Chapter 545: Rely on yourself to win

Verdun, Fort Saint-Michel Command.

The first batch of 100 tractors from Charles to reinforce the front line came at just the right time, and Pétain immediately assigned them to the defense line.

Whether it is transporting ammunition, food, rainproof equipment, or even towing artillery, tractors can get twice the result with half the effort in places where there are no roads.

But at this moment, Bei Ding was very panicked.

The public's calls for Charles to be commander-in-chief are getting louder and louder than ever. Will he be the next commander-in-chief?

Very possible!

The Ciel needs to have a good reputation, a good record of success, rich financial resources and a considerable degree of control over materials. It is said that he is importing large quantities of materials from the United States, the Netherlands and other places through FN's branch and shipping them to France.

What should I do with Sherby?

I'm 59 years old. If I don't become commander-in-chief again, I'm afraid I won't have a chance in this life!

Pétain let out a long sigh and recalled his troubled life in the past, as well as his "defense theory" that was never recognized or even despised by others.

Now we have finally reached a turning point in our lives. The "defense theory" has also achieved results in actual combat, which reflects its value, but we don't want to be overpowered by Ciel.

Just when Pétain was sighing, the staff officer handed over a telegram: "General, a telegram from Major General Charles."

When Pétain, who was wandering in his mind, heard the word "Charles", he suddenly woke up as if being pricked by needles: "What? Charles is here?"

"No, General." The staff officer looked confused. He put the telegram on the table in front of Petain: "It's a telegram from Charles."

"Oh, okay." Petain realized that he had lost his temper, and his face showed some embarrassment.

However, when he glanced at the telegram in front of him, his absent-minded eyes instantly glowed, and the fatigue on his face was swept away, replaced by unconcealable joy.

He couldn't believe what he saw was real. He read the telegram several times and murmured excitedly:

"Really? If so, that would be great."

"It seems reasonable."

What Charles said in the telegram was similar to what he told Foch:

"General, I have no need to be the commander-in-chief."

“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I can’t.”

"I am a capitalist and a major general, and I have a certain amount of power in the parliament."

"No one wants a powerful figure in France who combines military, government and business."

The more Petain thought about it, the more he realized it made sense.

Charles's mistake was that he was too good. Whether it was business, military, or politics, he was a genius.

However, this turned out to be his greatest weakness.

Because he is likely to develop into a dictator, the conditions are already in place, and the only thing left is whether he wants to or not.

And this is something that the French Parliament and even the French people do not want to see.

Therefore, Ciel should not be an "enemy".

So, who will be the “enemy”?

Pétain suddenly thought of Foch and was startled.

The "opponent" has always been Foch, who is the most likely commander-in-chief. I mistakenly identified him as Charles!

Yes, just now, Foch issued a statement about the Shire to the entire army, which was quite offensive.

Obviously, Foch still didn't understand the situation and made the same mistake as me in treating Charles as an "enemy".

Great opportunity, great chance to stand out!

Foch attacked Charles, so I should help Charles attack Foch.

Pétain did not hesitate. After some thought, he called back to the "Military Research Center" and forwarded the message to the newspaper:

"The battlefield is a place where results are important. It cannot be considered with ordinary people's thinking."

"When Charles wins, he should be rewarded rather than criticized."

"If someone can attack without orders and win like he did, the same should be true."

"After all, we need to win so much. This is determined by the general environment, rather than blindly requiring everyone to execute orders."

"What's more, our military's intelligence system is not rigorous, and intelligence leaks are common. If everything is carried out as ordered, even Ciel will have a hard time winning."

…

Although Petain's words are subjective, they are not unreasonable.

In the words of Huaxia, it actually means "seizing the opportunity in any way" or "not accepting the fate of the foreign emperor".

Foch was naturally dissatisfied and immediately called back to counterattack:

"By directing operations in this way, it seems that we can gain one or two victories in front of us."

"But this is obviously extremely short-sighted, and it is very destructive from the overall consideration of the entire military."

"It will cause many officers to disobey orders and act on their own, thus fundamentally destroying the discipline of an army!"

…

They come and go with each other, and they have a lot of fun competing with each other.

During the debate, Pétain was completely unaware that he had been gradually excluded from the list of candidates for commander-in-chief by Parliament and even the British because of his "support for the Charles".

However, Foch, who was not originally on their list, dazzled the eyes of Parliament and the British because of his firm "opposition to the Charles":

Wouldn't it be perfect if a prestigious and powerful figure like Foch could check and balance Charles, who was about to fly into the sky?

…

At this time, the Somme battlefield had calmed down a bit. The British and French allied forces suffered heavy casualties and could not move forward before reinforcements arrived. The German army wisely maintained a defensive state, so there was a brief calm on the battlefield.

Under the rain, groups of unarmed French soldiers collected corpses in no-man's land.

There were too many bodies to bury, so they could only pile them up like sweeping garbage, pile them into small hills, and then pour gasoline on them to burn them.

Because it was difficult to burn in the rain, they had to bring in gasoline several times to replenish it, and finally ignite a fire that was strong enough to last in the rain.

In the disgusting smell of burning, Nivelle was restless in his office. Sometimes he sat down with a frown, and sometimes he stood up and walked around with his hands behind his back.

He had been paying attention to domestic public opinion, so of course he knew what was going on.

With some political skills, he knew why Foch and Pétain, who were originally unrelated, would quarrel in front of the media and the public.

It was nothing more than his position as the commander-in-chief.

These bastards, Nivelle cursed in his heart, I was tortured on the front line to command the troops to fight, but you were thinking about how to kick me out and replace me in the rear!

And the British who crossed the river and demolished the bridge, they clearly pushed all the responsibility on me, and didn't mention that this battle plan was actually formulated by them.

But it seems that no one can be blamed for this. Nivelle is the commander-in-chief, the commander-in-chief of the French army and the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces. If not him, who else can take the blame?

The idea of ​​transferring Charles to win this battle seems to be unworkable, because people are shouting for Charles to be the commander-in-chief, and doing so is almost like handing the commander-in-chief to Charles.

Nivelle feels like he is surrounded by enemies and everyone is staring at his position and targeting him.

After thinking for a while, Nivelle made up his mind:

There seems to be only one way to keep the commander-in-chief, transfer all the troops that can be mobilized, and rely on himself to win!