Tens of thousands of defeated soldiers mutinied, killed the military police, seized the arsenal, and occupied several cities in the Champagne region. There were even reports that some wanted to negotiate unilaterally with the German Allied Forces.
When the news reached Paris, the whole country was shaken.
Billefort had only just become this so-called interim president, and his hair was already nearly half gray.
Billefort had never imagined he would face such enormous difficulties. Before he had time to enjoy the benefits of power, pressure from every side was already suffocating him.
The British, the Austrians, even his own people—all treated him like dirt and were doing everything they could to kill him. What kind of president was this? He was nothing but a punching bag.
Whatever action Billefort took now was bound to be wrong. But worse, he couldn't afford to do nothing. That was what infuriated him most.
Faced with this predicament, the only thing he seemed able to do was tear down the east wall to patch the west one, using newly recruited troops to put down the unrest.
Then he would pin his hopes on this exhausted new army to stop the German Allied Forces from advancing. Just thinking about it made Billefort wonder whether something was wrong with his head.
Leaving aside whether the so-called new army could defeat the mutinous troops, even if it could, who could guarantee the rebels wouldn't surrender to the Germans again—or even throw caution to the wind and simply let the German Allied Forces cross the border?
In that case, the so-called new army wouldn't have even a one-in-ten chance of winning. So negotiating seemed like the best choice.
But would the rebels make outrageous demands? He didn't dare think about it. At this rate, he might as well