I Became a Tycoon During World War I - Chapter 151

Chapter 151: Intelligence from Party Struggles

Paris City Defense Headquarters, Operations Department.

Gallieni had his men hang a large-scale map of Lafox, located on the northern wall, right beside his desk. The map meticulously marked every section of trench and troop deployment discovered by reconnaissance.

Gallieni stood before the map, his mood heavy, and said to Charles: "These are all hard-earned with the lives and blood of our brave warriors!"

Charles replied, "Actually, this information could have been obtained using airplanes!"

Gallieni shot a glance at Charles, as if to say, "You're not giving Foch enough credit, all his efforts have gone to waste!"
However, Gallieni said nothing more. He pointed at the map with his pointer and analyzed, "From the previous battles, it's clear that the middle section of the defensive line is the hardest to break through. There's a hill here at an altitude of over a hundred meters, and the German forces on top have a commanding view over us, making it a significant advantage. Moreover, a large amount of barbed wire has been laid out in front of the line, and there might even be an artillery regiment behind the hill!"

At this point, Gallieni put away the pointer, deep in thought, and said, "So, I'm considering one question—should we attack from the flank?"

"No, I think we should strike directly in the middle!" Charles rejected the idea. "The German artillery has a range of 12 kilometers. Whether we attack from the flank or head-on, we will still face its bombardment. The front is flat, but the flank is rugged. If we attack from the flank, our tanks will be exposed to more artillery fire along the way!"

"That makes sense!" Gallieni nodded, pointing the pointer at the German artillery positions. "Are you suggesting a rapid breakthrough from the front to directly strike their artillery positions?"

"Yes, that's my idea!" Charles nodded. "As long as we destroy their artillery positions, our subsequent troops will be able to reclaim the Lafox area in one fell swoop!"

...

Two hours later, Charles' battle plan was placed on the table at Khalil's headquarters.

Khalil was somewhat surprised. He asked his staff officer, Wolf, "This is supposed to be a top secret of France, only Gallieni might know it. How did our intelligence officers get hold of it so quickly? Are you sure this is genuine?"

Khalil suspected the intelligence might have been fabricated by the agents, trying to take credit.

Staff officer Wolf smiled confidently, "No need to doubt, Colonel. This is indeed genuine, and the source is extremely reliable!"

Seeing that Khalil still didn’t believe him, Wolf leaned in and whispered, "This intelligence came from a party within France!"

Khalil immediately understood—it was due to the internal party struggles within France.

In simple terms, the group represented by Gallieni and Charles was seen as a threat to a particular political faction. Therefore, that party had used its connections to obtain the intelligence internally and secretly passed it to the German agents.

Khalil laughed, mocking, "Foolish Frenchmen, they always put their infighting first!"

"Otherwise, how could they be called French?" Wolf replied with a smile.

"So!" Khalil asked, "Does that mean we know how many tanks and how many troops Charles has?"

"Of course!" Wolf nodded. "We even know the time he plans to launch his attack!"

Although Gallieni had built a railway directly to Charles’ tractor factory, a certain political faction in France had placed spies within the factory, making it easy for them to know what was loaded onto the trains every day and in what quantities.

Khalil nodded. "If that's the case, things will be much easier!"

At this point, a messenger excitedly rushed in and reported, "Colonel, General Waldeck has approved our request. He has decided to place the artillery regiments from the Andalousie and Tamon regions under our command, with priority on artillery shell supply!"

A cheer broke out within the headquarters. Originally, there were only two artillery battalions in the Lafox area, but now two entire artillery regiments had been added. Never mind Charles’ tanks—ten of them wouldn’t be enough to withstand the bombardment!

...

At the French Bourbon Palace, Chamber of Deputies, Gallieni once again stood on the podium to face the questioning of the deputies.

Since the last time when he had sharply criticized the deputies, Gallieni had been prepared to ignore them. They were nothing but fools and greedy individuals, and Gallieni did not wish to see their faces.

However...

The deputies were going to decide, based on this session, whether to send Charles and his tanks to replace Foch in the battle.

Gallieni had no choice but to face them.

"General Gallieni!" A deputy stood up. Using a high-pitched, melodious voice, he asked, "Do you truly believe that a 17-year-old boy, a lieutenant who has never attended a military academy nor experienced battle, has the ability and experience to lead the French army in combat against the Germans? We are even considering replacing Foch, who has 44 years of military experience and whose achievements are well-known, with him, a man who is only a French commander in name!"

Gallieni simply responded, "Sorry, what did you say? I didn't quite hear you!"

The deputies were momentarily stunned, then a burst of laughter filled the chamber.

Everyone understood that Gallieni had deftly delivered a sharp rebuke to the questioner:
The truly heroic figure was the 17-year-old boy, who had never attended a military academy—Charles.

Foch’s so-called remarkable achievements included the suppression of local rebellions in the Senegal campaign over a decade ago, where the French army faced natives armed only with sticks, bamboo arrows, and hunting rifles.

Another of his supposed achievements was the much-publicized victory at the Marne, but the real heroes of that battle were Gallieni and Charles.

The deputy did not continue his questioning, sitting down with an embarrassed and disgruntled expression.

Another deputy stood up, and Gallieni recognized him—it was Steed from the Saint-Étienne Arms Factory. Gallieni knew that Steed had harbored resentment towards him over the issue of the machine guns.

Gallieni sneered inwardly, thinking that this guy was probably going to ask some baseless and suspicious questions!
Unexpectedly, Steed spoke in a gentle tone, "General Gallieni, I only want to know one thing—do you think what Charles said to the media, about the CA-1 and 'Saint-Chamon' having obvious flaws, is true?"

As soon as he spoke, a wave of boos erupted from the surrounding deputies.

Gallieni was taken aback. This question actually worked in his favor. When did Steed change his tune? Or had he simply grown senile?

"It's true!" Gallieni straightened up and answered. "The facts have proven Charles right. The problems with the CA-1 and 'Saint-Chamon' are well-known. They completely disregard the realities of the battlefield and only pile on guns and machine guns, resulting in..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a chorus of opposition erupted:

"That's not a tank problem, they simply lack the experience to use them!"

"The soldiers can't coordinate!"

"This is related to the Germans using new rifle ammunition. Charles' tanks would fail just the same!"

...

James Schneider, the owner of Schneider, stood up and said:

"Gentlemen, why not give it a try? Let Charles lead the 'Saint-Chamon' tanks into battle. Wouldn’t that have a better chance of success than tanks armed only with machine guns?"

Gallieni cursed inwardly, thinking: "Shameless! For the sake of profit, they'll say anything!"

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