I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France

At the Humesen Airport in the German-controlled area, Major Yin Maiman had been promoted to Colonel and was now fully responsible for the airport's operations. He had done nothing significant other than surviving the bombing by the French Army.

But that seemed to be enough.

The last bombing had resulted in significant losses for the airport, with only 128 of the 365 pilots surviving, and some of them were likely too injured to fly again.

Therefore, those who survived were the elite of the elite, the few remaining elite, and a promotion was inevitable.

However, in Colonel Yin Maiman's view, he felt more like an artilleryman than an aviation squadron commander.

During this time, he had been constantly thinking about how to defend against the French bombings.

"If we cannot stop the enemy's bombings, the flight squadron will never be able to form or develop," Colonel Yin Maiman said to his subordinates. "Our air force will always lag behind the French, and that's not what we want to see."

"But Colonel," a subordinate objected, "why can't we form the aviation squadron in a farther, safer place and then transfer it here?"

Colonel Yin Maiman countered, "What's the difference? Once formed, can you intercept the enemy's bombers in the air?"

The subordinates were stunned.

The speed of the French bombers was faster than the German fighters, and intercepting them in the air would be meaningless.

"Let me make it clear," Colonel Yin Maiman swept his gaze across the room, pointing heavily at the map. "Currently, we have only one method to deal with enemy bombers, and that is to shoot them down with machine guns and cannons. Only then can our airport survive, and our planes can continue to provide the necessary air cover for the front line."

Colonel Yin Maiman had heard that a new aircraft had been successfully developed domestically, faster than the enemy's bombers. He hoped the news was true.

The subordinates responded one after another:

"Yes, Colonel."

"Understood, Colonel."

...

But things are often easier said than done.

Aircraft are objects moving in three-dimensional space; they are not ordinary artillery targets on the two-dimensional ground.

For ground targets, shells will hit the ground and explode regardless of whether they hit the target, creating a massive shockwave and fragments that can injure nearby enemies.

Aircraft in three-dimensional space are not like this. If the shells miss their targets, they will continue flying without exploding and naturally won't harm the target at all.

(Note: At this time, anti-aircraft shells with timed fuses had not yet been invented. Even with timed fuses, hitting airborne targets was still very difficult. Fast-moving aircraft at this stage were practically invincible.)

After several days of hard thinking, Colonel Yin Maiman finally came up with a "central position shooting method".

He grouped every ten cannons into a small team, arranged these teams into a dense formation, and had the central cannon determine the target position. Once the parameters were set, all the cannons would fire simultaneously.

(Note: The "central position shooting method" was a real anti-aircraft tactic used during World War I. At that time, aircraft development was rapid while anti-aircraft firepower was significantly lagging. This method was employed to compensate for accuracy with quantity, where ten shells aimed at a target might hit out of sheer luck.)

Colonel Yin Maiman deployed over a hundred cannons around the airport, waiting for the French bombers to arrive, creating a web of firepower.

...

That day, while Colonel Yin Maiman was discussing with his subordinates about enhancing machine-gun firepower at higher positions, a staff officer manning the phone suddenly shouted to Colonel Yin Maiman, "Colonel! Enemy bombers have taken off, over fifty of them, and are expected to arrive in about ten minutes!"

Colonel Yin Maiman's face instantly turned pale. Over fifty bombers meant more than a thousand bombs dropping from the sky. Were they trying to flatten the airport?

Colonel Yin Maiman suddenly realized that his deployments might be ineffective. The hundred cannons could likely be just a drop in the bucket!

"Airplanes to take off immediately!" Colonel Yin Maiman ordered, "Everyone prepare for combat!"

"Yes, sir!" The staff officer hurriedly picked up the phone to relay the orders.

The piercing air-raid siren rang over the airport, creating a tense atmosphere. Pilots rushed in groups towards their planes, guided by ground crew to take off from the runway amid the roaring engines.

The logistics troops hurriedly moved exposed fuel and ammunition into underground warehouses, pushing some that couldn't be moved away to open ground to avoid affecting nearby buildings.

Nearby artillery units also received orders, rushing to their positions at the urgent whistle, adjusting the cannons towards the enemy planes under their commander's orders.

...

Soon, a faint rumble could be heard in the sky. The French bombers appeared in the sight of Colonel Yin Maiman's binoculars, a dense swarm like locusts, covering half the sky.

"We need bombers like that too," Colonel Yin Maiman's eyes were filled with hatred and a bit of envy. "With those, we could let the French taste the same bombing pain."

Then Colonel Yin Maiman noticed something was wrong. The bombers did not seem to be heading towards them but rather to the rear side.

He was puzzled. There was no airport in that direction.

Soon, Colonel Yin Maiman got his answer: the bombers flew over the Kilrui Steel Factory, dropping rows of bombs.

The Kilrui Steel Factory was only a dozen kilometers away from Colonel Yin Maiman's location. The explosions were clearly audible, and he could even see the rising flames and thick smoke.

Colonel Yin Maiman sighed softly as he put away his binoculars. This was the advantage of bombers; they could choose bombing targets at will, rendering the German preparations futile.

...

Shire deployed a total of 112 bombers, with each group of 56 bombers targeting one steel factory.

One steel factory was not targeted as it was close to the Western Front, only about one kilometer away in a straight line. The Camond Steel Factory was obviously easier for the French Army to recapture.

The two steel factories that became targets were not so fortunate.

The steel factories controlled by the German Army had no anti-aircraft defenses, with large amounts of coal carelessly piled around the buildings, resulting in inevitable fires once bombed.

Coal burns long and is hard to extinguish, causing fires that raged for days and nights until the steel factory was reduced to a pile of scrap metal.

...

Schneider Armory.

Paulina froze in place after receiving the phone call. After a while, she turned to look at James at the desk, her voice trembling with panic, "Sir, French bombers just bombed our two steel factories; they are now rubble."

James, who was approving the expansion plan for the Chauchat machine gun, suddenly paused.

At that moment, he understood why Shire thought he would sell the steel factories!