I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 174 The lethality of the media
(The picture above shows Count von Spee)

Kobdo should be the busiest person in the headquarters. He even outsmarted Gallieni who was looking at a map while eating bread.

Kobdo works at the city defense headquarters during the day.

This is because the city defense headquarters is the place where he can access the most accurate, fastest and most comprehensive information. Once there is a war or any information, Kobdo will receive it first and immediately call the newspaper to send a reporter.

Sometimes there is no need to send reporters. Lieutenant Colonel Fernando can just order the relevant troops to take a few photos and send them along with maps and other documents. These photos serve as both military intelligence and material for military newspapers, killing two birds with one stone.

After dark, the editor-in-chief Kobdo has to go back to the newspaper to organize typesetting and printing. Sometimes he is busy all night long, and when he is tired and sleepy, he just takes a nap on his desk.

Xiaer was a little worried that Kobdo would not be able to hold on, but Kobdo was very confident:

"Don't worry, Lieutenant. It was the same before. I always interviewed during the day and finished writing articles at night. I'm used to it!"

"This is partly because the people I recruited were all newbies. They didn't know what to do. Once they've adapted for a while and are on the right track, I'll be able to relax a bit!"

“It won’t always be like this!”

Charles thought about it and felt that it was true. All things are difficult at the beginning. No industry was easy in the era of great industrial development, especially in wartime, when it was not just the soldiers on the front line who risked their lives.

At this time, Kobdo received a call and suddenly exclaimed: "Something happened, Coronel, naval battle!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Kobdo with questioning eyes.

After spending a few days together, they learned that Kobdo was not a simple reporter. He had formed some kind of "exchange agreement" with foreign reporters to maintain a certain degree of information sharing.

This enabled Kobdo to occasionally obtain more objective, comprehensive and timely intelligence than the city defense headquarters.

"Coronel?" Gallieni looked at Kobdo in confusion, then turned his gaze to Lieutenant Colonel Fernando. This was a completely unfamiliar place name.

Lieutenant Colonel Fernando also shook his head in confusion, indicating that he didn't know and had not received any relevant intelligence.

Kobudo held the microphone and listened for a while, then put down the phone and explained:

"Coronel is the port of Chile, General."

"The battle took place yesterday afternoon when the Royal Navy encountered a small German fleet near Coronel and two cruisers were sunk."

"It is said to be the Cape of Good Hope and the Monmouth, and the Royal Navy lost more than a thousand people."

There was an uproar in the command center, and many people's faces changed instantly.

The British Royal Navy can be said to be invincible, but in the first battle it was beaten 2-0 by the German Navy. They naturally wondered: Did the Germans also create miracles at sea like they did on land?

Charles was busy organizing the documents in his hands. He didn't care about what happened at sea from beginning to end because he knew that the Germans had failed.

Unlike land warfare, where you can win with fewer troops by improving the quality of soldiers, the ability of officers, and using more flexible tactics, naval warfare is basically about piling up warships, experience, and industrial capacity.

In this regard, it is basically impossible for Germany to catch up with Britain.

Gallieni was a little anxious. He frowned and ordered Lieutenant Colonel Fernando: "Confirm with the British!"

Soon, a telegram came from the British army, confirming that this was indeed the case.

Those were warships of the German Navy stationed in overseas colonies. There were eight of them in total, and the four that appeared in Coronel this time were led by German Count Spee.

While the staff officers at the headquarters were discussing, Charles said indifferently without even raising his head, "Don't worry, this German fleet will eventually die at the hands of Kobdo!"

The staff officers all laughed at the same time. Kobdo felt a little embarrassed by the praise. Everyone thought that Charles was joking.

Gallieni also thought so at first. He thought that the little guy might have suffered psychological trauma from being surrounded by reporters and admirers recently, so he thought so.

But when I think about it carefully, I feel that what Charles said is quite meaningful.

Gallieni was right; Charles knew what was going to happen.

The reason why the German Navy was successful this time was that they had always tried to keep a low profile and conceal their whereabouts. Even when entering the ports of neutral countries, they only replenished their supplies in batches on individual ships so as not to attract other people's attention.

In this era without radar, underdeveloped aircraft, and unpopular radio, it was very difficult to know the location of a fleet in the vast ocean. However...

This victory broke this environment. Everyone thought that Count Spee was a rising star in naval warfare, and the global media were speculating and tracking his position.

This made the whereabouts of Spee's fleet impossible to trace, and the British only needed to open a newspaper to roughly know its location. Eventually the fleet was completely wiped out by the pursuit of British battlecruisers, and Spee and several of his sons sank to the bottom of the sea along with his flagship, the Scharnhorst.

Charles sighed inwardly. This might be the first fleet in history to die at the hands of the media. Count Spee was definitely the person who least wanted to become famous.

Charles even felt a sense of grief for the other, and he was also deeply affected. He had to battle wits and courage with reporters and admirers every day. Maybe one day he would become like Count Spee...

Pooh, good luck!
……

Although it was still drizzling the next day, Charles decided to go to the flying club.

The pilots had already changed into military uniforms, and they were all second lieutenants, just as the contract said. They also changed the way they addressed Charles, no longer calling him by his name as before but by his rank. But their tone was still uninhibited:
"Hey, Lieutenant, I heard you won another battle!"

"We saw it in the sky, the tank troops looked great!"

"Let us drive tanks someday! They look much stronger than airplanes!"

……

These are a group of adventurous people who have not received formal training and are always a bit disrespectful.

But Charles didn't mind, as long as they obeyed orders and won battles, what else could he ask of them?

When Charles found Carter, he was preparing to receive a batch of new aircraft.

Seeing Charles, Carter immediately put down what he was doing and saluted: "Lieutenant, nice to meet you!"

"How's the airport situation?" Charles asked.

"Everything went well, Lieutenant!" Carter turned his gaze to the busy pilots and ground crew, and said with emotion: "We have never had so many aircraft and personnel. Now, I plan to replace all aircraft models with 'Avro', even reconnaissance aircraft, and all other models will be used for training."

Charles nodded. This would obviously make the battle more efficient. Carter's management was indeed reassuring.

But Charles still reminded: "Have you ever thought that you need more preparation?"

Carter asked puzzledly: "What do you mean, Lieutenant? We are either patrolling or blowing up enemy balloons now, it seems that we don't need any preparation!"

(The picture above is the Scharnhorst)

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　　[A refreshing article based on rigorous textual research and directed towards history]

　　He was in France, had just entered Versailles, and was the crown prince.

　　The only problem is, the current king is Louis XVI, who will be kicked off in two years...

　　Since my father and ministers are unreliable, I have no choice but to take matters into my own hands to rectify France!
　　Let’s make a little money first and solve the financial crisis that has plagued the country for hundreds of years.

　　Then give those nobles with evil intentions and plans to seize power a hard beating.

　　Then they seized the church that occupied a large amount of land and gained it for nothing.

　　Industry, technology, agriculture, and commerce go hand in hand. I am the greatest crown prince in France!

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　　That year, I pointed my sword at the whole of Europe. I will accomplish the feats that the emperor failed to accomplish back then!
　　You are welcome to come and taste!

(End of this chapter)