Chapter 690 The Final Crusade
I wish you all a happy Lantern Festival!
Because a relative came over, I only had time to write one chapter today. I'll make up for it tomorrow. Sorry!
…………………………
While the fighting was deadlocked on the front line, a fierce war was also taking place in the Chamber of Deputies at the Bourbon Palace in France.
The parliamentarians are launching a final crusade against Charles's faction, led by Gallieni:
"We don't have time to delay any longer. The Germans have reached Dunkirk. We must order Charles to reinforce immediately!"
"That is their purpose. They want to delay until Dunkirk is captured. They are traitors to France."
"Charles is using his power to protect his own interests. He treats the army as his own property. We cannot condone his reckless behavior. This is a shameless dictatorship!"
…
Gallieni looked coldly at the congressmen in the audience, his eyes filled with contempt and anger.
These congressmen who talk about "national interests" all the time are actually thinking about how to make profits for themselves. Gallieni couldn't imagine how they had the nerve to say these things.
However, Gallieni said nothing. He knew there was no point in arguing with these people. He just waited quietly for the result.
At this time, Lieutenant Colonel Fernan walked in from outside the door. He whispered a few words in Gallieni's ear. Gallieni smiled and nodded with satisfaction.
Briand walked up to the audience and stood before Gallieni.
He remained rational and did not yell like the others. He believed that this would only make others think that he was targeting Charles, a war hero and representative figure, and would intensify the conflict between the parliament and the military.
He glanced at the audience and said to Gallieni helplessly: "I'm sorry, Mr. Minister, I think we should respect the choice of the parliamentarians because they represent the citizens of France."
"Yes." Gallieni nodded calmly.
"The parliamentarians' choice is to reinforce Dunkirk." Briand reminded: "I think we don't need to vote anymore. It's a waste of time. What do you think?"
"I agree, Mr. Prime Minister," Gallieni replied.
"So." Briand showed a barely perceptible smile on his face, the smile of a winner, and handed over a document: "This is the order to reinforce Dunkirk, you just need to sign it..."
"I don't think that's necessary, Mr. Prime Minister," Gallieni interrupted Briand in a harsh tone.
"What?" Briand was stunned, his eyes gradually turned stern, and his voice was somewhat threatening: "You can't go against the decision of the parliament, Mr. Minister, otherwise I will have to dismiss you..."
Gallieni looked Briand in the eye, fearlessly saying, "You may not know it, but Charles has won!"
Briand's face changed.
Charles wins?
What victory?
He captured the fortress of Liège?
impossible……
Suddenly someone pushed the door open and shouted breathlessly, his voice trembling with excitement: "He, he won, Charles, Charles won, he captured Mézières."
The whole audience was in uproar.
Mezières was a famous industrial city in France. The parliamentarians had all heard of it and even owned shares in the factory. They all knew that the city was behind the German defense line, but Charles had actually captured it.
Briand was also stunned. He knew Mézières. When he was forming the Socialist Party, he went to Mézières more than once to give speeches and get to know the workers and understand their difficulties.
(Note: The Socialist Party founded by Briand was mainly composed of the working class)
Therefore, Briand knew that Mézières was a transportation hub, and even if he did not understand military affairs, he understood its importance.
"No, that is impossible." After a moment Briand shook his head and said, "Charles cannot take Mezières. He is still at Namur, in Belgium."
Having said that, Briand felt a sense of uneasiness in his heart.
That was Ciel, and nothing was impossible for Ciel.
The parliamentarians were awakened by Briand and echoed:
"Yes, Charles is in Belgium. He is separated from Mezières by the Ardennes. How did he capture it?"
"Did he fly over there?"
"I understand. You want to use this fake news to buy time so as not to reinforce Dunkirk!"
…
Gallieni ignored Briand's hesitation. He stood in front of the stage with his head held high and a confident smile on his face:
"Gentlemen, you are right. Belgium is separated from Mézières by the Ardennes."
"But you forget that Charles has taken Charleroi."
"While we were debating whether to reinforce Dunkirk, Charles's First Panzer Corps had crossed the Ardennes Mountains and reached Mezieres."
The conference room was in uproar again.
Armoured troops marching through the Ardennes, is this really possible?
Even Wells and Steed looked shocked.
They just cooperated with Gallieni to prevent the parliament from passing the resolution and did not know the detailed plan.
They thought Charles was really protecting his interests in Belgium, but now it seems that this is not the case.
Armand smiled indifferently.
He doesn't care about these things. It doesn't matter to him whether the Germans win, the French win, or the British win.
He just confirmed one thing: Charles was the trend of the times and no one would be able to challenge his position in the future.
From this point of view, following Charles is the right choice, there is no doubt about it!
Gallieni was not in a hurry. He waited for the parliamentarians to discuss for a while before adding: "If you want to know whether this is true, you just need to look at the Germans' reaction."
Many members of the parliament knew nothing about military affairs and asked without thinking:
“How will the Germans react?”
"Should we even ask the Germans if this is true?"
…
"Gentlemen!" Lieutenant Colonel Fernand couldn't help but interjected, "If Charles really occupied Mezieres, the German attack on Dunkirk would lose its meaning. Because Charles surrounded the Germans from the rear, including Dunkirk!"
The MPs then understood:
"So, the Germans will retreat?"
"What will happen if we don't retreat?"
"If they don't retreat, they will die, because they can't get more ammunition and manpower!"
…
Just then someone pushed open the door and shouted: "The Germans have retreated, Dunkirk is safe, we have won!"
There were no cheers or applause, and the conference room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Then, I don’t know who started it, but there were some sparse applause.
Soon more and more people followed suit, and soon there was applause, even from those MPs who did not want Charles to win.
Charles' victory was not a good thing for them, but they still couldn't control their heartfelt admiration for Charles's battle.
Gallieni turned to look at Briand and glanced at the document in his hand. "Prime Minister, do I need to sign it?"
Briand reacted suddenly: "Oh, no, of course not, this is obviously unnecessary."
(End of this chapter)
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