Chapter 109 Demand determines the market
In the operations office, Gallieni quickly signed the supply list while asking Charles, "How is it, have you decided?"
"Decide what?" Charles was a little confused. He remembered that Gallieni had not asked him to do anything.
After signing a few more documents, Gallieni simply threw them away and walked towards the lounge with a stern face.
Charles followed him tactfully.
As soon as the door was closed Gallieni began to curse:
"Lieutenant, do you really think you are needed to release those pilots?"
"Do you really think I arrested those pilots because of you?"
"You think I don't know those pilots are innocent?"
Charles looked confused; he still didn't understand what Gallieni wanted to say.
…
In the officers' mess downstairs, after Charles was called away, Carter rolled his eyes and walked over to Eric with a plate full of food and sat down.
"Eric!" Carter whispered, "Is it true that you saved Ciel?"
"Of course!" Eric answered proudly, "You will never know how dangerous it was. The enemy guards were following my plane. If I was a little slower, they would have climbed up..."
Immediately, others came up and asked, "Did the guards fire?"
"Uh... of course they fired!" Eric said in a somewhat stiff voice: "I also heard the sound of a machine gun, 'ta-ta-ta', and the bullets flew past my head!"
Then Eric clenched his fist and said, "But of course I can't let Charles be in danger. He is the savior of France!"
Others excitedly agreed:
"Yes!"
“You did the right thing!”
"Charles also saved Antwerp. It's hard to imagine that the Belgians would give him to the Germans!"
…
Most people regard this as a Belgian problem. After all, this is indeed an internal conflict in Belgium, but Charles has become the victim, so Belgium has naturally become the party that "repays kindness with enmity" and "repays kindness with grievances".
"They even fired!" Eric said more and more exaggeratedly: "The shells exploded right in front of the plane, and there was smoke everywhere..."
Carter quickly brought the subject back: "Wait, Eric, I just want to know... since you saved Charles, can we rely on his relationship... to receive more military missions? I mean long-term and stable ones!"
This suggestion immediately attracted a lot of attention from the pilots, even the pilots who were busy eating came over:
"Good idea, now we have something to do!"
"Ciel can definitely do it, as long as he tells the general!"
“Maybe there will be a few big orders!”
…
After all, it was a matter of survival for the pilots, and they all looked at Eric with expectant eyes.
Eric was embarrassed. He was the only one who knew that the so-called "saving Charles" was just bragging. It was his duty to fly the plane to bring Charles back, and he did not encounter any danger.
The fact should be that it was Charles who saved him and agreed to buy his aircraft manufacturing plant, which almost gave him a chance to be reborn.
But now he is asked to make conditions to Charles?
"This..." Eric said in embarrassment: "You know, military affairs are not decided by Charles alone. He is just a lieutenant..."
"But his lieutenant is different from others!" Carter objected: "He is the savior of France!"
Others echoed.
Eric refused: "Then he should be more impartial. I mean, this will make Charles embarrassed..."
"It's just a sentence!" Carter still refused to give up: "This is legal and in accordance with procedures. We will definitely do it well!"
Other pilots also expressed their determination:
"Yes, we will do our best and will not embarrass Lieutenant Charles!"
"If we can't do it well, we'll leave!"
"If anyone slacks off, we'll beat him up and fire him!"
…
Gallieni's lounge.
Gallieni, sitting in a chair, looked at Charles with a look of disappointment: "Pilots, flying clubs, plus the airplane cannon you invented in Antwerp... Haven't you thought of anything else?"
Charles suddenly realized: "General, do you mean to incorporate these pilots into the army?"
Gallieni nodded slightly and said thoughtfully:
"Before this, we didn't ask much of our pilots. They just used the planes for reconnaissance and to deliver urgent documents. An army group only needed a few."
"But now, just by tying rockets to the plane, we can destroy the enemy's airships, balloons, and even bomb the enemy's artillery!"
"Do you know what this means?"
Charles understood: "The military's demand for pilots has increased dramatically!"
"Yes," said Gallieni, "and we also considered that the enemy might destroy our balloons in the same way!"
The Germans were no fools, they also had Congreve rockets, and it wouldn't be long before they realized that it was rockets, not artillery, strapped to the planes, and they would follow suit.
Charles responded: "This will eliminate the enemy and our own balloons, and reconnaissance missions will be handed over to aircraft, which will further increase the demand for pilots!"
Gallieni smiled slightly, and the little guy finally reacted.
"We have 44 divisions, Lieutenant," Gallieni said. "Each division has an artillery regiment. Each artillery regiment needs to get rid of its balloons and replace them with airplanes. How many pilots do you think we need?"
Assuming that each artillery regiment has three aircraft, 132 pilots are needed just to cooperate with the artillery.
In addition, we need to recruit professional pilots to shoot down balloons and bomb enemy artillery, which means there will be at least more than 300 people!
This is still a conservative estimate. Considering the casualties and the urgency of the battlefield, 500 people is not excessive. If the situation develops to the point where fighter jets are fighting each other, thousands of pilots will not be enough...
"This may not be an easy task, General!" Charles said in embarrassment, "You know, those pilots are used to a free life. Besides, it's wartime now. Everyone knows that the battlefield is dangerous. They may not be willing to join the army!"
"I know, Lieutenant!" Gallieni looked up at Charles. "That's why I handed this matter over to you. We can give pilots certain preferential treatments. For example, they will be promoted to the rank of second lieutenant when they join the army. After all, they are technical soldiers, different from ordinary infantry!"
Charles still shook his head. Military rank might not be very attractive to pilots.
Gallieni continued to add: "A monthly allowance of 60 francs!"
Charles' frown relaxed a little, now he looked good!
"In addition!" Gallieni reminded, "We also need an airport and plan to order a hundred aircraft from your aircraft factory..."
Charles was stunned. The order came before the aircraft manufacturer even bought it?
(End of this chapter)
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