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

The German First Storm Assault Battalion launched a fierce attack on the French Army's defensive line in the trenches.

They always threw a few grenades around the corners first. After a series of explosions, soldiers carrying MG08/15 light machine guns would flash out and spray bullets at the French soldiers who were still disoriented or just emerging from the tunnels. Then, the riflemen would charge forward to finish them off with precise shots, and if they encountered tunnels, they would immediately toss a few grenades inside.

On another front, the main force of the German Army also launched a frontal assault on the French defensive line, covered by tanks.

Caught off guard, the French soldiers were powerless to resist and retreated in large numbers, hastily firing a few shots. Kristen's attempts to stop them were in vain.

Amidst the German battle cries, Gastone hunched over and found Kristen in the crowd, shouting, "Retreat, General, or it will be too late!"

Kristen loudly retorted, "We have no retreat! No matter how fast we run, we can't outrun the enemy's tanks!"

"No, we have a retreat!" Gastone responded through gritted teeth, "We just need to leave the Second Artillery Regiment behind!"

"What?" Kristen looked at Gastone in shock. The Second Artillery Regiment was Gastone's unit.

"Yes, General," Gastone said firmly. "We have no other choice; otherwise, none of us will make it back alive!"

"But, you..."

Gastone patted Kristen's shoulder to cut him off, "Take care of my family, your choice was the right one!"

Kristen understood the meaning of these words; Gastone was referring to joining Shire.

Without waiting for Kristen to give the order, Gastone grabbed his pistol and gestured to the communications officer behind him, shouting, "Second Artillery Regiment, advance!"

The communications officer waved the signal flag behind him, and the "Saint-Chamond M21" tanks that were in the second line rolled out of their cover, moving against the retreating French soldiers and heading towards the advancing German forces.

"Leave this place!" Gastone shouted at Kristen in a commanding tone, with a hint of irony in his voice, "Tell Xia Fei that I launched the attack as ordered, holding on to the last moment!"

...

In this battle, almost the entire "Saint-Chamond M21" force was wiped out, with only a few tankers surviving, all severely burned or dazed.

The others met gruesome deaths, and Gastone's body was never found; it was impossible to determine which charred or blown apart body was his.

Nevertheless, they successfully covered the retreat of the main force of the First Specialized Artillery Division.

As the German Army chased closely behind Kristen, Shire's First Tank Brigade arrived just in time to block the German advance.

Knowing the exact specifications and tactics of the new German tanks in advance, and equipped with additional armor, the "Shire A1" tanks couldn't be penetrated by the German tanks' 57mm cannons from the front. Thus, the German tanks were inevitably defeated by the First Tank Brigade that arrived on the scene.

However, the cannons weren't the most crucial factor.

Once Shire knew the Germans relied on K rounds, they had their units hang sandbags on the sides of the tanks at the height of the enemy's machine guns.

The German forces continued to rely on machine guns equipped with K rounds, rather than their tank cannons.

In principle, this was not a problem, as tank cannons of this period had very low accuracy, even at close range. In comparison, the dense fire from machine guns was much more reliable.

However, it was only at the moment of engagement that the German machine gunners realized in horror they were facing sandbags rather than the enemy's side armor.

Bullets flew out, but the damage was limited to punching bullet holes in the sandbags, from which the sand leaked out.

At the same time, the "Shire A1" tank cannons had rotated to the optimal angle and waited until they had the German tanks' side armor squarely in their sights, before firing with a thunderous "boom."

One after another, the German tanks were crippled on the battlefield, spewing smoke and flames.

The tanks developed to counter the "Shire A1" found themselves outmatched by the very tanks they were meant to defeat.

...

After the disastrous ground battle, the German forces could no longer hold back and deployed their new aircraft, hoping to turn the tide by securing air superiority.

Major General Nicholas planned to use these aircraft to fend off the terrifying "carpet bombing" from enemy bombers.

Although the "Fokker E1" fighter had a top speed of 133 km/h, still slightly slower than the "Caproni" bomber's 137 km/h.

But the difference was minimal, and the "Fokker E1" was small and agile, capable of bringing down the "Caproni" in combat.

The French "Aphro," with its mere 100 km/h speed, stood no chance at all.

Once the German forces had full control of the skies, they could leverage their air superiority to support their ground units in suppressing Shire's tank forces with 105mm howitzers.

Regrettably, as Nicholas had feared, the French forces had also developed a new aircraft, significantly faster and more maneuverable than the "Fokker E1": the "Camel."

(Above is the "Camel," with a 150 horsepower engine and a top speed of 187 km/h. It pioneered the use of a smooth, curved fairing around the engine, and its twin machine guns also used fairings resembling a camel's humps, thus earning its name. It was the first aircraft to utilize aerodynamic features to enhance speed.)

The air battle was one-sided, with German aircraft being shot down one after another like turkeys with burning tails.

In the end, the Germans still had planes, but they dared not take to the skies.

Colonel Yin Maiman, commanding the air operations, stared blankly at the telegram from the front line, which reported a cold and brutal number: 43 to 1.

The loss of 43 aircraft for every 1 enemy downed.

And the one downed was likely due to engine failure, unable to accelerate and therefore shot down by the German forces.

"This isn't air combat, it's a slaughter," Colonel Yin Maiman gritted his teeth and ordered, "Recall all units to the airfield."

"Colonel," the staff officer replied, "but Major General Nicholas wants us to deploy all our aircraft; he says it's crucial, otherwise, the infantry will face devastating bombing by the enemy."

Colonel Yin Maiman was silent for a moment before finally shaking his head, "No, tell Major General Nicholas there's nothing we can do. Continuing to fight will only increase aircraft losses and pilot casualties, resulting in meaningless deaths."

The pilots were the most important.

Colonel Yin Maiman understood this; the skilled German pilots had already suffered heavy casualties under the relentless French bombings. If they continued sending them to their deaths, even if Germany developed faster fighters in the future, they would be at a disadvantage due to a lack of experienced pilots.