Chapter 897 Do You Think That’s Our Army?
There is a logic behind Lyautey's saying that "a man who knows the times is a hero".
A few days ago, the colonial consortium organized a meeting in Toulon to discuss how to respond to the new colonial policy of "fraternity" and "freedom" proposed by Charles.
Hundreds of people attended the meeting, including governors of various colonies and influential capitalists.
The capitalists reacted strongly:
"If we give the colonies 'freedom,' what will happen to the lands and minerals we have purchased? Will we pay them back for nothing?"
"And the workers, if they have their own factories, who would be willing to work in our factories and mines? The only way for us is to go bankrupt!"
"This is ridiculous. We have contributed so much to France, providing them with supplies, food and even troops, but Charles kicked us away and used us as a stepping stone to enhance his prestige!"
…
What they said seemed reasonable on the surface, but in reality, the so-called "purchased" lands and minerals were either robbed or paid a symbolic amount of money at extremely low prices.
The reason why workers are unwilling to work in their factories and mines is because they treat local workers like slaves. Countless brutal exploitation incidents have occurred but have been covered up.
The resources, food and troops provided by the colonies to France actually had nothing to do with them. They were just "middlemen" and made a profit from the difference.
The governor who holds military power is also worried.
They were worried that once the Charles' new policy was implemented, their military power would be taken away and their local interests would disappear. After all, the Charles wanted to return all political power, diplomacy and economy to the colonies.
So, both the military and the capitalists united together to oppose Charles.
There was only one person who remained silent throughout, and that was Lyautey, the Governor-General and Minister of War of Morocco.
"Won't you express your opinion?" asked Algerian Governor Laverne with curiosity in his eyes.
Liotai slowly stood up and called out, "Gentlemen!"
Although the voices were not loud, people were frightened by Lyautey's prestige and soon quieted down, turning their eyes to Lyautey.
If anyone could lead them against the Ciel, it would be Lyaute, they thought.
They hoped that Lyautey would say something radical, anti-Charles, and morale-boosting.
However.
"I only have one question," Lyaute said, "Do you have the confidence to fight against Charles and win?"
Everyone in the conference room was dumbfounded.
Defeat the Ciel? Not possible.
After a while, someone shouted, "We have no intention of fighting with Charles. We just hope that he will give up this unreasonable policy."
"What if he doesn't give up?" Lyautey asked, and then swept his sharp eyes across the audience:
“Have you considered the consequences?”
"Once we embark on this path, the situation will likely get out of control, and we will end up confronting Charles or even fighting France!"
The capitalists were silent, and then they turned their eyes to the governors who sat in the front row and held military power.
The governors laughed, with a hint of helplessness in their laughter. They stood up one after another and explained:
"That's impossible, gentlemen. Think about it, Charles was the man who led the French army to defeat Germany, and he still had some strength to spare. Can't you see that?"
The capitalists nodded one after another. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Charles was holding back on Germany, otherwise he should have joined the British and American forces in attacking the Hindenburg Line.
"You should know what the Shire has. Aircraft, artillery, tanks, and arsenals that can produce countless rifles, submachine guns, and machine guns. And what about us?"
There was fear in the capitalist's eyes.
In order to better control the colonies, France strictly prohibited the production of firearms in the colonies. Even the firearms provided to the colonial army had to be imported from France.
The governor and capitalists originally supported this policy as they were worried that the technology for producing guns would fall into the hands of the colonies.
Now he suddenly realized that this left him with no capital to fight against Charles.
"And the navy. Do we have a navy? Think of the French fleet, think of those naval guns."
The capitalists looked even more sad, and some even lowered their heads and sighed like wilted cabbages.
The colonial army only had the army, and the navy was always in the hands of France.
Charles's Brest Fleet even won a victory in the North Sea, and the "echo sounder" and "torpedo plane" it developed were not even underestimated by the powerful British Navy.
The capitalists look at each other, the gap is too big, there is no possibility of winning.
Some people shouted unwillingly: "But now France is fighting the Germans, we may still have a chance..."
Lyautey interrupted this speech with a sarcastic tone:
"Do you think we will ever get to the point where we can fight Sharl with rifles, machine guns, or even airplanes, cannons, and warships?"
"No, gentlemen, you are wrong."
"Char doesn't need any of these to destroy us. He only needs a word, a look, or a hint."
"Then, everything we have will be gone, including our lives."
The capitalists laughed, a laugh that was full of dissatisfaction and reluctance.
"Are you kidding, Minister? We have hundreds of thousands of troops."
"Yes, and their fighting capacity is no worse than that of the French army. They have withstood the test of war."
"I admit that we are not as good as Ciel, and I also admit that we cannot win against him, but at least we can make him hesitate. This is our bargaining chip in negotiations with him."
This statement immediately won the approval of most capitalists, and some even applauded.
But Lyautey sneered: "Do you think that's our army?"
The capitalists were stunned. Someone asked, "What do you mean, Mr. Minister? Of course, that's our army?"
Leothe sighed:
"Just think about it, gentlemen. Charles was the one who liberated the colonies, and we are the ones who are going to enslave them."
"You think the colonial soldiers will still fight for us?"
"What's the reason? To help us defeat the Ciel so we can continue to enslave them?"
The capitalists were stunned.
So there will be no "colonial army", their "colonial army" will become the army of the Charles in the future.
All it takes is a word, a look, or a hint from Charles.
This uprooted them, shattered their last remaining illusions, and threw them into the air, disappearing without a trace.
Finally, Lyautey concluded:
"Face the reality, gentlemen. We have no capital to fight against Charles."
"All we can do is kneel before him and beg for his protection."
"And we are here thinking about how to fight him. We think that Charles is busy dealing with the Germans and local rebels and has no time to deal with us. We think that Charles will compromise because of this."
“This…this is ridiculous!”
(End of this chapter)
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