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

Chapter 91 Integration of Pilots

Major Fisher was the first to notice the problem. He looked at Charles cautiously with uncertainty in his eyes: "Sir, if the rocket is fixed to the vertical struts of the biplane, does that mean... only biplanes can carry it?"

"Yes!" Charles nodded.

Only biplanes have vertical struts. Monoplanes do not have the space and use a lot of linen for their skins, which makes them easily burned through or even ignited by the tail flame. Therefore, they cannot carry rockets.

This was why he was disappointed to see the "Dove Monoplane" in the hangar.

The pilot and Major Fisher immediately looked troubled. They only had two biplanes, and including the drunkard Eric's Avro, there were only three.

Fisher gradually understood why Charles insisted that Eric join.

However, isn’t it unrealistic for three planes with rockets to destroy the balloon and blow up Big Belsa?

Soon someone backed off:

"Perhaps blowing up the balloon is a good idea. Without the guidance of the balloon, Big Bertha won't be able to hit the target accurately!"

"Yes, there is no need to blow up 'Big Belsa', we only need to blow up its 'eye'!"

"Besides, the Congreve rocket has very poor accuracy. It's no problem to use it to hit a large balloon, but it's very difficult to hit Big Bertha!"

……

These words are obviously self-deception. The balloon is not the eyes of "Big Belsa", it is the auxiliary of "Big Belsa". Without the balloon, the artillery can still aim through telescopes, estimate distances, etc.

Charles listened quietly without saying anything.

Eric couldn't help it, he sneered: "A bunch of cowards, cowards!"

This seemed to sting the Belgian pilots. They glared at Eric in anger. One of them warned him, "Watch your words, Frenchman. You should know that those you call cowards are resisting the powerful Germany alone!"

"Oh, really?" Eric retorted bluntly, "That's someone else, sir, but not you! You just want to blow up the balloon easily and then wait for the king to award you a medal, right?"

Then Eric pretended to be a shy woman and said in a shrill voice: "Wow, we blew up the balloon and stopped the German bombing. We are so great. You should reward us..."

The pilot was about to rush forward before he could finish his words, but was stopped by others.

Eric raised his chin without showing any weakness and continued to sneer, "Why? Did I hit the nail on the head? Admit it, clown!"

Charles still said nothing.

Although Eric's presentation was not good, he was right. These Belgian pilots did want to gain remarkable achievements in an easy way and then retire with honor.

There was nothing wrong with this from their point of view; being able to blow up the German balloons was already a great achievement, so why would they risk their lives for something else?

If I blow up Big Bertha and die, does that mean I get nothing?
So, the real warrior is Eric, who is the one who will launch the attack, and he is driving a biplane equipped with rockets, which will be the "special attention" of the enemy.

Eric should have stood with these pilots, which would have saved him the trouble and given him a better chance of surviving while still being honored.

But Eric didn't do that, he chose to fight to the end.

Looking at the noisy crowd, Charles said calmly: "If we don't blow up 'Big Belsa' before dark, the Wavre Fortress may not last until tomorrow!"

"what?"

"impossible!"

"why?"

……

Everyone stopped arguing and turned their puzzled looks to Charles.

Major Fisher questioned Charles' words: "Sir, Big Bertha never attacks at night..."

"That was in the past!" Charles answered, and then asked softly: "In the past, the vision during the day was much better than at night. What about now?" Major Fisher suddenly realized: "We used smoke, and the Germans can't see clearly even in the daytime!"

"Yes!" Charles concluded: "Since we can't see clearly during the day, why not attack at night? There is no difference between day and night anyway! Besides, the Germans originally had three 'Big Berthas', but now there is only one left, which means they have extra shells!"

Major Fisher nodded thoughtfully.

The ammunition for the three guns was all piled on the only remaining gun, so there was certainly enough ammunition. In this case, the Germans would probably continue the bombing at night.

12 shells can be fired in 24 hours. If one of them hits the Wavre Fortress, Antwerp will be finished.

Eric laughed: "I don't want to be woken up by them when I'm sleeping at night!"

Then he looked around: "Oh, uh... does anyone have any wine?"

No one paid any attention to him, and some people even stared at him with incredible looks. At this time, you still have the leisure to look for some wine?

"That is to say!" Major Fisher's face turned very ugly. He looked at the watch on his wrist and said worriedly: "We only have more than three hours left!"

Charles added coldly: "And you are still arguing about whether to blow up 'Big Belsa'!"

This sentence made everyone bow their heads, and the Belgian pilot who had his own thoughts felt even more ashamed.

"The fate of Antwerp is in your hands, gentlemen!" Charles' tone was light, but his words were serious: "It depends on what you do. Hundreds of thousands of lives, the fate of Belgium, including your relatives and friends!"

Everyone was silent, only Eric was still rummaging around, as if this matter had nothing to do with him.

After a while, someone stepped forward and said:
"We're at your mercy, sir!"

"What are your orders?"

"We'll do as you say!"

……

Ciel turned his gaze towards Eric who was still making small movements.

Eric felt Ciel's gaze, he sat up and spread his hands: "Why are you looking at me? I've always been on your side!"

Charles smiled and said, "Uncle Eric, I wonder if you can cooperate with them?"

Eric glanced at the people beside him, a trace of disdain hanging on the corner of his mouth: "Cooperate with these cowards? Forget it, I'll do it myself..."

"I'm sorry, sir!" The Belgian pilot took the initiative to apologize:

"You're right, we have to blow up 'Big Bertha'!"

"Sir, you are fighting for Belgium, we should be grateful!"

"You are brave and we hope to fight with you!"

……

"I don't buy it!" Eric interrupted the pilots' "affectionate confession": "You're going to kill me!"

The pilots were stunned. This guy was not going to respond to any threats or persuasion!
Someone suddenly had an idea and secretly took out a wine jug filled with wine from his bosom and handed it over...

Eric took it, shook it, opened the lid and smelled it, then immediately raised his hands in surrender with an intoxicated look on his face: "Forget it, it's just to blow up something... Let's do it together!"

The pilots smiled knowingly.

Charles watched all this with satisfaction.

Integrating the pilots into a force is a key step in the smooth implementation of the plan.

His plan requires all pilots to work closely together, even at the cost of sacrificing themselves to protect others. This would be impossible to do without realizing the seriousness of the problem, or without unity and a spirit of self-sacrifice!
(End of this chapter)