I Became a Tycoon During World War I - Chapter 246

Chapter 246: So, What Kind of Airplane Was That?

At the German-controlled district of Schömelsen Airport, the sky had gradually brightened by seven in the morning.

Major Immelmann woke up on time, quickly freshened up, and then went for a jog dressed in his thin military uniform.

This had been Major Immelmann’s long-held habit. He believed that as a competent pilot, one must have a strong body; otherwise, the harsh winds and low temperatures of the aircraft would be unbearable.

Jogging along the airport road that had just been cleared of snow, he could hear the shouts of new trainees and the commands of their instructors on either side.

The trainees at Schömelsen Airport were different from the pilots organized by the French Lafayette squadron. All the trainees here had basic flight training, and including the 100-plus formal pilots on active duty, there were a total of 358 pilots, without exception.

They only needed to undergo simple training and adapt to new aircraft models before they could quickly become qualified pilots.

This was also the main reason Major Immelmann had been able to achieve a decisive victory over France’s 29 planes with his 13 aircraft yesterday.

However, that was because the opponent had been the Lafayette squadron, Major Immelmann thought. If they had encountered pilots from Charles' unit, it would have been a different story.

What puzzled Major Immelmann was that he had heard Charles had no knowledge of flying at all.

How could someone who didn’t know how to fly an airplane possibly build an elite air force?

How could he grasp the training curriculum and direct the training?

How could he command aircraft in combat?

But Charles had somehow achieved all of this, and done it well.

And Major Immelmann, on the other hand, had to combine his flying experience with repeated discussions with his subordinates and rehearse the tactics they had simulated before applying them on the battlefield.

Perhaps this was the difference between talent and hard work!

Charles had the talent, and Major Immelmann had hard work. Lacking talent, he could only catch up to Charles by dedicating more time and energy.

What Major Immelmann didn’t know was that he himself was the one with the talent, while his opponent, Charles, lacked talent—what he had was merely knowledge.

More than half an hour later, Major Immelmann returned to his dormitory.

The orderly stood at the door to greet him. He handed Major Immelmann a towel, and inside the dormitory, there was hot milk and freshly baked bread waiting for him.

Perhaps due to his sixth sense, Major Immelmann turned to glance at the sky before entering. It was with that glance that he saw several suspicious small black dots appear in the sky.

His heart tightened. Having long been engaged in reconnaissance missions, he instantly recognized that the aircraft were of a type he had never seen before, even though he couldn’t make out the details yet.

(Note: Before becoming a fighter pilot, Major Immelmann had been a reconnaissance aircraft pilot. He had once flown over Paris and dropped leaflets from his plane.)

"Binoculars!" Major Immelmann ordered the orderly in a low voice.

The orderly understood, immediately running back into the dormitory and quickly returning with a pair of binoculars, which he handed to Major Immelmann.

Major Immelmann raised the binoculars and swiftly adjusted the focus to the furthest setting. Ten large aircraft appeared within his sight.

Major Immelmann furrowed his brow. They looked like transport aircraft, but they couldn’t possibly be. Germany didn’t have that kind of aircraft, and the French wouldn’t deliver supplies to Germany.

He put away the binoculars, thought for a moment, and then picked them up again to observe more closely.

This time, he was focusing on the bottom of the "transport" aircraft. He had thought he saw something there earlier.

As the target got closer, Major Immelmann finally saw clearly. It was a series of black bombs, densely arranged beneath the fuselage.

Major Immelmann’s eyes widened. My God, they had attached bombs to the bottom of the aircraft for dropping. These weren’t "transport" planes—they were bombers!

"Get out of the building!" Major Immelmann shouted, tossing the binoculars to the orderly.

He then turned and ran toward the hangar, shouting as he ran, "Take off, take off immediately! Evacuate the planes, the enemy's bombs..."

But Major Immelmann was only a squadron leader, and he could not give orders to others.

In fact, the others couldn’t understand Major Immelmann’s warning, even though some had already seen the "transport" planes flying toward them under his instructions.

At this time, no one had experienced large-scale bombing by professional bombers, and they didn’t understand the danger. Naturally, they didn’t know how to avoid it.

They even looked at the incoming aircraft curiously, pointing and guessing what they were.

Major Immelmann hesitated for a moment, then dashed into a nearby telephone booth. He hoped to contact Colonel Klaus and order him to give commands…

But it was too late.

Major Immelmann could only watch as the aircraft lowered their altitude and flew over the airport, dropping bomb after bomb.

"Boom!"

"Boom boom!"

...

The explosions rang out. The once peaceful airport was instantly filled with fire and smoke. A few planes that were just about to take off were destroyed on the runway. The trainees, lacking combat experience, panicked and ran in all directions, blown away by the blasts.

Major Immelmann noticed that most of the bombs had actually fallen on the flight school area. He suddenly realized that the main target of the enemy wasn’t the planes, but the pilots.

"Boom!"

At this moment, there was a huge explosion from the direction of the fuel depot. Flames shot up hundreds of meters into the air, and the shockwave shattered the glass of the telephone booth.

Major Immelmann quickly dove to the ground, avoiding the blast.

When he raised his head again, he found that the airport was in ruins, filled with flames, corpses, and wreckage of aircraft.

The trainees were very brave. They immediately grabbed shovels and joined the firefighting team.

Major Immelmann shouted at them, "Get away from there, don’t worry about it!"

But no one listened to him. The trainees, even the pilots, charged forward in groups, not wanting the fire to reach the hangars, where over a hundred planes were neatly parked.

"Boom!"

Another series of explosions. The hangar exploded in a chain reaction, and the flames instantly engulfed the pilots and trainees rushing to put out the fire.

...

The bombing situation was reported to the city defense command only after the bombers returned to the airport. By that time, more than an hour had passed.

Eric excitedly told Charles on the phone:

"The bombing was very successful, Colonel!"

"Both targets were hit. Our bombs destroyed the enemy, at least a hundred planes."

"Some of their planes tried to catch up with us, but it was completely useless."

"Our bombers left them far behind. We even shot down two enemy fighters!"

...

"Shooting down enemy fighters" was possible, as the Caproni bombers were equipped with a rear-facing machine gun. If the speed hadn’t yet reached its maximum, or if the bomber intentionally slowed down to let an unaware enemy plane catch up, it could surprise the enemy with a burst of gunfire and bring them down.

Of course, the enemy didn’t know that these large bombers were equipped with machine guns, especially rear-facing ones.

After this, German pilots would learn to approach the Caproni bombers from below, where the bomber’s rear-facing machine gun couldn’t shoot at them due to the angle.

A cheer erupted in the command room. Colonel Fernand tightly embraced Charles’ shoulder, saying, "You kept us in the dark, you bastard!"

Although the words were harsh, his expression showed no anger. It was well known that the command room’s secrecy was problematic, and it was reasonable for Charles to keep them in the dark.

Gallieni nodded lightly and asked, "So, what kind of airplane was that?"

"A bomber designed specifically for dropping bombs," Charles answered calmly. "Each can carry 19 bombs, each weighing about 40 kilograms, for a total of 760 kilograms!"

As he spoke, Charles raised his chin slightly, meaning, "If you don’t place your orders soon, it’s likely to be snatched up by others!"

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