I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France

Chapter 627: This is what we should do, no thanks needed

City Defense Headquarters, Gallieni’s rest room.

Although the headquarters had kicked out some capitalists and deputies who were spies during its reorganization, because this was a "less dangerous" Reserve Army Group during the war, many idle officers gradually infiltrated after Shire left.

There was nothing Gallieni could do about it. He sat at his desk, took the coffee Shire had brewed for him, and said helplessly, "This is not something that one or two people can solve. Many times I don’t even have a reason to transfer them away."

Shire nodded to show that he understood, this was a systemic problem.

Unless, like Shire’s unit, an internal loop cut off from the outside world was formed during combat, otherwise, most officers graduating from military school were nobles and deputies’ children. Where could you find people with clean backgrounds?

Gallieni took a sip of coffee, looked up at Shire, and curiously asked, "What business are you talking about?"

"Airplanes, General," Shire answered, "We need more airplanes."

Gallieni made an "oh" sound and asked back, "How many do you need?"

Shire pondered for a moment and replied, "At present, we need to build at least three military airports, each with one fighter squadron and one bomber squadron, about 200 airplanes, at least 200."

"200 airplanes?" Gallieni looked at Shire with a face full of shock, "But I heard that our aviation forces are enough to suppress the Germans."

The implication was that the military currently had no need to buy more aircraft, much less so many.

Shire understood this. Right now, in France’s material shortage phase, air superiority wasn’t a problem, so the military naturally had no demand.

However...

Shire spread a map in front of Gallieni and said to himself, "I plan to build military airports at these three locations: Brest, Caen, and Dunkirk."

(In the above picture, the red circles respectively show the locations of the Brest shipyard, Caen, and Dunkirk, with a linear distance of about 200 kilometers between each)

Gallieni put on his glasses, looked at the three locations marked by Shire, and frowned deeply, "I thought you were buying airplanes to put them on the front lines."

If they were placed on the front lines, it would make sense and be beneficial to the war, as the extra aircraft would be used to fight the Germans.

But now, with so much effort and funding being used to place them in the rear, Gallieni found it hard to understand.

Shire replied calmly, "This is to support the Royal Navy’s blockade of the La Manche Strait, General."

"Blockade the La Manche Strait?" Gallieni laughed, "With the British fleet present, we don’t need to worry about that at all."

Shire didn’t speak, just looked quietly at Gallieni.

Gallieni felt confused by Shire’s expression. After looking at the map again, he suddenly realized, "You’re not doing this to deal with the Germans, but to..."

Gallieni stopped his words in time.

Walls have ears. "To deal with the British," this kind of saying, the less said the better. As long as both sides understood each other.

Shire nodded lightly and replied, "The La Manche Strait is one of the world’s busiest sea lanes, a strategic point that every military power fights for. Whoever controls the La Manche Strait can control shipping, resources, and even have the upper hand in the war and political discourse."

This was not an exaggeration. If Britain lost control of the La Manche Strait, it would be finished.

The reason lay in the theory of "attack over defense."

For Britain to defend against a French landing, it would need fortresses, trenches, barbed wire, coastal artillery, infantry guns, etc., along the entire 560-kilometer coast of the strait.

This funding would be enough to build several fleets.

And even with all these, it would still be defenseless, as the French Army could still concentrate forces and break through at one point.

Gallieni was stunned by Shire’s grand plan. He looked at the map and then at Shire, feeling secretly shocked.

This young man, just stepping into his 19th year, already had such huge ambitions.

He wasn’t thinking about stopping the Germans or defeating them, but about matching up against the number one world power, with the hypothetical enemy being the globally revered Royal Navy.

This was something that France had unsuccessfully attempted to achieve for decades with nationwide efforts, and he dared to launch such a challenge without knowing his own limits!

After some consideration, Gallieni shook his head, "Airplanes have limited roles in naval battles, Vice Admiral, at most, they can only be used for reconnaissance..."

Shire remained silent, then took out a sketch from the pocket inside his trench coat and handed it over.

It was a sketch he casually drew while discussing details with Eric at the aircraft factory—a Caproni Bomber carrying a torpedo under its belly.

Gallieni took one look and was immediately stunned, unable to speak.

Although he didn’t know much about naval battles, he knew what a torpedo was.

And having followed the Dardanelles Sea Battle, he knew that those mighty battleships, often looking like armored porcupines, could be sunk by just one torpedo in actual combat.

Seeing a bomber capable of carrying torpedoes now, he immediately understood what this was about.

After a long while, Gallieni exclaimed, "My God, is this for real? Can bombers really do this?"

Shire nodded emphatically,

"The difficulty of mounting them isn’t high. The main issue is that the torpedoes might fail due to the impact when entering the water."

"We need time to strengthen and reinforce the torpedo components."

"Additionally, there might be requirements for speed, altitude, and attitude during the bombers’ release, but these are all within acceptable limits."

Gallieni got up trembling, holding the sketch and said excitedly, "Wonderful, young man! Incredible! Do you know what this means? Our navy would become the world’s number one. We’ll have the whole world, Shire, you’re a genius!"

This was no exaggeration.

If bombers carrying torpedoes could destroy battleships, and also had a strike radius of 300 kilometers, they could block most sea routes, making it exceedingly difficult for the Royal Navy to operate.

For example, the Gibraltar Strait.

Shire pointed to Dunkirk on the map and said, "The airport here should be the focus, General. I think the number of fighters and bombers here should be doubled."

Gallieni glanced at the map and nodded repeatedly, "You’re right, double or even triple. Or we could add more airports at sites like Boulogne-sur-Mer or Calais."

(In the above picture, the red circle shows the Dover Strait, known as the Calais Strait in France, it’s the narrowest part of the La Manche Strait, just 34 kilometers wide. Stationing fighters and bombers in Dunkirk could block the Calais Strait, and directly bomb London posing a significant threat)

Finally, Shire asked Gallieni, "General, do you think we should buy these 200 airplanes?"

Gallieni cleared his throat, put on a serious face, and replied

"All indications show that the German fleet might try to break through the La Manche Strait."

"As a member of the Allies, I believe we have a responsibility to prepare for this potential danger."

"Although airplanes don’t play much role in naval battles, we are quite happy to set up airports and deploy aircraft to provide intelligence for our allies."

"This is our duty. No thanks needed!"

Shire nearly spat out his coffee...