Chapter 527: Original text: Chapter 527 We Don’t Need to Follow Their Thoughts Edited:
Antwerp Airport, Tijani looked at the newspaper and repeatedly let out strange cries:
"No, this isn’t true!"
"How can they do this?"
"Damn it, these bastards!"
...
Finally, he threw the newspaper aside, looking angrily at Shire: "I was deceived by them, there is no victory at all, everything is a lie, the Germans were telling the truth instead!"
Then his eyes turned to confusion: "You always knew this? How did you know? You haven’t left Antwerp since the battle started."
"I don’t need to see it personally at the River Somme to know the outcome." Shire held up a cup and took a few sips of water, his old affliction had returned, drinking a few more cups of coffee meant light sleep, a state between sleeping and waking.
Putting down the cup, Shire continued to explain: "I just need to understand Haig’s tactical thought, a person who despises machine guns and tanks, what kind of victory do you expect from him on the battlefield?"
"Alright then!" Tijani agreed: "His victories and tactics are only suitable for dealing with colonial guerrilla troops and African natives."
Tijani had learned about Haig, he knew Haig had served in India and had participated in the Boer War in South Africa.
Shire was right, applying the tactical experience and strategies accumulated in intense battlefields against the Germans was purely asking for a beating, a harsh lesson was inevitable.
Tijani sighed, with a tone tinged with schadenfreude: "I’d like to see how they will wrap this up!"
Though Tijani was a wealthy second generation and a libertine, somewhere within him lay empathy for all mankind, he hated those who treated human lives as inconsequential on the battlefield, hated them for paving their way to promotion with lives, hated them for decorating themselves with medals stained with blood.
"They’ll have a way." Shire raised his eyebrows: "You don’t need to worry about them."
Tijani let out a scornful laugh, he wouldn’t worry about these bastards, nor did he believe they’d find a way out of this disaster.
But Shire knew this was true, historically, they had come away unscathed.
The logic was simple, as long as the battle was proclaimed as a "victory," sacrifices would be acceptable because the battle itself was so tough, anyone else fighting would likely fare worse.
Thus, not only would they avoid punishment, but they would also gain promotion and honor.
Shire didn’t want to see this outcome.
Going onto the battlefield had taught Shire one thing: if you don’t eliminate the enemy, the enemy will eliminate you.
Nivelle, Haig, and Kitchener, they were all on Shire’s blacklist because they aimed to eliminate Shire through their authority.
Therefore, as long as they held power, Shire could never be safe!
"Major General." At this moment, a communications soldier stepped forward with a telegram: "From Paris, the Parliament hopes you can spare some time to return, they have matters to discuss with you."
Shire smiled lightly, took the telegram and showed it to Tijani: "Look, their method has arrived."
Tijani paused, then realized they wanted Shire to command at the River Somme.
As long as Shire achieved victory, their scandal would be overshadowed by the halo of triumph.
"You won’t do that, will you?" Tijani looked at Shire, his face full of opposition, but shortly hesitated.
Only Shire could prevent such needless sacrifices, although he would be used by these shameless bastards, he could save thousands upon thousands of lives.
Shire did not answer, he calmly ordered the communications soldier: "Reply, I need three days to complete my work here."
Glancing at the calendar on the table, he added: "I will be there on the morning of the 6th."
"Yes, Major General."
Tijani continued to stare at Shire, wanting to know what Shire would decide.
Shire replied helplessly:
"We don’t need to follow their wishes, General."
"For example, you should secretly send troops to Mons and prepare for battle now!"
Tijani exclaimed in sudden realization: "Good idea, Major General."
...
Three days later, the Bourbon Palace House of Representatives was bustling as usual.
During this period, the House of Representatives had never quieted down, discussing Nivelle’s concealment of the war situation:
"Nivelle should be held responsible for this, it is unimaginable that as a commander-in-chief, he has been falsifying war achievements all this time."
"No, this concerns the army’s morale and public confidence, many things are inappropriate to let the public know during wartime!"
"This isn’t the same thing, they are doing this for themselves, I’m saying this includes the British."
"I don’t think that’s the case, sometimes it is necessary to pay the price in war, after all, our army fared much better than the British Army, this shows the commander-in-chief is effective."
"Perhaps it isn’t the commander-in-chief being effective, but rather our smaller troop base making casualties appear less. Five divisions, over 80,000 men, with more than 20,000 casualties, can that be called ’much better’?"
...
Any argument can be justified, especially in military theory, which has no definite standards and cannot be quantified, no one can be certain if certain actions are definitively right or wrong.
Therefore, the parliamentarians supporting Nivelle could still argue back and forth with others, despite the irrefutable evidence of Nivelle’s "false war achievements."
At this moment, Shire pushed open the door and walked in, the conference room instantly fell silent, everyone turned their attention to Shire.
By now, Shire was well-accustomed to this, he strode to the front, politely removed his general’s hat and held it with his forearm in front, slightly bowing: "Sorry, gentlemen! I’m late, as soon as I got off the plane I was surrounded by reporters, they made me feel like surrendering!"
The parliament members laughed loudly.
The victorious Shire on numerous battlefields, now wanting to surrender to reporters from his own country? They must have been spies hired by the Germans!
The Ministry of the Army representative, Gallieni, was already seated among the government observers behind the podium.
He was very pleased with Shire’s calm performance, this guy had grown up unknowingly, a bit strange, with a fierceness he didn’t possess before.
Perhaps the battlefield, business field, and political arena had honed his sharpness.
"Major General." A parliamentarian stood up, straightforwardly presenting the topic:
"The reason we brought you from Antwerp to attend this meeting today is a very important matter."
"You should have heard about the situation at the River Somme?"
"Although some irregular, unsatisfactory circumstances have emerged, we unanimously believe that now is not the time to pursue responsibility."
"The important thing now is to solve the problem, which is to change the predicament of the River Somme battle..."
Shire interrupted the parliamentarian: "I know what you want to say, but I’m sorry, I might not be able to do it."
The conference room instantly became chaotic, even Gallieni was surprised.
Some had guessed Shire would refuse, after all, it was cleaning up the "opponent’s" mess, no one would willingly do so.
But no one expected Shire to refuse so bluntly, so decisively.
"No, you can’t do that." A parliamentarian quickly began moral coercion: "It concerns the lives of many soldiers, you are ignoring their deaths!"
"I’m not the one who ordered them to charge, gentlemen." Shire coldly replied: "You should ask those generals who gave the orders these questions."
The parliamentarians were speechless.
After all, if they didn’t want sacrifices, they could simply order the soldiers to stay put and defend.
"Moreover." Shire continued: "The reason I can’t do it is because my battle has already commenced."
He held his head high, his voice not loud but his tone was heavy: "My troops are attacking Namur, and I must focus entirely on commanding the battle in that direction!"
The room was in shock, some were even so frightened they dropped their canes under their chairs.