CHAPTER 430: AFTER MODIFICATION: CHAPTER 430 THE BEST STUDENT

The "Minister of the Navy" believed in his ability to keep things under control.

Just as General Winter said, the victory in the Battle of Antwerp also aligned with British interests, and the "Minister of the Navy" did not want to completely mess things up.

However, he believed that revealing the truth to the Germans would not mess things up.

The fuel transport ships were already at sea and just a few nautical miles away from Antwerp, which would take only a few hours to arrive, now waiting for Shire’s command.

Even if the Germans discovered the truth and launched a counterattack, once the fuel reached Antwerp, Shire’s armored forces would still have time to resolve the crisis.

But this could also be used to exert pressure on Shire through the Germans, forcing him to comply with Britain’s "allocation."

So the "Minister of the Navy" did not hesitate and arranged for MI6 to deliver the "truth" to Germany through spies.

...

On Berlin Wilhelm Street, Fajin Han was still frantically directing the German Army’s breakout.

The city was indeed unsuitable for tank operations, but it was also unfavorable for large troop movements, forcing the German Army to fight for every building, especially the tall ones.

Otherwise, the French only needed to set up a machine gun or dismantle a 75mm cannon and reassemble it on a rooftop to easily blockade several kilometers of streets.

At the same time, the French Army was very tenacious, constantly launching waves of assaults on buildings held by the German Army.

The fighting was fierce, with buildings changing hands between the German and French armies from one moment to the next.

At its most intense, there were situations where the living room was held by the Germans and the bedroom by the French, creating a stalemate.

At this moment, Colonel Moritz walked up to Fajin Han with a pale face, handing him a telegram: "General, there’s intelligence suggesting that the French Army is genuinely out of fuel."

"What do you mean?" Fajin Han asked without looking up, his eyes fixed on the map of Mons.

He was focused on Mons; as long as Mons was cleared, the German Army could successfully break out.

"It means we might have been deceived," answered Colonel Moritz. "This intelligence came from our spy in Britain, reporting that the sea route to Antwerp was blocked by our submarines, and only three ammunition transport ships had entered Antwerp; the fuel transport ships hadn’t made it in time."

Fajin Han was taken aback and looked at Moritz in astonishment: "This doesn’t match our previous analysis."

"Indeed." Moritz’s eyes flickered with hesitation.

"So, what is Shire up to?" Fajin Han asked. "Does he not want us to break out from Tibet?"

"Maybe," replied Colonel Moritz, but he added: "But maybe not."

"What do you mean?" Fajin Han asked.

"I’m having the source of this intelligence investigated, General," Colonel Moritz replied. "We should have results soon."

Fajin Han acknowledged with a slight nod.

Spying was a dangerous job; once exposed, it was nearly impossible to escape unharmed.

This was why spies were often turned into double agents: to save their lives when discovered, they had to provide intelligence or relay false information to the enemy.

(Note: Historically, this was the case with Hari, who was turned into a double agent by French counterintelligence, but was executed once she lost her usefulness.)

"This seems suspicious to me," analyzed Moritz. "The information about the British fuel transport ships being at sea is so isolated that even the British Military barely knew; how did our spy manage to obtain it so quickly?"

Fajin Han nodded in agreement with this view, noting that since Britain was France’s ally and this battle aligned with British interests, it was unlikely the "truth" would be leaked to Germany.

Unless this "truth" was fake and part of Shire’s deception.

Fajin Han never considered that Britain was genuinely trying to deceive Shire at this time.

Therefore, Fajin Han refocused his attention on the map of Mons, thinking that if this were the case, it further validated that breaking out from Mons was the right move.

About half an hour later, Colonel Moritz received a telegram, breathed a sigh of relief, and hurried to Fajin Han, his voice tinged with excitement and pride: "General, it’s confirmed, the intelligence officer was bribed by the British."

Fajin Han nodded.

He had always leaned towards the latter; the British were excellent at handling intelligence, making it hard to believe they would leak such crucial information to Germany.

Fajin Han sighed: "If this is Shire’s strategy, his methods are terrifying; he uses various ways to mislead us and attempts to steer us towards Tibet, leaving room to manipulate even something already established."

"Indeed," agreed Colonel Moritz. "He is a worthy opponent, and we almost fell for it."

...

The Belgian guerrilla forces were collecting fuel without haste.

This was mainly in the southwestern region, where the German Army was surrounded and unable to control the guerrillas.

The German Army had a few armed units deployed in controlled towns, through which they managed the local police and government to control the towns.

These armed units ranged from a few dozen to several hundred soldiers.

The primary reason they could effectively control regions with populations hundreds or thousands of times larger was the powerful backing of the German Army:

Should people rise up and overthrow these small units, a substantial German force would immediately crack down on them.

But now, this "powerful backing" was gone, as the German main force was retreating, making it impossible for the small units to maintain control as they did before.

Thus, under the call of Albert I and the command of Colonel Edison, fuel was successfully transported from German-controlled areas to Antwerp.

The Belgians responded actively, with some areas even uprising to drive out the Germans and forming their own forces.

So, while collecting fuel, the guerrilla forces were rapidly growing.

Tijani was not concerned with this; restlessly in his office, he kept asking the communications officer every now and then:

"Have the Germans turned around?"

"What’s the situation in Tibet?"

"Any sight of the enemy?"

...

"Relax, General." Shire replied. "Things aren’t as urgent as you think; even if the Germans didn’t fall for it and chose to break out from Tibet, all I need to do is to agree with the British."

Tijani unexpectedly replied:

"Do you think that’s what I’m worried about?"

"No, Brigadier General, I’m confident no one can defeat you."

"What I care about is how the Art of War is being redefined through the creation of illusions to achieve significant victories."

Shire rolled his eyes; at this point, this guy was still thinking about his "Art of War"!

But then, on second thought, Shire felt that perhaps someone like Tijani was the best student.