Chapter 257: Professional Killing

The British sent to negotiate with Charles was General Winter. The British may have thought that General Winter and Charles were old acquaintances, so bargaining would be easier.

Charles guessed that Britain at this time must not know the word "killing".

General Winter was so confident that he went directly to Charles's office.

He believed that inviting Charles to the hotel for a formal chat was a waste of time and could not reflect the familiarity between the two.

Gallieni was very enthusiastic about the arrival of General Winter. He specially set aside a conference room in the headquarters for the two to negotiate. He even arranged for fruits and coffee, and asked guards to stand guard at the door so that no one would disturb them.

This is an infrequently used conference room. Gallieni does not pay attention to formality. Most meetings are completed in a few words by calling people to the operations department.

It is about thirty square meters, with a European-style rectangular table in the middle, surrounded by chairs arranged neatly like guards, and a palm-sized French tricolor flag slanted in the center of the square table.

"There is something I must tell you." General Winter sat down opposite Charles with a slightly embarrassed look on his face: "Although I tried my best, the Minister of the Navy always insisted that only warships could be used to force the Ottoman Empire to surrender."

Then General Winter added: "Unfortunately, I can't convince him."

This was expected by Charles. The Admiralty was famous for his stubbornness, and he would do whatever it took to achieve his goals. It was strange that General Winter could convince him.

"Maybe you shouldn't convince him," Charles replied.

"Why?" General Winter looked at Charles in confusion.

According to what Charles said before, shouldn't a well-prepared landing operation against the Ottoman Empire be launched from the beginning? Why "shouldn't you convince him" now?

If the Admiralty's plan to use only warships failed, wouldn't that have alerted the Germans and the Ottoman Empire to preparations?

Charles took a leisurely bite of an apple with his dining knife, and explained unhurriedly: "We can regard this as part of the plan. You can let people spread some news, saying that Britain has never believed that the navy alone is enough." It is extremely absurd to bring the Ottoman Empire to its knees.”

General Winter was stunned for a while. He couldn't turn his head. Since it was "extremely absurd", why did he do it again?

Soon it dawned on him: "The Germans and the Ottoman Empire will think this is part of a deception plan, and they will let the Admiralty do this 'ridiculous act' and turn a blind eye, always focusing on our 'real' To the north of landing!”

Ciel said "Yeah" and nodded slightly.

The imaginary is real, and the real is imaginary. There is emptiness within reality and reality within imaginary. Even if you show it to the enemy clearly, it will be difficult for the enemy to guess what the real intention is.

This was just a small trick to Charles, but it was no small matter in the eyes of General Winter.

It can be said that General Winter has exhausted all methods during this period, whether it is arguing, finding lobbyists, or even slapping the table with the Lord of the Navy with a red face, all in order to make the Lord of the Navy pay attention to his opponent and make good use of Ciel's creation. opportunity.

But the Lord Admiralty just couldn't get enough of it. He kept saying that he "pays attention to the enemy" but always believed that the landing of troops was "unnecessary" and a "stupid waste of troops and financial resources."

In his opinion, sending dozens of warships to deal with the Ottoman Empire was considered as paying attention to and even giving the enemy face, and there was no possibility of failure.

But now, with just a few words, Charles turned the Admiralty's stubbornness into "part of the plan."

At that time, as long as General Winter makes some noise in the north, such as the concentration of warships and troops, or planned mine clearing, the Germans and Ottomans will regard the Admiralty's attack in the south as a "feint attack."

"You are excellent, Colonel!" General Winter's eyes were filled with envy, and even a hint of jealousy: "You are a natural strategist, and everything seems to be in your calculations!"

Charles replied noncommittally: "You're flattered, General."

I said this but I was thinking in my heart, this "calculation" should also include you, General!

Then it was time for Winter to be plotted.

Winter seemed to have been frozen when he arrived by train. He held hot coffee in his hand to keep warm, dragged his chair towards the stove, and changed the topic to the right track:

"You know why I'm here, Colonel."

"I represent the military to discuss the authorized production of bombers. We have discussed it with your country and obtained their consent."

"I think we should have better prices than Russia because we don't have transportation pressure."

Charles smiled softly and asked: "Why do you think I will authorize bombers to Britain?"

General Winter was stunned: "Why not?"

Charles answered directly: "The reason is simple. If you sell bombers to Russia, you can rest assured that it will not be able to drop bombs on our heads. But this is not the case for Britain."

A strange look flashed in General Winter's eyes, and then he laughed "haha": "You are so funny, Colonel, you seem to have forgotten that we are allies and we are fighting a common enemy!"

Ciel didn't say anything, just minding his own business eating the apple.

He didn't touch coffee. He found that he seemed to drink too much coffee recently, and his sleep was always half asleep and half awake, without quality.

General Winter finally chose to give up. He knew that no matter how gorgeous the words were, or how realistic the acting skills were, they were all pale and could not deceive Charles.

"Okay!" General Winter said with a helpless tone: "Tell me your conditions, Colonel. How can you sell the bomber to us?"

Charles still didn't give in: "If Britain had this bomber today, would you sell it to France? You might use it to drop bombs on Paris, General!"

General Winter was silent.

Britain does have this consideration. They don't want France to drop bombs on London without scruples, but Britain doesn't have the same countermeasures.

Although France is an ally, this will still put strong psychological pressure on Britain and make it lose some of its international voice.

(Note: Britain was still the world's number one power during World War I. It could not tolerate other countries challenging its hegemony, which might even drive it down from the world's number one position)

"So, it's a pity." Charles spread his hands to General Winter: "For the benefit of France, I can't do this, and even have to consider selling this bomber to Britain. Those idiots in the government just didn't see this. But it doesn't matter, I will convince them."

Charles' words actually told General Winter two messages in a very obscure way:

First, Charles did this for the benefit of France, not for the benefit of Charles, a capitalist.

Second, Charles has not yet convinced those fools in the government. By the time Charles does, it will be too late.

So, what are you waiting for?

Make a high offer, old friend!