Chapter 54 Laurent is very dedicated

The guard company was stationed in the open space outside the factory. This was originally a defensive position for the French army to resist the German army. There were many fortifications left. The soldiers put up dozens of tents and reinforced and transformed the fortifications to create a garrison.

In the medical tent, the medical soldiers carefully treated Laurent's wounds.

He was beaten up as a "kidnapper" in the town a few days ago and it was only a superficial injury. Today, he was hit hard by an angry worker and his muscles and bones were injured:

His left hand was dislocated, and after it was reset, a bandage was tied around his neck. It would take at least a week to recover. His nose bone was knocked crooked, and he tore it back with a scream. His nose was bleeding and had to be plugged with disinfectant cotton.

After the medical soldiers left, Captain Jules, the commander of the guard company, asked with lingering fear: "Is it nothing serious, Major?"

"Small problem!" Laurent covered his nose with his healthy right hand, and his voice sounded a little weird because of the blocked nose: "Everything... is under control!"

"You mean..." Captain Jules looked suspicious: "The situation just now was also planned?"

"Of course!" Laurent coughed guiltily and puffed out his chest: "Only in this way can those capitalists believe that we have objections to Charles!"

"I know, but..." Jules did not continue. He noticed that Laurent's eyes were wandering, which was a sign of lying. He thought it was best not to expose Laurent at this time.

Laurent continued to emphasize: "Only when the conflict is fierce and even bloody can the capitalists believe that this is important, Jules!"

"Yes, Major! You are right!" Jules echoed, but thinking in his heart, I will leave such a thing to you!

Jules hesitated for a while and reported: "The problem is that only we in the security company know the truth. The soldiers think that they are really monitoring Charles. Many people are unwilling to do this. They have become resistant to this. I'm worried. The team will be divided because of this!”

This is Galieri's order. In order to keep it secret, only his close confidants Laurent and Jules know that they are called surveillance but are actually protecting Charles and the factory.

In addition, Gallieni was a little selfish. He wanted to know immediately what strategic and tactical ideas and suggestions Charles had.

Laurent looked at Jules sideways and asked: "Resistance?"

"Yes!" Jules explained: "Everyone knows that Charles saved France, Major, and yet we are keeping him under surveillance as a spy, at least on the surface. The soldiers think this is unwelcome and even offensive. Their intelligence is insulted and they are unwilling to perform this task!”

Laurent snorted unclearly from his nose: "Do their thoughts matter? They only need to consider one thing, and that is to obey orders!"

"But Major..."

"Gather them together!" Laurent interrupted Jules: "Let me deal with them!"

"Yes, Major!" Jules responded helplessly.

After Jules went out, Laurent stood up and looked in the mirror. Although his nose was red and swollen and his lips turned up, he still straightened his military cap. Soldiers should pay attention to their appearance at all times!

When Laurent walked out of the tent, more than two hundred soldiers from the guard company were already lined up outside the tent.

Laurent paced in front of them with one hand hanging and his head held high. He kept a straight face and tried to open his eyes wide to make himself look "murderous", but he didn't know that this was only funny in the eyes of the soldiers.

"I heard that some people have doubts about this mission. Some people think that what we want to monitor is a capitalist with a conscience, so it is an unnecessary waste of time..."

Before he finished speaking, a soldier responded: "Isn't it, Major?"

"Of course not!" Laurent quickly turned to face the direction of the voice and shouted angrily: "Have you forgotten Lesseps? Wasn't he a good person before he declared bankruptcy? Wasn't he a savior like Charles?"

This happened twenty years ago.

French entrepreneur Lesseps obtained the rights to dig the Panama Canal and issued shares domestically. With vigorous publicity by the media and numerous guarantees from many congressmen, the whole country felt that this was a business that was sure to make money without losing money.

The people went crazy. They regarded Lesseps as the savior who would lead them to wealth. They snapped up billions of francs of stocks issued by Lesseps, and soon bought up new shares.

However, the company suddenly declared bankruptcy with a debt of 1.28 billion, and only one-third of the canal was completed.

Only then did people realize that they had been fooled, and found that almost everyone had accepted Lesseps' bribes: state dignitaries, senior officials, more than 200 members of parliament, and a large number of journalists. They had jointly concocted this scam to trap the people. Among them, Clemenceau, the leader of the Radical Party, accepted bribes amounting to 1 million francs.

This resulted in the bankruptcy of 900,000 small private shareholders and the collapse of small and medium-sized enterprises.

What is even more unacceptable is that, even though the evidence was irrefutable, the court acquitted them all, and the fine for Lesseps was only a ridiculous 3,000 francs!

The people demonstrated and went on strike again and again, but to no avail.

They are too naive and want the capitalists to convict themselves and pay the price. That can only come true in a dream!

The soldiers were silent. Laurent's words made sense. Lesseps was not only a good person before he declared bankruptcy, he was even the hope of the French people.

This is one of the reasons why the French military and civilians hate capitalists so much, and Charles is a bona fide capitalist.

"Capitalists have their own goals!" Laurent continued to shout in a hoarse voice. While speaking, he habitually wanted to wave his left hand to enhance the context. After feeling the pain, he quickly changed to his right hand: "They are all good people before they show their true colors, but they are all the same. Their essence is profit-seeking. They all want to cheat hard-earned money from poor people like us, and it has always been like this without exception!"

Some soldiers agreed with this:

"You are right, they have no good intentions!"

"They just want to sell the technology at a good price!"

...

Others objected:

"Charles is different, he saved our lives!"

"What is more valuable than our lives and France?"

"He didn't need to do this. My brother was injured in the war. It was Charles who saved him. Charles paid for it out of his own pocket but didn't ask for anything! We can't do this to Charles!"

...

It is not known which side started the fight first. Maybe it was just spitting at the beginning, and accidentally spitting on the other side and getting punched. Others thought it was a provocation, and one helped the other and soon they wrestled with each other.

Many people even threw their rifles aside and rejoined the battle, screaming and fighting, and couldn't even tell which side the other side supported.

Laurent looked at this scene helplessly, and he shouted to try to stop the soldiers' excessive behavior: "Wait, stop, you guys..."

"Bang!" In the chaos, a flying fist hit Laurent's chin and knocked him to the ground.

...

In the office on the third floor of the motorcycle factory, Deyoka and Charles looked at the soldiers in a mess outside the wall inexplicably.

"What are they doing?" Deyoka asked.

"I don't know!" Charles shook his head: "Maybe... it's training, they may be practicing how to deal with angry workers!"

Deyoka nodded, and was a little moved. Laurent is a dedicated soldier, and the training looks like it's serious. Such a person will definitely protect Charles well!