Chapter 249 Legion of Honor

Charles had been very busy lately; he had not had a holiday since Christmas.

The reason is that the air combat situation on the front line is unclear, and air combat often occurs suddenly and in a short time. If Charles is on vacation at home, once there is a war and he is notified and rushes to the headquarters, the air combat may have ended.

Charles occasionally mentioned this to Gallieni: "General, I want to know whether the days of my lost leave are recorded day by day?"

Gallieni simply replied cryptically: "The New Year is over, Colonel!"

New Year's Day was the fifth day after Christmas, and that day Charles was busy in the headquarters until dawn.

What Gallieni meant was that Charles would be an adult after the New Year, and as an adult and a colonel, it was normal for him to have no holidays during this war.

…

The sky gradually darkens and the lights come on.

Charles was busy all day with the reorganization of the air force.

People of this era even had new things in the form of airplanes, so Charles had to teach them everything about the organization, deployment, and air-ground coordination of air forces.

He stretched and rubbed his sore neck, complaining in his heart: the allowance has not increased at all, but the workload is much greater than before. It seems that becoming an adult is not a good thing!

"Colonel!" Gallieni nodded to Charles while chewing his bread.

Charles understood and stepped forward reluctantly. He thought that the old man was dissatisfied with something and wanted him to add something.

Gallieni did nothing during this period but find fault with Charles' reorganization plan, and sometimes asked Charles to explain why he made such arrangements, what to do if the enemy had any countermeasures, etc.

But this time, Charles was wrong...

When Charles came to the desk, Gallieni took out two boxes from the drawer and handed them to him along with a document, saying calmly: "This is what you deserve, as your contribution to France!"

Charles took a box and opened it with confusion. Inside was a square medal.

Charles looked at Gallieni in confusion, but Gallieni just spread his hands and continued to chew on the documents on the table.

Lieutenant Colonel Fernand happened to pass by Charles. He glanced at the medal and was stunned: "My God, the Legion of Honor, you have the Legion of Honor!"

Then Lieutenant Colonel Fernan took the medal and cheered to the others: "Look, the colonel has won the Legion of Honor and the title of Knight!"

Everyone in the headquarters cheered, and one after another came forward to shake hands with Charles and congratulate him, looking at the medal with envy in their eyes.

Suddenly someone asked:

"Where's Kovdo? Shouldn't he take a few photos at this time?"

"He has already returned to the newspaper office."

"Call him back right away. He will be so happy. This must be the headline on the front page!"

…

Charles opened another box, which contained another medal, which Charles also did not recognize.

Lieutenant Colonel Fernan excitedly introduced: "This is the Cross of the Legion of Honor. If you win the Legion of Honor for your military achievements, you will automatically receive this medal representing the highest military honor in France!"

Charles said "Oh" and thought to himself that there were so many names.

Charles' reaction was very calm. As a capitalist, he did not value these things. He believed that these medals were like the honors knights received in the past. The emperor only needed a few verbal promises or a title to make the knights "loyal" for life and even sacrifice their lives for it. Isn't that stupid?

It's almost the same with medals. Compared to these things, Charles would rather get something practical, such as a bonus of several thousand francs.

Gallieni noticed Charles's expression and nodded secretly.

As a man who had experienced this, Gallieni understood that this was just a means for capitalists to win over people's hearts and minds. Giving Charles these medals and honors was just a response to citizens' protests, in order to meet citizens' expectations and appease their hearts.

People may not know much about it now, but Gallieni still remembers it clearly: 27 years ago, Wilson, the son-in-law of the President of the Third Republic and also a congressman, colluded with the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army to sell the Legion of Honor in large quantities.

This thing, which was the highest honor in the hearts of the French soldiers and civilians and was something they were willing to sacrifice their lives for, was sold for only a few thousand francs at the time.

After the scandal was exposed, Wilson, the person involved, was only convicted of a misdemeanor and was acquitted soon after. He was actually re-elected as a member of the House of Representatives. A large number of members of parliament and ministers involved were not punished.

With all these things happening, how can the Legion of Honor be honorable at all?

"Hey, Charles!" someone called out. "Don't you think we should celebrate?"

Charles was enlightened, and he responded tactfully: "You're right, this is indeed worth celebrating. How about the officers' club? All expenses for tonight will be on me!"

Cheers instantly broke out in the headquarters, and the staff officers were more excited than if they had won a battle.

"Are you coming too, General?" Charles turned to Gallieni.

"No!" Gallieni shook his head. "Just bring me a cup of coffee!"

Charles responded happily.

Gallieni didn't actually need coffee, the orderly could bring it to him at any time, he just didn't want Charles to feel that he owed him anything.

…

Today is Monday and there are only a few people in the club.

Most officers would not choose to go clubbing on this day, as many documents and matters that are pending due to the need to negotiate with the government must be resolved on this day.

But once Charles and his group arrived, the club was packed with people. As soon as they entered the door, they couldn't wait to shout to the bartender:

"Have a cocktail, Lucia!"

"Maybe we should get a glass of champagne."

"Great idea, this is a day worth celebrating!"

…

The female bartender Lucia skillfully poured wine into the cocktail shaker and asked curiously, "What's going on today? Did Ciel win another battle?"

“No, no!” Lieutenant Colonel Fernand raised his head to Charles who followed him and said, “The most worthy thing to celebrate today is…”

At this point, Lieutenant Colonel Fernand paused for a moment, then unexpectedly said, "Charles will pay for all the expenses. Let's have fun, gentlemen!"

The staff officers cheered, and someone shook the champagne vigorously, and suddenly opened it to spray everyone. The originally dull and deserted club suddenly became lively as if it was ignited.

Lucia glanced at Charles who was surrounded by the crowd, and nodded to another bartender: "Garrel, take my place!"

Garrel took the cocktail shaker from Lucia, looked at Lucia meaningfully, and had a faint smile on his face: "Is he too young for you, Lucia?"

"I heard he's already an adult!" Lucia replied generously, "No one would reject a hero, especially a rich hero!"

(The picture above is the Legion of Honor Medal)

(The picture above is the War Cross Medal)

(End of this chapter)