Chapter 203: Charles A1

Gallieni put down the phone with satisfaction and looked at Charles: "They will convene the parliament soon!"

Charles looked at Gallieni with a look of dissatisfaction: "Underage? Are you acting like a child?"

"This is a good excuse." Gallieni replied, glancing at the map: "Besides, it seems that you should think about how to save them instead of continuing to act like a child because I saw through it! "

Ciel was speechless.

Anyway, being a minor is the original sin. As long as there is any dissatisfaction, it is just "acting like a child"!

"Xia Fei's decision is obviously wrong!" Charles pointed to the map and analyzed: "If the Germans knew from the beginning that Jia Fei would intersect, of course they would have thought that he planned to break out from the middle."

Gallieni said noncommittally: "But what can they do? This protrusion cannot invest more troops. They only have five divisions here. And we have concentrated five divisions on the front of Cape Town, and It's still increasing. If there is an army attacking it from behind, even just one, we may break out!"

There is no doubt about this. All German defense lines are built towards the west. They have no defense against the east and will be easily broken through.

Charles replied unhurriedly: "If the Germans can build a reverse defense line in the Cape Town area!"

Gallieni's expression changed: "Reverse defense line? They surrounded and protected themselves with trenches?"

"This is my guess!" Charles replied: "If it were me, I would do this. The trenches can ensure their own safety with a small number of troops. As long as there are enough machine guns, artillery, bullets and shells, our army will not be able to break through the central part. , even if it’s a double attack!”

Gallieni stared at the map for a while, then slowly nodded:

"Before the insertion, Joffre spent five days conducting a feint attack on Cape Town. He was smart enough to think that this would deceive the Germans, but the Germans had already guessed his combat intentions."

"While he was feinting, the Germans established a counter-defence at the Cape."

"This line of defense is probably not far from the town of Lorca, where the two special artillery divisions in Joffre's plan are located!"

Charles agreed: "Because this defense line will be as short as possible, Lorca Town took a straight line behind Cape Town, with a total length of only more than 20 kilometers."

"Yes!" Gallieni said worriedly: "The Germans only need to move one division from the forward direction and then two divisions to return to the defense, and they can turn it into another trap. Joffre's so-called two-sided attack is actually Attack this trap like a moth to a flame!"

As he spoke, Gallieni looked up at Charles: "So, from which direction do you plan to break out?"

Before he finished speaking, the phone rang.

The call came from Wells: "General, Parliament will convene in half an hour. I think you should be there to accept questions, otherwise our agenda is likely to be rejected."

"Okay, sir, I'll be there soon!"

After putting down the phone, Gallieni said helplessly to Charles: "They think we are not preparing for war, so..."

Gallieni stood up, took off his infantry jacket from the wall and put it on his body. He said in a relaxed tone: "I leave this to you, Major! My battlefield is the House of Representatives. I found that fighting with those old guys might be a good choice. "

"But general, what should we do here?" Charles looked around.

Gallieni walked straight to the stairs and replied without looking back: "If you have any questions, call me. I believe you can handle it!"

Lieutenant Colonel Fernand and others were all stunned. Without Gallieni's headquarters, could they still command the troops to rescue the surrounded friendly forces?

But Ciel only hesitated for a moment.

He took some time to sort things out in his mind and found that it seemed to be about the same, because he didn't need other troops to participate.

Then he called the tractor factory and found Colonel Estini.

"Get ready for battle!" said Ciel.

"What?" Colonel Estini was stunned for a moment, then stood up and replied: "Yes, sir, I will go back to the tank base right away..."

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

Colonel Estini became nervous instantly: "Sir, I don't understand. I only have new tanks in my hands, and they are not ready for the battlefield yet..."

"Has the 37 cannon been loaded?" Charles interrupted Estiny.

Of the ten new tanks used for testing, 4 were equipped with machine guns and the other 6 were equipped with the newly produced 37-gun.

"It's installed!" Colonel Estini replied: "But they are still being tested. We want to know its armor-piercing capabilities..."

"Test it on the battlefield. That's the standard answer." Ciel replied.

The other end of the phone was silent for a while before replying: "Okay, I understand!"

The tone is full of helplessness. If the test fails, it will mean that they have to re-produce the prototype and re-test.

…

The tractor factory soon became busy, and the tanks returned to the warehouse one by one under the command of Estini, where they would be loaded into carriages and transported away by train.

Matthew, who was also participating in the test, limped forward and asked doubtfully: "What's going on, Colonel? Where are you taking them?"

Estini didn't say anything, just shook his head slightly.

Matthew understood instantly, and he looked puzzled: "But the driver just knew how to operate it!"

Estiny hummed and turned his eyes to the tanks: "We didn't even give them a decent name."

The new tank has always been codenamed: Type A1.

Matthew took a step forward with his crutches and said thoughtfully: "I think it can be called Charles Type A1, what do you think?"

Estiny turned his head and looked at Matthew in surprise, nodded and replied: "You have a talent for naming, Matthew!"

...

Charles then called the tank base again: "Gather the troops, there is a combat mission!"

"Okay, sir!" Brownie seemed to have expected it a long time ago, he asked: "Is it Cape Town?"

It's not hard to guess, only Charles can solve the Cape Town dilemma.

"Yes!" Charles did not avoid it, there was no need to hide it from Brownie's troops, he emphasized: "Bring all the tanks, and two bases of ammunition."

"So, which unit will cooperate with us?" Brownie asked casually.

The First Tank Brigade is a tank unit, and the infantry are all professional infantry who have been trained to coordinate with tanks and infantry. They cannot be used to set up defenses along the way, so they need the cooperation of infantry.

Unexpectedly, Charles replied: "There are no other troops, only us!"

Brownie's heart "clicked", only us?

Does this mean... just intersperse and ignore the back?

Interesting!