will also rise."
Ciel's answer was simple: "Help him, and I will write down the key points of the 'Reverse Slope Defense Tactics' in a notebook and give it to him."
Steed looked stunned. Helping his opponent?
Charles added: "The Little Journal should also play a role."
Steed woke up with a start.
Yes! Put all these things in the newspaper.
If everyone knew that Pétain won with the help of Charles and used Charles' tactics, then Pétain's victory would be under the halo of Charles.
Pétain would even thank Charles for this and not become his enemy!
Steed stared at Charles in a daze. He felt that Charles had matured a lot and his methods were more sophisticated.
Dominic secretly breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Charles with respect and admiration. He seemed to be able to easily turn all difficulties and crises into nothing.
(End of this chapter)
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