I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France Chapter 525: Their Scandal Is About to Be Exposed

The fierce artillery fire rang out again, that was the bombardnt Monty had requested.

He believed that if tanks covered the infantry, they could avoid being hit by shells to so extent, and now might be a good ti for an artillery barrage.

This idea seed correct. Under the British artillery strike, the German firepower significantly reduced, and shadows of retreating Germans were vaguely seen.

The British tanks seized the opportunity to speed up, and the soldiers behind also began their charge. With a loud shout, Monty successfully led his troops into the first German trench.

Unexpectedly, victory ca so easily, and Monty was filled with wild joy.

However, before he could fortify the position, the Germans launched a counterattack.

At this mont, the tanks stopped in front of the trench, afraid to move forward. The drivers were unsure if they could cross the widened trench in front of them; without orders, they dared not take the risk.

The tank machine guns continuously fired at the Germans, shooting in several directions simultaneously, making it look like a porcupine bristling with spikes, madly outputting fire.

However, it was immobilized in front of the trench, making it a target for the German 77MM cannons.

"Boom! Boom!"

After a round of cannon fire, several tanks were instantly blown to pieces, so even engulfed in raging flas.

Then, the German 105MM long-range artillery roared, its shells issuing a terrifying whistle in the air, approaching from afar, their sound gradually shifting from sharp to booming.

Finally, "Boom! Boom! Boom!" the shells exploded chaotically on the position, causing the ground to shake and the mountains to sway. Monty felt like a small boat about to capsize in the stormy sea.

He risked standing on the high ground, looking back. Of the dozens of tanks behind, only a few were operational, still exposed to continuous bombardnt with nowhere to hide.

Monty suddenly realized he had fallen into a German trap.

The precision and swiftness of the 105MM artillery were because the Germans had long targeted this defense line, their own defense line.

The apparent "victory" of the British was the Germans deliberately vacating the position, putting the British in a bombing scenario.

The shelling continued, one wave after another bombarding the newly conquered trench.

The Germans’ plan was both sinister and ticulous.

The 105MM artillery’s range exceeded that of all British and French artillery. By positioning them far back targeting their own defense line, no artillery could reach them.

The German artillery could bomb at will, for as long as they wanted.

Fortunately, the German trench was nearly three ters deep, with anti-shell features, providing the British good protection.

However...

Monty, in the trench, imdiately thought the Germans, after shelling the tanks, would send large infantry waves to retake the trench.

"We’ll be killed here," a chill surged in Monty’s heart, engulfed by shellfire, motionless, and isolated.

Monty didn’t hesitate, shouting orders amidst the "rumbling" artillery: "Pass the order, retreat as soon as the shelling stops!"

The staff officer was stunned, wasn’t it supposed to be a charge when the shelling stopped?

We are achieving the first stage of victory; now is the ti to press the attack!

"Retreat!" Monty confird his order: "Retreat as soon as the shelling stops!"

"Yes, Captain!" The staff officer, accompanied by several signaln, passed the order.

Monty’s judgnt was correct.

The Germans didn’t expect the British to retreat suddenly during the artillery pause, hoping to encircle and annihilate them in the trench, they inadvertently let them escape.

...

Antwerp Airport.

Shire was counting the number of rocket launchers and rockets being sent to Mons.

The rocket launchers and rockets were ultimately for attacking Namur Fortress in Mons, it was unnecessary to transport them to Antwerp first.

This was not only redundant but also easily exposed their strategic objectives.

As for the rockets already delivered to Antwerp, they were for training and reserves.

Two rocket launcher regints were almost in place, but the rocket supply was slightly lacking, only just over 20,000 rounds.

Steed was puzzled by this: "Major General, over 20,000 rockets far exceed the ammunition base of two artillery regints!"

He calculated based on the French Army’s howitzer ammunition base, two regints with 72 guns, each with 100 rounds, totaling 7200 rounds.

Shire replied: "You seem to have forgotten that a rocket launcher has 12 launch tubes, Mr. Steed."

Cold sweat instantly ran down Steed’s forehead; this ant over 80,000 rockets were needed for one ammunition base!

Shire also wasn’t certain about the exact number of rockets needed.

It depended on how many cannons the Germans had deployed at Namur Fortress and the actual effectiveness of the rockets.

However, producing more rockets was definitely not wrong. Even without launch tubes, they could be mounted on sandbags in front of the position and fired by connecting a battery.

While Shire was calculating how to allocate rockets to the two rocket regints, Tijani ca out with a telegram:

"Good news, the Germans are reinforcing towards the River Som."

"They at least withdrew two artillery regints from Verdun, and there are signs of movent at Namur Fortress, but it’s unclear how many troops have been moved."

Shire responded with an "Mm," and continued his calculations.

The Germans should withdraw more troops from Namur Fortress.

After all, the French Army’s strategic intent to attack Namur had been exposed, and mainstream generals including Kitchener, Haig, and Nivelle were all trapped in the public opinion trap of "using a borrowed knife to kill."

Moreover, the combined British and French forces were fully attacking the River Som, making it nearly impossible for the French Army to attack Namur.

So, what’s the point of keeping artillery at Namur?

"This might be related to the British deploying tanks," Tijani said. "They are making the Germans feel pressured."

"Tanks?" Shire stopped his work and looked up at Tijani.

"Yes." Tijani handed Shire a newspaper, with a hint of pride: "Your intelligence isn’t always tily, Major General."

Shire took the newspaper and saw in a prominent position the headline "British Army deploys new tanks in battle for major victory," accompanied by a photo of a tank.

Shire imdiately recognized it as the British "Whippet."

This was an interesting tank, with the British believing that having machine guns in all four directions obviated the need for a rotating turret.

Moreover, they believed this tank could shoot in three directions at once, making it much stronger than a single-fire rotating turret.

(Note: The "Whippet" usually had three crew mbers: a driver, a commander, and a gunner. Typically, one gunner operated four machine guns in turn, but in extre cases, an additional gunner could be added, allowing three machine guns to fire simultaneously.)

Shire gave a cold laugh: "Their scandal is about to be exposed."

The outco of tank combat was too obvious, soldiers saw it all, it couldn’t be hidden.

The British were only focused on appeasing morale, not realizing this might lead to even more terrible consequences.

Tijani was taken aback and looked at Shire in surprise: "Scandal? What scandal?"