I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 119: Sudden Aerial Combat

The flight squadron was led by Carter, consisting of 6 fighter planes equipped with machine guns and 12 bombers armed with rockets, all of which were Aphro models.

The unified model made it easier for the pilots to distinguish between friend and foe.

Otherwise, in the dazzling and extremely fierce aerial combat, a trigger pull aimed at a target could shatter it with a burst of bullets, only to discover too late the tricolor flag on its tail as it fell.

Having only Aphro models avoided such troubles.

Pilots could quickly identify the enemy through the model, which was particularly important for Carter’s team, who had never been on the battlefield and had no combat experience, yet carried two heavy machine guns and fired randomly in the sky.

Shire’s order to Carter was: "Seize air supremacy, look for opportunities to suppress enemy artillery and infantry, and be cautious of enemy infantry fire!"

Carter understood the latter two instructions: Kill them, don’t get killed!

He didn’t quite understand the first part and asked over the phone, "What is seizing air supremacy, Lieutenant?"

Shire replied, "It’s about taking out everything the enemy has in the sky. Fighters go up first to engage enemy planes, followed by bombers to target balloons!"

"Understood, Lieutenant!" After hanging up the phone, Carter muttered, "Should have said so earlier!"

Then he waved to the already prepared fighter pilots and shouted, "Come on, let’s teach the Germans a lesson!"

The pilots responded excitedly, climbing into their planes and flying one after another into the sky. Some cheered loudly during takeoff, seemingly looking forward to the coming war.

At this moment, they had not yet experienced the cruelty and pressure of war. This mission felt like a vacation or a world tour with friends. Some even dreamed of becoming heroes like Shire, admired by thousands, almost oblivious to the brutality awaiting them.

Twenty minutes later, as they flew over the battlefield, they were instantly terrified by the hell below, each turning pale.

Rows of shells exploded on the ground, from above looking like a boiling pot of water continually bubbling over. These "bubbles" lifted soldiers into the air, already dismembered, with vivid blood splashes seen clearly amid the smoke, a horrifying sight.

In the gaps between shell blasts, rows of soldiers continued to charge forward, densely packed like ants, enemies and allies fighting fiercely amidst the gunfire, constantly falling and stepping over corpses to advance.

The pilots couldn’t help but reflect on the fragility and insignificance of life. Each of these soldiers had struggled for decades before becoming capable of independent survival, yet here, they were worth only a bullet or a shard of shrapnel, disappearing completely without a trace.

Carter shook his head slightly as he looked down, then suddenly noticed several German ’Pigeon’ and ’Albatross’ planes nearby.

Startled, Carter looked around nervously, spotting a total of five planes alongside. They were so close that he could see the German pilots’ faces and expressions.

The German pilots seemed to be examining the Aphro wings, peering curiously, with puzzled looks.

Carter quickly understood—the German pilots thought they were armed with rockets, planning to ram them to protect their balloons but discovered that these Aphro planes weren’t "unarmed" upon closer inspection.

This realization made Carter’s heart skip a beat. He couldn’t fathom how close they had come to death just moments ago. If the enemy had rammed them, they’d have crashed into the ground, smashed amid the dead.

Conelius on the left wing signaled Carter, asking what to do.

Carter didn’t respond. What could he say? Didn’t they realize they’d almost died? If they didn’t take out the enemy, they’d perish alongside these maniacs! fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

Carter responded by action. He pulled the nose and pursued a German ’Albatross’ ahead, gradually accelerating and aiming the nose at its tail.

The German pilot remained unaware of the danger, even curious about Carter’s following moves.

The next second, they understood...

Carter pressed the cockpit control, two machine guns spat fire forward, bullets in fine rows hitting the target hard.

The ’Albatross’ wooden tail produced a series of splintering sounds, chunks flying everywhere, its tailwing halved in an instant.

The pilot was likely killed too. The Vickers Machine Gun’s penetrating power easily pierced the fuselage and seat back, tearing the pilot apart.

Due to the angle, the pilot’s appearance wasn’t visible.

Soon, the plane lost balance, rolling uncontrollably like a stake, falling to the ground with black smoke from the engine, crashing with a burst of flames.

This scene startled everyone, in the sky and on the ground.

The German pilots thought they had made a mistake, stunned for a moment, then someone shouted in German, "That’s a machine gun! They’ve mounted machine guns on the nose! My God, how did they do it?"

He referred to hitting the target without interrupting the propeller, something they deemed impossible!

In that instant, the German pilots forgot to escape, overlooked the five Aphro planes nearby, nose-mounted with two machine guns!

By the time they realized it, it was too late. These planes closely tailed them.

Aphro’s speed outmatched ’Pigeon’ and ’Albatross,’ impossible for German pilots to evade. Ultimately, they could only issue terror-stricken, desperate cries as machine gun fire shot them down!

Initially, the infantry fiercely contesting the ground didn’t realize anything unusual, assuming it was plane malfunction or collision causing the crashes.

Soon, they sensed something was off—intense machine gun fire resounded in the sky, planes crashed one after another with flames erupting—all German planes.

A German soldier hiding in a shell crater yelled, "It’s the planes from France! They’ve mounted machine guns!"

Quickly, someone responded, "It’s Shire, it must be Shire!"

This call promptly received wide acknowledgment among German soldiers. Given Shire could mount artillery on planes, machine guns were expected.

The German troops felt endangered, fearing the machine gun-equipped planes targeting them. Nothing was more terrifying—they couldn’t hide anywhere!

Belgian soldiers cheered loudly, some shouting Shire’s name.