It is clear that Nivelle intends to attack.
Or rather, the British have decided to attack.
Gallieni looked at Petain, who showed no reaction. He sat silently in his chair, seemingly still hesitating.
Gallieni could only raise his head and say, "I don’t think it’s the right time to counterattack, Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief."
Nivelle shifted his gaze from the map to Gallieni, smiled and nodded, showing an understanding demeanor. "Share your thoughts, Minister," he said.
Gallieni slowly stood up and turned slightly to address the surrounding generals:
"I admit that the Germans have invested a lot of troops and equipment in Verdun, but to say that they have concentrated their last national strength for a desperate gamble is an exaggeration."
"We should objectively assess the strength of the Germans on the defensive line."
"They still dominate in Russia and have set up a new defensive line in Belgium to confront our army."
"We even carried out several probing attacks in other directions, proving that the Germans’ defenses are very tight without any signs of weakness you mentioned."
As he spoke, Gallieni cast his gaze to Vice Admiral Castelno, commander of the Eastern Army Group, who was seated behind him.
Vice Admiral Castelno stood up:
"Yes, I launched several attacks under General Gallieni’s orders. The Germans’ defenses were very tight."
"I also heard they were equipped with new heavy machine guns."
"These heavy machine guns are lighter and more suitable for mobile warfare..."
Before he finished speaking, Haig interrupted in a cold voice, using stiff French. "Think of Shire!"
"What?" Gallieni looked at Haig in confusion. He didn’t understand what Shire had to do with their attack plans.
"I mean the battle where Shire attacked Antwerp." Haig, sitting with his legs crossed, raised his eyelids slightly and spoke lazily. "How did Shire manage to reach Antwerp in one day? Was it truly because Shire’s tanks and his troops were invincible?"
Gallieni angrily retorted, "Then what do you think it was? That the enemy was too weak?"
These guys, openly denying Shire’s achievements!
"It’s almost like that." Haig nodded emotionlessly. "To be precise, it wasn’t that the enemy was too weak, but that the Germans’ defenses had only one outer layer. Once you broke through that layer, the interior was empty, with many places even left unguarded."
Haig raised his head, glaring provocatively at Gallieni. "Am I wrong, Your Excellency the Minister?"
"That is indeed the case." Gallieni emphasized his tone. "But only Shire’s tank and mechanized forces could break through quickly. Only rapid breakthroughs find the ’empty interior’ situation."
Infantry advancing on foot cannot move quickly. When they break through, enemy reinforcements would close in from all sides to hold and block them. Thıs content belongs to 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕·𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎·𝚗𝚎𝚝
Gallieni then added, "The Mons blockade of Fuxu’s Ninth Corps by the Germans during the battle of Antwerp perfectly illustrates this point."
The generals nodded in agreement.
The battle of Antwerp had been analyzed thoroughly by military experts. They unanimously believed that Shire’s success in reaching his position in one day was due to the speed, strength, and flexibility of the armored and mechanized forces.
The speed made it impossible for most enemy reinforcements to arrive on time.
The strength made it impossible for the occasional arriving enemies to stall them and even led to their rapid defeat by Shire’s forces.
The flexibility allowed them to bypass cities and strongholds where quick victories were impossible instead of fighting to the death.
Pure infantry clearly could not achieve this.
Haig smiled faintly and stood up, spreading his hands to everyone. "Gentlemen, you seem to forget that infantry also have their own fast mobile units. We have been winning battles with them all along."
Gallieni was stunned at first, then he understood. "You mean cavalry?"
Haig nodded slightly, a contemptuous smile on his face:
"The tactics Shire used aren’t really a big deal, are they?"
"We’ve used them thousands of times on the battlefield."
"Break through the enemy’s defensive line and then use cavalry to penetrate quickly from the breakthrough point. The difference is only that Shire used tanks and automobiles."
The British generals all agreed and some even shouted:
"Tanks and automobiles have insurmountable flaws; they rely too much on gasoline."
"Without gasoline, they’re just scrap metal, and gasoline is easily targeted. Shire’s offensive almost failed because of gasoline!"
"Cavalry doesn’t have these issues. They can also penetrate, shoot from horseback, and do not rely on roads."
This was why he thought tanks and machine guns were redundant.
Why need tanks when you have cavalry?
Why need machine guns when you have rifles?
What tanks can do, cavalry can too; machine guns are just more rifles!
Gallieni was at a loss for words. He could hardly believe that there were still people in this era who believed in cavalry over tanks and automobiles.
But Gallieni was outnumbered and couldn’t argue with all the British generals.
As for the French generals, they were either thoughtful or kept nodding, with some even choosing to remain silent despite disagreeing with the British views.
Clearly, the British generals were more united.
At this point, Nivelle spoke up:
"Our battle plan is roughly , but we will also add artillery."
"Just as the Germans bombarded Verdun with concentrated artillery fire, we will bombard a segment of the German defensive line."
"Then use infantry to open a breach, and finally, cavalry will swiftly penetrate through the breach."
Unlike the British, Nivelle had more faith in "artillery." In his mind, the essence of warfare was "artillery conquers, infantry occupies."
He believed that artillery defeated the enemy, and the infantry merely advanced to "occupy" after the enemy was beaten.
Gallieni couldn’t help but ask, "Is this the British plan or your plan, Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief?"
Nivelle’s face instantly darkened. "What do you mean, Minister?"
"Nothing." Gallieni replied. "If you want to use this tactic to send men to their deaths, I may not be able to stop it. But as Minister of the Army, I will do everything in my power to prevent the French Army from participating..."
"No, Minister." Nivelle interrupted Gallieni. "You cannot prevent it."
At this moment, Haig spoke with an air of disdain, "Our supplies are only for soldiers who heroically kill the enemy on the battlefield, not for cowards hiding in the trenches, clinging to their lives!"
Gallieni then realized that they would ultimately use supplies to force parliament into compromise.