Chapter 170: The Armchair Tactician

Kobdo acted quickly. He rented a factory building opposite Eric's aircraft manufacturing plant to set up the "Meritorious Newspaper".

The reason for choosing this location is that the 20th arrondissement of Paris is a poor area just like the 19th arrondissement, where the rent is cheap and cheap workers can also be found.

On the other hand, Kovdo was considering the Shire.

The companies were gathered together, so if Charles wanted to visit or inspect, he only had to go to one place and did not have to run back and forth.

Charles likes subordinates who can think for him and are very thoughtful.

Gallieni's attitude was similar to Charles's. They didn't care much about the newspaper itself. They were more concerned about the newspaper and how much role it could play in the army.

The result was an astonishing success when it was released. The 200,000 copies sent to the front line were instantly snatched up by the soldiers, and the 100,000 copies sent to the public were in short supply.

This was thanks to Kobdo's strategy, and Lieutenant Colonel Fernan had an argument with him about this:

"The battle with Lafox must be the headline on the front page!" Kobdo insisted on his point of view.

"I don't think so!" Lieutenant Colonel Fernan objected: "Our goal is to teach soldiers how to use grenades. We can't put it in a secondary position!"

"Lieutenant Colonel!" Kovdo asked back, "If you were in the trenches on the front line, where you could lose your life at any time, would you rather have a newspaper that would make you excited, happy, and full of energy, or read a boring and dogmatic tutorial and follow it to learn?"

"You may be right!" Lieutenant Colonel Fernan objected. "The soldiers would rather see victory, but learning to use grenades may save their lives!"

"The key is that we must first make the soldiers like this newspaper!" Kovdo explained earnestly: "Only in this way can they read the grenade tutorial. Otherwise, even if we put the grenade tutorial on the front page, the soldiers will just use it to cover their butts!"

…

Kobdo looked at the issue from a journalist's perspective, while Lieutenant Colonel Fernando considered it from the perspective of importance. The two argued back and forth, neither giving in.

In the end, it was Charles who solved the problem.

Charles said to Fernand:

"Lieutenant Colonel, maybe we can look at it this way. Putting the Battle of La Fox on the front page may attract more people's attention."

"After watching this hot topic, the soldiers were still not satisfied and took the opportunity to learn the grenade tutorial, so more people learned how to use grenades."

"On the contrary, if we put the grenade tutorial on the front page... not only will it fail to achieve the desired effect, it may even have the opposite effect!"

Kobdo agreed: "That's right, that's what I wanted to say."

Then Kobdo added:

"Just like... Joffre has been using Saint-Chamond and more troops to launch a frontal attack on La Faux, but it has cost a huge price but gained nothing."

"But the lieutenant led only 2,000 men and less than 100 tanks, and easily broke through from the flank and achieved a stunning victory."

"We have two options before us, which one will you choose, Lieutenant Colonel?"

Lieutenant Colonel Fernan was finally convinced, and even Gallieni, who was not involved in the discussion on the other side of the office, nodded slightly.

Gallieni glanced at Kobdo and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. This reporter had good eloquence and a thorough understanding of Charles' tactics.

"Lieutenant Kobdo!" General Gallieni nodded at Kobdo and motioned him to come forward.

Kobdo was flattered and stepped forward to salute.

This was a very strange feeling. Normally it was difficult for him to meet Gallieni, but now he had the opportunity to talk to him face to face, and they were in a superior-subordinate relationship.

"You were in the army before?" Gallieni asked.

"No, General!" Kobdo replied, "I just... out of my interest in military affairs and the needs of my work, I consulted a lot of information!"

Gallieni seemed to understand that this was a "tactician" who only knew how to plan on paper.

Perhaps it was because he had never served in the military or studied in a military academy, so he was not influenced by the French army's stubborn and biased "offensive tactics", but was more receptive to Charles' new tactics.

Gallieni believed that Kobdo should not be used for actual command on the battlefield. He only understood it but could not use it on the battlefield. This was different from Charles.

but……

Gallieni quickly thought of how to make use of this "talent".

"Perhaps you can be useful in another place, Lieutenant!" Gallieni looked at Kovdo with interest and asked, "Do you know the Saint-Cyr Military Academy?"

"Of course, General!" Kobdo was confused. He didn't understand what the relationship between him and the Saint-Cyr Military Academy was.

"That's right." Gallieni glanced in the direction of Charles, who was discussing the issue of leaked military newspaper contents with Lieutenant Colonel Fernand.

Gallieni lowered his voice and said, "I summarized Charles' tactics and battle examples and sent them to the Saint-Cyr Military Academy for them to compile as teaching materials."

Kobdo agreed with this very much. He nodded heavily, leaned closer and whispered: "It's a wise move, General! If these officers go to the battlefield one day and they can use one tenth of Charles' tactics, the French army will be different!"

"But it has no effect!" Gallieni shook his head with regret. "No one takes these tactics seriously. They are used to the 'offensive tactics' and regard them as a guide. Although these tactics were compiled into teaching materials under my order, they were thrown into a corner and no one cared about them!"

Kobdo understood why this situation occurred.

The teachers and instructors of the military academy are those who have studied French "offensive tactics" for a long time and are staunch supporters. Otherwise, they will be regarded as "heretics" and expelled from the school.

The trainees have not been tempered by real battlefields. They still know nothing and are waiting for the teachers and instructors to instill so-called tactics into them.

They have formed a solidified pattern and are "functioning normally" over and over again.

Although Charles' tactics were proven to be correct on the front line and on the battlefield, in the rear, they were a foreign "grain of sand" to the "normally functioning" machine of the Saint-Cyr Military Academy. There was no doubt that they would be regarded as a "dangerous idea" and isolated from the military academy's theory.

"But..." Kobdo asked doubtfully: "General, what can I do?"

"I need someone to give a lecture at Saint-Cyr Military Academy!" Gallieni stared at Kobdo. "This person will be teaching Charles' combat theory. I think as long as someone teaches, there will be students thinking about which combat theory is correct. This is what I need!"

Kobdo swallowed his saliva and said, "General, you don't want to send me?"

(End of this chapter)