I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 110: After modification - Rushing to the Sea

The progress of aircraft manufacturing and the flight club is going very smoothly.

Eric is responsible for the aircraft manufacturing plant, and his factory can produce 50 "Aphro" planes per month, while also producing 30 "Gaudron G.3" planes.

The latter is designed by the Gaudron Company operated by the Gaudron brothers of France. They have opened the industrial property to allow any aircraft factory to produce it without authorization, making it suitable for use as reconnaissance and training aircraft.

(Note: Its cost is around four thousand francs, which is less than half of the "Aphro".)

Carter is responsible for organizing the integration of club pilots, dividing them during training into groups: ground crew, instructors, reconnaissance, etc. The best pilots will directly participate in air combat.

They have been doing these things before, so Shire only needs to give them a general direction, and they can advance well according to Shire’s intentions.

The only problem is: Eric needs alcohol, and Carter needs an accountant.

That day, Shire, as a staff officer, was still assisting Major Fernan in organizing intelligence as usual. One of the tasks of the staff officer is to integrate fragmented intelligence from the front line so that the commander can understand the situation clearly and accurately in the shortest time.

However, Shire noticed something unusual in the intelligence.

He approached Gallieni with doubt and said, "General, I think there might be some problem with the front line!"

"What’s the problem?" Gallieni casually asked while holding a coffee and leafing through the "Little Daily". The recent smooth campaign had given him some leisure time.

Shire reported, "The intelligence from General Joffre has always been ’the war is progressing smoothly’, ’the enemy is retreating comprehensively’, ’our victory is growing bigger and more glorious’... However, in the past few days, there has been almost no progress on our line at the Aisne River!"

Gallieni was stunned, immediately put down the coffee, placed the newspaper aside, and asked, "Where was the front line a few days ago?"

Holding the telegram from a few days ago in one hand, Shire used a pencil to draw a few circles on the map with the other: "Here, here, and here..."

Gallieni carefully compared the telegrams, and it was indeed so.

After being stunned for a moment, Gallieni gritted his teeth and cursed, "Bastard, he falsified military reports!"

There was no need to say who he was referring to, the commander-in-chief of France had actually falsified military reports. No one had ever expected this.

His purpose was obvious. The parliament was debating whether to hold him accountable for the failure of the "Plan Seventeen", and there was even a possibility of him being removed from the position of commander-in-chief. Therefore, he could not let the victories stop.

He was spreading the false reports of victories to the rear, while ordering the troops to make meaningless charges at the enemy’s lines on the battlefield, despite the enemy having stabilized and constructed a solid line of defense.

Gallieni paced back and forth a few steps before decisively ordering Major General Monuri, "Immediately dispatch a corps to the front line for reinforcement. We need to outflank the enemy from the right wing!"

"Yes!" Major General Monuri replied and issued the order to the troops.

Hearing this order, Shire knew that this "flanking maneuver" would not succeed.

The French Army had wasted too much time with the false intelligence. By the time the French reinforcements reached the front line to "outflank" the enemy from the flank, the Germans’ reinforcements would also arrive at the same position to "outflank".

Then, there would be another "outflank" by both sides, and soon another... The final result would be that no one could "outflank", and the lines would stretch to the sea. freewebnσvel.cѳm

This is what is called "the race to the sea".

Shire’s gaze moved north along the front line, finally locking onto Ypres in western Belgium. He knew that the German Army would launch a counterattack here, causing heavy casualties to the Anglo-French Allies.

The attacking German troops even included that failed art student, and it would be his first battle.

The Germans chose to attack here because the terrain of Ypres is flat and low in altitude. A shovel down would hit water, making it almost impossible to construct trenches.

With the arrival of the French rainy season... Ypres would become a Purgatory for both sides, with each losing more than a hundred thousand troops.

Shire thought of tractors, of the more than a thousand tractors that Francis had left unsold in the warehouse.

On such terrain, tractors capable of pulling artillery and transporting supplies would be crucial to victory.

Shire realized he had to act early, or else he might let Francis grab a great deal.

...

That afternoon, a light drizzly rain began to fall, enveloping the entire Davaz in a dense misty shroud. A moist wind was blowing, making Francis, who was standing by the window with a pipe, feel quite depressed.

He was contemplating the prospects of the tractor factory.

The war hadn’t ended as everyone had hoped. Not only had it not ended, it was far from over, with no victory in sight.

Francis had originally expected that sales of tractors would return to normal after the war, but now it seemed this was just an unrealistic fantasy.

More importantly, Shire’s tractor factory had already started mass-producing the "Holt 75", which performed much better than the "Holt 60" that Francis had, yet was similarly priced!

So, even if the war ended, why would people buy the "Holt 60" instead of the "Holt 75"?

Just then, a carriage drawn by four horses slowly approached from the rain, gradually becoming clearer. As Francis marveled at the luxury of the carriage, it stopped in front of his villa.

Francis’ eyes lit up. Years of experience told him that this could be a customer looking to buy tractors, and a big one at that.

The target customer group for agricultural tractors was farmers, but big customers were landowners with large tracts of land. Today, as farmers were gradually turning into workers, they had to buy tractors to increase farming efficiency.

The carriage seemed to indicate his status... At that time, landowners were not yet accustomed to using cars; they preferred to use carriages to show their status.

"Simon, Simon!" Francis turned and shouted towards the room.

Simon pushed the door and entered, while Francis hurriedly changed out of his pajamas, instructing, "Quick, receive the guests, prepare coffee and cigars!"

"Yes, sir!" Simon immediately understood, hurrying downstairs to prepare.

When Francis came down after changing, he indeed saw an elderly man with a noble demeanor, well-maintained, sitting elegantly on the sofa.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Francis!" The old man calmly looked up at Francis on the staircase, "I have just come from Shire Tractor Factory, and I hope you won’t disappoint me!"

Francis was stunned. Shire’s tractor couldn’t meet his requirements?

What he was dissatisfied with could only be... the quantity?!

Francis’ eyes brightened even more, and a flattering smile instantly spread across his face!