Chapter 669 - Bypassing the Charr and defeating the enemy

I wish you all a happy New Year and a prosperous Year of the Snake!

The author wishes you all a happy New Year, and may you all smile and have good luck!

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Under Charles' leadership, the "freedom of navigation" of the French Navy and merchant ships has undergone a fundamental change or even a reversal.

Before this, French ships had no freedom in the Atlantic Ocean, and they could even be said to be under the control of the British Royal Navy.

Britain controlled the traffic in most sea areas on the grounds of war, especially the English Channel. Any ship passing through must be inspected and guided and escorted by warships, including French merchant ships and fleets.

The British reason is: the inspection is to prevent merchant ships from carrying contraband to Germany, and the guidance and escort are to prevent ships from entering minefields by mistake, which is for the safety of all ships.

These seem reasonable, but in fact they ignore France's territorial rights.

If the British Royal Navy can do this, can the French Navy also block the strait close to the French side to inspect British merchant ships and the Royal Navy?

Does the British Royal Navy also need the consent and "escort" of the French Navy to pass through?

The rights and interests of both sides are equal. Originally, the French Navy should be able to do what the British Royal Navy can do.

But the French Parliament did not have such a backbone. They took it for granted that the British Royal Navy was the best in the world and thought that the French Navy could not be its enemy. Therefore, not only did they not resist, but they also thought about moving the Brest shipyard and naval port to Toulon.

As a result, when Charles's army penetrated Antwerp, the French Navy clearly had the ability to reinforce Antwerp, but was still strangled by the British Royal Navy.

All this changed under Charles' operation.

Charles used the German Navy to clamp down on the British Royal Navy. Although there was no agreement on the surface, the two sides had reached a certain degree of tacit understanding.

The German Navy only attacked British escort fleets and merchant ships, and turned a blind eye to merchant ships flying the French flag even if there was no escort fleet.

Charles explained it as: "The Germans knew that the French destroyers could detect their submarines, and France also had torpedo attack aircraft, so the Germans did not dare to act rashly."

The French escort fleet also reciprocated. Even if British merchant ships were attacked nearby and called for help again and again, the French escort fleet remained indifferent.

Charles had a more sufficient reason for this:

"Our warships need to protect our merchant ships, and there are no extra ships for rescue."

"And we are not sure whether the Germans are using the strategy of luring the tiger away from the mountain. They may take the opportunity to attack French merchant ships when we go to rescue."

"We must first ensure the interests of our merchant ships before considering other things. Any country will do this."

...

This made the British Minister of Munitions and the Minister of the Navy furious, but they had no way to do it and could not even blame.

Alliance with the German Navy?

No, we are just doing what we should do.

The British Royal Navy is the world's number one navy. You have always claimed that you don't need the French Navy to intervene. Now the French Navy has just the ability to protect itself and is not yet able to help the British Royal Navy!

As a result, a very magical scene appeared in the Atlantic and the North Sea:

The British Royal Navy was responsible for blocking the English Channel, and they still checked, guided, and escorted, just like guarding the house.

But merchant ships from various countries paid "protection fees" to France and were incorporated into Charles' escort fleet, because they knew that only the French fleet could protect their safety.

...

In the Berlin General Staff, the map in front of Falkenhayn has expanded to the North Sea.

Originally, the North Sea did not need to be considered by Falkenhayn, the Chief of the General Staff, after all, he commanded the army, and the German Navy had almost no chance to participate in the war.

But now the situation is different.

The German Navy is becoming more and more active, and even has the potential to suppress the army.

This can be said to be a good thing or a bad thing for Falkenhayn.

The good thing is that the activeness of the navy can reduce the pressure on the army, especially after the control of materials was transferred to Charles, the combat effectiveness of the British Expeditionary Force was significantly weakened.

The bad thing is that the resources of the army have been transferred to the navy, and even the newly developed bombers and research and development teams have been given to the navy free of charge.

Falkenhayn originally wanted to use it as a secret weapon to bomb Charles' airport.

Charles didn't know that Germany had bombers and was unprepared. When the bombers suddenly appeared over its airport, they might catch the French army off guard and blow up a large number of "Camel" fighters.

At that time, Germany might be able to regain air superiority with the new fighter.

Now, everything has come to nothing!

"General, Colonel Erwin is here." The guard reported.

Falkenhayn said "um" and closed the file: "Take him to the conference room, I'll wait for him there."

"Yes, General."

...

There were only Falkenhayn and Colonel Erwin in the huge conference room.

This time Falkenhayn didn't call Lieutenant General Nicolas. After reading the combat report, he felt that Lieutenant General Nicolas was the one who restricted Colonel Erwin's performance.

No mistakes in one post, one content, one book, one bar, one 6, one 9!

In the battle of Antwerp, Lieutenant General Nicolas insisted on using heavy troops to ensure the safety of the two wings of the defense line, which made Colonel Erwin seriously insufficient in the troops used for the penetration.

It turned out that Lieutenant General Nicolas's arrangement did not work at all. Charles' troops penetrated directly to Hasselt instead of returning to Antwerp.

"I'm very sorry, General." Colonel Erwin said with a guilty look on his face: "I have failed your expectations."

Farkinghan raised his hand to stop Colonel Erwin from continuing.

"I will not hold you accountable, Colonel." Fakinhan said in a blank expression, with a plain tone: "If I hold everyone defeated by Charles, then there may be no military officer in Germany who can command the front line now."

But Fajinhan added: "However, there is no reason on the battlefield, do you understand?"

"Yes, General." Colonel Erwin responded.

Falling means losing. Even if the opponent is Shire, he still has to bear the losses and responsibilities of defeat.

Farkinghan signaled Colonel Erwin to sit down in front of him and asked straight to the point: "What are your plans?"

Colonel Erwin had a little helpless look on his face:

"I think it's hard for us to beat Shire head-on."

"He has a much better quality than ours in strategy, equipment, or in the armored army."

"If you want to defeat him head-on, you will be humiliating yourself. Even if you can, you will have to pay a heavy price."

Farkinhan had a hint of confusion in his eyes: "You mean, can we bypass Charles to defeat the enemy?"

"British, general." Colonel Erwin replied: "Charle's main force is in Belgium, facing the Liege Fortress, and he has nothing to intersperse."

Farkinghan seemed to understand what Colonel Erwin meant.

The Liege Fortress was a bridgehead used by the Belgians to block the German army. It was adjacent to the Dutch border in the north and the Arden forest in the south. It was difficult for the Charles' armored army to pose a threat to it.

This allowed the German First Tank Division to escape from attacking other positions.

So……

法金汉目光转向墙上的地图，在上面找到了索姆河的位置。