I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 120: Those Are Just Flies

Not long after, the Germans’ fears became reality.

Carter pushed the control stick down, and the plane dove toward the front edge of the British trenches, where dense groups of German soldiers were chasing the retreating British soldiers.

As Carter pulled the trigger on the controller, a barrage of dense bullets crazily shot towards the German forces on the ground, instantly mowing down two rows of Germans clustered in the charge.

Blood and flesh flew everywhere, and screams erupted!

The previously advancing German troops halted significantly, with many still lying on the ground, afraid to get up.

These aerial attacks, especially with machine guns, instilled waves of fear in their hearts. This didn’t just make them feel inescapable; it was an all-encompassing attack from unimaginable directions all around them, leaving them bewildered.

At this moment, tens of thousands of elite German soldiers, who were about to break through the enemy’s defense line, suddenly felt surrounded. Their high morale was instantly shattered.

Meanwhile, the British Army took this opportunity to stabilize their position and reorganize their defense.

The British officer, originally a self-confident young man who did not believe in the "Shire legend," now shouted in relief: "God, Shire saved us!"

Despite being a veteran of numerous battlefields, German commander Kross was shocked by the French planes equipped with machine guns but still judged that these planes were actually insignificant to the overall battle situation.

"They only have six planes!" Kross shouted at his staff officer, "They can’t carry much ammunition. Order the troops to ignore them and continue advancing!"

Soon, Kross’s orders were relayed to the front lines:

"Continue advancing. They don’t have much ammunition!"

"Continue advancing. Those planes can’t stop us!"

...

However, the soldiers didn’t believe it.

Soldiers habitually interpreted such explanations from their officers as "lies." There were too many such occurrences on the battlefield; officers always fabricated one beautiful lie after another to inspire the soldiers to charge at the enemy defenses without regard for their lives:

"The enemy is easy to defeat!"

"We’re going to win military honors!"

"The enemy has few shells left, we’re about to achieve victory!"

...

By the time the soldiers discovered that the truth was otherwise, they often couldn’t return to confront these liars.

The veterans were fed up with this. This time, they judged it to be yet another "fabrication" from their officers.

Thus, when two planes dove down again and spewed tongues of fire at them, the German troops began to retreat. Initially orderly, they soon became frantically scrambling under the pursuit of the planes, rolling and crawling in the mud, a scene of utter disarray.

And the aerial combat continued. Suddenly, another dozen or so Aphro planes appeared in the sky, flying toward the German balloons as if they were unimpeded, under the cover of fighter jets.

If any German plane tried to crash into the "rocket plane," the fighter jets would move forward and shoot them down one by one.

"Boom boom!"

"Boom!"

...

Three reconnaissance balloons turned into dazzling fireballs in the sky one after another, disappearing without a trace in a short time.

One balloon was still descending, perhaps sensing danger and urgently being recovered. It was so close to the ground that the explosion’s flames spread to the hundred German soldiers on the ground, causing chaos.

Kross stormed out of the command post in rage, looking at the planes still wreaking havoc in the sky, and shouted at his staff officer: "Those are just flies. Even though we can’t drive them away, just pretend they don’t exist, and they won’t pose any threat. Tell everyone that!"

"Yes, General!" The staff officer responded, immediately going to organize the troops and stabilize the frightened soldiers.

However, just as Kross was about to return to the command post, he suddenly heard an explosion behind him.

Suspiciously turning back, Kross recognized the explosion as coming from the artillery positions.

Immediately, a communications soldier stepped forward to report: "General, enemy planes have attacked our artillery positions; an ammunition truck has exploded!"

Kross froze for a moment, suddenly feeling a chill from within, finally realizing these were not insignificant flies.

Returning to the command post, Kross sent a telegram to Chief of Staff Fajin Han:

"It is verified that the French have mounted Maxim machine guns on their aircraft. This is likely Shire’s work again!"

"They appear insignificant, just a few planes with limited ammunition!"

"However, flying at 100 kilometers per hour in the air, they can attack any of our weak points!"

"Artillery positions, ammunition transport trucks, field hospitals, warehouses, even my command post!"

"There’s no safe place for us; please address this vulnerability, or it will be a nightmare for our forces!"

Upon receiving the telegram, Fajin Han dismissed it, simply replying: "Then have the infantry mount Maxims and shoot them down. They are not a serious threat!"

Seeing this reply, Kross felt helpless.

While the Chief of Staff might be an excellent strategist, he was out of touch in terms of tactical reality.

If Maxim machine guns were set up at every vulnerable spot in the rear that might be attacked by enemy planes, this would mean the frontline troops wouldn’t have Maxim machine guns, which itself was a form of failure.

But Kross said nothing, knowing from the phrase "not a serious threat" that the Chief of Staff, like everyone else, still didn’t take the planes seriously.

Holding the telegram, Kross sighed heavily with a serious expression: "The nature of warfare is changing, but only the blood of soldiers will make them realize their mistakes!"

Other than Shire, he was the first officer to deeply recognize the importance of the air force, possibly the only one.

Because Albert I and General Charles both believed this was a fluke.

"Shire knows how to scare off the enemy!" Albert I looked at the gradually darkening sky, feeling gratified: "He bought us time!"

"Indeed!" General Charles agreed: "It’s unimaginable what would have happened if the Germans had continued advancing regardless. A few planes couldn’t stop the German offensive!"

...

Rodense Airport, one fighter plane after another landed on the airport runway. free𝑤ebnovel.com

The ground staff had already received the victory telegrams from the front line and gathered to congratulate the pilots.

However, upon disembarking, the pilots weakly collapsed to the ground, some with pale faces gasping for breath, while others bent over loudly vomiting.

Especially Carter, who was both vomiting and coughing painfully, his eyes bloodshot. He would never forget the scene of bodies being shattered like trash before him as the plane swooped down and strafed the infantry, although it was just a fleeting moment.

He couldn’t believe it was his doing; he felt like a murderer, a mad killer...despite knowing full well they were enemies, knowing what he did was right!