Chapter 166 Chess Player or Chess Piece

Charles did not rush to contact Khovd, he maintained the necessary caution.

Charles knew that another meaning of entering the newspaper industry was to tell everyone that he was independent, which might cause a series of troubles.

For example, Steed, who controls Saint-Etienne, has an unclear relationship with the Charles: does Saint-Etienne really intend to form an alliance with the Charles, or is it because he wants to recruit the Charles to serve him?

If it's the former, he already treats Ciel as a "chess player", so there won't be any problem.

But if the latter is the case, Saint-Etienne only wants to use Charles as a "chess piece" and will definitely not want to see Charles become its own faction.

At that time, the newly formed alliance will be broken, and Charles will once again be in the awkward position of facing all the capitalists alone.

This matter cannot be solved by the military, and winning the war will not change anything.

Therefore, even though Charles does need a media now, he still believes that the time is not yet ripe.

After careful consideration, Charles decided that he should wait until Saint-Ettier could no longer do without him before making any plans in this regard.

He planned to call Cobdo to discuss it later. At the same time, Charles would arrange a job for Cobdo and use him to develop the newspaper business if there was an opportunity.

However, an opportunity changed Charles's mind.

The next day, Charles returned to the headquarters as usual. In order to avoid the enthusiastic people of Paris, Charles had to report one hour in advance.

It was only after seven o'clock when he arrived at the headquarters, and Gallieni had not yet gotten up. He was used to getting up at eight o'clock when there was no war.

Several people at the headquarters were already sorting out documents. In addition to several staff officers and communications soldiers who were on duty all night, there was also Lieutenant Colonel Fernand.

"Good morning, Lieutenant!" Lieutenant Colonel Fernand showed a meaningful smile: "Congratulations, you have business again, but we are in trouble!"

"What?" Charles didn't understand what Lieutenant Colonel Fernand meant.

Lieutenant Colonel Fernand handed a document to Charles: "The grenades you produced were welcomed as soon as they were delivered to the battlefield. The soldiers praised it highly. They said that this is what they need, and it has achieved many results. However, all the 10,000 grenades we purchased were used up in less than half an hour!”

Only then did Charles realize that it was about the grenade.

"Is it because of the price?" Charles glanced at Gallieni's lounge like a thief: "The general is not satisfied with the price?"

"This is just one of them, Lieutenant!" Lieutenant Colonel Fernand, who was sitting writing information, turned sideways to Charles, put his hand on the back of the chair, and the pencil shook up and down between his fingers: "The general will discuss the price issue with the capitalists, but More importantly...the 10,000 grenades were indeed used up, but I didn't say they were all thrown at the enemy!"

Charles laughed: "You are very humorous, Lieutenant Colonel. If you don't throw it at the enemy, how can you throw it at..."

Charles realized the problem before he finished speaking. The soldiers were not trained to throw grenades. If grenades were delivered to them carelessly, accidents would be inevitable.

Lieutenant Colonel Fernand nodded to confirm Ciel's idea, and his eyes slanted towards the document in Ciel's hand.

Charles silently opened the file, which contained detailed records of various bizarre events that occurred on the front line:

His hand slipped while throwing, and the smoking grenade landed at his feet.

I opened the safety cover too early and took it with me. When I was running, I pulled the ignition cord and caught something.

Others were simply because the transport staff found it novel and curiously took a few to play with...

Lieutenant Colonel Fernand put a hand on Charles' shoulder: "General Gallieni thinks you should be responsible for this because he knows that your tank troops went through training before using grenades on the battlefield!"

Charles nodded distressedly. All he could think about all this time was that the front line needed grenades, so he would send them to them.

I didn't expect that hand grenades are a brand new equipment for the army of this era. They also need training before using them, even if a considerable number of them are veterans.

Gallieni got up at this time. He came out of the lounge in a military uniform and saw Charles at a glance.

"You came just in time!" Gallieni raised his chin towards Charles and walked towards his desk without looking back.

Charles walked to Gallieni's desk knowingly.

It was very dark in the morning. Gallieni turned on the desk lamp, and the orange light instantly illuminated his desk. Charles noticed that there was an accident report on the table that was exactly the same as the one in his hand.

The orderly brought a plate of bread and a cup of coffee to Gallieni. Gallieni gnawed on the bread and asked Charles: "You already know the matter, right? How do you plan to solve it?"

"I'm very sorry, General!" Charles replied: "I will formulate a detailed instruction and transportation specifications immediately..."

"Just these?" Gallieni interrupted Charles with a dissatisfied tone: "We can also accomplish these, Lieutenant, my headquarters has 32 staff officers, and each of them can do what you said."

"Then..." Ciel didn't know what else to do.

"1 franc!" Gallieni suddenly said.

"What?" Charles looked confused.

"The unit price of grenades!" Gallieni said while chewing bread: "I think 1 franc is appropriate!"

"No, this is impossible!" Charles understood that Gallieni was simply taking the opportunity to lower the price.

Gallieni calmly calculated the accounts with Charles: "It only takes half an hour to fire 10,000 grenades for one division. We have 44 divisions and they are still increasing. How many do you think we need?" Grenade?"

Gallieni stared at Charles, as if to say: With such a huge demand, you, a black-hearted capitalist, don't you lower the price?

"We must consider the production cost, General..." Charles said.

"I have contacted Steed, you can't fool me!" Gallieni interrupted Charles.

Charles was stunned. If Steed was tricked into saying something, or the two of them didn't agree, this business would be difficult to do.

However, Charles noticed that Gallieni glanced at him while drinking coffee, so he had a bottom line in his heart.

"No, General!" Charles answered confidently: "1 franc is not even enough for the production cost, at most... it can only be reduced to 1.5 francs, which is the most favorable price!"

Gallieni was a little discouraged. The little guy didn't fall for it.

He did call Steed, but Steed, the old fox, said that he would leave it to Charles to handle it, and Charles was the one who had the decision-making power in this regard.

However, a reduction of 0.5 francs is also considerable.

"Okay!" Gallieni nodded: "1 million pieces, 1.5 francs! But this is not the final offer."

No one else can produce grenades at present, what else can he do?

"Now!" Gallieni looked up at Charles: "Tell me about your training plan, how can we let the 44 divisions on the front line learn to use grenades in a short time?"