Chapter 184: I can defeat the enemy, but I can't defeat my own people
(The picture below shows German Chief of the General Staff Falkenhayn)
Wilhelm Street in Berlin, Germany, has become a concentrated government office area after decades of development. The German General Staff is located in an office building in the middle section.
The German Chief of General Staff Falkenhayn walked to the window sill with his hands behind his back. It was drizzling outside. On the street, a group of soldiers carrying rifles and singing military songs were marching towards the front line amid the cheers of the crowd.
They were obviously newly recruited soldiers, with childish faces, fiery eyes, and beautiful visions of war.
Do these soldiers know what they are facing? Falkenhayn asked himself.
No, they don’t know, otherwise their faces would be full of fear!
But now it seems that this is the only way. The Western Front needs more troops, much more! Now it is far from enough!
"General!" Colonel Moritz, the staff officer, stepped forward and reported: "General Kluck called and wanted to know if the news that we are developing tanks is true!"
"Developing tanks?" Falkenhayn was confused. "Where did he hear this news?"
"I'm not sure, General!" Moritz answered hesitantly, "Maybe a certain department leaked the news..."
Then Moritz came to his senses. He stood up and said, "I'll check it out right away!"
"No, Moritz!" Falkenhayn stopped the staff officer from thinking he was smart. He said with a hint of helplessness, "We don't have any tank plan at all. It's just something the soldiers on the front line imagined. They were scared by the enemy's tanks, so they wanted to have tanks themselves."
Falkenhayn slowly walked back to his seat, sat back in his chair with difficulty like an old man on his deathbed, and rubbed his aching forehead in distress.
He had been in office for just over a month, but what was happening on the front line made him feel that the German army was about to collapse and fail:
The destruction of three "Big Berthas" in Antwerp was only a minor matter, as the airship was actually destroyed there.
That was an airship that the German army spent a lot of manpower and material resources to produce at the cost of building a battlecruiser, but it was easily shot down by an airplane that was less than one percent of its size and carried a few Congreve rockets.
Not long ago, Falkenhayn had high hopes for airships and even had a plan to bomb London with them.
But everything disappeared with a loud bang and a dazzling fire.
Then came the Battle of Ypres. The French sent planes equipped with machine guns. As a result, the sky was filled with French planes and the German planes were helpless.
Then came the Battle of La Foulkes, where the Mark I tank made its debut, easily breaking through the German defenses, surrounding an elite force plus eight artillery battalions and forcing them to surrender.
At that moment, Falkenhayn felt as if the sky had fallen: "God, we were still dreaming of occupying Paris, without realizing that the French could easily destroy us, just like pinching an ant to death!"
Of course, he didn't say these words out loud. As the Chief of the General Staff, he could only bury this fear deep in his heart.
Falkenhayn was no coward, but he was still shocked by the new equipment that emerged one after another in France, which easily gained comprehensive advantages in the air and on the ground.
How should we fight this battle?
"Tanks?" Falkenhayn shook his head. "No, it will be too late by the time we develop tanks. We need something that can stop the French in a short time, and now!"
Moritz nodded. He knew what Falkenham was referring to. The 13mm T-type anti-tank rifle had already been produced and could penetrate 25MM vertical steel plates at a distance of 200 meters, which should be able to stop tanks.
But one piece of information changed Falkenhayn's mind.
A staff officer handed over a telegram: "General, according to intelligence, Charles' Mark I seems to have a defect in its range. They have to replace the tracks every 30 kilometers!"
"This, is this true?" Falkenhayn looked at the staff officer in shock, his hands shaking with excitement as he took the telegram.
"It should be true!" the staff officer replied, "It has been confirmed by a certain party in France."
Falkenhayn read the telegram several times, his face full of delight.
These days he had been wondering why the French had done nothing when they could have broken through the German lines.
He originally thought that the French were preparing more tanks, which would enable them to launch a thundering attack and cause the German army to collapse in one fell swoop.
Now it seems that it is due to problems with the tank itself.
After thinking about it for a while, Falkenhayn felt that it made more and more sense: if the tanks needed major repairs after traveling 30 kilometers, the French army would not dare to advance deep into the hinterland after breaking through the defense line.
Otherwise, they would be alone and wait to be surrounded by the German army.
Falkenhayn let out a long sigh, as if a sword hanging over his head suddenly disappeared, and the battle situation was no longer as urgent as before.
After a moment's hesitation, Falkenhayn turned to his staff officer and ordered, "Connect with the 7th Traffic Division!"
"Yes, General!" Moritz responded.
The full name of the 7th Transportation Department is "Transportation Division of the 7th United Front Work Department". It is the department responsible for the management and development of military vehicles.
…
The next morning, Gallieni got up at eight o'clock sharp.
The staff officers would usually be ready ten minutes earlier than Gallieni in order to save Gallieni's precious time as much as possible so that the staff officers would not be unaware of the situation and unable to report to him when he arrived at work.
As soon as Gallieni sat down in his chair, Charles handed him the documents he had prepared: "These need your signature, General!"
Gallieni hummed, holding a pen and signing the document quickly, saying, "I received news that the Schneider and Francis Tractor Factory has submitted an application to the government for the 'Wartime Procurement Regulations'. It is still the 'Saint-Chamond' and 'CA-1', but they are improved versions. Your 'Mark I' is still not going to participate as before, right?"
"Yes, General!" Charles answered promptly.
Gallieni looked up at Charles and said, "Or do you have a new tank?"
"Yes!" Charles did not avoid it.
"Are the new tanks not going to be involved?" Gallieni asked again.
"No!" Charles' eyes were filled with helplessness: "The new tanks have the same problems as before!"
There was a hint of disappointment in Gallieni's eyes, but he finally nodded and said nothing more.
Gallieni always hoped that Charles could defeat his competitors in the bidding for the "Wartime Procurement Regulations" so that there would be fewer unnecessary casualties and failures on the battlefield.
Ironically, although Charles's tanks won victory on the battlefield and gained public recognition, he still lost the military's bid.
Even the hope of winning is getting smaller and smaller.
Last time, Right Wing and Schneider were rivals, and "CA-1" and "Saint Chamon" were enemies.
Now they are allies, they have a majority in parliament, they have the support of Joffre and the Ministry of Technical Automotive Services, and there are also right-wing forces...
Gallieni sighed softly:
Charles' tanks could easily defeat the enemy and scare the Germans into frantically sending more troops to the front line and building fortifications day and night, but they could not defeat their own people, and there was no hope at all!
(The picture above shows a German 13mm T-type anti-tank rifle, which has a very strong recoil. It is rumored that the shooter will be sent to the hospital if he fires three shots: one shot in the right shoulder, one shot in the left shoulder, and one shot in the right shoulder, and then he will be replaced)
(End of this chapter)
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