CHAPTER 699: CHAPTER 699: SHIRE CAN ONLY RELY ON HIMSELF NOW

Paris City Hall, after office hours, Briand and Clemenceau did not rush home; they had a late-night dinner together in the Prime Minister’s office.

Briand called it "overtime," and the dinner was grilled steak and escargot specially ordered from Chatey Restaurant by the secretary.

(The picture above is Chatey Restaurant, founded in 1903, and still in operation today.)

"The steak here is quite good," Briand said as he elegantly cut a piece and put it in his mouth, "Although we should ideally eat at the restaurant, but..."

"Yes," Clemenceau nodded in agreement as he chewed, "This is the best I’ve ever had!"

"If there’s a chance, we should invite Shire to try it," Briand said expressionlessly.

Then the two men chuckled knowingly.

If Shire lost the battle, his expression at the dinner table would surely be enjoyable.

After a while, Briand asked, "Any news from Shire?"

Clemenceau shook his head and mumbled, "As usual, no news. Gallieni seems reluctant to share anything."

But Clemenceau added:

"Rest assured, I admit Shire is very capable; no one knows the battlefield better than him."

"But..."

"If he doesn’t have enough troops and the Germans know his weaknesses, I believe there will be no surprises!"

Briand nodded, raised his glass and lightly clinked it with Clemenceau’s: "To Shire!"

"To Shire!"

The two men smiled at each other.

At this moment, the secretary hurried in to report: "Your Excellency, Major Durra wishes to see you!"

Briand glanced at the food on the table, a bit embarrassed.

Even though the country was under wartime rationing, as the Prime Minister, enjoying such a luxurious dinner seemed inappropriate.

However, he quickly thought of a solution. He took a napkin, wiped his mouth, and nodded towards Clemenceau: "Let’s go, we should continue discussing this matter in the meeting room."

"Of course." Clemenceau stood up, hurriedly took his wine glass, and finished it in one gulp.

...

In the meeting room, Major Durra immediately understood what was going on as he approached the two men.

Even though Briand and Clemenceau acted nonchalant, the smell of wine and roasted meat smoke betrayed their inappropriate luxury.

But Major Durra did not say anything; this was beyond his control, and besides, there were more pressing matters at hand.

"Shire has successfully occupied Bicangxi," Major Durra reported.

"Bicangxi?" Briand and Clemenceau looked puzzled; they had no concept of this place.

Major Durra pulled a map from his pocket and laid it out in front of them, pointing to Bicangxi: "The information I received is that Shire is advancing along the Meuse River. I believe he hopes to break through Verdun."

A flash of joy appeared in Briand’s eyes.

Clemenceau smiled slightly: "I thought he would stay in Mezieres, but didn’t expect he’s still planning to break through. That’s Shire for you."

That was what they hoped for.

With Shire’s insufficient troops, holding Mezieres to the end was the best choice.

It couldn’t be called a defeat and could even be considered a victory since recapturing Mezieres, an important industrial town.

However, Shire’s "best choice" was not so for them.

They preferred Shire to continue breaking through and, due to his inadequate forces, get surrounded, and ideally, something would happen to Shire.

Now, as they wished, Shire chose to break through despite having insufficient forces.

That was Shire’s own death wish, not their fault!

Who asked him to be so overconfident?

This ignorant guy, probably no longer taking the Germans seriously after so many victorious battles, now daring to take such risks with absolutely inferior numbers!

Of course, neither of them would say this out loud.

"My God," Clemenceau exclaimed lightly, "Is this not too aggressive? Shire only has over twenty thousand men, yet there are at least hundreds of thousands of Germans around him."

Durra gently nodded: "Preliminary estimates indicate there are over three hundred thousand in the northern region near Mezieres."

Briand looked at Durra in shock: "You mean just to the north, there are over three hundred thousand enemies?"

"Yes, Your Excellency," Major Durra explained:

"Furthermore, there are tens of thousands in the Verdun direction and tens of thousands on the east bank of the Meuse River."

"Adding all these forces, there are at least over six hundred thousand around Shire!"

If we were to count the entire enemy force around Shire, including over a million from the entire Western Front, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Nonetheless, the real situation wasn’t that dire.

Because many enemies wouldn’t make it to Shire’s position before the battle was over. Those units that hadn’t been engaged would be ineffective, equivalent to not being there.

(Note: This is also one of the important reasons for the significance of armored and mechanized units. Their mobility allows them to engage in multiple battles, essentially multiplying the effective forces.)

However, Briand and Clemenceau did not understand this concept. They looked at Major Durra, stunned, unable to believe it was true.

Twenty thousand men facing six hundred thousand enemies?

How could Shire have the audacity to choose penetration rather than holding his position?

After a long while, Clemenceau finally hummed: "Is it possible to win?"

He then seemed to realize his bluntness and quickly added: "I mean, should we advise Shire to retreat to Mezieres?"

Major Durra fell silent for a moment, then analyzed:

"Shire almost certainly cannot win."

"He should attack Le Teller, where Fuxu has concentrated an army group to assault the enemy lines."

"If Shire fails to break through the German lines, Fuxu’s offensive might provide him a lifeline, possibly to assist him."

Then Major Durra shifted his tone:

"But now, Shire is advancing along the Meuse River towards Verdun..."

"I don’t understand why he would choose this attack route; it is much further than Le Teller, almost twice the distance."

"Additionally, the German defense in Verdun is very strong. Petain is almost impossible to break through in a short time, and he won’t choose to attack either!"

Briand and Clemenceau exchanged glances, secretly relieved.

They understood.

Fuxu’s attack in the Le Teller direction might save Shire.

But in the Verdun direction, Petain is a defensive commander, and would almost certainly not attack!

Clemenceau was pleased but acted anxious: "Then, should we order Petain to attack?"

Briand frowned and gently shook his head:

"But we all know Petain is not good at offense."

"Furthermore, Petain’s defenses are already solid. Asking him to start a counter-offensive now might undo all previous efforts."

"This could put Verdun at risk!"

Clemenceau nodded heavily, speaking in a grave tone: "So, Shire can only rely on himself. Good luck to him!"