I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 40 They’re Doomed

At dawn, the sun had just risen from the thin mist.

Major General Garde, who had just woken up, didn’t have time to wash up. He was staring at the map in his tent, frowning deeply and occasionally letting out a sigh.

Suddenly, there was a burst of intense gunfire from the front, and Major General Garde was startled and quickly looked up, then turned his gaze outside the tent.

Soon, a communication soldier rushed in and reported, "General, the reconnaissance unit has been ambushed by the enemy, with over seventy casualties!"

The staff officer followed the communication soldier into the tent, his expression seemed to indicate he had expected this outcome.

"Order the troops to launch an attack!" Major General Garde commanded without hesitation: "Eliminate them at any cost!"

"Yes, Sir!" The communication soldier responded and went to deliver the orders.

Major General Garde let out a helpless sigh. Although the 5th Army won the battle and was pursuing the enemy, he had a feeling of being led by the nose.

Every high ground, every hill, even a small patch of forest they passed could be a potential ambush point for the Germans.

The Germans’ tactics were very flexible; sometimes their ambush forces were small, other times large.

When France sent out small units to engage, they would unleash a major battle to annihilate the small units.

When France organized large units to encircle, they would find the enemy had already vanished, leaving mocking notes in broken French.

This caused the 5th Army to advance only 8 kilometers each day, with hundreds or thousands of casualties per kilometer.

Major General Garde gritted his teeth:

"Tanks, we need tanks! If tanks were leading, this wouldn’t be happening!"

"Aren’t they here yet? What is the matter with Brownie?"

"General!" The staff officer replied cautiously, "The old tanks can’t be repaired, and the new tanks haven’t been delivered to Major Brownie, so..."

This was the first time Major General Garde felt such hatred towards the capitalists.

When Shire invented the tank, he produced 12 in half a day by welding steel plates onto tractors.

But now, the capitalists were playing "hunger marketing," intentionally delaying to create the illusion of tank scarcity in the army, making soldiers eagerly await and demand them, forcing the military to pay higher prices.

Major General Garde didn’t care much about the soldiers’ casualties, but at this rate, his 5th Army would be wiped out, and he would become a commander without an army.

More importantly, Major General Garde sensed that the Germans seemed unwilling to accept defeat and could be regrouping their forces during retreat to counterattack.

Major General Garde wasn’t sure if they could withstand the German counterattack without tanks!

While Major General Garde was in a dilemma facing the crisis, cheering erupted outside the tent, along with the faint roar of engines.

"What’s happening?" Major General Garde asked, "Is the reinforcements here?"

The engine noise wasn’t as heavy as tanks, and Major General Garde thought it might be trucks carrying reinforcements.

The staff officer was about to check outside when a communication soldier rushed in excitedly: "General, it’s Major Brownie; he’s here with the Third Infantry Battalion!"

"Major Brownie?" Major General Garde’s eyes lit up: "So, their tanks are repaired?"

"No, General!" The communication soldier replied, "They rode... uh... possibly motorcycles, three-wheeled motorcycles!"

"Three-wheeled motorcycles?"

Driven by curiosity, Major General Garde bent over and stepped out of the tent with the staff officer, grabbing the binoculars around his neck to look at the road half a kilometer away. Indeed, there were motorcycles lined up, speeding along the road.

They were three-wheeled motorcycles, each equipped with a Maxim machine gun.

This made Major General Garde’s eyes light up. Is this a new type of tank? Another invention by that young man Shire?

Then Major General Garde noticed something was wrong, as the motorcycles didn’t seem to intend to stop.

"Where are they going?" Major General Garde exclaimed.

The staff officer looked at the direction the motorcycles were heading and said, "General, their target is the mountain road!"

"No, stop them!" Major General Garde fumed: "They should stay and fight with us, not escape into the mountains... This is disgraceful cowardice!"

The staff officer immediately ordered the communication soldier: "Stop them!"

"Yes, Sir!" The communication soldier responded, skillfully mounted a warhorse, and galloped towards the motorcycles.

However, when the staff officer saw the horse trailing behind the motorcycles’ exhaust and dust, he realized the order could not be relayed to Major Brownie.

This was intentional by Major Brownie; he didn’t want Major General Garde’s communication soldiers to follow and command them.

This was also Shire’s intent.

"The crucial point is to detach from the main force’s command!" Shire squatted on the ground, his eyes fixed on the map thoughtfully.

"Why?" Major Brownie’s eyes held greater fear.

A unit of over two hundred men, what could they achieve detached from the main force? Without support, they wouldn’t even put up a fight!

"Your commander doesn’t know how to utilize the three-wheeled motorcycles in combat!" Shire explained: "They would treat the three-wheeled motorcycles as tanks, sending them ahead to block bullets, which would be disastrous!"

Major Brownie felt a little embarrassed; he had originally thought the same, to send the three-wheeled motorcycles ahead to shoot at the enemy positions with the Maxim machine guns.

"So..." Major Brownie hesitated: "We can’t fight like that?"

Major Brownie didn’t care about losing face; if he didn’t ask clearly now, it would cost lives on the battlefield.

Moreover, Shire couldn’t be considered embarrassing; he was a genius!

"Of course not!" Shire answered, "The front armor of the motorcycles is only 5mm thick; enemy rifles can easily penetrate it from two hundred meters away. The sides and rear are completely exposed to enemy fire without any cover!"

Then Shire added: "We can’t install thicker armor; it would affect driving."

This puzzled Major Brownie: "If the three-wheeled motorcycles can’t block bullets and can’t attack the enemy, what good are they?"

"Speed, Major!" Shire emphasized: "Their advantage is speed!"

"Speed?" Major Brownie looked bewildered; could speed be an advantage on the battlefield? Isn’t it a faster route to death?

Shire pointed at the map and analyzed:

"The Germans’ ability to fight while retreating is because they left a rear guard unit."

"Their rear guard unit was prepared for combat, digging trenches or hiding in advantageous terrain, their guns ready to ambush us at any moment!"

"We certainly can’t rush into their sights!"

Major Brownie objected: "But we can only chase them from behind..."

Shire didn’t speak, only turned his head to look at Major Brownie with questioning eyes.

Major Brownie suddenly understood; infantry could only chase the enemy’s tails, but motorcycles had multiple times, even dozens of times, the speed advantage.

Major Brownie hesitated and said, "You mean, we could bypass the German rear guard and attack their main force!"

"Yes!" Shire said, "Their main force has no defenses; they believe the rear guard is blocking any enemy approach. So, they will be marching with rifles slung over their shoulders, cannons pulled by horses not ready to fire, the whole unit lined up along the road, or clustered in open grounds camping and resting. At this moment, if a hundred Maxim machine guns suddenly appear on their flanks..."

Major Brownie excitedly interrupted: "They’ll be finished, they might not even have a chance to fight back!" freewebnøvel.com