Chapter 141:

Words : 1092 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Chapter 141: "We vanish when needed. Strike where unseen. Haunt where they don’t look.”Rain hadn’t touched the dry fields of Sainte-Marie in four days, but the ground was torn up as if a war had already passed through. Rows of muddy trenches, stacked crates, trucks, and yelling drill sergeants made it even more chaotic. This was no ordinary garrison. This was Moreau’s army. (Not in literal sense.) Within the reinforced HQ tent. Maps blanketed the walls regional overlays, logistics schedules, doctrine trees. A black chalkboard dominated the rear, written with status reports, marked in red chalk. 1st Reformed Mechanized Regiment Reims. 789 troops. 94% PAP-35 equipped. Combat Readiness: High 3rd Mobile Rifle Battalion Le Mans. 427 troops PAP drilled Urban training completed 5th Night Raiding Company Lyon. 154 troops Specialized kit + night optics S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. 9th Colonial Experimental Unit Dakar. Awaiting PAP kit delivery (air-drop scheduled May 15) Major Moreau leaned over the central map table, flanked by Renaud to his right and two captains to his left. Behind them stood De Gaulle, tall, arms folded, observing with eyes that could skin a bad plan in five seconds flat. "Captain Donat," Moreau said, glancing at a young logistics officer, "update on production?" Donat pulled a paper from his file. "Saint-Étienne has finished Line Three conversion. Weekly output of the PAP-35B will exceed 270 by early June. Arsenal of Châtellerault is adding a folding-stock variant for paratroopers. Marseille is outfitting the crate integration teams now." "Standardization?" Renaud asked, stepping in. "Are we still seeing compatibility issues?" "Minimal, sir. Two faulty receiver groups in last week’s batch, but that’s less than 0.3% failure rate. The night kit for the 5th Company is fully functional now. We’ve drilled 19 hours straight without mechanical failure." Moreau grunted approval. "What about field data from Reims?" he asked. Captain Leclerc responded, holding a clipboard. "Simulated forest incursion last Thursday. The 1st Mechanized Regiment completed sweep-and-neutralize operations in 2.2 hours. Casualty simulation: 11%. Enemy projected loss: 58%." De Gaulle spoke for the first time. "They used live-scenario protocols?" Leclerc nodded. "Yes. Mixed terrain, limited visibility, fog simulation. Rapid flanking with PAP fireteams split into 3-man pods. High maneuverability. Communications relayed via encoded field radios. No horses used. All mechanized." "Good," De Gaulle muttered. "That scares the cavalry. As it should." Moreau chuckled quietly, then turned serious. "And urban?" "Le Mans reports a full sweep through mock-quarter in 35 minutes. Night operation. No casualties. Doctrine A fireteams breached and cleared four structures, eliminated a fortified sniper nest, and extracted a hostage simulation. Opposing force used old-line Lebel squads with standard 1916 doctrine. They didn’t stand a chance." Renaud raised his eyebrows. "What about the prisoners?" "All extracted alive. Including one staged injury. Team rotated med-evac responsibilities mid-assault." "That’s doctrinal gold," Moreau said. From the corner, De Gaulle unfolded a telegram and handed it to Moreau. "Vincennes wants to trial the PAP line in the 27th Alpine next. They’ve requested your best NCOs to assist in doctrinal conversion." "They’ll get 2nd Battalion’s instructors. Vernaud leads the company. He drills until men forget they weren’t born with a rifle." "You trust him?" De Gaulle asked. "With my life," Moreau said. "Twice already." At the other end of the room, a junior clerk posted a fresh logistics update. PAP Doctrine Phase III - Cross-Unit Combat Integration. Another sheet showed ammunition output. 41,200 standard PAP rounds manufactured, with tracer integration now under testing. "Sir," Donat interrupted, "French attachés report German officers watching our drills from consulates in Metz and Strasbourg. Berlin knows. They’re already analyzing the doctrine." Moreau’s mouth twisted into a bitter smile. "Good. Let them watch. Doctrine Spectre isn’t a secret. It’s a warning." De Gaulle took a cigarette from his coat and lit it with a frown. "Your field manual’s already circulating through whispers in the academy. Some call it madness. Others... inevitability." Moreau folded his arms. "They call it what they like. When the next war hits the Ardennes, they’ll call it our salvation." "Doctrine Spectre," Renaud said again. "You still like the name?" Moreau nodded. "We vanish when needed. Strike where unseen. Haunt where they don’t look." De Gaulle flicked ash into a tin and walked to the table’s edge. "But to win, we need more than ghosts. We need teeth." "I’ve got those too," Moreau replied, flipping a page. Schematics showed the integration of PAP fireteams with 2nd Light Armor. "Fast deployment, armored cover. Night compatibility. The 2nd Regiment will become a hammer," he said. "The PAP teams are the spear." "And the Night Raiders?" Renaud asked. "They’ve completed 37 hours of live forest maneuvers. Four sabotage simulations. Eight kill-zone ambushes. Zero deaths. That team is not a company anymore." "What are they?" "A myth in boots." De Gaulle looked over the numbers again. "When do we go wide?" Moreau circled a date on the wall calendar: March 1937. "By then, six regiments PAP-integrated. Mountain, mechanized, colonial. Urban and night doctrines complete. High-altitude drills scheduled in Vosges for winter. Colonial variants tested in Dakar, Madagascar, Algiers." "And if Paris pushes back?" Renaud asked. "They can push all they want," Moreau said. "I’ve got the results. And the backing." "Whose backing?" De Gaulle asked. "Numbers," Moreau said. "And bullets." A murmur of laughter. Then silence. Renaud stepped to the side flap and pulled it open. Hundreds of soldiers moved across the fields in coordinated formations. Fireteams rolled out in wedge patterns. Simulated cover fire was called in with flares. Squads disappeared into woodland and reappeared behind flanking positions. "They look different now," Renaud said. "They move like a modern army." "No," Moreau said quietly. "They move like an answer." He left the tent and walked out toward the field. Cadets parted around him. Sergeants stood straighter. A lieutenant snapped a salute. Moreau didn’t stop. He pointed toward the squad nearest the treeline. "Reset kill zone five. Re-run the night path under fog simulation. Add an artillery stress marker." "Yes, sir!" Moreau continued to watch each and every moment. 1936 is here and he still remeber his early day in Verdun, a intelligence officer came to him asking about his opinion on Spain. Which indicated that some in the higher command were interested in the civil war to come. Now with him here it will not just be a matter of intention but reality. His troops will fight against the best of best from Germany soon.

Chapter 141:

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