Chapter 240 Taking Advantage of the Germans
"Is it just a matter of allowance?" Kobdo guided the major to continue.
"No, no, of course not!" Major Langev waved his hand at the planes behind him: "Look at our planes, they are all reconnaissance planes, there is not a single machine gun fighter, not even one!"
Several pilots couldn't help but come up and complained:
"Even the reconnaissance aircraft are old aircraft that have been flying for more than a year, and they keep breaking down."
"I'm missing the parts and can't fix them."
"And the infantry only care about one thing. If they need to know something, they ask us to fly up to the sky and take a look. They always think it's easy."
…
The more they talked, the more upset they became, and soon it turned into accusations, and they wanted to catch those infantrymen here to experience this for themselves.
Kobdo added fuel to the fire at the right time: "I heard that one of the planes shot down by the enemy recently came from your airport?"
The pilots' anger was immediately ignited:
"Yes, the pilot is Adrian, a great guy, and he's also the best mechanic we have!"
"We don't know what to do in the future. The Germans already have machine guns and planes, but we only have pistols. The infantry always say that we are not in danger, but that is not true!"
"I don't understand. We invented the machine gun plane first, so why are we the ones who are beaten and scared? Where are our machine gun planes?"
…
Kobdo explained: "This may be because you are in two different command systems. Although we have machine gun planes, they don't even know you are in danger."
"Yes!" Major Langev nodded in agreement, his tone helpless: "Although we fly in the sky, our organization, allowances and command all belong to the Army. And Charles's flying squadron is the real aircraft unit. We can't get reinforcements from machine gun planes unless we have our own machine gun planes."
Other pilots added:
"But this is impossible. Each army has its own reconnaissance aircraft and its own airport."
"And the infantry divisions, they also have aircraft."
"There are at least twenty such simple airfields along the front line. If we equip each airfield with enough machine gun planes, we will need at least several hundred!"
…
Kobdo ended the interview. He didn't say much about Shire, at most he just mentioned the "Flying Club".
Kovdo understood that if he asked the pilots too bluntly, "If you merged with Charles's flight squadron and were under Charles's command, would you be willing?"
The pilots might be willing, but everyone would think:
The Meritorious Newspaper belongs to Xiaer, and Kobdo is a reporter for the Meritorious Newspaper.
Then, Kobdo’s interview was actually to help Charles “acquire” these airports, with sinister intentions!
Not only will this be ineffective, but it will also be used as a handle by capitalists to exploit your weakness.
Therefore, Kobdo was very careful in controlling the interview.
However, he always leaves the pilots with one question at the end of the interview: "How do you hope to improve the current situation and what is the future development direction of Army aircraft?"
Similar interviews were conducted at more than one airport. Except for a few airports that Joffre considered "top secret" and were not allowed to be interviewed, reporters from the "Meritorious Newspaper" visited almost every army simple airport and reported their current conditions in the newspaper.
So a question is presented to everyone:
Are there any reasons for the existence of these numerous, dilapidated and almost unmanaged airports?
Discussions among the military and civilians then became very heated:
"It's just suicide, they're like little workshops on the street."
"You can imagine that these pilots would be targets when facing the German machine gun fighters. They would be useless and would become perfect practice subjects for the Germans!"
"They will be defeated one by one by the Germans. They will not have any chance of survival!"
Driven by this hot topic, other newspapers followed up with reports, and the discussion gradually turned to the issue of future development:
“We should bring them together and manage them under a unified system.”
"The most suitable person to command them is obviously Charles. He manages the First Flying Squadron very well."
"Yes, the First Flying Squadron always won under his command. He also invented the machine gun fighter. He understands air combat!"
…
Gallieni nodded with satisfaction. His desk was piled with various newspapers, including Le Petit Journal, Le Petit Paris Journal, Le Matin, and even Le Figaro, which was read by the aristocrats.
"Well done, Kovdo!" Gallieni took a sip of coffee and praised Kovdo while flipping through the newspaper: "Public opinion is moving in a direction that is favorable to us."
"Yes, General." Kobdo glanced at Charles and replied, "We don't need to rush. Charles's military achievements are there for everyone to see. Let the citizens themselves ask for Charles's command. The effect will be much better than Charles asking for it!"
Gallieni nodded his assent.
At this time, the "Meritorious Newspaper" retreated to the second line and turned to other hot topics. This was a very clever tactic. Kobdo knew how to guide public opinion.
"Then what? Are we just going to wait like this?" Lieutenant Colonel Fernando was a little anxious: "The German machine gun planes may have been prepared somewhere, and they can launch a fatal attack on the army's planes at any time!"
"They will fight back." Kobdo replied without thinking.
"Who, Germans?" asked Lieutenant Colonel Fernando in confusion.
"No, Lieutenant Colonel." Kobdo lowered his voice: "At present, our opponents are not the Germans."
Lieutenant Colonel Fernan was stunned for a moment, then he realized that Kobdo was referring to Xiafei.
Gallieni hummed: "Of course he won't sit still and wait for death. He will try to direct public opinion in other directions."
Charles already understood all of Kobdo's plans. This guy's strategy in public opinion warfare was no worse than Charles's.
Sure enough, Kovdo replied: "Yes, I guess that in order to maintain the command of these airports, Xiafei will equip these airports with machine gun fighters and add more personnel and resources to these airports."
"And then?" Lieutenant Colonel Fernando frowned. He didn't think this was good news.
Gallieni and Charles said nothing, but glanced at each other meaningfully.
Lieutenant Colonel Fernando suddenly understood: it would be a battle in the end.
Such a deployment of Joffre would make him face the attack of German aircraft directly. He would tell everyone that such a decision was stupid and wrong through one or even several failures!
Kobdo is using the Germans to defeat Joffre, and eventually Joffre will have to compromise!
(End of this chapter)
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