Chapter Thirty-One: The Warrant Officer and the Brigadier General

"It is painful to admit, but it is the truth: we really ought to take from the Germans what is owed to us."

De Gaulle recalled that Henri Fréy had mentioned similar suggestions, but the Secretary-General of the Prime Minister's Office was a conventional bureaucrat, lacking expertise in the defense industry. To seize the precious assets of a defeated nation, the military must be involved.

The fundamental cause of war, in the end, is about seizing people, money, and women. De Gaulle was a soldier himself; he understood this underlying logic and certainly would not stand in the way of the military's basic needs. Therefore, he had agreed to the previous Military Marriage Protection Act—regardless of who proposed it, the security it provided for French soldiers was real and tangible.

Paris had been liberated for only a month, and the force De Gaulle relied upon most was, naturally, the military. The various parties in the provisional government were merely tools used to counter the French Communist Party.

"Mr. Mitterrand, it’s all a misunderstanding." At the Bastille, Korman apologized to Mitterrand with a beaming smile. "I offer my sincere apologies for the trouble my comrades have caused you. Fortunately, no harm was done, and I guarantee that such things will never happen again."

Mitterrand looked haggard, his mind in a daze, as if he were unsure if he were even alive. Looking at the smiling warrant officer before him, he said indignantly, "I am going to file a complaint against you for using extrajudicial punishment."

"That is a serious accusation. The Judicial Purification Committee is responsible for liquidating collaborators; our work is entirely for the defense of France. It is certainly not extrajudicial punishment."

Korman’s smile faded into a serious expression as he swore, "Furthermore, after observation, you have no physical injuries, so how can you speak of such things? If some misunderstandings have led Mr. Mitterrand to have a skewed view of the committee's work, I suggest you lodge a complaint with the Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office."

Korman once again embodied the image of someone holding a big stick while wearing a smile. He had already apologized on behalf of his comrades; if Mitterrand continued to press the issue, he would only be narrowing his own path.

Korman did have a certain filter for historical figures, but Mitterrand was a man, and Korman’s filter for him was not particularly thick. Moreover, in the previous interrogation, Mitterrand had already confessed his crimes on camera. Korman was now acting as a figure of rectification, and Mitterrand should have been grateful to him.

However, Korman would not destroy the film of Mitterrand’s confession and his illicit ties to the Germans; he would keep it, as it might prove useful in the future.

"Take Mr. Mitterrand for a medical examination." Korman gestured for a prison guard. He was a pure soldier who respected evidence and would never allow any gaps in the chain of evidence he had constructed, if only to prevent Mitterrand from biting back once he was released.

What did Mitterrand have to complain about? The four major parties and several minor ones all supported the purging of collaborators; anyone who did not cooperate was going against the tide of history.

After Mitterrand left, looking dispirited, Martin emerged from the shadows and asked with a chuckle, "There are plenty of people like him; is he worth such respect?"

"We are casting a wide net; we cannot let a single fish slip through," Korman said calmly. "Prepare a public apology statement immediately, apologizing for the mistake in arresting the wrong person. Who doesn't make mistakes? Especially when it is Motherland herself who errs."

After speaking, Korman checked the time and decided to go see the state's evidence witness that Alain had found. He didn't even have a watch on his wrist, so he would just have to find an opportunity to loot one from Germany.

Since General Dragom had arrived in Paris, Korman felt he should go home and check in. Being in the same city while living elsewhere was inappropriate. Besides, with the current ramshackle state of Paris, having more access to information was no bad thing. When he returned home, his younger brother was doing homework and Madame Adélaïde was lounging about; neither was worth noting.

General Dragom had finally returned from the Paris City Hall. He did not quite understand the political trade-off between De Gaulle and the Communist Party. In his view, the matter was simple: tell the Communists to hand over their armed forces—what could be so difficult about that?

Korman knew exactly what was going on. In his brief two years as leader after the war, De Gaulle had already attempted to end the parliamentary system, though he had not succeeded. De Gaulle was certainly great for France, but the idea that he had no selfish motives? Where could such a person exist? Why must politicians always be treated as saints?

In the year or so between 1944 and his resignation, what De Gaulle did achieve was the strengthening of the military to prevent a Communist takeover; that, he accomplished. Another goal was establishing a presidential system, but in that, he failed.

As the liberator of France, De Gaulle held immense prestige, but he was a soldier, not a match for these political parties in the art of political collusion. Crucially, De Gaulle did not realize this; he thought he could handle it.

De Gaulle placed the Communist Party in the role of a target, spending over a year slowly stripping away their armed assets, while simultaneously preparing for the presidential system of the Fourth Republic he envisioned. But once he had finally succeeded in stripping away the Communists' weapons, the four major parties of the post-war era became indistinguishable. The Communist Party was no longer special; it was the same as the other three. In the struggle between the parliamentary and presidential systems, De Gaulle overestimated his influence and had to announce his withdrawal from politics as a protest.

De Gaulle had to pay the tuition for his own political education.

Currently, De Gaulle was not taking a hard line against the Communists immediately, but was instead operating through political means like legislation because he believed his own abilities were sufficient to overcome these parties and establish a presidential system, using the Communists as a target to distract the other parties for a time.

Korman did not need to explain the complexities of French political fragmentation to General Dragom, as it did not diminish the authority of the military; in fact, it led to the military’s power further expanding during the long Algerian War. He summarized it in one sentence: "The General is likely keeping the Communists as a target to distract the other parties. As for why he is doing it this way, I don't know."

"General De Gaulle asked the military to draft a plan to seize the German defense industry," General Dragom said, recalling his conversation with De Gaulle at City Hall earlier that day.

"Leave the drafting of this to me." Korman did not decline. He was a warrant officer, but he did not object to doing the work of a brigadier general. "Actually, there is more than one country eyeing the German defense industry; the United States surely has similar plans. But it doesn't matter; Father, I believe you already understand the nature of the Americans."

General Dragom immediately put on an inscrutable look, as if he truly understood, though in reality, he had no idea. But the British had once said that the Americans were the Italians of their side. Montgomery’s persistent refusal to submit to Eisenhower was also due to British officers, represented by him, believing the American military's combat effectiveness was poor.

What Korman meant was different from what Dragom thought. Korman was referring to the American lack of respect for scientific research talent. To put it bluntly, there was a problem with the American public's perception: they did not respect ordinary scientific talent; what they respected was the kind of scientific talent like Einstein.

In the 21st century, this manifested as America harboring a disdain for ordinary science and engineering talent, while placing high value on top-tier researchers who had already proven their worth. In both study abroad and domestic education, top students were considered nerds to be bullied by all, yet there was a great deal of worship for those "god-tier" students who could learn effortlessly as if drinking water, balancing all social activities while still leaving everyone else in the dust. They wanted it all.