Chapter 121 The First Flying Squadron
The "machine gun fire coordinator" was invented by a French pilot named Garros in 1915.
It was originally called the "machine gun deflection system". At first, it was simply reinforced with inverted triangular steel plates on the propeller, and then combined with a device linked to the engine shaft to minimize the chance of bullets hitting the propeller.
If the bullet hits the propeller, it will be bounced off by the inverted triangle deflector, which is almost like blocking the bullet.
Later, the plane he was flying was captured by the German army, who improved the system, changing the "engine shaft linkage" to "propeller linkage" to make it more precise. Air combat then officially entered the First World War.
From the perspective of Charles as a capitalist, he should perhaps have invented the original "machine gun deflection system" first instead of directly bringing the "machine gun firing coordinator" into the world.
However, when the former bullet hits the deflector, it often bounces back and damages the engine or even kills the pilot.
This was hard to accept in an era when pilots were so scarce, so Ciel chose the safer latter option.
Back at the headquarters, Charles sat down next to Lieutenant Colonel Fernando as usual to organize intelligence, which was one of his regular tasks.
But before he could even sit down, he heard Gallieni's order: "Fernand, your team will help Charles set up an independent command!"
"Yes, General..." Fernando responded as usual, but the next two words gradually turned into a slow tone.
"Assist Ciel"? You heard it right!
Charles was also stunned. He and Fernand looked at Gallieni at the same time, their eyes full of confusion.
"Didn't you hear clearly?" Gallieni emphasized again with a blank expression: "Charles needs an independent headquarters!"
"General..." Charles asked in confusion, "Who do I command?"
"Flying Club!" Gallieni answered without thinking: "If I remember correctly, they are the pilots you signed. You know them best!"
"But I'm only a lieutenant..." Charles replied.
"I only look at ability, not rank!" Gallieni interrupted Charles without even raising his eyelids, staring at the document in his hand.
"I, I have no command experience, General!" Charles replied.
Gallieni then raised his head and looked at Charles, with a hint of teasing in his eyes: "You have no experience? Aren't you the only one in the world who has successfully commanded an aircraft in combat? Am I remembering it wrong?"
Charles then remembered that when he was in Antwerp, he had indeed commanded the Belgian flying squadron to shoot down the airship and blow up the "Big Bertha", which could be said to be the only air battle of that era.
But how can this be considered an air battle?
Gallieni ignored Charles. He glanced at the war conference room and said, "If anyone has objections to this, now is the time to raise them!"
The staff officers answered one after another:
"No, no objection, General!"
"Char is capable of commanding!"
"We obey his orders!"
…
Gallieni raised his eyebrows at Charles: "The war did not give us time to prepare, Lieutenant, the First Flying Squadron has been established, they will rush to Ypres to join the battle this afternoon, and you are their commander!"
Charles stood there for a long time without reacting.
In the 1st Flying Squadron of Paris, he, as a lieutenant, commanded a group of second lieutenant pilots who had never been on the battlefield.
His staff included a lieutenant colonel, a major, three captains, two lieutenants, a dedicated radio station and three communications soldiers.
This made Charles feel a lot of pressure, especially since among his subordinates there was Lieutenant Colonel Fernando, who had once given him orders. He was unable to adjust mentally for a while.
"Relax, Lieutenant!" Lieutenant Colonel Fernan seemed to sense Charles's distress. He leaned forward and whispered to comfort him, "This is very common in the army. I have been prepared for this day!"
What Lieutenant Colonel Fernan said was half true and half false.
He was indeed mentally prepared for this. After all, Charles was so outstanding that Lieutenant Colonel Fernand felt that he could not teach Charles anything, but he had been learning from Charles. He believed that sooner or later Charles would become his superior, and he would be honored for it!
The fake one is “a long time ago”... Lieutenant Colonel Fernando did not expect that this day would come so soon.
"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel!" Charles answered, but still couldn't get into the state.
Suddenly, a pair of strong hands rested on Charles' shoulders and pushed him to the map spread out on the table.
It was Gallieni who said to Charles in a low voice:
"Forget the rank, the staff, the pilots, everything. None of that matters."
"You only have to think about one thing: you are on the battlefield, you have those planes, how can you defeat the enemy."
Charles suddenly realized that what was important was always the battlefield. What he had to face was not Lieutenant Colonel Fernando or the five or six staff officers with higher ranks than himself, but the enemy.
Charles nodded, sorted out his thoughts, and calmly began to give orders: "I need a place about 30 kilometers away from Ypres, with flat terrain and convenient transportation!"
Lieutenant Colonel Fernan immediately assigned the task: "Gerald, find this place!"
"Yes, sir!" Gerard looked around on the map and answered in less than two minutes: "The town of Rodinse is 35 kilometers away from Ypres and two kilometers away from the train station!"
"The town of Rodinse!" Lieutenant Colonel Fernan repeated the place name.
"Send out an engineering corps!" Charles then ordered, "Find a piece of land nearby to build a temporary airport, and mark the location on the map!"
Lieutenant Colonel Fernan called out his name: "Michael, you are responsible for contacting the engineers!"
Lieutenant Colonel Fernando was very familiar with his staff officers and knew what each of them was good at.
"I need a batch of Vickers machine guns and ammunition!" Charles continued, "At least 100, with 2,000 rounds of ammunition for each machine gun!"
Lieutenant Colonel Fernan pointed at a staff officer and shouted, "Contact the British, hurry up!"
"And Congreve rockets and gasoline!" Charles took his eyes off the map and paced around the office. "Enough fuel for 30 planes for 3 days, 200 rockets and electric detonators, all delivered..."
Charles' memory is not very good. To be more precise, he is not yet accustomed to remembering foreign place names.
"Rodensee Town!" Lieutenant Colonel Fernan added the place name and passed on the order: "Our temporary airport!"
"Yes!" Charles stressed: "Keep the transport secret and don't let the enemy find out!"
Lieutenant Colonel Fernan repeated the order while writing it down in his notepad: "Secret transport!"
Gallieni watched all this with satisfaction, he knew that this little guy was a natural commander!
At this time, a signalman guarding the phone reported to Gallieni: "General, the House of Representatives requires you to accept an urgent questioning this afternoon!"
Gallieni frowned and muttered, "These guys, they thought France had already won? They actually questioned at this time!"
(End of this chapter)
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