I Became a Tycoon During World War I: Saving France from the Start

Chapter 9: I'm Betting Everything on Your Victory

"Tell me what's going on here?" Camille asked Charles anxiously from a corner of the square. "Are you really planning to lead these soldiers into battle against the Germans?"

"Don't worry, Mother," Charles reassured her. "I'm only teaching them how to fight; I won't be going to the front myself!"

"Teaching them to fight?" Deyoka and Camille exchanged bewildered glances. Charles had never left their side, much less undergone military training. How could he possibly know how to teach anyone to fight?

Then Deyoka seemed to grasp it. "Did you pay them to listen to you? You shouldn't squander the factory's funds like this, Charles! You're still on probation, and this is your first day in charge of the tractor factory…"

Charles didn't know how to respond. He realized that no matter what he said, Deyoka and Camille wouldn't believe he could command these soldiers purely by force of persuasion.

Camille glanced at the fierce-looking soldiers training in the square, feeling a chill. "All right, let's go home. We'll talk about this there."

"No, Mother," Charles said. "We can't leave."

"What do you mean?" Camille asked, perplexed.

"To maintain secrecy, the tractor factory is closed off after sunset—no one is allowed out," Charles explained.

Deyoka's face flushed with anger. "This is the Bernard family's factory! What gives anyone the right to block us from leaving?"

He assumed it was the French soldiers enforcing this rule.

"Father!" Charles interrupted him. "It was my order."

Deyoka stood there, stunned, unable to believe what he'd just heard.

"Y-your order…" Camille repeated, looking over at the soldiers with rifles standing guard at the gates. She didn't care about "secrecy" or "no exit," but she couldn't comprehend how her gentle, often bullied son was now commanding others, effectively controlling an entire factory with a military presence within a single day.

Deyoka scanned the area and asked, half-disbelievingly, "What kind of military secrets are involved here?"

"I can't say," Charles replied firmly. "But I can tell you this is the safest place to be, and we should stay."

Deyoka exchanged a look with Camille that seemed to say, This is what I was telling you this morning: our boy has grown up—and he's sharper than even Francis.

…

At the 6th Army Headquarters in Paris, General Gallieni slammed his fist on his desk and roared, "This is ignorance! This is murder! This is a crime!"

Gallieni's fury had only one cause: General Joffre had refused his request to launch an attack on the German flank with the 6th Army.

"It's obvious!" Gallieni's face darkened. "The German First Army has overextended itself, leaving the Second Army twenty kilometers behind. Now they've even changed their route, stepping directly into our trap. If we don't attack, we may lose this golden opportunity!"

Major General Maunoury said nothing; Gallieni was right. The German Second Army could catch up within two days, and once it did, the Germans would have enough strength to surround Paris again. Or, worse, the First Army might realize its mistake and resume its original course, which could lead to disastrous consequences.

No one could understand why Joffre had refused to attack.

Gallieni paced angrily in front of his desk before turning on a staff officer. "What's his reason?" he demanded, referring to Joffre.

The staff officer answered cautiously, "General Joffre believes it's unlikely the Germans would expose such a major vulnerability. He suspects it might be a trap intended to lure the 6th Army out of Paris's defenses, where they could then strike. He thinks we should wait and see…"

Gallieni scoffed, cutting the officer off. He didn't want to hear any more.

He ran the situation through his mind again. In a way, Joffre's reasoning had some validity; the biggest question was the source of the "rumor."

If the rumor was a German ploy, designed to give the First Army a reason to alter its course and lure the 6th Army out of Paris…

No, the Germans wouldn't need to go to such lengths!

"They only need to follow their initial plan, encircle Paris from the west, cut off supplies, and wait for the Second Army to arrive to win. Why complicate things with a scheme like this?" Gallieni said aloud.

Maunoury nodded in agreement. But without General Joffre's order, they were powerless to act.

Gallieni had a sneaking suspicion that Joffre's refusal was driven by personal rivalry. The two had a bitter history, often clashing publicly, even to the point of shouting and slamming fists on the table.

Today, it was Gallieni who had spotted the German's vulnerability and suggested an attack. If Joffre agreed, wouldn't it imply that the Commander-in-Chief was following Gallieni's strategy? Wouldn't it mean that Gallieni, not Joffre, was the hero who defeated the Germans? Wouldn't it prove that Gallieni was the superior strategist?

Gallieni's eye twitched, but he kept his suspicions to himself. It was, after all, just conjecture without solid evidence.

Gritting his teeth, Gallieni ordered, "Get the vehicles ready. If the time comes, we'll transport the troops to the battlefield as quickly as possible!"

"General!" Maunoury replied, concerned. "Most of our vehicles have already been sent to the front lines!"

"Then requisition more. Ox-carts, horse-drawn carriages, taxis—whatever we can find," Gallieni said, his tone steely. "We must be prepared. The fate of France depends on it."

"Yes, General!" Maunoury replied with a sharp salute.

…

At the Dawaz tractor factory, the lights had been turned off, plunging the square into darkness.

Charles finally called off the soldiers' training, sending them back for a good wash and rest. They needed to conserve their strength for the battle tomorrow, not wear themselves out with endless drills.

Sitting beside Charles, Major Bronny removed his mud-covered cap and said in a low voice, "They say the Germans are heading our way. I didn't think they'd keep pursuing us."

Charles simply nodded, wondering if Bronny would punch him if he knew this was all part of Charles's plan to draw the Germans here.

"Those contraptions you've been working on…" Bronny gestured to the corner of the square where the armored tractors were parked. "You're sure they'll work?"

If the Germans targeted the machine-gun factory, they'd likely send thousands of men. Did this young boy even grasp the scale of what they'd be up against?

"Don't worry, Major," Charles said, glancing in the direction of the dormitory where his family was resting. "I've bet everything on you winning."

Bronny gave a weary smile, thinking he must be crazy for trusting a teenager and following through with his bizarre plans.

He looked up at the sky, sighing at the stars glittering overhead. "It's a beautiful world. I wonder if I'll still be here tomorrow to look at the stars."

(End of Chapter)

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