Chapter 127 Easy as pie

The balloons slowly rose again, and the planes circled in the gray sky like dragonflies, both enemy and friend.

The battlefield at this time was like a big chessboard. The no-man's land in the middle was the boundary between Chu and Han. There were pawns on both sides of the defense line. There was a headquarters, cannons and guards in the rear, and they were ready for a big battle.

Albert I looked at the balloons and planes rising in the direction of the German army and was quite puzzled. He asked: "The Germans clearly know that Charles has already put machine guns on the planes. Isn't it a way to seek death to release the balloons?"

"The Germans had to do this!" General Charles explained: "In such weather, only at the height of the balloon can you see the fire from the muzzle several kilometers away. In order to deal with the French artillery, they must face the possible danger!"

"But how can they protect themselves?" Albert I looked incredulous: "This is tantamount to suicide!"

Charles replied solemnly: "It is also suicide for the infantry to charge the enemy trenches, but they still charge up. This is war!"

Albert I was silent. He found that although he was with the soldiers, his understanding of the war was still just the tip of the iceberg.

…

However, General Cross did not see this as suicide.

He placed eight Maxim guns around each balloon, so that once an enemy plane approached the balloon, it would be immediately subjected to crazy machine gun fire from the ground.

The artillery position was no exception, and Cross almost surrounded it with Maxim machine guns.

Cross even instructed the pilots: "If your plane is tracked by the enemy, immediately approach the balloon or fly to the artillery position!"

The machine guns would solve the pilot's problem, Cross thought, just as Falkenham had said.

…

At the Paris defense headquarters, Charles received the enemy's new deployment via telegram.

The intelligence was obtained by the artillery regiment's reconnaissance planes. The German planes had no machine guns, so they could fly safely to the German positions and take in everything.

When German pilots saw these reconnaissance planes, they were so nervous that they dodged in all directions, as they were worried that these reconnaissance planes were equipped with machine guns.

Lieutenant Colonel Fernan placed several machine gun models around the balloon and artillery positions, and looked at Charles with a little concern.

The aircraft of this period had a speed of only about 100 kilometers per hour, had neither fuel tank leak prevention devices nor bottom armor, and posed a considerable threat to them from ground machine guns.

But Charles still ordered the first battalion to attack.

…

The brutal war was once again staged in Ypres, but this time neither the enemy nor our side fired artillery fire. Only a large number of German soldiers attacked the Belgian defense line on the muddy land.

The French artillery was waiting for orders. Gallieni's instructions were not to fire without orders, even if the enemy rushed in front of them!

The artillery commander, Major General Thierry, was a little confused about this. Isn't this handing the artillery into the hands of the enemy?

He looked nervously at the observer on the balloon, who was using signal flags to tell the people below that the enemy had entered artillery range.

But deep down, Major General Thierry knew that General Gallieni might be right.

Ever since the French 75 gun was equipped with a hydraulic recoil mechanism that allowed it to fire 30 rounds in a minute, the Germans have given up competing with the French in rate of fire. They have chosen to develop their artillery in terms of range and power.

Now, although the German howitzer can only fire 4 rounds per minute, in addition to the advantage of a 12-kilometer range, its 105MM caliber shell only needs one shot, and if it does not hit directly, it only needs to hit nearby to kill all the artillerymen of a crew!

Major General Thierry understood that once he gave the order to open fire, the 105MM caliber shells from the opposite side would immediately fly over and blow them all up!

However, what is the point of continuing like this?

Are we not firing a single shot because we are worried about being bombed by the enemy?

Major General Thierry is waiting for the fate of the artillery!

At this time, bursts of "rumbling" engine sounds came from the sky. Major General Thierry looked back and saw several rows of "Avro" flying in the air and heading straight towards the German army. They were of the same model and were arranged in neat formation, which was quite majestic.

"Still attack like yesterday?" Major General Thierry was a little confused.

His scouts had already sent the enemy's deployment to General Gallieni. The enemy had placed Maxim machine guns around the balloons and artillery positions like hedgehogs. Even if the aircraft attack was successful, it would come at a heavy price!

…

Carter, who was commanding in the air, didn't think so. He gestured easily to both sides, ordering the fleet to climb higher.

"These idiots, they never realized that airplanes are things that fly in the air!" Carter muttered to himself.

But he felt a little ashamed because when he heard that the balloon was surrounded by machine guns, his reaction was similar to that of others. He asked in horror on the phone: "What should we do? Blow it up in the rain of bullets?"

Ciel asked in a surprised tone, "Do you need to do this?"

Carter was stunned for a moment, then he said "Oh" and knew what to do. It was so easy!

"Maintain altitude!" When the fleet climbed to about 1,500 meters, Carter gestured and gave orders, and then let the fleet attack freely.

Due to the lack of radio, once the fleet broke up the formation and launched an attack on the target, no orders could be issued, and then it all depended on the pilots to act freely.

…

General Cross, standing on the ground, held up a telescope and observed the balloon "Avro" approaching from a high altitude, wondering secretly, what are they doing? At that altitude, their rockets can't hit the balloon!

Suddenly, he realized the reason, quickly put away the telescope and shouted: "Put away the balloons, put away the balloons! Immediately..."

However, it was too late to collect the balloons at this point.

Several Avro planes drew a graceful arc in the air, diving towards the balloon from the top at an almost vertical angle, and fired rockets with a "whoosh" sound when they were about to get close...

"boom!"

A balloon was blown into a fireball in full view of the German army, and the machine gunner below did not fire a single shot and was completely unable to provide any protection.

Everyone thought that the enemy plane would approach the balloon from the side and blow it up as usual, but they did not expect that there was a large blind spot on the top of the balloon.

This blind spot is a corner where the aircraft can launch a top-down attack but the machine gun cannot reach it and is also beyond its range.

“Boom boom!”

The balloons exploded one after another and turned into ashes in the air.

Almost at the same time, the French 75 gun roared.

Hundreds of artillery pieces from four artillery regiments rained down shells at the German soldiers who were charging intensively in front of the trenches at an average rate of 15 rounds per minute!

General Cross turned pale as he realized that all of this might have been planned by the enemy!

And this was not the end. Two Avro planes fired rockets at the artillery positions from a distance. These rockets did not explode. After they landed, they released a stream of smoke, and soon the German artillery positions in the valley were submerged in a "sea of ​​smoke"...

(End of this chapter)