Chapter 195: Ciel's Student

At the Paris Defense Headquarters, Gallieni woke up before eight o'clock as usual.

He did not rush to the office as usual. He looked at the heavy rain outside while wearing his military uniform. There was a strong wind outside the window, accompanied by thunder, and dense raindrops were washing the ground.

Gallieni sighed slightly, wishing the rain could gather on the House of Representatives and wash it away.

Yesterday, Gallieni thought he should make a final effort for Charles's tanks, because it meant victory and the lives of his soldiers.

So he came uninvited to the House of Representatives and asked for a speech:

"Charles' tanks and tactics have been proven in actual combat. The First Tank Brigade has been training around Charles' tanks for some time and has achieved good results."

"We already have a complete set of infantry-tank coordinated tactics. I believe this tank can defeat the enemy!"

“Shouldn’t we use tanks that have proven to work instead of buying a bunch of products that have proven to be failures?”

…

Before he finished speaking, there was a commotion below:

“They have been improved and are no longer a failed product!”

"The enemy knows what the Charles tanks are like, and they have developed better tanks specifically to deal with Charles tanks."

"The lack of artillery is the biggest weakness of the Mark I, and the enemy's tanks have artillery. How can we defeat artillery with machine guns?"

…

The final result is self-evident. Charles' tanks failed to win subsequent orders. Instead, the "Saint-Chamond" and CA-1 each added 200 tanks.

The congressman's words seem to make sense, but they still cannot cover up a ridiculous fact: the failed tanks received orders, but the victorious tanks did not.

Unbelievable and ridiculous!

Gallieni gathered his thoughts, turned around, opened the door and walked towards the office.

As he passed Charles's desk, Gallieni called out softly: "Come here, Major!"

"Yes, General!" Charles stopped what he was doing and followed Gallieni to the desk.

Gallieni sat down, opened a drawer, took out a document and handed it to Charles, saying expressionlessly: "This is the improved CA-1 tank and the 'Saint-Chamond'. They have received more orders. I want to know if they still have problems."

Charles flipped open the file and took a look: "CA-1 has upgraded its engine and thickened its armor, and its speed has been increased to 8 kilometers per hour!"

"Yes!" Gallieni explained, "They think this speed will allow them to avoid long-range artillery bombardment in time. As you said before, tanks need a certain degree of mobility."

Charles hummed, his eyes fixed on the data on the document: "That's true, but simply changing the 11MM frontal armor to 17MM is not enough!"

"What do you mean?" Gallieni looked at Charles in confusion. "Your Mark I tank has only 17mm frontal armor. I believe they are learning from your tank."

"I know!" Charles looked up at Gallieni: "But General, when our tank armor was 11MM thick, the Germans invented the K bullet that could penetrate 13MM steel plates. Now our tank armor is 17MM..."

Gallieni understood immediately: "They will invent equipment with stronger penetrating power!"

"Yes!" Charles nodded. "Although I don't know what it is, as they said, the Germans will do everything they can to target my tanks."

This was not true, as he knew that the Germans' anti-tank rifles were likely already out.

Gallieni sighed inwardly. He could only hope that the Germans wanted to use artillery to penetrate the 17MM armor instead of anything else!

After frowning and thinking for a while, Gallieni asked again: "What about Saint-Chamon?"

"There are many improvements on the Saint-Chamond." Charles continued to flip through the documents: "In addition to upgrading the engine to reduce weight, the tracks were lengthened, the roof was changed, and several more hatches were added."

The track is lengthened to enhance passability.

The roof was changed from flat to inclined because the Germans might throw grenades onto the roof.

The reason for adding more hatches is that it was discovered in actual combat last time that when the "Saint-Chamon" was stuck in a bomb crater, the side hatches would be blocked and could not be opened at the same time, making it impossible for the crew to escape in time.

Gallieni added: “They also added little wheels to the protruding front and back!”

Needless to say, the purpose of adding small wheels is to prevent the extended body from getting stuck in bomb craters or trenches.

Ciel raised the document in his hand and asked, "But does this work? Has it passed the military's test?"

Gallieni asked expressionlessly: "If the previous Saint-Chamond model passed the military test, why can't this improved model?"

Charles understood that the so-called "military test" was not worth mentioning at all. This was a project supported by Xiafei and the Automobile Technical Service Department. Wouldn't it be a joke if it failed to pass the "military test"?

Charles finally gave this comment: "It's okay to increase the orders, but it's better not to send them to the battlefield."

Gallieni remained silent, with a look of helplessness on his face.

Charles understood Gallieni's expression. "Are they planning to send them into battle?"

Gallieni nodded slowly. "You should know how they feel. Your tank succeeded while theirs failed. They can't wait to prove themselves and hope to defeat your tank."

Then Gallieni added: "At least part of their confidence comes from you, Major!"

"What do you mean?" Charles didn't understand.

"They not only learned your tanks!" Gallieni said with a hint of disdain: "They also learned your tactics. I believe they copied your combat experience in La Fox."

Charles burst out laughing. Does this mean that we should learn Charles' tactics and defeat him?

Not only did they not pay the tuition, but after stealing the teacher's knowledge, they immediately thought of kicking the teacher out of office. The point is that they only learned half of the knowledge!

"Besides!" Gallieni added coldly, "They plan to transfer the First Flying Squadron to participate in the battle."

Charles's expression changed instantly: "No, they can't do this!"

"They can!" Gallieni replied with a hint of anger in his eyes. "This is the order of the French Commander-in-Chief. If necessary, they can even transfer the First Tank Brigade. The reason they didn't do so is because they want to defeat the First Tank Brigade to prove it to everyone!"

It suddenly occurred to Charles that they must have thought that the reason why Charles' tank troops were able to win easily at La Fox was largely due to the First Flying Squadron.

Therefore, a flying brigade is necessary for this battle, even if this flying brigade is formed by Charles!

(The above two pictures are the comparison of Saint-Chamond before and after the improvement. The most obvious is that the flat roof was changed to a roof that tilts in two directions in the middle. This may prevent grenades from being thrown and staying on the roof and exploding)

(End of this chapter)