Chapter 113 Heading to the Sea
Aircraft construction and the flying club are progressing smoothly.
Eric was in charge of the aircraft manufacturing plant, which could produce 50 Avro aircraft and 30 Gaudron G.3 aircraft per month.
The latter was an aircraft designed by the Caudron company run by the French brothers Caudron. They opened up the industrial property rights to allow any aircraft manufacturer to produce it without authorization, which made it very suitable for use as a reconnaissance aircraft and primary training aircraft.
(Note: Its cost is about 4,000 francs, less than half of that of Afro.)
Carter is responsible for organizing the integration of the club's pilots. He will divide the pilots into several groups during training: ground crew, instructors, reconnaissance, etc. The best pilots will directly participate in air combat.
They had done these things before, so as long as Charles gave them a general direction, they would be able to proceed according to Charles's wishes.
The only problem is: Eric needs wine, and Carter needs an accountant.
On this day, Charles, as a staff officer, assisted Lieutenant Colonel Fernando in organizing intelligence as usual. One of the staff officers' tasks was to integrate the fragmented intelligence coming from the front line so that the commander could understand the battle situation clearly and accurately in the shortest time.
However, Charles saw something unusual in the intelligence.
He approached Gallieni with doubt and said, "General, I think there may be something wrong with these fronts!"
"What's the problem?" Gallieni asked casually. He was reading the Little Journal with a cup of coffee. The war situation was going well recently and he had some free time.
Charles reported: "General Joffre has been sending intelligence that 'the war is going well', 'the enemy is retreating', 'our victories are becoming more and more grand and glorious'... However, our army has made almost no progress on the Aisne River line in the past few days!"
Gallieni was stunned. He immediately put down his coffee and newspaper, then showed the map in front of him and asked, "Where was the offensive line a few days ago?"
Charles held the telegram from a few days ago in one hand and drew a few circles on the map with a pencil in the other hand: "Here, here, and here..."
Gallieni took the telegram and checked it carefully, and found that it was true.
After a moment's silence, Gallieni gritted his teeth and cursed, "Asshole, he falsely reported military intelligence!"
There is no need to say who he was referring to. No one expected that the French commander-in-chief would falsely report military intelligence.
His purpose in doing so was obvious, as Parliament was debating whether to hold him accountable for the failure of Plan 17, and there was even the possibility of removing him as commander-in-chief, so he could not let the victory stop.
On the one hand, he falsely reported military intelligence and continued to convey the news of victory to the rear, and on the other hand, he ordered his troops on the battlefield to charge towards the enemy's defense line in a meaningless manner, even though the enemy had stabilized its position and built a solid defense line.
Gallieni paced in front of the table for a few steps, then immediately ordered Major General Monouri: "Immediately dispatch an army to the front line to reinforce, we must bypass the enemy's right wing!"
"Yes!" Major General Monuri responded and gave orders to the troops.
As soon as Charles heard the order, he knew that this "detour" would not succeed.
The French army wasted too much time because of false military intelligence. When the French reinforcements arrived at the front line and "circumvented" the enemy's flank, the German reinforcements would also catch up and "circumvent" the same position.
Then the enemy and our side made another "detour", and soon there was another... The final result was that no one could "detour" and extend the defense line to the seaside.
This is what is called "running to the sea".
Charles' eyes moved north along the defense line and finally locked onto Ypres in western Belgium. He knew that the German army would launch a counterattack here and inflict heavy casualties on the British and French forces.
The attacking German army even included the art student who failed the exam. It was his first battle.
The German army chose to attack here because Ypres was flat and at a low altitude, and water would appear as soon as a shovel was used, making it almost impossible to build trenches.
Coupled with the arrival of the rainy season in France...Ypres will become a purgatory for the warring parties, and each side will lose more than 100,000 troops.
Charles thought of the tractors, of the thousand or so tractors that Francis had sitting in his warehouse and couldn't sell.
In such terrain, a tractor that can pull artillery and transport supplies will be the key to victory.
Charles realized that he had to act quickly, otherwise Francis might get the upper hand.
…
That afternoon, a misty drizzle fell from the sky, covering the entire Darvaz like strands of silk. A damp breeze was blowing gently, making Francis, who was standing in front of the window, smoking a pipe and looking out, feel quite depressed.
He was thinking about the prospects of the tractor factory.
The war did not end as everyone had hoped. Not only did it not end, but there was no hope of victory in sight.
Francis had hoped that tractor sales would return to normal after the war, but that now seemed like an unrealistic fantasy.
More importantly, Shire's tractor factory has begun mass production of the "Holt 75", which has much better performance than the "Holt 60" in Francis' hands, but the price is comparable!
So, even if the war was over, why would people buy a Holt 60 instead of a Holt 75?
At this moment, a carriage pulled by four horses slowly came from the rain, from blurry to clear. Just as Francis was admiring the luxury of the carriage, it stopped in front of Francis' villa.
Francis' eyes lit up. His years of experience told him that this might be a customer who would buy a tractor, and a big customer at that.
The target customer group of agricultural tractors is farmers, and the major customers are farmers who own large tracts of land. As farmers gradually become workers, they have to buy tractors to improve their farming efficiency.
His carriage seemed to indicate his identity... At that time, farmers were not used to using cars, they preferred to use horse-drawn carriages to indicate their identity.
"Simon, Simon!" Francis turned and shouted outside the room.
Simon pushed the door open and Francis hurriedly changed out of his pajamas while saying, "Hurry up, receive the guests and prepare coffee and cigars!"
"Yes, sir!" Simon understood as soon as he heard this and hurried downstairs to prepare.
After Francis changed his clothes and went downstairs, he saw a well-maintained old man with aristocratic temperament sitting elegantly on the sofa.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Francis!" The old man raised his eyelids and looked at Francis on the stairs calmly: "I just came from the Charles Tractor Factory. I hope you won't let me down!"
Francis was stunned. Charles' tractor couldn't meet his requirements?
So the only thing he was dissatisfied with was... the quantity? !
Francis' eyes brightened even more, and a flattering smile instantly covered his face!
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
