Chapter 119: Ciel is not someone he can defeat

At three o'clock in the afternoon, in the Chamber of Deputies at the Bourbon Palace in Paris, Gallieni was on the stage answering urgent questions from the members of the House of Representatives.

The reason was that Gallieni included a huge amount 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 congressman asked, "The fighting on the front line is extremely fierce. At this time, don't we need rifles, artillery and ammunition? Why did you choose to spend huge sums of money to buy almost useless aircraft and tractors?"

The MPs below echoed louder and louder voices:

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

"What can a plane do? Attack the enemy's balloons? That won't kill many enemies!"

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

…

Gallieni replied calmly: "You are right, Mr. Congressman, the soldiers on the front line do need weapons and ammunition, but the key 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?"

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

The MPs laughed and thought it was ridiculous, as the tractor's speed meant it could only be used for plowing.

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

Gallieni raised his chin downwards and asked, "Gentlemen, have any of you ever 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 impressions of Ypres!"

Several members of parliament answered one after another:

"It's a flat area, close to the sea, and very humid!"

"Yes, there's water everywhere, like a swamp!"

"The traffic is very inconvenient. Once it rains, the car can't move because it will get stuck after a short distance!"

…

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

Then Gallieni glanced at the whole audience and made a brief summary: "The terrain of Ypres can only be entered and exited by tractors! Only tractors can pull the cannons in, and only tractors can deliver the bread, ammunition and other supplies that the soldiers need to them. And you object to my buying it?"

The congressmen fell silent immediately, and Steed sat down with a gloomy face.

This urgent inquiry against Gallieni was initiated by Steed, who was still upset about Gallieni replacing the Saint-Etienne machine gun with the Hotchkiss, which caused all the Saint-Etienne machine guns he produced to be piled up in the warehouse and become scrap metal.

At this time, Jameson stood up and said, "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 councillors shouted again:

"Yes, the soldiers need cannons!"

"Only cannons can give us victory!"

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

…

Jameson was the owner of Schneider Arms, which produced the artillery, and he certainly hoped that Gallieni would increase the purchase of artillery.

Gallieni just smiled coldly and asked in return: "Really? You think only cannons can bring us victory, and airplanes can only play a limited role?"

"Isn't this well known?" Jameson insisted. "You might say that the plane shot down the airship in Antwerp and blew up a 'Big Bertha', but what if the Germans didn't send out the airship? The bombing of the 'Big Bertha' 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!"

Gallieni snorted, with a hint of disdain on his lips: "Let's wait and see, Mr. Jameson!"

"That won't work on me, General!" Jameson laughed triumphantly. "This isn't something you can just fool around with, 'we'll see'. Everyone is waiting for your answer!"

Jameson thought Gallieni was trying to delay the issue by saying this, and he would not allow it.

The congressman behind him and even other congressmen thought so too, so they cooperated by booing towards the stage.

Gallieni took out his pocket watch calmly, opened the cover, glanced at the time and put it back, saying confidently: "It's almost done, gentlemen, maybe it will only take a few minutes, I won't keep you waiting too long!"

Grevi 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. He whispered to Grevy, "Is Francis going to get rich? 500 tractors, and he might buy more..."

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

"What?" Armand was surprised, then he laughed: "He really lacks some luck!"

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

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

Grevy smiled but said nothing. Armand suddenly understood: "Could it be Charles who bought the tractor?!"

Grevi nodded slightly: "I wasn't sure before, but now, he is the only one!"

"Smart little guy!" Armand exclaimed, "Maybe it was him who suggested that the military buy tractors!"

"Of course it's him!" Grevy stared at Gallieni on the stage. "Charles seems to have everything under control. He knows what the army needs. All he has to do is buy it in advance, and then make money from it immediately after giving the military a suggestion. What could be easier than this?"

"Isn't he worried about the current situation?" Armand spread his hands around him, referring to the doubts and accusations of the congressmen.

Grevi answered confidently: "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. Winning the war meant that the military had made the right decision, and Charles was doing the right thing. What else was there to question? Questioning victory? Those who questioned must be traitors!

Just a plane...

Armand was puzzled. Was it really just to hit the balloons as the congressmen thought? This did not stop them from questioning!

At this time, the left-wing MPs could no longer wait. Their questions became louder and more intense, and finally developed into shouting:

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

"This is an unreasonable purchase, 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 accountable for it!"

…

Some people even threw paper balls onto the stage.

But Gallieni remained standing on the podium, motionless, allowing the paper balls to be thrown at him and then roll to the ground.

At this time, Lieutenant Colonel Fernan came in from the other side, panting. He trotted across the long corridor to Gallieni and handed him a telegram with an excited expression.

Gallieni took the telegram and read it, and a smile of victory instantly appeared on his face:

"Gentlemen, let me announce some good news."

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

"No one on our side was killed or injured!"

The House of Representatives fell silent in an instant. It was "shot down" rather than "crashed", and there were thirteen planes. More importantly, there was no casualty on our side. How did we achieve such a victory?

Is it false reporting of military achievements?

No, this military achievement is too easy to be exposed. Gallieni will not make such a mistake!

That's... Charles!

Everyone thought of this possibility, and the venue was instantly abuzz with discussions about what Charles had invented this time!

Grevi's expression turned serious. He felt that Charles might have jumped to another dimension that he needed to look up to. Charles might not be someone he could defeat.

(End of this chapter)