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

Chapter 86 Kingdom Crown Medal
"Fire!"

"Fire!"

The order was passed down layer by layer, and the artillery of Wavre Fortress sounded instantly.

瓦夫勒堡垒是五边形堡垒，它一共有2门150MM火炮、4门120MM火炮，另外还有2门200MM迫击炮再加4门77MM克虏伯速射炮。

These guns constitute long, medium and short range firepower respectively. The designer's idea was that they could cover the entire distance of enemies attacking the fortress, but who would have thought that they ultimately did not work.

At this time, the 150MM and 120MM artillery were in use, with 6 guns divided into two groups firing at two targets.

The first shots failed to hit the target, and the few shells that were fired were either too close or too far.

However, the shells exploding nearby still caused considerable panic among the Germans, because this proved that they had indeed been fooled. They foolishly dragged the "Big Bersa" heavy artillery into the range of the enemy's artillery and walked into the trap set by the enemy.

The horses were frightened by the sound of the cannons, and they stood up and neighed loudly. The grooms hurriedly spoke to calm them down and control them.

However, everyone knew that this situation could not last long.

The pack horses of the transport team are different from the war horses. The war horses have received very strict training and are not easily frightened on the battlefield, but the pack horses are not like that. They can be controlled now, but not necessarily next time.

What's more, the combination of horses and heavy artillery made the target so large that it was almost impossible for them to escape the enemy's bombardment.

Therefore, all eyes are on Bessler.

The correct choice should be to cut the tow rope and abandon "Big Belsa" and escape, which would save at least a few hundred pack horses.

But General Bessler was unwilling to give up. He shouted:

"Turn around and keep formation!"

"Send up the 3rd Artillery Regiment to suppress the enemy's firepower!"

General Bessler attempted to use the 3rd Artillery Regiment to draw fire from Fort Wavre in order to preserve "Grand Bertha".

However, he seemed to have forgotten that Fort Wavre was a fortress. Its main body was designed to withstand direct hits from 150MM howitzers and was subsequently reinforced twice. Except for the "Big Bersa", almost no artillery could pose a threat to it.

Therefore, Fort Wavre could ignore the so-called "fire suppression of the 3rd Artillery Regiment" and concentrate on dealing with "Big Bertha".

"Boom!"

The second salvo of shells came closer, but still missed.

Albert I, who was watching the battle through a telescope in a balloon, complained with a little embarrassment: "Damn it, they may not even be able to eat the fat meat that is delivered to their mouths!"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty!" Charles said calmly, "They are two kilometers into our range. At their speed, it will take at least half an hour to escape. We can take our time!"

Albert I hummed. He knew that "Big Bertha" was doomed, but he still couldn't wait to see the moment it was blown up.

Finally, one of the third batch of shells exploded in the dense herd of horses, instantly blowing more than a dozen horses into a bloody mess. Many other horses fell to the ground and screamed in pain, injured by shrapnel or shock waves.

What was even more serious was that the other horses were screaming and struggling uncontrollably. They kicked and ran around with all their might and no matter how hard the groom tried to drive them back, it was of no avail. Soon the ropes deviated from their original direction.

"Big Belsa" swayed left and right with the herd of horses, and finally lost its balance with a "bang" and fell heavily to the ground. Due to its heavy weight, it actually made a deep pit in the mud when it fell.

Albert I excitedly waved his flag to the people below and shouted: "We have successfully destroyed a cannon!"

The crowd cheered. After defeating one of the cannons, Fort Wavre could concentrate its six guns on the remaining "Big Bertha".

General Bessler finally realized that the loss was inevitable and shouted, "Cut the ropes and retreat!"

But it was too late. Batch after batch of shells were fired. Under the guidance of the observers, they became more and more accurate. Soon, a shell directly hit the "Big Belsa". After a cloud of smoke, the hard gun body was able to remain intact. Even the barrel was not deformed. Only the parts below were blown into pieces and scattered all over the ground.

Albert I shouted again: "Victory, we took down two!"

The people below cheered and celebrated with each other, and people kept throwing their hats into the air.

For them, this is not just about victory, but also about survival. The demands of ordinary people are actually very simple, they just want to live a simple life.

The sound of artillery fire continued, and one shell after another whizzed past, throwing the German artillerymen and horses into the air. The German army finally collapsed completely, and they fled in panic, leaving behind the wreckage of artillery and the corpses of horses.

Albert had lost interest in watching the battle at this time, and he wanted to share the joy of victory with his people.

The balloon slowly descended, and before it could stop the crowd cheered and rushed up.

As soon as Charles stepped out of the hanging basket, he found himself surrounded by a crowd of people. Everywhere were faces of joy and admiration, and pairs of eyes full of gratitude. They desperately squeezed forward just to say a word of thanks or shake hands with Charles:

"You're our hero, Ciel!"

"You've defeated the Germans again!"

"You saved us, thank you!"

……

Albert I seemed to be well prepared. He took out a box of medals from his arms and waved it towards the crowd: "I announce that in view of the lieutenant's outstanding performance in the Battle of Antwerp, I, King Albert of Belgium, will award him the Order of the Crown of the Kingdom!"

(Note: The Order of the Crown of the Kingdom is one of the three national knightly medals of honor in Belgium and one of the highest honorary medals stipulated in the Belgian Constitution. It is awarded to those who have made outstanding contributions to the country and society. It was established in 1897.)
People cheered again and congratulated Charles.

Albert I personally took out the medal and carefully hung it on Charles' chest. He excitedly held Charles' hand and said, "You will always be our friend, Lieutenant. We will never forget everything you have done for Belgium!"

"Thank you!" replied Charles.

Looking back, it seems that he just said a few words and made a few suggestions.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang in the distance and people exclaimed. The originally noisy grassland became quiet again and everyone looked in the direction where the sound came from.

They recognized the gunfire of Big Bertha.

Albert I was confused: "This is impossible, we have destroyed 'Big Bertha', all of it!"

At this time, a guard came hurriedly, saluted in front of Albert I, and reported in panic: "Your Majesty, the third 'Big Bertha' appeared, it is bombarding the Fortress of Wavre, and it is out of the range of the Fortress of Wavre!"

Everyone was stunned.

The third gate, "Big Belsa", means that victory did not come, not only did it not come, but it instantly turned into failure!

Because the scam set by Charles cannot be replicated, and the Germans cannot be fooled a second time!

(End of this chapter)