Chapter 333: Top Secret
Everything was analyzed by Charles and Lucia based on the situation in Brut Village.
The "Lady in White" originated from the Belgian intelligence agency, and Ypres is a town in Belgium. It is reasonable that Lucia would know and analyze these facts.
One day, if anyone suspects Charles because of this, the "Lady in White" and many Belgians who have seen the situation in Brut Village can testify for him.
Of course, Charles does not need to take unnecessary steps to prove his innocence at the moment.
He immediately returned to the headquarters to inform Gallieni of the intelligence and his suspicions.
Gallieni was actually aware that Charles had an intelligence network in Belgium.
Although Charles kept it secret from everyone, many people knew: because Charles had saved Belgium, the Belgian people spontaneously organized an intelligence agency to pledge loyalty to him.
After hearing Charles' analysis, Gallieni found it reasonable. He immediately sent this intelligence to the General Headquarters. After thinking for a moment, he was still uneasy and ordered the staff to send a copy of the intelligence to the Northern Army Group headquarters.
...
During World War I, the French military was divided into four army groups: the Northern Army Group, the Central Army Group, the Eastern Army Group, and the Reserve Army Group.
The Northern Army Group's combat tasks were mainly concentrated on the northern section of the defensive line, and its commander was French Deputy Supreme Commander Foch.
The headquarters was located in the small town of Verne, near Cambrai.
This was Foch's style; he did not expose his headquarters to public view. He believed that doing so was detrimental to the army's offensive.
During the time when Germany and Britain were competing in the Gallipoli Peninsula, the French defensive line entered a period of lull.
Both sides seemed to have tacitly refrained from launching large-scale offensives:
The Germans needed to transport scarce supplies to the Ottoman Empire to reinforce their battles, and they lacked the strength to initiate a major offensive.
The French, on the other hand, were observing the situation in Gallipoli. If a decisive victory was achieved there, a direct assault would not be necessary.
However, Foch occasionally organized attacks at the regiment level, as he believed it was essential to maintain the morale of the troops.
On this day, Foch chose a sunlit window, sat in a rocking chair, and read the newspaper while basking in the sun.
Foch did not often read the newspaper; anything important was directly reported to him by his staff. He felt this was more efficient and saved time.
But these past few days were different, as the paper had published Charles' speech in the Parliament:
"I do not believe Foch's offensive theory is correct, nor do I agree with Pétain's defensive theory."
"The correct approach should be to alternate between offense and defense."
"We cannot oversimplify the complex problems of the battlefield, nor can we rely on a single, simplistic, and one-sided theory to fight and expect to win."
...
After reading it, Foch smiled lightly, folded the newspaper, and tossed it onto the desk.
He gently rocked his chair back and forth and muttered his assessment:
"If the offensive theory is wrong, then what were the Allies doing in Gallipoli?"
"Charles, this great military strategist, wasn’t he the one launching the offensive?"
...
This was one of the reasons why the "offensive theory" became widely accepted and was considered an inviolable tactical theory by the French: all victories achieved through offensives could be cited as evidence supporting the "offensive theory," and almost all victories were won during offensives.
For example, Paris was occupied by the Germans during the Franco-Prussian War.
This could indeed be seen as a failure of French tactics, but at the same time, it could be said that the German army applied the "offensive theory" more decisively, bravely, and effectively than the French, which led to their victory.
Thus, whether the French used this theory in battle and won or lost, it was never the fault of the "offensive theory," but rather that the soldiers did not have enough faith in it!
As Foch began to feel sleepy in the lazy sunlight, his staff officer, Morini, stepped forward with a report: "General, the City Defense Headquarters sent a telegram about Charles."
Foch suddenly opened his eyes.
Morini, with only one hand remaining, handed him the telegram and said, "Gallieni says that Charles believes the Germans are likely to launch an attack with poison gas against us."
"Poison gas?" Foch took the telegram from Morini, glanced at it, and curtly replied with two words: "Top secret."
"Yes, General." These two words meant that the information was to be kept confidential and could not leave the headquarters.
Then, Morini, confused, asked: "General, do you also think this is possible? That the Germans would use poison gas against us?"
"No." Foch shook his head and then offered his assessment: "This is merely an unfounded guess. That's all. We certainly can't go to war based on a guess, even if the one making the guess is Charles."
Morini nodded in agreement. If every guess was taken seriously, the most likely outcome would be that the soldiers would be exhausted.
However, a new doubt appeared on Morini's face: if that was the case, why did Foch designate it as "Top Secret"?
Foch seemed to read Morini’s thoughts and responded without answering the question: "If this intelligence gets to the troops, what do you think will happen?"
Morini immediately understood. The soldiers would be terrified by the unknown poison gas. The army would become disorganized, and the soldiers would become paranoid and unwilling to fight.
This was one of the key points of Foch's "offensive theory": always maintain high morale and make the soldiers believe they were on the path to victory.
Foch yawned, handed the telegram back to Morini, and casually said: "You know what to reply."
"Yes, General!" Morini took the telegram and walked toward the telegraph room.
...
"We are confirming the matter on our side, please keep this intelligence confidential!"
This was the reply from the City Defense Headquarters to the Northern Army Group, while the General Headquarters of Foch's army gave no response, as if the telegram had fallen into a bottomless sea.
Charles was somewhat surprised by this result. This was poison gas warfare, yet all he received was this lukewarm response?
But on further thought, it seemed reasonable.
At this time, there was no precedent for poison gas warfare. No one understood it, and they didn’t even believe it existed, just like no one believed in tanks before they were invented.
What was more important was that once the word about poison gas warfare spread, it could shake the morale of the army. Since Charles was the source of the information, they might even have grounds to put him on trial!
Gallieni shook his head helplessly: "It seems they don't believe you, Colonel. Let’s leave this matter here!"
Clearly, Gallieni also saw the downside of this intelligence: if the poison gas didn’t exist, it would create negative effects for the Allies.
But Charles was certain it existed, and it would soon appear on the battlefield.