Chapter 585: The intimidating effect of "hidden rules"
Jean Bloux Headquarters, a little after eleven on Christmas Eve.
Although Charles had nothing to do, he did not rest.
He was reading a novel, The Legend of Ulanspi, which tells the story of the protagonist's tenacious struggle for national liberation and freedom of belief.
But in fact, Charles was just using this to kill time, waiting for the changes that might happen tonight.
A few meters away, Gamlin took the telegram from the staff officer, glanced at it, smiled slightly, and walked slowly towards Charles' desk. His military boots made a heavy sound with every step as if in protest.
Gamelin came up to Charles, saluted in a pretentious manner, and handed over a report: "Commander, a telegram from Paris, they plan to transfer two divisions from the British Expeditionary Force and another division from the Northern Army Group to help us quell the unrest."
When he mentioned "quelling the unrest", his tone slowed down and became more serious, as if he was worried that Charles couldn't hear him.
Charles didn't move, still sitting with his legs crossed and flipping through the book in his hand.
Gamelin gently placed the telegram on the table in front of Charles, bent down slightly and said sarcastically: "Please rest assured, Commander, Jean Blue is safe."
"Really?" Charles asked calmly, "What are you going to do when these troops arrive? Let the British take over our battlefield, or let them take over our troops?"
Gamelin was stunned. He really had no further plans, but he still replied: "I will discuss a plan with Lieutenant General Ives, and everything will return to the status quo."
Charles smiled softly, without even raising his eyelids. "I heard that you are the smartest general in France. I doubt it."
The smile on Gamelin's face froze for a moment, but he quickly recovered: "It's not important. What's important is whether you are smart enough, don't you think, Commander?"
He looked closely at Charles as he spoke.
Charles looked up at Gamelin and said, "If I am smart, should I give up everything I am doing and admit defeat to you?"
"Almost." Gan Molin nodded slightly: "It's not too late now."
He then added:
"There's no need for us to waste time, General. I mean there's no need to send troops back and forth during this dangerous time."
“There’s no point in persisting if you’re destined to fail.”
"You'll make a wise choice, right? I believe you're a smart person."
Charles sighed and shook his head slightly: "Poor Mr. Gamelin, you still don't understand the situation."
"What?" Gan Molin's eyes were filled with surprise.
Charles changed his address to "Monsieur Gamelin" instead of "General".
The next second he understood that what Charles meant was that he was not worthy of being a "general".
Gan Molin's face darkened, he gritted his teeth and looked fierce: "They said you were a capitalist with a conscience, but it seems that is not the case. You will regret your stubbornness today!"
Charles closed the book and placed it on the table, then pushed the telegram back to Gamelin:
"Do you think the parliament sent troops here to quell the so-called unrest?"
"Think about it, why would Parliament mobilize the British army? Did they want the French army to clash with the British army?"
Gan Molin was stunned.
It seems inappropriate to send British troops to quell the unrest. The French army should resolve its own internal conflicts, and the British army may complicate the problem and even cause misunderstandings.
"That's not something you need to consider." Gamelin replied, "You seem to be in a difficult situation."
"I agree." Charles nodded with a smile: "This is something you need to consider."
"What do you mean?" asked Gan Molin.
Xia Er replied calmly: "When the parliament encounters a difficult problem that cannot be solved, the method they most often use is to divert the conflict and people's attention."
Gamelin laughed. "You mean the parliament wants to divert the soldiers' attention to the British?"
He didn't believe a word of it.
Charles answered seriously:
"Not the soldiers, the people."
"The parliament was in a dilemma at this point, so they called in the British army to make people think that the whole thing was related to British coercion, so that they could find a way out."
"Simply put, the Council is ready to admit defeat, and you thought I was losing this 'battle'."
Gamolin stared at Charles blankly, and suddenly laughed: "Maybe I'm not as smart as others say, but I'm not stupid, General. I won't be scared by you..."
Charles interrupted Gamelin and said confidently:
"Let me tell you what happens next."
"The transferred troops may have some minor conflicts with the 6th Army, just like you said to quell the unrest, but they can't actually do anything."
"It won't be long before the parliament steps in to act as a peacemaker, trying to pretend to be the 'middleman' rather than the instigator."
"In the end, they will even give me some rewards to appease me and the soldiers of the 6th Army. They will also transfer you away and hand over the command of the 6th Army to me in exchange for the stability of the troops."
The smile on Gan Molin's face gradually disappeared.
This does seem like something Parliament would do, letting the British take the blame to avoid damage to Parliament's prestige.
"You, are you so sure?" Although Gan Molin said this, he was already shaken in his heart.
Ciel raised his eyebrows: "We'll see."
The answer is obvious. No matter how many troops are mobilized for such "riots", it will be useless because they don't know who the "enemy" is or where the "enemy" is, and they cannot quell the so-called riots at all.
Gan Molin returned to his seat in a depressed mood. He vaguely felt that Charles was right and the parliament might have to bow its head.
What Gan Molin could not accept the most was that Xiaer had planned everything and was controlling it to develop in the direction he wanted, but Gan Molin did not even understand it, and when Xiaer was about to win, he went to persuade him to surrender triumphantly!
Gamelin felt his face burning, and all he could hear in his mind was Charles's ridicule: "Are you the smartest general in France?", "Mr. Gamelin!", "We'll see"!
No, it won't end like this.
The Parliament will not let Charles off like this, he has committed a terrible crime and should be punished!
However, whether Gamelin was willing or not, things were moving in Charles's favor.
Just as Gamelin was trying to guess the intention of the parliament, a staff officer came up to Gamelin with a document and reported in a low voice: "General, this document specifically requires the signature of General Charles."
"What?" Gan Molin suddenly raised his head and glared at the staff officer, as if to say: Who is so bold as to openly disobey the order to "sideline" Charles.
The staff officer replied in embarrassment: "The brigade commanders and regiment commanders on the front line said that if they do not accept Charles's command, they may not live to see tomorrow..."
Gan Molin was speechless for a moment.
The "unspoken rules" have shown a deterrent effect, and the brigade commanders, regiment commanders and staff on the front line have to acknowledge Charles' command!
Charles has actually won this "battle" because command is passing to him!
(End of this chapter)
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