novelraw Chapter 611: Nominating Shire for Supreme Commander
Chapter 611: Nominating Shire for Supreme Commander
Holland closed its border, not allowing "refugees" to pass through, cutting off the German Army’s hope of retreating to Germany via Holland.
This caused irreparable damage to the trapped German Army: they lost the best chance to break through, simultaneously hitting their confidence and morale.
There is a saying: the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.
If there had been no hope of retreating through Holland from the beginning, the German Army would have risked everything to break through from the direction of Hasselt.
Now that there was hope only to be ruthlessly extinguished, this placed the German Army in a general state of despair, with many even unwilling to attempt a breakout and choosing to wait for surrender.
Admiral Nicholas and Colonel Erwin were not resigned to this. They organized over a hundred thousand remnant troops to break out in several directions.
However, only a little more than ten thousand successfully broke through the encirclement.
This was related to Shire’s preparations.
When the German Army gathered at the Dutch border, Shire had already dispatched a large number of mines and rockets from within the country.
The parliament uncharacteristically fully supported this, sending over forty trains that operated day and night, with an average of one train arriving in Namur every hour, unloading the ordnance and then transporting it by car to the front lines.
Next, a large number of mines, especially "S" type jumping mines, were laid out along the line from Namur to Hasselt. The Belgian Army’s First Special Reconnaissance Army was also equipped with rocket launchers and rockets.
Once the German Army attempted to break out, they first had to cross a minefield, then endure a barrage of rockets, followed by infantry lines of the Belgian Army, and finally escape the pursuit of Shire’s First Armored Army and air forces.
Very few could break out successfully, and more chose to give up during the breakout, surrendering directly to the Belgian and French armies.
Admiral Nicholas and Colonel Erwin escaped successfully; they were taken away by plane.
If there was a flaw in this encirclement, it was that planes could fly out under the cover of night. This was the safest and fastest method, as the current fighter planes had no night combat capabilities and could not stop them from flying out.
...
The snow was falling heavily over Paris, France.
At around five in the morning, the sky had not yet brightened. Many people were still asleep, with only housewives yawning and turning on the lights to prepare breakfast for their families.
The streets were empty with just a few cars passing by occasionally, their headlights casting shadows of snowflakes on the walls on either side.
Suddenly, someone shouted excitedly: "Shire has won, the Germans have surrendered!"
Another person opened a window and shouted outside with excitement: "Shire has won, he has captured 210,000 Germans, 210,000!"
The voices spread one after another, and lights gradually lit up, soon the whole city was boiling with excitement.
Some people, dressed in their pajamas, rushed outside to cheer, others ran around spreading the news, and some even ran naked through the streets, screaming hysterically like madmen.
Briand received a phone call at home.
"Is that so? Are you sure? 210,000 Germans have surrendered?"
"Oh my God, he saved France once again, he performed another miracle!"
"Notify Clemenceau and have him come to my office immediately!"
...
Paris City Hall, Prime Minister’s Office.
Clemenceau walked in sleepily, tossing his hat and coat onto the sofa and placing his briefcase to the side as he sat down, yawning.
Clemenceau had heard about Shire’s victory, but he did not think it was worth getting out of bed and braving the cold wind and heavy snow to come here.
"Do you consider this good news, Mr. Prime Minister?" Clemenceau asked.
"Isn’t it?" Briand, who was reading the detailed report, replied, "Think about it, not long ago we were still worrying about the supply lines collapsing, fearing that the Germans would reach Paris, and now all those worries are gone. We even captured 210,000 Germans. 210,000, Mr. Commissioner!"
Briand got up and handed Clemenceau a glass of red wine, continuing, "I think we should learn a lesson from this. I mean, we almost put France in danger."
He implied that the parliament should ease up on Shire and not let things get out of hand like this again.
Clemenceau shook his head slightly, "You overlooked one thing, Mr. Prime Minister. It seems all of this was within Shire’s plans, including our suppression of him."
"You mean..." Briand was taken aback.
Clemenceau retrieved a document from his briefcase and handed it to Briand.
"This is the investigation report from the second bureau," Clemenceau explained, "Shire had been conserving ammunition and supplies since he left Jangbulu. While we were worried that his troops would lose combat effectiveness due to lack of supplies, Shire was in full control."
Opening the document, Briand glanced at Clemenceau in astonishment, "So, the situation wasn’t as dangerous as we thought?"
"Indeed," Clemenceau nodded, "Moreover, Shire collaborated with the Royal Navy and the ’Minister of Military Supplies.’ His echo detector was successfully used by the French Navy to break the German submarine blockade on the shipping routes. Do you know what this means?"
Briand nodded thoughtfully, "It means Shire is expanding his influence towards the navy. At the same time, he is controlling supplies to some extent."
Clemenceau leaned back, adopting a relaxed posture as he summarized, "Shire’s influence is growing. Almost all soldiers and civilians are his loyal supporters, and now he is extending his reach to the navy and supplies. And we are considering whether to ease up on him?"
Clemenceau answered his own question, "No, I don’t think we should."
Briand fell into silence, feeling as if he had been deceived by Shire.
Shire was using his military genius to continuously enhance his prestige and power, and now he even had the momentum to free himself from parliamentary control.
But what should be done now?
Briand thought of Fuxu.
"So, we should support Fuxu," Briand said.
Clemenceau nodded in agreement, "If Fuxu can successfully conclude the battles of Verdun and the River Somme under his command, combined with his background, he could form a counterbalance to Shire."
"That’s not enough," worry flashed in Briand’s eyes.
"I agree," Clemenceau concurred.
But he felt helpless too, knowing that Shire’s repeated victories on the battlefield were beyond impressive.
Just because of this, Shire could defeat anyone standing in his way.
After contemplating for a while, Briand said, "Therefore, we should nominate Shire as the commander-in-chief."
Clemenceau looked up in shock at Briand.
Had he gone mad? Nominating Shire as the commander-in-chief?
This was something the parliament had always avoided mentioning for fear it might become reality. Yet Briand was about to take the initiative to nominate him.
But in the next second, Clemenceau understood what was happening.