Chapter 337 Neighbor's Plea

At the Paris City Defense Command, the staff who had been calm for a while became nervous again. Everyone was busy contacting the medical team, reserve teams, cars, and even chemical experts.

A large number of soldiers injured by poison gas are stranded on the front lines and cannot be transported back. Even if they are transported back, they cannot be treated.

(Note: The damage caused by chlorine gas is irreversible. It actually reacts with the body's water to produce corrosive hydrochloric acid, which burns the esophagus, trachea and even internal organs. It is difficult to recover even if you don't die.)

Gallieni sat at his desk and read the telegrams one after another, frowning.

He regretted not listening to Charles. Charles had already issued a warning. Gallieni was also dubious at that time, so he did not investigate further and made no preparations.

As soon as Ciel walked into the combat department, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and unanimously turned their expectant eyes to Ciel.

Gallieni didn't say much. He opened the door and handed a telegram to Charles: "Your intelligence is correct. The Germans used poison gas in Ypres early this morning. The Ypres defense line has completely collapsed!"

Without waiting for Charles to answer, Gallieni analyzed: "At present, its damage is not large. According to the intelligence available, it is estimated that there are thousands of casualties."

Thousands of casualties may seem horrifying to modern times, but they were commonplace during World War I.

"But." Gallieni changed the topic: "The point is that we have no means to counter it, so the entire defense line is panicked, for fear that the Germans will use poison gas in their direction."

Ciel nodded in understanding.

What's even more terrifying about poison gas is the psychological impact it has on soldiers:

Just breathing can kill you, so how can you avoid it?

If it cannot be avoided, does it mean that the war has been lost and that the Germans will occupy wherever they go?

So now, should we surrender?

Because all resistance is meaningless, the Germans will eventually win, and the result of resistance is only increased casualties.

Perhaps the Germans themselves did not realize that poison gas warfare could have such a huge psychological impact on the Allied Powers. They were more concerned about the lethality rate of poison gas.

And its kill rate actually disappointed the Germans:

6,000 cans of 180,000 kilograms of poison gas were released, ultimately causing only 5,000 enemy deaths and another 10,000 people being poisoned and injured.

Being poisoned and injured does not mean that they are incapable of combat. They may still be able to pull the trigger and fire bullets at the German army.

If the Germans correctly understood the psychological threat posed by gas warfare, they should have concentrated the strength of an army group in the gap and penetrated on a large scale while the Allies were panicking and their military morale was shaken.

In this way, the Allied defense line is likely to collapse across the board, and a war will be another outcome.

"Do you know more about poison gas?" Gallieni asked: "For example, what substance it is, what properties it has, whether there are any relief or medical methods, etc."

This is not only to treat the wounded, but also to stabilize the morale of the military and even develop countermeasures.

Ciel was cautious enough about this.

Sometimes "pretending to understand" is more difficult than "pretending to understand". If the latter reveals the truth, the lie will be exposed at most. If the former accidentally reveals something, only a "German spy" can explain it. Pass.

"I have no more information, General." Charles replied: "All I know is that it is suspected that the Germans used poison gas as an experiment."

There was some disappointment in Gallieni's eyes, but he felt that this was normal, and the Germans would definitely keep this highly confidential.

At this time Fernand handed over a telegram: "Sent from Army Group North. General Foch wants to know if Charles knows more information."

Gallieni said "Yeah". Almost everyone would think of the whistleblower Charles when faced with this situation, and Foch was no exception. He should regret his actions at this time.

However, the General Headquarters remained silent, and Xiafei still couldn't let go. He may have felt that this was more important than the lives of soldiers, the safety of the defense line, and even the safety of France.

Gallieni was about to give Foch a negative answer when Charles stopped him: "I don't know what it is, but I may have a solution, General."

"What?" Gallieni looked at Charles with a shocked face, and the staff in the headquarters also stopped what they were doing and looked at Charles.

Gallieni asked doubtfully: "But you don't know what it is, how can you find a solution?"

Most people believe that to deal with poisonous gas, one should "prescribe the right medicine". Of course, it is impossible to detoxify the poisonous gas without knowing what it is.

"It's just a possibility, General." Charles explained: "After suspecting that the Germans would use poison gas, I made some preparations."

With that said, Charles returned to his seat, took out the gas mask and brought it to Gallieni, and introduced it.

Finally, Charles emphasized: "I'm not sure if it will work, but..."

"It's better than nothing." Gallieni said what Charles meant: "The situation is already the worst. Any equipment or method is worth trying!"

"Yes, that's what I mean," Charles replied.

"Increase production immediately." Gallieni looked at the gas masks and said impatiently: "We can order as many as we can. At least it can protect our eyes."

Gallieni was very confident in this, because it was equipment invented by Charles, and everything he invented had a great effect without exception.

…

This time, Charles did not leave without saying goodbye like before. He chose to go home.

But this actually did not make much difference, because Charles could not say anything.

When the car drove into the small town of Darwaz and stopped at the door of his house, Charles was shocked to find that his house was already crowded with many neighbors, both men and women, who were shouting and talking in the house.

When the neighbors saw Charles' car, they hurried out to greet him with exclamations:

"It's Charles, Charles is back."

"Charles, can you think of a way?"

"You must have a way, save them!"

...

Charles did not know what the neighbors were talking about, and walked into the house with a blank face.

Deyoka was busy greeting the neighbors, and Camille sat on the sofa with a pale face, looking embarrassed. She even hoped that Charles would not come back.

"It's like this." Deyoka explained: "Some people in our town serve in the 20th Army..."

Charles suddenly realized that the 20th Army was the unit stationed in Ypres that was attacked by poison gas, and it was still guarding the line at this time.

These neighbors must be their family members.

Sure enough, the neighbors begged in unison, some with tears on their faces:

"Remember Michael, Charles, he is your classmate, he is in the 20th Army."

"And Goldman, he is two years older than you, he used to skip school with you."

"Save them, Charles, you are our only hope!"

...