Chapter 80 His Majesty the King

Gallieni didn't realize Charles was missing until dark.

He was very busy that day, always organizing reinforcements to reinforce Antwerp.

At this time, the French army was pursuing the German army across the board. All regular troops were on the battlefield. Those left behind were new recruits who had just completed training or were undergoing training. It made no sense to send these troops to reinforce Antwerp.

Therefore, Gallieni needs to sort out the entire front to see where he can draw out a few troops without affecting the current battlefield advantage.

This is not careless at all. The Germans are no joke. If they are not careful, they will launch a counterattack.

After finally squeezing out a division, they then had to plan their route, which was also not easy. They went from walking to car to train, and finally to bypass the German defense lines by sea and rush to Antwerp. Therefore, they had to contact the Navy to provide the necessary protection.

Then there was the issue of logistical supplies to consider. The Belgian army used German rifles, which meant that all the ammunition for the French reinforcements had to be solved by themselves.

After being so busy that it was dark, he finally got on the right track. Gallieni got up, stretched and walked to the window. His eyes jumped across the window and happened to see the statue of Gilbey in the garden, which seemed to be standing guard under the street lamp.

Gallieni twisted his sore neck, and suddenly remembered the scene of Charles practicing his military posture in front of the statue, and asked: "Where is Charles?"

The people next to him were all stunned. They hadn't seen Ciel for a while.

Someone checked the record and replied: "General, Charles has been sent to Antwerp to investigate the situation!"

Gallieni turned around suddenly as if being pricked by a needle: "What? Who sent him?"

"Colonel Durand!" the staff officer replied, looking at the record: "It seems you put him in charge of this matter!"

Gallieni vaguely remembered that this was indeed the case. He casually handed over power to Durand when he was busy, but... didn't he know that Antwerp was dangerous? Who would send Ciel to that place? What on earth is this guy Durand doing? !

"Send a telegram to Antwerp immediately!" Gallieni said: "Let them send Charles back!"

"Yes, General!"

The staff officer was about to go down when he was stopped by Gallieni again: "You can't say it's Charles, you can't say it's the second lieutenant staff officer. We must not let the Germans know that Charles is in Antwerp!"

"Yes, General!"

Then Gallieni shouted angrily: "Where is Durand? Where is he? Let him come here immediately!"

No one responded because no one knew where he was!

A chill ran down Gallieni's spine as he realized that this was probably not a command "accident" but a conspiracy, a conspiracy against Charles.

Durand was probably involved in a "traffic accident" or some other accident, and now there is no evidence of his death.

Therefore, Charles was sent out by Gallieni, and all procedures were fine. If anything happens to Charles, it will be Gallieni's responsibility. The capitalists can bring down both him and Charles at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.

These bastards are actually playing tricks under their noses!

Gallieni felt greatly humiliated, but compared to these, he was more worried about Charles' safety.

Hang in there, little one!

I will definitely rescue you!

…

At the Antwerp Fortress, Charles was alone in the data room looking up documents.

The investigation work is not just about asking about the number of casualties of each unit. It also needs to understand the defense and troop deployment of the Antwerp Fortress, so that when reinforcements arrive, they will not be like headless flies who don't know where to go or what to do. .

The military must have a basic understanding of its environment at all times, otherwise it may mean death.

Almost done, Ciel stood up, twisted his waist to relax, and then took out the bread he had brought with him from his backpack.

He hasn't eaten for a day, not because of work, but because he really has no appetite for dry bread. At home, Camille forces him to eat, but when he is free outside, he only takes a few bites when he is extremely hungry.

Charles walked to the window with a piece of bread in his mouth. It was already dark. He didn't know if airplanes of this era could fly at night.

Considering the urgency of reinforcements to Antwerp, Charles planned to go to the airport later to ask, hoping that the pilot would not be drunk and unconscious...

Just as he was thinking about it, there was suddenly a rush of footsteps outside the door, and it seemed that many people were coming.

"Bang", the door was kicked open.

With bread in hand, Charles stared blankly as General Winter and General Giese appeared at the door. There seemed to be many armed guards outside.

"Charles?" General Guise asked with wide eyes: "Are you Charles? Charles Bernard?"

Charles nodded, looking confused: "What happened?"

General Winter and General Guise were stunned for a long time, standing there speechless for a long time.

After a while, General Winter said with a smile: "The whole world is looking for you, Charles! But you are hiding under our noses!"

…

Ciel finally had the opportunity to enter General Giese's operations office.

This was originally a restricted area for Charles. He might only need to take a look at the telegram here for what he had been checking for a long time in the data room.

This made Ciel a little frustrated. Bringing him here earlier would have saved a lot of time, but now it was redundant.

Seeing that Charles was still chewing dry bread, Guise quickly asked someone to bring milk and cake, plus a small plate of fruit.

Although Antwerp was in short supply under the siege of the German army, this little food was still available.

While Charles was filling his stomach, General Guise pulled General Winter aside and asked in a low voice: "Have you considered a possibility..."

General Winter immediately understood what General Giese meant, and he simply refused: "No, General, you can't do that!"

"Why not?" said General Guise. "He alone can save all our lives, including the king!"

Only then did General Winter realize the seriousness of the problem. General Guise faced a choice: Antwerp and the lives of the people in the city, or the Shire.

From the perspective of General Guise, the former should indeed be chosen, because the Charles seems to have nothing to do with him, nothing to do with Antwerp, and nothing to do with Belgium.

German General Besler mentioned in the letter: "Please cherish the people's strength and don't put the entire Belgian people in the city under the flames of war again!".

This should be a hint that if he doesn't get Ciel, he will put the people of the city under the flames of war!

"But, General!" Winter glanced in the direction of Charles and said, "He is a genius, and he can give us much more than we imagined..."

Before he finished speaking, Winter understood that Charles's genius was meaningless to Belgium. Belgium had no industrial base and they could not put Charles's invention into practice. On the contrary, it would make them guilty.

General Guise's indifferent expression seemed to illustrate this point.

General Winter decided to stop all this. Once the Shire fell into the hands of the Germans, it would be a fatal blow to the Allies.

However, General Winter suddenly found that the more than 10,000 reinforcements he brought seemed insignificant among the fortresses in Antwerp, and he was unable to stop him.

At this time, there were rapid footsteps outside the door, and a middle-aged man wearing a gorgeous military uniform and holding a sword in his hand strode in.

General Guise hurried forward to greet him and bowed in salute: "Your Majesty the King!"

It was King Albert I of Belgium who came. He glanced at General Guise and General Winter, and saw something unusual from the expressions on their faces.

In other words, he had already guessed that this was why he came.

Albert I looked at Charles, who was eating and looking at a map at the table, then turned his gaze to General Guise, puffing out his chest and moving closer, as if to put invisible pressure on him.

His tone was low and firm: "I know what you are thinking, General! I will never allow you to do this. Belgium's dignity cannot be tarnished!"