I Became a Tycoon During World War I - Chapter 199

Chapter 199: The Turnaround of the Battle

Gallieni had clearly guessed this, so when Charles arrived at the headquarters and stood in front of his desk, Gallieni immediately pointed at the map and said:

"An attack was launched half an hour ago."

"Two special artillery divisions, over 200 tanks in total, broke through the enemy’s defenses from Tram and Rhodes."

"The progress has been unexpectedly smooth. The enemy has neither artillery nor reinforcements, not even 77mm field guns."

"After our tanks broke through the lines, they headed for the enemy’s flank and rear. The plan is to meet up at Lorca!"

Charles was speechless. The operation plan was a direct copy of Lafox’s strategy, without any modifications at all.

"This is very likely a trap." Charles’s eyes were filled with fear. "The Germans intend to encircle our two breakthrough units!"

"I know!" Gallieni replied, with a mixture of helplessness and anger in his eyes. "I’ve warned the Commander-in-Chief, but do you think he would listen? He believes we are jealous of his success, that we want to stop his victory with lies and block his way of boasting to the media about his achievements!"

Charles was stunned.

If Joffre had already made up his mind, then no matter how much Gallieni warned him, it would be useless. All his words would be dismissed as lies with ulterior motives.

After a moment of silence, Charles softly asked, "How many men are in the two special artillery divisions?"

Gallieni looked regretful. "Each division has over 22,000 men, so together they total over 45,000."

Then, unable to contain himself, he started cursing again. "This is murder, it’s a crime! He’s completely blinded by fame and wealth, drunk with victory. He’s unfit to command the troops at this position! He—"

Gallieni slammed his fist on the desk, but stopped mid-sentence, perhaps realizing that saying this now was pointless.

Charles stared at the map for a while, then quietly said, "I’m afraid it’s already too late."

Gallieni took out his pocket watch, glanced at it, and nodded helplessly.

From the current distance, a meeting of the two forces on the flanks would take about 3 hours.

But the Germans, no matter what, would not let the two armies merge into a single force. They would block their advance and prevent them from making contact with each other.

Therefore, the Germans would launch a counterattack within the next 3 hours. In other words, Joffre’s victory would soon be reversed!

...

At the French General Headquarters, the staff burst into cheers, celebrating the successful breakthrough of the enemy’s defenses.

Carnes nodded approvingly, then looked at Joffre sitting behind his desk with a smug expression, saying, "The frontal attack at Cape Town resulted in over 6,000 casualties, but it was their blood that won us this victory!"

Joffre smiled faintly. "Without real sacrifices, the Germans wouldn’t have fallen for it. Now, it’s their turn to pay the price!"

Joffre slowly stood up, chest out, and waved his hand authoritatively. "Order the troops: as long as they don’t see their own men, they should keep the pedal to the metal!"

"Yes, General!" Carnes turned to personally deliver the order.

At that moment, an officer handed a telegram to Joffre. "General, the Paris city defense headquarters is calling. They wish for you to reconsider the penetration strategy. They believe it could be an enemy trap!"

Joffre scoffed lightly, took the telegram, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it into the wastebasket. "The situation is decided. Gallieni, and Charles too. Nothing will stop me from heading toward victory. Not even you!"

...

Colonel Christine, now promoted to Brigadier General, was commanding the First Special Artillery Division, having broken through the Tram defense line and heading south for the penetration operation.

At this moment, he was riding a black warhorse through the rain, stopping beside the highway, binoculars in hand, carefully surveying the terrain around him with a sense of doubt.

It was too quiet, and too easy.

He had not encountered a single enemy. The roads and bridges were intact, and the CA-1 tanks were speeding along the roads at full throttle, with infantry unable to keep up.

Christine put away the binoculars and thought for a moment, then ordered in a low voice, "Order the First Artillery Regiment to slow down!"

The command was immediately passed down, and the leading troops gradually reduced their speed.

However, the chief of staff, leading from the front, quickly rode over. He reined in his horse in front of Brigadier General Christine, and the horse trotted nervously as the chief of staff spoke urgently, "General, we shouldn’t slow down. The Commander-in-Chief’s order was to penetrate as fast as possible..."

"This is unusual, Daniel!" Brigadier General Christine coldly interrupted the chief of staff. "Don’t you find it strange?"

"What?" The chief of staff asked in confusion.

"There’s not a single enemy." Christine glanced around at the empty surroundings, his face filled with worry. "Look at this place, do you think it looks like one occupied by the Germans?"

"This is behind the enemy’s lines, General!" the chief of staff explained. "They’ve deployed all their forces to the front line. It’s normal for there to be no enemies behind."

"No, Daniel!" Brigadier General Christine shook his head. "I’ve studied the records of the Lafox operation in detail. They always had the Germans along the way: engineers repairing the roads, medical personnel carrying stretchers to the front, guards setting up checkpoints, even logistics units transporting ammunition in carts. All of this tells me one thing: the Germans are unprepared!"

Christine turned his gaze back to the chief of staff and asked, his voice low, "And we’ve already penetrated 10 kilometers into enemy territory, and yet we’ve encountered nothing. Do you think that’s normal?"

The chief of staff froze, then answered, "Maybe it’s because Cape Town has a railway. They can use trains to transport supplies and wounded, so they wouldn’t need the roads!"

"And the guards along the roads?" Brigadier General Christine retorted.

"Maybe they received news of a front-line defeat and fled before we arrived!" The chief of staff answered, sounding reasonable.

Brigadier General Christine shook his head. From the time they broke through the line, it hadn’t even been two hours. The guards along the road couldn’t have gotten the news that quickly.

Unless the German commanders had time to call them one by one and tell them to retreat.

Christine ignored the chief of staff and dismounted, giving him a glance.

The chief of staff understood, dismounted as well, then pulled out a map from his bag and handed it to Brigadier General Christine under the umbrella.

Christine found their location on the map, and his expression suddenly changed. "A quarry? There’s a quarry ahead?"

The chief of staff rode over, asking in confusion, "What’s the problem, General?"

Christine didn’t answer, and instead shouted, "The entire army, halt! Halt!"

But it was too late. Suddenly, the sound of shells whistling through the air rang out. Several shells exploded near the road, splashing mud and water, some even hitting Brigadier General Christine’s face. His warhorse whinnied in panic.

Christine realized the First Special Artillery Division was about to face a tough battle!

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