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

Antwerp Airport Command, Shire sat at his desk enjoying his afternoon tea while reading documents. He was quite satisfied with the current state of the equipment.

In just over a month, every squad in the armored and mechanized units was equipped with a shotgun.

Submachine guns were temporarily only equipped for the armored units due to insufficient production.

Tijani protested: "The mechanized units are the ones really fighting the enemy infantry. Why are the submachine guns first equipped for the armored units?"

Shire's response was simple: "If you are willing to charge at the forefront, I'll have them swap the submachine guns with you right away."

Tijani fell silent immediately.

The armored units are the ones at the forefront tearing through the enemy's defenses, so they must be prioritized for new weapons, especially since infantry need to enter trenches for close combat.

Tijani knew this logic; he just wanted to see if he could gain some advantage.

At this moment, a staff officer brought a telegram: "General, General Fuxu has been dismissed."

"What?"

Shire and Tijani exclaimed in unison and looked towards the staff officer.

The Northern Army Group is the main force cooperating with Shire in combat, and they had a relatively smooth cooperation before. Yet, Fuxu was dismissed at this time!

"It happened this morning." The staff officer reported: "General Fuxu has been reassigned to Paris as the 'Director of the Military Research Center'."

Shire was baffled; he didn't know what this position entailed.

Tijani explained: "It's work related to military theory, sometimes acting as a combat advisor, essentially a nominal position."

Shire understood now; Fuxu was being sidelined.

Then Shire asked, "Who is the successor?"

This is crucial for future operations as it affects the coordination between the two armies.

"General Despeyre," answered the staff officer.

Shire was completely unfamiliar with this name.

Tijani raised his eyebrow helplessly: "In your eyes, all of them are the same; it's safe to say none of them have any achievements."

Then Tijani added, "However, this General Despeyre is different; before the war, he was commanding battles in Morocco."

(Above: General Despeyre, Marshal of France, referred to as "the daredevil Frenchman" for his brave combat)

Shire still had no clear concept or didn't regard this as a combat-ready general.

In this era, tactics change so quickly that the combat and command experience Despeyre accumulated in the colonies might not be suitable for the current battlefields.

Later, Shire found that this idea was correct; General Despeyre leaned towards using heroic cavalry charges against the enemy on the battlefield.

Cavalry, at this time, when the Germans were already widely equipped with heavy machine guns and a large number of artillery.

"General," at this moment, a communication soldier stepped forward to report, "a telegram from Paris, the parliament summons you to the House of Representatives before 9 a.m. tomorrow to answer inquiries."

Shire's face darkened.

The army group's command had just switched, creating instability in military morale, and now they were summoning him back to face parliamentary inquiries. Was this appropriate?

But Shire immediately thought this might be related to Xia Fei.

…

Shire guessed right, Xia Fei had sent Kanes to Paris to fight for parliamentary and government approval.

The parliament believed that they shouldn't listen to Xia Fei alone; there needed to be an opposing voice to debate with Kanes.

Gallieni might have been a good choice, but other than the defense of Paris, he hadn't participated in other battles and lacked a deep understanding of modern warfare.

Thus, they decided to summon Shire back from Belgium.

No one understood modern warfare better than Shire, and he could certainly find flaws in Kanes' arguments.

…

This was Shire's second time entering the House of Representatives.

The last time was to replace military uniforms, where many disagreed, hence they were hostile towards Shire.

This time was different; as soon as Shire walked into the House of Representatives, he was met with enthusiastic applause.

The members looked at Shire with respect, admiration, and approval, whether they were in Shire's camp or not, even James was no exception.

"He is a genius military strategist," James said to the person beside him while clapping, "and a respectable and formidable opponent!"

No one else could turn the tide of battle in one day and liberate a third of Belgium; this had to be acknowledged.

Kanes was standing at the podium; he saw Shire walk to the front row and sit down calmly, instantly feeling an immense pressure, his proud head unconsciously lowered a bit.

Most members did not understand war, so it was easy to bamboozle them, but Shire was not among them!

As the applause gradually ceased, Kanes began his speech:

"Gentlemen, many people think the Battle of Verdun was a mistake for which General Xia Fei should be responsible."

"But in reality, there are many things beyond our control."

"For example, the Germans held the initiative in the attack. Had we not deployed forces to Belfort, the Germans might have launched an attack there."

"My point is that it depends on the Germans' decisions and cannot simply be attributed to 'misjudgment'..."

Shire stood up and interrupted Kanes: "General, can you tell us how long the Germans prepared for bombardment before their attack?"

Kanes hesitated, then answered with difficulty: "5, 5 hours, Brigadier General."

Shire continued: "5 hours of bombardment, calculating with over a thousand artillery pieces, would require at least hundreds of thousands of shells, right?"

Kanes nodded, "Y-yes!"

Calculating at five to six shells per minute, a thousand artillery pieces could fire one and a half million shells in five hours. Even considering breaks and malfunctions, hundreds of thousands are easily achievable.

Shire stared at Kanes on the podium, slowing his speech: "So, you still believe that a place where you can fire hundreds of thousands of shells in one go would be a feint? Can be changed at will?"

Kanes was speechless.

The members immediately voiced their agreement:

"That's right, the Germans fired far more than hundreds of thousands of shells, and they are still bombarding us non-stop."

"Their artillery has always had the advantage; this couldn't be achieved with just a day or two of preparation; they must have prepared for at least a month."

"Yet Xia Fei knew nothing about it, even after repeated warnings from Colonel Delion!"

…

At the mention of Colonel Delion, a group of members immediately clamored to criticize Kanes:

"Xia Fei completely ignored the frontline voices, only working out plans in his head."

"He is entirely disconnected from reality and does not heed any suggestions."

"He caused the death of Colonel Delion and many brave French soldiers!"

…

Kanes, sweating profusely, mustered the courage to shout to the audience:

"No, gentlemen."

"That's not the case; it's not General Xia Fei's fault; we had intelligence support from the British."

"Besides, I believe that anyone in the same situation couldn't have done better..."

The audience laughed aloud.

Arman spoke lightly, shouting at Kanes: "General, you seem to have forgotten that Shire is sitting right in front of you?"

The audience burst into laughter again.