Chapter 19: Taxi transport of troops

Dejoka planned to take a taxi back to the town. The journey of more than ten kilometers would cost 8 sous. Dejoka thought it was worth spending the money. After all, it was foreseeable that he would no longer have to worry about this money in the near future.

But after waiting on the street for a long time, there was no empty car. Occasionally, one or two cars passed by but they were filled with fully armed French soldiers.

"Things are a little bad!" Djoka frowned as he looked at the direction the taxi was driving away: "They seem to be using taxis to transport soldiers to the front line!"

Charles said "Yeah". The famous taxi troop transportation incident in history was widely publicized by France as an example of the unity of the army and the people to resist the German invasion.

Unexpectedly, it was now, at this moment when Charles and Djoka were in Paris.

They might have to walk back to the town because there would be no free means of transportation, including horse-drawn carriages and ox-carts. These primitive means of transportation also had to transport supplies for the army.

When the two were in trouble, a taxi full of French soldiers slowly stopped not far ahead.

Charles saw Major Browne among them and shouted at the driver: "Hey, stop, stop right now!"

"What happened, Major?" The driver looked back at Major Browne in confusion.

"We have to take them with us!" Brownie waved to the two people not far away and shouted: "Hey, Mr. Djorka, Master Charles!"

"But we can't hold it anymore!" the driver protested.

"Then two people will go down and replace them!" Brownie responded rudely.

Brownie's actions immediately aroused protests from all crew members, and the soldiers and the driver formed a united front:

"You can't do this, Major, we're on our way to the battlefield!"

"This is so ridiculous. We are kicking soldiers off to fight on the front lines just to carry two capitalists!"

"You are not worthy of being a major, let alone a soldier. Your subordinates will be ashamed of you!"

…

The dressing up of Djoka and Charles does have the flavor of a capitalist, a capitalist in decline.

Major Browne waited quietly for them to finish speaking, and then replied disdainfully:

"Do you know who they are?"

These words aroused the anger of the soldiers. They thought that Major Browne was showing off the identities of these two capitalists and trampling on their dignity. The soldiers' protesting voices immediately turned into low roars:

"No matter who they are, no one has this power!"

"Will they go to the battlefield for us? If so, then I will give up my seat for them!"

"I will never make it easier for them. You can go down and replace one of them, Major!"

…

Two of the soldiers even exchanged glances with each other, seemingly trying to find an opportunity to throw the disgusting major out of the car.

Major Browne ignored them and raised his hand at Charles who walked to the taxi:

"Master Charles, are you going back to Darvaz?"

"Yes!" Charles nodded.

Djoka noticed that there were no empty seats in the car and the soldiers were all angry, so he quickly grabbed Charles:

"I'm so sorry, gentlemen, we can wait for the next bus! We have time!"

The driver suddenly realized something, and he looked at Charles in surprise:

"Wait, you are Charles from Darvaz Town?"

Major Browne smiled half-smiling and said nothing. He finally heard it, you ungrateful guys!

Sure enough, the soldiers who had been cursing just now fell silent instantly. The two men who were about to take action looked at each other. Everyone stared at Charles in a daze. After a while, someone asked carefully with a trembling voice:

"Is that... Master Charles who invented the tank?"

Before Charles could answer, Major Browne smiled triumphantly and said:

"Who else but him? You bastards, he saved France and you didn't let him get in the car!"

"I want to know, who is more qualified to sit in this position?"

"Didn't he fight for you? Did you save France like him?"

"It's ridiculous! You are actually so complacent because you are going to the battlefield, holding your heads high in front of Master Charles..."

Major Browne kept cursing angrily and heartily, as if he wanted to return all the anger he had just received to these blind soldiers.

None of the soldiers dared to talk back, they all listened with their heads down, and then someone jumped out of the car amidst the curses:

"I deeply apologize, Master Charles, please take my seat!"

"No, no, you sit in my seat!"

"Please take my seat, sir! I can wait for the next bus, or it's no big deal walking!"

…

Djoka didn't feel very good. He was about to refuse, but the next second he was put in the car by the soldiers without any explanation, as if he was kidnapped:

"This is as it should be. Your role on the battlefield is much greater than ours!"

"Your time is more valuable, maybe we can produce a few more tanks!"

"It's our pleasure, sir!"

…

The disrespectful Djoka and Charles could only accept this reality and sit back in the car.

When the taxi started to move, the two French soldiers who gave up their seats stood upright and gave a standard military salute to the leaving taxi.

The people walking on the nearby streets looked sideways at this scene, and their doubtful eyes were clearly guessing, who are these two capitalists? How could he actually get a soldier to give up his seat and salute?

…

"Why are you in Paris, Major Brownie?" Charles asked Major Brownie in front of him through the "limbs" crowded in front of him.

"I'm here to see General Gallieni!" Major Browne, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned around and replied: "He wants to know about the tank and the detailed combat process!"

Then he added: "Everything is as you wish, Master Charles!"

Only Charles understood this. Major Browne meant that he had taken the "crime" of training and command and did not "confess" Charles.

This statement once again surprised the other people in the taxi.

The driver turned his head slightly while driving and asked Major Brownie next to him:

"Major! You mean, you are the major who commanded more than 300 people to defeat thousands of Germans?"

Major Browne asked expressionlessly: "What do you think?"

He was still sulking because he had been ridiculed just now. He had never been scolded by a soldier like before.

There was another moment of silence, and the two soldiers crowded in the taxi couldn't get through:

"Sorry, Major. We thought..."

"You think I did this to please the capitalists, don't you?" Major Browne interrupted the soldier coldly.

The soldier did not dare to answer, so he acquiesced.

"Master Charles is indeed a capitalist!" Major Browne reprimanded in a superior-to-subordinate tone: "But you can see clearly that they are one of the few capitalists who are willing to give everything for France. They have spent all their money to provide us with food, and they also invented He defeated the Germans and saved many of us!"

"Yes, Major!"

"Understood, Major!"

"These bastards!" Major Browne tightened his uniform and shrank back into his seat: "If you were my subordinates, I would definitely beat you up!"

"Yes, Major!"

The soldiers did not dare to say anything more, but frequently paid attention to Charles.

The driver suddenly laughed:

"They will be envious of me because I am carrying the inventor and commander of the Battle of the Marne!"

"I'm in for good luck!"

He was indeed lucky. After that, many people came here to take this taxi and even paid several times the fare.