I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France
Chapter 158: Killing by Borrowed Knife

Chapter 158: Chapter 158: Killing by Borrowed Knife

The news of the victory reached the Paris City Defense Command, but there was no cheering; the response from the command seemed rather subdued.

At that time, Major Fernan answered the phone, then he looked up towards Gallieni, who was standing a few meters away, watching the current situation on the map: "General, the Germans have surrendered, we have successfully recaptured Lafox!"

Major Fernan’s voice was calm, and others only nodded quietly upon hearing it, as if they had already known this outcome, totally unsurprised.

Gallieni merely responded with a "hmm," his eyes still fixed on the map.

Indeed, the truth was that, unlike the uninformed Xia Fei Command, the City Defense Headquarters had a grasp of every tiny movement on the front line from beginning to end, both on the ground and in the air.

They watched Shire advancing steadily and methodically, with every step being unexpected yet within reason.

This didn’t seem like a battle but more like unwrapping a layered package, each layer leaving them amazed, so much so that even before reaching the final reveal, everyone knew victory was inevitable.

Gallieni gently inserted a tricolor flag representing France on the position of Lafox on the map and asked Shire, who was yawning beside him: "Didn’t sleep well last night?"

"Yes!" Shire complained, "A group of wild cats appeared near my house for some unknown reason, making strange noises at night."

Everyone had to stifle their laughter; they had thought that Shire couldn’t sleep because of the anticipation for the big battle today, but it turned out to be because of wild cats!

Could it be that the pressure from the wild cats was greater for Shire than that of Lafox?

But perhaps it was indeed true; for Shire, winning a battle might just be like playing a game.

Gallieni said nothing, he returned to his desk, took out a box from the drawer, and held it up towards Shire: "This is the reward for this victory, Lieutenant!"

Shire eagerly stepped forward to receive it, but upon opening it, he was disappointed: "Kingdom Crown Medal? This was mine already!"

"Yes!" Gallieni nodded: "But it was given to you by me! Not satisfied? I can return it to Albert I and tell him you refused it!"

Shire rolled his eyes; the old man truly was a miser, playing the trick of pretending to give what is already given.

At this moment, cheering could be heard from outside the command, and people repeatedly shouting Shire’s name.

It turned out that the people of Paris had heard the news of the victory and knew that Shire was here, gathering spontaneously downstairs to celebrate for Shire.

...

At Arman’s Brad Manor, Grevy and Francis had gathered upon hearing that Shire’s troops had launched an attack.

They just didn’t expect that, "before the plot was over, Shire had already achieved victory."

"Smart guy!" Arman maintained a smile on his face, unabashedly showing the admiration in his eyes: "He actually deceived all of us."

Arman glanced at Grevy, meaning to say that this included Grevy as well.

Grevy was the one providing intelligence to the German agents, but of course, he did it flawlessly, and no one would ever suspect him.

Grevy didn’t say a word, just sipped his wine nonchalantly as if it was none of his business.

"What should we do?" Francis seemed a bit flustered: "If this continues, our tanks are finished!"

"What can we do?" Grevy countered.

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

Arman chuckled lightly, with a self-mocking tone: "Perhaps we shouldn’t have sent him to the army in the first place; it seems to have accomplished him!"

Grevy also had some regrets.

But who could have imagined that Shire had such military talent, shining brightly after entering the army!

At that time, everyone thought it would be Francis who saved Paris!

Grevy looked at the flustered Francis opposite him and let out a softly mocking sigh.

Francis seemed to recall something, his eyes flashed with a hint of panic: "By the way, do you know who else appeared at Shire’s tractor factory to help him command the troops?"

Francis glanced around at everyone present: "It’s Estiny, our tank designer!"

Unexpectedness crossed Grevy’s face, he sat up straight and leaned forward, asking with a blank expression: "Are you sure?"

"Yes, definitely!" Francis replied: "Estiny rarely shows up; we only know Brownie. I later found out that Estiny was among them as well, he seems to be highly valued by Shire!"

Actually, it wasn’t that Estiny rarely showed up, but that the spy Francis placed in Shire’s tractor factory didn’t recognize Estiny, not noticing until one day casually mentioning the artillery colonel, and upon comparison, they discovered it was him.

"Interesting!" Arman chuckled lightly: "It seems Colonel Estiny has betrayed us! So..."

Arman didn’t continue, but everyone knew what he meant; Grevy’s plan to compete with Shire in tanks now seemed completely thwarted, didn’t it?

Grevy gently nodded in acknowledgment.

He realized early on that he might not be able to compete with Shire in this field, as it was Shire’s strong suit, and Shire was a genius!

It was frustrating but a fact; their investment, effort, and high hopes for the tanks would eventually be easily defeated by a genius’s idea. And lose thoroughly!

But Grevy did not intend to give up, after thinking for a while, he said thoughtfully: "There’s one thing we might have considered wrong!"

"What?" Arman asked, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, just one thing? Weren’t they totally defeated?

Grevy answered: "Back then, when we faced Schneider, we thought he was the strongest, we believed we should ally with Shire!"

Arman said "Oh," nodding: "In reality, Shire was the strongest; we just didn’t know!"

"Yes!" Grevy said: "Schneider didn’t know either, which is why we are in this situation now!"

"And so what?" Arman retorted: "Should we seek to ally with Schneider?"

This seemed almost impossible, as Schneider belonged to the left wing, the big capitalists. Allying with him would make the right wing essentially unnecessary, and the right wing wouldn’t agree to it!

"Of course not!" Grevy turned his gaze to Francis: "But, Schneider might be interested in the production lines and technology of tractors!"

Francis’s eyes lit up, nodding in agreement.

Schneider’s tanks used electrically driven engines, and he might need to switch to conventional engines. Buying the production lines and technology of Holt tractors could enable him to transition quickly.

Upon hearing Grevy, Arman understood; he intended to use Francis to form some kind of alliance with Schneider.

More importantly, this would turn Shire’s focus toward Schneider. When necessary, Grevy would continue to incite conflicts between the two.

Borrowing a knife to kill, using Schneider to deal with Shire, a good plan indeed!