Chapter 564 It seems that I chose the right person
Military Research Center, third floor of the Paris Government Building.
Several assistants pretended to be busy among a pile of documents and materials. Foch sat at his desk, shaking the pencil in his hand boredly, and the notebook on the table was blank.
He was organizing language to "slander" Charles so that everyone would think Foch was Charles' "enemy."
However, this guy Ciel is almost perfect.
In the most recent battle, no one could have imagined that he would use the Somme River to infiltrate the German army's flank and rear, and ultimately achieve a result with only a thousand casualties that the British and French forces could not achieve even with the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of people.
This made it impossible for Foch to say anything bad about him or find any fault with him.
Tactics not perfect?
If this isn't perfect, then what can be called perfect?
No pursuit of victory?
This was determined by the mutiny on the front line, and the soldiers needed time to recuperate.
If there was any disadvantage, it was that it angered the British and thwarted their attempts to infiltrate and control the French army.
Foch smiled unconsciously.
At this time, there was a knock on the door.
Before Foch could respond, Clemenceau appeared at the door, holding a cane in one hand and a briefcase in the other, and asked calmly, "General, can we talk alone?"
"Of course." Foch stood up to greet him, and at the same time signaled several assistants who were slacking off to leave.
After the irrelevant people left, Clemenceau closed the door and stepped forward to shake hands with Foch: "Congratulations, General. On behalf of the parliament, I inform you that you are already..."
Clemenceau took out the letter of appointment from his bag and handed it to Foch: "You are now the commander-in-chief of the French army and the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces."
Foch's eyes lit up, joy seemed about to burst out, and his whole body was radiating light.
"Really?" Foch took the letter of appointment excitedly: "Thank you very much, sir. This is so unexpected!"
In fact, Foch was not surprised at all.
Foch had already had contact with the British as Charles had said, although he was unwilling to do so.
The reason why Parliament has delayed the appointment until now is because the British are waiting for the outcome of the Battle of the Somme.
If the Battle of the Somme, commanded by Charles, had been lost, the British would have been able to infiltrate the French military and political system at will on the pretext of "deep cooperation."
At this time, they would rather choose Pétain, who was easier to control, as commander-in-chief, even though they knew that Pétain supported Charles.
But now Charles had won, and won big.
This stabilized the front line and the army, and also stabilized the political situation in France, leaving the British no chance to take advantage.
So, as before, they had to create an opponent for Charles within the French army: Foch.
This was Charles' victory on another front, Foch thought. The British and even Parliament were fooled by him.
Clemenceau acted very calm. This was not the main reason for his visit, otherwise there would be no need for a “private talk”.
Foch also understood this. He asked Clemenceau to sit down on the sofa and made him a cup of coffee.
Even after becoming commander-in-chief, Foch still did not dare to offend those who had great power in parliament.
Clemenceau took the coffee to express his gratitude, added a piece of sugar and stirred it gently. His tone was casual but actually tentative: "You know, although Charles has made many military achievements, many people think that he is too young to support the command of an army of hundreds of thousands of people. What do you think about this?"
It sounds like an ordinary sentence, but it contains a hidden meaning.
The underlying meaning is:
Charles is too powerful, and the parliament is worried that they can't control him. Letting him command an army of 20,000 is enough. With more than 200,000 people under his command, the parliament will be restless. Now that the mutiny on the front line has been initially controlled, it's time to remove Charles from the position of army group commander!
Foch, who had been in politics for a long time, certainly heard the hidden meaning in the words. He hesitated for a moment and thought for a while before answering:
"Commissioner, I think the key point is not whether Charles' age can support the command of an army group, but his good reputation."
"He just won a victory, a brilliant victory."
"This is very important for stabilizing the morale of the troops on the front line, especially now. We cannot rush things."
This was a reminder to Clemenceau: Don't be too hasty or too quick to destroy the bridge after crossing it. The mutiny on the front line has just improved, and if you get rid of it now, it might cause a backlash.
Clemenceau nodded slightly; this was also what he was worried about.
He took a sip of coffee with a worried look on his face. Although he frowned, his tone was still calm:
"I also heard that soldiers from other units took the initiative to go to the Somme to join the Sixth Army."
"We commend the soldiers for this heroic act."
"But we should also understand that soldiers should stick to their posts, otherwise there will inevitably be loopholes in the defense line!"
What he was worried about was certainly not the 6th Army, nor the loopholes in the defense line, but the increasing number of soldiers gathering under Charles' command to increase his strength.
This was almost inevitable. If the 6th Army continued to fight on the Somme and Charles could continue to keep casualties low, the troops would continue to be "accumulated" by him.
"Of course, Mr. Commissioner." Foch was very confident: "I will take care of this matter."
After a pause, Foch added: "Perhaps it would be a better choice to transfer the 6th Army to Belgium."
As he spoke, Foch carefully observed Clemenceau's reaction.
Clemenceau said "hmm", it was indeed a good idea.
Belgium is an "isolated" place compared to other defense lines. After all, most of the people around it are Belgian soldiers and civilians and British troops.
“It’s worth considering.” Clemenceau nodded slowly.
The corners of Foch's mouth twitched. These guys who only knew how to give orders in the office didn't know how to march and fight. They only thought about how to prevent Charles's troops from increasing. However, they didn't expect that Foch's move was to merge Charles's two troops into one, which actually consolidated Charles's "Taishan" status in Belgium, which even the British could not shake.
Clemenceau obviously did not take this into consideration. Perhaps Belgium was not worth mentioning in his eyes, and he certainly did not think that Charles could make any big waves there.
Clemenceau was even very satisfied with Foch's idea. There was some approval in his eyes. It seemed that he had made the right choice. Foch would be a strong opponent of Charles.
"There is one more question." Clemenceau put the coffee cup on the table. "We hope that you can put an end to the mutiny after you take office. The parliament does not want to see something like this happen again."
Another meaning of mutiny is that the lower-level military and civilians force the parliament to make decisions, which is something the parliament does not want to see, as it will shake the control of the parliamentary aristocrats over the country.
"I understand, sir," replied Foch.
At the same time, he sighed in his heart that the parliament could not wait to start the settlement of the mutiny, which would again cause a storm in the army.
(End of this chapter)
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