I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 941: Descent from the Sky

Shire denied Pershing’s statement:

"No, General, why would you think that?"

"You know, we’ve always been trying to trick the Germans, hoping they would redeploy their forces to Saarbrücken."

"The problem is the Germans didn’t do that; instead, they secretly gathered forces in the Offenburg direction."

Shire walked to his desk, took materials from the drawer, and handed them to Pershing and Haig.

Two identical copies.

Pershing immediately realized Shire was lying.

Blatantly lying, as if afraid others wouldn’t know the truth.

There was no need to prepare two identical sets of materials unless he had already planned this lie!

Haig realized this too, his face darkened as he got up from the rocking chair, numbly accepting the materials Shire handed over, but he wasn’t even interested in opening them.

"This is the intelligence we scouted in the Offenburg direction." Shire spoke to himself:

"The Germans not only didn’t redeploy their troops from there but also increased their forces secretly."

"Over the past few days, troops along the Offenburg and Rhine River line have increased by 400,000."

"They even transferred a batch of anti-tank guns and mechanized units from Saarbrücken, as if they knew our operation plans and knew we were going to attack Offenburg."

Shire gave Haig a meaningful glance.

Pershing immediately realized the implication of Shire’s words and glance, looking at Haig in shock.

"No, you didn’t do that, did you?" Pershing glared angrily.

"I, I certainly didn’t." Haig slowly got up, his face turning red.

"Of course, you wouldn’t admit it!" Pershing raised his voice, his eyes red with anger: "I should have known; you wouldn’t want to see Shire win easily; it doesn’t serve England’s interests..."

Haig couldn’t help but retort: "It’s equally against the interests of the United States, Brigadier General!"

Then he quickly realized it was tantamount to admitting leaking intelligence.

"No, no, I didn’t mean that!" He hurriedly denied: "Although it doesn’t serve our interests, we didn’t do it!"

But no matter how he explained, it was useless. Pershing stared at Haig with his mouth half-open, seemingly understanding everything, including Becker’s involvement.

After a long sigh, Pershing turned to Shire and said: "Vice Admiral, please believe I was not involved."

"Of course." Shire nodded, stepping forward to shake hands with Pershing: "I am deeply grateful for this, General, you are our true ally."

Pershing’s expression was complicated, with guilt, gratitude, and awkwardness; considering his country’s involvement, he felt he couldn’t escape the blame.

Haig looked innocent; he indeed hadn’t leaked the intelligence to the Germans; they were just planning to.

Could it be Becker or someone else acted independently?

He vaguely realized he was played by Shire but couldn’t pinpoint where things went wrong.

Pershing ignored Haig, asking Shire: "Now, what should we do, Vice Admiral?"

"It’s simple." Shire replied: "Attack Saarbrücken!"

"But how do we do that?" Pershing asked: "There are landmines everywhere."

"Landmines are a minor issue." Shire calmly answered: "The focus is on the artillery positions distributed beyond the minefield, the 105MM artillery, and the 77MM infantry guns."

...

Meanwhile, Parisian media and military commentators were in an uproar:

"The First Armored Army was halted in front of the German minefields; how could they pass through?"

"Shire invented the mines; he must have a way!"

"Not necessarily; those are mines, thousands of them. What else could Shire do? Besides, there are German artillery positions beyond the minefields!"

...

Gallieni, in his office, stared at the map and at the small flag Major Fernan just placed representing the position of the First Armored Army, murmuring: "What could he possibly do?"

...

The once noisy meeting room of the "International League" fell silent.

Clemenceau looked bewildered; everyone thought he knew the answer, but he knew nothing.

He could only smile and pretend to know the answer, to seem like he was part of Shire’s core team.

Yes, that was crucial!

The Belgian representative looked excited; they didn’t know the answer but believed Shire would find a way, as no one could stop him, not even the mines.

Representatives from Romania and Italy looked tense, with a hint of worry.

If Shire couldn’t break through the minefields and capture Saarbrücken, Germany might not be deterred, leaving their countries unprotected.

The Dutch representative was torn between feelings of gain and loss.

Despite joining the "International League," they remained divided into two factions, one pro-German and the other pro-French.

This battle determined which side was right.

...

Frontline at Saarbrücken.

Major General Bernhard fixed his gaze on the tank groups outside the minefield, watching them deploy in attack formation.

The soldiers whispered:

"What are they doing? Are they really going to assault with tanks?"

"No, that’s suicide!"

"But that’s Shire; Shire isn’t a fool; he will always find a way!"

...

The last sentence echoed Major General Bernhard’s own thoughts.

Shire was not like the British or Americans; if he was going to attack, it certainly wasn’t a suicide mission.

But what could he do?

As he was pondering, the air filled with the rumbling sound of engines, like thunder rolling from afar.

Major General Bernhard raised his binoculars’ angle and a dense swarm of planes soon filled his view.

They were unlike any previously seen aircraft; these monstrosities seemed enclosed, with three propellers and a somewhat clumsy fuselage.

There were at least 100 planes, with some "Heron" fighters flying around as escorts, blocking out the sunlight with their massive presence.

"Bombers." Major General Bernhard’s face changed: "Shire’s new bombers, he’s planning to bomb the fields flat with explosives!"

German soldiers stared at the sky in terror, some retracting their rifles, ready to retreat to the trenches.

However, to their surprise and relief, the planes soared overhead without lowering altitude or dropping bombs.

Just as the soldiers breathed a sigh of relief, white round parachutes began to appear from the planes, growing denser, resembling bubbles released by fish, or more like dandelions drifting in the air.

"What is that?" the soldiers exclaimed.

Major General Bernhard raised his binoculars for a closer look, utterly shocked: "It’s paratroopers! Shire is actually using airborne paratroopers!"

No one had ever done this before; it was a first.

The soldiers were stunned, realizing war could be fought this way.

Transporting soldiers via aircraft to the rear of defense lines, then descending from the sky!

Had anyone mentioned this tactic before, they would have laughed it off.

But now, it was happening right before their eyes!

Major General Bernhard quickly understood:

"Our artillery, their target is our artillery!"

"Quickly contact the artillery, tell them to organize the defense!"