Chapter 552 Tell the Truth

It is winter and there is a little rain, and there is nothing to worry about.

The French troops on the Somme River front were in a state of detachment and not caring about worldly troubles.

It was drizzling in the early morning, the air was filled with the stench of rotting corpses, the feet were full of muddy water, and occasionally a few whistling shells would fly over their heads, and the mud and water stirred up by the explosions would surge like waves.

However, the soldiers were entertaining themselves in the trenches.

Some of them were sleeping in the tunnels, some were hiding under raincoats and carving something on the wood in their hands with bayonets, and some were putting their helmets upside down to catch the rain, and carefully shaving their beards in front of a small broken mirror.

(The above picture shows the "Whippet" tank carved out of hardwood by French soldiers during World War I. Making "trench art" with hardwood, shells and other objects is the most common way for soldiers to pass the time. They can also use these "artworks" to exchange cigarettes with their comrades.)

Captain Jérémie is playing cards with several of his men under the cover of raincoats.

They call this "the last happiness" because the cards will soon become a mess due to moisture, and they must try to play a few more games before that.

They are very careful, using two raincoats to cover their heads and another one on the table to prevent moisture.

"If this goes on, we may be able to play all day." Captain Jérémie said optimistically.

But before he finished speaking, the clumsy orderly Leo dropped two cards when shuffling them, and they were instantly made dirty and wet by the accumulated water and yellow mud.

This caused the soldiers to complain:

"You should learn to bleat more, Leo."

"You are even more hateful than those officers who drove us to the battlefield."

"Well, we are going to spend another boring day!"

...

Leo picked up the cards and his expression changed. He stared at the other end of the trench and shouted softly: "Look, the 'sheep herder' is coming."

The soldiers compared themselves to "sheep" and the senior officers who ordered them to charge to "sheep herders."

A few people were stunned and turned their heads to look along Leo's line of sight. Sure enough, they saw several officers walking up slowly in the puddles under the protection of the guards. The leader was thin and his appearance and rank could not be seen clearly because he was wearing a raincoat. He only saw a tube hat.

Captain Jeremy snorted: "Don't pay attention to them. If all the 'sheep' are disobedient, the 'sheep herders' will have nothing to do."

The soldiers laughed softly, with some pride.

Leo carefully wiped the stains on the cards with a towel, and fanned them in his hand: "Maybe we can continue after we let them air out."

They thought the officer would pass by, but he stopped beside them and asked: "What are you playing? Count me in!"

Everyone was stunned.

This was different from what they thought in their minds. They thought the officer would yell at them to go to their combat positions or pick up rifles to attack.

"We are playing barbu, sir!" Leo replied.

But he was glared at by Captain Jeremie. They should not talk to the officer easily.

Leo shrank his neck and dared not say anything else.

"Okay." The officer lifted the raincoat on his military cap a little: "It seems that I am not welcome here."

Captain Jeremie replied without thinking: "Indeed, sir..."

He was stunned before he finished speaking, staring at the officer with his eyes, and it took him a while to react: "Charles? Are you Charles?"

The nearby soldiers stopped what they were doing and cast shocked eyes in this direction.

Charles nodded, looked around, and asked, "Gentlemen, is everything okay?"

If it were someone else, the soldiers would think this was ironic. Is there anything good here? They would even beat up the officer who asked this question and let him go back, or let him experience it here with them for a few days.

However, the person asking the question was Charles, so they felt it was natural and even a little friendly.

Everyone present had more or less received Charles's favor. Charles' company had been donating supplies to the front line, and he also popularized various tactics and survival knowledge in the "Meritorious Newspaper".

In their hearts, Charles was hope, the hope of winning the battle and surviving.

Someone answered with a choked voice:

"You are finally here, General!"

"Are you here to command us?"

"We are all fine, General!"

...

But someone immediately retorted: "No, General, we are not well, we need your help!"

Charles nodded and calmly replied: "I know, this is the purpose of my trip."

There was silence all around, with only the "ding-dong" sound of rain hitting the puddles.

Jeremy was in shock for a while, he couldn't believe that Charles was right in front of him, after a while he suddenly woke up, stood up and shook hands with Charles.

"General." Jeremy said: "You can think of me as their representative."

Charles' eyes flashed with surprise: "You are very brave."

Another meaning of the mutiny representative is to be shot, regardless of whether the negotiations are successful.

Jeremy smiled lightly: "No, General, it won't make any difference."

Charles understood what he meant, anyway, he wouldn't live long, being shot was just another way to die.

Then Jeremy brought the topic to the point:

"I respect you very much, we all respect you, General."

"But I'm sorry, we can't pick up our guns and go to the battlefield again just because of your words."

"That's not what we want."

Charles nodded: "Of course."

Then he added: "Tell me, what are your conditions?"

Brothers should settle accounts clearly, and now is the time to settle accounts clearly.

Jeremy replied:

"First of all, we refuse to attack."

"But I hope you don't mistake us for scoundrels and deserters."

"It's okay to defend the position, we just don't want to die meaninglessly under the enemy's gun."

Charles raised his eyebrows without hesitation:

"This is a bit difficult, Captain."

"There must be attacks in war, it's impossible to just defend the position."

"But I can promise that we will try our best not to have any more meaningless attacks!"

Jeremy was stunned. He didn't expect that the first request would be rejected by Charles.

He looked around in embarrassment. More and more soldiers gathered, including several representatives.

Jeremie decided to discuss it with them. With a wink, several people gathered at the other end of the trench:

"I think Charles' words are credible, not just because he is Charles."

"Yes, other officers would definitely agree to all conditions first to appease us, and then regret it later. He could do so."

"But he didn't. He accepted our conditions to a limited extent and also stated his bottom line: war cannot be only defensive without attacking."

...

This was the decision Charles made before he came. He believed that only by telling the truth could he gain the trust of the soldiers.