Chapter 859 Official Motto

"That's all right," said Gallieni. "Charles is telling the truth."

"God," Clemenceau said anxiously.

"Don't you see, Mr. Minister?"

"What Charles said will make Australia, New Zealand and Canada, which are strong fighters, seek complete independence."

"Because they understand what kind of fighting force the British army is, they know they have the ability to fight against the British army, and they even learned how to deal with tanks from the battle."

Gallieni retorted:

"This is none of our business, Prime Minister. This is a problem for the British people."

"As for what Charles said, do you think the Australians themselves don't know? They just didn't say it out loud."

"The bottom line is that the British army performed so poorly on the battlefield that the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian troops were stronger than them, and now the British find themselves unable to control these countries."

Clemenceau felt that what Gallieni said was correct.

Whether it is colonization or control, the first requirement is that Britain must have strength.

If the British army cannot or finds it difficult to defeat these countries, or if defeating these countries requires heavy casualties, it is only a matter of time before they become completely independent.

“And this?” Clemenceau turned out another document and placed it before Gallieni.

…

The second document is Charles’ inspection of the Kenyan Legion.

The Kenyan army had only more than 10,000 troops and was a veritable colonial army: all middle and senior officers were British, and more than half of the grassroots officers were also British. Only a few Kenyans who were considered to have "excellent performance" were promoted to second lieutenants and first lieutenants.

The reason why Charles chose this force was that although Kenya had a small number of troops, the British forcibly conscripted 200,000 laborers, and their pensions and wages were severely withheld by corrupt British officers. The soldiers and laborers were very resentful of the British.

Charles did not have much contact with the corps commander, Major General Laird, and had nothing to say to the British officers. He went directly into the trenches to talk to the Kenyan soldiers, with an interpreter.

"Hey, how are you guys?"

"I can't believe this is your rationed bread?"

"You fight for them, and they don't let you eat enough?"

"Why are your uniforms so torn? You don't even have a complete helmet?"

…

The Kenyan soldiers looked horrified at Charles's concern. They didn't know how to respond because they were under the "surveillance" of British officers all the time.

Only Major Locke, the staff officer sent by Major General Laird, gave an explanation:

"This is because our supplies have not been delivered, Lieutenant General. This is not usually the case."

"You know, we lost a battle not long ago, and many of them lost their supplies and equipment."

Charles shouted at Major Locke:

"Stop your lies, Major!"

"I've seen British soldiers and even Australian soldiers in a different situation, don't take me for a fool!"

"You may be free to treat them as you please in your colonies. But this is France, this is French soil."

"Do you know what France's goal is?"

"Liberty, equality and fraternity. We believe that everyone should be treated fairly and justly!"

"Besides, they are fighting for us. Each of them is a warrior holding a gun. They should be respected as a soldier!"

Charles left angrily, leaving Major Locke at a loss. He didn't understand why Charles was so angry.

Major Locke really didn't understand.

Although Charles was scolding him on the surface, he was actually conveying the words "freedom, equality, and fraternity" to the Kenyan army.

Sure enough, after the translator interpreted what Charles said, the news quickly spread throughout the Kenyan Legion, and then spread to other colonial troops as if it had legs.

"Charles said that the goal of France is liberty, equality, and fraternity."

"What do they mean?"

"Freedom means everyone has their own rights, equality means everyone is the same, and fraternity means advocating universal love for humanity!"

"He really said that? This is amazing. He spoke our minds and expressed our hopes!"

…

The matter was not over yet. The next day, Charles returned to the Kenyan Corps' position with a large amount of supplies and provisions, filling dozens of cars.

"Gentlemen!" Charles waved to the Kenyan soldiers:

"I don't care where you come from, because you are all brave soldiers, every one of you."

"So, this is what you deserve. From now on, you will receive the same supplies and pay as other soldiers."

"Of course, not just you, anyone who fights for us on French soil should be respected!"

The Kenyan soldiers cheered loudly, and other colonial soldiers were also excited, shouting Charles' name over and over again.

Major General Laird ran forward with a pale face: "Lieutenant General, you can't do this."

Charles said "Oh" and asked coldly, "Why?"

"Supplies should be distributed uniformly," Major General Laird replied, "and this is our internal affairs..."

Charles interrupted Major General Laird: "You seem to have forgotten that I am the deputy commander of the expeditionary force, Major General. Besides, these supplies and equipment come from my personal property. I can give them to whomever I want, and no one can interfere!"

Major General Laird fell silent instantly. If it was Charles' personal property, then it had nothing to do with "material distribution".

Looking around, the anger in the eyes of the colonial soldiers was like a murderous knife, and some of them were holding rifles with their index fingers on the trigger.

It’s okay for you British officers to withhold supplies and allowances on a regular basis, because those are yours.

Now, even the supplies that Charles distributed using his private property are being taken away?

Major General Laird quickly changed his tone: "As you wish, Lieutenant General."

After saying that, he ran away in shame.

…

"That's no problem either," Gallieni replied expressionlessly.

"If soldiers want to fight, they should have enough food and get due allowances. Otherwise, how can they have the morale to fight?"

"If there was any problem, it was the corruption of British officers."

"Not only did they not treat the colonial soldiers as human beings, they also withheld their food and allowances. This is obviously not in the interests of the Allies and may even lead to another defeat!"

Clemenceau thought about it and felt that what Gallieni said seemed to be right. Didn’t the colonial army suffer a crushing defeat under the German attack last time?

What Charles did was just to boost the morale and combat effectiveness of the troops.

Then Gallieni added:

"Besides, Charles used his private property, which has nothing to do with the country and the army."

"He said liberty, equality, fraternity is the official motto of France. Don't you agree?"

"Charles's actions precisely embody the spirit of France. This is what a French general should do!"

Clemenceau was speechless, always feeling that something was wrong but unable to refute it.

(Note: Liberty, equality, fraternity was proposed during the French Revolution and has been the official motto of France ever since. In 1946, it was written into the French Constitution and became the national motto of France)

(End of this chapter)