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

Chapter 75 Antwerp Fortress
In the lounge next to the airport, Grevi and Armand sat opposite each other at the table.

They drank coffee leisurely while looking at the airport, where an Avro two-seater plane was taxiing on the runway and took off in a short while.

"That's a great idea!" Armand raised his coffee and pointed it at Grevi, "We finally got him out of danger!"

There was still some reluctance in Grevi's eyes. He looked at the plane that was getting farther and farther away and finally disappeared from his sight. He sighed slightly and thought, how great it would be if he agreed to join the right wing. With him, the right wing would completely suppress the left wing and achieve complete victory!

He has many ideas that are so enviable that even left-wing capitalists cannot match them.

But if he cannot be obtained, he must be destroyed.

Because the ideas in his head could potentially end the entire right wing!
"A question!" Armand asked, "Why don't we just create an accident or traffic incident, such as a plane malfunction, instead of going through so much trouble to actually send him to the Antwerp Fortress?"

"That will make people suspect us, Armand!" Grevi replied coldly: "Everyone knows that we have a conflict of interest. The left wing is watching us, and the military is watching us too. They hope that we make mistakes, and then use this as an excuse to kick us out of the House of Representatives!"

Armand showed a trace of confusion on his face. He raised his head in the direction where the plane disappeared: "Now, what's the difference?"

"Of course there is a difference!" Grevy picked up the spoon and stirred the coffee cup gently, with a trace of pain in his eyes: "Now, it was Gallieni who sent him to save the Antwerp Fortress from danger. He died bravely in Antwerp. Do you think they will report it like this, or is Charles' death likely related to the right wing?"

Armand understood that this was related to the war.

Just like everyone knew Joffre's incompetence, but no one was willing to remove him from the position of commander-in-chief.

The only thing that could be praised about Joffre throughout the entire war was that he ate and slept on time, and this was exaggerated by the media as "calm Joffre is the sedative of France"!
He has been portrayed as a hero, a symbol, a myth, and a considerable number of French soldiers and civilians have become accustomed to using him as their spiritual pillar to fight against the Germans.

If the myth of Joffre was exposed, the spiritual pillar of this group of people would collapse, which might trigger a disaster or even a series of chain reactions leading to civil unrest.

Similarly, Charles has become the hope and spiritual support of many people.

If Charles had died in Antwerp, they would have been more willing to publicize it as a heroic spirit. At least it would have inspired the French military and civilians to go to the battlefield and vent their anger on the Germans, rather than causing civil unrest after the truth was exposed.

Armand nodded slightly. He was always cynical, but he unconsciously put away his smile. He found that there was still a gap between him and Grevi, and he also realized how terrifying Grevi was.

While drinking coffee, he glanced at Grevi, who was staring at the table thoughtfully, not knowing what he was thinking.

If one day they need to resolve internal conflicts, Armand believes that he is no match for Grevi and he may die at Grevi's hands.

But fortunately, the right wing never sees any hope of victory, so he doesn't need to worry about that!
Thinking of this, Armand's smile returned to his face.

……

On the biplane, Charles, wearing a flight cap and goggles, had his ears filled with the rumbling sound of the engine and the whistling sound of the wind.

This aircraft has an open cockpit, and the body is outside the fuselage above the shoulders. There is no shelter from the strong wind. If it was not only traveling at a speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour, Charles believes that his nose would be blown off. Soon, Charles saw a pointed cylindrical balloon emerging from the clouds. It was as big as an alien spaceship, floating lazily in the air, turning around lazily and with difficulty like a fat man who just woke up.

At first Charles thought it was a French balloon, but when he saw the German emblem on the side of the balloon he couldn't help but exclaimed: "German balloon, that's the enemy's balloon!"

"What?" The driver didn't hear clearly.

"Enemy, that's the enemy!" Charles pointed in the direction of the balloon in panic. He thought the pilot was drunk and couldn't tell friend from foe, and was actually approaching the enemy's balloon.

But the driver calmly replied: "Yes, so what? Do you want to go and see it?"

Suddenly, Charles thought of something: in the early days of World War I, the enemy and our air forces had almost no attack capability, and airplanes and balloons were mostly used for reconnaissance, so when each other's aircraft met, they would even wave and say hello.

As soon as the thought came to my mind, a German plane flew overhead. Although the two planes did not greet each other as the legend said, nothing really happened. It was just like two cars meeting on the road.

"Don't worry, Lieutenant!" The driver turned around and shouted, "If there is any place that is safe, it is here. No one can do anything to you, not even the enemies below!"

Charles looked down along the pilot's line of sight and was surprised to find that the plane was flying over an enemy combat zone.

Artillery shells were rising up like mushrooms of smoke below. The sound of the artillery was only faintly audible, masked by the sound of the engines and the wind. The charging soldiers were like groups of ants, forming ridiculous formations and charging back and forth in the sand. The entire position was shrouded in gray, and it was unclear whether it was the air or the land.

Charles noticed something was wrong, and he asked the pilot, "Where are we going? To the Antwerp Fortress?"

"Of course!" the pilot asked, "What else?"

"Antwerp is in the enemy's territory?" Charles asked again.

"It's not in enemy territory!" the pilot replied, "It's in the north of Belgium, near the sea!"

If it weren't for the strong wind, Charles would have taken out the map to look for it, but at this moment he could only imagine it in his mind:

To the north of Belgium, the German army broke through Belgium, which means it was cut off by the German army, and the fortress should be surrounded by the German army!

He actually wanted to break into the enemy's encirclement to investigate?
Fortunately, Charles remembered that the pilot had just said that Antwerp was "close to the sea", which meant that the fortress was not surrounded by the German army.

Because Charles knew that the ocean belonged to Britain and the German Navy was under blockade.

Maybe it was because of airplanes, Charles thought. People of this era probably generally believed that airplanes were safe, and General Gallieni was no exception, so they sent him to carry out this mission.

Until now, Charles had not realized that this was not the mission Gallieni had given him at all.

(End of this chapter)