Chapter 380: This May Be Useful to You
The First Special Artillery Division achieved a major victory at Cambrai through night operations, with the French army reclaiming lost ground until halting at their original defensive line.
The reason for stopping was the inability of the "Saint-Chamond M21's" short tracks to cross trenches; it could not traverse the 2-meter-wide trenches to pursue the retreating German forces.
Still, Christine was very satisfied, having captured a large number of the Germans' new tanks—129 in total, 83 of which were intact and operational.
The Germans had been caught off guard. In the darkness, they were unsure where to direct their tanks and abandoned them in their retreat, without even having time to destroy them before fleeing.
Colonel Gaston of the 2nd Artillery Regiment was overjoyed and immediately asked Christine, "General, you won’t assign these tanks to someone else, will you? They are our spoils of war. I’d happily exchange the ‘Saint-Chamond’ for them!"
"I'm not sure, Gaston," Christine said as he regarded the iron behemoths, which indeed appeared far superior to the "Saint-Chamond M21," despite being the losers in battle.
"You know," Christine said with resignation, "we don't have the final say."
The eagerness in Gaston’s eyes gradually dimmed.
He thought of an unsettling issue: The First Special Artillery Division, driving the "Saint-Chamond M21," had defeated the Germans. The generals sitting comfortably in their offices might simplistically conclude that the "Saint-Chamond M21" was superior to the German tanks.
As a result, these captured tanks were more likely to be allocated to a new group of rookies rather than to the elite First Special Artillery Division.
What was more troubling was that as long as the "Saint-Chamond M21" continued winning, Schneider could justifiably secure more orders.
Gaston sighed inwardly. As a tank operator, owning a decent tank was unexpectedly difficult!
It felt as if he wasn’t fighting the enemy, but rather battling foolish generals and greedy capitalists.
Christine said no more. He patted Gaston on the shoulder and reminded him, "You should focus more on Charles, Gaston. I hope you understand Charles’s sacrifice!"
With that, Christine left to consolidate the defensive line.
Gaston stared blankly at Christine’s departing figure, unable to comprehend his remark about Charles's sacrifice. Wasn’t it just a suggestion?
After a moment, a thought occurred to Gaston: Joffre was Charles's rival. Charles helping the First Special Artillery Division was effectively aiding Joffre.
In other words, Charles had helped his rival defeat him.
Only by doing so could the lives of the First Special Artillery Division’s officers and soldiers be saved!
...
The news of victory reached French Supreme Command, where the room erupted in cheers, with people embracing each other in celebration.
Dubbed by the media as "The Tranquilizer of France," Joffre remained seated calmly in his chair, though he felt a tinge of emotion.
He desperately needed a victory—not a "momentous" one, but even a modest victory was a luxury.
For so long, Joffre felt he had lived in Charles's shadow. Each of Charles's inventions and victories weighed on Joffre like a mountain, suffocating him.
At times, Joffre couldn’t help but think: Why not resign and flee far away? Charles’s very presence made his position feel scorching.
But he lacked the courage to relinquish everything he had. To give up would be tantamount to admitting defeat.
He could not lose to a child, Joffre told himself.
Now, victory had finally come. He had turned the tide, proving his capability and demonstrating that he was no mere placeholder as commander-in-chief!
"General!" A staff officer, standing a few meters away with a telephone in hand, reported to Joffre, "General Christine is on the line. Do you wish to speak with him?"
"Yes." Joffre rose confidently, stepped forward with his head held high, and took the receiver. In a firm and powerful voice, he said, "Well done, Christine. As I said, bold offensives lead to victory! You’ve secured the win!"
On the other end, Christine's lips curled into a faint smile.
What a fool. Even now, he doesn’t realize that the key to this victory was the “night operation.” He smugly assumes it was his strategy!
However, Christine didn’t let it show. He seemed to reach a decision and calmly replied, "Yes, General. You’re absolutely right."
Christine then added, "I’ll continue to press the attack, but before that, I believe we should strengthen the defenses of the captured line."
"Quite right," Joffre agreed enthusiastically with Christine’s suggestion. "I’ll send reinforcements to relieve the line immediately."
Finally, Joffre added, "Extend my regards to all the troops—they’re heroes!"
If it had been before, Christine might have been moved to tears by such words. But now, only one phrase echoed in his mind: "Empty and meaningless."
If Joffre truly cared about the frontline soldiers and truly regarded them as heroes, he would, like Charles, prioritize their lives rather than push them into the enemy’s gunfire like disposable trash!
After the call ended, Christine swept his gaze to both sides, picked up the phone again, and lowered his voice: "Connect me to the police training base, the 105th Infantry Regiment headquarters."
...
At the same time, the 105th Infantry Regiment headquarters received the news of the victory at Cambrai.
Tigani, holding a telegram, nodded toward Charles. "Unbelievable. You gave just two words, and a unit on the brink of despair turned the situation around to become victors. What’s the story here?"
Charles replied mockingly, "Are you admitting that you’re inferior to Christine?"
Christine had understood what to do upon receiving the two-word message, "Night Operation," whereas Tigani still hadn’t grasped the reason.
"Of course not," Tigani responded with an awkward laugh, though he truly hadn’t figured it out.
This wasn’t due to Tigani’s incompetence but his disdain for the "Saint-Chamond M21," which he deemed trash and therefore hadn’t bothered to study.
His ignorance made it natural for him not to realize its advantages in a night battle.
Even more unexpectedly, under certain circumstances, "trash" could perform beyond imagination.
At that moment, the phone rang. It was a call from Christine.
"Its front armor is 14mm thick, with a speed of about 12 kilometers per hour, and a maximum speed of 16 kilometers per hour," Christine reported.
Charles replied with a simple, "Hmm."
Christine continued: "It measures 6.7 meters in length, 2.34 meters in width, and 2.965 meters in height, with a ground clearance of 0.6 meters. It has one turret and two machine gun turrets, one at the front and one at the rear."
Charles gave another brief "Hmm."
Finally, Christine added, "I believe this might be useful to you, General. I’m staying here with Joffre."
Charles chuckled softly and replied, "Yes, I understand."
Indeed, Charles understood. Christine’s last sentence should have been reversed: "I’m staying here with Joffre. I believe this might be useful to you!"