I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 835: Bombers Equipped with Radios

This was also where the German Army artillery found themselves puzzled.

How did the French Army artillery precisely locate their targets?

No matter how the German Army artillery changed positions, or reduced shell firing or increased relocation distances, they couldn't escape the bombardment of the French artillery.

The German artillery deployed on the West Bank of the Meuse River comprised 6 artillery battalions instead of the 4 that the US Army assumed.

The reason was that Hutier deemed it necessary to keep the US Army east of the Meuse River.

In previous battles, Hutier was surprised by the combat performance of the US Army, especially since it was their first participation in the war.

If they could fight impressively in their first battle, did it mean they would become more tenacious in the future?

More importantly, Hutier received intelligence that Shire's troops might also cross the river with the US Army to launch a counterattack, making it even more crucial not to let them succeed.

Or, even if they could cross, they would be left in a seriously weakened state.

With these considerations in mind, Hutier scraped together 6 artillery battalions to position along the Meuse River line, even under heavy casualties among the artillery.

The commander was Major General Mathieu, who had previously led an artillery regiment to successfully suppress two Russian artillery divisions in the Battle of Tannenberg on the Eastern Front.

Admittedly, this was related to the low morale of the Russian Army, but it still required courage to face two artillery divisions with just one regiment in artillery warfare.

Because, even if the enemy fired randomly in the direction of the sound of artillery blasts, they could blow all of them and their artillery sky-high.

Major General Mathieu made full preparations for this battle.

He scattered artillery observers along the Meuse River like sowing beans, each group of observers connected by telephone.

At the same time, he also launched three hot air balloons.

This approach was dangerous because he had just learned that Shire had developed a new fighter aircraft, giving the French Army air supremacy once again.

However, Mathieu told his subordinates, "It's raining now, it's not so easy for planes to launch rockets to destroy our balloons."

This was true, as rockets could easily fail due to moisture.

But pinning hope on the enemy's ammunition getting damp is still risky.

However, Mathieu believed this risk was worth it: it could help the artillery hold off Shire's troops and 300,000 US soldiers.

After arranging these, only half of Mathieu's heart was at ease.

The current situation was that the German Army artillery could master the enemy's coordinates, while the enemy artillery could not.

In other words, "I can see the enemy, but the enemy cannot see me."

In such artillery warfare, there was no reason to lose.

Major General Mathieu couldn't imagine what else the enemy could do to counteract.

"They can only obediently stay on the east bank," Major General Mathieu confidently told his subordinates, "The moment they step forward, even just a little step, we'll blow them to pieces!"

However...

After round after round of artillery exchanges, everything faded into bubbles.

With a face smudged black from gunpowder smoke, Major General Mathieu watched in disbelief at the artillery wreckage around him, and the corpses of horses used for traction lying on the ground, some still struggling and whimpering pathetically.

The three hot air balloons hovered like giant tents in the sky, but they were useless; the enemy couldn't even be bothered to take the time to destroy them.

The shells from the other side still sliced through the rain with precision, landing nearby no matter how the artillery tried to evade.

"How did this happen?" Major General Mathieu muttered, gasping for breath:

"No, this is impossible."

"I can see them, they can't see me."

"But why do their shells keep following us?"

A shell whistled through the air, yet Major General Mathieu stood dazed, unaware.

All seemed meaningless, even his own life, he only wanted to know one thing: what magic did Shire use to achieve this!

"Boom!" The shell exploded ten meters away.

In a split second, his adjutant tackled Major General Mathieu to the ground.

Mud splattered like raindrops from the sky, and Major General Mathieu, pushing the dead adjutant off him, numbly sat up.

Then, a French "Caproni" bomber flying high above caught his attention.

Suddenly, he understood.

It was the radio, Shire must have installed the radio on the bomber, making it the eyes of the artillery.

For a moment, Mathieu was stunned, then emitted a neurotic laugh.

How on earth could Germany defeat that madman?

Wishful thinking!

Everyone was at his mercy, how laughable it was that they thought they could occupy Reims and encircle him.

Shakily, Mathieu got to his feet and, amidst the shouting of the guards, walked step by step towards the bombing zone where flames burst intermittently.

...

Shire's troops crossed the Meuse River in safety, passing through the stone bridge with almost no artillery interception.

The German Army artillery had been bombed into retreat or death, and even the stationed over ten thousand infantry were withdrawing.

The retreat of the German infantry was wise; their greatest reliance was on the artillery. With the artillery defeated, remaining there would only mean waiting to die.

The Germans lost without grievance.

This was their first experience of air-ground coordination with "radios being brought on airplanes."

In the German's impression, even if planes saw the opponent's artillery positions, they couldn't relay the information back.

This was one of the reasons artillery still retained hot air balloons.

For the artillery, hot air balloons were more useful, because once they saw the smoke and fire from enemy artillery, they could signal to the ground artillery by waving flags.

However, "radios being brought on airplanes" would thoroughly put an end to this primitive observation method.

Shire stood on the armored car, holding binoculars, looking into the distance.

Beside him, mechanized and motorized troops flowed over the stone bridge like a tide, with both US and French forces involved.

Pershing's armored car stopped nearby, his tone carrying a hint of regret: "The Germans have already guessed that we brought radios onto the bombers."

"Oh?" Shire lowered his binoculars.

Prior to this, Shire had always kept this matter confidential, with only a limited few knowing, to make full use on the battlefield several more times.

"Yes." Pershing nodded:

"We captured a few artillery prisoners and asked them what they had deduced."

"They replied: 'The problem lies with the bombers, doesn't it? We failed because of them!' "

"Although we didn't give them an answer, however..."

Pershing spread his hands.

If ordinary artillerymen could guess it, no need to say about others.

"No matter." Shire smiled slightly, "They can't solve this problem, as long as air supremacy is in our hands."

With air supremacy, bombers can fly freely and steadily over enemy-controlled zones to relay back coordinates.

Shire didn't notice that on the highway, Patton and Williams, riding in an armored car, wore a face of disbelief as they looked at him.

The prisoners were interrogated by them, and they were eager to know what had happened.

They never expected the answer to be the bombers, specifically bombers equipped with radios!