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

Chapter 920 Differences of Opinion
In principle, airborne troops already existed during this period, and the German army was still the first to use it.

For ordinary reconnaissance on the battlefield, scouts need to cross several lines of defense on land. After escaping danger, often only a few people in a unit can infiltrate the enemy's rear for reconnaissance.

The probability of successfully completing the mission and feeding back the information to the German army is almost zero.

So the German army used a creative tactic, their scouts flew over the enemy lines under the cover of night and then parachuted to the ground to carry out their mission.

This is considered the prototype of airborne troops.

(Note: The earliest actual combat record was in 1918 when the Italian army used modified bombers to airdrop a troop to the rear of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to carry out sabotage missions. The formal airborne force was established by the Soviet Union in 1930.)
Charles took out a transport plane sketch from his briefcase and handed it to Carter: "This is a new type of aircraft we are developing and we expect to be able to mass-produce it soon."

There was no need to hide this from Carter. After all, he was needed to train the paratroopers, and he was also needed to assign pilots to train and fly these transport planes.

Carter took it and looked at it, his voice full of excitement and confusion: "All-metal plane, and fully enclosed? So, where is his machine gun?"

"No machine guns," Charles replied.

The original "Junkers 52" is usually equipped with 2 to 3 machine guns: one on the back of the aircraft, one on the side, and a machine gun pod can be added on the belly depending on the situation.

However, the horsepower of the original "Junkers 52" engine has reached more than 500, and only three engines can have such a load capacity.

The engine of the Charles at that time only had 390 horsepower, so it was necessary to reduce weight as much as possible.

"No machine guns?" Carter was even more confused: "Then how is she going to fight?"

"This is a transport plane, Colonel." Charles' answer was simple: "It is used to transport people. We estimate that it can carry 17 to 20 fully armed soldiers. In extreme cases, if the seats are removed, it may be possible to carry 25 soldiers."

Carter understood what Charles meant. He stared at Charles with wide eyes, as if he had forgotten to breathe.

After a while, he gasped for breath and raised the sketch in his hand:

"God, Lieutenant General, you're going to use her to parachute troops into enemy positions?"

"I have to remind you that this is too dangerous."

"I mean, the danger is not the parachute drop itself, although it is not easy either, but the more dangerous thing is that they will be surrounded by the enemy!"

Carter became more and more shocked as he thought about it, and his face turned pale as he spoke:
"Let alone other things, just the supply of ammunition is a big problem."

"How can we ensure ammunition for the airborne troops?"

"Without ammunition, they are surrounded by the enemy and have no choice but to surrender!"

Charles nodded secretly. Carter was no longer the club operator who only knew how to fly planes. He also mastered some necessary military knowledge.

This is good, and it will be helpful for future air-ground coordination.

"So," Charles replied, "you have to consider not only how to train the infantry to parachute, but also how to airdrop supplies to the troops."

Carter suddenly realized that supplies were also airdropped by transport planes, which meant that an air supply line had to be built.

Then there are more issues to consider.

Air supremacy, number of transport aircraft, airdrop locations, configuration and safety of airdropped supplies, etc.

This is the creation of a completely new type of military force, an entire combat system. Carter said with difficulty: "Lieutenant General, I'm not sure if I can do it, especially in terms of tactics..."

Tactics are Carter's weakness. He is an airman and all his command experience is in air combat.

"You don't need to worry about that, Colonel." Charles said, "You only need to take care of the aerial part, and I will send people to assist with the rest."

Carter breathed a sigh of relief: "Yes, Lieutenant General, I will do my best!"

As a soldier, he should have given an affirmative answer, but Carter thought this was beyond his ability and therefore lacked confidence.

Soon Carter discovered that his worries were completely unnecessary, because Charles often sent him some training manuals and suggestions, which solved the difficulties encountered in training one by one, just like when Charles trained the aviation regiment.

……

At the Toulon Shipyard, a new day begins with the rising sun.

Workers walked into the factory one after another on the white snow, and the originally quiet dock was filled with the sounds of hammering and roaring machines.

However, some of them are still producing or modifying artillery for the army.

The shipyards had many advanced equipment and had to bear the burden of the war, and the Toulon shipyard was no exception.

In the conference room, representatives of the British advisory group who had just finished breakfast entered one after another. Their current task was to persuade the engineers and commanders of the French Naval Construction Bureau across the way, or to reach a consensus.

Colonel Stephen, the head of the advisory group, sat down on a chair, took out a cigarette, lit it, and then raised his head nonchalantly in the smoke: "So, have you made a decision?"

Fabio, the director of the Construction Bureau, stood up and nodded: "Yes, Colonel, we agree with your plan."

Colonel Stephen showed a smug smile on his face, as if he had won a battle: "A wise decision, Mr. Director."

He pushed the document on his right forward and said arrogantly:

"We have a lot of data and experimental proof. What do you have? Before this, you didn't even know that fighter jets could take off from ships."

"This is a whole new field, you see? And we are the ones at the forefront."

"So, don't doubt our ideas. This will save you and us a lot of time..."

A middle-aged French major general on the other side felt something was wrong the more he listened. Finally, he could no longer bear it and stood up and retorted, "But you didn't give a reasonable explanation for this way of retaining the naval guns!"

"Does this need any further explanation?" Colonel Stephen spread his hands.
"I have stressed many times that our aircraft are capable of taking off and landing on a deck of 50 to 80 meters, so why do we need to add more decks?"

"The benefit of retaining the rear guns is obvious, as it enables the aircraft carrier to have the ability to defend itself."

"Do you expect that she, with a full load of planes, can't beat a fishing boat?"

The rear admiral replied: "But this is totally unrealistic. Do you still want an aircraft carrier fully loaded with planes to participate in a naval battle?"

Stephen stood up angrily and pointed his finger in the air in the direction of the Rear Admiral: "It is not up to you to decide whether to join the war, General Pierre. That is a battlefield, and it has to join the war even if you don't want to!"

At this time, a figure walked into the meeting room and asked in a slightly childish voice: "What happened? It seems that you have different opinions?"

(End of this chapter)