Chapter 584: Riding a Tiger
Paris City Government, Prime Minister’s Office.
When Clemenceau pushed the door open and walked into the room, he was surprised to see Briand pacing anxiously in front of his desk.
Briand was known in the political arena for his calmness, but at this moment he could not keep his composure.
“Is it about Jean Bleu, Monsieur?” Clemenceau asked, in a light tone, taking off his coat and handing it to his secretary along with his hat and cane.
Briand stopped and turned to look at Clemenceau, and asked instead, "You don't seem to mind?"
Clemenceau walked to his desk and poured himself a glass of red wine. He sat on the sofa with the glass in his hand and replied, "I don't think there is anything to worry about. Charles dared to do such a thing, so he should wait to face the questioning of the parliament. We can take this opportunity to remove him as the commander of the 6th Army."
Although Charles had done everything perfectly, the Parliament could not find any evidence that Charles had anything to do with the matter.
But Parliament is not a court. It has never been a place for evidence. If necessary, a small spoonful of laundry detergent can convict the other party.
"You're crazy." Briand immediately rejected this statement: "Do you know the consequences of doing this?"
“What consequences can there be?” Clemenceau spread his hands slightly. “I admit that Charles has some influence in the parliament, but his influence is nothing compared to ours.”
This is the routine of parliament. On the surface, it appears that citizens elect their members and then the members vote to make decisions.
But in reality, the cabinet can bribe the members of parliament one by one and ultimately achieve the goal of passing a certain issue.
Clemenceau and Briand were among the many members of parliament who were bribed.
(Note: Briand founded the French Socialist Party. He proposed to support workers' strikes and even believed that allowing the Communist Party to exist was beneficial to France. However, after he came to power, he immediately stood on the capitalists' side to suppress the workers' strikes. He was expelled from the Socialist Party and regarded as a traitor. Clemenceau had a similar experience. This is the norm in parliament. Commoners are hard-pressed to be elected as members of parliament and pushed into parliament. Soon they will be bribed by capitalists to stand for them. Those who do not accept bribes will be suppressed and have a bleak future.)
Briand chuckled disdainfully: "Mr. Commissioner, do you think this matter can be resolved by voting?"
"What else?" Clemenceau asked, and then he tilted his chin: "At most, we can add newspapers. We can tell the media what Charles is doing, instigating soldiers to kill their officers, which is a serious crime. This will weaken his status in the eyes of citizens, no doubt!"
"Stupid!" Briand commented.
Clemenceau is decisive and direct in his actions, but he simply does not consider issues at a deeper level.
Clemenceau looked a little unhappy. Even if Briand disagreed with what he said, he should not give such a simple and rude answer.
Then Clemenceau thought again, this was completely different from the "gentle" image that Briand always showed. Did this mean that he was in a state of panic?
Briand walked over to the sofa opposite Clemenceau and sat down, his tone full of helplessness: "Why don't you think about how the army will react once this matter is fully publicized?"
"What will the army do?" Clemenceau looked confused. "Are you saying that the army will mutiniate again?"
Brian shook his head: "No, they will not mutiny, but they will continue to implement the so-called 'unwritten rules' and Yu Yan and Yu Lie, what do you think?"
Clemenceau was stunned and nodded slightly to show his agreement. Only then did he realize the seriousness of the problem.
The mutiny was out in the open, and it would be suppressed as long as the conditions put forward by the soldiers were met with a conciliatory policy.
But the "unspoken rules" are hidden in the dark.
On the battlefield full of gunfire and bullets, even if the soldiers used the French "Lebel" rifle to kill the annoying officers, they could not find out anything.
Even if the government wanted to negotiate, it couldn't find anyone to negotiate with and could only allow the situation to escalate.
"This will allow Charles to completely control the army, Mr. Commissioner." Briand stared at Clemenceau, tapped his finger heavily in the air, and emphasized: "And it will be all the armies. Charles will control all the armies, and then no one will be able to compete with him!"
This fool, Briand thought, the only thing he is good at is parliamentary struggle.
During Clemenceau's administration, it was too easy for the parliament to control the army, which led to him not taking the army seriously at all, even when a genius like Charles appeared in the army.
(Note: Clemenceau served as prime minister twice, but he planned to overthrow 18 cabinet prime ministers, and was known as the "cabinet overthrow master")
Without waiting for Clemenceau to answer, Briand continued his analysis: "What's more, Charles defeated the Germans at the Somme and became the commander of the 6th Army, but we did everything we could to sideline him. If this were known to the public, do you think there would still be generals standing by us and fighting for us and France?"
Clemenceau nodded thoughtfully: "They will worry about becoming another Charles."
Briand said, "Hmm," "So, this matter cannot be made public, cannot be discussed in parliament, and certainly cannot be publicized in the media and appear in the public eye!"
There was one more point Briand had not said, or rather he had not considered.
Many new recruits who have just joined the army do not know about the "unwritten rules", so even if they are bullied by officers, they do not think that they can take revenge in this way.
If I don’t think about it, I won’t do it. I won’t even have the slightest thought about it.
Once the "unwritten rules" are brought to the surface for publicity, even if it is used as a negative teaching material, this criminal concept will take root in the minds of new recruits. If they hate someone, they will be ready to take action on the battlefield.
Therefore, this phenomenon exists to a greater or lesser extent in any country, any army, and any time period, but all countries have remained silent and handled it coldly.
Clemenceau didn't know much about military affairs, and out of inertia of thinking, he still planned to solve the problem with a simple and crude method, which almost helped Charles a lot.
Clemenceau thought for a while and said, "But we can't do nothing. This will affect the prestige of the parliament and allow Charles to completely control the 6th Army!"
Briand nodded in agreement. This was one of the reasons why he found it difficult. The parliament was now in a difficult situation. He even regretted pushing Charles too hard and too hastily, which led to Charles having to confront the parliament head-on, resulting in a series of troubles.
But in the final analysis, he underestimated Charles' political tactics, thinking that this kid was only talented in military industry and military affairs.
That doesn't appear to be the case now.
"There is only one way now." Briand gritted his teeth and said, "Throw this matter to the Northern Army Group and the British, and tell them that the 6th Army has signs of mutiny again!"
(End of this chapter)
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