Chapter 532
After a long silence, Gallieni, who was sitting behind him, asked angrily, "So, the order to attack the Namur Fortress is true?"
As the Minister of War, he didn't even know about it. When he asked Nivelle, the answer he got was: "There is no such offensive plan, it's all rumors."
How could they do such a thing? !
Charles looked back at Gallieni with some gratitude in his eyes. He was the only one who would be angry about this at the first time. Most of the others were surprised, while some looked calm. These people were insiders.
Armand, who was used to sitting in the front row, even looked happy, because this meant that a large number of opponent MPs involved in this matter would be forced to step down.
Charles turned around, glanced at the whole place, and nodded slightly: "Yes, there is indeed such an order."
There was an uproar in the conference room.
This proves that Nivelle lied again.
This was not a rumor at all, they really tried to kill Charles and his troops at the hands of the Germans.
The informed legislator retorted from the audience: “Hasn’t this order been cancelled?”
All eyes in the room instantly turned to the MP who was speaking, a Socialist MP.
Only then did he realize that he had exposed himself as an insider and even a participant. He quickly lowered his head and tried to avoid other people's gazes, but it was too late. Several laughs were heard in the meeting room.
Party leader James gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly, "This idiot dragged Schneider into the fire pit with just one sentence!"
Charles smiled and said jokingly:
"Yes, I did receive an order to cancel the mission, and I also received an order of 'strict confidentiality'."
"But I'm ready to attack."
"Moreover, the order to 'cancel the attack' was made under pressure from public opinion. I don't think this was the original intention of the superiors. What do you think?"
The conference room burst into laughter. This was certainly not the "superior's original intention". The "superior's original intention" was to let Charles die on the battlefield.
Ciel went on to explain: "As for 'strict confidentiality', if the battle has already begun, there will be no question of confidentiality."
Gallieni nodded secretly.
Charles's actions could not be said to be "watertight". Strictly speaking, his attack on the Namur fortress was a violation of military orders.
However, no parliamentarian would condemn a general who went into battle and had a good chance of winning, otherwise he simply did not want France to win.
As expected, no MP questioned Charles's "disobedience of military orders".
Armand wanted to bring up the topic and dig deeper. He stood up and asked, "General, I heard that the Namur Fortress is not suitable for your armored forces to attack. Is this true?"
Armand believes that it is necessary to prove that Nivelle and his group "framed Charles", so it is important to "whether Namur is suitable for Charles' troops to attack."
The other MPs turned their eyes to Charles.
They had seen relevant analysis in newspapers before, but that was said by military commentators. The most authoritative person in this regard was of course Charles, who invented the tank and applied it on the battlefield.
Charles did not deny it, he said with a double meaning:
"Yes, armored forces are indeed not suitable for attacking Namur."
"Normally, if we rashly attack Namur, there is only one possibility of failure."
"Obviously, my opponents know us well and they have made careful preparations!"
Laughter broke out in the meeting room again. The parliamentarians certainly knew why Charles used the word "opponent" instead of "enemy" or "Germans."
"So," Armand continued to ask, "What made you launch the attack even though you knew the chances of success were slim?"
Armand is very good at this. The questions he asked seemed ordinary on the surface, but they were actually a relentless attack on Nivelle.
He was trying to create an atmosphere in which Ciel was in extreme danger and finally found a way to attack by chance.
Charles understood Armand's intention. He responded cooperatively with a look of lingering fear:
"At first I had no idea what to do. General Tijani and I practiced on the map countless times, but every time we did it, the whole army was wiped out."
"I even thought I was going to die there. The rivers, forests, and enemy fortifications were all natural enemies of tanks."
"General Tijani even thought his superiors might have issued a wrong order."
"Luckily, I developed a new piece of equipment that might come in handy, but I can't be sure just yet!"
The members of parliament nodded in agreement, which was just as they expected.
Gallieni gritted his teeth and cursed angrily: "Asshole, this is simply murder!"
And it happened right under the nose of him, the Minister of the Army.
Only Charles knew that this was not true. Namur had to fight anyway, and he had thought of rocket launchers a long time ago.
"Can we know what kind of equipment that is?" a congressman asked curiously.
"Sorry, I can't tell you for now." Charles replied: "I want to let the opponent guess, which will make the opponent panic. Only in this way can we have more chances of winning."
The members of parliament nodded in agreement.
The less information the Germans knew, the less likely it was that they would be able to find a tactical response.
Of course, this "opponent" is not just the Germans.
Only Steed looked enlightened; he knew that this "equipment" was a recently produced rocket launcher.
But he still had doubts in his heart, could this thing really play such a big role?
Can he help Charles take back Namur?
"Any other questions?" Charles looked around. "If not, I think I should hurry to Namur as soon as possible to be with my soldiers!"
The members of parliament stood in awe and answered one after another:
"No, that's all right, General. I wish you victory."
"Teach the Germans a lesson and let them know how powerful we are!"
"We support you, go ahead and fight. We will give priority to the proposal to reinforce the Namur front!"
…
When Charles walked down from the podium, the parliamentarians stood up and applauded spontaneously, and some cheered and screamed.
At this moment, Charles knew that he had won the support of more middle forces.
…
French headquarters on the south bank of the Somme.
Although the soldiers on the front line were charging, Nivelle's attention was not there.
There is no need for command on the front line, because the so-called "command" is actually just one sentence: "Attack." At most, add a few motivational words and unrealistic visions.
He paced anxiously at the door of the telecommunications room, from which he could hear the signalman's shouting into the phone and the beeping of telegrams.
Nivelle was waiting for the outcome of the council meeting, and he wanted to know if Charles was willing to come here to command.
"General." Then the messenger brought a telegram: "From Paris!"
Nivelle stopped in his tracks, turned around, and took a few steps forward to take the telegram.
After scanning the message, his face, which was originally full of expectations, instantly lost its color.
The message simply read: "Char is attacking the Namur Fortress!"
(End of this chapter)
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