Chapter 120 Machine Gun Shooting Coordinator
(The picture above shows the location of two machine guns on the nose)
Gallieni raised his head high, looked at the congressmen below with contempt in his eyes, and made a concluding speech in a resounding voice:
"Gentlemen, which equipment is useful and which is useless on the battlefield, please leave these matters to those who have actually fought on the battlefield and know what war is about to judge."
“Just like a farmer can’t discuss legal issues, and a lawyer doesn’t know how to farm!”
"Being a soldier is a special profession. It is not as simple as you think. We should be cautious about it."
"Instead of trying to teach others how to shoot without even holding a gun, or even trying to teach others how to fight or tell others what not to buy!"
"You will gain nothing by doing this except bringing shame upon yourself!"
Having said this, Gallieni didn't even look at the congressmen in the room. He walked off the stage and walked out of the meeting room with his chest puffed out in front of their embarrassed gazes, with a smile on his face.
Gallieni had never been as glorious as he was today. He slapped the congressmen hard, but the congressmen had nothing to say, because Charles had indeed won a victory and turned the "impossible" into "possible"!
In fact, not only did the parliamentarians not believe it, but Gallieni also did not believe it when Charles mentioned the "machine gun firing coordinator".
"That's impossible!" Even though Gallieni was well-informed, he couldn't help but exclaimed after hearing Charles' idea: "The propeller of the plane is spinning so fast that we can't even see its blades. How is it possible for the bullet to penetrate it without damaging the blades!"
"We don't need to see it, General!" Charles explained. "We just need to add a small device to prevent it from firing when the paddle is turned in front of the muzzle. It's not difficult!"
The key to many inventions is not that they are "difficult" but that they are unexpected.
Once the idea is in mind, the implementation process may only require piecing together several existing things, such as the "machine gun firing coordinator" which uses an already implemented hydraulic press.
Gallieni still looked confused. He might be adept at military theory and command, but he knew nothing about mechanics. This was why he insisted on choosing the Saint-Cyr Military Academy.
However, when Charles actually had the thing made a few hours later, Gallieni had to believe it.
The test was conducted in a flying club, using two Vickers machine guns, which were installed one on the left and one on the right of the nose of an Avro that was about to be scrapped. No one dared to fly this plane into the sky because of frequent engine failures, so it was just right for the test.
The pilots placed a wooden target in front of the plane, but later found that the target was completely useless. Before people could see whether the bullet hit the center of the bull's eye, it was completely shattered and turned into a pile of broken wood that fell all over the ground.
Of course, that's not the point.
The point is that the two machine guns had a total of 500 rounds of bullets, all of which were fired but the propellers were unharmed.
The pilots stared at the stopped propeller in a daze. Carter even touched the blade with his hand and exclaimed: "My God, there is not even a scratch on it. All the bullets avoided the blade perfectly!"
"It wasn't the bullet that missed the blade, Uncle Carter!" said Charles. "It was the blade that missed the bullet!"
According to Charles' understanding, it is the movement of the paddle that plays the active role, so it should be placed in the front.
"What's the difference?" Carter asked back, "I just want to know how this is done?"
"This is the charm of machines!" Charles was confused: "Machines react much faster than us humans. We can't imagine machines with humans!"
Gallieni looked at the propeller for a while, then at the broken wooden target. The next second he gave a stern order to the guards: "Send a guard battalion to seal off the club. From now on, no one can go out without permission!"
"Yes, General!" The guard immediately went to make a phone call.
Gallieni turned to the pilots and said, "Congratulations! From now on, you are soldiers!"
Carter asked doubtfully, "Who are we referring to, General?"
"Everyone!" Gallieni replied. "Everyone in the club, including the cook!"
Carter stared blankly at Gallieni's departing back, then turned his gaze to Charles: "Lieutenant, although you told us about this before, I didn't expect it to happen so soon!"
Charles was also a little surprised. He thought that the pilots should at least practice military posture and shooting, or cut their hair short, otherwise they would not even be able to wear military caps.
Who would have thought that Gallieni would directly declare them "soldiers".
But after a little thought, Charles understood.
The "machine gun firing coordinator" he had just invented had brought air combat from scratch, completely ending the era of planes throwing bricks, flying needles or colliding with each other, and moving directly to machine gun fire, and two machine guns at that.
This may be a "simple little thing" to Charles, but it is a "top secret" in this era.
Gallieni might not understand mechanics or airplanes, but he understood military affairs and he knew that this invention had to be kept absolutely secret.
Charles realized that he was careless and should have "invented" this thing in secret. Now it can be said that he has implicated pilots like Carter and made them skip the running-in period directly.
Gallieni remained cautious enough. He personally led the guards to deploy the blockade of the club. He did not breathe a sigh of relief until the guard battalion arrived and took Charles back to the headquarters.
In the car on the way back to headquarters, Gallieni asked Charles a question: "Do they need any other training?"
Charles knew that Gallieni meant to send pilots into aerial combat.
He thought for a moment, then answered: "Almost nothing. They don't even need to learn how to shoot. Everything is prepared by the mechanics! If there is anything to be careful about, it's to bring a hammer!"
"Hammer?" Gallieni looked at Charles in confusion.
"Yes!" Charles replied, "When the machine gun jams, they just hit it with a hammer. Other than that, they can't seem to do anything!"
Gallieni laughed: "Then what they lack is the courage to pull the trigger!"
Charles nodded in agreement with Gallieni.
Pilots who have never killed anyone, or who are not mentally prepared to kill, find it difficult to pull the trigger and shoot down the German pilot in the cockpit when they fly into the sky and face the target, even though they know the other party is the enemy.
"But it doesn't matter!" Charles said solemnly, "Even if they can't do it, they won't be killed by the enemy!"
Because the enemy's planes were not equipped with machine guns.
This is different from infantry, who often do not have this opportunity to grow and adapt.
Gallieni smiled and nodded: "But it won't always be like this, they need to learn it quickly!"
(The gear structure in the picture above is the main component of the "machine gun firing coordinator". It accurately determines the position of the propeller when it blocks the muzzle through the engagement of two gears, one large and one small. Then a cam structure controls the hydraulic device to prevent the machine gun from firing at this time.)
(End of this chapter)
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