One morning, Shire woke up again to his holiday.
However, before he even got out of bed, there was a knock on the door outside the dormitory.
Shire thought it was some urgent military news from the command center, so he quickly crawled out from his warm bed, put on his infantry coat, and went to open the door in his slippers.
He was surprised to see General Winter standing at the door.
"Hello, Colonel!" General Winter smiled and shook Shire’s hand, his hand as cold as ice.
Seeing General Winter’s tired face, Shire stepped aside to let him in and asked curiously, "General, did you come to Paris specifically? Just arrived?"
"Yes!" General Winter yawned and answered while looking around Shire’s dormitory, "I came specifically to find you, Colonel!"
As Shire was putting on his military uniform, he paused and then understood—it must be about the northern and southern landing operations. General Winter’s purpose should be the opposite of Albert I; he hoped Shire would change his stance.
Shire shivered from the cold and quickly finished putting on his military uniform before draping the infantry coat over it again.
The coat seemed to be the only piece of uniform that provided any warmth.
Adrian, the orderly, thoughtfully brought hot coffee for the two and asked Shire, "Do you need breakfast to be brought up, Colonel?"
Shire looked at General Winter, who raised his coffee and replied, "Thank you, I’ve already eaten along the way, this is enough!"
Shire believed it was true. That’s the advantage of Western breakfast; you can eat bread anywhere, even while walking.
Adrian understood and took the door as he left.
"So," Shire asked first, "Did Albert I’s words have an effect?"
General Winter’s face had a peculiar expression, "It should be your words that had an effect, Colonel. Originally, they were more inclined to land in the south, but because of your analysis and Albert I’s persuasion, they are now seriously considering landing from the north."
"Because it’s very tempting." Shire put on his boots forcefully, stamped his feet to make them more comfortable, "If we could land from Holland, that would be even better—safe and fast, putting the German Army in Belgium in a pincer position..."
"But Holland is a neutral country." General Winter interrupted Shire, "Doing so might push Holland towards the Allies!"
"You’ve done it before!" Shire sneered, taking a sip of his coffee and finding it a bit cold.
General Winter knew Shire was referring to the Ottoman Empire and answered helplessly, "Alright, that was indeed our mistake. We didn’t expect things to escalate to this point..."
"You should have expected it." Shire said unreservedly, "To you, those two warships were just a trivial addition to your dozens of battleships, but to the Ottoman Empire, it was a national fundraising with the whole populace contributing to gather the funds. If you had investigated this before seizing them, you would have known how such a robbery would provoke enormous public resentment, which would, in turn, force the government to adopt a series of policies and propaganda unfavorable to the Allies!"
General Winter was utterly ashamed.
Shire was right; when the Minister of the Navy decided to seize the warships, he indeed knew nothing. He simply said, "War has come, we need these warships!"
Then, he seized them, without a single word about breach of contract, money, and compensation.
"The Minister of the Navy believes we can achieve victory at a very small cost." General Winter shifted the topic to the point, "He represents the faction advocating for a southern offensive."
Shire sat quietly in the chair, looking at General Winter. If he knew what England lost by seizing these two battleships, they might have locked the Minister of the Navy in jail:
The seizure of the two battleships led to the Ottoman Empire joining the Allies from being a neutral country.
With the Ottoman Empire joining the Allies, the sea route from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea to Russia was blocked.
Russia eventually lost the Eastern Front due to lack of supplies.
In other words, the impact of England seizing the two warships was not just the 250,000 deaths in the Dardanelles Strait war, the six battleships sunk by mines and coastal artillery, and the several neutral countries including the Ottoman Empire joining the enemy, but the worst was losing the entire Eastern Front.
If not for the United States joining the war, the Allies might have lost the war because of this.
The Minister of the Navy, who nearly brought down the entire war alone, is now vigorously advocating for a southern offensive in the Dardanelles Strait.
General Winter stood in front of Shire’s desk, pointing to the Dardanelles Strait on the map, "The Minister of the Navy believes that if our fleet passes through here and enters the Marmara Sea, we can place the battleship cannons under the walls of Constantinople, and then the Ottoman Empire would surrender. So, the situation you mentioned won’t occur..."
Shire looked at General Winter with disbelief in his eyes, "You mean that just by using a few naval warships, you can make the Ottoman Empire surrender?"
General Winter spread his hands and asked, "Is there a problem?"
Shire sneered disdainfully, now he understood the mindset with which the Minister of the Navy seized those two warships.
The Minister of the Navy thought those two warships were more important than the Ottoman Empire, and even believed that the Ottoman Empire could be made to surrender just with those two warships. After weighing the pros and cons, of course, they wanted the warships over the Ottoman Empire.
Arrogant, foolish, and full of prejudices, the British!
"Please leave, General!" Shire gave the order to leave.
There was no need to continue the conversation; in their eyes, the enemy was just an ant they could easily crush, there was no difficulty or danger, and the strategic points on the map were just waiting for their warships to occupy.
"No no, Colonel," General Winter said, "I want to hear your opinion..."
"I stand by my point." Shire said firmly, "A landing from the north is clearly more suitable."
Shire originally suggested a north landing to set a trap for the Germans, but now he thought a north landing might not be a bad idea.
At least, a north landing would attract the British’s attention, making them realize that they were facing a powerful opponent: Germany!
General Winter was silent for a while, then looked at Shire and said, "You don’t support opening a new front, do you? You don’t support any landing, so you suggested the north, trying to stop the landing operation."
Shire did not deny it; he did have such thoughts.
"But they will eventually choose one side to land on." General Winter said helplessly, "That is England!"
England is a sea power country, their offensive strategies have always been coordinated by sea and land, just like France’s constant emphasis on offensive tactics.
This has been their combat experience rooted in their minds for hundreds of years; they won’t give up without trying it.