Chapter 221 Something seems wrong
It’s late again, the third chapter will be posted later, sorry!
…
The lights are on and the moonlight is soft.
Tijani held a ball on the rooftop of the Ritz Hotel in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, and most of the guests invited were officers rescued by Charles in the Battle of Cape Town, and of course there were also many aristocrats and celebrities.
Charles was quite unfamiliar with all this when he walked into the banquet hall. The officers were talking loudly and excitedly, the women were charming and the atmosphere was ambiguous. The neatly dressed waiters moved flexibly among the crowd, serving drinks to those who needed them.
The men and women hugging each other in the dance floor danced gracefully to the music, creating a harmonious and cheerful scene.
Tijani was discussing something with several gorgeously dressed women. When he saw Charles coming in, he took a wine glass from the waiter, tapped it with a spoon, raised the glass and shouted in Charles' direction: "Gentlemen, let's drink to Charles!"
"Cheers!" The officers in the meeting hall cheered, and their eyes were all focused on Charles.
Along the way, there were officers and women who greeted Charles. Charles smiled and nodded in response as he walked, even though he didn't know anyone.
Tijani came up to Charles enthusiastically and shook hands with him. He glanced at the gold thread on Charles' cuffs and said with a smile, "Congratulations, Colonel!"
Ciel said with an unhappy look on his face: "I seem to have told you that you don't need to compliment me on the breakout!"
"I know." Tijani put on an innocent expression, "But this was not my idea. They thought they should meet you, or at least express their gratitude to you in person."
Sure enough, several officers came forward to introduce themselves, and some even said their own numbers.
Charles was speechless. There were so many people and so many names, and he would forget them all as soon as he turned around.
"Just ignore me next time you come across such an occasion!" said Charles. He thought this was a meeting arranged by Wells, but it turned out to be a dance.
"I understand!" Tijani responded readily.
But the faint smile on his face didn't seem to be the case. Instead, it seemed to be saying: You should go out for a walk, Colonel, this is life!
Tijani took a glass of wine from the waiter and handed it to Charles, lowering his voice as he walked casually: "He is very satisfied with your plan, Colonel. He has already started to develop destroyers and torpedoes."
Charles said "hmm", which was Wells's reply and the first step towards their formal cooperation.
What followed was a tacit understanding: Wells supported Shire in Parliament and other possible directions, and Shire occasionally made suggestions for the development of the shipyard or inventions.
As he was speaking, a few hearty laughs came from the front. It was from a ruddy-faced woman in her twenties. She was chatting and laughing among the officers. She seemed to be able to handle the crowd well and would say a few words from time to time.
Perhaps noticing Charles' gaze, the woman boldly waved to him, with a spring-like look on her face: "Hi, Colonel, my little hero!"
Ciel didn't respond and turned to look at Tijani.
Tijani looked puzzled: "Come on, you don't know her?"
Charles didn't answer, but looked around and walked towards the food area. In this banquet hall, the only thing that interested him was probably the big bright red lobster.
"Her name is Hari!" Tijani followed from behind. "She's a stripper, very famous in Paris, many people hope to have a relationship with her!"
Charles pulled off a lobster leg and said sarcastically, "Perhaps you are one of them?"
“No, Colonel!” Tijani shook his head. “But you’ll never guess who she’ll hook up with.”
"Who?" Charles asked casually, chewing shrimp.
Tijani came closer and whispered, "Minister of the Navy."
Charles was stunned and looked at Tijani in confusion.
When Charles was at the headquarters, he had read some information about the Minister of the Navy and knew that he was already in his sixties. Was he still interested in this?
Tijani pursed his lips and nodded slightly, then leaned forward and added mysteriously, "She is the lover of the Minister of the Navy!"
Charles's chewing of the lobster gradually slowed down.
Speaking of the Minister of the Navy, he remembered that there seemed to be a woman who walked among the officers, dressing herself up as a little girl who was afraid of war and chatting with them.
Then, the drunken officers, overwhelmed with protectiveness, rushed forward to tell the woman:
"Don't worry, we have five divisions of troops there!"
"Yes, and there are two artillery regiments. They will destroy any enemy that comes close."
"They will be victorious, and there will be an offensive soon!"
…
The Minister of the Navy revealed a lot of intelligence to her. According to statistics, at least three divisions of French troops with 40,000 to 50,000 men died because of her.
In the end, British Army Commander-in-Chief Kitchener was killed by a German submarine due to intelligence leaks.
Thinking of this, Charles couldn't help but glance at Harry, who was currently flirting with the officers in a charming manner, totally ignoring the looks from those around her.
This was the intelligence system of France at that time.
The Third Republic advocated that departments should check and balance each other and not exercise monopoly, which resulted in many military secrets being left unprotected.
For example, Gallieni’s city defense headquarters should be considered the second-level command of the French Army, but there are still many capitalist spies inside.
If capitalists can easily obtain intelligence from the headquarters, then spies can also obtain intelligence from the capitalists, and "military secrets" will no longer be "military secrets."
This is also the reason why Gallieni always discusses things with Charles in the lounge.
Tijani noticed that Charles looked strange, and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
"No, nothing," Ciel replied, focusing his attention on the lobster again.
…
It was past ten o'clock in the evening when Charles returned to the headquarters and he saw that the lights were still on in Gallieni's lounge.
This was unusual, he should have been asleep by now.
As he went upstairs, he could faintly hear Gallieni talking to someone. Before he got closer, Gallieni, who heard the footsteps, shouted, "It must be him!"
Before he finished speaking, a familiar figure walked out quickly from the light. When he saw Charles, he hugged him excitedly: "Long time no see, my friend!"
Charles looked closely and found that it was Albert I.
"Sire," said Charles, "what brings you here?"
Albert I patted Charles' shoulder enthusiastically and said, "I came to Paris to deal with some things, and I came to see you on the way. Is everything okay?"
"Yes, sire!" replied Charles.
"I asked a nonsense question!" Albert I laughed. "I read about your affairs in the newspaper almost every day. It's no longer a secret."
Gallieni, who had followed him out, interrupted: "Colonel, we have something to talk about!"
Charles uttered a "hmm" in his heart, this seemed not right.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
