I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France
Chapter 155: After modification - 155 Trap of Warplanes

Chapter 155: After modification: Chapter 155 Trap of Warplanes

Lafox Defense Line, German Army’s Second Infantry Regiment Command Post.

Regimental Commander Khalil sat in front of his desk, staring blankly at the map before him. The dim light swayed above his head, much like Khalil’s wavering mood at the moment.

"Any latest intelligence?" Seeing Staff Officer Wolf approach, Khalil asked urgently.

Wolf shook his head helplessly: "Our telephone lines with Andrush and Tamon areas have been cut off. They only managed to send a few requests for reinforcements to General Waldock before completely losing contact!"

Khalil turned his gaze back to the map and asked gloomily, "What are General Waldock’s orders?"

"Wait for orders!" Wolf replied, "The General has already sent reinforcements to these two areas. They will figure out the situation and then plan the next step!"

This is General Waldock’s command style. He always gathers intelligence first and then makes decisions. People call this "cautious."

But Khalil felt that this method might be effective against others, but facing Shire’s raid, it might lead to "missed opportunities."

"Have you ever thought..." Khalil pointed to the two points under attack on the map, worry evident in his voice, "If Shire’s troops can swiftly break through these two spots and then encircle our rear, it might only take a short two hours to completely end this battle?"

Wolf’s face changed slightly; he understood what Khalil meant.

Lafox, Andrush, and Tamon roughly form a triangle, each with a distance of about ten kilometers between them.

If Shire’s troops have already broken through Andrush and Tamon and are advancing towards each other at a speed of three kilometers per hour, they could meet and completely encircle Lafox in just over two hours.

However...

"Is that possible?" Wolf’s face was conflicted. "I mean, to swiftly break through Andrush and Tamon. Each of those places has thousands of defenders with trenches and barbed wire. Shire’s total force is only about two thousand, now split into two..."

"You forgot Shire has tanks, Wolf!" Khalil suddenly became agitated, his speech speeding up uncontrollably. "Shire might precisely plan it this way. This is a battle like never before. If we continue to do nothing, we might end up being surrounded and forced to surrender without firing a single shot! Is that the outcome you want to see?"

Khalil didn’t want to see it because such an outcome would be his fault. It was his request that brought all the artillery on both wings here.

These artillery pieces haven’t fired a single shot but may soon become Shire’s spoils of war!

How ironic!

Shire gave him a hard slap!

"But what can we do?" Wolf retorted, "Abandon Lafox?"

Clearly, that’s not feasible. Without the General’s orders, abandoning the position would mean fleeing, and they’d undoubtedly face the military court.

Then Wolf added, "Or send troops to reinforce the flanks? That might work, but we don’t even know where the enemy is!"

Khalil was silent. It seemed like he couldn’t do anything or change anything!

But after thinking for a while, Khalil slowly said, "We have artillery, Wolf, lots of artillery!"

Wolf froze: "But what can artillery do?"

Khalil pointed firmly to the rear: "If Shire plans to concentrate his troops at our rear, then our artillery... should naturally aim at the rear!"

Wolf stared at the map for a while, nodding slightly, agreeing with Khalil’s plan.

The other benefit of this approach is that if Shire’s troops indeed form an encirclement at the rear, the German Army might still be able to use artillery to break a gap and escape!

...

With Khalil’s command, the artillery began to move.

Colonel Miller, commanding the Sixth Artillery Regiment, ordered his troops to pack up the cannons. The drivers brought the carts, hitched the cannons one by one to the carts, and moved them onto the road.

To improve the mobility of the 105MM cannons, the German army made reasonable configurations for the cannons and carts. They added a very simple cart structure between the cannons and the horses, capable of seating three artillerymen.

During the transfer, six artillerymen were distributed as follows: two sitting in front of the cannon shield, three on the cart, and one acting as the driver.

This way, as soon as the cannon is hitched to the cart, the artillerymen take their positions, and the cart can carry the cannon and its crew to the destination at a speed of eight kilometers per hour.

The German artillery was well-trained; it took only about ten minutes to prepare. A regiment of thirty-six cannons, plus some horses for transporting shells, began to move onto the road towards the destination in the rain.

However...

As they moved a bit further, thinking everything was going well and preparing to speed up, suddenly a thunderous low rumbling sound filled the sky.

"Planes!" Someone in the German Army shouted.

When the artillerymen turned to look, they saw a dozen "Aphro" planes flying overhead. Some instantly exclaimed; those were the so-called "Reapers in the Sky" by the German Army.

Colonel Miller ordered loudly, "Disperse, take cover!"

But after the order was conveyed, looking to both sides, everyone was stunned.

On one side, there was a twenty-meter-high steep slope; on the other, rain-filled farmland, absolutely nowhere to escape!

Colonel Miller’s face turned pale. At that moment, he realized that the French airplanes had likely chosen the terrain and were waiting overhead!

Colonel Miller guessed correctly; this trap was specifically set by Shire for the German artillery.

"Since I have tricked the German artillery to Lafox, I won’t let them return to break the encirclement!" Shire confidently explained his plan to Gallieni.

"But what can you do?" Gallieni asked, "The German cannons only need to move back a few kilometers to aim at you, while your mobile units don’t have artillery to suppress them!"

"Planes, General!" Shire replied leisurely, "We have planes!"

Gallieni laughed and asked, "Do you plan to bomb their hidden artillery positions with fighter planes? I don’t think that will have much effect!"

It’s not just the problem of rockets easily getting damp in the rain; visibility is also an issue. Pilots find it hard to spot well-camouflaged cannons on the ground.

Shire smiled and answered, "What if their cannons are not in artillery positions but lined up on the road?"

Gallieni suddenly realized, nodded thoughtfully, and his eyes shone with appreciation. This makes it much easier!

What Shire needed to do was let the pilots scout the approximate location of the artillery and then send several reconnaissance planes to monitor their movements.

Once the artillery concentrated and moved onto the road and reached the preset ambush site, it would be time for the First Aviation Battalion to attack.

(Picture above shows the German army’s horse-drawn cannon and artillery configuration)

Additionally, regarding some readers who can’t see the picture, I consulted customer service. The answer was that it can be seen using iOS. The method provided is as follows:

Ming Yeyuan: Ming Yuan-2024-06-13 12:26:35

You can let this reader contact online customer service via the Qidian client, provide screenshots for them to check, or let the reader check the book display settings to see if the illustration display setting is turned off.