Chapter 740: Follow or Not

The principal, Lieutenant General Denois, came forward warmly and shook hands with Charles to welcome him.

He gave a brief introduction to all the students and then gave the podium to Charles.

Charles stood in front of the podium as the applause gradually died down.

Many people are wondering what kind of shocking opening speech Charles will give.

Unexpectedly, Charles said, "I guess most of you are thinking about how to kick me off this stage, right?"

Everyone was stunned. They were used to official speeches and never expected that Charles would "speak" in this way.

It's not a profound truth, but it is the fact and it is exactly what the students think.

Some people couldn't help laughing.

Charles immediately pointed at the student and said, "See, I guessed right!"

There were more and more laughs, and the atmosphere, which was originally tense and even hostile, eased a lot unconsciously.

"Let's be casual, soldiers." Ciel continued, "If you don't want to listen, you can interrupt me. I hope this is just an ordinary conversation. There is no respect or disrespect, because these are not worth mentioning on the battlefield. Do you understand?"

A few brave students responded: "Yes, General."

Charles nodded with satisfaction:

"Today's theme is the Battle of Verdun, and the Battle of the Somme."

"The former is a battlefield of the French army, and the latter is a common battlefield of the British and French armies."

"What they had in common was that a lot of people died, including 100,000 British casualties in a single day."

"I've seen battlefields like this many times."

“The soldiers struggled among corpses and blood, died in agony, and cried for help helplessly, their voices filled with panic and despair.”

"But no one could help them because the enemy's machine guns were aimed at every corner of the battlefield."

"Anyone who goes up there will be shot mercilessly."

…

A student shouted:

"We've heard of these battles, General."

“We understand every process, including everything you did on the battlefield of Verdun.”

"Verdun was more about Pétain on the defensive, while the Somme was about General Foch on the offensive."

…

The last sentence is obviously from a "black fan" who tried to use Pétain and Foch to erase Charles's achievements.

Ciel waited patiently for them to finish speaking before continuing with a look of disdain on his face:

"Do you think I'm talking about battle examples? Military theory?"

"No, gentlemen, I'm talking about the future. Your future."

"Those who died on the battlefield are your future. I just want you to think about what your future will be like."

The students were stunned.

Charles used the word "gentlemen" in his words, meaning that they were not worthy of being called "soldiers."

Charles ignored them and continued:

"Let's look at a set of data. The casualty rate on the Verdun battlefield was two in five, meaning two out of every five people were killed or wounded."

"The casualty rate on the Somme battlefield was three-fifths, not including those who died in the rear due to lack of medical treatment."

"It means that as long as he died in a hospital bed instead of on a battlefield, he was 'wounded' instead of 'killed in action'."

"So, if you think you are hopeless, it's best not to let them carry you back. This may affect your pension!"

The cadets couldn't laugh, and these numbers were usually not talked about because they were considered to "affect morale."

But the students all knew that what Charles said was true. It was published in the newspaper, but the school chose to ignore it.

Charles held the podium with both hands, and said to the students seriously, changing his previous joke:

"Most importantly, they still couldn't achieve victory after suffering such heavy casualties."

"Which army do you think won the victory and took Verdun and the Somme?"

"Yes, my First Armored Corps."

"Its casualty rate was 6%, with only over 1,000 casualties among more than 20,000 troops, while we recovered a large area of ​​land, seized a large amount of supplies, and took in hundreds of thousands of prisoners."

Having said this, Charles straightened his chest and said to the students proudly:

"Believe me, I don't care if you believe my military theories or not. Not at all."

"I just want to ask you, there are two paths before you."

"One is failure and death, the other is victory and survival. Which one will you choose?"

"It's simple, isn't it? Just a decision to make."

"My speech is over, thank you!"

The playground was completely silent, and everyone stared at Charles as he walked down the podium.

At this moment, time seemed to stand still, and only Ciel was moving.

Principal Denois hasn't reacted yet. Is this the end?

In less than ten minutes, he was ready for a long speech and was even imagining that the final question-and-answer session would be tit-for-tat.

Unexpectedly, there was nothing.

Kobdo was shocked beyond words. Charles was judging a hero by the results.

This may not work well in debate, but in war... yes, it definitely works well in war.

Because war is real, it is the path that military cadets will take in the future and it cannot be avoided.

Only then did Kobdo understand what Charles said in the car: "It's up to you whether you want to follow or not."

Kobdo thought that Charles was just saying it out of anger, but he didn't expect that it would be the topic of today's speech.

It’s up to you whether you want to follow or not.

But not following means failure and death, it's that simple.

Lieutenant Pan Wan was sitting behind the principal on one side of the podium along with the instructors and teachers. He was also impressed by Charles's speech.

A smart and cunning guy.

If he were to talk about military theory with cadets, even if Charles had a lot of words, he would not be able to win over the thousands of cadets who had prejudices against him.

But he jumped out of this circle and used battlefield data to carry out a dimensionality reduction attack on these students who had never experienced war.

The students could not refute it because the data were real and their future choices were imminent.

Ultimately, it all comes down to:

You may not believe in Charles' military theories, you may not fight according to Charles' tactics, and you may not join Charles' troops.

But the price to pay is: death!

I don't know who started it, but there were a few bursts of applause in the playground.

The students who were lost in thought suddenly woke up and applauded one after another.

At the same time, they whispered:

"That guy is right. If it were you, which path would you choose?"

"I will choose the Shire because I want to win and I want to stay alive."

“No one wants to die, and die in failure.”

"If we now deny Charles' military theory, but have to choose him on the battlefield, or have to fight according to his tactics, isn't that ironic?"

…

Principal Denois looked confused. Has the wind changed direction?

Just a few simple sentences destroyed the decades-long foundation and entire theoretical system of the Saint-Cyr Military Academy?

Did I hear it right?

Lieutenant Pan Wan took this opportunity to step forward and said to Charles: "General, I will take you to the lounge. Next we will visit the museum!"

(End of this chapter)