I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France
Chapter 140: The Most Powerful War Machine

Chapter 140: Chapter 140: The Most Powerful War Machine

"They can help us withstand any attack!" Xia Fei pointed at the armor of the CA-1 tank, enthusiastically introducing it: "Its front and sides are made of riveted steel plates with a thickness of 11MM. Do you know why it’s 11MM?"

Xia Fei waved at the journalists; he believed interacting with them would liven up the atmosphere.

A journalist raised his hand. Xia Fei recognized him, Kobudo from the Morning Paper, a journalist skilled in writing military articles.

Xia Fei raised his hand to signal him to answer.

Kobudo stood up and pushed his glasses up: "I think it’s because the Germans’ Mauser rifles can only penetrate 10MM steel plates, General!"

Xia Fei nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, the enemy’s bullets can only penetrate 10MM, so the armor thickness is set at 11MM, not more, not less. Do you think the Germans would be anxious about this?"

In the reception room, laughter erupted among the journalists, with someone echoing: "I think they would be so furious they’d shoot themselves, General!"

This prompted another round of snickering.

Xia Fei spread his hands innocently: "I apologize for that, but I really hope that’s the case!"

The laughter in the room grew louder.

...

Terror filled Colonel Kristin’s eyes as he commanded the infantry to continue advancing slowly around the tanks.

The tanks occasionally fired towards the enemy, but Kristin felt it was useless. He noticed that sometimes the shells exploded kilometers away from the enemy’s defenses, and sometimes they detonated almost next to their own people.

If Kristin knew the situation inside the tanks, he might collapse even more: every time a shell is fired, toxic gas instantly fills the tank cabin and cannot be vented out, causing the tank crew to nearly suffocate and, more frighteningly, blurring their vision so the driver could not see the infantrymen lying on the ground to avoid the shells...

The infantry’s screams kept ringing out. Soldiers with a leg crushed by the tank tracks cursed madly, but the tanks continued to advance along their routes, oblivious to everything, just recklessly crashing around on the battlefield.

"Follow behind the tanks!" Colonel Kristin commanded loudly.

The officers immediately passed his orders down.

At least they can block bullets, Colonel Kristin thought, following behind might be safer.

However, Kristin’s next collapse came quickly when he heard the sharp "clang clang" nearby, followed by several CA-1 tanks stopping dead in their tracks.

It’s rifles!

Kristin immediately realized that the enemy had used rifles to penetrate the CA-1 tanks from the front!

What’s going on?!

In the next second, Kristin figured it out: the Germans must have improved their ammunition to increase its penetration power.

Just as he had thought before, the Germans weren’t stupid; they would also ponder how to deal with tanks!

Kristin was stunned for a moment. Soon, he thought of the "Saint Chammon," with armor thickness reaching 17 millimeters; it should be brought up.

But when he turned around, he saw the huge silhouettes of the "Saint Chammon" parked motionless behind, seemingly spectating the battle!

"Those cowards!" Kristin cursed, believing that the tank soldiers driving the "Saint Chammon" were too scared to fight.

...

"This is just our vanguard!" Xia Fei raised his hand to signal his assistant to change the slides. Instantly, a colossal object appeared on the wall.

The journalists gasped in amazement and envy.

"Now!" Xia Fei’s voice gradually turned exultant: "Allow me to formally introduce the ’Saint Chammon’ tank, developed by the Schneider Company, France’s most formidable weapon!"

Xia Fei proudly glanced at the journalists below, saying triumphantly: "Its front armor is 12MM, and the side armor thickness reaches 17MM. So far, no bullet can penetrate it!"

"It uses the most advanced electric transmission engine, a unique war machine; perhaps we should call it a piece of art!"

(Note: The early models of the ’Saint Chammon’ indeed had thicker side armor than front armor because the designer believed the side armor’s exposed area was larger and more susceptible to attack, hence needing thicker armor.)

The journalists murmured among themselves and nodded frequently, with some even gazing at the steel monsters on the wall in admiration, imagining them sweeping across the battlefield.

It seemed Xia Fei had understood their thoughts. He smiled, puffed out his chest, and said confidently: "Rest assured, gentlemen, they are coordinating with our brave soldiers to charge the enemy lines. Let us wait and witness the miracle together!"

A round of applause erupted in the room, along with cheers from the journalists:

"For France!"

"VivelaFrance!"

Others followed suit and shouted "Vivela," momentarily raising the atmosphere to its peak.

At this moment, Kanes entered, pale and embarrassed. He whispered something in Xia Fei’s ear. Xia Fei looked at Kanes in shock, with eyes full of incredulous questioning, as if waiting for Kanes to give another answer.

However, Kanes shook his head helplessly, indicating he was not joking; this was the final result.

Xia Fei froze for a moment, then quickly turned to the journalists: "Sorry, gentlemen! I need to continue commanding the battle. The press conference ends here; please go back and wait for our victory news!"

After saying that, he left with Kanes without looking back.

Behind him, the journalists murmured:

"Didn’t he say to wait for victory here? Why suddenly tell us to go back?"

"Is it over just like that? What’s the progress on the battlefield?"

"How many enemy lines have we breached?"

...

Suddenly a voice emerged: "Could it be that there has been a change in the battlefield? We haven’t won this battle!"

The room instantly fell silent.

Although the journalists couldn’t believe that such powerful tanks would lose, it seemed the only reasonable guess.

Otherwise, now should be the time to interview the triumphant returning soldiers!

The reporter from Le Figaro signaled his assistant with a glance. The assistant understood, stood up, and walked out of the room.

...

The news soon reached Grevy’s villa. He "hmm’d" and hung up the phone, slowly sitting on the sofa and lighting a cigar.

Though it was expected, he still didn’t understand how Shire could so accurately predict the defeat in this battle.

Was it the artillery issue? Or something else?

Grevy wasn’t interested in these details. He only knew that as things continued to develop, it would be Shire and his tanks that achieved victory.

This is Shire’s plan!

...

Gallieni had been following the battle at Lafox closely. He received the intelligence a few minutes later than Grevy.

The reason was that Xia Fei tried to block the news as he had done before, but Gallieni had already made arrangements, and the intelligence finally reached the City Defense Headquarters.

Gallieni, with a stern face, immediately ordered after hanging up the phone: "Bring Shire back! Now!"