Father of France

I'll add some more to Chapter 18.
Henri Freyner was not old, but he was exactly ten years old when the White Feather Movement broke out. When he heard Coman say that ten-year-old French boys could go to the battlefield and five-year-old boys could also contribute to the war, he knew what the warrant officer meant and laughed, "You didn't experience the White Feather Movement either, yet you know all this."

“I have an elder relative with whom I have a good relationship. He joined the army because of the White Feather Movement. General Fang Dan and I have discussed similar issues in detail.”

Koeman brought up General Fontaine, the current French commander in Syria, to bolster the credibility of his words.

Henri Freyner frowned slightly upon hearing this. Fontaine was the current commander of the French army in French Syria, a position of considerable importance. If the commander of the French army in a colony viewed the issue this way, then... the problem couldn't be easily dismissed. He countered, "It seems a considerable number of soldiers are very worried about their post-war treatment, which is understandable."

“Your Excellency Secretary General, please do not misunderstand.” Koeman was still a very polite child, and he spoke with honorifics. “If the treatment you are referring to is something like a pension, then that is not the intention of a patriot who has fought for the country. Money can solve many problems, even most of them, but there are some problems that money cannot solve.”

The world war alone has already mobilized 700,000 to 800,000 soldiers and officers in Syria and African colonies. How much money will be left for each soldier after all that money is distributed?
If giving them all is the same as giving them nothing, then the problem is simple: if giving them some money can motivate patriots to join the army, then the problem is easily solved.

Seeing Henri Freyner's eager expression, Corman continued, "A great and cohesive society must be made up of cohesive families. Only such a great society can unleash its cohesion when faced with external threats, but it seems that French society today lacks this cohesion."

This was a questioning of the state and society. Henri Freyner was about to refute it, but Corman seemed not to notice the other party's reaction and continued, "When a patriot is willing to answer the country's call to join a war with uncertain fate, and transfer the risks of the contest between nations to himself, shouldn't the country do something to protect these patriots?"

That's a very novel perspective," Henry Freyner said after a moment's thought. "So, what is the military's view on regarding safeguards?"

"The First Army Group means that laws and regulations should be introduced to protect military marriages."

At this point, Koeman represented 400,000 officers and soldiers of the First Army. Admittedly, he was only a warrant officer, but that didn't matter. His father had already risen from major to general, so he was qualified. "I believe that once this legal provision is enacted, not only will the First Army support it, but all French and subordinate political entities will support it, from the mainland, Asia, Africa, whether they are Maronites or not, they will all be happy."

Most countries don't actually provide protections for military personnel's marriages. Other countries are irrelevant to Koeman, but France is different. Currently, the treatment of French military personnel focuses on the welfare and medical care of their spouses, which he feels is insufficient.

Koeman then put forward several suggestions to protect military marriages, requiring the military personnel's consent for their spouses to file for divorce.

Disrupting military marriages constitutes a criminal offense, and even if the military spouse consents, the unit to which the spouse belongs can still be held accountable.

"Including the reserves," Coman emphasized to Henri Freyner at the end. He added that he would like to include veterans if it weren't too unreasonable, but it couldn't be too excessive.

This clause would only be added if France were to establish a military government.

Although the French army was so large during the Algerian War that the late Fourth Republic did indeed exhibit characteristics of a military government, and even de Gaulle was called a dictator by the Americans, it was not a true military government after all.

Ensuring the combat effectiveness of soldiers has always been a difficult problem faced by all countries. The collapse of the US conscription system is closely related to the Vietnam War. It was also during that period that American society began to disintegrate. One particularly ironic thing is that Lyndon Johnson, who initiated the escalation of the Vietnam War, made a campaign promise of a great society.

When American soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War returned to the United States with their discharge pay and were then divorced and had their pay taken by their wives, Lyndon Johnson's Great Society would cease to exist.

Before the Vietnam War was over, the United States changed its military service system from conscription to volunteer service.

“Protecting the rights of military personnel is certainly a good thing, but…” Henry Freyner hesitated, thinking that another major issue might be affected. Koeman, unaware of Freyner’s hesitation, could only state his position honestly, “My views on military marriages are not just my own; in fact, the military will soon be making public appeals, so I’m here to reveal this change in advance.”

Will the military make a public appeal? Of course not now, but it will happen soon. He's here to win the support of civilian officials and doesn't want to make it seem like he's coercing them.

Although Paris has been liberated, the war should still be the top priority. Despite some hesitation, Henri Freyner nodded without much thought, saying, "The military's appeal is certainly supported by all sectors of French society, and it is definitely a good thing that the cohesion of French society has been strengthened as a result."

Upon hearing that Henri Freyner had agreed, Coleman breathed a sigh of relief and was about to stand up when he heard the other man mutter helplessly, "We're currently discussing opening up women's suffrage; won't that be met with criticism?"

Upon hearing this, Koman, who was about to stand up and leave, plopped back down.

Indeed, if France were to remove restrictions on women's suffrage, some military wives might be unhappy, especially since this is a country that prides itself on progress, having progressed to the point where ten-year-old boys can go to war.

Henry Freyner also noticed Coman's action of getting up and then coming back, a look of doubt flashing across his face. "Is there anything else?"

"Let me add something," Koeman said with a confident expression. "If we don't fight for French men now and don't restrict women's suffrage, it will be too late after the war ends. The war is still ongoing, and given the dire consequences of the fall of our homeland, we must launch a counterattack on German soil. The bloodshed and sacrifice of our frontline soldiers will inevitably require a large reserve of blood."

“Indeed, it is what we should do.” Henri Freyner nodded solemnly. He could absolutely understand that ensuring the blood supply for the soldiers on the front lines was something that needed no further explanation.

"Therefore, we need to mobilize the whole society to establish a blood bank. Everyone, regardless of age or gender, should participate. Our Youth Division can take charge of this work," Koman volunteered. "Only in this way can we ensure the needs of frontline soldiers to the greatest extent possible and reduce unnecessary casualties."

Although strictly speaking, the work of the Youth Division is similar to that of the military police special forces, they are still soldiers in name, and ensuring the safety of soldiers is their duty.

But that wasn't actually Koeman's goal. There have been cases of lynching women in Western Europe, including France. It wasn't just France that experienced such incidents, but it did start in France.

Koeman certainly did not approve of this kind of humiliating lynching. He had his own methods. It is estimated that around 20,000 French women were humiliated, but the number of children left behind during the German occupation of France was as high as 200,000, so this figure does not match up.

Therefore, it can be concluded that a large number of French women escaped lynching. He wanted to find these women who had escaped lynching, as well as the children of Germans, and use the excuse that frontline soldiers needed blood reserves. Although blood tests are not as effective as DNA tests, they are the only feasible method at this stage.

That's why he wanted the power to execute this matter. As long as he had the power to execute it, he would be able to achieve another goal while completing his work, since this good thing would definitely receive support in name only.

“It’s absolutely not an exaggeration for a French man to call me ‘Dad’ because of this,” Koeman felt he deserved it.

　Although I usually write very poorly at the beginning, the first few chapters of this book seem to be the worst.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)