I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 5 Deserters Need Praise

Charles didn't care about family feuds.

Francis is a legend to the Bernard family. He is the business genius in the family and has risen into the French upper class time and time again from nothing.

He is the sky of the Bernard family, an existence that cannot be surpassed. Being recognized by him almost means having no worries about food and clothing, which is a great honor.

But Charles didn't take these things to heart. To be more precise, he didn't take Francis to heart. In Charles' eyes, he was just a stepping stone on the road to progress.

The bicycle was moving steadily on the smooth streets of the town. There were not many people on the streets. Those who could escape had already escaped. The rest either had nowhere to go or were reluctant to give up their property like Francis, even though their property was pitifully small.

Some French soldiers appeared in front. They were wearing blue military jackets, bright red flat-topped caps and military trousers. They still had rifles on their shoulders, but most of them did not have backpacks.

Charles thought that they must have thrown away their backpacks to save weight when they fled.

This showed that things were developing as he had hoped, and the Fifth Army was already retreating towards Darvaz.

Suddenly, a group of soldiers in front stopped Charles.

It cannot be said that he stopped him, but he roughly grabbed Charles' bicycle to make him stop, which made Charles unable to stop and almost fell.

"Little guy, ride slower!" The leading soldier was a major with a mustache. He looked tired and his eyes were bloodshot. There were some dark red stains on his uniform, and it was unclear whether they were mud or blood.

"Can you tell me where the Sidachi Machine Gun Factory is?" asked the major with a small moustache.

"I'm going there!" Charles replied, "Actually, I'm going to the machine gun factory next door. I can take you there!"

Charles knew that these were soldiers who were in a hurry to replenish their ammunition.

"Very good!" The mustache major glanced at Charles and then comforted him, "Don't be nervous, little guy! The Germans may not arrive until tomorrow, or they may not arrive at all!"

This information was a reward for Charles's volunteering to lead the way for them.

Charles pushed the cart and asked as he walked: "It's very bad, isn't it?"

The mustached major just uttered "hmm" with his nose, as if he was reluctant to describe the tragic situation on the front line in front of a teenager.

Charles looked at the mustache major and the soldiers behind him and said, "You are brave soldiers!"

The mustache major seemed to be hurt. He turned his head and glared at Charles with redder eyes, and said in a low voice: "Are you mocking us, little guy? Be careful with your words..."

"No, Major!" Charles answered seriously, "Others are looking for food, but you are looking for ammunition, and you always keep the formation, which means you are preparing for battle!"

The mustached major looked at the other soldiers around him and it seemed to be true. Then he realized that he had wronged the boy.

"Sorry, little one!"

"But you shouldn't use the word 'brave' to describe deserters!"

The mustached major had an embarrassed look on his face.

Charles stood by his statement:
"In the most dangerous and disorderly times, you were able to maintain your morale and formation. This in itself is commendable!"

Charles's words were half true and half false, and he used the method of praise.

Smart teachers have some tricks. They know how to deal with poor students. Criticism will only make them more naughty, but if you give them a few words of praise, poor students will work hard to become people who deserve such praise.

Charles often receives this type of praise from teachers of various subjects.

The mustached major looked at Charles in surprise. It seemed that this little guy knew a lot.

"What are your plans?" Charles asked again.

The mustache major shrugged helplessly:

"After restocking the ammunition, consider the next step. It would be best if you can have a good meal and a good sleep, and then wait for orders."

"By the way, I heard that we can get food here?"

Charles answered with certainty:

"Yes!"

Then he asked:

"Or maybe you can't even wait for the order, am I right?"

The mustached major nodded. The troops were in a state of disorder at this moment. Even if there were orders, they were just vague directions without specific content, such as "continue to retreat", "rest in place", and "wait for orders"!
They couldn't even find their superiors, nor did they know who was in command now.

Charles made a timely suggestion:
"Why don't you follow me? I just need a team of soldiers!" The mustache major turned his head and stared at Charles blankly. He didn't react for a moment, and the laughter of the soldiers could be heard behind him:
"Oh, we have to follow his lead!"

"This is a boy who wants to be a general. A very good boy, right?"

"He's not even as tall as our rifles, are you sure he won't pee his pants when he hears the gunfire?"

……

The mustachioed major looked at Charles with interest, a mocking smile on his face:

"So, General! What are you going to do?"

Ciel pointed to the factory building in the wilderness not far ahead and answered without hesitation:
"Defend the machine gun factory. The Germans will focus their attack on it."

"I believe that the Germans will leave their artillery and supplies far behind in their pursuit of you. They also need the machine guns and ammunition from the machine gun factory."

"We just need to wait at the tractor factory next to us, and when they think they are going to succeed, we will suddenly attack them!"

Charles didn't mind showing some military talent on the tactical level. They couldn't recruit him, a minor, into the army just because of a few words!

The mustache major's expression changed. This seemed to be a feasible plan and very organized.

The major looked at the soldiers behind him, and their expressions became serious.

It was not until then that they realized that the Germans had stretched their supply lines too long during their pursuit, and that the Germans also lacked ammunition and needed a machine gun factory.

Therefore, the machine gun factory would naturally be the focus of the German attack.

Someone murmured quietly: "He seems more reliable than Colonel Lyon!"

The soldiers fell silent.

Colonel Lyon was killed in the first battle.

He graduated from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy with excellent grades. During the attack, he stood at the front of the entire team, five meters beyond the attack line. He wore eye-catching white gloves, which perfectly formed the French tricolor flag with the blue military coat and red military trousers.

When the battle started, he wore a medal on his chest, held his head high, pointed his sword at the enemy, and shouted majestically: "Go, boys! Kill them all!"

The next second he was shot to pieces in front of everyone, and the 9th Infantry Regiment lost its command for the first time until now.

The mustache major seemed to have thought of something after Charles's reminder. He turned around and ordered:
"Simon, Teddy, go get the others and have them gather at the tractor factory. We need more people!"

"Yes, Major!" The two soldiers responded and ran in two different directions tacitly.

The mustachioed major took a few quick steps to catch up with Charles again and introduced himself:

"My name is Brownie, what's yours?"

"My name is Ciel!"

Brownie shook hands with Charles and said:

"I'm giving you a piece of advice, Ciel, you'd better take your family and leave here!"

Charles smiled softly:
"Here's a piece of advice for you, Major. You'd better start your counterattack from here."

"Because you have nowhere to retreat. If you take another step back, Paris will be surrounded."

"Then the tragedy of the Franco-German War will be repeated, and we will once again lose the war and cede territory and pay compensation!"

Charles' words once again shocked the soldiers, including Major Browne.

They couldn't imagine that a young boy who was still immature could have such courage and insight.

On the other hand, my mind was habitually thinking about retreating to save my life.

The atmosphere became strange. Shame and embarrassment filled the air, and the soldiers even walked in an unnatural manner.

After a while, someone coughed and said:
"He is right. We can't retreat any further. Paris cannot fall into German hands!"

Someone immediately agreed:
"Yes, haven't we suffered enough from the humiliation of the Franco-German War? We have been seeking revenge for more than 40 years. Is this our revenge?"

Someone else took over:
"We must find a way to defeat the Germans. We can't go on like this! Otherwise, we will live in humiliation for the rest of our lives! From birth to death..."

Charles was very satisfied with the soldiers' words. He successfully aroused the fighting spirit of these deserters!

(End of this chapter)