Father of France

Chapter 44 Internationalist Fighter Koman
"Why are you telling me this?" Antonio was puzzled, not understanding why the French soldier was behaving strangely.

“I sympathize with you,” Coman said without any hesitation. “We are all Latin-speaking countries. The war will eventually pass, and we will be neighbors for a long time.”

Koeman was even amazed at his own potential to be a saint. In reality, it was simply because Italian food was so reassuring; Italy's betrayal during the French campaign was now being retaliated against.

But to Antonio, the meaning was somewhat profound; he even suspected that the soldier before him was someone deeply entrenched in the depths of capitalism.

“Let’s get the textile industry back up and running first,” Coman said, adopting a “I am one of us” tone that further reinforced Antonio’s illusion. “We can help you, but that’s all the help I can offer. As far as my rank and position are concerned, there’s not much I can do.”

"Thank you, Comrade Coman." Antonio now regarded Coman as a French internationalist fighter, which was exactly what Coman had hoped for.

Having shown another side of himself, after seeing off the Italian Communist cadre, Koeman turned back to the command post with a knowing look on his face, and saluted his superior, Celt, saying, "Sent him away, Battalion Commander."

Celt breathed a sigh of relief and said something that was agreed upon by all the officers present: "The Soviet Union's influence has penetrated deep into European countries, which is truly terrifying."

Indeed, Koeman knew this was not unfounded worry. The Italian Communist Party claimed to have two million members, which was several times the number of the French Communist Party, even though Italy's population was smaller than France's.

This explains why the United States intervened and integrated all non-communist political forces in Italy to create a Catholic Democratic Party.

During the Cold War, Italy was a de facto one-party state, similar to Japan but also different. Japan's Liberal Democratic Party was formed through internal power struggles between the Hatoyama family and other political forces, ultimately resulting in a compromise and consolidation. Even without this consolidation into the 1955 system, the Japanese Communist Party would have struggled to maintain power.

If Italy does not unify, the Italian Communist Party could very well come to power through the general election.

Celt came to the command post to discuss how to handle the criminal acts of the French troops, but he ran into the Italian Communists who came to hold them accountable, and now they have finally returned to the main topic.

"What atrocities?" Koeman was so focused on the legal robbery that he didn't notice the isolated, small-scale, and numerous individual cases of so-called atrocities. He thought it was related to the looting of cultural relics in Bokassa.

Celt didn't hide anything from his subordinates and said directly, "Some Italian women have claimed to have been raped. The Italian Communist Party probably doesn't know this yet, otherwise they would have just said so."

It sounds like the Italian Communist Party is also focusing on the big picture and neglecting the small details, and hasn't yet listened to the general voice of the people!

Koeman breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. "It's such a small matter. Just put a mask on the soldier involved, tie him up, walk him around the street, and then send him back to his country to be integrated into another unit."

The US did the same thing to Japan and South Korea, and now that it's wartime, Koeman's punishment is even more severe; he was paraded through the streets.

Is such a trivial matter even worth mentioning? Rape during wartime is the least noteworthy crime because various TV dramas always depict invaders abusing women. Why is this portrayed? Because it's the only wartime atrocity that can pass censorship and is acceptable to ordinary people.

“That’s definitely a good idea, a quick way to quell the discontent in the occupied territories.” Kyle nodded. They’ve already paraded through the streets, what more could they ask for?

The Youth Division was essentially a military police unit, meaning it had the authority to restrain the actions of French troops abroad. However, it was not applicable within France, and this became a problem only after it reached Italy.

While in Valle d'Aosta, Corman still strictly emphasized French military discipline, because Valle d'Aosta had been recognized as part of French territory, and of course, no one could act recklessly.

However, Corman and the two battalions of the Antioch Regiment remained stationary in Val-le-d'Aosta, preoccupied with the referendum, leaving the French troops in other occupied territories unattended. Only now were they being assigned the duties of gendarmes. These French soldiers were unlucky to become victims of the strict discipline of the French army in the occupied territories. Corman certainly couldn't handle such a humiliating scene himself, so he had his assistant, Lefèvre, supervise it.

"Actually, the punishment for the soldiers involved is not excessive. The most severe punishment would be to parade them through the streets, making sure that as many Turin citizens as possible see it."

After Coman finished assigning Lefebvre's tasks, the important thing was for him to personally take charge of transporting the wealth plundered from Turin back to the country.

In the streets of Turin, a parade showcasing the honor of the French army has begun. The soldier involved, Lefebvre, explained that it was an embarrassing incident, which was barely considered a way to get away with it.

The crowd on the street grew larger and larger; some began to curse, some cried, and others simply watched in silence.

“They broke into my apartment in the San Salvador district last night,” a young woman said to the person next to her, her voice trembling. “My sister is still in the hospital.”

The Antioch Regiment soldiers did not stop the angry citizens. In fact, the parade itself was tacitly approved—the French occupying forces were eager to prove to the Italians that they would defend their honor and punish their own scoundrels.

Regardless of how this is handled, even if it's a minor issue, it absolutely cannot be left unaddressed.

The citizens of Turin may know they've been fooled, but Koeman absolutely cannot stop fooling them altogether.

While parading through the streets, Koeman was also maintaining contact with Antonio and gathering intelligence on the Italian Communist Party, wanting to know its support rate in Italy.

Because a portion of General Dragon's First Army is still resting and reorganizing in southern Italy, and Koeman actually has some understanding of the Italian Communist Party (CP), whose support rate is higher in southern Italy than in northern Italy. It's similar to the situation in Italy where the south is poor and the north is rich.

The main collaborator of the Allies in southern Italy was the Italian Mafia, which was truly the best of a bad bunch; there really were no other options.

The Italian Mafia might sound plausible, but during Mussolini's rule in Italy, the paramilitary organization Brownshirts suppressed the Italian Mafia to the point of near extinction without the need for the regular Italian army. This demonstrates just how vulnerable the world's top organized crime groups are in the face of powerful forces.

“We have already begun the work of restarting the textile industry.” After a few days, Antonio had initially established his trust in Coman and concluded that the French soldier was a comrade of France.

Koeman offered what advice he could, using sincerity to appease them and helping to maintain the textile factory's vicinity and create a safe working environment. He treated the Italian Communists much better than the French Communists. Even the most steadfast internationalist fighters couldn't find fault with him.

When Koeman destroyed Italy's textile industry, he never imagined that only France and Italy could sell clothes and shoes at high prices, and that the textile industry was no longer relevant to that.

France and Italy are just taking advantage of people's lack of understanding. For industries like textiles, which were at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution, Corman couldn't possibly stop their recovery. He might as well be more generous and offer direct assistance.

While helping the Italian Communist Party, he also took the opportunity to transport the looted wealth away and made contact with Martin in Genoa, where things went relatively smoothly.

“We’ve decided to hold a conference in a few days, which will be attended by senior executives,” Antonio informed Koeman tentatively.

"Can I participate? You know, the internal relations among the Allies are very complicated right now. This kind of mobilization conference will definitely be watched by the Allies. If I participate, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks." Koman did not dodge the test, and his actions were in accordance with his conscience.

(End of this chapter)