Chapter 565 British Priority

Charles handed over the command of the 6th Army to Christine, planning to dry his clothes and return to Paris to enjoy his vacation.

But as soon as he delayed, he received a telegram from Pétain:

"It's unbelievable that Foch became the commander-in-chief, he actually became the commander-in-chief!"

"Facts have proved that his offensive theory is wrong, absolutely wrong! The army suffered heavy casualties under this unrealistic combat theory, but they chose him to be the commander-in-chief."

"Compared to your record, his contribution is not worth mentioning, especially you just won the victory of the Somme. But they still made such a decision!"

...

Charles saw anger and a taste of provocation in this telegram. Pétain hoped that Charles could fight Foch.

Charles certainly would not be fooled, he called back:

"I am also surprised, General, I have always thought that you are the most suitable candidate for the commander-in-chief, and I still think so now."

"Although I have some achievements, as others have said, my age is a problem, I still need more experience, and more importantly, I can't completely cut off from the capitalists."

"Speaking of which, I would rather give up my military identity and become a pure businessman. Sometimes I don't understand what I am doing or why I am doing this. I could have been lying in a warm home and enjoying life, why should I roll around in this muddy and dangerous battlefield."

"I also feel that your contribution in Verdun is not worth it, General, you can say that you saved France!"

Charles' words sounded like a complaint, but in fact he was sending a message to Pétain: I have no interest in the commander-in-chief, and I know that the parliament will never choose me. You are different, you have the record of Verdun, it can be said that it saved France at a critical moment, how can they not choose you?

As a result, Pétain failed to alienate Charles and Foch, but was alienated by Charles instead.

When he received the telegram, he angrily threw the coffee cup in his hand onto the table. It made a crisp sound, and the coffee splashed all over the table, even dirtying the documents.

The staff officer hurried forward to clean it up.

Pétain walked to the observation window by himself, looking at the German defense line in the distance, and said in a muffled voice: "When we were fighting the Germans, Foch was roasting a fire and smoking a cigar in the warm office. All he did was to criticize Charles, and then he became the commander-in-chief."

Perhaps he was overwhelmed by anger, and he did not connect "criticizing Charles" with "becoming the commander-in-chief".

Otherwise, he might be able to sort out the relationship between the three.

Precisely because Pétain failed to sort it out, a very magical situation emerged: Pétain and Foch were competitors, but they were also allies of Charles at the same time.

…

The sky was getting darker, and the dusk was thick. Charles's convoy was moving forward in the rain on the bumpy road.

That was Charles's communications squad and guard platoon, with a total of three cars and one small car, and the destination was the train station.

Perhaps taking a plane could get to Paris faster, but the plane at this time was "open-top", and it was winter and raining, so taking a plane was definitely not a good experience.

Charles suspected that he would be frozen to death before he got to Paris.

However, what Charles did not expect was that taking a train, especially a train during wartime, was not as simple as he thought.

The train station was located in the small town of Saint-Senna, 15 kilometers away from the front line. This distance ensured that the German 105MM artillery could not cover the train station and blow up warehouses and supplies.

It was also a transit station. Supplies and reinforcements were transported here and then transferred to the front line. The wounded who were transported down from the front line and waiting to be sent back also gathered here.

When Charles's convoy entered the town, all he saw were wounded, both seriously injured and lightly injured.

Most of them only used a raincoat to block the rain. Some people simply hid under the eaves, hugged their raincoats and huddled in the corner, shivering in the cold wind. Some people leaned against the wall and didn't move. It was unknown whether they were dead or asleep.

Doctors, nurses and volunteers dragged their tired bodies to and fro in the rain. Many people were so tired that they dragged their legs like zombies, but the huge number of patients still made them overwhelmed.

The wounded looked pitifully at the convoy heading to the train station in the middle of the road, as if they hoped that the car could take them a ride.

Charles sighed in his heart. These should be the wounded stranded when Nivelle was in office. The casualties were so large that they have not been transported back until now.

However, Charles didn't know that this was just one of the reasons.

The more they went to the train station, the more wounded they were. The gate of the train station was surrounded by the wounded. Even the troops with live ammunition were needed to maintain order to barely make a passage for the convoy to enter.

Charles saw something unusual.

"Why are the guards and those who maintain order all British soldiers?" Charles asked. Although the light was not good, the British soldiers' hat-shaped helmets were easy to distinguish: "If I hadn't known that this was the Somme River, I would have almost thought I was in Britain."

"I'm not sure, General." The orderly Adrian replied: "This may be related to the British being responsible for the transportation of supplies."

Charles said "Oh", this guess was reasonable. During this period, the French army's supplies mainly relied on the British, especially since Nivelle was half British, so he would certainly open up certain powers to the British.

But soon, Charles realized that Nivelle opened up more than just "certain powers" to the British.

The convoy moved along the passage and finally stopped in front of the train.

A British captain used a flashlight to illuminate the pass handed over by Adrian, and then casually used the flashlight to wander over the guards, arrogantly handed back the pass, and waved his hand impatiently and shouted: "Carriage No. 5, hurry up!"

Adrian frowned. This guy actually used this tone and attitude to Charles?

The guards were also glaring. If Charles hadn't stopped them, they would have gone up and hit this guy with a few butts on the spot.

Charles didn't intend to make trouble. There was nothing wrong with maintaining order. If there was any trouble at the train station, the chaos would delay traffic and even cause congestion, which was not a trivial matter for the front line.

However, when Charles found carriage No. 5 and was about to get on the train, he suddenly discovered a strange phenomenon.

He had already stepped into the carriage with one foot, but he suddenly turned back and looked around in confusion.

"What's wrong, General?" Adrian, who was following behind him, stopped.

Charles asked, "Did you notice that there are British wounded all around?"

Adrian looked to both sides and guessed, "This train may be used to transport British wounded."

Charles shook his head, his eyes gradually becoming colder, "But those waiting outside are all French wounded!"

Charles understood that the British used the supplies in their hands and their control over the puppets to realize the right to transport the wounded first.