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

Chapter 85 Everyone Turns Around
General Bessler, commander of the German Third Reserve Army, rode his warhorse and walked in small steps around the slowly moving "Big Bertha".

The scene of towing the "Big Belsa" was very spectacular. It was designed to be quickly disassembled into five parts for transportation, but Bessler only disassembled it into three parts to save deployment time.

The main body of the "Big Bertha" required hundreds of horses to pull it. To this end, Besler gathered almost all the pack horses, draft horses and even some war horses in the military logistics transport team and tied them with ropes.

The horses pulled in front and the people pushed behind. The horses neighed, whinnied and shouted, but Big Belsa continued to move forward at a snail's pace of 4 to 5 kilometers per hour. (People walk at about 3 to 6 kilometers per hour.)

Fortunately, "Big Belsa" was not far from the next level of fortress and would be within range after advancing about 4 kilometers.

Of course, in order to be able to hit more accurately, Bessler decided to move forward for a distance.

Bessler thought: Being closer means being out of the range of the enemy's artillery, but with a higher chance of hitting the target, why not?
However, Bessler soon noticed something unusual: several balloons were released in the direction of Antwerp.

Antwerp has always had balloons. After all, it is a fortress city, and the 29 fortresses scattered around it need the guidance of balloons.

But after more than a dozen battles, Antwerp had given up raising balloons. It was of no use to them, as the enemy's artillery was out of range, and the observers on the balloons could do nothing but "sigh at the sight of the artillery."

Now, Antwerp has released three balloons in succession.

Could it be that Big Bertha had come within range of enemy artillery?

It's impossible. The Belgians' artillery was imported from Germany. Germany had detailed data on these artillery pieces. German engineers even secretly reduced the configuration of these artillery pieces, making them unable to pose any possible threat to Germany.

So why?

With doubts, General Bessler grabbed the telescope hanging around his neck and looked in the direction of the second fortress.

It was too far away to see anything, and the enemy used the same old trick of releasing smoke.

Wait, smoke!!!
General Bessler suddenly remembered something, and he quickly moved the aperture of the telescope to the "destroyed" Wavre Fortress, which was still vaguely visible due to the smoke.

General Bessler put down the telescope and thought for a while, then quickly raised it again to observe it in the aperture.

Something was wrong. General Bessler was secretly shocked. Why didn't the smoke in the Wavre Fortress decrease at all?
If the Wavre Fortress had been destroyed, there would be no need to release smoke. Even if the Wavre Fortress was destroyed and exploded, its smoke would not last so long.

Moreover, a considerable part of the fortress is underground, and the smoke produced by the explosion could not have spread so widely.

unless……

Bessler suddenly put away his telescope with a look of astonishment. He seemed to understand why the enemy released the balloons.

"Frex!" Bessler shouted to the crowd, his tone anxious, "How far are we from Fort Wavre?"

Major Frakes was the best artilleryman under Bessler. He had a skill that no one else could do. He only needed to close one eye, stick out his thumb and aim at the target to know the exact distance. This was one of the reasons why he was responsible for operating a "Big Bertha" heavy artillery.

When Major Frakes heard the order, he stood up straight and made his signature move, but he was a little puzzled. Why did he need to know the distance to Fort Wavre?
"About 8 kilometers, General!" Frakes gave an answer.

"Damn it!" General Bessler cursed. He no longer hesitated and used the spurs on his heels to stab the horse's belly to make it run. He shouted at the top of his lungs while the horse was running and shaking: "Everyone turn around, everyone turn around..."

The grooms and soldiers were all stunned. With such a big scene and the destination right ahead, they could just turn around?
Major Frakes looked at General Bessler in confusion, then at Fort Wavre, and suddenly thought of a possibility... At that moment his brain seemed to stop working, and he just stood there with his eyes wide open and his mouth half open, as if time had stopped.

After a while, Major Frakes finally reacted and followed General Bessler in shouting, "Everyone turn around, everyone turn around..."

He shouted and waved the small flag in his hand to give orders.

It was not easy to turn around the "Big Belsa" towed by hundreds of horses. If you try to pull one side and relax the other side to turn it in place, the result is often that you can't pull it at all. Major Frakes was very experienced in this regard. He commanded the horse team to tow the "Big Belsa" forward, and then used the inertia of the forward movement to slowly turn...

At this time, General Bessler remembered that there was still a "Big Belsa" and hurriedly shouted to the staff officer beside him: "Order Major Jason, turn around! Turn around!!!"

The staff officer responded and galloped on his horse. Man and horse rushed to the other side like flying, waving small flags to signal as he ran. He tried to convey the order to the other party accurately in the shortest time possible.

……

Albert I and Charles had been in a balloon in the middle of Antwerp for more than half an hour.

They were patient, and so was Ciel.

Because it is a very pleasant thing to watch the enemy step by step approaching the range of our artillery, closer, closer, closer...

Albert I smiled and asked Charles: "When you came up with this idea, have you ever thought that every step the Germans take brings them closer to death?"

"No, sir!" Charles replied, "I only thought that every step they took would increase the chance of our artillery hitting the target!"

Albert I burst into laughter.

This would be advantageous to the Bijun army, so the two men chose to just wait, chatting casually on the balloon.

Albert I even introduced Antwerp to Charles:

"The forts you see were all designed by Brielmont. He has profound knowledge of military engineering and a good reputation among engineers!"

"But now it seems that he is not good enough. According to the reports from the front line, there are problems with the ventilation system. They are easily blocked by the mud kicked up by the shells."

"If possible, I want you to design a fortress for us, Lieutenant!"

“I am looking forward to your work!”

Charles just smiled and said nothing. He knew that things like fortresses and fortresses were out of date. They were nothing more than targets for heavy artillery.

The cheapest and most effective thing is trenches, layer upon layer of trenches. Cannons are ineffective against them because they can't kill many people, but the soldiers in the trenches can easily block attacks from enemies that are several times or even dozens of times their number with machine guns.

but……

Charles suddenly thought, what if we treat it as a business?

What if Charles could contract the design and construction of the Maginot Line?

Or in other words, the historical Maginot Line was originally a business?
At this time, the German army's direction changed. The cavalry they used to tow heavy artillery suddenly became chaotic and was obviously turning around.

Albert I smiled: "They finally realized they were fooled!"

Without hesitation, he waved the signal flag and issued orders downwards.

　Sorry, I just discovered the thank you feature. I've been wanting to thank readers for their tips but can't find where to say it. I'll post the tip list at the end of the month to thank them!
　　I'll know it later, and I can thank you here! I'm a newbie and don't know anything, so please forgive me!

　　Thanks to Moore Manor and Beiyang Duohaojie for the tip today!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)