Chapter 454: Belgium’s Defense and Air Superiority
Shire hasn’t been idle during this period, although he doesn’t need to worry about the land defense line, which is the matter of General Fuxu’s 9th Army.
But the fighter planes and bombers need Shire’s dispatch.
Antwerp, Brussels, Mons each assigns an aviation squadron with about 20 of the most advanced "Camel" fighter planes, and Ghent opens another airport to allocate two bomber squadrons, solidifying Belgium’s defense line.
Seeing Shire breathe a sigh of relief, Tijani was somewhat puzzled: "Brigadier, you seem to have more confidence in airplanes rather than trenches?"
"Planes are everything, General." Shire answered.
They are multipliers of ground force, while simultaneously suppressing enemy artillery, logistics, and ammunition depots, making battles much easier under these circumstances.
Tijani raised an eyebrow, not taking Shire’s words seriously.
Shire didn’t elaborate, as people of this era still hadn’t fully recognized the importance of air superiority, making it difficult to explain clearly.
At this moment, the guard came in to report: "General, General Gallieni is here, he’s outside."
"General Gallieni?" Shire thought he had heard wrong, he should be in Paris.
However, turning his gaze, Shire saw Gallieni appear at the command post entrance, accompanied by two guards.
Gallieni walked into the command post with his head held high, looking at the dazed Shire, he asked with a smile: "Is everything well, Brigadier?"
"Yes, General." Shire suddenly reacted, quickly making space and inviting Gallieni to sit down, then ordered the servant to make coffee.
As the servant left, Shire suddenly remembered something and followed up saying: "Two sugars, add more water."
"Yes, General." The servant responded.
Behind the lenses, Gallieni’s eyes showed a hint of comfort, this guy remembered his habit.
"We came to inspect the defense line." Gallieni explained: "They plan to let the Reserve Army Group take over the recovered areas in Belgium."
Shire "oh"ed and sat down in front of Gallieni: "They plan to launch an offensive against the German Army?"
This was not hard to guess, pushing the Reserve Army Group forward, the Northern, Central, and Eastern Army Groups in the front as the main force could then initiate the offensive against the enemy.
Gallieni didn’t say anything, only slightly shifted and glanced at both sides.
Shire understood, and brought Gallieni into the conference room.
At this moment, the coffee was delivered, Gallieni took it and tasted it lightly, waiting for the servant to leave and close the door, he then said: "They believe that this war might be ending, this is not a small-scale attack, but a total offensive, a comprehensive assault."
Shire was shocked, his first reaction was this is wrong, it’s only 1915, although progress was smooth, the war was far from over, launching a total offensive now clearly wouldn’t achieve victory.
"Xia Fei’s battle plan?" Shire asked.
Gallieni nodded gently: "Currently, only the Army Group Commanders know this plan."
This explained why Shire hadn’t participated.
However, this was actually just an excuse Gallieni found for Shire, most including Fuxu hoped Shire would participate.
Fuxu bluntly spoke in the meeting: "Shire knows how to defeat the Germans, I think he should be the one making the battle plan."
But Kanes instead negated this on behalf of Xia Fei: "Sorry, General Fuxu, this battle plan is more about strategic direction, it’s the entire army’s offensive plan, we will place Shire and his troops in a suitable attack position."
Meaning, Shire’s current rank and qualifications weren’t enough to command the entire army’s operations.
Fuxu quietly complained: "Unbelievable, we have a Mars yet put him aside!"
Gallieni simply kept silent, he knew Xia Fei was trying to use this "comprehensive battle" to gain more dazzling victories than Shire, taking advantage of Shire just defeating the Germans and capturing hundreds of thousands.
Thus, Xia Fei couldn’t let Shire participate.
Otherwise, it would be Shire’s battle plan again, and Shire would win again, which was meaningless to Xia Fei.
Shire didn’t mind this, he frowned: "It might not be the right time now."
"They don’t think so." Gallieni said while drinking coffee:
"Your victories have greatly boosted the morale of the Allies’ soldiers and civilians, many even think we can completely drive the Germans out of France within two months."
"The Germans on the contrary, their morale is low due to the defeat in Belgium."
"More importantly..."
Gallieni put down the coffee cup and looked up at Shire: "Romania is going to join the Allies."
"What?" Shire was again shocked: "Romania? Joining the Allies?"
Gallieni nodded:
"This happened after your victory in Antwerp."
"I guess their mindset is similar to Italy, thinking we are heading towards victory, if they don’t join the Allies now, they’ll miss the chance."
"The British played a role in this, they negotiated with the Romanians."
"The Romanians’ condition is simple, just to acknowledge the ownership of Transylvania."
Shire frowned, he remembered Romania chose to join next year, now it seemed to be advanced.
(Note: Romania joined the Allies in August 1916 and declared war on Austria-Hungary.)
Then Shire understood what was going on:
The interlude from Combray to Antwerp wasn’t existent in history, and this victory looked like the French Army crushed the German Army based on strength: breaking through their defense line in one day, surrounding 200,000 ultimately forcing tens of thousands to surrender.
This made everyone optimistic about the war.
Hence, countries originally hesitating couldn’t hold back, they hoped to join the Allies before the war ended for some benefits.
"Romania, and Italy." Gallieni turned around his gaze to the map on the wall behind: "And the combined British, French, and Russian army, attacking simultaneously from several directions, Xia Fei thinks this would be enough to crush Germany, ’as long as we don’t hesitate, firm in our attack steps, victory is in sight’!"
Gallieni’s gaze always stayed on the map, his tone calm: "You seem to disagree with this plan?"
"I don’t disagree with this plan, General." Shire replied: "I disagree with Romania joining the Allies."
Gallieni never expected Shire would answer like this, he turned back suddenly looking puzzled at Shire: "Isn’t having one more ally a good thing? You might not know Romania is the main source of oil for the Germans."
Gallieni then added: "Romania can also organize an army of over 500,000."
"Exactly." Shire replied word by word: "That’s why I think Romania shouldn’t join, at least not now."