Chapter 804 Pressure from Britain
At this time, Charles has not yet reached the point where he can cover the sky with one hand.
The Eastern Army Group was still in the hands of parliament and capitalists.
In fact, there were more or less capitalist forces in Foch's Northern Army Group, Pétain's Central Army Group, and even Gallieni's Reserve Army Group.
The three-foot-thick ice did not form overnight, and it cannot be uprooted in a day or two.
Only Charles's heavy army group had little infiltration.
The reason is that Charles' principle of promotion is that it does not matter one's background or which military academy one graduated from, everything depends solely on military merit and ability.
The capitalists and parliamentary connections mostly come from military academies and the upper class. They have almost no actual military achievements, let alone abilities, and are usually eliminated under Charles' promotion system.
In other words, Charles used the war to cleanse his troops and made his subordinates "convinced".
Tijani is an exception. Although he is a rich second-generation, he has been with Charles for a long time and has carved out a world of his own.
Sometimes, Charles thought that Tijani would be suitable to lead a corps of marines because he knew both the navy and the army.
Even so, the Army is not a big problem.
Because whether it is the Central Army Group, the Northern Army Group, the Commander-in-Chief or Gamo Lin.
No matter how they struggle, the core forces such as tanks, fighters, bombers, truck guns, etc. are all in the hands of Charles' heavy armored army.
Even though the Eastern Army Group had money, it still needed to buy tanks from Charles to form armored forces.
What they can buy is the outdated "Char A1", which has no matching tactics and no qualified commanders.
Once a war breaks out, the heavily armored army will always dominate.
The Navy is different.
Charles' control over the navy was weak, with only the Brest shipyard, which was weakened in the Atlantic direction.
The Toulon faction in the hands of the Minister of the Navy is the main force.
Charles's foundation is not stable now, and he cannot use his control over parliament to force the Minister of the Navy to change direction, which will cause a backlash from parliament.
However, the Charles could use the British.
…
Paris City Hall.
The Secretary of the Navy was reviewing documents in his office.
In fact, he had few documents to deal with, and there had been no fighting worth mentioning in the Mediterranean since the end of the Dardanelles Campaign.
If there was anything the Toulon fleet needed to do, it was to protect France's sea transport lines to Italy and Greece.
(Note: In 1915, despite the opposition of neutral Greece, the Allied Powers forcibly landed 150,000 British and French troops in the northeastern Greek port of Thessaloniki. The subsequent force was increased to 250,000. The Greek king was forced to abdicate. By June 1917, Greece was almost forced to join the Allied Powers.)
The Minister of the Navy is still worried about Charles taking away Japan's production capacity. Those are 12 destroyers of more than 3,000 tons, and it is said that the unit price is only 100,000 US dollars.
They are simply robbers, these should have belonged to the Toulon fleet.
The Navy Minister protested to the Neon authorities, but Ming Yuanjiro bowed politely and apologized:
"I am very sorry, Your Excellency the Minister."
"We discussed with General Charles about the private shipbuilding plan."
"To be exact, it's our cooperation with Bernard Company, so... I'm very sorry!"
Ming Yuanjiro bowed 90 degrees with great sincerity.
"Oh, really?" the Navy Minister said, "Since that is a collaboration between your country and Bernard Company, does that mean your country's promise to help France build ships can be counted separately?"
The Navy Minister's logic is very clear. You are taking over Charles' private business, and Neon should build another batch of warships to fulfill its promise.
But he underestimated the Japanese.
Ming Yuanjiro looked confused. He stood up slightly, raised his head and asked, "Mr. Minister, General Charles is a general of France, right?"
"Certainly," replied the Secretary of the Navy, not understanding what this meant.
Ming Yuanjiro asked again: "The warships Charles bought are for fighting for France, right?"
The Minister of the Navy was stunned. He seemed to understand what Ming Yuanjiro meant.
"That..." Ming Yuanjiro continued to explain:
"We have completed the shipbuilding program with the French general. He purchased the warships to fight for France, which means we have fulfilled our promise."
"As for the Minister's request... I'm very sorry, our country's production capacity is limited and we are unable to complete more orders!"
"I'm very sorry, please forgive me. After we complete this batch of warships, we will definitely consider your request carefully!"
He bowed again, his head almost touching the ground.
The Navy Secretary didn't know how to respond.
He knew that this was a fait accompli that could not be changed, and getting angry would be useless and might even offend Japan, so he had no choice but to give up.
The Minister of the Navy was holding a grudge. It was not that he did not want revenge, but he had to compromise because Charles controlled almost everything.
Charles must not be allowed to get his hands on the Toulon fleet, the Minister of the Navy was determined, this was his last line of defense.
Once Charles did this, he would organize all the officers and soldiers of the Toulon fleet to protest.
As long as the Toulon fleet is firmly in hand, he will always have the final say in the Mediterranean.
At this time, the staff officer sent a telegram: "Minister, telegram from London."
The Minister of the Navy took the telegram with a "hmm" and looked relieved.
He has always maintained good relations with Britain. The British and French forces' forced landing in Greece would not have been possible without the cooperation of the Toulon fleet.
Therefore, telegrams from London were usually good news.
For example, how much supplies were transported from India.
However, the Navy Minister glanced at the telegram and his smile instantly froze on his face.
The telegram read: "We need four 'Roux Flag' type warships, Your Excellency the Minister, and I hope you will send the warships to Brest Port immediately."
This is the newest type of destroyer produced by the Toulon shipyard. Only 8 have been produced so far and 4 are under construction.
They actually want 4 ships at once?
And it’s “Report to the Port of Brest”!
The Minister of the Navy almost gritted his teeth and called back: "You mean to hand over these four destroyers to Charles' command?"
The Lord Admiral responded from London, and he played dumb with the Minister of the Navy: "Is it not possible? Charles's command is excellent. Have you forgotten his anti-submarine operations in the North Sea and his great victory in naval battles? I don't think there is anything wrong with that."
The Secretary of the Admiralty then added a telegram:
"Of course, this is your internal affairs, and I shouldn't interfere. I just need the cooperation of this type of warship for the Allied forces to fight."
"To be exact, it was Ciel who modified them."
"I have to remind you, Mr. Minister, that this is very important to us. It even concerns the future of the Allies, so we will achieve it at all costs."
The Secretary of the Navy turned pale. When he received the telegram, he realized that this matter could not be changed.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
