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

Chapter 79: Important Second Lieutenant

"Don't you know Charles?" General Winter looked at General Gis with some surprise in his eyes.

Then General Winter quickly thought that since the German army broke through Belgium, General Winter and the others here were surrounded by the German army. All external telephone calls were cut off and they could only rely on telegrams for communication. It seemed normal that they had not heard from Charles.

"Then you must have heard of tanks!" General Winter asked again. Even German prisoners could say a few words about this thing.

General Gis nodded: "I have heard of it, is it true?"

General Gies thought it was just a rumor, or a rumor spread by German prisoners for some purpose.

"Of course it's true!" General Winter replied, "Charles is the man who invented the tank!"

General Gis said "Oh", but he was still skeptical.

General Winter laughed. "If it weren't for this thing, Paris might have been occupied by the Germans. But now France is chasing the Germans! It is said that the Germans' defeat was also a trap set by Charles. If this is true, this Charles is incredible!"

General Giss believed it a little. After all, General Winter was better informed outside the encirclement, and what he said was so sure and logically sound.

However, General Winter then turned his gaze to the letter in his hand, his eyes full of confusion: "But...what does this have to do with us? Why would they ask me to hand over Ciel?"

As he was speaking, the staff officer brought another letter, still from Bessler.

If it weren't for the confirmation of Bessler's handwriting, General Giss would even suspect that this was someone's prank!

Who would deliver two letters in such a short time?

This is a battlefield. It is not so convenient to send a letter to the enemy commander. Someone may lose his life!

Why didn't he just write all the content and send it to me at once?

As General Giss opened the letters, he thought that Besler must have been in a hurry when he wrote them, otherwise he would not have done such a stupid thing.

This time General Giss read the contents of the letter directly:
"Please cherish the people's strength, Victor (General Guise's nickname)! Don't put the entire city's Belgian people under the flames of war. This is meaningless and extremely stupid. I am not asking you to surrender. We will recognize Belgium's neutrality. We just hope that you can hand over Charles to us, that's all!"

Before he had even finished reading the letter, General Guise was already extremely shocked.

Ever since Belgium refused the German army's "innocent passage", Germany has not recognized Belgium's neutral status. This was also Germany's excuse for attacking Belgium. They said that Belgium was standing on the side of the enemy and certainly could not be considered neutral.

However, now they would actually recognize Belgium’s neutrality because of Charles!
"Is this Charles really that important? He could actually make the German general give up his principles so humbly?" General Giss wondered if this was a trap set by the Germans, or another excuse they had.

General Winter nodded affirmatively: "He may be much more important than you think, General! I don't know how to describe it, because all I know are rumors. The ones who really know the importance of Charles should be France and Germany." Then he added: "The German army was once defeated by Charles, and now it seems..."

General Giss understood that the fact that the Germans attached so much importance to Charles said it all.

At this time, the signalman hurried in to report: "General, the Germans have launched an attack in the direction of the Scheldt River!"

General Gies's face turned serious. He found the location of the Scheldt River on the map: "If the Germans capture the west side of the fortress, our only retreat will be cut off by the Germans!"

After a pause, General Gis straightened up and frowned: "They have never done this before. They have always wanted to force us to give up Antwerp!"

This is the tactic of "surround three sides and attack one side". If you surround three sides and leave one side empty, the enemy will panic and think of escaping. If you surround them to death, it will force the enemy to fight to the death.

But now, why did the Germans commit this taboo when they were about to win?
Moreover, it was obviously unwise for the German army, which had the advantage in artillery, to choose to attack at night!
General Winter knew the reason: "For Charles' sake, they don't want Charles to escape!"

General Gis was speechless. Is this true? He would give up his strategic and tactical advantages for one person? Is Bessler crazy?

"General!" Another signalman came to report: "The Dutch informed us that they had to stop accepting refugees because of the threat from the Germans!"

General Giss looked incredulous.

From the beginning of the war to now, the neutral country in the north, the Netherlands, has been accepting Belgian refugees, and Germany has never objected. Now it is threatening the Netherlands to close its border!

This time, General Winter didn't need to explain. General Gis knew the reason: "It's all about Charles again!"

General Winter nodded in agreement.

If the Netherlands can continue to accept refugees, who can guarantee that Charles will not escape to the Netherlands among the refugees?

General Gis could no longer sit still. He stood up and paced anxiously in front of his desk. If the fighting continued like this, not only would the army and soldiers suffer casualties, but a large number of innocent civilians would also be affected, and they would not be able to retreat even if they wanted to!
"But where is that Charles?" General Guise lost his patience: "Why do they want me to hand him over? I have never seen him!"

As he was speaking, the staff officer pushed the door open.

Before he could open his mouth, General Guis asked in a clear voice, "Are you here to ask for Charles again?"

The staff officer was stunned for a moment and replied, "No, General! It's a telegram from General Gallieni of France. He said he made a mistake and sent a very important second lieutenant staff officer to Antwerp. He hopes you will send a plane to send him back to Paris immediately. He will be very grateful and will do his best to help our army. He also emphasized that you can make any request and he will do his best to do it, including reinforcements!"

General Gis smiled bitterly: "They all come to me to ask for people. Charles is important, and a small lieutenant staff officer is also important. Are there any unimportant people..."

As he spoke, his voice gradually became lighter. General Giss suddenly realized something, and General Winter also understood. The two looked at each other and saw shock in each other's eyes!
(End of this chapter)