I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 72 Antwerp Fortress

In the lounge beside the airport, Grevy and Arman sat facing each other across a table.

They leisurely sipped their coffee as they watched the airport, where an "Aphro" two-seater was taxiing down the runway and soon taking off.

"Great idea!" Arman raised his coffee and slightly lifted it towards Grevy opposite him, "We finally sent him to a dangerous place!"

There was still some reluctance in Grevy’s eyes as he watched the plane get farther away until it finally disappeared from sight. He sighed softly, thinking how great it would be if he had agreed to join the right wing. With him, the right wing would fully suppress the left wing and achieve complete victory!

He had many ideas that were wildly envious, ideas that even the capitalists on the left wing couldn’t catch up with.

But if they can’t have him, they must destroy him.

Because the ideas in his head could possibly end the entire right wing!

"One question!" Arman asked, "Why didn’t we just cause an accident or a traffic incident, like making the plane malfunction, instead of genuinely sending him to the Antwerp Fortress?"

"That would make people suspicious of us, Arman!" Grevy answered coldly, "Everyone knows we have conflicts of interest with him. The left wing is watching us, and the military is watching us. They are just waiting for us to make a mistake and then use it to kick us out of the House of Representatives!"

Arman’s face showed a hint of confusion. He pointed in the direction where the plane disappeared, "Now, is there any difference?"

"Of course there is!" Grevy picked up a spoon and gently stirred his coffee, a flicker of pain in his eyes, "Now, Gallieni is sending him to save the Antwerp Fortress in a time of crisis. He will die heroically at Antwerp. Do you think they will report it that way, or say that Charles’ death was somehow related to the right wing?"

Arman understood. It was related to the war.

Just like everyone knew Xia Fei’s incompetence, but no one wanted to remove him from the position of Commander-in-Chief.

The only commendable thing Xia Fei did during the entire war was to eat and sleep on time, which the media exaggerated as "calm Xia Fei is France’s sedative"!

He had already been shaped into a hero, a symbol, a myth. A considerable number of the French military and civilians had gotten used to using him as a spiritual support to resist the Germans.

If Xia Fei’s myth was punctured, this spiritual support for many people would collapse, which could trigger a disaster, possibly even a series of chain reactions leading to internal chaos.

Similarly, Charles had also become a hope and spiritual support for many.

If Charles died in Antwerp, they would be more willing to promote it as a spirit of heroic bravery, at least this could inspire the French military and civilians to go to the battlefield and vent their anger on the Germans, rather than unveiling the truth and causing internal chaos.

Arman nodded slightly. The always cynical man involuntarily withdrew his smile at this moment. He realized that there was still a gap between him and Grevy, and he also recognized the terrifying aspect of Grevy.

He took the opportunity to glance at Grevy while drinking his coffee. The latter was staring thoughtfully at the table, lost in his own thoughts.

If one day, they had to resolve internal contradictions between them, Arman admitted he wasn’t a match for Grevy. He might die at Grevy’s hands.

But fortunately, the right wing could never see the hope of victory, so he didn’t need to worry about that!

Thinking of this, Arman’s face regained its smile. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

...

On the biplane, Charles, wearing a flight cap and goggles, was filled with the "roaring" engine sound and the "whistling" wind.

This type of aircraft had an open cockpit, with everything above the shoulders exposed outside the fuselage, braving the fierce wind head-on without any protection. If it weren’t for the speed being just over a hundred kilometers per hour, Charles believed his nose would have been blown off.

Not long after, Charles saw a pointed, cylinder-shaped balloon emerging from the clouds in the distance. It was so large it resembled an alien ship, lazily floating in the air, turning like a big fat man slowly waking up.

At first, Charles thought it was a balloon from France, but when he saw the German insignia on the side of the balloon, he exclaimed in surprise, "A German balloon, that’s the enemy’s balloon!"

"What?" The pilot didn’t hear him clearly.

"Enemy, that’s the enemy!" Charles pointed frantically in the direction of the balloon, thinking the pilot was drunk and couldn’t tell friend from foe. Amazingly, they were heading straight for the enemy’s balloon.

But the pilot calmly replied, "Yes, so what? Do you want to take a look?"

Suddenly, Charles remembered that in the early stages of the First World War, aerial strength of both enemy and friend almost had no combat capability, and planes and balloons were mainly used for reconnaissance. Therefore, even if airborne units met, they might just wave at each other.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, a German plane flew overhead. Although neither plane greeted each other as the legends had it, nothing indeed happened, just like two cars passing each other on a highway.

"Don’t worry, Lieutenant!" The pilot turned back and shouted, "If there is any place that is safe, it’s here. No one can do anything to you, not even the enemy below!"

Charles followed the pilot’s gaze and looked down, only to be surprised when he realized they were flying over the enemy lines.

Shells were rising below, creating mushroom-like clouds of smoke. The sound of the cannons was drowned out by the engine and wind, barely audible. Soldiers charged forward like groups of ants, forming ridiculous lines crashing back and forth in the sand pits. The whole battlefield was shrouded in a layer of gray, whether it was the air or the ground.

Charles felt something was wrong. He asked the pilot, "Where are we going? Is it Antwerp Fortress?"

"Of course!" the pilot retorted, "What else?"

"Is Antwerp in the enemy-occupied zone?" Charles asked again.

"Not in the enemy-occupied zone!" the pilot replied, "It’s in the north of Belgium, near the coast!"

If it weren’t for the strong wind, Charles would have taken out a map to check by now, but for the moment, he could only visualize it in his mind:

Northern Belgium, the German Army had broken through Belgium, which means it was cut off by the German Army, and that fortress should be surrounded by the German Army!

He was actually going to break into enemy lines for a reconnaissance mission?

The only lucky thing was, Charles remembered the pilot mentioning that Antwerp was "near the coast," meaning the fortress wasn’t completely surrounded by the German Army!

Because Charles knew the ocean belonged to Britain, and the German Navy was under blockade.

Maybe it was because of the plane, Charles thought, people of this era might generally consider planes very safe, including General Gallieni, which was why they sent him on this mission.

Until now, Charles had no idea this wasn’t a task from General Gallieni at all.