I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France
Chapter 147: Revised - 147 Intelligence from Factional Struggle

Chapter 147: Revised: Chapter 147 Intelligence from Factional Struggle

Paris City Defense Command Operations Department.

Gallieni had an enlarged Lafox map hung on the northern wall, right next to his desk. The map was meticulously marked with every segment of trenches and troop deployments that had been scouted.

Standing in front of the map, Gallieni said heavily to Shire, "These were all obtained by our warriors’ lives and blood!"

Shire responded, "Actually, we could get this intelligence using airplanes!"

Gallieni gave Shire a stern look, as if to say, you’re not giving Xia Fei any credit; all his efforts have been in vain!

However, Gallieni said nothing more. He pointed at the map with a baton and began analyzing, "From previous battles, the midsection of the defense line is the hardest to breach—there’s a high ground over a hundred meters above sea level, where the Germans have a top-down advantage. A large amount of barbed wire is laid in front of the defense line, and there might be an artillery regiment behind the high ground!"

At this point, Gallieni put away the baton and thoughtfully said, "Therefore, I’m considering whether we should attack from the flanks..."

"No, I think we should attack from the midsection!" Shire disagreed with the plan. "The Germans’ artillery range reaches 12 kilometers. Whether our army attacks from the flanks or the front, we have to deal with their fire. The terrain at the front is flat, while the flanks are rugged. If tanks attack from the flanks, they will face more artillery fire along the way!"

"Makes sense!" Gallieni nodded, pointing the baton at the German artillery positions and asked, "So you mean, a rapid breach from the front directly towards the enemy artillery positions?"

"Yes, that’s my idea!" Shire nodded. "As long as we destroy the enemy artillery positions, the subsequent troops can recapture the Lafox region in one fell swoop!"

...

Two hours later, Shire’s battle plan was laid out on the desk of Khalil’s command post.

Khalil found it strange and asked Wolf, "This is the highest secret in France, possibly known only by Gallieni. How did our intelligence agents find out so quickly? Are you sure it’s true?"

Khalil suspected that agents had "forged" the intelligence in order to take credit.

Wolf smiled confidently, "No doubt, Colonel. This is indeed true. The source of the intelligence is very reliable!"

Seeing Khalil still skeptical, Wolf leaned in and whispered, "It’s provided by a certain French political party!"

Khalil instantly understood—it was internal political strife within France.

Simply put, if the group represented by Gallieni and Shire were to win, it would be detrimental to a certain political faction. So that faction used its connections to obtain the intelligence from inside, then secretly passed it to German agents.

Khalil laughed and sarcastically cursed, "Stupid Frenchmen, they always put internal strife first!"

"Otherwise, why would they be called French?" Wolf smiled in response.

"So!" Khalil asked again, "Do we even know how many tanks Shire has and his troop strength?"

"Of course!" Wolf nodded, "Including Shire’s attack time!"

Although Gallieni had built a railroad directly to Shire’s tractor factory, a certain French party had agents inside the factory, making it easy to know what was loaded on the trains each day and in what quantities.

Khalil nodded, "If that’s the case, it will be much easier!"

Just then, the telegraph operator eagerly reported, "Colonel, General Waldock has approved our request. He has decided to transfer the artillery regiments from Andrush and Tamon areas under our command, with priority for ammunition supply!"

The command post immediately erupted in cheers. Lafox originally had only two artillery battalions, but now directly reinforced with two artillery regiments. Not to mention Shire’s tanks, even ten Shires wouldn’t be enough against them!

...

At the Palais Bourbon House of Representatives, Gallieni was standing again on the podium facing the questioning of the MPs.

Since he had harshly ridiculed the MPs at the House last time, Gallieni had been prepared to ignore these MPs—they had nothing but stupidity and greed. Gallieni did not want to see their faces.

However...

The MPs would decide based on this inquiry whether to deploy Shire and his tanks to replace Xia Fei in the battle.

Gallieni had to comply.

"General Gallieni!" An MP rose, using a high-pitched and elegant false voice to ask, "Do you really believe a 17-year-old kid, a Lieutenant who has never attended military school nor experienced the horrors of war, has the capability and experience to command the French Army against the Germans? We are even considering replacing Xia Fei, who has 44 years of military service and is the renowned Commander-in-Chief of France!"

Gallieni simply replied, "Sorry, what did you say? I didn’t catch that."

The MPs were stunned, followed by a burst of laughter.

Everyone understood that Gallieni had used a clever way to deliver a strong blow to the questioner:

The one with distinguished battle merits was precisely the 17-year-old Shire who had never attended military school.

The applauded battle merits of Xia Fei involved suppressing local resistance in the Senegal campaign years ago, where the French Army faced locals wielding sticks, bamboo arrows, and hunting rifles.

The other merit, widely publicized by the media, was the victory in the Battle of the Marne River, and the main contributor to this battle was precisely Gallieni and Shire.

The MP did not continue and sat back in his seat awkwardly.

Another MP stood up. Gallieni recognized him as Steed from Saint-Etienne Armory, and knew Steed had a grudge against him over machine gun issues.

Gallieni sneered inside, guessing this guy would probably raise more baseless suspicions!

Unexpectedly, Steed asked in a calm and conciliatory tone, "General Gallieni, I just want to know one thing. Is what Shire said to the media true? That is, the CA-1 and ’Saint Chammon’ tanks have obvious flaws?"

His question was immediately met with boos from surrounding MPs.

Gallieni was surprised. This question was in his favor. When did Steed suddenly change, or had he gone senile?

"It’s true!" Gallieni straightforwardly answered. "Facts also prove Shire was correct. The flaws in CA-1 and ’Saint Chammon’ are evident. They failed to consider real battlefield conditions and focused solely on piling up cannons and machine guns, resulting in..."

Before he could finish, he was met with immediate opposition:

"That’s not the tanks’ problem; they lack experience and cannot use them properly!"

"It’s the soldiers’ inability to cooperate!"

"It’s related to the Germans using new rifle ammunition; Shire’s tanks would fail similarly!"

...

The owner of Schneider, James, calmly rose and said:

"Gentlemen, why don’t we give it a try? Let Shire command the ’Saint Chammon’ tanks in an offensive against the enemy; wouldn’t that be more promising than tanks with just machine guns?"

Gallieni cursed silently: Shameless, for the sake of profit, he would say anything!