I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 235 One Topic

Military organization usually follows these principles:

Poor communication equipment and inadequate command capabilities require separating different military branches as much as possible, which can reduce command pressure and avoid confusion.

Conversely, good communication equipment and high command levels allow for the mixed integration of various branches under unified command.

The latter is the concept of a "composite battalion," where modern battalions include infantry, artillery, armored units, and even air forces. These branches can coordinate closely and form powerful combat capabilities.

But this can only be achieved with modern communication equipment and high command levels; otherwise, it may not only fail to form combat power, but also lead to chaos.

The most typical example is the early stage of World War II with the Russians. They dispersed tanks, artillery, and aircraft among infantry units.

This approach was conceptually advanced and the idea was commendable: Any division would have tanks, artillery, and even air force, with everything included, thus powerful combat capabilities.

But in reality... they fell into chaos under the German Army’s attack, with various branches not knowing what they should do or how to do it, fighting like headless chickens, eventually being defeated and even encircled and annihilated by the German Army.

Shire wanted to incorporate and unify the command of the army aircraft for these considerations.

During World War I, communication equipment was extremely backward; radio was not popularized and even telephones were unreliable. Forcing infantry and air forces to be incorporated together would be a nightmare for the air forces.

They should be independent, form unified tactics through uniform training, and coordinate meticulously with other branches under unified command to be effective on the battlefield.

However, problems followed.

Gallieni sat in his chair and responded helplessly: "Convincing me won’t help, Colonel. You should convince the Commander-in-Chief of France. I can only command two army groups, besides that, I only have advisory rights... I can submit your idea as a recommendation to the General Headquarters, but you probably know what the result will be."

"Yes, General," Shire replied.

No need to think, Xia Fei would never readily agree to let Shire command the troops.

Seeing Gallieni’s indifferent expression, Shire felt a bit angry: "General, if we can’t promptly incorporate the army aircraft, they may be defeated by the Germans one by one!"

Gallieni spread his hands: "You are the captain of the flight squadron, Colonel, and this idea is also proposed by you. As for me, I am unsure which strategy is correct."

Lies, you just expressed agreement earlier.

Listening on the side, Major Fernan interjected: "If you can’t directly get the commander’s consent, could you go through the parliament instead..."

Gallieni shook his head and rejected this proposal.

Despite Shire achieving some progress through his efforts over this period, he still faced formidable opposition from Schneider and the entire right-wing alliance.

The right wing occupied more than half of the more than five hundred seats, perhaps unable to contend with the left wing, but as long as they allied with any left-wing group, they could occupy the majority.

Shire was aware of this, so he didn’t consider parliament, at least not for the moment.

Then, what might work, perhaps only... Shire turned his gaze to Kobudo, who was writing something at his desk.

Gallieni and Fernan also understood, their gaze coincidentally turned towards Kobudo.

At this time, Kobudo was troubled by the "Christmas Truce" incident, which was initially a great news topic. He had already written a pile of articles, even roughly lined up the sequence.

But then the Commander-in-Chief issued a "media control" order: All media were forbidden to report the "truce" incident, or they would be prosecuted for "endangering national security."

(Note: Media control over the Christmas Truce incident was not only in France, but also in England and the United States. Their media were all controlled until 6 days later when the New York Times broke the blockade and reported it, followed by Britain.)

So, what should be reported during this period?

Christmas food and joy?

The front line seemed to lack these, it would only agitate the soldiers’ already crumbling morale!

Heroic fighting?

They had grown tired of war, it seemed inappropriate!

Maybe some knowledge about the 37mm cannon...

At this moment, Kobudo felt the gaze of others. He turned his head to the few people, Shire and his team, and asked in confusion: "What’s happening?"

"A topic, Kobudo!" Shire’s expression was somewhat mysterious: "You will have a lot to write about!"

Good, Kobudo thought, he really needed a topic!

...

Snow-covered, silver-studded.

The airport of the 9th Army in the 2nd French Army Group was seven kilometers away from the front line at Morphi Town.

This airport was very simple, it had only one runway and seven aircraft, all old "Gaudron" and "Pigeon" models, randomly parked in the corners of the airport. The roofing was a few pieces of canvas patched together, supported by wooden strips over the aircraft to shield from snow.

There were no walls around the airport, only a few fences and barbed wire creating an isolation belt, with a sign saying "Military Area, No Entry."

Kobudo arrived with two reporters, photographing the airport facilities intensely. He asked the airport head, Major Langgev, with emotion:

"Has your airport always been like this?"

Fifty-something Major Langgev, with a face full of vicissitudes: "No, it wasn’t like this, sir. What you see now is the result of our efforts; this should be its best condition!"

"Its best condition now?" Kobudo expressed surprise.

Major Langgev nodded:

"Of course. This place was originally a muddy mess, with many craters, and even corpses that needed to be cleaned up."

"Do you see that runway?"

"We dug it out ourselves with engineer shovels. Now we have to clear the snow every day, otherwise, we can’t carry out any missions!"

Kobudo hurriedly directed the reporters to take close-ups of the runway, which had evident potholes, clearly posing a hazard to aircraft takeoffs.

Kobudo gave Major Langgev a sympathetic look: "Are other units similar? I mean, other aircraft units."

"Of course!" Major Langgev nodded certainly: "Most of our troops are fighting on the front lines, manpower is desperately lacking everywhere, so no one can help us build the airport. So, yes, other aircraft units are in similar conditions, we are considered better."

Then Major Langgev added: "Except for the Flying Club in Paris!"

"Really?" Kobudo caught the opportunity to ask: "Why is the Flying Club in Paris an exception?"

"Isn’t it obvious?" Major Langgev chuckled: "That’s Shire’s unit. Shire is different from others! He is willing to spend money on his flight squadron. Their pilots receive a monthly allowance of at least 60 francs, which is three times ours!"

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