Chapter 902 The Mastermind
Paris City Hall, Admiralty Office.
The flames in the fireplace danced happily, and several assistants were busy answering and making phone calls, and delivering sorted telegrams and documents to the Secretary of the Navy.
The Navy Minister drank red wine and leisurely flipped through telegrams with a casual look.
There was nothing for him to pay attention to or consider. As Minister of the Navy, he was nominally in charge of two naval directions: Brest and Toulon.
But in reality the port of Brest was out of the control of the Minister of the Navy.
Influenced by the developments at the Brest shipyards and in the war in the North Sea, they had thrown their full weight behind the Charles.
And most of the intelligence is related to the Brest Shipyard.
That's all Charles' problem, the Minister of the Navy doesn't need to worry about it.
As for Toulon and the Mediterranean, the German warships could not operate here, so what could happen? It was just a matter of transportation and patrol.
This is also the reason why the Minister of the Navy intends to move the main force of the navy to Toulon. Isn't it good to dominate the Mediterranean? Why must we compete with the British in the Atlantic?
They are the most powerful navy country, how can we compete with them?
So stupid!
The Mediterranean is the top priority, which is directly related to France's control over its African colonies.
The Navy Minister swirled the wine in his glass proudly.
It was precisely because he had control over the colonies that he was able to maintain the enjoyment of aristocrats while others were in the predicament of "wartime rationing".
Of course there is also the lover. The Minister of the Navy couldn't help but think of Harry's charm. An obscene smile unconsciously appeared on his wrinkled face, and his eyes gradually blurred.
Suddenly, the voice of the staff officer pulled the Navy Minister out of his beautiful reverie.
"Your Excellency, the President of the United States is calling."
The Secretary of the Navy immediately sat up straight. He knew the importance of the United States.
I took the telegram and read it, and saw that it said:
"Minister, I heard that you have joined forces with the colonies to fight against the Shire and blocked the colonies' supply of resources to the Bernard Group."
"I don't know what personal grudge you have with Ciel."
"But now it's wartime. I think we should not bring personal grudges into public affairs. We should unite to defeat the Germans. What do you think?"
The Secretary of the Navy was frightened by the telegram.
What's going on?
Although this was the intention of the Secretary of the Navy, he had already cut ties with the colonies. Why did the President still point the finger at himself?
The Minister of the Navy quickly called back to explain and stated that the matter had nothing to do with him.
Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, I received another telegram from the Italian Prime Minister:
"Mr. Minister, we all know that the Toulon Fleet belongs to France. It should serve France and the war, not individuals."
"But that doesn't seem to be the case, and the military equipment we were hoping to deliver from the Bernard Group has been blocked."
"I don't understand what happened, but I'm sure this is not conducive to the cooperation of the Allies. This is a serious dereliction of duty. I find it hard to understand the existence of such behavior!"
What's going on?
Not just the United States, but also Italy!
Although Italy's influence is smaller than that of the United States, much smaller.
But Italy was in a tense period as its defenses were breached by Germany, and the Allies were considering providing reinforcements to Italy, otherwise it would be of no benefit to anyone if Italy was defeated.
At this critical moment, if there was "dereliction of duty" in the Italian direction, the entire Allied Powers would be questioned.
He looked at the staff officer in confusion: "What happened in Italy? What military equipment?"
"Minister," the staff officer explained, "I called and learned that Italy purchased a batch of equipment from Charles, but the equipment could not pass the transportation approval in time."
The staff officer said "it can't be done in time".
This is the Navy Minister's strategy to deal with Charles. The approval of the Bernard Group's equipment and materials has been delayed, which is not unlucky.
The Minister of the Navy hoped that Charles would understand that he had the final say in the Mediterranean region, thereby increasing his bargaining chips.
I didn't expect the boat to capsize here.
He quickly called Italy back and explained that this phenomenon occurred because a lot of materials needed to be transported during the war and they could not be arranged at once.
After the "explanation" was clear, the Navy Minister felt that the matter did not seem simple.
Why did these two things happen at the same time? Why did they happen to me first?
Just as he was thinking about it, the staff officer sent another telegram, looking panicked and pale: "Mr. Minister, Algiers is under investigation. It is an investigation team sent by General Gallieni."
(The picture above shows the location of Algiers, which is the capital of Algeria and the largest port in Algeria. During the war, it was mainly responsible for transporting colonial resources and materials to mainland France)
"What?" The Navy Minister stood up with a bang.
Everyone knew that Gallieni was in the same boat with Charles, so there was no doubt that this was Charles's trick.
The staff officer added: “They took away the port director and the director of economic affairs.”
The Port General supervises the dispatch of ships, and the Economic Affairs Bureau is in charge of grain collection and mineral exports. These are considered targeted investigations.
But the Navy Minister thought about it for a moment, and his tense muscles relaxed.
The Secretary of the Navy acted very secretively, and the people he contacted only were at the level of the governors of the colonies. As long as the governors were not found, the Secretary of the Navy could stay out of it.
However, the Secretary of the Navy soon discovered that he was wrong.
Less than half an hour later, the staff officer came running up and said in a panic, "Your Excellency, the port director and the director of the affairs bureau have confessed."
The Navy Minister sneered: "Just recruit, there's nothing to worry about."
That was a matter for the colonies, or rather the governors, who had to explain themselves and be examined, and the Secretary of the Navy believed that they would not betray themselves.
But the staff officer said: "Mr. Minister, they said they were following your orders."
The Secretary of the Navy almost fell down. He looked at the staff officer in shock and was stunned for a long time before he snatched the telegram from him.
As the staff officer said, they confessed that the mastermind behind the scenes was all the Minister of the Navy, and there was even a list of how the Minister of the Navy used his power to extort money from the colonies.
The Navy Minister turned pale and screamed angrily: "No, this is slander, this is defamation, I didn't do these things!"
The Secretary of the Navy indeed did not do it. He was just the mastermind behind the scenes. Even the extorted money was handed over to him by the Governor under various names. This list did not exist at all.
However, it is a fact that he embezzled and accepted bribes, and he could not explain the origin of the huge amount of money he deposited in the bank.
Once the two are compared, everything will become true and there will be witnesses and evidence.
The Minister of the Navy realized this and muttered to himself: "This, this is Charles' conspiracy, it must be..."
But no one would listen to him anymore.
(End of this chapter)
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