I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France
Chapter 237: The Slow-Witted General’s Strategy

Chapter 237: The Slow-Witted General’s Strategy

Wiseman Town, 30 kilometers southeast of Paris.

This town lies roughly in the middle of the defense line, a unique geographical position that allows it to quickly connect with France’s north and south defense lines. Additionally, its convenient transportation and defensible location made it the choice for the French headquarters.

The command center was set up in a villa with a garden in the town. It had ample food, clean rooms, and all the necessary living facilities. It even had a swimming pool, though it was useless in the winter.

Xia Fei believed that only such an environment could allow him and the command center to work "methodically".

Xia Fei had always had the habit of reading newspapers, but these past few days, he hadn’t touched them.

The newspapers were filled with news he didn’t want to see:

"The army doesn’t need aircraft; these tasks can be entirely handled by the flying squadrons!"

"Even if the army needs them, they cannot guarantee the safety of these reconnaissance aircraft."

"The army’s aircraft would only give the Germans more victories!"

...

"This is utterly ridiculous!" Xia Fei dismissed these discussions: "These bastards don’t know what war is! War is about maximizing combat effectiveness with limited resources. Can’t they see that our army’s aircraft persist in fighting and making contributions under such harsh conditions? This in itself is a victory!"

Xia Fei was quite proficient at sophistry.

For months after the victory at the Battle of the Marne River, people debated whether Gallieni or Xia Fei was the hero who saved Paris.

It seemed that Xia Fei had only done one thing: persuading the British Expeditionary Force to join the fight, while other tasks, including commanding the troops in battle, were Gallieni’s responsibilities.

But at that time, Xia Fei had said, "I don’t really know, but I know that if it had been a defeat, who would have been held responsible!"

What he meant was that if the battle was lost, as the French Commander-in-Chief, Xia Fei would be responsible. So, now that they won, the credit naturally belonged to Xia Fei.

Thus, he logically seized the credit that should have gone to Gallieni with this peculiar logic.

The same was true here. He naturally turned the army aircraft’s chaos, primitiveness, and disorder into hardship, persistence, and greatness.

If Xia Fei were smart enough, he should choose to let go at this point.

But he was never a smart person, and he even had a nickname, "The Slow-Witted General."

Kanes saw the danger in this and cautiously advised:

"General, in the past, it might have been fine for us to continue like this since we had absolute air superiority."

"But now, the Germans already have machine-gun aircraft, while the army still only has reconnaissance planes."

"The Germans can easily shoot down all our reconnaissance planes!"

Xia Fei responded without thinking, "Then why can’t we equip these reconnaissance planes with machine guns? They should be able to fight the Germans!"

Kanes was momentarily stunned; he had been in charge of Shire’s flying squadron during the Cape Town campaign and knew a thing or two about machine-gun aircraft.

"Yes, General!" Kanes replied.

He then leaned in closer and quietly added, "Some reconnaissance planes are not suitable for mounting machine guns; they’re too heavy for them."

This couldn’t be heard by other staff, or the commander-in-chief would be seen as a fool who didn’t understand aircraft or aerial combat but was merely shouting orders.

Kanes continued, "Currently, only two-seater planes are suitable for conversion into machine-gun planes, and many of our reconnaissance planes are old models..."

Xia Fei nonchalantly replied, "Hmm," "Then order a batch of planes to fly into the air to protect the safety of the reconnaissance planes."

"Yes, General!" Kanes answered but didn’t leave.

Xia Fei turned his head and looked at Kanes in puzzlement.

"General!" Kanes said, "The most suitable model might be the ’Aphro,’ but this aircraft is produced by Shire’s factory..."

Xia Fei promptly interrupted, "Use other models. You are in charge of this matter!"

"Yes, General."

When Kanes left, he felt a little helpless. The establishment of the air squadron could not avoid Shire, even if they didn’t use the ’Aphro,’ they would still need a ’machine-gun firing coordinator.’

However, Kanes knew it would be best not to report this to Xia Fei, but to procure it through government channels.

At this moment, Xia Fei was not thinking about how to establish, train, or fight the enemy; he believed he had inadvertently found a new idea:

Everyone thought the army’s aircraft would be integrated under Shire’s command; why not let each army develop its own flying squadron independently?

If all seven group armies had... no, the two group armies under Gallieni’s command should be weakened; the five group armies under his own command should each develop a strong flying squadron.

By then, what would Shire’s flying squadron count for?

At this thought, Xia Fei felt the need to get in touch with James to complete this task.

...

Soon, the public opinion presented two viewpoints:

One was to support the integration of army aircraft under Shire’s unified command.

The other was that the army should have its own flying squadron, which would allow the military to respond more swiftly and become stronger.

Xia Fei was a representative of the latter viewpoint. He urgently placed an order for two hundred two-seat "Gaudrons" and one hundred two-seat "Newport 10s" and recruited pilots from the public to form flying squadrons.

When Gallieni saw this intelligence report, he merely smiled. Xia Fei was gradually walking into Kobudo’s trap.

The French Commander-in-Chief was actually deceived by a journalist. Is this not a form of irony?

Gallieni raised the telegram to Shire, who was sitting a few meters away, "Are these two models useful to you?"

Shire knew the models and understood Gallieni’s meaning.

Given the current situation, these planes would eventually fall into Shire’s hands. Everything Xia Fei was doing was, unbeknownst to him, setting the stage for Shire.

Gallieni’s question was out of concern that the purchase would be a huge waste if the planes turned out to be useless to the military.

"Any aircraft is useful," Shire replied, "If they are unsuitable, they can be used as trainer aircraft for pilot training. We need this very much!"

What Shire valued more was the pilots Xia Fei would be training for him.

However, he couldn’t seem to place much hope in the pilots trained by Xia Fei.

"Alright!" Gallieni nodded calmly, "Let him buy them. Next, it’s up to the Germans!"

In the past, Gallieni might have tried to prevent this from happening as it would inevitably cost innocent pilots their lives.

Now, he seemed to understand that these sacrifices were unavoidable, and the sooner they happened, the smaller the sacrifices would be.

(Above: The two-seater "Gaudron" reconnaissance aircraft, first flight in 1913)

(Above: The two-seater Newport reconnaissance aircraft, first flight at the end of 1914)