1855 United States Tycoon

Scrooge had to admit that he was old. Signs of aging showed up in many places on his body. For example, sleep or something. In the past, when Scrooge was young, he almost lay down on the bed and was able to fall asleep in just a few minutes. When he woke up, he became energetic. But it doesn't work anymore. Scrooge now has insomnia. Many times, in order to fall asleep, I have to resort to sleeping pills, especially after getting tired and exhausted. What's more terrible is that, many times, even if he fell asleep, at two or three o'clock in the evening, Scrooge would suddenly wake up, and then he would not fall asleep anymore. Then the next day, I lost energy all day.

The same was true that night. In the middle of the night, Scrooge suddenly woke up. He knew that he would never sleep anymore, so he planned to get up and go to the study to check various reports from the large laboratory and turn the radio on. Open it and listen to what's happening in Europe. Many radio stations are now broadcasting for 24 hours.

"Are you awake?" Scrooge just moved, ready to lift the quilt, and he heard Dorothea's voice.

"Why, are you awake too?" Scrooge asked.

"Yeah, I'm a little sleepless. Well, what are you going to do when you get up?" Dorothea asked in the dark.

"Go to the study and look at the report that was not finished yesterday. Also listen to the radio to see if there is any news in Europe." Scrooge opened the quilt and sat up. Dorothea also sat up, stretched out her hand, and turned on the bed lamp.

"Anyway, I can't sleep anymore, so I will get up and listen to the news."

The two came to the study room next door, and Emma, ​​the maid on night shift, poured a glass of hot milk for each of them. Of course, this milk was provided by McDonald, and it was definitely not the same as the milk on the market with mercury added hundreds of times more terrifying than melamine.

Scrooge opened the safe and took out some reports from it and looked at it seriously, while Dorothea turned on the radio beside the sofa, then took out a book she didn’t know what it was, flipped through it at will. Looked at it.

"Due to the impact of the war... the prices of steel and various non-ferrous metals on the London futures market continue to rise, and the price of brass... The French government stated that in order to continue the war, they will issue a batch of national bonds again. This is different from the previous one. Treasury bonds will be issued throughout the world, and the amount of issuance is..." Such a voice came from the radio.

"Scrooge, how is the French national debt now?" Dorothea asked suddenly.

"Ah...you said the French national debt, you should ask Greystone about this. He is basically in charge of it, and I haven't intervened too much." Scrooge said, "It seems that he and Little Morgan have not divided up. Little, you don't have to worry about this transaction, you can't lose the money." Scrooge replied casually, and then looked down at the file.

Dorothea gave a relieved smile when she heard Scrooge's answer. This is not because the Macdonald Consortium can make more money in this transaction, but Scrooge's attitude now makes her happy. Scrooge actually didn't bother too much about questions like this, he was relieved to hand it over to Grey Stone, which shows that Grey Stone's ability has truly been recognized by Scrooge.

"...Now we will broadcast a piece of news. Ten minutes ago, TÜV Rheinland Radio announced that the German army had launched a full-scale attack on the French Fortress of Verdun and had already captured most of the positions guarded by the French army. The fall of Verdun It is only a matter of time. Our reporter is verifying this news. Once there is new news, we will immediately broadcast it to the audience..."

Suddenly such a news came out from the radio.

"Scrooge, you said the French wouldn't really lose Verdun, would they?" Dorothea became a little nervous. As a member of the world’s largest arms dealer family, Dorothea’s current understanding of the military is not proficient, but compared to the average person, it is still much better, at least, compared to TV talk shows in some areas. Those experts who often invent anti-stealth aircraft magnetic powder, Dorothea's military level absolutely overwhelm them. Therefore, Dorothea also knew quite well where Verdun fortress was and what the consequences would be if this fortress fell. Once this place falls, Paris will be insecure, and the fall of Paris will be inevitable. Once Paris falls, France may surrender. Today, MacDonald Ventures Bank holds a lot of British and French national debt. If Britain and France cannot win the war, these investments may be in vain.

"Don't worry, Dorothea," Scrooge said.

Scrooge knew that in the original history, Germany did not defeat Verdun, but this does not mean that the Germans must not be able to defeat Verdun this time. However, if the Germans feel that they will be able to end the war by winning Paris, they may not be able to do so. France today is not the France of World War II. During World War II, France shed too much blood in World War I, which made the whole country reluctant to engage in a war as a whole, so Paris was lost and immediately surrendered. Now France is not France during the Franco-Prussian War, and he does not need to worry about the emergence of socialist revolutionaries. The French are still full of determination to fight to the end. Even if Paris is lost, France at this time will not necessarily withdraw from the war.

"The Fortress of Verdun is said to have been basically completed. Before it was completed, the Germans had launched several attacks on it, and the results were all beaten to blood. Under normal circumstances, Verdun is not so easy to lose." Scrooge comforted Dorothea.

...

Yes, compared to the original history, the state of the fortress of Verdun today is much better. In the original history, when the Germans attacked the fortress of Versailles, the fortress had not yet been completed. Two-thirds of the fortress was still No cannon yet. And now, because they got more supplies from the United States (in fact, both parties got more supplies from the United States than before.) So the completion of the Fortress of Verdun is much better. Now the fortress Only one-fourth of the cannons on the turret have not been installed.

However, perhaps because the fortress has been basically completed, when the Germans resorted to the trick of adjusting the tiger from the mountain, the French were not only deceived as in the original history, but they also had more troops in the area of ​​the fortress of Verdun than in history. Less! In the original history, the fooled French still left two divisions near Verdun. It was the desperate resistance of these two divisions, which bought time for the French and allowed the French to keep Verdun. Board. But now, the French left only one division near Verdun, and relying on such a small number of troops is definitely not enough.

Therefore, as soon as the German offensive began, the French did not hesitate to use mustard gas toward the German army. Although the wind was a bit strong on this day, the weather conditions were not suitable for the use of poison gas. However, the French still used all means, including the use of planes to throw poisonous gas-filled artillery shells, to launch a poisonous gas attack on the Germans, hoping to delay the German attack.

However, this time, the poison gas was not very useful, because the leading German offensive troops were actually equipped with full-body chemical protection suits. Where did the Germans get so much rubber? This really surprised the French.

...

"Grey Stone, how is the situation with Verdun?" Dorothea was still uneasy, so when she saw Grey Stone coming out of Scrooge's office, she stopped him and asked. .

"Mom, it seems that it hasn't been fully clarified yet." Greystone replied, "Our friends in the French army told us that the situation in Verdun is certainly not as good as the French media said, but it is not as good as in Germany. As people say, at least the core position is still in the hands of the French. In addition, another rapid reaction division of the French has entered the battlefield of Verdun. Perhaps by tomorrow, the third rapid reaction division can also be invested in Verdun. Den. As long as the French can withstand this for a while, the French can transfer the army back. I think the French army’s response speed is faster than the Germans expected, and the Germans are unlikely to want to quickly capture this fortress. Donald thinks the same way. He thinks the two sides will form a stalemate here. If the French finally wins this battle, I think our Volkswagen will definitely get orders."

"What does this have to do with Volkswagen?" Dorothea asked.

"Because the French rapid response division is actually a force that relies on the Raptor pickup truck to maneuver the whole army." Gladstone said, "During the Battle of the Marne, the French owned a taxi to save France. This time it is our turn. Pickup. As far as I know, relying on our pickups, the two French divisions from the south of Paris quickly reinforced to Verdun. According to our French friends, our pickups performed very well in this operation. ..."

...

"I want to give a big medal to Volkswagen United States! Their pickup truck is really great!" General Betain, who has entered the fortress of Verdun, said to Own staff Elgar, "We ran away in one breath. Hundreds of kilometers, because of road traffic jams, in order to grab time, we often drove directly from the wilderness without roads. God, if we use those things made in France, I’m sure, running like this, At least half of it will be broken on the road, but if you look at other United States products, there is almost no loss! I really don’t know why Citroen can’t make such a thing!"

At this time, the German shelling began again. In order to take Verdun, the Germans hit more than a thousand cannons, and wanted to take Verdun before more French troops arrived.

"General, they are going to attack again." Elgar said.

"No, Elgar, you are wrong, it should be that they came up to die again." Petain said.

Thank you for reading this story at mtlarchive.com. Your support enables us to keep the site running!