I Became a Tycoon During World War I - Chapter 144

Chapter 144: The Most Powerful War Machine

“They can help us block any attack!” Joffre excitedly pointed at the armor of the CA-1 tank and introduced, “It uses riveted steel plates on both the front and sides, with a thickness of 11mm. Do you know why it's 11mm?”

Joffre waved his hand at the journalists, thinking that interacting with them would liven up the atmosphere.

A journalist raised his hand. Joffre recognized him as Kobdo, a military writer from The Morning News.

Joffre gestured for him to answer.

Kobdo stood up and pushed his glasses up: “I think it's because the German Mauser rifles can only penetrate 10mm steel plates, General!”

Joffre nodded in satisfaction: “Yes, the enemy's bullets can only penetrate 10mm, and so we set the armor thickness at 11mm—one millimeter more, one millimeter less. Do you think the Germans will panic because of that?”

Laughter broke out in the meeting room. Someone chimed in, “I think they'll be so mad they'll shoot themselves, General!”

This remark triggered another round of chuckles.

Joffre spread his hands innocently, putting on a look of sincerity: “I apologize, but I really hope that happens!”

The laughter grew louder.

...

Christine’s eyes were filled with fear as he commanded the infantry to continue advancing slowly around the tank.

The tanks fired shells occasionally in the direction of the enemy, but Christine thought it was useless. He noticed that the shells sometimes exploded several kilometers off target, while at other times, they nearly hit their own soldiers.

If Christine had known the situation inside the tank, he might have collapsed: each time a shell was fired, toxic gases would instantly fill the tank’s compartment, and since there was no way to vent it out, this not only suffocated the tank crew, but more frighteningly, blurred their vision, making it impossible for the drivers to see the infantrymen lying on the ground, dodging shells...

The soldiers' screams echoed continuously, some with their legs crushed by the tank tracks, swearing wildly, but the tanks continued to march along their routes, oblivious, seeing nothing and hearing nothing, crashing through the battlefield by pure chance.

“Follow the tanks!” Colonel Christine ordered loudly.

The officers immediately began relaying his orders.

At least the tanks could block bullets, Christine thought. Following them might be safer.

However, what devastated Christine was that not long after, he heard a sharp “clank” sound nearby, and several CA-1 tanks suddenly stopped moving.

It was rifles! Christine immediately realized—the enemy had used rifles to penetrate the CA-1 tanks from the front!

What happened?! In the next moment, Christine figured it out. The Germans must have improved their ammunition to increase its penetration power.

Just as he had thought earlier, the Germans were no fools—they would also figure out how to deal with tanks!

Christine stood frozen for a moment, then he thought of the "Saint-Chamond." Its armor thickness reached 17mm, so it should be brought in.

But when he turned around, he saw the massive figures of the "Saint-Chamonds" standing still, watching the battle from the rear! “Cowards!” Christine cursed, thinking that the tank drivers of the "Saint-Chamonds" had become afraid of battle.

...

“This is just our vanguard!” Joffre raised his hand to signal his assistant to change the slide, and instantly, a colossal figure appeared on the wall.

The journalists gasped in awe and admiration.

“Now!” Joffre's voice gradually became more excited. “Let me formally introduce to you, the ‘Saint-Chamond’ tank, developed by the Schneider company, France’s most powerful weapon!”

Joffre cast a proud glance at the reporters below and continued proudly, “Its front armor is 12mm thick, while its side armor is a solid 17mm. So far, no bullet has been able to penetrate it!”

“It uses the most advanced electric drive engine—it's a one-of-a-kind war machine. Perhaps we should even call it a work of art!”

The reporters chattered and nodded in approval. Some even looked at the steel beast on the wall with admiration, imagining its magnificent appearance sweeping across the battlefield.

Joffre seemed to understand the reporters' thoughts. He smiled, puffed out his chest, and confidently said, “Rest assured, gentlemen, they are currently charging toward the enemy’s positions in coordination with our brave soldiers. Let’s wait and witness the miracle together!”

A round of applause filled the hall, and some journalists cheered:

“For France!”

“Vive la France!”

Others followed suit, shouting “Vive la,” and the atmosphere reached a fever pitch.

At that moment, Carnes entered the room, pale-faced and awkward. He whispered something into Joffre’s ear. Joffre looked at him in shock, his eyes full of disbelief, seemingly waiting for Carnes to offer another explanation.

However, Carnes helplessly shook his head, indicating that he was not joking—this was the final result.

Joffre stood stunned for a moment. After realizing what had happened, he quickly turned to the reporters: “Sorry, gentlemen! I need to continue commanding the battle. This press conference is over. Please return and wait for news of our victory!”

With that, he turned and left with Carnes without looking back.

The reporters behind them murmured:

“Didn’t they say we were supposed to wait for victory here? Why are they suddenly sending us back?”

“Is it over already? What’s the status of the battlefield?”

“How many enemy defenses have we broken through?”

...

Suddenly, a voice emerged: “Could it be that the battlefield situation has changed? Did we fail to win this battle?”

The room fell silent in an instant.

Although the reporters couldn’t believe that such a powerful tank could lose, this seemed to be the only logical guess.

Otherwise, they should have already moved on to interviewing the triumphant soldiers returning from the battlefield!

A reporter from Le Figaro gave his assistant a look, and the assistant nodded, standing up and leaving the hall.

...

The news soon reached Grevy’s villa. He uttered a quiet “hmm” and hung up the phone, slowly sitting back on the sofa to light a cigar.

Though it was expected, he still couldn’t understand why Charles had been able to predict with such accuracy that this battle would be lost.

Was it the artillery problem? Or some other reason? Grevy wasn’t interested in these details. All he knew was that, if this continued, Charles and his tanks would eventually achieve victory.

That was Charles’ plan!

...

Gallieni had been closely following the situation in Lafox. He received the intelligence a few minutes later than Grevy.

The reason was that Joffre had tried to block the information and conceal the military situation, but Gallieni had already made arrangements, so the intel still reached the City Defense Headquarters.

Gallieni’s face was serious as he hung up the phone and immediately gave the order: “Call Charles back! Now!”

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