Chapter 544 Everything is an illusion
Namur Castle, Charles enjoys breakfast in the spacious and bright command room.
It was freezing cold and drizzling outside the window, but the stove was burning inside the room and it was as warm as spring.
Breakfast was bread, milk, jam, and a piece of fragrant lemon-roasted trout.
(The picture above shows lemon grilled trout, a specialty of southern Belgium)
The food in Belgium was obviously much better than that in France. Many French troops could not even get enough bread, let alone the grilled fish that was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside with a lemony aroma.
However, this food seemed to be limited to Charles's troops, and not available to the British or even Belgium's own troops.
Ciel's attention was not here, he was casually eating his food with a fork while browsing the newspaper.
There was also a copy on Tijani's desk, but this rich kid seemed not to be used to such a breakfast. He didn't even touch the grilled fish. He was only used to eating boneless tuna.
However, in order to fill his hunger, he had to eat bread and milk with a bitter look on his face.
"The media seems to be very unhappy with Nivelle." Tijani nodded at Charles, who had read the newspaper before breakfast. "It's full of news criticizing him."
"What reason does the media have to be dissatisfied with Nivelle?" Charles asked back.
"How should I know?" Tijani spread his hands nonchalantly. "I only know that Nivelle will step down soon. This is one of the reasons why people are calling for you to be the commander-in-chief."
Charles smiled lightly and said nothing.
Tijani hopes that Charles can be the commander-in-chief. He believes that only Charles is suitable for this position and even only Charles is qualified, so he has been trying to persuade Charles.
Charles put down the newspaper and concentrated on the food. The grilled fish tasted good, especially with the sour taste of lemon, a bit like sweet and sour fish.
This made Tijani feel strange. He looked puzzled and asked, "Did you see anything?"
"It's not the press, General," Charles replied. "It's the British. They want to abandon Nivelle and cut him off."
Tijani was stunned and glanced at the newspapers on the corner of the table: "But these are French newspapers..."
Before he finished speaking, he said, "Oh," "It's supplies. The British have supplies."
Ciel nodded as he ate.
Whoever has the materials has the right to speak.
For example, the ink, equipment, printing paper, food, etc. used by the newspaper for printing, these things that seem to be readily available at normal times, can now choke the newspaper's throat.
Tijani hesitated: "Did the British control the media and use Nivelle to exonerate themselves?"
Charles replied: "It would not be a big loss for the British to change the commander-in-chief, as long as he is still under British control. As for Nivelle, he has been criticized for exposing too many "bad deeds", and the British no longer need to protect him."
This is a common ending for a puppet. After losing its usefulness, it will be abandoned and become nothing in the end.
Tijani looked at Charles thoughtfully, and suddenly he understood why Charles said, "Being the commander-in-chief is not good for me."
To become the commander-in-chief, he needs to pass the British test, but Charles does not want to be a puppet of the British.
"You are right." Tijani nodded and said, "What will you do next?"
Charles didn't answer.
He couldn't answer.
You can't say that the best way is to support Foch as commander-in-chief, and then one plays the good cop and the other plays the bad cop to deceive the British and Parliament, right?
If this gets out, it will mean death before accomplishment, and Charles won't know how to break the impasse.
Tijani did not ask further questions, but just smiled and replied: "I know, it's a secret!"
Focusing on the "military art", he had no interest in getting involved in this aspect. He only knew that few people could defeat Charles.
Xiafei, who had fought with Charles last time, was now half crazy.
At this time, the signalman came forward and handed Charles a telegram: "General, statement from General Foch."
Tijani was close by, so he took the telegram first and glanced at it. He was surprised and said, "I thought we had a good relationship with that old guy Foch!"
"What?" asked Charles.
"Read it for yourself!" Tijani handed the telegram to Charles, with helplessness and anger in his eyes.
Charles put down his knife and fork and took it. On it was written:
"The Military Research Center believes that Shire's unauthorized attack on Namur is unacceptable."
"Although he won the victory, he also set a bad precedent. Others may follow suit for military merit. If this continues, the army will be in chaos without command."
"Also, the Shire's attack on Namur took advantage of the advantages created by the Battle of the Somme."
"The Germans moved a large number of troops, including artillery, to the Somme, which led to Charles' victory at Namur."
…
Charles looked at the signalman in disbelief: "Did General Foch really say that?"
"Yes." The signalman answered confidently: "This is a statement issued to the entire army. All army groups have received it."
Tijani snorted. "He denied our record with just one sentence of 'unauthorized attack'. It's obvious that his current position is due to vested interests."
"Conflict of interest?" Charles pretended not to understand.
"Of course," Tijani replied.
"Don't you understand yet, Major General?"
"He had no conflict of interest with you before, and even shared common interests with you. If we win, he can also get the honor."
"But now, you are the most ideal candidate for commander-in-chief, and Foch must have the idea of becoming commander-in-chief. He sees you as a competitor."
Charles said, "Oh," and said, "You are right, General."
He frowned as he spoke: "So, we have one more enemy!"
In fact, Charles was secretly happy.
This Foch is good, he comes at the right time, his criticism is neither too harsh nor too unreasonable, and it is reasonable and will not bring too much negative impact to Charles.
Because everyone knows how to refute:
Nivelle has pushed Charles into the fire pit, but he still doesn't allow Charles to selectively execute orders?
Didn't the facts prove that Charles was right?
Charles was criticized for winning the battle, but you didn't say a word when Nivelle lost the battle and so many people died. Isn't this double standard too obvious?
"What should we do now, Major General?" asked Tijani.
Charles was full and satiated. He took the napkin and wiped his mouth. He replied calmly: "It's time to send a telegram to Pétain!"
"Pétain?" Tijani was stunned for a moment, then he understood. He gave Charles a thumbs up and said, "Good idea. He should also have some ideas about the position of commander-in-chief."
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Only by cooperating with Pétain can we better deal with Foch.
What Tijani didn't expect was that everything he saw was an illusion.
Charles was actually working with Foch to deal with Pétain!
(End of this chapter)
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