I Became a Tycoon During World War I - Chapter 162

Chapter 162: Using a Knife to Kill Someone

The news of victory reached the Paris City Defense Command, but there was no cheering. The command's response seemed rather indifferent.

It was Lieutenant Colonel Fernand who answered the phone. He raised his head and looked toward Gallieni, who was standing a few meters away, gazing at the map and the current situation. "General, the Germans have surrendered. We’ve successfully recaptured Lafox!"

Lieutenant Colonel Fernand's voice was calm, and the others merely nodded quietly, as though they had already known this result and were not surprised at all.

Gallieni simply murmured a "Hmm" without looking up from the map.

Indeed, this was the case. The City Defense Command was different from the ignorant staff at the Joffre Command.

The City Defense Command had been fully aware of every development on the front line from the very beginning, both on the ground and in the air.

They had watched Charles proceed with steady and methodical steps. Every move was surprising, yet perfectly logical.

It didn’t feel like a battle; it felt more like peeling away layers of packaging, with each layer more astonishing than the last. By the time the mystery was about to be revealed, there was no suspense left. Everyone knew that victory was inevitable; it was only a matter of time.

Gallieni gently planted the French tricolor flag at the location of Lafox and turned to Charles, who was yawning next to him. "Didn’t sleep well last night?"

"Yes!" Charles complained. "A bunch of wild cats came near my house, and they always make strange noises at night."

Everyone couldn’t help but laugh. Just a moment ago, they had thought Charles was too nervous about preparing for today’s big battle to sleep. But it turned out it was because of wild cats! Were these wild cats more stressful for Charles than Lafox?

Perhaps they were, though. For Charles, winning a battle might just be like playing a game.

Gallieni said nothing. He returned to his desk, took a box from the drawer, and raised it toward Charles. "This is your reward for this victory, Lieutenant!"

Charles eagerly stepped forward to take it, but upon opening it, he was disappointed. "The Kingdom’s Crown Medal? This was already mine!"

"Yes!" Gallieni nodded. "But it’s given to you by me! Are you not satisfied? I can return it to Albert I and say that you rejected it!"

Charles rolled his eyes. The old man was indeed a tightwad, playing the game of gifting flowers while offering them to someone else.

Just then, cheers erupted from outside the command. People were chanting Charles’ name over and over.

It turned out that the people of Paris had heard the news of the victory. Knowing that Charles was in the city, they had gathered downstairs to celebrate with him.

...

At the Braid Manor in Amade’s estate, Grevy and Francis, along with several others, had gathered as soon as they heard that Charles’ troops were launching an attack.

However, they didn’t expect that the "conspiracy" wouldn’t even be over before Charles had already won.

"Smart guy!" Amade smiled, not hiding his admiration. "He managed to fool all of us."

Amade glanced at Grevy, implying that this included him as well.

Grevy was the one who had provided intelligence to the German spies. Of course, Grevy had done it so flawlessly that no one had suspected him.

Grevy said nothing, simply sipping his wine as if he had no stake in the matter.

"What should we do now?" Francis seemed unsettled. "At this rate, our tanks are finished!"

"Is there anything we can do?" Grevy asked in return.

Everyone fell silent. It was too late to do anything now. Charles had already revealed the answer, and the CA-1 tank seemed to have reached its end.

Amade gave a light smile, his tone self-deprecating. "Perhaps we should never have sent him into the military in the first place. That seems to have made him who he is!"

Grevy also felt a twinge of regret.

But who could have predicted that Charles possessed such military talent? After joining the army, he had shone brilliantly! At that time, everyone had thought that it would be Francis who saved Paris!

Grevy glanced at Francis, who was clearly rattled, and let out a sarcastic sigh.

Francis seemed to remember something, his face flickering with a trace of panic. "By the way, do you know who else appeared at Charles' tractor factory helping him command the troops?"

Francis glanced at the others present. "It was Estigny, our tank designer!"

Grevy’s face showed surprise. He straightened up and leaned forward, asking, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, absolutely!" Francis replied. "Estigny rarely appears in public. We only knew about Browning, but later I found out Estigny was involved as well. He seems to be very trusted by Charles!"

In fact, Estigny didn’t appear rarely; it was just that the spies Francis had placed in Charles’ tractor factory didn’t recognize Estigny and hadn’t paid attention to him. Only one day, when they mentioned the artillery colonel, they compared notes and realized it was him.

"Interesting!" Amade smiled lightly. "It seems Colonel Estigny has betrayed us! Well…"

Amade didn’t continue, but everyone knew what he meant. Was Grevy’s plan to compete with Charles in tanks now completely ruined?

Grevy nodded slightly, acknowledging the point.

He had realized early on that he might not be able to compete with Charles in this area. Tanks were Charles’ strong suit; he was a genius!

It was frustrating, but the reality was that they had invested money and effort, placing high hopes on the tanks. Yet, in the end, they were easily defeated by a genius idea. And they lost cleanly.

However, Grevy wasn’t about to surrender. After a moment of consideration, he said thoughtfully, "There’s one thing we seem to have overlooked!"

"What?" Amade asked, a faint smile at the corner of his mouth. Was it just one thing? Wasn’t it a total defeat?

Grevy answered, "When we faced Schneider, we thought it was the most powerful. We thought we should ally with Charles!"

Amade let out a soft "Oh" and nodded. "In fact, Charles is the most powerful, but we didn’t know it!"

"Exactly!" Grevy continued. "Schneider didn’t know that either, which is why we’re in the current situation!"

"So what?" Amade retorted. "Should we seek an alliance with Schneider?"

That was almost impossible. Schneider was on the left, the big capitalists. Forming an alliance with him would make the right wing unnecessary, and the right would never agree.

"Of course not!" Grevy turned his gaze to Francis. "But Schneider might be interested in the tractor production line and technology!"

Francis’ eyes lit up, and he nodded in agreement.

Schneider’s tanks used electric engines, and he might need to switch to conventional engines. Purchasing the Holt tractor production line and technology would allow him to quickly transition.

Amade understood immediately. Grevy was using Francis to form a certain degree of alliance with Schneider.

More importantly, this would direct Charles’ focus towards Schneider. If necessary, Grevy would continue to stir the relationship between the two.

Using Schneider as a tool to deal with Charles—what a brilliant plan!

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