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

Chapter 80 His Majesty the King
Gallieni did not notice that Charles was missing until it was getting dark.

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

At this time, the French army was pursuing the German army on all fronts. All the regular troops were on the battlefield. Those left behind were new recruits who had just completed training or were in training. There was no point in sending these troops to reinforce Antwerp.

Therefore, Gallieni needed to sort out the entire front line to see where he could withdraw a few troops without affecting the current battlefield advantage.

We cannot be careless at all. The Germans are no joke. If we are not careful, they will launch a counterattack.

After finally squeezing out a division, the next step was to plan their route, which was also not easy. They had to go from walking to car to train, and finally by sea to bypass the German defense line and rush to Antwerp, so they had to contact the navy to provide the necessary protection.

The next issue to consider was logistics supply. The Belgian army used German rifles, which meant that the French reinforcements had to find all their own ammunition.

After working till dawn, Gallieni finally got back on track. He stood up, stretched, and walked to the window. His sight passed through the window and he saw the statue of Gilbert in the garden, which seemed to be standing guard under the street lamp.

Gallieni twisted his aching neck and suddenly remembered Charles practicing military posture in front of the statue, so he asked, "Where is Charles?"

The people around were all stunned. They hadn't seen Charles for a while.

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

Gallieni turned his head sharply as if he had been pricked by a needle: "What? Who sent him?"

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

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

"Send a telegram to Antwerp at once," said Gallieni, "and have them send Charles back!"

"Yes, General!"

The staff officer was about to go down but was stopped by Gallieni: "You can't say it's Charles, say it's the lieutenant staff officer, you can't let the Germans know that Charles is in Antwerp!"

"Yes, General!"

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

No one responded because no one knew where he was!

Gallieni felt a chill down his spine as he realized that this was most likely not a command "accident" but a conspiracy, a conspiracy against Charles.

It is very likely that Durand had a "traffic accident" or some other accident, and now there is no evidence.

Therefore, Charles was sent by Gallieni, and all procedures were correct. If anything happened to Charles, it would be Gallieni's responsibility, and the capitalists could bring down both him and Charles at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.

These bastards are actually playing tricks right under my nose!
Gallieni felt greatly humiliated, but compared to this, he was more worried about Charles' safety.

Hang in there, little one!
I will definitely rescue you!
……

In the Antwerp Fortress, Charles was alone in the archives, looking through documents.

The investigation was not as simple as asking about the number of casualties in each unit. It also required understanding of the defense and troop deployment of the Antwerp Fortress, so that when reinforcements arrived they would not be like headless flies, not knowing where to go or what to do.

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

It was almost done, Charles stood up and twisted his waist to relax himself, then took out the bread he brought from his backpack.

He hadn't eaten for a day, not because of work, but because he had no appetite for the dry and hard bread. At home, Camille forced him to eat it, but outside he was free and would only take a few bites when he was extremely hungry.

Charles walked to the window chewing bread. It was already completely dark, and he wondered if airplanes of this era could fly at night.

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

Just as I was thinking, I heard hurried footsteps outside the door, as if many people were coming. "Bang", the door was kicked open.

Charles, holding a piece of bread in his hand, stared blankly at General Winter and General Gis appearing at the door. There seemed to be many armed guards outside.

"Charles?" General Guise asked, staring. "Are you Charles? Charles Bernard?"

Ciel nodded, looking confused, "What happened?"

General Winter and General Giss were stunned for a long time and stood there speechless for a long time.

After a long while, General Winter smiled and said, "The whole world is looking for you, Charles! And you are hiding right under our noses!"

……

Charles finally had the opportunity to enter General Gis's operations office.

This place was originally Charles' restricted area. Something that would take him a long time to look up in the data room might only require him to take a look at the telegram here.

This made Charles a little overwhelmed. If he had brought him here earlier, a lot of time could have been saved, but now it was unnecessary.

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

Although Antwerp was short of supplies due to the siege of the German army, there was still some food.

While Charles was filling his stomach, General Gies pulled General Winter aside and asked in a low voice, "Have you ever considered a possible ..."

General Winter immediately understood what General Giss meant, and he refused bluntly, "No, General, you can't do this!"

"Why not?" General Guis said, "He alone can save all our lives, including the king's!"

General Winter then realized the seriousness of the problem, and General Gise was faced with a choice: the lives of Antwerp and the entire city, or Charles.

From General Guise's perspective, he should indeed choose the former, because Charles seemed to have nothing to do with him, Antwerp, or Belgium.

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

This should be a hint, suggesting that if he can't get Charles, he will put the entire city into war!

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

Before he finished speaking, Winter understood that Charles' genius was meaningless to Belgium. Belgium had no industrial base, and they could not put Charles' invention into practice. Instead, it would be a crime for them to possess a treasure.

General Giss's nonchalant expression seemed to illustrate this point.

General Winter decided to stop all this. If Charles 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 powerless to stop it.

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

General Guise rushed forward and bowed in greeting: "Your Majesty!"

The person who came was King Albert I of Belgium. He glanced at General Guise and General Winter and could see something unusual from the expressions on their faces.

Or rather, he had guessed it long ago and he came here for this very purpose.

Albert I looked at Charles, who was eating and looking at a map at the table, then turned his gaze to General Guise, puffed out his chest and moved 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. The dignity of Belgium cannot be tarnished!"

(End of this chapter)