Chapter 476 Who Said I Can’t?

Canais looked a little embarrassed. He knew that he couldn't justify himself, especially in front of Charles.

But what could he do?

Surrender?

His fate was tied to Joffre.

If Joffre was dismissed, his future as the deputy commander-in-chief who had always followed Joffre would be over.

No, it can't be like this. At least we have to try!

"Gentlemen." Canais tried to raise his head: "I don't think this can be blamed entirely on General Joffre. We all know that he made the decision based on the advice of his staff, including General Foch..."

Foch is a good shield. He is the founder of French military theory.

The subtext of this sentence is: If even Foch can make a mistake on this issue, isn't it normal for Joffre to make a misjudgment?

And Foch has paid the price for his mistake. Nothing similar will happen next!

Charles just said softly: "I don't really know, General, but I know who will benefit if it is a victory!"

The parliamentarians were stunned for a while, and then burst into laughter. They understood.

When Gallieni successfully defended Paris and repelled the Germans, Joffre said during the reward: "I don't really know, but I know who will be responsible if it is a defeat."

Joffre took away Gallieni's credit as the "Guardian of Paris" with this sentence.

Today, Charles said this back to Joffre who tried to evade responsibility.

Galieni, who was sitting on the side and listening, showed a relieved smile on his face. Charles vented his anger for him, which had been suppressed in his heart for a whole year.

Then a member of parliament shouted:

"You are right, responsibility and honor should be unified. Joffre snatched the honor of victory from his subordinates, but pushed the responsibility of failure to his subordinates."

"God, I have never found Joffre to be such a shameless person, and he is actually our commander-in-chief, leading all the French troops!"

"How can such a commander-in-chief make the troops win? It's time to make a decision!"

...

Major Jules sat next to Gallieni and didn't say anything.

Galieni told him that soldiers cannot participate in politics, so in principle, they cannot express their opinions in the House of Representatives at will, unless a member of parliament initiates a "questioning" against you.

But he could not hold back, and stood up and said to the people around him:

"Gentlemen, I am the staff officer of Colonel De Leon."

"On September 3, Colonel De Leon ordered me to report the battle situation to Joffre at the headquarters."

"When I arrived at the headquarters, the Germans had already launched an attack, and thousands of cannons were bombarding Verdun."

"But I was blocked outside the headquarters and was told that 'the commander-in-chief has fallen asleep and I can't disturb him'!"

At this point, Major Jules raised his voice, and his voice changed from narration to angry accusation:

"Is the commander-in-chief's sleep more important than the fate of France?"

"Or more important than the victory of the battle or the lives of the soldiers on the front line?"

"I don't understand, can you tell me the answer? General!"

The last sentence was said to Canais on the podium.

Major Jules looked directly at Canais, his eyes spitting fire, and although he didn't have a gun on his waist, he pressed it on the belt, as if he wanted to draw a gun and shoot Canais into a sieve.

Canais was frightened by his momentum, avoiding his eyes and dared not answer.

The opposition of the parliamentarians was brought to a climax again. Some people booed Canais, and others shouted:

"Step down, with your Joffre!"

"We don't need such an incompetent person standing there."

"Neither do the French people!"

...

Canais' face was pale, and he was struggling to survive: "General Joffre is commanding the battle at the front. I don't know if it is the right time to replace the commander-in-chief now."

Charles interrupted him: "But Joffre has almost no command, General. All he did was order the troops to attack before going to bed, and then turn off the lights to sleep. Even if the Germans' poison gas bombs slaughtered French soldiers on the front line, Joffre didn't know until he woke up the next day. He only let the soldiers attack!"

"No, this is not true." Canais answered, but he had no confidence.

Everyone could see that he was lying. Joffre had been boasting that he was "in command", boasting that he could stay calm at any time, and showing off that he could maintain a normal schedule at any time, but now he denied it.

At this time, the parliamentarians stopped arguing, because they had already reached a conclusion in their hearts.

Kanais seemed to have noticed this, and he simply gave up, raised his head again and said in a hoarse voice:

"Gentlemen, isn't it right to order soldiers to attack? This is war!"

"Besides, no one would have a better way to deal with this situation."

"Think about it, we are facing an enemy with artillery, troops, and new poison gas bombs that are several times ours."

"Who can achieve better results under this situation?"

...

A congressman shouted: "Charles can!"

Kanais glanced at Charles in front of him and retorted:

"I don't think so."

"His troops are far away in Belgium, and there are tanks and planes. Germany attacked Verdun because of this."

"Don't you understand? The Germans deliberately avoided Charles' troops, only in this way can they gain an advantage!"

"So, this is not fair to Joffre!"

There were fewer objections in the meeting room. At least this was true. The Germans did concentrate their forces to attack Verdun in order to avoid Charles.

The silence of the parliamentarians gave Kanais confidence again. He then shouted:

"If Charles can't do it, how can we ask Joffre to do it?"

"Believe me, gentlemen, Joffre is not the best, but we can't find anyone else..."

Charles stood up slowly and asked back: "Who said I can't?"

The parliamentarians cheered and supported Charles. Some people even stood up and applauded in Charles' direction.

Kanais was stunned:

"No, you didn't understand me, Brigadier General."

"I mean, without calling back your troops..."

Charles answered very simply: "I don't need to call back my own troops."

"Including the air force?" Kanais added.

"Including the air force." Charles nodded.

"Just use the existing troops in Verdun." The panicked Kanais added restrictions.

The parliamentarians started to make a noise:

"Go down, Canais, those troops are even under the command of Joffre."

"Joffre will deliberately trip up Charles to prove that he is not capable."

"Before that, we should first remove Joffre's command!"

...

Charles turned his head to look at Steed in the back row, who smiled and nodded slightly in response.

Charles turned his gaze back to Canais and answered word by word: "No problem, use the existing troops in Verdun."

The parliamentarians were in an uproar. How could they agree to such harsh conditions?

Galieni sighed in his heart.

Only then did he realize that Charles wanted not only to pull Joffre down from the position of commander-in-chief, but also to make Joffre lose his reputation!