NOVEL NEXT Chapter 482: Kick Xia Fei Out
The House of Representatives was silent, and the usually noisy parliamentarians were uncharacteristically quiet.
Everyone was staring either at Kanes or at Shire, trying to find out who had won and who had lost.
Kanes was momentarily stunned; seeing Shire so calm raised his suspicions, but he maintained his composure with a stiffened chest: "I don't think there's anything more to say, Brigadier, the result is clear. You failed to turn the tide. I hope you will abide by our previous agreement..."
Shire remained silent, steadily seated in his chair, gazing quietly at Kanes.
"Is that so?" Major Jules countered, standing up and loudly announcing to the MPs behind him, "Last night, the Brigadier led us to inflict over 7,000 casualties on the Germans, while we only suffered a little over 300!"
The MPs were in an uproar which was soon followed by a burst of enthusiastic applause.
Previously on the Verdun battlefield, French Army casualties had always been much higher than those of the German Army, often several times greater, with no gain on the front line.
Especially during the French counterattacks, daily casualties numbered in the thousands, double, triple, or even more compared to the German Army, with no progress on the front line.
But Shire, with just over 300 casualties, had inflicted over 7,000 on the Germans, undoubtedly changing the course of the battle.
Gallieni nodded in satisfaction. The youngster had done it—only he could achieve such a feat!
Kanes's face changed but he quickly regained his composure:
"Casualty statistics should not be decided by you, Major, they require verification."
"Moreover, the German casualties are difficult to validate precisely."
"And further, I don't think this changes the course of the battle; you've always been on the defensive..."
Major Jules interrupted Kanes, "No, General, you surely don't know that we took advantage and launched a counterattack."
Kanes was speechless; indeed, he had not known.
"You also don't know that we recaptured the Duomont Fortress," Major Jules continued.
Kanes looked at Major Jules in disbelief and then at Shire, "No, this is impossible! This cannot be true!"
The MPs chattered among themselves. It was a fortress, and a crucially important one in the center of Verdun, captured by the Germans after deploying hundreds of thousands of troops and thousands of cannons in an all-out assault that lasted an entire day.
And Shire had recaptured it with the remnants of the scattered and defeated forces at Verdun, in a single night? Could it really be true?
Even Gallieni found it hard to believe; this was beyond human capability.
Major Jules continued:
"And the Douaumont Line, we successfully recaptured the Douaumont Line, General."
"This cannot be faked because our men are currently standing on that line, guarding the fortress."
Major Jules then proudly displayed the bloodstains on his uniform:
"These were left during the assault on Duomont Fortress."
"Now..."
Major Jules took out his pocket watch and looked at it: "Major General Lacos should have already announced the victory to the newspapers. The whole world will soon hear this exhilarating news!"
Indeed, cheers began to ring out from the streets.
The assistants of the MPs rushed in from outside, bringing the latest news from Verdun.
Arman said nothing; he just started clapping first.
The MPs followed suit, their applause gradually growing louder and more rhythmic until it filled the room for several minutes.
Gallieni clapped as he shook his head slightly, his gaze fixed on Shire's direction. He had thought he knew Shire well; now it seemed he only knew the surface.
Kanes, unable to leave in disgrace, walked down from the podium ordering his subordinates to verify the news.
His flustered and desperate appearance made the MPs laugh. Someone shouted at him, "No one would lie about such a thing, unless it's Xia Fei!"
The MPs burst into laughter.
Xia Fei indeed had done such a thing. When Duomont Fortress was lost, to avoid criticism from the parliament, he had deliberately concealed it under the pretext of "not affecting the morale of the troops."
He had thought that by launching a counterattack and recapturing Duomont Fortress, he could pretend it had never been lost. But unfortunately, Duomont Fortress never was recaptured, and only a day later, the truth had to be revealed.
(Note: Xia Fei's concealment of the loss of Duomont Fortress is based on historical fact.)
Arman stood up and leisurely walked to the podium, feigning a regretful expression:
"Gentlemen, I was once opposed to changing commanders in the middle of a situation because I thought it was a bad idea."
"I also thought it was impossible to compare Shire with Xia Fei, after all, Xia Fei is three times the size of Shire."
The MPs laughed, knowing this was a jab at Xia Fei's obesity.
On further reflection, there indeed were hardly any French generals as fat as Xia Fei.
Arman continued:
"However, Xia Fei's countless attempts could not match a single attempt by Shire."
"Using the same troops, on the same battlefield, Shire took less than a day."
"I don't think this can be explained by Shire's intelligence alone. It can only indicate one thing: our commander-in-chief may not have been effective at all."
The MPs nodded in agreement.
Shire's remarkable achievements under such limitations only highlighted Xia Fei's incompetence.
"He might even be having a negative effect because, aside from eating and sleeping, he only knows how to order the troops to attack."
The MPs nodded again, indeed this seemed to be Xia Fei's approach.
"So." Arman emphasized with a faster pace:
"Why do we still keep such a person as our commander-in-chief?"
"To lead our troops to death, or lead France to defeat?"
"Or to drag all of us into the abyss, into the quagmire of war from which we cannot escape?"
"Is that what we want?!"
Arman's words were highly provocative, and the MPs stood up, shouting:
"No, we don't want this."
"Get rid of Xia Fei!"
"France does not need such a commander-in-chief!"
...
Kanes' face turned pale; he knew Xia Fei was finished.
...
At Lagden, the command headquarters was as peaceful as usual.
Xia Fei had just finished breakfast and was leisurely sitting at his desk, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee.
"General," the aide-de-camp reported nervously, "they are saying our army recaptured Duomont Fortress and the Douaumont Line last night."
Xia Fei responded with a nonchalant "Hmm." His first reaction was that this was good news.
But then, a thought struck him, and he turned sharply to stare at the aide-de-camp. After a moment of stunned silence, he burst out laughing: "You must be joking, right? Recapturing Duomont Fortress? And the Douaumont Line? They have only over 7,000 men while the Germans have hundreds of thousands!"
It was impossible, how could the Germans be so incompetent, to lose in a single night?
The aide-de-camp said nothing, fearing he might court disaster upon himself.
Just then, the telephone rang. It was Major General Lacos.
Xia Fei hurriedly put his coffee cup down and picked up the handset. After listening for a while, he was stunned, sitting dazed in his chair, not even noticing when the handset slipped from his hand.