Chapter 474: Foch's Blame

In the morning, after a good sleep, Joffre got up at 8 o'clock on time. After breakfast, he took a walk on the forest path next to the headquarters with a big belly.

(The above picture shows the body shape comparison between Marshal Joffre and his entourage)

Canais, who is only half the size of Joffre, followed carefully to report the battle situation last night:

"We failed to recapture Fort Douaumont as expected."

"The Germans made sufficient preparations. They used a new type of poison gas, which can be fired into our positions by artillery shells."

"This increases the difficulty and danger of night battles."

...

Joffre's eyes flashed with dissatisfaction, and he responded lightly:

"In the final analysis, it is because their will to attack is not firm enough."

"As long as the interference of the poison gas is eliminated, then The loss is almost negligible, and we can still successfully recapture Fort Douaumont. "

"As long as they can move forward, victory is in front of them!"

Canais nodded, then moved closer and lowered his voice:

"More than 12,000 people died last night, General."

"There are some discordant voices in the parliament."

"Some members of parliament questioned the government: 'The name of Joffre is no longer synonymous with confidence, and on the contrary, do we still have to tie our fate to him? '..."

Joffre cleared his throat with embarrassment, and Canais closed his mouth tactfully.

The surroundings fell into silence, and a few blackbirds on the branches above his head jumped and called, staring with a pair of eyes, as if accusing Joffre of his crimes.

Joffre knew what situation he was in. He had hoped that the battle last night would win and "get him out of trouble", but unfortunately, the war did not develop as he thought.

These cowards, Joffre cursed in his heart, why can't they bravely rush to the enemy?!

After walking a few steps with his head down, Joffre suddenly asked, "Does Foch really look sick?"

Kanes was confused, he had never heard of Foch being sick.

But he immediately came to his senses and nodded, "You think so too? I thought only General Castelnau's staff believed that Foch was sick."

Joffre smiled slightly and said nothing.

(The picture above shows General Castelnau, the commander of the Eastern Army Group at the time. He promoted Pétain, but he was at odds with Foch and suggested that Foch should resign from the post of commander of the Northern Army Group due to health problems.)

…

Foch's headquarters moved to Brussels.

This was for the convenience of command. The telegraph was unreliable during this period, and most of the time, the telephone had to be used.

There have always been few telephone lines between France and Belgium, and Germany deliberately isolated Belgium from France during its occupation.

If the Northern Army Group was remotely controlled by telephone in France, it would not only be easily cut off but also very likely to be eavesdropped.

Foch did not pay much attention to the battle of Verdun. He was thinking about how to attack the fortresses of Louvain and Namur to expand the Belgian victory.

"If we can reach Liege to consolidate Belgium's advantage, the Germans' flanks will be exposed to us." Foch said to his staff with confidence: "So, we are the direction that ultimately determines the outcome."

However, Belgium, a small country, is full of fortresses, and France is the party that lacks artillery.

To be precise, it is not a lack of artillery. France has countless 75 guns.

But attacking fortresses and fortifications requires larger caliber and longer range artillery, like the German "Big Bertha".

Without these artillery, it means that the French army will be suppressed by the German fortress artillery on the way to the attack.

Foch is not willing to continue to rely on Charles, which will make him feel that he is fighting under Charles's protection.

"How should we attack?" Foch whispered to himself, "Can we not fight without Charles?"

At this time, Weygand came forward with a telegram with a serious look on his face, and wanted to hand it over, but then he retracted his hand, and hesitated to speak.

Foch, who was looking at the map, noticed this, and he looked up in confusion and asked, "What's going on?"

Weygand didn't say anything, but just handed over the telegram silently.

Foch was stunned after taking a look. The telegram was from Army Minister Messimy: "Due to your health reasons, we have decided to let you step down as the commander of the Northern Army Group and become the 'Director of the Military Research Center'. Please report to Paris after handing over your work. Thank you for everything you have done for France. Long live France!" Foch looked confused. He looked up at Weygand and then looked at the telegram, thinking that he was dazzled: "Health reasons? Step down?" Weygand sighed and replied softly: "The Paris media has spread unfavorable remarks about you. They believe that the wrong decision of the Battle of Verdun was made with your support." Foch understood that this was the black pot that Joffre threw on his head in order to keep his "throne". He stood up angrily: "If the government wants to remove me, then remove it! But it should not say that I am sick. This is a lie." "The bigger lie is the decision of Verdun..." Foch was stunned when he said this. He was indeed Joffre's think tank. Joffre would send a telegram or call him to discuss almost every decision. Verdun's claim that it was his support was not without basis. The problem is that the information Foch could get was processed by Joffre. For example, Joffre's judgment was: there was reliable intelligence proving that the Germans were really going to attack Belfort and Verdun was a feint, which was beyond doubt.

Foch supported Joffre's decision on this basis, and Foch was not wrong.

However, who would listen to his explanation?

"This bastard!" Foch cursed bitterly, stood up and walked to the telecommunications room to send a telegram to Xiafei to question.

Of course Xiafei would not admit it, and he answered ambiguously: "You were dismissed? I should be dismissed too, we should all be dismissed, because we failed! This is war, the winner is the king and the loser is the enemy!"

Foch knew that this was a foregone conclusion, and Joffre was determined to make him take the blame.

He weakly walked back to his seat, sat on the chair and was stunned for a while. After a long while, he smiled bitterly and said: "When you want to kill your dog, you will start to say that it has gone crazy. This is a very long ancient tradition. Rules, almost no exceptions!”

"But this is unfair, General." Wei Gang was a little excited: "You have nothing to do with Verdun's mistakes. You even just won a victory."

Then Wei Gang suggested: "Can we let Charles say something? After all, we just cooperated with him..."

Foch shook his head slightly: "The Charles may be able to defeat the Germans, but there is nothing they can do against these people."

This is French politics and intricate interpersonal relationships, which is not what Charles is good at.

(Note: The plot of this chapter is based on historical facts. There is a saying on the Internet that Foch was dismissed by the government because he was implicated by Joffre. The book "The Biography of Marshal Foch" records the process of Foch's dismissal in more detail. The French Government Actually none Intentionally dismissing Foch, Jia Fei gave Foch a fatal blow. Jia Fei said that Foch made wrong judgments because he was "confused" due to health and age problems. He hoped to divert public attention and the direction of public opinion).