Hasselt Command.

Albert I had just walked into the office and eagerly pulled out the telegram from his pocket, indeed, it was from Gallieni:

"The recent defeat of the British Army at the River Somme, we believe only Shire's troops have the potential to change this downhill trend."

"Considering the Germans had deployed a tank division and three infantry divisions in the first batch of troops at the River Somme."

"We need to deploy Shire's First Armored Army and the main force of the 6th Army Group towards the River Somme to respond."

"To prevent the Germans from taking advantage of the situation in the Belgium direction, Your Majesty must prepare defense in advance!"

Albert I hesitated for a moment and ordered Major General Eden: "Reply: 'I want to know if this is General Haig's order, or the decision of the French Parliament, or is it Shire's opinion!'"

Soon, Major General Eden returned with the telegram, speaking with surprise: "General Gallieni said they haven't made a final decision yet, it's General Haig's personal request!"

Albert I breathed a sigh of relief, if that was the case, there still was some room for maneuver.

He did not hesitate, immediately sent a reply to Gallieni: "I don't think this is a wise choice, General, please consider it carefully. Moreover, I believe the most important thing right now is Shire's opinion, he will definitely give a satisfactory answer to everyone."

If Shire thinks there is no problem, then there will certainly be no problem.

Even if there is a problem, Shire will take responsibility, one day when he returns again, he will still be able to reclaim the lost ground.

Then Albert I ordered: "Prepare the car, I need to go to Paris."

But immediately changed his mind: "No, prepare the plane!"

He needed to get to Paris as soon as possible, even if it was unsafe to take a plane at night.

Just now, Albert I had already decided, he needed to work on several fronts at the same time:

First was going to Paris to persuade the French politicians to believe Haig's reinforcement plan is ineffective.

Second was to mobilize all Belgian military and civilians to protest against Haig's disregard for Belgium's safety!

The most important was to clear Shire's thoughts.

As long as Shire, this 'Mars of France,' believes the plan is unfeasible, Haig will lose most of his support.

...

It was already after ten when Shire and Gallieni finished talking, he went downstairs planning to visit the officers' club.

But it was strange, Paris, the former 'City of Light,' was now enveloped in darkness, the candles once lit everywhere in the streets were now only visible in a few intersections in the center.

Walking into the club, he felt even more puzzled.

Usually, the club wouldn't close until midnight, ten o'clock was the peak time, but now it was empty and desolate.

Lucia and Garell were cleaning, preparing to close.

Upon seeing Shire enter, the two tired faces initially froze, then blossomed into charming smiles, it was unclear whether it was their professional demeanor or due to Shire's rank.

Garell nudged Lucia, turned to Shire and said: "Just a moment, General. What can I get for you?"

"A glass of soda water, please," Shire said, not wanting to have coffee as it would prevent him from sleeping.

Lucia instructed: "Regular soda water."

Soda water in the club was categorized into regular and hard soda water, the latter containing 5% alcohol, almost like beer.

"Alright!" Garell responded, not long after delivering it to the seated men, and going back to the counter to turn on several colored lights to add ambiance.

Shire looked at the pitch-dark window outside and asked: "Paris seems different than before."

"It's related to you," Lucia replied, sipping her soda water, seemingly a bit thirsty.

"Related to me?" Shire looked at Lucia, bewildered.

Lucia nodded, putting down the cup:

"Capitalists are trying to create an atmosphere that is unfavorable to you."

"You might not know, during this time when you were commanding naval operations in Antwerp, no one told you about these conspiracies lurking within the country."

Shire looked puzzled: "An atmosphere unfavorable to me?"

"Yes." Lucia unconsciously rubbed her right arm, long-time bartending always made it sore:

"Recently there has been a rumor saying that Shire uses 'Echo Detectors' to control and monopolize the transportation of goods, causing prices to soar sharply."

"Now, people can't afford electricity or even candles, cinemas only operate three days a week, and streets are empty after 10 PM."

"Because people no longer have extra money to spend, including our club."

Shire still didn't understand: "But I have done nothing, I just created insurance and shipping companies, the goods I transported were always sold at a fair price."

Goods should be more ample than before because Shire ensured that more goods safely reached France without Britain's control and exploitation.

"I know." Lucia smiled a little: "This has nothing to do with you."

This perplexed Shire even more.

First saying "because of you," then "nothing to do with you," were these two statements not contradictory?

Lucia seemed to read Shire's thoughts, she smiled and leaned closer, explaining: "As I said, this is intentionally done by capitalists. They bought all the goods you sell at a fair price and hoarded them in warehouses, creating a false shortage."

Shire understood.

This was a means the capitalists in the country used to frame Shire, perhaps even involving parliament members.

They leveraged the point of Shire controlling the safety of the shipping routes to operate, not only could they hoard and sell at high prices for outrageous profits, but also tarnish Shire's reputation, achieving two goals at once.

"When did this start?" Shire asked: "I mean, it must have been more than a day or two for prices to rise to this extent, hasn't it?"

"Shortly after your 'Echo Detector' achieved its first victory on the battlefield." Lucia nodded slightly.

Shire frowned, that was already two months ago: "You should have told me earlier."

"I think now is the right time." Lucia raised her eyebrows.

"What?" Shire didn't understand what Lucia meant.

Lucia smiled lightly:

"Only this way, when you speak up to clarify, people will suddenly realize they misunderstood you."

"People will see the ugly faces of the capitalists and realize they were deceived."

"Then, they'll consider a more serious issue: While you are fighting the enemy on the front line and ensuring the materials and transportation for France, the capitalists at the rear are raising prices and defaming you."

Speaking, Lucia raised the cup to lightly clink it with Shire's, producing a crisp sound: "No need to thank me, it's what I should do!"

At this moment, Shire realized Lucia was not only good at collecting intelligence.

Indeed, things were as she thought, if at the beginning, such small moves by capitalists were squashed swiftly, no reversal like now could create such an impactful shock.

Undoubtedly, this would give Shire a huge surge of popularity!"