Chapter 180 The Boulanger Incident

The next day came the day when Charles was going to serve at the headquarters. Charles originally wanted to stay in bed for a while.

After coming to this time and space, he always switched between the two roles of consultant and capitalist. Although he had holidays, he was actually not idle. He was either busy with the war or running for business.

At this time, he also wanted to be lazy and hide in the warm quilt in this cold autumn and have a good sleep.

But Camille knocked on the door gently and reminded: "Charles, Major Laurent has been waiting below for half an hour!"

"I'll come, mom!" Charles responded helplessly.

The sky was gloomy, and the rain seemed a bit depressing. The cold wind poured in mercilessly from the leaky sides of the Model T, making Charles shiver and unconsciously tighten his military coat.

Major Laurent said while controlling the car: "Maybe we won't have to hide from the crowd in the future, Lieutenant!"

"Why?" Charles was a little confused. Could it be that he had been ruthlessly abandoned by his fans?

Major Laurent explained: "It's because of another hot spot. Everyone is thinking about where the Spey fleet will be and where the next naval battle will start, so..."

Ciel said "Oh" and nodded.

This may not just be the case for Parisian citizens, but for governments as well.

At this time, the land defense line has been temporarily stabilized. Neither the enemy nor we can do anything to the other, and they all turn their attention to the sea.

Germany wanted to see if a new battlefield at sea could be opened to delay British reinforcements to France.

The Allies wanted to nip the few warships that emerged from the German Navy in the bud, and also wanted to test whether they could break the deadlock on land by relying on their strong maritime superiority.

Then everyone's focus and attention will shift to the sea.

That's good, Ciel can worry less.

Sure enough, after the car arrived in Paris, there were only a few sparse groups of people waving and shouting at Charles, which was much deserted compared to the previous battles.

Charles sighed in his heart: Count Spee is really a good man, he can even say that he sacrificed his life for justice and righteousness!

What surprised Charles was that when he stepped into the headquarters, he was startled by the cheers erupted by the staff:

"Welcome Major Charles!"

"Hail Major Charles!"

"Congratulations, Major Charles!"

…

"Major?" Charles looked at the cheering crowd with a confused expression.

Lieutenant Colonel Fernand pushed Charles directly in front of Gallieni and said: "Come on, Charles, your promotion review was passed yesterday!"

Gallieni handed Charles a stack of documents with a smile and said: "The military uniforms are ready, and some members of the First Flying Group will be promoted with you. Take a look and see if there is anything else you need to add!" "

"Yes, General!" Charles stepped forward and took the document handed over by Gallieni.

It turned out that the pilots of the First Flying Group were all second lieutenants, so it was very inconvenient to command during combat.

Gallieni decided to promote captain Charles to major, deputy captain Carter to captain, and then appointed several lieutenants and squadron captains, eventually forming a top-down step-by-step command.

In fact, the squadron commander of the flying group should be a major or a captain, followed by a lieutenant and squad leader. However, because the newly formed military ranks are generally low, we can only make do with this first.

Charles returned to the dormitory and changed into a major's military uniform. This time, he didn't even bother to look in the mirror. He seemed to be used to all this.

When I walked out of the dormitory and came to the office, I was once again greeted by congratulations from my colleagues, and some even joked:

"Is it time to be promoted to colonel next month?"

"Our promotions are based on years, one level at a time, and Shire's promotion is based on months, two levels at a time!"

"It won't be long before you become a general, right?"

…

Kobdo also held up the camera and took a few photos of Charles. Tomorrow morning's "Report of Merit" will definitely have another headline: Charles was promoted to major.

There may also be a comment: Charles may be the fastest-promoted and youngest officer in France, but most people think that he is not promoted fast enough...

There were a lot of "blah blah blahs", and Ciel was a little worried that Kobdo would draw the focus back to himself.

Gallieni nodded towards Charles and walked into the lounge silently.

Charles understood, followed Galieni, turned around and closed the door.

"Have you ever heard of Boulanger?" Gallieni asked casually, leaning on his chair.

"No, General!" Charles replied, "Never heard of it!"

"It happened more than twenty years ago, when you were not yet born!" Gallieni briefly recounted the incident: "Boulanger was a general. He was injured several times during his service and made numerous meritorious services. He had a high reputation among the military and civilians. Later, he wanted to enter politics, so he left the military and entered politics. He was even able to get an overwhelming majority of votes in the parliament, but the end result was... he committed suicide after being exposed some scandals! "

Gallieni's tone was calm and emotionless, as if he was recalling something insignificant.

Charles also thought this was the case at first. Later, Charles learned more and found that Boulanger's early actions were somewhat similar to his own...

After Boulanger entered politics, he implemented a series of reforms such as improving soldiers' meals, allowing soldiers to grow beards, supporting workers' strikes, abolishing aristocratic privileges, etc., and gained people's support. This support can even be called "fanatic".

When he was dismissed from the post of Minister of War by the capitalists through dishonorable means and had to leave Paris, 150,000 people surrounded the train station and nearby areas. People hugged him excitedly and rushed to shake his hand, shouting:

"You can't leave!"

"You are our hope!"

"France cannot live without you, Monsieur Boulanger!"

…

But his opponents are capitalists. Capitalists are good at digging up the disgraceful things of their opponents and publicizing them, which will eventually make you ruined and lose everything.

Although Charles didn't know enough about the matter at this time, he could still tell that Gallieni was using this incident to warn Charles not to get lost in the support of the public and ignore the hidden dangers. Opponents in the dark.

"I understand, General!" Charles said, "I will watch my words and deeds!"

This is a double-standard society. Even if big capitalists commit huge things, they will always go unpunished in the end, such as the Panama scandal.

And for ordinary people, as long as a little bit of the dark side is exposed, even just a little bit, a bright future may be gone forever or even lead to death.

Although Charles is a capitalist, in front of Schneider, he is an extremely ordinary person. He cannot afford to lose.

Gallieni nodded with satisfaction and continued: "Another question, Major, have you heard that the Germans are developing tanks?"

"German tanks?" Charles was startled and immediately thought of the A7V.

"Yes!" Gallieni replied: "But the news is not confirmed yet. It came from the capitalists."

This is normal. Capitalists are more sensitive to this information and sometimes know more than the military or even the country.

"The news says..." A trace of worry flashed in Gallieni's eyes: "The tanks developed by the Germans are aimed at your 'Mark I', and they also plan to install artillery. Are you still not considering equipping it with artillery?" "

Charles replied firmly: "No, General, I don't think it's necessary!"

With Renault tanks, there is no need for the "Mark I" to be equipped with artillery!

(The picture above is an illustration of Boulanger committing suicide)

Thanks to Crisis Giant Crocodile for the reward, thank you very much!