Chapter 687: Charles's Scam
In the meeting, only Briand remained calm.
He knew the situation in Parliament. Many of the members were bribed by the British or even the Germans. Once this battle plan was announced in Parliament, it would no longer be a secret to the Germans.
However, the difficulty Briand faced was that he could not use this to negate the plan proposed by Gallieni, and Briand's military knowledge was not enough to find loopholes in the plan.
After thinking for a while, Briand thought he had found a breakthrough.
He walked up to the podium with a map in hand, looked up and asked Gallieni, who was standing high up: "Mr. Minister, the key point of this plan is to capture the Liege Fortress, right?"
"Yes." Gallieni nodded. Everything was based on the occupation of the Liege fortress.
"But as far as I know, the Liege Fortress has been repaired by the Germans by 80%." Briand asked again: "In addition, the Germans have also laid a large number of mines, barbed wire, and anti-tank trenches outside the Liege Fortress. How can Charles capture it?"
This reminded the congressmen, and they immediately followed suit, echoing in unison:
"Yes, the Germans operated the Liège fortress for nearly two years, with its giant bastions and large-caliber artillery."
"At the same time, it is stuck between the Ardennes Forest and the Netherlands. There is no other way to get around it, only to storm it."
"Not only that, I heard that the Germans have added several artillery divisions there and stored a large amount of artillery shells."
Some members of parliament who have a superficial understanding of the military even shouted:
"Charles' armored units are not suitable for attacking such a fortress. They will be blown to pieces by German artillery fire."
"If Charles could not break through the Liege fortress, there would be no such plan and we would not be able to defeat the Germans."
…
Briand, still looking at Gallieni, asked: "General, does Charles have any plans to capture the fortress tomorrow?"
Then he added, with a hint of regret in his tone:
"Believe me, I very much hope he has."
"Because no one would be unwilling to win, especially me."
"But I am worried that our desperate attack on the Liege fortress has failed, while the British Expeditionary Force has been defeated by the enemy."
The members of the parliament all expressed their approval:
"We can't pin our hopes on unrealistic fantasies."
"Even if it's not a fantasy, this plan is risky."
"If it fails, the Allies will fall apart, France will lose all support, and will eventually be defeated by Germany!"
…
Gallieni blushed and stammered, "Yes, of course, Charles has plans to attack the fortress of Liege."
"What is that?" asked Briand.
"I, I can't tell you, Mr. Prime Minister." Gallieni replied: "I'm sorry, this is a military secret, and I have revealed too much. If I tell you, this plan may never be implemented..."
"You only need to reveal one thing." Briand still did not let Gallieni go: "Just make us believe it. Or, after convincing us, impose martial law on all the parliamentarians as before."
"That's different, Prime Minister," Gallieni replied. "Charles' attack will take at least a month. We can't keep all the deputies locked up in their rooms for that long!"
Briand smiled slightly: "Perhaps Charles has no plan to attack the Liege Fortress at all."
The lawmakers started to boo.
Briand believed that Charles had an offensive plan. He even believed that Charles could capture the Lower Fortress and even go behind the German defense line to end the war.
But Briand was certain that Gallieni would not reveal even a word of this plan.
Because attacking the Liege fortress is so important that it can almost determine the outcome of the entire battle.
Briand seized on this point and reversed the trend that was originally in favor of Charles. The parliamentarians expressed that Charles and his troops should be transferred to Dunkirk to reinforce the British army.
At the same time, there was even a voice in public opinion: the reason why Charles was unwilling to rush to Dunkirk to reinforce the British army was because he was unwilling to give up his interests in Belgium.
…
Namur Castle.
Charles received a telegram from Paris and learned that the parliament was arguing over whether to send reinforcements to Dunkirk, but he didn't take it seriously and threw the telegram aside.
Tijani smiled softly at the telegram: "Is this what you meant?"
"What?" Charles pretended to be confused.
"The plan mentioned by General Gallieni." Tijani nodded at the telegram. "And Steed and my father's support for you. They did everything they could to make others think that we had a plan to attack the Liege Fortress."
Ciel asked back, "Did it work?"
"Probably!" Tijani nodded and said, "I heard that the Germans have added two more infantry divisions to the Liege Fortress. In addition, they are also building trenches outside the Liege Fortress, seemingly preparing for the fall of the Liege Fortress."
The Germans had lost confidence after being defeated by Charles. Even with an impregnable castle like the Fortress of Liege, they were still worried that it would be breached by Charles.
…
Falkenhayn, who was in Berlin, received word that Charles was going to attack the fortress of Liege.
He immediately became nervous and immediately called a meeting and instructed his staff:
“Although we don’t know how Charles will capture the Liege Fortress, we must not assume that he can’t do it.”
"Time and again, we've proven that Shire can do it, every time when we thought it was impossible."
"So we should assume Ciel can do it!"
…
And if we assume that Charles can do it, the price to pay will be high: the German army will not only have to send reinforcements to the Liege Fortress, but also build a defense line to the north of the Liege Fortress to prevent Charles from infiltrating.
This is what Charles wanted to see.
Only in this way can the German army's supplies and manpower be attracted to the direction of the Liege Fortress, rather than Mezieres, an important place behind the Somme River defense line.
At this time, the guard came forward and reported: "General, Albert I is outside."
"Let him in." Charles nodded. He knew why Albert I came here.
Sure enough, when Albert I came in, he looked pale as if a disaster was about to happen: "General, I want to know if you are going to leave here?"
If Charles's troops came back to support, Belgium would be finished.
Although Charles will fight back in the future, the Belgian people cannot withstand such repeated cleansings!
Damn the British, damn the French Parliament, they don't take Belgium's interests into consideration at all!
"Yes, I have no choice but to leave, Your Majesty!" Charles said calmly and firmly.
"No, you can't do this." Albert I's face instantly turned pale: "You, you must at least arrange Belgium's defense."
"Of course." Charles nodded: "I will leave the 6th Army here."
"I know my troops don't have much combat effectiveness, but maybe we can wait until you come back for support..." Albert I said nervously. He didn't even hear clearly what Charles said.
Suddenly he came to his senses and looked at Charles in astonishment: "What? You, you left the 6th Army here?"
(End of this chapter)
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