I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France Chapter 581 581 "Unspoken Rules" and Their Intimidating Effe

Blu Command, a little past eleven on Christmas Eve.

Though Shire had nothing to do, he did not rest.

He was flipping through a novel, "Wulanspig Legend," which tells the story of the protagonist's determined struggle for national liberation and freedom of belief.

But in fact, Shire was passing ti, waiting for possible developnts tonight.

A few ters away, Ganlin took a telegram from a staff officer, glanced at it, smiled slightly, and walked slowly towards Shire's desk. The sound of his army boots hitting the floor was heavy and demonstrative with each step.

Ganlin stopped in front of Shire, made a formal salute and then handed over the report: "Commander, a telegram from Paris. They plan to transfer two divisions from the British Expeditionary Force and another division from the Northern Army Group to help us quell the unrest."

When he ntioned 'quell the unrest,' he slowed down and emphasized as if worried Shire wouldn't hear.

Shire didn't move, still reading his book casually with his legs crossed.

Ganlin gently placed the telegram on Shire's desk, bent slightly, and spoke with a tone of mockery: "Rest assured, Commander. Blu is very safe."

"Really?" Shire responded calmly, "What do you plan to do when these troops arrive? Let the British take over our battlefield, or let them take over our troops?"

Ganlin was taken aback. He indeed had no further plans, but still answered, "I'll discuss a plan with Admiral Avis. Everything will return to normal."

Shire chuckled lightly without even looking up, "I heard you are the smartest general in France. I'm skeptical."

The smile on Ganlin's face froze for a mont, but he quickly recovered: "That's not important. What's important is whether you're smart enough. Right, Commander?"

He stared intently at Shire as he spoke.

Shire looked up at Ganlin, "If I'm smart enough, should I give up everything I'm doing now and surrender to you?"

"More or less." Ganlin nodded slightly, "While there's still ti."

He then added:

"We don't need to waste ti, General. I an, we don't need to make the troops run back and forth in this dangerous ti."

"If you are destined to fail, persisting will be aningless."

"You will make a wise choice, won't you? I believe you are a smart man."

Shire sighed softly and shook his head slightly, "Poor Mr. Ganlin, you still haven't figured out the situation."

"What?" Ganlin's eyes showed surprise.

Shire changed his address to Ganlin from 'General' to 'Mr. Ganlin.'

In the next second, Ganlin realized that Shire ant he wasn't worthy of being a 'General.'

Ganlin's face darkened, and he gritted his teeth with a fierce look in his eyes, "They say you're a conscientious capitalist, but it seems that's not the case. You will regret your stubbornness today!"

Shire closed the book, put it on the desk, and pushed the telegram back toward Ganlin:

"Do you think the parliant dispatched troops to quell the so-called unrest?"

"Think about it. Why would parliant mobilize the British Army? Do they want the French Army and the British Army to co into conflict?"

Ganlin was stunned.

Using the British Army to quell unrest indeed seed inappropriate. Internal conflicts within the French Army should be resolved internally, and the involvent of the British Army might complicate issues or even cause misunderstandings.

"That's not for you to consider," Ganlin replied, "You seem to be incapable of protecting yourself."

"I agree." Shire nodded with a smile, "That's what you should be considering."

"What do you an?" Ganlin asked.

Shire answered calmly, "When the parliant encounters thorny problems they cannot solve, their most common tactic is to divert conflict and people's attention."

Ganlin laughed, "You an the parliant wants to shift the soldiers' attention to the British?"

He didn't believe a word of it.

Shire responded solemnly:

"Not the soldiers, the people."

"At this mont, the parliant is in a difficult position. They brought in the British Army to make people believe the whole incident is related to British coercion, providing the parliant with a way out."

"In simple terms, the parliant is ready to concede, while you think I'm losing this 'battle.'

Ganlin stared at Shire in silence, then suddenly burst into laughter, "Perhaps I am not as smart as others say, but I am not a fool, General. I won't be intimidated by you..."

Shire interrupted Ganlin, his voice full of confidence:

"Let tell you what will happen next."

"The dispatched troops might have so minor conflicts with the 6th Army Group, just like you ntioned, to quell the unrest, but they won't actually achieve anything."

"It won't take long before the parliant steps in to diate. They will pretend to be the 'middlen' rather than the initiators."

"Finally, they may even reward and the soldiers of the 6th Army Group to appease us. They will transfer you and give command of the 6th Army Group to ensure stability."

The smile gradually faded from Ganlin's face.

This did seem like sothing the parliant would do—making the British the scapegoat to avoid damaging parliantary authority.

"Are you that sure?" Despite his words, Ganlin was already shaken inside.

Shire raised his eyebrows, "We'll see."

The answer was obvious. For an 'unrest' like this, no number of troops would be enough because they didn't know who the 'enemy' was or where the 'enemy' was. They couldn't quell the so-called unrest.

Ganlin dejectedly returned to his place, sensing that Shire might be right—the parliant might indeed concede.

What Ganlin found most difficult to accept was that Shire had orchestrated everything, controlling it all to develop as he wished, while Ganlin had not even seen it coming and proudly tried to persuade Shire to surrender just as he was about to win.

Ganlin felt his face burning, his mind replaying Shire's taunts, "Are you the smartest general in France?", "Mr. Ganlin!", and "We'll see!"

No, it wouldn't end like this.

The parliant wouldn't let Shire go; he had committed terrible cris and should be punished!

However, whether Ganlin liked it or not, events were unfolding in Shire's favor.

As Ganlin struggled to guess the parliant's intentions, a staff officer approached him cautiously with a docunt, lowering his voice to report, "General, this docunt requires General Shire's signature."

"What?" Ganlin looked up sharply, glaring at the staff as if to say: Who dares defy the order to 'strip Shire of his command'?

The staff officer answered reluctantly, "The front line brigadier and regintal commanders said if Shire's command is not acknowledged, they might not survive until tomorrow..."

Ganlin was speechless.

Unwritten rules had already shown their intimidating effect; the front line commanders and staff had no choice but to acknowledge Shire's command!

Shire had effectively won this 'battle' because command was shifting into his hands!