Chapter 138 The Talented Colonel

This is already the fifth day, and the autumn rain is still falling. Now no one doubts whether France has entered the rainy season.

There were puddles and mud everywhere on the road. Laurent slowed down and controlled the steering wheel to avoid it carefully. He took the opportunity to complain to Charles sitting in the back: "This is just the beginning, Lieutenant, it is training me how to drive on the battlefield!"

Charles responded with a smile, thinking that Laurent must have never been on the battlefield, and there was more than just such a small puddle there.

As the car drove into Darouz, the small town in the rain looked much quieter than usual. There were no pedestrians on the street and the small vendors on the roadside were gone. However, the guards were still doing their duty, and there were two people standing on the left and right at intervals. personal.

Charles was a little curious. How would Aunt Elisa, who always made a living selling croissants on the street, do business now? There is also Uncle Eto, who sells potatoes. Maybe he is hiding in a tent and bargaining with others?

Aunt Deneuve, the pizza seller, was smart enough to convert her home into a shop, so she wasn't affected much.

When Charles saw Aunt Deneuve leaning out to wave hello to him, he quickly extended his hand to respond!

Unexpectedly, the car stopped suddenly. Charles, who almost hit his head, looked forward in confusion. A soldier holding an umbrella blocked the way. Judging from the rank and uniform on his sleeves, he was an artillery colonel. Parked not far away was a soldier. The car should have been driven by him.

Since he was two ranks higher than Laurent, Laurent showed due respect. He kept a low tone and asked: "Hello, Colonel! What are your orders?"

The artillery colonel ignored Laurent. He walked straight to Charles and said with hesitation in his voice: "Are you Charles? Can I talk to you?"

Charles took a look at this reckless artillery colonel. Like most French people, he had a pair of beards, and what was more conspicuous was a pair of very high cheekbones.

"You are..." Charles looked at the rain outside, implying that the weather seemed unsuitable for conversation.

The artillery colonel stretched out his hand to Charles: "My name is Austiny. You may not have heard of me, but you must have heard of my tanks. I designed the CA-1 tank that was successfully bid not long ago. I... "

"Swell!"

Laurent flew over and pressed the artillery colonel into the muddy water. While trying to hold down the struggling colonel on the ground, he shouted to both sides: "You bastards, come up and help!"

Several guards immediately ran over from both ends of the street when they heard the shouting, and someone blew a whistle to call in the patrol team, causing neighbors to poke their heads out to watch.

Major Laurent and the guards scrambled to remove each other's guns and swords, and yelled at the guards: "How did you let this guy in? He's still armed!"

The guard responded aggrievedly: "He is a soldier, a major, and a colonel..."

"What's wrong with the colonel?" Laurent interrupted the guard: "Can we not ask about our identity?"

After a while, Djorka and Camille also heard the news and ran over. They seemed to understand something when they saw the situation, and hurried forward to pick up Charles.

The artillery colonel, whose mouth was bloodshot, struggled to shout to Charles: "Wait, Charles! I want to talk to you, I don't mean any harm!"

Charles turned around and looked at the artillery colonel, then nodded.

He comforted Camille, who looked frightened, and Djoka, who was still vigilant: "It's okay. If he wanted to harm me, he wouldn't have revealed his identity first!"

Laurent recalled the scene just now and felt that Charles was right. The artillery colonel could just draw his gun.

However, Laurent was still worried. He personally searched the artillery colonel and even found the cigarettes in the colonel's pocket.

…

In Djoka's hut, the artillery colonel had changed into a set of Djoka's casual clothes. Because the artillery colonel was a little thin, he looked a little weird wearing Djoka's clothes.

Laurent stood at the door with several guards. He didn't even dare to change out of his soaked military uniform. He was worried that the "suspect" would take advantage of the time he changed his military uniform.

The artillery colonel shivered, touched the corners of his red and swollen mouth, and nodded to Djorka and Camille: "I'm very sorry for coming here without telling you in advance, and you misunderstood!"

Charles asked: "Do you want to come and see your defeated opponent, Colonel?"

"No, Lieutenant!" The artillery colonel was slightly embarrassed: "I hope... I want to know what you think of tanks, Lieutenant!"

Djoka laughed: "You seem to have forgotten that we are competitors. This is the first time I have heard of people trying to find out information in this way!"

The artillery colonel shook his head dejectedly:

"I think I was wrong, Mr. Djorka!"

"I am an ordinary artillery colonel. I usually like to make some changes and inventions."

"One day, after I heard that Charles invented the tank, I wondered if I could put a cannon on it!"

"I wanted to come to Ciel many times, but..."

Charles nodded to show that he understood that there was an embarrassment between them between "original" and "improved", and the latter was suspected of "plagiarism" in a certain way.

For example, the CA-1 has steel plates erected on the tractor chassis. The tractor chassis used is even the same as the original tank, which is "Holt 60".

If there is any difference, one is that it is equipped with a 75MM short-barreled artillery, and the other is that the front of the CA-1 is equipped with a pointed nose and baffle for cutting barbed wire.

For these reasons, the Colonel of Artillery would certainly not wish to meet with Charles.

"Then Mr. Grevy found me!" The artillery colonel continued, "He said he was willing to help me, and even willing to buy my industrial property rights and produce it, and he also owned the industrial property rights of the tank, so..."

Deyoka's face showed a look of sudden realization. Grevy owned the industrial property rights of the tank. With his consent, the artillery colonel's "improvement" would not have any problems.

The artillery colonel looked embarrassed, he tightened his coat, and then relaxed: "I should have come to you as soon as possible!"

Camille handed the artillery colonel a cup of steaming coffee. After she was sure that the artillery colonel had no ill intentions, she felt that this was a natural way of hospitality.

The artillery colonel looked at her gratefully and thanked her sincerely.

Charles suddenly remembered something, and he asked: "Colonel, you just said your name is..."

"Estiny, Lieutenant!" The artillery colonel replied.

"Estiny?" Charles nodded slightly.

He seemed to have some impression that the artillery colonel, who usually liked to design and invent, should be the one called "Father of French Armor" Estiny.

In fact, the German blitzkrieg should have been first created by him, and his "swarm warfare" was probably the prototype of blitzkrieg.

It's a pity that he was born at the wrong time, and the tanks of World War I could not support this advanced combat theory at all.

Shouldn't this talented colonel be recruited for his own use? !