Chapter 237 The Best of Both Worlds
The next second, the French soldiers shouted excitedly: "God, you...you are Charles, you are Charles!"
The soldiers finally reacted and started talking one after another:
"Is he really Ciel?"
"The Charles who always helps us win battles?"
"Yes, he also gave us a lot of supplies, including marching blankets!"
…
Then, the soldiers rushed forward to shake hands with Charles:
"It's nice to meet you, Colonel!"
“Thank you for the supplies and hope you gave us!”
"You are our pride, Colonel!"
The German officer also stepped forward to salute Charles, shook hands with him in admiration, and said in stiff French:
"You are a worthy enemy, Colonel, and I am very lucky to see you in person."
"No, I should say that I am so lucky to be alive and see you!"
The French soldiers laughed loudly, their laughter full of pride. They understood what the German officer meant.
A German soldier said something in German, which the others could not understand. The German officer translated:
"Berg said that Charles has a nickname in our army. We call Charles the 'War Knight', which means a knight born for war!"
The French soldiers all exclaimed "Wow" at the same time, and the next second they shouted in unison:
"War Knight"!
"War Knight"!
…
More and more soldiers gathered. When they heard that Charles had arrived at the front line, they dropped what they were doing and rushed from all directions to join in. The trenches were surrounded by water.
Many German officers and soldiers also rushed over after hearing the news. They all wanted to see Charles' true appearance.
The French soldiers involuntarily grabbed their guns with vigilance in their eyes, fearing that the German soldiers would take advantage of this rare opportunity to harm Charles.
A captain squeezed in from the crowd. He saluted Charles expressionlessly, then politely stepped aside and said, "Colonel, let's talk inside!"
Charles nodded and followed the captain, moving along the trench amid the cheers of the soldiers, and then entered the captain's command post.
"Sorry, the conditions here are limited!" The captain asked Charles to sit on a low stool, bent down to take a toothbrush cup from the shelf and handed it to Charles, saying with some apology: "This is all I can offer you."
The cup was filled with freshly heated coffee, which was made by mixing instant coffee and snow and then burning it with a candle.
Charles thanked him, took a sip of the coffee, and said, "It tastes okay, except that it tastes a bit burnt."
The captain laughed. "You are very straightforward, Colonel. Those generals who came to inspect either refused to drink a single sip or said hypocritically, 'It tastes great,' but the expressions on their faces did not reflect that."
Charles replied calmly: "If I were a general, I might be like that too!"
The captain laughed, he knew Charles wouldn't do that, because his influence far exceeded those so-called generals, unless he didn't know that.
The captain took a simple stool and sat in front of Charles, and asked, "Tell me, what is your purpose here?"
Then he added: "I beg your pardon, Colonel, but I have to speak to you from the perspective of the soldiers!"
"Of course." Charles replied, "I am also speaking to you from the perspective of a soldier!"
"What you mean is..." The captain looked at Charles in confusion.
At this time, cheers came from outside the tunnel again. Lieutenant Deni came in from outside and whispered something in the captain's ear. The captain nodded slightly.
"Thank you for the turkey, Colonel!" The captain said expressionlessly, "But if you want the soldiers to cancel the truce agreement, I can't do it. Our agreement is not like the top leaders who can tear it up at will."
Charles listened to the captain quietly and replied slowly: "It's just a Christmas present, Captain!"
The captain said "hmm" and said nothing. There was a half-smile on his face, as if to say, let's wait and see. I don't believe you won't make any requests!
Charles didn't care. He took another sip of coffee, looked up at the captain in the candlelight, and asked, "You know about the killing order, right?"
The captain said to himself, here it comes, he wants to use this to threaten me.
"So what?" the captain asked.
After a pause, the captain added: "We will not compromise, Colonel. Although I appreciate your understanding and help, this is not possible..."
"Perhaps there is a way to have the best of both worlds." Charles interrupted the captain.
"What?" The captain looked at Charles in confusion. He didn't understand what it meant to have the best of both worlds.
War or truce?
How can it be possible to have the best of both worlds? They are contradictory!
Charles came closer and lowered his voice: "You can start a war, but no one will know where your bullets hit, Captain! You just need to make an agreement with the Germans to put up a wooden sign on the trench as a target for each other..."
The captain understood immediately and nodded: "Good idea, Colonel, very good idea!"
Then, the captain's eyes gradually softened as he looked at Charles, and his stern face relaxed like melting ice.
Before this, the captain had always been wary of Charles, as he thought he was a lobbyist sent by the generals.
He didn't blame Charles because it was Charles' duty and he was also a soldier and had to obey orders.
But there is a clear distinction between public and private affairs, and the captain had to stand on the opposite side to discuss the issue with Charles.
However, the captain now realized that Charles was not what he thought, Charles was one of his own.
Charles raised his glass to the captain and said, "Not even just Christmas, Captain. From now on, you can agree on a breakfast time. Put up the sign and have breakfast quietly. Put away the sign and you can still do what you want. Do you agree?"
"Yes, Colonel!" The captain nodded heavily: "I think the Germans will agree!"
"That's good!" Charles took out his pocket watch and looked at it, then said, "It's almost dawn. I'll have someone hold back the infantry gendarmes. They'll arrive after dawn, and I hope you'll be ready before then. Is that okay?"
"No problem, Colonel!" The tunnel was not high enough, so the captain could only salute while sitting upright, but it was still very standard.
"Well, the purpose of my trip has been achieved." Charles said, "I should go back now. Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas, Colonel!" The captain's voice was a little choked.
He really didn't ask for anything, he just came to save us.
No one, no one cares about the lives of soldiers on the front line as much as Charles does!
"Colonel!" The captain called out to Charles who was about to get out of the tunnel.
"What?" Charles turned around.
"My name is Claude, Colonel!" The captain stepped forward and said, "My men and I earnestly hope that one day we can fight under your command!"
Charles nodded, turned around and crawled out of the tunnel.
(End of this chapter)
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