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

Chapter 87 Congreve Rocket
The midday breeze brought the fragrance of rhododendrons. Charles walked alone on the path in the back garden of the fortress headquarters, looking a little depressed.

The sudden appearance of the third goal "Big Belsa" shattered everyone's fantasy. Victory was like a beautiful soap bubble, which suddenly burst with a slight poke and disappeared without a trace.

In addition, Charles also knew why the German army launched such a fierce attack.

This is what General Gise told Ciel during the morning meeting.

General Guise ignored Albert I's attempts to stop him, stared at Charles and said, "The Germans are targeting you. As long as you surrender, you can save all our lives!"

Charles knew General Guise's intention in saying this, and he hoped that Charles would surrender to the Germans on his own initiative to save Antwerp.

Charles scoffed at this and asked General Guise: "Next time, if the Germans ask you to hand over the king, what will you do?"

General Guise was speechless. After all, the Germans often broke their promises. If they kept their promise, they should not attack neutral Belgium.

The problem still needed to be solved. The sound of "Big Bersa"'s artillery fire continued to get louder and louder. Although Wavre Fort was protected by smoke, if it continued like this, it would only be a matter of time before it was actually blown up.

Is there any other way to deal with it?

Charles thought of airplanes. Airplanes are three-dimensional combat equipment that can approach and attack targets from the air, so there is no problem of "insufficient range".

However, the plane had no weapons at this time.

If there are any weapons, they are bricks, fishing nets, tail hooks, and even flying needles...

Carrying explosives onto a plane?

European grenades were not yet formed. They were still using spherical explosives. There were many problems in moving this explosive to an airplane to throw it:

If the altitude is too high, the explosives will explode in the air and will not cause any damage to the target.

If the altitude is too low, the explosive will easily break into pieces and lose its power when it hits the ground directly. Even if it happens to hit soft ground and does not break, the enemy will have time to pick it up and throw it away or even directly pull out the fuse.

This doesn’t even take into account whether or not the target can be hit!

A normal aerial bomb must have at least the following features:

The shell is hard and not easy to break.

The tail wing can ensure a stable flying posture, otherwise the aircraft will be blown randomly into the air by the wind and will have no accuracy at all.

Finally, a reliable fuse is needed.

These things cannot be done in a short period of time, and Antwerp does not have such conditions, so Charles can only think of other ways.

Just as Charles was worrying about this, a group of soldiers hurriedly passed by the door carrying a bundle of long pole-like objects.

Ciel was curious and asked casually, "What are these weapons?"

The soldiers knew Charles, and out of respect for him they stopped, and one of the captains stepped forward and answered: "This is the Congreve rocket, Lieutenant!"

Although his military rank was higher than Charles', Charles' reputation and the crown medal of the kingdom hanging on his chest were enough to make the captain respectful to Charles.

"Rocket?" Charles walked closer and observed curiously.

After looking at it for a while, you will understand what it is. It originated in China and was improved by a British artilleryman named Congreve during the Napoleonic era, so it is called "Congreve Rocket".

It developed into the famous "Katyusha" during World War II, but was almost completely eliminated in this era.

"The king ordered us to make final preparations, lieutenant!" The captain explained, "We need to arm everyone. Although rockets are no longer suitable, they are better than nothing!"

Charles hummed and thought, if it weren't for the need to "arm everyone", they probably wouldn't have taken this thing out of the warehouse.

"How many rockets have we got?" asked Charles.

"I'm not sure, Lieutenant!" The captain hesitated and reported a number: "Probably, more than 200, some of which may have been damp, and I'm not sure if they can be used!"

"Keep them all!" Charles did not hesitate any longer: "Don't give away any of them!" "Okay, second lieutenant!" The captain nodded.

But his face was still full of doubts. What was the use of such primitive weapons? Could they be used to blow up "Big Belsa"?
Charles took a few steps and turned back to give another order: "They are under your responsibility. You must protect these rockets and not allow any accidents!"

"Yes, Lieutenant!" replied the Captain.

Charles hurried back to the war office, where two generals and Albert I were discussing something in front of a map.

When Charles came back, they said:

"We are discussing a possibility, Charles. Considering that the Germans only have one 'Big Bertha' left, we think we should take the initiative to attack, or send out troops to launch a surprise attack at night!"

"As long as we plan well, we may succeed. As long as we blow up this 'Big Belsa' we will be safe, at least for a while!"

"This requires your participation..."

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Ciel:
"It won't work. The Germans are sure to be prepared! Any troops sent out will never return!"

This was the only one they had left, so the Germans would of course be extra careful.

Charles did not wait for anyone to refute him and turned his gaze to Albert I:
"Your Majesty, I need to go to the airport. Can you provide me with a carriage? In addition, there is a team of soldiers downstairs protecting a batch of rockets. I hope to send more people to help them deliver the rockets to the airport!"

"Of course!" Albert I agreed straightforwardly: "The carriage is parked downstairs!"

Charles turned around and left. When he reached the door, he remembered something and turned back to ask Gis: "General, how many planes do we have?"

General Gis was confused, he didn't know the answer either.

"Let me make a phone call and ask!" General Gis said, planes have no impact on the war, so why should we care about them?
"No thanks!" Charles said, "Do you mind handing over the command of the airport to me temporarily?"

"Of course!" General Gis nodded readily.

The troops have no need for reconnaissance now, and even if they do, balloons can solve the problem. Aircraft are dispensable for the defense of Antwerp.

Charles said nothing more and hurried downstairs. He had to launch the attack before dark, otherwise the Wavre Fortress might be lost.

Several people in the operations office looked at each other, they didn't know what Charles wanted to do.

"He may want to rush out of Antwerp and return to Paris!" General Winter speculated.

General Giss was stunned for a moment, then agreed: "He must have sent all the planes to confuse the German pilots and cover his own planes to rush out in the chaos. Can this be considered an escape..."

"No!" Albert I interrupted General Guise expressionlessly, and said firmly: "Charles would not do this, he is different from you, General!"

General Gis had some embarrassment and a hint of anger on his face. He just considered the national interest more, which did not mean that he was a coward!
　For the early models of World War I, it was not actually suitable to carry rifles and machine guns in the back seat for combat.

　　Those were two planes flying in three-dimensional space at a speed of over 100 kilometers per hour. Their relative positions changed very quickly, and it was not easy to aim a rifle at the enemy plane.

　　As for machine guns, because of the aircraft models at the time, there was often a wing above the head, and the window through which the machine gun could shoot from the back seat was not large, so it was easy to hit one's own wing or tail.

　　In fact, we can think about it this way: it was war time, and there were so many soldiers from European countries participating in the war. They were fighting with their opponents under the threat of their lives, which must have been more urgent than ours. There were also many smart people and even scientists among them. Why didn't they carry guns in the early days but bricks, fishing nets, and even steel needles to fight in the air?

　　It is precisely because they have tried it and found it useless that a brick may be more useful than a rifle. Even if a rifle hits a plane, it cannot cause any damage. As long as it does not hit the pilot or the engine, it will only make a small hole in the wooden wing.

　　It's different with bricks. When two planes are flying towards each other, a brick flies by at such a high speed and with such a great momentum that if it hits a plane, it may break the entire wing.

　　Likewise, a pencil-sized flying needle is better than a rifle, and a fishing net may get tangled in a propeller...

　　As for aerial bombs, even the aerial bombs that were developed during World War II were extremely difficult to hit the target. Dive bombers needed to dive towards the target at high speed and use the inertia of pointing towards the target to increase the probability of hitting the target.

　　In the situation of World War I, it would be almost impossible for a random explosive to hit the target, which is also not in line with the actual situation. If it is written in this way, it would be almost like a drama.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)