Chapter 528: Chapter Five Hundred and Twenty-Eight
After a long silence, Gallieni, sitting behind him, asked with a voice full of anger, "So, the order to attack Namur Fortress is real?"
As the Minister of the Army, he had no idea about it. When he asked Nivelle, he was told, "There is no such attack plan, it’s all just rumors."
How could they do such a thing?!
Shire looked back at Gallieni, feeling a bit grateful. Only he would be the first to be enraged by this, while most others were surprised, and some were nonchalant, as they were aware of the truth.
Arman, who was used to sitting in the front row, even had a joyous look on his face, as this implied that many opposing members of parliament would be forced to step down.
Shire turned around, swept his gaze across the room, and nodded slightly, "Yes, there is indeed such an order."
The conference room was in an uproar.
This proved that Nivelle had lied again.
This wasn’t just a rumor; they indeed tried to use the Germans to kill Shire and his troops.
A knowing parliamentarian rebutted from below, "Wasn’t this order already canceled?"
All eyes instantly turned to the speaking parliamentarian, who was from the Socialist Party.
At this moment, he realized he had exposed himself as an insider or even a participant, and he hurriedly lowered his head, trying to avoid others’ gazes, but it was too late. A few scoffed laughs echoed in the room.
Party leader James gritted his teeth and cursed to himself, this idiot, with one sentence, dragged Schneider into the fire pit!
Shire smiled, with a tone of wit:
"Yes, I did receive the cancelation order, along with a ’strictly confidential’ order."
"But I’m already prepared to attack."
"And the ’cancel attack’ order was made under public pressure, which I believe was not the original intention of the superiors. What do you all think?"
The room erupted in laughter, it certainly wasn’t the ’superior’s intention,’ their intention was to let Shire die on the battlefield.
Shire continued to explain, "As for ’strictly confidential,’ once the battle has begun, there’s no confidentiality issue."
Gallieni nodded secretly.
Shire’s approach couldn’t be said to be "flawless," his attack on Namur Fortress was technically defying military orders.
However, no parliamentarian would condemn a general who fights and has the potential to win, otherwise, it would mean he doesn’t wish for France to win.
Sure enough, no parliamentarian questioned Shire’s "defiance of military orders."
Arman intentionally touched on the topic to dig deeper, he stood up and asked, "General, I hear that Namur Fortress is unsuitable for your armored units to attack. Is this true?"
Arman believed they must confirm that Nivelle’s faction was indeed trying to frame Shire, so whether Namur was suitable for Shire’s troops to attack was crucial.
Other parliamentarians turned their gaze to Shire.
They had previously read related analysis in the newspapers, but that was from military commentators. The most authoritative figure in this aspect was, of course, Shire, who invented the tank and applied it on the battlefield.
Shire did not deny it; he replied with a double entendre:
"Yes, the armored units are indeed not suited to attack Namur."
"Under normal circumstances, recklessly attacking Namur would only lead to failure."
"Obviously, my opponents understand us very well and made elaborate preparations!"
The conference room burst into laughter again. The parliamentarians, of course, knew why Shire used "opponents" instead of "enemies" or "Germans."
"Then," Arman continued to ask, "what made you launch the attack knowing the success rate was low?"
Arman was very good at this. His question seemed ordinary on the surface but was actually relentlessly pursuing Nivelle’s faction.
He was trying to create a situation where Shire was in extreme danger and finally found a way to attack by luck.
Shire understood Arman’s intention and cooperatively replied, appearing to be shaken:
"At first, I was completely at a loss. General Tijani and I rehearsed countless times on the map, only to end with complete annihilation."
"I even thought I was going to die there. The rivers, forests, and enemy fortifications there were all the natural enemies of tanks."
"General Tijani even wondered if the order was mistakenly issued by the superiors."
"Fortunately, I developed new equipment that might come in handy, but I wasn’t sure yet!"
The parliamentarians all nodded in agreement, it was just as they anticipated.
Gallieni gritted his teeth and cursed, "Bastard, this is murder!"
And it happened right under his nose as the Minister of the Army.
Only Shire knew this wasn’t the case. Namur had to be attacked sooner or later; he had thought about the rocket launcher for a long time.
"Can we know what the equipment is?" a parliamentarian asked curiously.
"Sorry, I can’t say for now," Shire replied, "I want to keep the opponents guessing, which will make them panic. Only in this way will we have more chances of victory."
The parliamentarians nodded in agreement.
The less the Germans knew, the less likely they would find a way to counter it.
Of course, this "opponent" was not just the Germans.
Only Steed seemed to realize that this "equipment" was the recently produced rocket launcher.
He still had doubts, though, about whether this thing could really be so effective.
Could it really help Shire retake Namur?
"Are there any other questions?" Shire glanced around: "If not, I think I should hurry to Namur to be with my soldiers!"
The parliamentarians stood up solemnly, responding:
"No, no more questions, General. We wish you victory."
"Give the Germans a lesson, let them know our power!"
"We support you, go ahead and fight. We will prioritize passing the proposal to reinforce the Namur frontline!"
...
As Shire descended from the podium, the parliamentarians stood and applauded in unison, with cheers and shouts.
At that moment, Shire knew he had won the support of more moderate forces.
...
Southern Shore French Army Command at River Somme.
While the frontline soldiers were charging, Nivelle’s attention was elsewhere.
The frontline did not need commanding because the so-called "command" was merely one word: "attack." At most, it was followed by a few motivational words and some unrealistic visions.
He paced anxiously outside the telegraph room, where signals and telegraph sounds filled the air as operators shouted into the phones.
Nivelle was waiting for the parliament’s result. He wanted to know if Shire was willing to come and command here.
"General." A signalman handed over a telegram: "From Paris!"
Nivelle stopped short, turned around, and took a few quick steps to grab the telegram.
With one sweep of the text, the anticipation drained from his face.
The telegram contained a single line: "Shire is attacking Namur Fortress!"