Scrooge had to admit that he was old. The signs of aging showed themselves in many places on him. Like, sleep or something. In the past, when Scrooge was young, he almost lay down in bed, and it only took a few minutes to fall asleep, and when he woke up, he became energetic. But now it doesn't work, and Scrooge now has insomnia. Many times, in order to sleep, you have to resort to sleeping pills, especially after being tired from exertion. What's worse is that many times, even if he falls asleep, at two or three o'clock in the evening, Scrooge will suddenly wake up, and then he can't sleep again. Then the next day I had no energy all day.

It was the same that night, and in the middle of the night, Scrooge suddenly woke up, and he knew that he would never be able to sleep again, so he planned to get up and go to the study, read the various reports sent by the big laboratory, and turn on the radio by the way, and listen to the news in Europe. Nowadays, many radio stations are broadcasting 24 hours a day.

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

"What, you're awake too?" Scrooge asked.

"yes, a little insomnia. Well, what are you going to do with it? Dorothea asked in the dark.

"Go to the study and look at the report that I didn't finish yesterday. Also, listen to the radio to see if there's any news on the European side. Scrooge lifted the covers and sat up. Dorothea sat up as well, stretched out her hand, and turned on the bed lamp.

"I can't sleep anyway, so I'll get up and listen to the news."

The two of them went to the study next door, and Emma, the maid on night duty, poured a glass of hot milk for each of them. Of course, this milk was specially supplied by MacDonald, and it is definitely not the same thing as the milk on the market that has mercury hundreds of times more terrible than melamine.

Scrooge opened the safe and took out a few reports from it and read it carefully, while Dorothea turned on the radio next to the sofa, then took a book from the shelf and flipped through it casually.

"Due to the impact of the war...... The price of steel and various non-ferrous metals continued to rise in the London futures market, and the price of brass ...... The French government said that in order to continue the war, they will issue another batch of government bonds, and unlike last time, this time they will be issued throughout the world, and the amount of the issuance is ......" said the voice on the radio.

"Scrooge, what about the French national debt?" Dorothea asked suddenly.

"Ah...... You said French national debt, you should ask Greystone about it. Basically, he was in charge, and I didn't interfere too much. Scrooge said, "It seems that he and Morgan Jr. have divided a lot, and you don't have to worry about this deal, you can't lose money." Scrooge replied casually, then lowered his head and looked at the papers.

Hearing Scrooge's answer, Dorothea smiled with satisfaction. It's not because the MacDonald consortium can make more money on the deal, it's because Scrooge is now showing an attitude that makes her happy. Scrooge didn't really ask too much about such a question, and he was very relieved to hand it over to Gleistone, which shows that Gleistone's ability has really been recognized by Scrooge.

“…… Ten minutes ago, Radio Rheinland announced that the German army had launched a full-scale assault on the French fortress of Verdun and had captured most of the positions held by the French army, and that the fall of Verdun was only a matter of time. Our reporter is verifying the news, and as soon as there is new information, we will broadcast it to the listeners......"

Suddenly such a message came out of the radio.

"Scrooge, you say, the French won't really lose Verdun, right?" Dorothea was a little nervous. As a member of the world's largest family of arms dealers, Dorothea's military knowledge is not proficient, but it is still much better than ordinary people, at least, compared to those experts on TV talk shows in some regions who often invent anti-stealth aircraft magnetic powder, Dorothea's military level is absolutely overwhelming. So, where the fortress of Verdun is and what the consequences will be if this fortress falls, Dorothea is also quite clear. Once this place falls, Paris is in no danger to defend and the fall of Paris is inevitable. And once Paris falls, France may have to surrender. Today, MacDonald Ventures holds a lot of British and French government bonds, and if Britain and France cannot win the war, these investments may be wasted.

"Don't be in a hurry, Dorothea." Scrooge said.

Scrooge knew that in the original history, Germany did not defeat Verdun, but this does not mean that the Germans will not be able to defeat Verdun this time. However, if the Germans felt that they would be able to end the war by taking Paris, they might not be able to do so. The current France is not the France of World War II, because France during World War II shed too much blood in World War I, so the whole country was unwilling to fight another overall war, so Paris lost it and immediately surrendered. The current France is not the France of the Franco-Prussian War, and he does not have to worry about the emergence of socialist revolutionaries now. 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 be almost complete, and before it was completed, the Germans launched several attacks on it, but the result was that it was beaten to the head, and under normal circumstances, Verdun is not so easy to lose." Scrooge reassured Dorothea.

……

Yes, the Verdun fortress is in much better shape today than it was in the original history, when the Germans attacked the fortress of Versailles, the fortress was not yet completed, and two-thirds of the batteries did not have artillery yet. And now, because more supplies are received from the United States (in fact, both sides are getting much more supplies from the Americans than before. So the Verdun fortress was much more complete, and now only a quarter of the cannons on the fort's batteries have not been installed.

But perhaps because the fortress was almost completed, when the Germans resorted to diverting the tiger from the mountain, the French were not only fooled as they had been in history, but they also left fewer troops in the area of the Verdun fortress than in history! In the original history, the deceived French still left two divisions of troops near Verdun, and it was the desperate resistance of these two divisions that bought time for the French and allowed the French to keep Verdun. And now, the French have left only one division near Verdun, and such a small number of troops alone is certainly not enough.

Therefore, as soon as the Germans attacked, the French did not hesitate to use mustard gas against the German army, although the wind was a bit strong on this day, and the weather conditions were not suitable for the use of poison gas. But the French still used all means, including airplanes to throw poisonous gases. Hit. Cannon. bombs, and launched a poison gas attack on the Germans, hoping to delay the German attack.

This time, however, the poison gas was not very useful, because the attacking units in the vanguard of the German army were actually equipped with full-body hazmat suits. Where did the Germans get so much rubber? This really took the French by surprise.

……

"Greystone, how's the situation at Verdun?" Dorothea was still reassured, so when she saw Greystone coming out of Scrooge's office, she stopped him and asked.

"Mom, it doesn't seem to be completely clear yet." Greystone replied, "Our friends in the French army tell us that the situation at Verdun is certainly not as good as the French press says above, but it is not as good as the Germans boast, at least the core position is still in the hands of the French, and in addition, another rapid reaction division of the French has entered the battlefield of Verdun, and perhaps by tomorrow a third rapid reaction division can also be thrown into Verdun." As long as they withstood this for a while, the French could bring the army back. I think the French army reacted faster than the Germans expected, and it is unlikely that the Germans will be able to take the fortress quickly. Donald thinks the same way, and he thinks the two sides will have a stalemate here. If the French win this battle, I think our Volkswagen will definitely have a lot of orders. ”

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

"Because the rapid reaction division of the French is actually a unit that relies on Raptor pickups for the whole army." "In the Battle of the Marne, the French saved France in their own taxis, and this time it was our turn to pick up," Greystone said. As far as I know, relying on our pickups, two divisions of the French were quickly reinforced to Verdun from the south of Paris. According to our French friends, our pickup truck did a great job in this operation......"

……

"I'm going to give Volkswagen a big medal! Their pickup trucks are just amazing! General Pétain, who had already entered the Verdun fortress, said to his staff officer, Elgar, "We ran hundreds of kilometers in one go, because the roads were congested, and in order to gain time, we often drove directly from the fields without roads." God, if we were using those things made in France, I'm sure we would have broken down at least half of them on the road, but if you look at the American goods, there is almost no loss! I don't know how Citroën can't make something like this! ”

At this time, the German shelling began again, and in order to take Verdun, the Germans hit more than a thousand artillery bombardments, trying to take Verdun before more French troops arrived.

"General, they're attacking again." Elgar said.

"No, Elgar, you're wrong, they should have come up again to die." Pétain said.