"You don't deserve to be called French people!"

"Dear General.

Here I would like to first express my personal respect to you. Today, I witnessed the feat of a heroic officer..."

In the headquarters, Pétain read Colonel Bourdo's letter. When he looked at the "Captain Charles de Gaulle" mentioned in the letter, he was stunned for a moment. He remembered that Captain de Gaulle was the first man under his command.

A trainee of the 33rd Infantry Regiment, and then the memory slowly came to Pétain's mind.

At that time, de Gaulle entered the 33rd Infantry Regiment as a trainee, and Pétain was only a colonel. He had just assumed the post of commander of the 33rd Infantry Regiment. One day, Colonel Pétain gave his men a command on the banks of the Scabe River.

The officers explained the importance of firepower. His views were very popular in the French General Staff at the time, and were considered by many to be very advanced views. Because at that time, most people still believed that bayonets were superior to guns. At that time,

When Colonel Pétain was talking about a military exercise conducted by Prince Condé, the young and energetic Second Lieutenant de Gaulle immediately interrupted him without any scruples and pointed out that Marshal Turenne used artillery fire to overwhelm Condé and save Arras. Listen.

At his interruption, the junior officers present were shocked, but the offended regimental commander immediately became interested in this tall young junior officer.

It was from that time on that Pétain remembered the young and tall Second Lieutenant Charles de Gaulle. Then Pétain was not angry, but instead took de Gaulle's arm intimately and left the ranks of officers for a walk.

Bian heatedly discussed the respective strengths of Condé and Turenne. This was the first time that de Gaulle had been favored by Pétain.

On the French Bastille Day in 1913, Colonel Pétain rode on horseback to review his troops. When he reviewed the formation commanded by Second Lieutenant de Gaulle, he found that de Gaulle had disbanded the team! This was a serious violation of military discipline, and the colonel commander was furious.

, ordered the confinement of De Gaulle. De Gaulle thought that he was acting under orders and had to accept the responsibility for others. However, once the military order was issued, he had to sit in the confinement room obediently and watched helplessly that he would not be able to go to Paris for vacation as usual on Sunday the next day. Unexpectedly, Pétain

The colonel canceled all punishments at the last moment. De Gaulle was so happy that he ran to the train station and jumped on the train that had just started. When he walked into a box out of breath, he found that there was already a man in civilian clothes sitting there.

A middle-aged man. This man is none other than Pétain!

"Ah, young man, you almost missed the bus?" the colonel asked with a hint of ridicule.

"Yes. Colonel, but I think I can definitely catch up." The young second lieutenant replied calmly.

"But you were still locked up at that time!"

"That's true. But since the punishment is unfair, I believe you will revoke it."

This interaction between de Gaulle and Pétain later developed into a friendship between a senior general and a talented young protégé that continues to this day. It can be said that Pétain was extremely impressed with this young man, and now

The talented young man in his eyes was on the front line. Just like the personal courage he had displayed before the war, he made a decision that many people had never made. Thinking about his many years of interaction with him, he felt that

Pétain, who regretted his sacrifice beyond words, read the last sentence of the letter.

"...If every judge was like him, maybe we would have won the war!"

Seeing the end of the colonel's letter, Pétain was extremely distressed and immediately decided to posthumously award this young and heroic officer, who was also his disciple, the highest medal of honor, the Cross of Honor. When he signed the order, he wrote:

reason:

"Captain de Gaulle, who commanded the company, is known for his excellent results in moral and intellectual training. On that day, his battalion was heavily bombarded by the enemy and suffered heavy casualties. At the same time, the enemy approached his company from all sides. This officer led his troops to attack bravely.

, engaging in fierce hand-to-hand combat with the enemy was the only choice that did not violate his sense of military honor. This officer sacrificed his life for his country in the fierce battle and is worthy of being an unparalleled officer in all aspects."

After writing this order, Pétain frowned. He was not only sad for Charles' death, but more importantly, the situation here did not get better as everyone expected, but became worse and worse.
Chapter completed!