Chapter 119: Charles Is Not Someone He Can Defeat

At 3 pm, in the Chamber of Deputies of the Bourbon Palace in Paris, Gallieni was on the stage accepting urgent questions from the parliamentarians.

The reason was that Gallieni included a large number of equipment in the wartime procurement regulations, including 100 aircraft and 500 tractors, with a total purchase amount of 2.2 million francs.

"General Gallieni!" A parliamentarian asked: "The battle on the front line is extremely fierce. At this time, don't we need supplies such as rifles, artillery and ammunition? Why did you choose to spend a huge amount of money to buy almost useless aircraft and tractors?"

The parliamentarians below echoed louder and louder:

"Yes, we need rifles and artillery, we need to arm more soldiers!"

"What can an airplane do? Attack the enemy's balloons? That won't kill a few enemies!"

"What can a tractor do? Plow the land? And you want to buy 500!"

...

Galieni answered slowly: "You said That's right, Mr. Congressman. Soldiers on the front line do need weapons and ammunition, but the point is, how can we deliver these weapons and ammunition to them! "

"What do you mean?" Steed, the owner of the Saint-Etienne Arsenal, stood up and asked: "Don't we have trains, cars and horses? Do we still need planes and tractors to deliver weapons and ammunition to the battlefield?"

Said Steed turned to the congressman behind him and asked loudly: "Would you buy a tractor just to use it to transport goods?"

The congressmen laughed and thought it was ridiculous. The speed of the tractor determined that it could only be used for farming.

However, some people thought of the tanks converted from tractors, but they chose to remain silent.

Gallieni raised his chin downwards and asked instead: "Gentlemen, have any of you been to Ypres?"

Several people raised their hands to indicate that they had been there.

Gallieni raised his hand slightly and made a gesture of invitation: "Gentlemen, please tell us about your impression of Ypres!"

Several members of parliament answered one after another:

"It is a flat land, close to the sea, and very humid!"

"Yes, there is water everywhere, like a swamp!"

"The transportation is very inconvenient. Once it rains, the car can't drive because it will be stuck after not going far!"

...

Galieni nodded slightly, turned his eyes back to Steed, and asked politely: "Sir, did you hear what they said?"

Then Gallieni swept his eyes across the audience and made a small summary: "Only tractors can enter and exit the terrain of Ypres! Only tractors can drag cannons in, and only tractors can deliver the bread, ammunition and other supplies needed by the soldiers to them, but you oppose me buying it?"

The members of parliament were silent immediately, and Steed sat down with a gloomy face.

This urgent questioning of Gallieni was initiated by Steed, who was still upset about Gallieni replacing the St. Etienne machine gun with the Hotchkiss, which caused all the St. Etienne machine guns he produced to be piled up in the warehouse and turned into scrap metal.

At this time, Jameson stood up: "What about the planes? Why did you buy them? We already have enough planes. Compared with these flying things in the sky, the soldiers need cannons more, but you didn't increase the purchase of cannons!"

The congressmen shouted again one after another:

"Yes, the soldiers need cannons!"

"Cannons can give us victory!"

"The role of planes is extremely limited. We should spend money on useful things!"

...

Jameson is the owner of Schneider Arms Factory, and he produced the cannons. Of course, he hopes that Gallieni can increase the purchase of cannons.

Gallieni just smiled coldly and asked back: "Really? You think only cannons can bring us victory, and the role of airplanes is limited?"

"Isn't this well known?" Jameson insisted on his point of view: "You may say that the plane shot down the airship in Antwerp and blew up a 'Big Belsa', but what if the Germans did not send out the airship? The bombing of the 'Big Belsa' was accidental!"

Then Jameson added: "Even you bought tractors to drag cannons and shells to the front line. You have shown with your actions that we need more cannons!"

Galieni snorted, with a trace of disdain on the corner of his mouth: "Let's wait and see, Mr. Jameson!"

"This set doesn't work on me, General!" Jameson laughed triumphantly: "This is not a sentence 'wait and see' can be fooled, everyone is waiting for your answer!"

Jameson thought that Gallieni said this intentionally to postpone the topic, and he would not allow it to do so.

The MPs behind him and even other MPs thought so too, so they cooperated and booed at the stage.

Gallieni took out his pocket watch from his pocket and flipped open the cover. He glanced at the time and put it back again, saying confidently: "It's almost time, gentlemen, maybe it will only take a few minutes, I won't let you wait too long!"

Grevy and Armand sat in the audience without saying a word. This had nothing to do with traditional aristocrats like them. It was the plunder and division of military equipment by left-wing capitalists.

Armand suddenly thought of a question, and he whispered to Grevy: "Is Francis going to get rich? 500 tractors, and he may buy more..."

Grevy interrupted Armand: "Before this, he had sold all his tractors, 900 francs each!"

"What?" Armand looked surprised, then laughed: "He does lack some luck!"

"Do you think this is luck?" Grevi smiled and shook his head.

"Otherwise..." Armand looked at Grevi in ​​confusion.

Grevi smiled and said nothing, and Armand suddenly understood: "The person who bought the tractor couldn't be Charles?!"

Grevi nodded slightly: "I wasn't sure before, but now, it's just him!"

"Smart little guy!" Armand exclaimed: "Maybe he gave you the suggestion to let the military buy tractors!"

"Of course it's him!" Grevi stared at Gallieni on the stage: "Charles seems to be in control of everything. He knows what the army needs. All he has to do is buy it in advance and then give the military a suggestion. What could be easier than making money right away?”

"Isn't he worried about the current situation?" Armand spread his hands around, indicating the members' doubts and accusations.

Grevi replied firmly: "As long as these things can really play a role on the battlefield, or they can win the battle, no one can question it!"

Armand nodded thoughtfully. Being able to win the battle means that the military made the right purchase and Charles is doing the right thing. What else can be questioned? Questioning victory? The questioner must be a traitor!

It’s just a plane…

Armand was puzzled. Could it really be that he was just using it to hit balloons, as the congressmen thought? This cannot stop them from questioning!

At this time, the left-wing congressmen could not wait any longer. Their questioning became louder and more intense, and finally developed into yelling:

"Go down, we know what's going on!"

"This is an unreasonable procurement, and we will urge the government to kick it out of the wartime procurement regulations!"

"You are responsible for this purchase, and everyone who benefits from this purchase must be held responsible for it!"

…

Some people even threw paper balls on the stage.

But Gallieni stood still on the podium and let the paper balls be thrown to him one by one and then roll to the ground.

At this time, Lieutenant Colonel Fernand came in from the other side panting. He ran down the long corridor and came to Gallieni, and handed over a telegram with an excited expression.

Gallieni took the telegram and read it, with a victor's smile on his face:

"Gentlemen, allow me to announce some good news."

"Just now, our squadron, under the command of Lieutenant Charles, shot down thirteen enemy planes over Ypres!"

"There are no casualties on our side!"

The House of Representatives fell silent for an instant. It was "shot down" rather than "crash", and it was thirteen aircraft. More importantly, there were no casualties on our side. How was such a victory achieved?

Is it a false report of military exploits?

No, this military exploit is too easy to expose, Gallieni will not make such a mistake!

That is... Ciel!

Everyone thought of this possibility, and there was a lot of discussion in the venue, everyone was discussing what Ciel had invented this time!

Grevi's expression became cautious. He felt that Ciel might have jumped to another dimension that he needed to look up to. Ciel might not be something he could defeat.