Chapter 106 Colonel Estiny
The atmosphere in the living room became a little awkward, and Armand took over the topic tactfully.
"This can't be changed, Francis!" Armand seemed to be defending Grevi: "We all know that it may be possible to change before the conscription order is issued, but after the conscription order is issued, it will be announced to everyone that he will become a soldier. If we try to do anything..."
Armand put his hand on his neck and made a gesture, meaning that even they, the MPs and party leaders, would be doomed.
Francis sighed. He actually knew this, but he still wanted to give it one last try to see if there was any way. Now it seemed that there was no room for maneuver.
Nicholas interrupted at this moment, his eyes were slightly dissatisfied, and his tone was slightly questioning: "You said you would give me an exclusive report later, but now..."
"That's because you're behind the Little Daily, Nikolai!" Grevy interrupted him. "I can still give you exclusive reports now, the question is, do you still need them?"
Nicholas was speechless. Grevi did not say "when"!
But this was indeed Grevy's fault. He didn't think Charles would be able to come back so he didn't manage the time well, which directly led to the defeat of Le Figaro by Le Petit Journal.
Grevi didn't care about the money, and it was not his money that was lost. What he cared about was the gradual suppression of the traditional aristocracy's right to speak.
Le Figaro is one of the most important voices on the right wing. It could have once again achieved glory and conquered a large number of politicians and military officers, but now the opposite is true.
Francis sat down dejectedly, and after a while he seemed to calm down.
"A more serious problem lies before us, gentlemen!" Francis said solemnly, "Charles has gained a good reputation in Belgium. Now almost no one can challenge his position among the military and civilians. This means that they will trust Charles' tanks more. His tanks will easily defeat us and trample us hard under their feet..."
Grevi nodded; this was what he wanted to hear.
Armand turned his gaze to Grevi. Now was the time for him to solve the problem.
But Grevi didn't say anything. He drank his wine slowly, as if he didn't hear what Francis said.
The living room fell into an eerie silence for a moment, and it seemed that no one could do anything about it.
Until a servant came in and reported: "Mr. Grevy, there is a colonel named Estiny outside the door who wants to see you. He said you asked him to come!"
Grevi nodded and signaled the servant to let him in, and at the same time raised the glass in his hand and said, "Gentlemen, I want you to see someone!"
As he was speaking, a colonel with a sword on his waist and long boots on his feet walked into the living room with his chest puffed out. Unlike the red trousers of the infantry, his trousers were blue with only a wide red line sewn on each side.
Francis and others easily recognized that this was the uniform of the artillerymen. There was confusion in their eyes, and Armand was no exception. They didn't understand why Grevi would allow an artillery colonel to join this "family meeting".
"Welcome, Colonel!" Grevi stood up to greet him, enthusiastically offered him a seat and poured him a glass of wine.
Grevi introduced everyone present to Colonel Estiny, and Colonel Estiny politely saluted them one by one.
Finally, Grevy turned his gaze back to Estiny and asked, "Can you tell me what you think, Colonel?"
"Of course!" Colonel Estiny nodded.
He pondered for a moment, sat up straight, leaned forward slightly, and raised his glass to Francis opposite him: "It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Francis. The soldiers on the front line have obtained the tanks you produced. However, my trip is not to express my gratitude to you. I think there is a lot of room for improvement. This is also the voice of the soldiers on the front line..."
At this moment, everyone understood Grevi's intention. He wanted to get feedback from the officers and soldiers on the front line.
Soon, they realized that things were not that simple.
Colonel Estiny took out a document from his backpack and distributed it to them, saying: "This is my conception of a new type of tank. Of course, it is only a prototype and there are still many shortcomings, but we can improve it step by step!"
Francis glanced at the design with a look of caution in his eyes: "What is the difference between it and the tanks we already have?"
"The biggest difference is firepower, Mr. Francis!" Colonel Estiny replied: "We need stronger firepower. Your tank only has machine guns, and we want to move artillery to the tank!"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"That's a great idea!" said Armand. "It will surprise Charles!"
Everyone laughed in unison.
"Don't Charles know how to move the artillery onto the tank?" Grevi hesitated.
"As far as I know, there really isn't!" Francis said with certainty, "At least not yet!"
Many of the workers in Charles' tractor factory came from Francis' factory, so it was easy for him to find a few accomplices.
Grevi nodded, took the design and looked at it, and said, "This is my goal, gentlemen. We cannot be satisfied with the status quo. We also need to make progress. Only in this way can we continue to maintain our advantage. Competition is cruel, realistic, and urgent. We cannot sit and wait to be defeated by the enemy!"
Francis and Colonel Estiny nodded in agreement, but Nicholas and Armand had strange expressions.
Grevy has always been opposed to such competition. He believes that it is a meaningless internal friction. He believes that excellent products will eventually appear in production, rather than as a result of the capitalists' "self-fighting".
Only Grevi himself knew that it was because there was no Charles before, and he was unwilling to participate in such low-level fighting.
Now he has no choice. If he can't kill Charles, he can only face Charles' tanks head-on!
Colonel Estiny discussed with everyone for more than an hour, and Grevy said that he would support him and make it a reality, and was even willing to purchase the property rights of this new tank. Of course, it must be mature enough.
"Do you think..." Armand looked at the back of Estiny leaving the window and asked with interest: "Can he defeat Charles?"
"I'm not sure!" Grevi replied, staring at the design on the table. "But it's at least better than the tanks we have. It means we are making progress!"
Armand nodded slightly, there was no doubt about that.
Grevy raised his head and glanced at everyone, then said, "I think our greatest advantage is that we can take into account the needs of the soldiers on the front line, while Charles can only sit in the Paris Defense Headquarters as a staff officer. He has no way of knowing what the soldiers on the front line want! This is very important!"
Everyone nodded in agreement. The tank would eventually be handed over to the soldiers on the front line, and it needed to be tested in actual combat by the soldiers.
If Ciel can't do it and they can, then Ciel will lose the battle!
They didn't realize that this was exactly the advantage that Charles had...
(The picture above shows the French artillery uniform in 1914)
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
