I Became a Tycoon During World War I - Chapter 203

Chapter 203: Charles A1

Gallieni set down the receiver with satisfaction and looked at Charles. “They’ll call the meeting right away!”

Charles glared at Gallieni, unsatisfied. “Underage? Throwing a tantrum like a child?”

“That’s a good excuse,” Gallieni replied, his gaze flickering over the map. “And, it seems to me, you should be thinking about how to rescue them instead of continuing to throw a tantrum just because I saw through you!”

Charles was speechless.

Anyway, being underage was an original sin. Any discontent was simply “throwing a tantrum like a child!”

“Joffre’s decision was clearly wrong!” Charles pointed at the map and analyzed, “If the Germans knew from the start that Joffre would attempt an infiltration, they would’ve also anticipated his plan to break through the center.”

Gallieni said noncommittally, “But what could they have done? This salient couldn’t be reinforced. They only have five divisions here, while we have five divisions concentrated at the front of Cape Town, and more are still on the way. If there’s an army behind them launching an attack, even just one, we might have a chance of breaking out!”

This was beyond question. All the German defensive lines were built toward the west, leaving the east vulnerable to breakthrough.

Charles replied at a slow pace, “If the Germans managed to construct a reverse defensive line in Cape Town…”

Gallieni’s expression changed. “A reverse defensive line? They surround and protect themselves with trenches?”

“That’s my guess!” Charles answered. “If I were them, I would do that. Trenches could protect them with minimal forces, as long as they had enough machine guns, artillery, and ammunition. Our army wouldn’t be able to break through the center, even with an encirclement from both sides!”

Gallieni stared at the map for quite a while before slowly nodding.

“Before the infiltration, Joffre spent five days feinting in Cape Town. He foolishly thought it would deceive the Germans, but they had already guessed his intentions.”

“While he was feinting, the Germans constructed a reverse defensive line in Cape Town.”

“This line is probably not far from Lorca Town, the location Joffre had planned for his two special artillery divisions!”

Charles agreed, “That’s because this defensive line would be as short as possible, and Lorca Town is located directly behind Cape Town, only about twenty kilometers away.”

“Yes!” Gallieni said anxiously. “The Germans could easily move one division to the front and two divisions to reinforce, turning it into another trap. Joffre’s so-called encirclement from both sides is essentially a suicidal attack toward this trap!”

Gallieni then looked up at Charles. “So, from which direction do you plan to break out?”

Before Charles could respond, the phone rang.

It was Wells calling. “General, the meeting will be convened in half an hour. I think you should attend and face the inquiry, otherwise, our agenda will likely be rejected.”

“Alright, sir. I’ll be there immediately!”

After hanging up, Gallieni looked at Charles helplessly. “They think we haven’t been preparing for war, so…”

Gallieni stood up, took his infantry coat from the wall, and put it on with a relaxed tone. “I’ll leave this to you, Major! My battlefield is the House of Commons. I’ve realized that sparring with those old guys with sharp tongues might be a good choice.”

“But, General, what about here?” Charles glanced around.

Gallieni walked toward the stairs, not turning back as he answered, “If there’s a problem, call me. I’m confident you can handle it!”

Colonel Fernand and the others were stunned. Without Gallieni’s command center, how could they possibly coordinate the rescue of the surrounded allied troops?

But Charles hesitated only for a moment.

He spent a little time organizing his thoughts and realized it might not matter, as he didn’t need any other units involved.

He then called the tractor factory and reached Colonel Estigny.

“Prepare for battle!” Charles said.

“What?” Colonel Estigny was startled, but quickly straightened up and responded, “Yes, sir, I’ll head back to the tank base immediately…”

“No, stay at the tractor factory and organize transportation,” Charles interrupted. “I need you to bring all the tanks, including fuel, ammunition, and mechanics.”

Colonel Estigny immediately grew tense. “Sir, I don’t understand. I only have the new model tanks, and they’re not ready for combat…”

“Have the 37mm guns been mounted?” Charles cut him off.

Four of the ten new model test tanks were equipped with machine guns, while the remaining six had just received the newly produced 37mm guns.

“They’ve been mounted!” Colonel Estigny responded. “But they’re still being tested. We’re trying to determine their armor-piercing capability…”

“Test them on the battlefield. That’s the real test,” Charles replied.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line before Estigny answered, “Alright, I understand!”

His tone was full of resignation. If the tests failed, it would mean they’d have to rebuild the prototype and retest it.

...

Soon, the tractor factory was buzzing with activity. The tanks, under Estigny’s command, returned one by one to the warehouse, where they would be loaded into transport containers to be sent by train.

Matthew, who had participated in the testing, limped forward and asked in confusion, “What’s going on, Colonel? Where are you taking them?”

Estigny said nothing, only shaking his head slightly.

Matthew immediately understood, his face full of bewilderment. “But the drivers only just learned how to operate them!”

Estigny gave a low grunt, his eyes turning toward the tanks. “We haven’t even given them a proper name.”

The new model tanks had been referred to by the codename “A1.”

Matthew, leaning on his crutch, took a step forward and thoughtfully said, “I think it should be called the Charles A1. What do you think?”

Estigny turned in surprise and looked at Matthew, nodding in agreement. “You’ve got a knack for naming things, Matthew!”

...

Charles then made another call to the tank base. “Gather the troops. We have a combat mission!”

“Yes, sir!” Major Browning seemed to have expected this, and asked, “Cape Town?”

It wasn’t hard to guess. The only one who could solve the Cape Town dilemma was Charles.

“Yes!” Charles didn’t avoid it. There was no need to conceal anything from Browning and his unit. He emphasized, “Bring all the tanks, and two units of ammunition.”

“Then, which unit will assist us?” Browning casually asked.

The First Tank Brigade was a tank unit, with infantry trained for tank coordination. They couldn’t be used for fortifying the path, so they needed infantry support.

To Browning’s surprise, Charles answered, “No other units. Just us!”

Browning’s heart sank. Just us?

Does that mean... an infiltration, with no care for what’s behind?

Interesting!

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