I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France
Chapter 151 All of This is Shire’s Scheme

Chapter 151: Chapter 151 All of This is Shire’s Scheme

Fairworth Town, the rain suddenly intensified, but it still couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the reporters. In groups of three or two, they discussed the current situation:

"It’s more than a hundred kilometers from here to Paris, the train should arrive in about three hours, right?"

"Not necessarily, it’s wartime now, there are many trains traveling back and forth, they might be blocked on the way!"

"Even so, they should be able to arrive by noon!"

...

However, even past noon, there was still no sign of Shire’s troops, let alone the tanks.

Soon, some bad news came: "Shire’s train is blocked on the railway, it’s said that the railway has collapsed, and workers are urgently repairing it!"

If it was Fuxu hearing this, he might feel a "thud" in his heart: How familiar is this scenario!

But the reporters had no doubts, after all, it’s the rainy season, and it’s common for the roadbed to be washed away.

Xia Fei in the command post also received this news. He smiled lightly and said with a bit of pride, "By the time they arrive, it will be almost dark. This means today’s opportunity for attack is lost!"

"Yes!" Deputy Commander Kanes agreed.

It is well known that tanks have no night combat capability. They can’t see anything at night and can be easily destroyed by the Germans or pierced from the side with K bullets.

Shire could be said to have an unlucky start, missing the opportunity before the battle even began.

...

On the other side of the front line, the German Army had similar thoughts.

From the moment they knew Shire’s troops had set off, the German Army entered combat positions as if facing a great enemy, ready and alert. They worried that the French would first harass them with small units to make them exhausted or deplete their ammunition.

However, nothing happened, the battle seemed to be put on pause, not even gunfire was heard, with only a few enemy fighters and reconnaissance planes flying in the sky.

Khalil was pacing back and forth anxiously in the command post. He hated waiting, it consumed all his patience and energy.

If it was destined to be a battle, let it come quickly, thought Khalil. He couldn’t wait to see the scene where Shire’s tanks get blown to pieces!

Just then, a signalman handed Khalil a telegram. Khalil took it and glanced at it under the light: "Shire’s train is stuck due to a railway collapse."

Khalil was stunned, then laughed out loud. He read the content of the telegram to others, saying, "Today was all in vain, at least Shire succeeded in one thing, he made us waste our efforts!"

The staff officers laughed along with him.

"Stand down from combat readiness!" Khalil ordered.

"Stand down from combat readiness!"

"Stand down from combat readiness!"

...

The order was passed down one by one. The tense soldiers, holding their guns at the edge of the trenches, relaxed, retreating into the trenches, collapsing like mud into the muddy water.

The artillerymen at the rear, already positioned at the artillery, also sighed with relief and hurriedly covered the cannons upon the command from their officers.

...

The reporters in Fairworth Town dispersed, hoping to find a place to have a hearty meal and a good sleep, then continue waiting tomorrow.

Xia Fei’s command post had little interest too. Their task was to observe each detail of Shire’s troops in combat and quickly make an analysis, but obviously, they’d have to wait until tomorrow.

However...

"Boom Boom!" The sound of cannons erupted, the battle began.

Hearing the cannon sounds, the reporters were astonished. Looking in the direction of the sound, they found it was from the flanks at Lafox, about ten kilometers from their location.

In amazement, they asked each other:

"Is it other units firing?"

"It must be! They’re probably just firing randomly!"

"Except for Lafox, there is no place worth attacking, no other operational plans!"

...

However, someone saw a reporter from the Little Daily hurriedly running to the phone booth, causing the other reporters to get tense immediately.

The Little Daily has always been buying off people in the army, they always get the first-hand news.

Military reporters suddenly realized: "God, that’s Shire’s troops, Shire has deceived us all! His troops weren’t stuck, they deployed to the Lafox flanks to launch an attack during this time!"

The reporters’ faces changed colors.

...

Xia Fei didn’t hear the cannon fire, he was alone in the lounge, leaning on his soft chair, listening to the beautiful piano music from the phonograph and gently stirring the hot coffee in his hand.

The deputy commander suddenly pushed the door in, his voice urgent: "General, Shire has launched an attack!"

Xia Fei was startled, so much so that his coffee spilled onto him, the warmth and the stickiness made his face grimace.

As he took out his handkerchief to wipe it, he looked at the deputy commander in displeasure: "What nonsense are you talking, Kanes? Can Shire’s troops fly here?"

"General!" Kanes’ face was pale, but there was a hint of admiration in his eyes: "Shire’s troops weren’t blocked at all. They switched trains midway, created an illusion of a railway collapse, and his troops have split into two directions to reach the flanks of Lafox, attacking the German front lines now!"

Xia Fei’s wiping action suddenly stopped, he looked up in disbelief at Kanes: "You mean, he tricked us all?"

"Yes!" Kanes nodded.

Xia Fei threw down the handkerchief and rushed to the command post, angrily asking: "Where are they now? How many troops?"

He was so anxious, it seemed like Shire was attacking his command post, not the German Army!

...

On the German front line, Khalil was lying on a wooden bed taking a nap in his clothes.

Although everything was wet and hard to sleep, Khalil had to force himself to sleep, or he would have collapsed before the enemy even arrived.

When the cannon fire began, Khalil was suddenly awakened as if from a conditioned reflex.

The next second, the blood drained from his face, he realized he fell for Shire’s trick, Lafox might be doomed.

Sure enough, the signalman nervously reported: "Colonel, the Andrush and Tamon areas are under enemy attack, it might be Shire’s troops!"

"Why?" Khalil asked, his tone full of anger.

"Because they saw tanks!" The signalman replied shakily: "Shire’s tanks!"

The entire command post fell into silence, a deathly silence.

Andrush and Tamon, those areas are the turning points of the Lafox salient, originally each had an artillery regiment.

But on Khalil’s application, the artillery regiments from these two areas were all transferred to Lafox.

Lafox concentrated over a hundred artillery pieces and thousands of shells, with the artillery aimed at the areas ahead, waiting for Shire’s tanks to come.

But Shire’s tanks appeared in Andrush and Tamon, more than ten kilometers away.

All of this... was Shire’s scheme!

(The picture above is a phonograph, invented in 1877)