Chapter 247 Foolish People
It is impossible to obtain exact data on the bombing results.
That's because the bomber pilots only drop bombs and can only watch the bombing scene from a distance in the sky afterwards. They have no way of knowing how many planes were destroyed and how many enemy pilots were killed.
But there is no doubt that France has regained control of the sky above the defense line... The once powerful German Air Force suddenly disappeared, and was replaced by the "Afro" of Charles' First Flying Squadron.
People thought that Charles's 1st Flying Squadron had scared off the Luftwaffe as soon as it went out.
On the surface, this is true.
All they knew was that during this period Joffre's Army Air Force had been badly beaten by the German Air Force. Almost every day, fighter planes or airports were shot down or attacked by the German Air Force. Frightened Joffre, he moved his fighter planes and hid them.
Joffre's solution was to tow the planes outside the airport and cover them with canvas so that the German fighter planes that came to attack would not be able to detect them and of course could not destroy them.
Although this is safe, it obviously cannot train new people: whether they are pilots or trainees, they can only stay on the ground.
Then Charles's 1st Flying Squadron appeared and the Luftwaffe disappeared.
People speculated that it was Charles' First Flying Squadron that drove away the German Air Force!
The next day, the "Meritorious Newspaper" published a photo taken from a distance in the newspaper, and reported ambiguously: the new aircraft developed by Charles made great contributions. They carried 16,000 kilograms of bombs and destroyed two German airports.
It was not until then that people realized that the battle had already begun without their knowledge and that they had been won.
Public opinion was boiling again, and people spontaneously organized themselves and shouted at the door of the House of Representatives:
"I support the incorporation of Army aircraft and allow Charles to unify their command."
"Let those poor pilots go. Their only fate in Joffre's hands is to escape or die."
"We should have people who understand air combat commanding aircraft, not amateurs who have been dealing with the Army their whole lives!"
…
There were even many army pilots who exposed the chaos at the army airport. When they faced reporters, they complained with fear:
"All we do every day is dodge and avoid, we are not pilots at all."
"Many people still don't know how to fly a plane, let alone get into the air and shoot down an enemy plane!"
"The plane is a waste in our hands, and we don't understand why this happened!"
…
The ball was kicked to Joffre's feet.
At the headquarters, Joffre was standing at the window, staring at the sky in a daze. There happened to be several Avro fighter planes flying through the snow.
Kanais stood aside and dared not speak.
If Kanais himself were in this situation, he would choose to let go without hesitation.
The situation at this point was clear: Joffre had already lost the battle for aircraft, and lost miserably.
Every decision he made seemed to be wrong, from the establishment of the airport to the purchase of aircraft and the pilot training program, nothing was right.
They all have a distinct army style and offensive spirit, but air combat is obviously different from land combat.
If you still don't admit defeat at this time, you can only wait for the parliament to make a decision and then enforce it. At that time, not only will you lose the plane, but you will also lose face.
But Joffre was never the kind of person who would give up easily. He thought for a while and then said slowly, his tone full of complaints: "Foolish people, they can't tell the difference between the two. Charles used bomb planes instead of his First Flying Squadron to defeat the Germans. If we had such bombers, we could also win!"
Kanais couldn't help but widen his eyes.
What Joffre said seemed to be correct. This type of bomber could bring victory no matter who had it.
But the key point is that this is a new model developed by Charles. They defeated the Germans under Charles' command. Not long ago, the Germans had caused heavy casualties to the army's planes, and the army planes had to hide everywhere. As the commander, Joffre had no way to deal with it.
Now, Charles had done it this way, but Joffre said easily, "If I had a plane like this, I could do it, too!"
Then they would wipe out all of Charles's contributions and tell people that army aircraft still had a purpose and that Joffre could do even better than Charles...
Kanais couldn't bear to listen any more and his expression became awkward.
But Joffre remained calm, as if he firmly believed that he was right: "What we should do is not to hand over the army planes to Charles, but to buy a batch of bombers, and then we can change the current situation!"
"But General!" Kanais said, "How should we explain this to the public?"
"That's for the newspapers." Joffre cast his eyes on the map. "As long as we call a press conference to explain the matter, and then win a few more victories..."
Kanais suddenly realized that Charles' bombers could bring Joffre a perfect victory: in the past, it was necessary to show off some results to the media in order to show off the victory, but if he had this kind of bombers, he only needed to send them out, and then he could brag to reporters about what a glorious victory the army bombers had achieved by bombing something.
Reporters and people were unable to verify this because these achievements and victories took place in enemy-controlled areas.
At this time, a staff officer holding a microphone a few meters away reported to Joffre: "General, Mr. Clemenceau, member of the Army Committee!"
Xia Fei's expression changed, and he took the phone expressionlessly:
"Yes, Mr. Commissioner."
"Okay, I understand!"
"I have no opinion, sir, I will obey the decision of the parliament!"
After hanging up the phone, Xia Fei's face became very ugly.
He understood what was going on. Social resentment was boiling over the war, and the truce during Christmas was actually a "silent protest" by the soldiers against the government. This put great pressure on the government and parliament, which had promised the people that the war would end as soon as possible. They were unwilling to take more risks for Joffre.
"These bastards!" Joffre muttered. "They only care about their own interests and don't consider what is good for France. They will regret their decision!"
"General?" Kanais felt that something was changing, so he stepped forward and asked cautiously.
Joffre gritted his teeth and ordered: "Hand over all the planes and pilots to the Paris Defense Command!"
"Yes, General!" Kanais responded straightforwardly.
(The picture above shows Clemenceau, the former Prime Minister and current member of the Army Committee. He is best known for proposing a series of reform measures that are beneficial to workers to win the hearts of the people, including the 8-hour workday, which was never implemented. Not only did he not implement it, he also sent troops to suppress the general strike for the 8-hour workday.)
(End of this chapter)
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