I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 233: Revised - Method to Have it All

The next second, the French soldiers excitedly shouted, "God, you... you are Shire, you are Shire!"

The soldiers finally reacted and began discussing one after another:

"Is he really Shire?"

"The Shire who’s always helping us win battles?"

"Yes, and he gave us a lot of supplies, including marching blankets!"

...

The soldiers then scrambled up to shake hands with Shire:

"Very glad to meet you, Colonel!"

"Thank you for the supplies and the hope you gave us!"

"You are our pride, Colonel!"

German officers also came forward to salute Shire, shaking his hand with a face full of admiration, speaking in awkward French:

"You are a respectful enemy, Colonel. It is very fortunate to see you in person."

"No, I should say, it is very fortunate to be alive and see you!"

The French soldiers laughed heartily, their laughter filled with pride, as they understood what the German officer meant.

A German soldier said something in German that others couldn’t understand, and the German officer translated:

"Berg said that Shire has a nickname in our army, we call him ’War Knight’, meaning a knight born for war!"

The French soldiers simultaneously let out a "Wow" and then began to rhythmically chant:

"War Knight!"

"War Knight!"

...

More and more soldiers gathered as they heard that Shire had come to the front line, dropping what they were doing and rushing over from all directions, filling the trenches to the brim. novelbuddy-cσ๓

Many German officers and soldiers also swarmed over upon hearing the news, eager for a glimpse of Shire.

But the French soldiers reflexively grabbed their guns, eyes filled with vigilance, worried that the German soldiers might take this rare opportunity to harm Shire.

A captain squeezed through the crowd, saluted Shire with a blank expression, then politely stepped aside: "Colonel, let’s talk inside!"

Shire nodded and followed the captain, advancing along the trench amid the soldiers’ cheers until he entered the captain’s command post.

"I apologize, the conditions here are limited!" The captain invited Shire to sit on a low stool, bending over to take a dental cup from the shelf and handing it to Shire, his tone carrying some apology: "This is all we can offer."

The dental cup contained freshly heated coffee, made by mixing instant coffee with snow and heating it over a candle.

Shire thanked him, took a sip of the coffee, and said, "The taste is okay, except for a bit of a burnt flavor."

The captain laughed: "You are very straightforward, Colonel. Those generals who come for inspections either don’t drink it at all or pretend to say ’it tastes great,’ but their expressions say otherwise."

Shire calmly replied, "If I became a general, I might do the same!"

The captain chuckled, knowing that Shire wouldn’t, because his influence already far exceeded those so-called generals, unless he was unaware of it.

The captain took another makeshift low stool and sat in front of Shire, asking, "So, what is your purpose for coming here?"

Then, he added: "Please forgive me, Colonel, I have to speak from the soldiers’ standpoint!"

"Of course," Shire replied, "I am also speaking from the soldiers’ standpoint!"

"You mean..." The captain looked at Shire in confusion.

At that moment, another cheer came from outside the tunnel, and Lieutenant Deni entered, whispered something in the captain’s ear, and the captain nodded lightly.

"Thank you for the turkeys, Colonel!" The captain said blankly: "But if you expect the soldiers to abolish the truce agreement because of this, I can’t do it. Our agreement isn’t one that can be torn up at will like those of the higher-ups."

Shire listened quietly until the captain finished speaking, and then replied unhurriedly: "That is just a Christmas gift, Captain!"

The captain responded with an "Hmm" and said nothing else, with an expression on his face that was ambiguous, seemingly saying, let’s see, I don’t believe you have no demands!

Shire didn’t mind, took another sip of coffee, looked up at the captain in the candlelight, and asked, "Do you know about the execution order?"

The captain thought to himself, here it comes, he’s using this to threaten me.

"So what?" the captain countered.

After a pause, the captain added: "We will not compromise, Colonel, although I highly appreciate your understanding and help, but we can’t..."

"Maybe there’s a win-win solution," Shire interrupted the captain.

"What?" The captain looked at Shire in confusion, not understanding what a win-win meant.

Battle and truce?

How can these be win-win, they are contradictory!

Shire leaned in closer, lowered his voice: "You can start the battle, but no one knows where your bullets are aimed, Captain! You just need to make an agreement with the Germans, each putting up a wooden sign in the trenches as a target..."

The captain instantly understood, nodding: "Good idea, Colonel, a very good idea!"

Then, the captain’s gaze at Shire began to soften, his stern face relaxing like melting ice.

Before this, the captain had always been wary of Shire, thinking he was sent by the generals as a persuader.

He didn’t blame Shire, as it was his duty, he was a soldier who had to follow orders.

But the captain had to stand on the opposite side to discuss the issue with Shire.

However, now the captain realized Shire wasn’t as he thought, Shire was one of their own.

Shire raised his cup toward the captain, saying: "Not just Christmas, Captain, in the future you could schedule a breakfast period, hang up the signs, have breakfast peacefully, then take down the signs and resume fighting as usual, do you agree?"

"Yes, Colonel!" The captain nodded heavily: "I think, I think the Germans would also agree!"

"That’s good!" Shire took out his pocket watch, looked at it, and instructed: "It’s almost dawn. I’ll have the infantry gendarmes delayed, they will come after dawn, I hope you will be ready by then. Is that okay?"

"No problem, Colonel!" The captain sat up straight and saluted, even though the height in the tunnel was insufficient, but it was still very standard.

"Well, I have accomplished my mission." Shire said: "I shall return, Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Colonel!" The captain’s voice choked a bit.

He really had no demands, he just came to save us.

No one, no one cares about the front-line soldiers’ lives like Shire!

"Colonel!" The captain called out to Shire, who was about to exit the tunnel.

"What?" Shire turned back.

"My name is Claude, Colonel!" The captain stood up straight and said: "My men and I, earnestly hope that one day, we can fight under your command!"

Shire nodded, turned, and exited the tunnel.

Visit freewe𝑏no(v)el.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experi𝒆nce