Chapter 519 Double Strike

"But the Namur Fortress is not suitable for armored forces to attack." Tijani was a little anxious: "In fact, it is not suitable for our troops to attack, including mechanized troops."

This has been discussed before. After all, the Namur Fortress is just in front of the Antwerp Defense Line.

Charles and Tijani even deduced it from the map more than once.

The terrain in this area is complex. It is located at the confluence of the Meuse River and the Sambre River. The river magically makes a big bend here to enclose an open space where artillery can be deployed.

The Germans cleverly used the terrain here to build a defense line.

To attack here, either cross the river to fight or go around the river to be bombarded by German artillery all the way, and you have to pass through a narrow passage formed by rivers and forests.

(The above picture is a topographic map of Namur. The confluence of the two rivers on the lower right is the Namur Castle.)

It's okay for infantry to attack this place because they have forest cover.

But the armored forces that rely heavily on roads and terrain are no different from seeking death here.

Tijani flipped through the battle plan again, frowning more and more, and finally threw the document on the table: "No, I must tell the British that there is something wrong with this plan."

He turned around and walked towards the telecommunications room.

They must not understand the combat attributes of the armored forces, Tijani thought, so they made such a weird offensive plan.

Charles stopped him: "Do you think the British don't know?"

"What?" Tijani looked back at Charles, and after a moment of silence, he replied: "Of course, Major General, they certainly don't know. Otherwise, how could they do this!"

"No, General." Charles said calmly: "They did this precisely because they knew this."

"You mean..." Tijani's face gradually lost color: "They did this on purpose?!"

Charles nodded affirmatively: "We are a bait, General, they used us as bait."

"Bait?" Tijani didn't understand.

Charles explained: "Before the Germans attacked Verdun, they frequently moved and launched feints in Belfort, and they copied this plan."

Tijani understood instantly: "Can we attract the attention and troops of the Germans by launching an attack in Namur?"

"Yes." Charles replied: "We have successfully penetrated to Antwerp before. If we penetrate from Namur to Liege, we can directly cut off the German supply line, which is what the Germans don't want to see."

"Therefore." Tijani continued Charles' words: "The Germans will definitely pay attention and have to pay attention, and the British can attack in other directions and easily win!"

This is what Charles wanted to say.

Charles and Tijani had thought wrong before.

They thought that the British would command Charles' troops to win the battle and then seize their credit.

Unexpectedly, the British were too disdainful to make such a small move to get such a small credit. They directly piled Charles and his troops into the fire pit, and it would be best if Charles lost the battle or even had an accident.

Then the British won a great victory on the other side, and the comparison highlighted the greatness of the British army.

Perfect, nothing can be better than this!

"They are against me." Charles said, he felt that he had implicated others.

"No, Major General." Tijani stared at Charles seriously, he understood what was going on: "They are not against you, they are against you and your troops, and France!"

Tijani was not comforting Charles, he really thought so.

"Don't think this is just your business." Tijani said firmly: "They are not going to defeat Charles, but Mars of France, the hope of France, and the confidence of citizens!"

Charles was silent.

What Tijani said made sense. The ultimate goal of the British was to defeat the French army, and Charles just happened to lead the French army to victory.

"Now." Tijani took the document and put it in front of Charles: "If we can't refuse, how should we fight this battle?"

Charles didn't answer, he was wondering who came up with this trick to kill two birds with one stone.

Nivelle?

Impossible, he only emphasized artillery and believed that artillery could defeat everything, and didn't see tanks at all.

Haig?

Impossible, this guy didn't even believe in machine guns, let alone tanks.

These people who don't understand tanks, of course, don't know where the tank quagmire is, and they can't set this trap.

Then Charles thought of someone.

Kitchener, the Minister of War mentioned by the "Secretary of the Navy", who now holds power and dares to openly defy the resolution of the House of Commons.

It's him.

He has the motive, in order to make the British Army the focus of world attention, and use victory to pave the way for the future position of Prime Minister.

He also has the strength, not as paranoid as Nivelle or Haig.

"Major General?" Tijani interrupted Charles' thoughts: "What should we do?"

Charles thought for a while, and replied without thinking: "Spread the news."

"What?" Tijani was confused.

"We were ordered to attack Namur." Charles said: "Spread it out and let everyone know."

Tijani was getting more confused and looked at Charles in shock:

"If you do this, the Germans will immediately know where we are going to attack, Major General."

"Everyone is keeping it secret and is worried that the enemy will know the direction of our attack, but you took the initiative to spread the news?"

What is this operation?

Charles asked back: "Do you think the Germans don't know?"

Tijani suddenly realized that if all this was arranged by the British, they hoped that the Germans would be attracted to Namur by Charles' attack, and they would definitely "warn" the Germans through some channel.

Then Tijani seemed to understand Charles' intention: "If we spread the news to everyone, the Germans will know that this may be a bait, because no one will reveal their main attack direction."

"Not just this." Charles replied: "The key is the British intentions."

Tijani said "Oh", and then he really understood, and then he became excited:

"Good idea! The French people will be angry about this, Major General."

"The British use this despicable means to influence the war situation. They are trying to send the French elite troops into the quagmire."

"This is clearly a borrowed knife to kill people for personal revenge. In this way, the Germans are used to eliminate the French army's ever-victorious troops and even Charles."

"God, I can't wait to see people take to the streets to denounce the British, especially Nivelle!"

Charles snorted in his heart:

If you think I'm easy to deal with, you're wrong. Charles is no longer the Charles of a year ago.

If you want to deal with me, try the anger of the French people first.

Finally, if I still win this battle under these circumstances and the British are defeated, you will get a double blow!