In the dreary thick clouds, Charles, dressed in a heavy black coat, braved the cold wind and walked into the office building of the War Department.

Unlike when he first arrived, he had already had a number of people along the way—many in military uniforms—to give way to him, and Charles nodded to them one by one, and walked briskly to his office.

As he got closer and closer to the office, his heart became more and more stable, and the troubles that had plagued him before seemed to have been thrown out of the clouds, and the whole person became energetic and full of energy.

I don't know if it's the common trait of every ambitious careerist, but as soon as Charles arrives at the office, he can forget about unpleasant private affairs, regain his low spirits, and prepare for his official activities in high spirits.

His secretary had been waiting here for a long time, and when he saw him coming, he immediately handed him all the documents he had prepared. There's an important department meeting going this morning, so he's got his stuff ready first.

Charles carefully reviewed the texts, adding his own annotations in many places, and then put them all in order and walked to the conference room.

At this time, the conference room was already full, and when he walked into the office, it became the focus of most people's attention in an instant, but no one made a noise.

Charles just nodded to the crowd and sat down in his seat.

The meeting has not yet begun, as His Excellency the Minister has not yet come. It's just that, unlike usual, today's conference room is not full of whispers, but everyone does not speak, and they all look solemn, as if they all have important matters.

It seems that they were all frightened by General San Arnault, Charles sneered in his heart.

Yes, they were all terrified by the rescuers that Charles had brought in.

Since General Saint-Arnault assumed the post of Minister of War, he has established his authority in the Ministry in a short period of time with his strong personal character and vigorous style, with the support and acquiescence of the President and the Prime Minister.

And this authority, after he forcibly dissuaded General Vello, who had served as the head of the department, finally reached its zenith, so much so that it created an atmosphere of panic in the ministry in which everyone was at risk - it is understandable that if even one of the highest officials in the highest rank could be forcibly dismissed in this way, how could other lower officials be placed in the eyes of the minister?

This panic was further exacerbated by the fact that His Excellency the Minister forcibly chose Mr. Louis-Carslaire, Director of the Investigation Division, as his successor to the Director, despite the doubts of others, after the retirement of General Vello.

Because of General Willow's experience, under the strong pressure exerted by the minister, no one in the ministry now dares to make irresponsible remarks about his instructions, let alone deliberately slack off.

At this moment, the door of the conference room was suddenly opened again, and General San Arnault, dressed in military uniform and with a stern expression, appeared at the door. Everyone quickly stood silent, even Charles.

The minister waved his hand and motioned for everyone to sit down, then walked over to his main seat and sat down, his hands spread on the table.

"Okay, let's start the meeting." He coldly glanced around at the officials around him.

Everyone remained silent and waited for the minister's speech.

After intimidating everyone, the minister first warned them.

"I don't like to say useless words, so I've always been very brief, so please be careful about what I'm saying, because I'm not going to repeat it."

After hearing the minister's words, everyone became even more nervous, and the atmosphere was solemn as if it was about to freeze.

Seeing that everyone had cheered up, the minister didn't say anything more and went straight to the point.

"I met with Mr. President yesterday and briefed him on his recent work. On the whole, the president has been quite satisfied with our recent work, but ......" his tone became stiff again, "and on one issue, the president has reservations about my report. ”

Without waiting for anyone to ask, he immediately continued, "He asked me about the recent African garrison. Because I had served in Africa before, I made a key report to him based on my preconceived impression, and the result was ......"

The minister paused, then accentuated, "The president asked me why I didn't report the latest situation, because he had received reliable information that recently our garrison in Algeria was in trouble. There have been several incidents of clashes between the garrison and the local population, and from the available indications...... There may be a risk of devolution into a large-scale riot. ”

As the narration continued, the minister's voice grew lower and lower, and finally stopped completely.

Then, suddenly, he slapped the table hard.

There was a loud bang, which made a large group of people feel excited.

"As Secretary of the Army, I learned about the African garrison even later than the President, and I had not received an accurate return before! Is this kind of thing normal? Is it acceptable? Looking at the officials at the conference table, the minister scolded, "Because of my dereliction of duty, the president is disappointed in me." Now, then, gentlemen, I will sue you, for I am disappointed in you for your dereliction of duty! ”

A panic quickly spread through the conference room, and many people looked at each other in panic and briefly, for fear that His Excellency the Minister wanted to use this as an excuse to make another major personnel change in the ministry.

At this time, Charles finally spoke.

"Your Excellency, I understand your anger very much, and this is indeed a dereliction of our duty." Charles's tone was very gentle, as if to persuade the general, "However, I believe that this is not a deliberate oversight, but a delay caused by the distance of North Africa. ”

Of course, this is not because of any delay, but because many of the riots are simply the secret order of the president and ministers.

"Then why did the president know?"

"I'm afraid that the governor's report preceded the garrison's report and sent it to the president." "After all, the Governor is accountable to the President, and his submissions will certainly receive the greatest attention from the President, so ...... I think it won't be long before you will receive an official report from the garrison. ”

"Is that so?" The minister still frowned, but his tone had softened a bit, "Well, I can accept this explanation. But if I don't get the report tomorrow, I'm going to be disappointed! ”

The two of them sang and harmonized, and finally scared the officials well and comforted them again.

"But now the most important thing for us is not to report, but to remedy it so that the president will not continue to be disappointed." Charles said suddenly.

"Of course," the minister nodded, "the President has made it clear to me that it is in my country's interests to stabilize and further expand the colonies. The colonies of Algeria and North Africa are areas of important interests that our country has carved out with a great deal of money and blood, and there is absolutely no room for error......"

"That's right, you must do your best to calm the situation!" Charles immediately agreed.

"As the government's military management agency, our greatest obligation is to carry out the will and orders of His Excellency the President."

His Excellency the Minister nodded, "So, I think that in order to suppress any possible commotion as much as possible, we must increase our troops there from the mainland. ”

It wasn't until they heard the minister's words that everyone understood what he really meant.

Whether they agree or not, nothing will change what Charles and the minister have agreed upon.

"I summoned you here today to tell you about the decision of the President and me." The minister's gaze turned back to the officials, "In the next period of time, we must increase a large number of troops to North Africa, replacing some troops that are ineffective in combat or have been serving for a long time and are mentally lazy, so as to calm the situation as much as possible. ”

"Yes!" After hearing the minister's order, the others hurriedly responded loudly.

"But!" The minister suddenly shouted again. Immediately, the room fell silent again.

"This time the matter is urgent and the stakes are high, so we need the most astute and capable troops with a fighting spirit, and we cannot pick a random unit to send to North Africa, which does not make any sense except to deepen the difficulties that already exist." The minister's tone was very stern and calm, but it seemed to contain a deep meaning, "So, we need to screen carefully. ”

Charles sneered inwardly, waiting for the final verdict.

"After deliberation between Mr. President and me, we have finally decided that Monsieur de Treville will be in charge of this screening process......" the minister's indifferent voice drifted into his ears, "he will be in charge of the military parade in the near future, and he will have the best opportunity to observe the fighting will and spirit of the various units and commanders at close range, and he will be in charge of the inspection, so that we can select the most combat-ready troops to be transferred to Africa......"

Yes, that's it.

In the name of selecting 'the most combative troops,' the opposition should be sent to Africa, and this was the decision of Charles and his comrades, but the opponents had nothing to say.

Charles sneered inwardly.

Of course, others could see the scheme, but they didn't care.

Neither Charles nor the general were afraid of the news being spread - and they even felt that it would be a good thing to spread Louis Bonaparte's determination farther through the channels of these people.

"Does anyone have any other opinions?" The minister asked in a loud voice.

"I am at your disposal, Your Excellency." In silence, he replied with a sneer. R1152