Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: How to Become a Monster
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📰 Breaking News
Flash Update!Paris under air raid! The Eiffel Tower has collapsed! Thousands dead!Paris bombardé! La tour Eiffel s’est effondrée! Des milliers de morts!Paris hit by air raid! Eiffel Tower collapses! Thousands killed!
The shocking news that rocked all of Europe spread as far as America and Japan, blanketing the entire world.
The people of France were enraged, and their government and parliament gained an unassailable sword.
The pretext of punishing those responsible for the Paris air raid. It was a legitimate, righteous blade of purge backed by public support.
"Paris has been attacked."
President Raymond Poincaré appeared before the National Assembly and delivered a speech.
Every word carried weight.
"Our proud republic has been trampled, its tricolor flag cast down."
Not a single member from the ruling party or the opposition heckled or sneered. They all listened quietly to the president's address.
"...Our pride and symbol, the Eiffel Tower, has fallen."
Even in this era, there were those who viewed the Eiffel Tower negatively, but now they understood.
That the tower they saw every morning on their way to work and every evening on their way home had been their symbol.
The Paris sky without the Eiffel Tower felt... unbearably empty.
"Thousands have died. Among them was the great architect, Mr. Eiffel."
The actual death toll was around 120, but politicians, witnessing the fury of the citizens, inflated the number.
As if it were the yet-to-occur Guernica bombing.
"Mr. Eiffel's son watched his father's last breath while holding him as the tower collapsed. Countless others lost their children, or fathers and mothers in the same way."
"..."
"It is a tragedy beyond words. We will never see them again."
Krrrind— As the atmosphere heated up, Poincaré paused briefly and ground his teeth.
His lips trembled with rage, and embers began to grow within the hearts of the assemblymen.
"Yesterday's unprecedented... vile, cowardly, and surprise attack has made it abundantly clear to us and our era."
The assemblymen listened intently to the president.
"That the age of tolerance and justice, enlightenment and hope, is over. The end of the Belle Époque is nigh!"
The assemblymen applauded lightly in agreement with Poincaré's resolute words.
"The air raid on Paris has materialized a brutal threat to the lives and property of our citizens! It is a fundamental threat to our republic and an act that has destroyed the last vestiges of harmony between nations that should have endured forever!"
"Hear, hear!"
"If they have resolved to become monsters in the end! Then we must respond in kind!!"
The applause grew louder, and the assemblymen raised their voices higher.
"There is no more room for gentlemanly conduct!! We must end this war with our own strength and hang those responsible by the neck!!"
In the midst of the uproar, Poincaré swung his fist forcefully and concluded.
"Therefore, this president requests the Assembly's approval for the 'National General Mobilization Decree'!!"
"Waaaaah!!!"
"Death to the Germans!!"
"For revenge!!"
As the president's speech ended, the assemblymen rose in a standing ovation. Voting began immediately in that state.
The day after the Paris air raid, the French National Assembly passed the National General Mobilization Decree.
In other words, they unanimously declared total war and roared toward the world.
French artists and youths took up arms, and the system was subjected to radical overhaul for the sake of fundamental reform.
As France bared its will and fury, attention now turned to Germany.
What would Germany's response be? They soon found out.
"We express our deepest regrets regarding the collateral damage in Paris."
Germany was nonchalant, as if to say, "What can you frogs do even if you blow off steam?"
It only provoked them further.
"The Eiffel Tower was a key military facility intercepting our communications, so its removal was entirely justified and proper. Yet the French government's hysterical reaction, as if their child had been raped, is utterly incomprehensible."
Diplomats from nations around the world frowned at the provocative tone of the German Empire's Foreign Minister.
The French side, having severed ties and closed their embassy amid the war, was absent.
"Rather, the German Empire intends to hold France accountable."
One could only imagine how France would react to those words.
The diplomats chuckled awkwardly as they pictured it.
"We question their true intentions in placing a military facility in the heart of a civilian area. Whether they used their citizens' lives as a shield for military purposes."
The Foreign Minister stroked his chin as if in thought and smiled.
Unable to contain himself, he paused briefly before continuing.
"Furthermore, as stipulated in the Hague Conventions, the use of chemical weapons is strictly prohibited, yet France has openly employed them on the Western Front."
"...?"
The diplomats tilted their heads at the Foreign Minister's sudden change of topic.
When had France used chemical weapons on the Western Front?
The Foreign Minister addressed their doubts.
"Our forces have suffered significant casualties from what France calls 'tear gas,' with some soldiers left with permanent disabilities in severe cases."
'Aha.'
"Thus, the German Empire expresses its profound regret and..."
As if emphasizing the importance of what followed, the Foreign Minister spoke clearly.
"...demands an apology from France, a promise of non-recurrence, and reparations."
"!"
The very demands Rommel had made to Falkenhayn were now made by the German Empire to France.
The diplomats fell into uneasy contemplation.
Coming right after the Paris air raid statement, and from an enemy nation no less, these demands wouldn't even register.
Yet Germany made them anyway. Any diplomat who didn't sense something off here was unqualified.
What was the true intent...?
Kukukuk.
The diplomats pondered deeply.
The French side, upon hearing Germany's demands, flew into a rage and vehemently refused.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
February 1915.
The Western Front showed no change.
Aside from the fact that it was increasingly coming to resemble the Western Front everyone was coming to know.
Crows that had tasted fresh meat circled endlessly overhead, and the surroundings grew desolate.
"Vive la France!!"
"Kill the Boche!!"
"Machine guns!! Fire!!"
Nevertheless, France's grand offensive continued. For a time after the air raid, their assaults intensified dramatically, but the exchange ratio remained unchanged.
French casualties exceeded 400,000, German over 300,000, and as it grew burdensome, the intensity of their offensives waned once more.
It was the wall of modern warfare that could not be overcome by soldiers' morale and zeal alone.
"We warn you again. Cease the use of chemical weapons immediately, apologize, and promise non-recurrence..."
Meanwhile, Germany, grinding France in a mixer, repeated the warning like a parrot.
Apology, promise of non-recurrence, reparations.
France outright ignored Germany's claims and continued using tear gas.
In fact, they increased its usage.
"...Has the time come at last?"
"Yes, the French forces are exhausted, and the British are off guard. It's the perfect moment."
February passed in that state, and quiet discussions took place in a chamber of OHL.
Along with that, shells stored somewhere began replacing those already at the front.
And the Stormtroopers, honed to perfection by the German Empire thus far, were newly deployed toward Ypres.
"Here, new supplies."
"What... are these? For the face?"
When a soldier asked, the officer who arrived with the supplies nodded.
Behind him, even company and field-grade officers listened attentively.
"That's right. A soldier here will demonstrate how to wear it."
"This uniform is called protective gear, and the mask for the face is a gas mask. These are defensive tools designed to minimize damage from chemical weapons..."
New supplies for the Stormtroopers.
Chemical protective gear, introduced on Rommel's suggestion, was distributed.
Under the skies of Ypres, the war was about to enter a new phase.
The devil looked down upon the people and laughed.