Chapter 128 Can This Be Called War?

I'm busy at work today, so I can't write five chapters in a hurry. Sorry! I'll continue with five chapters tomorrow!

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"Avro" fired smoke bombs at the German artillery positions.

The earliest smoke bomb was invented by a British officer named Motley in 1849. He used silver nitrate and ferric hesperide as chemical agents. However, the effect of this smoke bomb was not ideal. The smoke it produced could only make the enemy feel "smoke".

The formula used by Charles was improved by the Germans two years later. They used potassium nitrate and sucrose as chemical agents. The smoke intensity was more than ten times that of the original smoke bomb, and the cost was low and the raw materials were easier to obtain.

What Charles has to do is to fill these chemicals into rockets and then have the pilots launch them into the "dangerous area".

The German machine gunners stationed in the artillery positions were soon blinded by the smoke and could not see the planes in the sky, but the pilots could still see the towering gun barrels in the positions when they looked down.

Then, one rocket plane after another swooped down, firing rockets between their wings into the artillery positions.

Although rockets are not accurate, they are numerous. Each plane carries ten rockets, and more than ten planes carry hundreds of rockets.

These rockets indiscriminately bombarded the artillery positions, instantly throwing the German artillery into chaos.

Suddenly, a big fire broke out in the smoke, and the red flame looked like a pile of burning firewood.

That was not firewood, but a truck transporting ammunition.

There were only two artillery vehicles parked in the entire artillery position, and a rocket happened to hit one of them. There were even more than twenty shells in its trunk that had not been unloaded in time.

The artillery officer blew his whistle and loudly ordered the driver to drive the car away, but the driver was unable to do so. The rocket hit the cab and flames were everywhere. Even the joystick to start the car could not be removed.

Several soldiers rushed over and tried to put out the fire with wet coats and engineering shovels, but it was no use and the fire continued to grow bigger.

This frightened the soldiers, and several rescue workers dropped their tools and ran away, but it was of no avail.

"boom!"

After a loud bang, the bomb in the rear compartment exploded, and the fire spread to the nearby artillery shells, triggering a series of chain explosions.

Flying in the air, Carter only glanced at the fire below and then focused his attention on the German planes, which were fleeing everywhere under the pursuit of the "Avro", but they were unarmed and destined to become targets.

Carter calmly caught up with the enemy plane, took aim and pulled the control stick...

General Cross looked at the chaos in the rear and the planes that were hit and fell from the sky one after another, and he inexplicably felt powerless.

This was an unfair war. The German army had superior manpower and much better quality, but it was like punching cotton and was completely powerless.

The enemy's vulnerable infantry just hid in the trenches and did nothing, only needing to pop their heads out occasionally and pull the trigger a few times!

Can this be called a war? This is simply a one-sided massacre!

After a long while, Cross gave the order in a muffled voice: "Retreat!"

The staff officer had been waiting for this sentence. Anyone could see that the soldiers were suffering meaningless casualties. As soon as he received the order, he immediately conveyed it over the phone.

…

Albert I and General Charles did not understand the situation until the German army retreated. It all happened too suddenly.

Looking at the German army retreating like a tide, Albert I didn't even know what was happening: "Were they scared off by the planes? Or the cannons?"

In his view, the French artillery fire was unsustainable and that their opening fire would almost mean their destruction... The German artillery fire would immediately suppress them in the opposite direction.

The next moment should be the most dangerous: the French artillery fire was silenced, the German infantry took advantage of the situation to launch a fierce attack, the enemy and our side engaged in hand-to-hand combat, and soon the Belgian army would collapse across the board.

The Germans are winning, if they can just hold on a little longer!

Albert even considered opening the sluice gates, believing that this might be the only way to save Ypres.

However……

The German army retreated miraculously!

Albert I had a lot of questions in his mind:

Why did they retreat?

Why didn't the German artillery fire?

Why did the French 75mm gun chase the Germans?

General Charles didn't understand at first, until he raised his telescope and looked in the direction of the German army, he found that all the German balloons had disappeared, not a single one was left.

"It's the plane!" General Charles said excitedly, "The plane has won again, they blew up the balloon!"

Albert I followed Charles's gaze and realized that there was nothing above the German army except white clouds and the French "Afro".

He couldn't help but exclaim: "God, Ciel doesn't even need us to win this battle!"

This is not accurate, the Belgian army is still useful.

At least they could dig a trench there to form a line of defense. Occasionally, there would be a few enemy warriors who managed to get through the artillery fire, and they would have to deal with them.

Otherwise, if these "slippery fish" were allowed to sneak into the artillery positions or threaten the king and the headquarters, it might create some chaos.

Albert I did not know that at this time a small group of French reinforcements were on their way. Their commander was riding a tall horse, followed by a cavalry of more than two hundred people.

He was Ferdinand Foch, who was revered as a celebrity by the French army.

When Foch received the order to "stop advancing", he was very dissatisfied, or more accurately, angry. Foch could not help but curse:

"This is ridiculous!"

"Ypres is waiting for our reinforcements, and there is no ridiculous 'flash flood' ahead. The bridge is right in front of us, it's right there!"

"We can definitely get there tonight, but we have to wait here until tomorrow!"

"He did this obviously because he wanted the Germans to capture Ypres!"

Foch even suspected that Gallieni was bribed by the Germans to issue such an unreasonable order.

But this doesn't seem right. Gallieni saved Paris. If he was bribed by the Germans, he should have cooperated with the Germans when he was in Paris instead of driving them out!

So, Gallieni hoped that British reinforcements would arrive first?

Or are there any other considerations?

Foch, who was confused, decided to lead a team of cavalry to Ypres to find out what was going on!

Foch was worried all the way, and he even considered whether to disobey orders and bring up reinforcements at all costs.

However……

He soon discovered that his worries were unnecessary!

When he hurried to Ypres, he saw that France was winning.

The sky was filled with planes painted in the French tricolor. The Germans fled in panic under the bombardment of artillery, and the incomplete bodies of German soldiers were everywhere in front of the positions...

This was a near-perfect victory, with almost zero casualties for the Allies!

Thanks to: Muqiujiuyue, Maoxuan, and book friend 20170902134251903 for their rewards, thank you very much!

(End of this chapter)