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

Chapter 55: After-Sales Service

Once again, the scene was set in the medical tent. A medic carefully extracted a broken tooth fragment from Laurent's mouth as he let out a muffled groan.

"Are you really okay, Major?" Captain Jules asked, looking troubled. "Should we report this to the General?"

"Are you insane?" Laurent snapped, his eyes flashing. "Report something this trivial to the General? He's busy commanding troops in pursuit of the Germans, and you want to waste his time on this?"

Jules looked at him in disbelief—this was trivial? It was only the first day, and Laurent had already been beaten up twice, with no end in sight!

Just then, the phone rang. Jules picked it up, then turned to Laurent with a whisper, "It's the General."

Meanwhile, General Gallieni was struggling with mounting frustration. The bureaucratic restrictions on the army made him feel like he was fighting with his hands tied.

Though a batch of sidecars had already been issued to soldiers, the results were far from ideal. The soldiers had anticipated a victory like Major Browning's, expecting the Germans to flee before their sidecar-mounted charge, and to see piles of Germans falling under the fire of their Maxim guns.

But in reality, they achieved minimal impact, and none of the sidecars returned. Feedback flooded back to Gallieni, full of harsh criticism:

"What is this piece of junk?"

"It doesn't stop bullets and can't even aim straight!"

"This thing is useless; we've definitely been scammed!"

Gallieni, already convinced of the effectiveness of sidecars from Major Browning's success, suspected the issue lay with their tactics rather than the equipment itself.

Ideally, he would have summoned Charles to discuss these issues in person. But that would look suspiciously like "collusion" between the military and a weapons dealer. Bringing Major Browning back from the frontlines was also problematic—not only would it impact the battle, but Browning's tactics were Charles's design, so he might not fully understand why they worked.

So, it had to be Charles. Finally, Gallieni decided to delegate the task to Laurent. He called him:

"I hear you've had some trouble?"

"I'd like you to have a private discussion with Charles. Can you arrange it?"

"This is urgent, so the sooner, the better."

On the other end of the line, Laurent's voice sounded slightly muffled with gauze stuffed in his mouth to stop the bleeding. "No worries, General. Just a small issue… everything's under control!"

"Yes, I can arrange it. Right away."

After hanging up, Laurent sat in silence for a moment, pondering how to hold a discreet conversation with Charles. A "kidnapping" like last time? That would be far more difficult—and dangerous—especially with the factory's workers on high alert. Could he summon Charles in the evening? But the General had stressed "as soon as possible," which surely didn't mean waiting until nightfall.

Then an idea struck him. Laurent's eyes lit up, and he smiled smugly to himself. "Of course, a minor matter like this is no problem for me!"

Turning to Jules, he ordered, "Bring Charles here. I'm going to interrogate him myself."

Jules, who was just taking a sip of water, almost choked. He coughed and sputtered, staring at Laurent in horror. "Interrogate?"

"Yes, interrogate!" Laurent said with a straight face. "We've received intelligence that the Germans are already replicating the sidecar. We have grounds to suspect that the factory leaked the technology, so we need to bring Charles in for questioning."

"You're out of your mind!" Jules looked at Laurent, aghast. "The Germans already captured some sidecars—they don't need Charles's help to replicate them…"

"Of course I know that!" Laurent replied, glaring at Jules. "But this way, we can hold a private discussion without attracting suspicion."

"But this plan could get us killed…" Jules protested, but a stern look from Laurent cut him off.

Jules knew the meaning of that look: We're soldiers, Jules. Can this really be more dangerous than facing gunfire on the front line? With a resigned sigh, Jules obeyed and set off to carry out the order.

He decided to take a cautious approach, going alone and carrying a gift box that made him look more like he was visiting than conducting an "interrogation"—anything to avoid riling up the watchful, distrustful workers.

When Jules found Charles, he discreetly explained that it was an "interrogation," adding a knowing look. Charles and Deyoka immediately understood.

"Should I put on handcuffs or something?" Charles suggested, smiling. "To make it look more like an interrogation."

Jules looked horrified. "No, no, young master! This is more than enough. And… if you don't mind, please keep smiling as we go and talk about other things along the way."

"Is that how interrogations work?" Charles asked, puzzled, but he went along with Jules's request.

For some reason, as they passed through the factory gates, Jules heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much, young master," he said sincerely, feeling that Charles's cooperation had quite literally saved his life.

Laurent's command post was sparsely furnished, with only a desk and two wooden chairs. There was no electric lamp, and the overcast sky made the tent feel dark inside.

As Laurent lowered the tent flap, he nodded respectfully to Charles. "Master Charles, General Gallieni wishes to speak with you. This was the only way I could arrange it."

Charles nodded in understanding. There was no need for small talk—Gallieni was probably still waiting on the line.

Once the phone connected, Gallieni greeted him with a wry comment, "It's time for you to provide after-sales service, young man. I'm sure you wouldn't want our orders to stop here?"

"Certainly not, General," Charles replied, though he was puzzled. "Has there been an issue with the quality of the sidecars?"

It didn't make sense to Charles. After all, they were British-made Victory motorcycles, tested and proven in real combat. They shouldn't need after-sales support so soon.

He quickly realized, though, that this wasn't a typical quality issue. If it were, Gallieni would have openly criticized the product rather than discreetly calling him in for a "questioning."

Sure enough, Gallieni's response clarified things. "I believe the issue lies in your missing instruction manual!"

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