Colonel Browning was impulsive by nature. He arrived in Dawaaz at 1 a.m., leading his Third Infantry Regiment with nearly 2,000 men and over 500 motorcycle sidecars. Engines rumbled, headlights blazed, and every soldier was armed. At the town's entrance, they were stopped by guards.
Under normal circumstances, the guards wouldn't dare challenge troops fresh off the battlefield. But after the previous incident with the "Artillery Colonel," they reluctantly stepped forward to question this rather "unfriendly-looking" unit.
As expected, tensions rose, and a heated exchange ensued. The commotion roused the townspeople, who feared these soldiers had been sent by capitalists to harm Charles in the dead of night. Within minutes, a militia had assembled in his defense.
At that time, Charles was fast asleep. He was jolted awake by Camille, who entered pale-faced, with Deyoka behind her, urging him to leave. Still groggy and unsure of the situation, Charles was whisked away under the militia's protective cover as they tried to slip him out through a different route.
Major Laurent eventually arrived and called headquarters to confirm that Colonel Browning had indeed been deployed to the town. Only then was the misunderstanding cleared up.
Unaware of the havoc he had caused, Colonel Browning greeted a disheveled and visibly irritated Charles with enthusiasm.
"Hey, Lieutenant, long time no see! Out for a late-night stroll?" he asked, cheerfully oblivious. "Why don't we give you a lift? Those sidecars you designed have been amazing—and your tactics helped us defeat so many of the enemy!"
As Browning's laughter echoed awkwardly in the tense silence, he noticed the hostile stares of everyone around him and trailed off into a strained chuckle.
Charles shook his head in frustration. He had wanted to keep this special training low-profile, but Browning's chaotic arrival had turned the whole town upside down. By the next day, newspapers were already buzzing with theories and speculation:
"The 'Commander of the Marne' has returned to Dawaaz with his troops, now stationed at Charles' factory!"
"Is Gallieni hoping to recreate the victory at the Marne—with sidecars?"
"Sidecars have no armor. Can Charles hope to achieve a miracle against Schneider?"
Any hope for secrecy was gone. The Germans only needed to buy a newspaper to know Charles' schedule, unit details, and training location. He realized that soon enough, even the Mark I tank would be revealed. As if on cue, he saw that a photograph of the Mark I had already appeared in the papers.
The press wasn't kind:
"My God, is this Charles' latest tank design? It looks so strange!"
"Rumor has it that it has only three machine guns, two of which are outdated Hotchkiss models!"
"He thinks he can defeat the Germans with this? And the military bought a hundred of them?"
Gallieni was furious. The battle hadn't even begun, and the enemy already knew everything. "You should work on the factory's security measures!" he snapped at Charles, who had never seen him so agitated before. "If you can't handle it, I'll step in and take care of it myself."
"No need, General," Charles replied. "I can handle it, but…"
"One day, these tanks will have to make their way from Dawaaz to the Paris train station," Charles explained helplessly. "It's the only way to transport them to the front. How can we hide their movements along the road?"
Gallieni sighed, seeing the problem. Any reporter stationed near the factory would be able to report the tanks' departure, and the Germans would immediately know when Charles planned to strike. After a moment of thought, Gallieni ordered, "Then we'll lay a railway directly to Dawaaz."
He assigned five construction teams to work on the track, aiming to complete it within two weeks. The line would go straight to Charles' factory with no stops along the way and terminate at a dedicated station inside the factory itself. As for factory security, Charles left that matter to Deyoka, figuring that what was known was already known.
Colonel Estienne arrived in Paris the following night, only to be detained by Gallieni's men upon arrival. He spent the entire night being questioned. Gallieni was thorough; he believed that people were most truthful when exhausted, speaking without overthinking—a method that, while grueling, stopped short of actual torture.
Estienne passed the test. When he finally arrived at Charles' tractor factory, his eyes were bloodshot, and his face was so haggard it looked almost distorted from fatigue.
Charles gathered both Browning and Estienne in front of the Mark I tank and nodded toward it. "You have two weeks to learn to work with this and to defeat the Germans," he said.
Browning took it in stride, showing no particular excitement over the tank's size, nor disappointment that it had no cannon. Charles was pleased by his reaction. A professional soldier, he knew, would focus on whether a tank suited the battlefield and mission rather than simply on its firepower.
Estienne, on the other hand, circled the tank, his excitement growing with each step. The fatigue lines on his face gradually disappeared, and he looked younger by the minute.
"Lieutenant!" Estienne approached Charles, a glimmer of uncertainty in his eyes as he spoke hesitantly. "I'd guess… it's meant to cross trenches?"
Charles nodded. Estienne had an eye for tank design; he understood the Mark I's main purpose at a glance.
Charles led them both around the tank, with Estienne following behind him like a student, while Browning ambled along casually, touching this and that as if he were shopping. Charles ignored Browning's antics and turned to Estienne with a question.
"Colonel, in your opinion, what is the most basic function of a tank?"
Estienne thought carefully, answering with the caution of a student addressing a teacher: "To provide cover for infantry advance and break through enemy lines?"
Charles nodded. "If it can't even achieve that…"
Estienne suddenly understood. "Then none of its weapons mean anything. My God, we overlooked this—and that's why the CA-1 and the Saint-Chamond failed so miserably!"
This was critical. The primary role of a tank in WWI was to act as a shield for infantry, protecting them from the deadly machine guns on the frontlines.
To achieve this, a tank needed sufficient speed to avoid becoming an easy target for enemy artillery, as well as adequate armor and the capability to cross trenches. Otherwise, it would either be immobilized in a crater or shot through by enemy rifle fire before it even reached enemy lines. In such a case, adding more weapons was meaningless.
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