Chapter 209: The Bear of the End? (xiv)

In Chantilly, the city of Xiǎo in northern France, Churchill, the British Admiralty, who had just finished a liaison meeting on the Entente, was preparing to board his own Rawls? Royce's convertible car went to the hotel where he was staying, and a seemingly familiar British colonel suddenly appeared next to him and stopped in front of him in a daze.

"Colonel, is there something wrong?" Churchill couldn't remember the other man's name for a moment.

"I'm John, deputy chief of staff of the Armored Corps? Fuller, I have a plan I'd like you to take a look at. ”

Churchill seemed to remember: "It turned out to be you...... This kind of thing you should go to your boss. ”

"I'm sure you'll be interested, you're the one behind the Armored Corps."

Churchill stared straight at the bold colonel in front of him, and after a long while, he suddenly tilted his head: "Go, I'll treat you to lunch." ”

Two cigarettes, the sedan stopped in front of a chic xiǎo restaurant on the outskirts of the city, and Fuller noticed that another convertible sedan was parked in front of the restaurant.

Churchill led Fuller to the restaurant, where he was stopped by a tall, straight, bearded man with a long beard under his nose.

"Winston, when did you have a new sidekick?"

Churchill shrugged: "I think you should know him." ”

The old man smiled, stretched out his hand and patted Fuller's shoulder: "Yes, I know Lu Dao you, 'Tank Xiǎo Zi', Zhi Lu Dao?" You're going to annoy Haig. ”

The old man's mouth, Haig, that is, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Field Marshal Douglas? Haig was an old-school soldier who was more conservative and less aggressive.

"If that's the case, it can be regarded as a little comfort to me - I have been by him a long time ago." Fuller knew that the other party was Field Marshal Kitchener, the Secretary of War, but he was still sharp.

Kitchener laughed and patted Churchill on the shoulder: "It seems that you have found the right follower, Haig will crucify you one day." ”

Churchill laughed, "I think he has crucified my picture - well, my Count of Kharstoum, don't you know that I am dying of hunger?" ”

After a while, the three of them sat around a xiǎo round table, eating and chatting.

“…… I intend to throw 11,500 tanks on a 160-kilometer front: first a frontal attack with 5,500 heavy tanks to draw out the enemy's reserves, and then 6,000 medium tanks to break through the flanks and annihilate the enemy's reserves. The 1,200 high-speed light tanks that were put into reserve at the end of the year quickly developed in depth and achieved ...... results."

"What a crazy and ambitious plan." Kitchener picked up a piece of steak and sighed as he chewed.

Marshal Haig thought so, too, though he was more inclined to assume that I was innocently smiling bitterly.

"I like the plan, even though he's still ...... Unrealistic. Churchill hesitated, but swallowed the féi foie gras on the fork.

Fowler took a sip of the local aperitific white wine and smacked his lips and said indignantly: "We have spent thousands of tanks on the Somme for nothing, and if we could use these tanks in the right terrain and in my own way, the result would be very different." ”

Churchill took another sip of the nǎi oil mushroom soup, and this time he frowned: "Well, we all know what your method is, short shelling, concentrated use, and bō sorties - but the generals don't believe it, and to be honest, we can't take any chances." ”

Fuller gritted his teeth and said, "Now they should understand, their old ways won't work, it's time to try my methods." ”

"But now we don't have that many tanks, and the new offensive planned by Ji Lu in Arras can only put in a maximum of five hundred tanks." Kitchener shook the glass slightly, apparently not intending to hit Fuller.

"It's enough for a tactical breakthrough, no matter what, please give me a chance."

Kitchener and Churchill looked at each other, nodded, and said, "Young man, I have a piece of advice for you: at any time, do not overestimate the imagination of your superiors, and shrink the numbers in your grand plan by one-third, and your superiors may not say that you are pounding." ”

Fuller's eyes flashed with hope: "So, I have a chance?" ”

"You jumped at your chance, I should say." Churchill laughed.

Fuller jumped to his feet: "I'm going to make a plan." ”

"Xiǎo man, you haven't eaten yet." Kitchener kindly reminded.

"There's no time, I still have to deal with the generals on my head after writing the plan, that's the real battle...... Thank you, I will never forget your help, and the Panzer Corps will never forget your contribution - see you again! God bless Britain! ”

Fuller thanked him as he grabbed two slices of bread and swept them out of the room with the wind, disappearing outside the restaurant in the blink of an eye.

"It's good to be young......"

Kitchener sighed with a smile.

Churchill was worried: "I hope he won't be pricked by his own thorns." ”

"God is just...... All sacrifices should be worthwhile. Kitchener said coldly, as a cold-blooded soldier who famously invented the term "concentration camp" in the Second Boer War, he never hesitated to emphasize "sacrifice".

Churchill swallowed a large gulp of bull ròu, took a sip of wine, and put on a serious expression: "Forget your fairness, the Russians are suffering their unfair fate, we have to do something." ”

Kitchener shook his head, with a look of "hatred for him": "We've done enough, it's up to them to repay us now." ”

Churchill disagreed: "The Russian army occupies Constantinople, this kind of sesame thing, we don't have to take it to heart, we have to look at the long term, once Russia collapses, all our previous efforts will be in vain." ”

"It seems that you have the idea of not xiǎo." Kitchener began to crush innocent foie gras with a knife.

"If Constantinople was the head of the Ottoman Empire, then the port of Alexandretta, between Asia Minor and the Syrian coast, was its heart. An amphibious landing there, then the Ottomans will immediately become a zombie. Churchill made a "slash to you" gesture as he spoke.

"It's the big talk of Major Lawrence, he did a great job at the Hejaz—something we couldn't even think of, and now I'm beginning to believe that he's not a madman, maybe that means I'm becoming a madman." Kitchener laughed at himself as he brandished his dinner knife.

Churchill smiled and nodded: "Yes, Major Lawrence, I think I should call him 'Lawrence of Arabia', he deserves this title...... Well, give me a few divisions, and I will put them in the heart of the Ottoman Empire, so that the Ottoman army in Palestine and Mesopotamia can be cut off immediately, the Near East from Palestine to Syria will become our bag, and the dream of the Chinese from Mesopotamia to Xiǎo Asia will be shattered. ”

Kitchener said helplessly: "Even if you say so...... You know, Haig has already stripped me naked, and if you don't dislike it, those divisions in Greece will be given to you. ”

Churchill smiled bitterly: "Don't joke, those 100,000 people in Greece are going to be used to attack Izmir, and it is up to them to sweep the Chinese aviation bases in southern Asia." ”

"Let me think about ......"

Kitchener counted his fingers.

"It seems that several divisions in South Africa and Canada have not yet been arranged, so it is not impossible to lend them to you for two or three months......

Churchill "swished" to his feet, his glass in his hand, his eyes shining.

"Cheers to victory!"

"I'm not done yet......"

"Needless to say, just cheers, I will thank you forever, the British Empire will always thank you, long live the Count of Kharstook!"

Kitchener shook his head helplessly, and while getting up to raise his glass, he kept chanting, "It's good to be young......"