In a light drizzle, Foch sat astride his horse, guiding it with a light rein while observing the frontlines through binoculars. He was lost in thought: if the reinforcents had arrived sooner under his command, how would he have led this battle? What would the outco have been?
The answer was clear: he would have ordered a counterattack, convinced that the best defense was a relentless offense. The result, however, would have inevitably been a protracted and bloody struggle, with both sides pouring troops into the mire until casualties reached the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands.
The stark contrast between that outco and the present victory left Foch feeling strangely inadequate. His once-unshakable beliefs about military strategy—a bedrock of his thinking for years—now felt fragile and hollow, as if they might collapse with a re push.
anwhile, the Belgian soldiers at the front were just beginning to absorb the reality of their survival. There was no wild celebration; rather, a feeling of disbelief and a pervasive sense of having narrowly escaped death. Many had resigned themselves to an inevitable defeat, and so had even considered the prospect of surrendering or deserting. But then, miraculously, the Germans were repelled, leaving only a field of corpses.
The soldiers remained wary, fearing it could be a ruse—that the Germans would regroup and launch a fiercer assault. Not until word arrived from headquarters that the Germans had indeed been defeated, with neither the will nor the ans to attack again, did the Belgian troops truly begin to process what had happened.
Slowly, a wave of emotion took hold; so soldiers began laughing with relief, while others quietly wept, repeating over and over, "I'm alive. We're really alive?"
In that mont, survival felt almost surreal—an unexpected gift amid the grim inevitability of war, where life itself had been reduced to a re statistic, so insignificant it could easily be ignored.
"Yes," an officer replied gently. "Charles has saved us once again, this ti with a shield of artillery fire to protect us."
Finally, the soldiers grasped what had occurred.
...
Back in Paris, at the Defense Command, Gallieni nodded in approval as he turned to Charles in the midst of the staff's elation. "So, this is what you ant by 'asymtric warfare'?"
"Yes," Charles replied. "But it doesn't have to follow this exact pattern. It's more about amplifying our own strengths to find a weak point, and then using that opening to strike the enemy."
Gallieni reflected on this. "In this battle, our strength was our aircraft."
"You enhanced that advantage, creating a critical weakness for the enemy that they couldn't compensate for. In the end, their superior infantry was neutralized, and they lost the battle." Gallieni's assessnt was precise, and Charles saw no need to add further explanation.
Gallieni closed the report and swiftly jotted a note on the cover: "Asymtric Warfare. For inclusion in the military academy's curriculum." It wasn't the first ti Gallieni had done this; Charles' ideas on "harassnt tactics" and "special operations" had been similarly docunted. To Gallieni, every tactic and thought that Charles introduced was worthy of study by French officers.
Charles, however, seed unaware of this special treatnt; he acted as though these ideas were nothing out of the ordinary, almost as if they'd always existed.
"There's sothing I've been aning to ask, Lieutenant," Gallieni said, passing the report to an aide. "You're aware that French military strategy is generally divided into two camps: most officers favor offense, while a minority argue for defense. Which do you think is correct?"
"Why must I pick one?" Charles replied, surprising Gallieni.
"You an…both?" Gallieni asked, intrigued. Could both approaches be right?
Charles indeed thought so. "Both could be correct, or both could be wrong," he explained. "'Military strategy, like water, should have no fixed shape or direction.' The battlefield changes constantly, which ans there is no single 'best' tactic, let alone a strategy that could guarantee victory in every battle."
"In my view, we should adapt our tactics to the specific situation rather than relying solely on offense or defense to solve all our problems."
France's mistake wasn't necessarily outdated tactics. The core issue was the assumption that a single military doctrine could address complex, ever-changing combat scenarios. This mindset had led to an overemphasis on offense in World War I, and, later, a rigid reliance on defense in World War II.
Gallieni nodded, contemplating this fresh perspective. So battles indeed required an aggressive push, while others called for a strong defensive posture. Just as in the recent Battle of Ypres, Charles had turned a defensive strategy into an opportunity to deal significant damage to the enemy and ultimately secure victory.
After a mont's consideration, Gallieni added to the docunt: "Adapt tactics to suit the situation."
Charles observed this with a faint smile. It seed funny to him, for such wisdom had been codified long ago. A copy of The Art of War or Thirty-Six Stratagems would have conveyed all this and more.
Though Europe's powers boasted advanced industrial militaries, in terms of strategy and tactics, they still had much to learn from ancient Eastern philosophy.
Gallieni then changed the subject, saying, "I hear you're developing a new tank?"
"Yes," Charles replied. There was little reason to keep it from the military, especially Gallieni, with whom Charles had a tacit understanding.
"In that case, you should be cautious," Gallieni advised. "There are at least two groups competing with you."
"Two?" Charles had assud only Francis was in the running. But another competitor?
Gallieni, noticing Charles' puzzlent, explained, "Have you heard of TAS?"
Charles shook his head.
"It's a governnt departnt," Gallieni clarified. "Its full na is the 'Technical Automotive Services Departnt,' and in principle, all vehicles entering military service fall under its jurisdiction. TAS recently learned that Francis was independently developing a tank, bypassing them entirely. As a result, they've tead up with Schneider to develop a bigger, stronger model."
As soon as Charles heard the na "Schneider," he understood that this was the key player.
Gallieni added, "And this project is backed by General Joffre."
That explained it—it was beyond Gallieni's authority.
"But I'll do my best to include all these models in warti procurent," Gallieni assured him. "You know the drill—we'll buy whichever one proves best."
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