Chapter 281 Tijani's Persistence

In the Paris Chamber of Deputies, members’ “crusade” against Gallieni became increasingly fierce:

"The Allied fleet has to stop its night bombing operations. Do you know what this means?"

"The positions established by the landing troops during the day will be pushed back by the enemy at night because there is no artillery support."

"Our troops have repeatedly fought with the enemy on the shore. As time goes by, the Allied Powers will only fail!"

…

Gallieni looked coldly at these MPs who stood on the moral high ground and thought, is this Charles' fault? He has warned policymakers time and time again not to fight this battle.

Now that the situation is like this, shouldn't we go to those who made the decision?

Grevi stood up.

Unlike before, he seemed quite calm at this time. He seemed to know that the overall situation had been decided, and all he had to do now was a final push.

"General." Grevy said lightly: "I can understand your desire to protect Charles, but going to the battlefield is the bounden duty of every soldier. If you always keep Charles firmly by your side, it will be a great blow to all those who have suffered on the battlefield. It doesn’t seem fair for soldiers to suffer and even lose their lives!”

There was an immediate echo in the conference room.

Bastard, Gallieni cursed in his mind. In one sentence, Charles and the soldiers were antagonized, and the soldiers' families would also hate Charles.

"Gentlemen!" Armand waved to the congressmen behind him: "We also hope that the military can ensure the safety of Charles. Even if he reaches the Dardanelles Strait, we hope that he will just stay on the warships in the rear. They should not appear. A 'Goliath' situation!"

Shameless, Gallieni gritted his teeth with hatred, and in one sentence he blamed the military for Charles' safety.

But Gallieni said nothing, he just stood quietly on the stage and waited.

The venue gradually became quiet, as they seemed to be waiting for Gallieni to give them a satisfactory answer.

"I'm very sorry!" Gallieni said calmly: "I can't fulfill your wishes!"

There were boos in the venue.

Gallieni then added: "What Charles means is that he is not willing to stay on the safe battleship in the rear. He hopes to land with a force to fight!"

The venue fell silent instantly, and everyone looked at Gallieni blankly. Many people even suspected that they had heard wrongly.

"Yes." Gallieni nodded affirmatively: "He will go into battle and lead an army! So..."

Gallieni turned his gaze to Grevi and made a pun: "As you wish, Mr. Grevi!"

Grevi responded with a stiff smile, feeling quite bitter in his heart: Ciel would rather lead an army onto the battlefield than accept his own suggestion and cooperate with him!

…

At the Brest shipyard, Wells and Tijani are testing the newly produced landing craft.

The two were surprised to find that there were basically no problems with it and it could be used normally as soon as it was produced. Wells even asked workers to go up there and act as soldiers to complete the entire process.

The test went unimaginably smoothly. As soon as the pedal was lowered, the soldiers could rush to the shore along the open hatch.

Wells was a little worried: "If the enemy's machine gun is pointed at our cabin door, the moment the pedal is lowered, the entire ship will be beaten into a sieve!"

"Don't worry, father." Tijani replied: "Our warships at sea will provide them with firepower reinforcements. Besides, there is never an absolutely safe place on the battlefield."

"I was wondering..." Wells said hesitantly, "if we should open the door on the side."

"It's useless." Tijani shook his head: "As long as the soldiers rush to the shore, there must be a path between the hull and the river bank, whether the hatch is on the front or the side."

Wellsco nodded in agreement.

Opening the door from the side seemed safe on the surface, but in fact the soldiers went ashore along a smaller passage. At that time, machine guns were not even needed, only a few rifles were needed to seal the small passage.

And Ciel seems to have already considered all these issues.

At this time, Wells saw the butler coming hurriedly with another newspaper.

Wells frowned: "Did another battleship get sunk?"

"Sir!" The butler came before he could say: "Charles is going to the battlefield. He plans to lead a force to land in the Dardanelles Strait!"

Tijani exclaimed: "He goes in person?"

Shouldn't he be conducting from Paris as before?

"Yes, he will go in person." The butler ran forward and handed the newspaper: "That's what it says."

Tijani grabbed the newspaper and read it. His expression changed again and again. He turned his head and glanced at the landing craft and the landing craft being built, and finally turned his eyes to Wells.

Wells understood what Tijani meant, and he shook his head decisively: "No, I don't agree!"

"Father!" Tijani said: "Char may need me. This is the ship we produced, and at the same time I am an army. I may be the only person who knows both the navy and the army."

"No, he doesn't need you," Wells replied. "The Shire knows a lot more than you do, both in the navy and the army."

"You may be right." Tijani had to admit, but he still insisted: "But Charles is the commander, and he needs someone on the front line..."

"God, you actually want to command from the front line?" Wells interrupted Tijani: "Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"Of course I know." Tijani replied: "I already tried it last time when I was surrounded!"

"What makes you want to come again?" Wells' voice became louder and louder: "Because Charles saved your life? That was just a mission, Tijani, Charles said so too!"

"No, father." Tijani shook his head and slowed down his speech. He raised his head towards the landing craft with emotion: "Because of them!"

"Because of them?" Wells looked at Tijani puzzled.

These small boats, don't you have as many as you want?

Tijani seemed to see through Wells's thoughts, and he explained:

"You don't understand, father."

"They are the most exciting and exciting only when they play a role on the battlefield."

"I will never forget the scene of the 'Char A1' tank appearing in front of me and beating the enemy to flee in embarrassment. I hope to be their witness, or to be more precise, to be a part of them!"

Wells was stunned for a while, and he seemed to understand Tijani's persistence.

At this time, Wells felt like he had just met Tijani. Although they had been together for more than 20 years, he thought he knew Tijani very well, but now he knew what true "understanding" was.

Finally, Wells sighed and replied with difficulty: "Go, before I regret it. However, Charles may not agree. In his eyes, you are just a dandy who is greedy for fame and fortune."

(The above picture is a bird's-eye view of modern Brest)