I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 839: This Guy Always Manages to Surprise

Paris, City Defense Headquarters.

Gallieni, who hadn't slept all night, suddenly awoke from his stupor. He looked outside the door in confusion. What was going on? Why hadn't anyone reported the situation?

He got up, shook his numb feet, and walked towards the command center.

Major Fernan and other staff officers remained vigilant, standing by the radio and telephone, not daring to show the slightest negligence.

"What's the situation?" Gallieni asked.

"No situation, General." Major Fernan stood straight and replied, "No attack, nothing has happened."

Gallieni responded with a "Hmm," which wasn't a good thing.

Had the guy retreated when faced with difficulties?

Suddenly, a staff officer by the radio loudly reported, "Shire has organized an attack."

The command center immediately tensed up as Major Fernan loudly assigned tasks:

"I need to know the location, the number of troops and equipment, and the attack plan!"

"Also, are there any changes in the Germans' situation?"

"And the current position of the German 17th Army Group."

...

Gallieni stood in front of the map on the wall, his gaze fixed on the position of Mount Montbeh.

This will be a bloody battle, he thought, and the attack during the day will be much more brutal than at night.

The orderly brought breakfast to Gallieni, who had little appetite and only took the milk, sipping it slowly, frowning as he thought about what he would do in this situation.

However.

Before he finished drinking the milk, a staff officer exclaimed, "Victory, we have won!"

Everyone was stunned and simultaneously stopped what they were doing to look at the staff officer.

Gallieni looked at the staff officer in confusion. Victory? Wasn't this guy crazy?

Major Fernan angrily scolded, "Zephyr, do you need a bucket of cold water to wake up?"

"No, Major, I am quite awake," Zephyr replied. "Shire has won. He captured Mount Montbeh."

Zephyr hurriedly handed the telegram to Major Fernan.

Major Fernan took the telegram, glanced at it, and then turned his gaze to Gallieni, his eyes full of disbelief, his tone uncertain:

"It's exactly as the telegram states, General."

"It says Shire had planted explosives on Mount Montbeh in advance. When detonated, the Germans were powerless to resist."

"The US Army captured the high ground with a single charge." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Gallieni was so shocked his mouth was half-open. He quickly stepped forward, grabbed the telegram from Major Fernan, and read it twice before bursting into laughter, "This guy always brings surprises."

...

20th Arrondissement, Paris, the Merit Newspaper office.

The reporters, who had been waiting tensely all night, had waited in vain. When daylight came, they woke up one after another, with disappointment on their faces.

Kobudo was among them. However, with his considerable military knowledge, he was more disappointed with the battle than with the lack of information.

He was brewing coffee in his hand, his mind involuntarily thinking:

The myth of Shire's invincibility might be shattered today. The 17th German Army had marched throughout the night without sleep and might arrive this afternoon.

That is to say, Shire only had half a day.

To capture Mount Montbeh within half a day seemed almost an impossible task.

Shire had only one option: to retreat back to the east bank of the Seine River while there was still time.

The reporters whispered to each other:

"I never understood why Shire didn't attack at night."

"He might have missed an opportunity, a chance to completely change the war situation."

"It's over. He will be surrounded on the east bank of the Seine River, as will the entire Meuse River defense line."

Suddenly, Matthias, who was responsible for maintaining contact with the City Defense Headquarters, screamed after taking a call: "He won, unbelievably, he won!"

"What victory?" Kobudo didn't pay attention, holding his coffee and walking back, "Don't bother with other news. Nothing beats the Battle of Mount Montbeh now."

Kobudo thought Matthias was referring to a victory in another direction.

But Matthias shouted frantically: "It's the Battle of Mount Montbeh, Kobudo, Shire won, he captured the high ground!"

"Clang!" The cup in Kobudo's hand fell to the ground, the black warm coffee splattering all over his pants leg.

But Kobudo didn't care at all. He rushed excitedly to Matthias, embracing his arms tightly: "Are you telling the truth? How is this possible? How did he do it?"

"It was explosives," Matthias said, tears of excitement streaming down his face. "Shire had planted explosives on the high ground beforehand, blowing all the Germans stationed there to the sky!"

The reporters were all stunned, even forgetting to take notes or record anything.

After a long pause, Kobudo shook his head and laughed, "What a cunning guy, he fooled us all!"

...

In a residential area, a dozen young people who had "stolen electricity" gradually woke up, angrily discovering they had slept all night next to each other's smelly feet.

But what worried them more was the radio.

"Why is it silent?"

"Is it broken?"

"Perhaps it's the weather," someone said, pulling back the curtains and looking outside: "Look, the rain has stopped. I've heard that weather changes can affect the ionosphere."

A young man in a flat cap carefully tuned the dial, and voices intertwined strangely with the "buzzing" of radio waves.

Finally, the sound stabilized.

The frequent radio listeners immediately recognized the voice as that of Gustav Ferrier, the head of French army radio communications.

(Above image shows French scientist and general, Gustav August Ferrier, who was appointed as the head of the French radio telegraphy during World War I and organized the establishment of the radio network, also responsible for sending Morse code or voice messages to undermine German morale.)

The previously chaotic young group instantly quieted down, forming a circle with their eyes fixed on the radio, fearing they would miss a word.

A slightly hoarse yet exceptionally steady voice came from the radio:

"Don't be surprised, gentlemen, we have won again."

"We can always trust Shire, he has never let us down..."

The young people whispered, "God, what have we missed? We've won? Shire won!"

They thought that Shire had "quietly" defeated the Germans while they were asleep.

But the radio provided the answer:

"It's not about what you missed."

"Shire didn't attack at night. Now, it's less than half an hour since Shire's attack, and many people don't even know this yet."

"However, it happened just like that."

"In just twenty minutes, the Mount Montbeh, which everyone thought was impenetrable, is now under US control, with tanks lined up passing through the Reims Valley."

"If any Germans or Allies are listening, I am honored."

"But I hope you consider one thing: is it meaningful to stand against such a Shire?"

...

The young people looked at each other in dismay.

They didn't expect they were hearing the "latest news."

Without yet reacting, someone already rushed to the streets, raising their arms and shouting, "We won, Shire won!"