I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France

Chapter 582 582: You Are France's Hope, General

In less than an hour, Shire and Ganmelin's statuses completely reversed.

Documents were delivered to Shire's desk one after another, not much at first, just one or two, but soon it became more frequent, and half an hour later it even overwhelmed Shire.

This was dictated by the "unspoken rules," or one could say the choice of the grassroots soldiers. More importantly, it was "those who follow me will prosper, those who oppose me will perish."

If an officer commands the army with orders signed by Ganmelin, they will be regarded as a "target," and in the event of combat, their survival is minimal.

But if they hold orders signed by Shire, it is akin to holding a talisman, and soldiers will obey without resistance.

The officers were not fools. Once they realized this, they flocked to Shire, acknowledging his authority.

One hour later, even Ganmelin's closest aides had to report to Shire.

This was not by their will, but reporting to Ganmelin had lost its meaning: the decision-making power was no longer in Ganmelin's hands, whether he knew or not was irrelevant.

Shire quickly signed documents and asked the aide the same three questions as before:

"Do you have the review list?"

"Yes, General." The aide hurriedly replied, running back to his seat like the wind, flipping through the documents for a while before rushing back to hand the file to Shire: "Here they are, General. This is the reviewed list, and this is the list for review."

"What about the confinement list?"

Another aide hurriedly handed it over to Shire: "The dozen people who were just put in the confinement room are not on the list yet, I will verify it immediately."

Shire hummed an acknowledgment and asked: "If I want to visit the confinement room, there's no problem, right?"

"Of course, General." The aide replied: "You can go at any time, do you need me to arrange it for you?"

"No." Shire shook his head: "Order General Kristen to send a unit to surround the confinement room and not allow anyone to transfer the prisoners."

"Yes, General."

One of the objectives of the parliament was to punish the mutiny representatives, and Shire had promised to protect their safety, which was one of the focal points of this "battle" between Shire and the parliament.

Shire was worried that the parliament would secretly transfer the mutiny representatives during the "transition of power."

If the parliament succeeded, even if Shire regained command, his prestige among the soldiers would be weakened.

Sure enough, as Shire feared, when Kristen surrounded the confinement room with an infantry battalion, there were a dozen cars trying to transfer the "prisoners" amid the chaos.

The other party, when discovered, still shouted that they were acting on orders and demanded that Kristen make way.

Kristen glanced at the orders and unceremoniously replied:

"The commander of the 6th Army is Shire, all other orders are invalid!"

"Ganmelin was just acting commander during Shire's leave."

"The German spies clearly didn't understand the situation, they forged orders thinking the commander had not returned."

His subordinates got the message:

"Yes, they are German spies."

"These idiots, they exposed themselves!"

"They want to take our people, right under our noses!"

...

Unsurprisingly, these "German spies" were beaten black and blue by the angry soldiers.

If Shire hadn't appeared in time to stop them, it would have certainly resulted in fatalities.

Among the "prisoners" being escorted, Shire saw Jeremy and Darlan, who were bound tightly but looked gratefully at Shire.

Darlan was particularly moved, being of noble birth, he understood what was happening. His father was a lawyer, later elected as mayor of Nehe City and a member of the National Assembly, and served as Minister of Justice in the Merlin Cabinet ten years ago (18 years ago, later retired and died in 1912).

Darlan knew the parliament's methods and knew they would certainly execute the mutiny representatives to deter the entire army.

Otherwise, there would be a next time, and a time after that… mutiny.

Only by convicting and executing the mutiny representatives, and even publicly defaming and discrediting them, would no one dare to lead another mutiny in the future.

They handled worker strikes the same way: ordinary workers could be spared, but not the worker representatives.

Darlan understood what this meant, it was not just death, but the complete fall of honor, dignity, and even family involvement.

When he was put in the confinement room, he had lost hope.

He had once thought of Shire's promise.

But that was just a promise, how could Shire possibly oppose the parliament for a mere promise!

Only a fool would believe such a person existed in this world.

This was the politics of France, they sought interest, not justice, no matter who, there were no exceptions.

However, when Shire stood in front of him, he realized he was wrong, Shire was not that kind of person, Shire was the exception!

"Gentlemen." Shire stood among the soldiers and gave an impromptu speech:

"These men who have been interrogated and imprisoned, we should know why."

"If it is because of mutiny, then they should not be the only ones caught."

"They are imprisoned because they are representatives of the soldiers, they voiced what you wanted to say, they fought for the interests of all soldiers."

"More importantly, their negotiation demands were not wrong."

The soldiers nodded in agreement with Shire's words.

Shire continued:

"Is it wrong to refuse meaningless attacks? No, I don't think so!"

"I firmly believe it is those officers who disregarded the soldiers' lives, attacked for the sake of attacking, and continuously drove soldiers to death on the battlefield for their own ranks that were wrong."

"Their actions are extremely irresponsible, it is a crime, it is murder, it is destroying the foundation and faith of France!"

The soldiers cheered to express their support for Shire.

Shire seemed to be speaking for the soldiers, but in fact, he was consolidating his own prestige and status.

Shire was the only general who "considered the soldiers' lives" and could ensure "meaningful" attacks every time.

So supporting the "refusal of meaningless attacks" actually meant supporting him.

The soldiers responded one after another:

"That's right, those officers should be imprisoned."

"They should fight like Shire!"

"It's outrageous that someone even wanted to strip Shire of his command, letting those who can't fight boss Shire around!"

...

When the shouts calmed down, Shire continued: "So, I believe the interrogation and confinement should end immediately, and all those imprisoned should be released without charge and reinstated. What do you think?"

The soldiers raised their fists and shouted, and some went to untie the ropes on the "prisoners."

After being unbound, the "prisoners" scrambled to salute and shake hands with Shire.

Darlan was among them. He held Shire's hands tightly, his eyes full of admiration, and he choked out a few words with a voice full of emotion, "You are the hope of France, General! We need you!"