I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 1021 We Witnessed the Rise of France Together with Charles

Paris City Hall, France.

Gallieni sat in his minister's office, staring at the nautical charts with a troubled expression.

He was the Secretary of the Army; naval warfare might not be his concern, but he absolutely had to be.

This battle was crucial to the fate of France, and Gallieni considered it the most critical battle of all.

If the French army lost this battle, they would have no choice but to accept the British terms without any room for maneuver.

Naval warfare is different from land warfare.

If the land battle is lost, just take the dead and give them a batch of guns, and you can quickly rebuild an army. Tanks can also be produced in just a few months.

However, if a naval battle is lost, for example, if a battleship is sunk, it will take at least several years to rebuild it.

In particular, the two major shipyards in France had only just resumed production and were severely undercapacity. In addition, the blockade by the British Mediterranean Fleet prevented them from obtaining the resources needed to produce warships.

France could very well be crushed in one blow, never to rise again, thus becoming a puppet of Britain forever, with all its previous victories vanishing into thin air.

“General,” Lieutenant Colonel Fernand said reassuringly, “we will win. Charles has never let you down…”

“The problem lies with Charles.” These words stung Gallieri, who jumped to his feet.
“Charles is not in Malta.”

"The Commander-in-Chief is Lieutenant General Gepplatt. What battles has he fought before? The Dardanelles or the North Sea campaign?"

"No, we know that these battles were fought by the Charles!"

At this point, Gallieni had unconditionally trusted Charles, even though others generally believed that Charles was better at land warfare than naval warfare.

To his annoyance, the British launched an attack while Charles was in Belgium.

"Where is Charles now?" Gallieri asked.

Lieutenant Colonel Fernand answered cautiously, "Still in Pantisseburg."

Gallieri was furious when he heard this: "Why are we still in Pontisay? Didn't we tell him to go to Malta already?"

“General,” Lieutenant Colonel Fernand replied.

"The British were prepared for this, and their fleet was simultaneously attacking Emden."

"If the British were to land at Emden and move south to occupy the Ruhr industrial region, Germany would become an uncertain factor."

Gallieri snorted:
"That's not as important as the Mediterranean Sea."

"The Ruhr industrial region can be regained if lost, but if the Mediterranean is lost, France will never have another chance."

"Doesn't this guy even understand this basic principle?"

Gallieni rushed to the communications room, ready to urge them again, when his staff officer cheered with a telegram in hand: "General, we have won! The British fleet has surrendered!"

"What?" Gallieri stared blankly at the staff officer. "What? They surrendered?"

"The British fleet!" The staff officer excitedly handed over the telegram.

"It was sent by Lieutenant General Charles. Our army has achieved a complete victory."

"The British Mediterranean Fleet surrendered, and preliminary statistics show that a total of 118 ships of various sizes were captured, including 8 battleships and 12 cruisers."

"Our forces sank a total of 2 battlecruisers, 1 battleship, 2 aircraft carriers, and an unspecified number of destroyers and enemy aircraft." ...

Gallieri was stunned. He looked at the telegram again and again, then silently sent a reply to Charles: "Are you sure you're not joking? Why would the British fleet surrender?"

Even if Gallieni didn't understand naval warfare, he knew that there was no precedent for capturing more than a hundred warships in naval battles.

In reality, it is difficult to force the other side to surrender in naval battles. Both sides are bombarding each other with ship guns. As long as the engine is still working, even if the ship is bombarded by the enemy and loses its combat capability, it can still withdraw from the battlefield.

But now, how could they actually get more than a hundred British warships to surrender?
Does this include eight battleships?

These battleships are enough to annihilate the entire Toulon fleet!
This was utterly absurd, impossible, and Gallieri didn't believe a word of it.

Charles's answer was simple:
"Because we have an aircraft carrier, General."

"I'm sorry to have worried you. Because military secrets are kept confidential, I didn't explain this to you in advance."

"In fact, the British walked right into a trap; the outcome was already decided long ago."

It was only after seeing this that Gallieri understood.

That bastard, he even lied to me!
I thought France's national event would be interrupted today, but I never expected that the powerful British Mediterranean fleet, the fleet with 10 battleships that made everyone so fearful, was just prey in the eyes of the Charles, nothing more than prey!
Gallieri relaxed completely and nodded slightly to his subordinates who were looking at him expectantly:
"Gentlemen, we are fortunate. We have witnessed the rise of France together with Charles."

"From this day forward, we will be the undisputed number one power in the world, and no country can rival France."

"Anyone who tries to do this will be crushed under Charles's feet!"

A cheer erupted from the command post, and the staff officers and communications soldiers tossed documents into the air, letting them flutter down, as if all intelligence had ceased to matter.

……

The atmosphere at the Grand Hotel Crillon has been rather somber these past few days.

Everyone understood that they should stand with France, or they would be enslaved by Britain forever.

The Dutch representative stated, "The Queen has convened an emergency meeting, and we have decided to fully cooperate with France not only in terms of supplies but also militarily, including allowing French troops to enter the Netherlands."

This is a different kind of "alliance," and at the same time, it represents absolute trust in France.

Otherwise, given the strength of the French army, they could have easily destroyed the Netherlands or installed a puppet state once they entered Dutch territory.

The Greek representative stated, "We will call upon all soldiers and civilians to take up arms and, together with the French army, drive the British troops back into the sea as soon as possible."

The British have more than 200 new warplanes in Greece. Capturing them would cripple the British Mediterranean Fleet.

The Belgian representative stated, "We will prioritize providing France with the resources it needs for development to fill the gap left by the severed shipping lanes."

Resources in Belgium can't produce any decent equipment, but in France it's a different story.

African countries spoke enthusiastically, with some contributing money and others providing manpower, and some even hoping to join forces with Egypt to attack Port Said, which was held by British troops.

However, everyone felt a heavy weight on their hearts:
Could the French fleet defeat the British fleet?
That's the world's most powerful navy, several times the size of the French Navy.

If the Franco-Spanish fleet fails, will the British army, as a "worshipper," target smaller countries first?

Even Clemenceau's smile seemed somewhat forced.

Although he was still saying encouraging words, everyone could see his inner worry: he, who always paid attention to his image, hadn't even realized that he was wearing different colored socks today!

(End of this chapter)