Chapter 234: 48-Hour Truce
In the town of Darwaz, lights are on in every house, the Christmas trees decorated with colorful lights keep changing colors, and laughter can be heard from the houses from time to time.
The same thing happened to the Shire family, who received a very special gift: a horse.
It was a real horse. Dejoka and Camille had started preparing for this day half a month ago. They bought their neighbor Daniel's utility room and converted it into a stable. They even hired Mrs. Daniel to look after the horse for 30 francs a month.
Charles saw the horse in the afternoon. It was snow-white and very strong. The sound of its hooves on the ground was crisp and pleasant. Deyoka equipped it with a very beautiful set of harnesses, brand new and shiny. Charles even tried to climb on the horse's back and walk around.
Charles understood what Djokovic and Camille were thinking.
After this Christmas, Ciel will become an adult and he may have to go to the battlefield.
And Charles has not learned to ride a horse yet, which is a big problem for a commander. What if the troops are trapped and there are horses around, but Charles can't ride?
Charles really wanted to tell them that in an age with cars, motorcycles, sidecars and even airplanes, escaping on horseback was often more dangerous than walking, especially when the person riding on the horse was an officer.
But Charles didn't say it, because it would be a betrayal of their feelings.
At that time, Charles' family was enjoying Christmas dinner: roast turkey, fat goose liver, cream cake, smoked fish... It was rich and delicious, but the taste of the turkey made Charles speechless.
It’s not that Camille’s cooking skills are bad, but the meat is dry and hard, which requires a lot of biting strength. Charles thinks that this thing is not suitable for roasting.
"This is a magical year." Djokovic looked very happy. He drank a few more glasses and expressed his feelings while being a little drunk: "A few months ago, Charles was still a high school student, and now look at him..."
Deyoka raised his wine glass towards Charles and said, "You are already a colonel and a hero. Everything seems like a dream!"
Camille glanced at Charles with a proud smile, raised his glass and said, "For Charles!"
"For Charles!" Djokovic responded by raising his glass, and both drank it.
Charles looked at the wine glass still filled with wine on the table. They seemed to be ignoring him.
At this time, the sound of a car braking was heard outside the door. Djokovic and Camille's faces changed. They could guess from the voice that it was Laurent, and it was probably not a good thing for Laurent to come up at this time.
Camille frowned and muttered softly: "They won't ask for Charles at this time..."
Djokovic used his eyes to stop Camille from speaking any further. He stood up and opened the door before Laurent knocked.
Laurent rushed in. He hurriedly nodded to Dejoka and Camille to apologize, and finally locked his anxious eyes on Charles: "It's an emergency, Colonel, the general asked you to return to the headquarters immediately!"
Charles was puzzled. Could it be that the Germans launched an attack?
At this time?
When Charles was in the car, he realized that he had been completely wrong. It was not the Germans or the French who launched the attack.
Instead, there was a ceasefire, a ceasefire on the entire front!
…
At the Paris Defense Headquarters, everything was quiet.
It wasn't that they were lazy, but that there was nothing to do and they hadn't received any telegrams from the front for hours.
Even if there is, it is just a perfunctory "everything is normal".
Gallieni was not in a hurry. He drank his coffee leisurely. When he saw Charles coming up the stairs, he put down his coffee cup and said, "I'm sorry to call you here, Colonel, but the matter is about the Merit Journal."
"I heard there was an armistice?" asked Charles.
"Yes." Gallieni nodded and replied, "We are not sure where it started, but it spread like a plague along the entire front. There was no sound of gunfire or artillery fire along the hundreds of kilometers long front. The communicators were unwilling to report what happened, and some directly replied, 'Radio failure.' We have lost command and communication with the front line."
Charles turned his gaze to Kobdo, who was buried in a pile of newspapers at his desk.
The meaning was obvious. He was worried that Kobdo would call for a ceasefire in the newspaper, which was no trivial matter.
"No, Colonel." Kovdo stood up: "Don't worry, I checked the newspapers in the past ten days and there is nothing."
Ciel nodded, feeling slightly relieved.
"You misunderstood, Colonel!" Gallieni tapped his fingers on the table twice. "The commander-in-chief is not satisfied with the current situation. He is very angry about it. We have received intelligence that an unofficial agreement may have been reached on the front line. The soldiers intend to cease fire for 48 hours."
Charles thought this was quite interesting. He even thought that the two governments could take this opportunity to sit down and negotiate to discuss why they were fighting this war or whether there was a possibility of a ceasefire.
For example: If the Germans withdrew to their own country, Britain and France would not settle accounts with them.
If this was the outcome of World War I, it would obviously be much better than the eventual death of millions of people.
But obviously, this is impossible.
Although the soldiers on both sides were unwilling to fight, the senior officials who did not have to sacrifice or fight did not think so. They all believed that they could defeat their opponents and gain huge benefits.
"The commander-in-chief thinks it's time for La Merit to play a role." Gallieni looked at Charles with a complicated look in his eyes: "He hopes you will speak out in La Merit and ask them to abolish this ridiculous truce agreement!"
Without even thinking, Charles refused: "No, I won't do that!"
Gallieni was somewhat helpless. He emphasized: "This is an order, Colonel."
"General." Kobdo jumped up: "This will not have any effect, and it will ruin the Meritorious Service Newspaper."
Kobdo then explained: "The Meritorious Newspaper is a newspaper. It should always stand on the side of the soldiers. Only in this way can it gain the trust of the soldiers and accept its propaganda. If we use it as a tool of the military and give orders to the soldiers on the front line, the soldiers will soon boycott the Meritorious Newspaper. It will have no meaning and is just a piece of paper."
Gallieni gave a slight nod of assent.
He seemed to understand the true intention of the commander-in-chief's order, and to take this opportunity to strike at Le Merit and even Charles.
If Charles came forward to call on the soldiers to fight at this time, the soldiers would also be disgusted with him.
But this is an order...
Just as Gallieni was in a dilemma, Charles spoke.
"I have a different idea, General." Charles replied calmly: "I am very willing to follow the commander-in-chief's orders, but I think... the person who should speak should be the commander-in-chief. He is the commander-in-chief of France. If he can't call the soldiers to fight, who else can do this?"
Gallieni's eyes lit up; he knew how to answer Joffre.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
