Shire and Petain’s collaboration was not for Nivelle.
Nivelle’s appointment as the commander-in-chief was already decided, he had the support of the British, and the British had a large amount of materials loaned from the United States. This alone was enough to influence the choice of the commander-in-chief.
At the same time, after Nivelle became commander-in-chief, the decisions he made were not something that Shire and commanders at Petain’s level could change. Above them were a group of vice admirals, they were the ones discussing strategic directions, not major generals like Shire and Petain.
Shire did this to combat parliament, he believed that parliament was the troublesome opponent.
Parliament had the decision-making power and was now relentlessly weakening Shire’s influence, consciously grooming "enemies" to divide and rule.
From this perspective, apart from Gallieni, everyone else including the commanders from the Northern, Central, and Eastern Army Group were Shire’s opponents.
Previously there was Fuxu who leaned towards Shire, after Fuxu was dismissed Shire fell into isolation once again.
This was somewhat ironic, Shire had the overwhelming support of grassroots soldiers, but it precisely threatened the interests of top officers, creating such a situation.
Shire’s wooing of Petain was the first step in splitting this power.
In the midst of a busy schedule, Shire took a trip to Davaz Town.
It was not because of business, but because he missed home.
After months of running around, sometimes even in Paris he had no time to go home, the constant fighting left Shire occasionally feeling lonely and exhausted. He just wanted to hide in that sanctuary for a while, even if only for a moment.
Camille seemed to understand Shire’s mood, she saw Shire’s car approaching from a distance, and was both surprised and delighted as she ran out to meet him. The rightful source is NoveIＦire.net
However, when she saw the weariness on Shire’s face and the dust on his military uniform, her joy instantly faded, and tears welled up uncontrollably.
She went up to him, heartache evident as she embraced Shire, gently kissed his forehead, and murmured, "It’s okay now, my child, you’re home! You’re home!"
Shire suddenly felt very tired and weary. If it weren’t for Camille supporting him, he would barely be able to walk.
He stumbled back to the bedroom, only managing to take off his military coat before heavily collapsing onto the bed with a sigh of relief, falling asleep immediately.
Dejoka hurriedly drove back from the factory, but was stopped by Camille.
"He’s already asleep," Camille said.
Dejoka was a bit surprised, he took out his pocket watch and looked, it was just after three in the afternoon, but he nodded in understanding the next second.
"He’s done so much," Dejoka sighed.
Camille choked up a bit and replied with a soft "hmm," tears again trickling down as she turned her eyes towards Shire’s room.
Shire slept until dawn, if Dejoka hadn’t woken him he would have continued to sleep.
Dejoka was reluctant to wake Shire; it was Shire’s instruction yesterday that Lauren needed to rush to Belgium today.
Shire took some time to wash up, looking at himself in the mirror, he finally felt a bit better.
This was quite strange, previously when Shire wore his military uniform, especially with the two stars representing his rank as a brigadier general, he always felt a surge of power, unconsciously becoming energetic.
Now that feeling was completely gone, he only thought about when he could get rid of this "burden" and become a civilian who doesn’t need to consider anything.
Thinking of Camille’s gaze when she saw him yesterday, Shire patted the dust off his clothes, slightly dampened an area, and paid special "attention" to the soot-stained parts of his uniform, making it look cleaner, before going downstairs.
He didn’t want Camille to worry like she did yesterday.
The breakfast was hearty, with apple pie that Shire liked.
Dejoka casually asked, "Very tired, right?"
"Not really." Shire glanced at the kitchen where Camille was washing fruits: "Just been busy with Verdun recently, but it’s stabilized now, it’ll be easier next."
Shire thought this answer would reassure Dejoka and Camille.
He succeeded half-way.
He noticed Camille sighed in relief, while Dejoka gave him a knowing look with a smirk and a thumbs up.
Dejoka knew what was going on, if it was really as Shire said, he wouldn’t be rushing to Belgium.
God, it seemed the entire frontline couldn’t do without Shire, what were the other generals doing? Busy learning from Xia Fei?
Camille brought out a plate of grapes and plums, handing Shire a glass of milk: "I heard the frontline troops implemented a rotation system, shouldn’t you also have rotation time?"
This question stumped Shire, generals also rotated?
At the same time Shire was a bit surprised, Camille actually knew the troops used "rotation system".
Dejoka laughed and explained, "She knows far more than you think, from ’special channels’."
Shire understood, the so-called "special channels" referred to gossip among the aunts.
Suddenly, Camille asked, "I also heard you have a girlfriend, and she’s in Paris, but we haven’t heard anything about it!"
Shire was instantly petrified: "Mom, that... we haven’t officially confirmed our relationship..."
"Really?" Camille retorted, somewhat displeased: "Then why did I hear you’ve already met her parents?"
Shire was stunned, how could the news from Belgium reach here?!
He turned his pleading gaze towards Dejoka.
Eating his food, Dejoka just shrugged:
"I can’t help you, Shire."
"Are we supposed to wait until you’re married to know who she is?"
Camille added, "Maybe even at the wedding we wouldn’t know."
They naturally stood on the same side, speaking in agreement:
"That’s right, she’s in Paris, just ten kilometers away, but you went to Belgium to meet her parents before us."
"I think meeting her parents implies you’ve confirmed your relationship."
"But here it’s ’unconfirmed’, does this make sense?"
"No, it’s definitely an excuse!"
Shire rolled his eyes, he once again felt isolated.
After a bunch of nonsense, finally Camille revealed her true intention: "Next time you must bring her along, you have a car, and Major Laurent, all you need to do is pick her up."
"Otherwise, we’ll find her ourselves." Camille interrupted Shire, "Believe me, I can find out her address, I even know she’s called Lucia."
Shire raised his hands in surrender: "Alright, I’ll talk to her, but I’m not sure she’ll be willing to come..."
What Shire said was true, after all, this was just "playing the field."
Camille smiled with a deep meaning, affectionately patting Shire’s head.
This fool, he was actually worried she wouldn’t want to come?!