Chapter 542: The Voice of the People

The German army retreated so quickly because of Erwin.

He saw everything on the front line, saw the terrifying combat effectiveness of the French 1st Armored Division, and how they used bridging armored vehicles to easily break through anti-tank trenches.

Erwin rushed back to the Hebend District headquarters as quickly as possible. Regardless of being covered in mud, water and gunpowder smoke, he pointed at the map and analyzed Nicholas: "The second line of defense also relies on anti-tank trenches. The French army can still break through quickly. There is nothing we can do.”

"We have tanks, not many, but they might be useful," Nikolas replied.

His idea was to use tanks to kill the French armored vehicles building bridges.

The "Upper Silesian" tank may not be able to defeat the "Shire A1", but it is more than enough to deal with unarmed bridge-building armored vehicles.

"It won't be useful." Erwin shook his head: "Their bridging armored vehicles are covered by tanks. In addition, our tanks may not be able to see the target."

Nicholas was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized: "Bazooka?"

Erwin nodded: "We are not sure how many rockets they have, and we are not sure whether the tanks can block the rocket bombing. A rash attack is likely to result in the annihilation of the entire army."

This is the grievance of the artillery being suppressed, and even the "tank defense" in the original plan is useless.

Lieutenant General Nicholas was still a little unwilling: "But we still have Namur Fortress and Namur City. With them, there will be no problem in holding on for three days."

"General." Erwin pointed to the map and replied: "Once the French army breaks through the second line of defense, they will bypass the Namur Fortress and Namur City to cut off our communication with the outside world. Three days later, even if reinforcements arrive, So what?”

Lieutenant General Nicholas was stunned.

If you garrison the city and defend it for three days, it may not be a problem. The problem is that no matter how many reinforcements come, they will be wiped out by Charles's troops. No one can beat Charles's armored and mechanized divisions in the battle outside the city.

Seeing that Lieutenant General Nicholas was still hesitating, Erwin added: "I have just received intelligence that Belgium has dispatched an elite force to Mons. This force may have 50,000 to 60,000 people."

Lieutenant General Nicholas knew what this meant.

If you don't leave, you will be surrounded, and the final outcome will be to be captured like the hundreds of thousands of German troops in Ghent.

"Decide, General." Erwin urged: "We must not only withdraw, but we must withdraw immediately. Otherwise, with the marching speed of the Shire armored forces and mechanized troops, they will quickly penetrate our army's flanks and rear. I can’t even leave even if I want to!”

Lieutenant General Nicholas stared at the map and considered it for a while, and finally nodded helplessly and ordered: "Retreat!"

…

This may be one of the advantages of armored divisions and mechanized divisions. The enemy facing them will always worry about being penetrated from behind.

If Charles was leading infantry with a low degree of mechanization today, the German army would probably choose to stay and fight in the streets, and then the two armies would fall into a quagmire in which neither one could win.

Ciel actually didn't want to end the battle so quickly. It only took two days, which was so fast that Ciel was a little surprised.

Then there will be a voice from the Parliament: "Now that Charles's battle at Namur is over, can he and his troops be transferred to the Somme?"

How will Ciel respond then?

…

Namur Castle is one of the largest castles in Europe. It is located on a hill more than 100 meters above sea level and is surrounded by a river as a moat.

(The picture above shows Namur Castle.)

This kind of castle built in the cold weapon era no longer has much significance for modern warfare. Its masonry wall cannot withstand artillery bombardment and can even be said to be a "dead land."

The Ciel have their headquarters here.

Although it is said to be the "death place" of war, it has complete facilities and is also suitable for keeping secrets.

Charles took a shower here and put on a new, clean and dry military uniform. After having a nice dinner, he stood in front of the window with a glass of red wine and watched the cruise ships coming and going on the Meuse River in the rain.

He couldn't believe that he was still fighting the enemy on the battlefield not long ago.

As usual, Charles entered the city of Namur without any fanfare to receive the cheers of the Belgian people.

This approach is too dangerous, and it is not worth it to be shot down by the remaining German troops.

Albert I was different. He was the first to enter the city of Namur and followed the French soldiers to take over the city.

On the other hand, the Belgian Special First Reconnaissance Army was also transferred into Namur City to maintain public security and built a defense line in the east of the city to prevent the German counterattack.

They did a good job. Albert I was responsible for stabilizing the people and taking care of internal affairs, while Brigadier General Eden was responsible for mobilizing troops and organizing defense.

The Shire had little need to worry about the Namur they had just captured.

However, the more this happened, the less Ciel found an excuse to deal with the Parliament.

"Major General." Tijani came out of the telecommunications room and asked Charles with a smile: "Do you know people's reaction to this battle?"

Charles shook his head slightly, still staring at the river outside the window.

He doesn't have much interest in this aspect.

He might be excited about it at first, but as he wins more and more, he becomes indifferent and even becomes numb.

Charles didn't know that he was standing and talking without pain in his back. At this time, Haig and Niweiler, who were struggling to direct the battle on the Somme, dreamed of winning a battle and saving the day.

"Paris is in turmoil." Tijani poured herself a glass of red wine and strolled to the window.

You can't drink during the war, this is the leisure time after the war.

"Their biggest call is not to boast about you." Tijani leaned against the window with a glass of wine, relaxed and elegant, with a smile on his face: "They confirmed two points: one is that Nivelle did give the order to attack Namur, and the other is that you can easily capture the strong city of Namur, while Nivelle and Haig still couldn't make any progress after paying the price of hundreds of thousands of people!"

Charles said "Oh", this is what he is interested in, this is what he said before "double attack".

The first point, although Charles had said it in the parliament before, the parliament chose to keep it secret for the sake of "taking the overall situation into consideration", so it was not widely disclosed to the public.

The second point is that Charles captured Namur, which was considered impossible to conquer, in less than two days, which formed a huge contrast with the difficult situation on the Somme battlefield.

"Then what?" Charles asked.

"The people want you to be the commander-in-chief." Tijani raised his glass and gently raised it towards Charles: "They think that if you lead the French army to fight, the war will end sooner and fewer people will die."

After a pause, Tijani added: "Not only the people, but also the grassroots officers and soldiers of the army."

Grassroots officers and soldiers like commanders like Charles because they can "save many lives."

Then Tijani asked again, his eyes full of expectation: "Why don't you accept this proposal? I think what they said makes sense."

Charles smiled lightly and replied: "Being the commander-in-chief is not good for me."

That will only make him the target of public criticism, the first bird to stand out, and the target of the parliament.

And these are not things that the people and grassroots officers and soldiers can decide!