I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 54: After modification - After-Sales Service

It’s still the medical tent.

The medic pulled out half a tooth from Lauren’s mouth amidst his painful groans. It was a remnant clinging to his gums after being broken.

"Major, is it really nothing?" Captain Jules asked, "Shouldn’t we report this to the General?"

"Are you crazy?" Lauren glared, "Report such a trivial matter to the General? He is commanding the troops to pursue the Germans, and we would waste his precious time on this?"

Captain Jules looked troubled, was this a small matter?

It’s only the first day, and you’ve already been beaten up twice, and it seems like it won’t stop!

Just then, the phone rang. Captain Jules got up to pick up the receiver, then turned to Lauren and whispered, "It’s the General!"

...

Gallieni was inexplicably anxious.

This bastard system made him fight with his hands and feet tied.

At this moment, the military had distributed a batch of motorbikes with sidecars to the soldiers, but the results were unsatisfactory.

The French soldiers thought they would recreate Colonel Brownie’s victory, that the Germans would flee at the sight of a sidecar charge, and that droves of Germans would fall under the Maxim Machine Gun...

However, the Germans suffered minimal losses, and not a single sidecar returned!

A heap of negative feedback quickly reached Gallieni:

"What kind of crap is this?"

"It can’t stop bullets, and it can’t aim at the enemy properly!"

"This thing is useless, we must have been duped!"

...

Gallieni had already verified Major Brownie’s achievements, so he believed it was a problem with tactics, not the sidecars.

Gallieni should have called Shire to discuss it with him.

But that would be seen by the capitalists as a ’conspiracy’ between the military and the arms dealers.

Recall the experienced Major Brownie from the field?

Not only would it impact the combat at the front, but more importantly, the tactics Major Brownie used were taught to him by Shire. He might be in a ’know-how-but-not-why’ state, unable to explain why they worked.

So, it had to be Shire!

Ultimately, Gallieni decided to let Lauren handle this and gave him a call:

"I heard you encountered some problems?"

"I want to discuss something with Shire, secretly. Can you manage that?"

"Do it as soon as possible, it’s important!"

On the other end, Lauren, with cotton in his mouth to staunch the bleeding, responded muffled and unclear:

"No, no, it’s just a little issue. Everything is under control, General!"

"Of course, it can be done!"

"Alright, I’ll handle it right away!"

After hanging up, Lauren remained silent for a moment. Talking to Shire, and doing it secretly without anyone knowing, how could he achieve that?

Tie him up like last time?

This time it’s more difficult and dangerous; the workers in the factory are not to be trifled with!

Inform Shire at night?

The General said ’as soon as possible.’ Although he didn’t specify how soon, it certainly wouldn’t be until night!

So...

Lauren’s eyes suddenly lit up, a triumphant smile on his face as he muttered to himself, "Such a little thing is no problem for me!"

He turned his head and ordered Jules: "Go fetch Shire, I want to interrogate him personally!"

Captain Jules, who was holding a cup of water, was so startled by this that he stumbled, coughing and spraying water. He looked at Lauren, eyes full of fear: "Interrogate?"

"Yes, interrogate!" Lauren said expressionlessly, "We received intelligence that the Germans are replicating our sidecars. We have reason to suspect a leak from the motorcycle factory. Of course, we need to bring Shire in to ask about the situation!"

"You’re crazy!" Jules looked at Lauren incredulously: "The Germans have confiscated sidecars; they don’t need Shire’s technology to replicate them..."

"I know, of course!" Lauren looked up at Jules, "The point is this allows for a secret discussion!"

"But this plan could also get us killed..." Jules replied.

Lauren cut Jules off with a look.

Jules knew what that look meant: We’re soldiers; Jules, can this be more dangerous than the battlefield’s hail of bullets? If so, try the battlefield!

Jules reluctantly accepted and went to execute the order.

As he turned away, he thought, as long as no one knows it’s an interrogation, politely ’inviting’ Shire would work without incident.

Unexpectedly, Lauren added from behind: "It’s an ’interrogation,’ Jules, you must tell others!"

Jules looked utterly desolate. He doubted if he could walk out of that factory alive!

In the end, Jules chose a clever approach. He went into the ’Demon Cave’ alone, without any guards, carrying a gift box which made it look like he was visiting Shire. This was the only way not to alert the vigilant workers.

When he met Shire, he explicitly said it was an ’interrogation,’ but with a meaningful glance, Dejoka and Shire understood immediately.

Shire asked, "Do you need to put handcuffs on me or something?"

To make it look more like an interrogation.

But this suggestion scared Jules: "No, no, Young Master Shire! This is good enough. Also... if possible, please smile, and let’s find some topics to chat about while walking!"

"Is that so?" Shire looked puzzled. They don’t usually arrest people for interrogation this way.

Shire did not object and did as Captain Jules said.

For some reason, when they walked out of the factory gate, Captain Jules let out a long sigh of relief!

"Thank you very much, Young Master Shire!" Captain Jules’s eyes showed genuine gratitude; Shire’s cooperation had essentially saved his life.

...

The setup in Lauren’s command post was simple, just a table and two wooden chairs. There wasn’t even time to hang up the electric lamp, and with the overcast sky, the tent appeared somewhat dim.

Lauren respectfully nodded to Shire after lowering the door curtain: "Young Master Shire, General Gallieni wants to talk to you. This was the only way I could do it..."

Shire nodded in understanding. There was no need for small talk, as General Gallieni was likely still waiting on the other end of the phone.

When the call connected, Gallieni spoke humorously: "It’s time for you to provide after-sales service, young man. You wouldn’t want our orders to stop here, would you?"

"Of course not, General!" Shire replied, puzzled internally: "Is there a quality issue with the sidecars?"

Those were the ’Victory’ motorcycles from Britain. Historically, they’d been battle-tested. It was unlikely they’d need after-sales service on their first outing? ƒгeewёbnovel.com

But Shire quickly realized it might not be about quality issues. If it were, Gallieni would have openly questioned it rather than secretly summoning him for an ’interrogation.’

Sure enough, Gallieni replied: "I think you forgot to provide the user manual!"