I Became a Tycoon During World War I - Chapter 97

Chapter 97: The Guessed Plan

Apologies, there will only be two updates tonight. An old university friend, who was a former roommate and whom I haven’t seen in years, made a long trip to visit. I turned him away last time, and this time, I simply couldn’t refuse.

Tomorrow, updates will return to three chapters!

...

The battlefield fell into a lull after "Big Bertha" was destroyed.

This time, the "lull" was a true calm. German morale had plummeted to its lowest point due to the destruction of both the "zeppelin" and "Big Bertha."

Even setting morale aside, the Germans no longer had the equipment to bombard fortresses from outside their enemy's range.

This turned Antwerp into a hedgehog bristling with spines—small and fragile, yet leaving the German war machine with no means to act.

More significantly, a "rumor" spread like wildfire among German troops: Charles had mounted artillery onto aircraft.

Perhaps this was not merely a "rumor" but a "fact." After all, every German soldier had seen it with their own eyes: planes firing a few shells to destroy the zeppelin and "Big Bertha." They had all heard the explosions and witnessed the flames.

It was purely coincidental that the Congreve rockets, long retired and forgotten for fifty years, were now being used again. Since the German soldiers, mostly in their twenties or thirties, had no knowledge of these rockets, they naturally let their imaginations run wild:

"If they can mount artillery onto aircraft, they can surely attack us from the skies!"

"Of course! We’re far more vulnerable than the zeppelin or 'Big Bertha!'"

"Did you see what happened when 'Big Bertha' was destroyed? My God, its 420mm barrel was completely blown apart!"

...

If a 420mm barrel could be destroyed, wouldn’t human flesh and blood be torn apart just as easily? Aircraft in the skies, swift and unyielding, were untouchable by German forces. Yet aircraft equipped with artillery could bomb them at will!

It’s human nature to fear the unknown, and the more one dwells on it, the greater the fear grows.

The Germans were no exception. This fear paralyzed their courage, making no one dare launch an attack on Antwerp, for fear of becoming a "prominent target" for aerial bombardment.

What frustrated General von Beseler even more was the emergence of desertions among his well-trained troops!

...

General Gillis returned alone to the headquarters, sitting in his operations office. Though he could hear the cheers of his subordinates outside, his mood grew increasingly heavy.

Images flashed through his mind—not of the destroyed zeppelin or "Big Bertha," nor of the brave Belgian aircraft, but of King Albert I's disdainful, scornful, and even disgusted gaze.

General Gillis knew he had been utterly abandoned by King Albert I.

Although King Albert I held no real power, his reputation and image among the public gave him considerable influence.

It was through this influence that King Albert I persuaded parliament to make one decision after another.

In truth, King Albert I did not persuade parliament directly; rather, he delivered speeches in public, swaying the Belgian people. Parliament, under pressure from public opinion, had no choice but to comply.

Thus, General Gillis believed he would not remain in his current position for much longer. He considered resigning, thinking it would provide a dignified exit. However, the thought of decades of effort and toil ending in such failure left him unwilling to let go.

At that moment, there was a soft knock on the door. Before General Gillis could respond, Deblaume entered uninvited. Removing his hat, he gave a slight bow before closing the door behind him.

Under General Gillis’s puzzled gaze, Deblaume calmly walked to the chair opposite him, pulled it out, and asked, "May we talk?"

"Of course!" General Gillis nodded.

Deblaume was the leader of the influential Labor Party in Belgium, which gave him the authority to have such a conversation with General Gillis.

(Note: The "Labor Party" is a fictitious name. Some of Belgium’s oldest political parties still exist today, and using their real names could be problematic.)

Deblaume expressed his gratitude before sitting down in front of General Gillis. "General, are you aware that Antwerp is teetering on the edge of crisis?"

"On the edge of crisis?" General Gillis was confused. He wondered if he had misheard. Hadn’t the crisis just been averted?

Yet Deblaume firmly nodded. "General, what do you think will happen next? Will the Germans give up so easily?"

General Gillis thought for a moment and shook his head slightly. "No, they won’t. Antwerp is behind their supply lines. The King will continue sending people to launch raids. The Germans must eliminate this thorn!"

Deblaume hummed in agreement. "If the Germans had only three 'Big Berthas,' I’d agree the crisis has been resolved. But the reality is different. The Germans have ten, perhaps even more. In other words..."

Perhaps driven by a soldier's instinct, General Gillis immediately gave a direct answer: "As long as they dare come, we’ll dare destroy them!"

"Will you?" Deblaume countered, fixing his gaze on General Gillis without speaking further.

Sometimes, silence speaks volumes. General Gillis quickly realized this was an impossibility.

Charles had used Congreve rockets, whose destructive power was insufficient to destroy "Big Bertha." Their success had only been due to igniting "Big Bertha’s" powder charges, which likely hadn’t yet been loaded into its barrel.

What’s more, if another "Big Bertha" appeared outside the fortress, the Germans would be on high alert. At that point, it would be nearly impossible for aircraft to approach.

After some consideration, General Gillis asked, "What exactly are you trying to tell me?"

Deblaume responded softly, "Think about your friend’s suggestion, General."

"Friend?" General Gillis frowned and immediately thought of von Beseler.

Von Beseler’s suggestion was in his letter—hand over Charles!

The realization nearly made General Gillis jump out of his chair.

Previously, handing over Charles could be justified as saving Antwerp. Now, if he still entertained such thoughts, it would be outright treason!

But in the next moment, he understood Deblaume’s point.

If things continued as they were, Antwerp would inevitably fall. Only by handing over Charles could this tragedy be prevented.

"But..." General Gillis hesitated. "The King wouldn’t agree, nor would the Belgian people. They’d see us as traitors and send us to the gallows..."

"Then don’t let them find out!" Deblaume passed a cigar to General Gillis. "Look, the Germans sent spies into Antwerp to negotiate with him. Unable to resist the lure of gold, he fled Antwerp overnight to join the Germans..."

Deblaume didn’t need to spell it out. General Gillis knew exactly who "he" referred to.

After some thought, General Gillis nodded thoughtfully. "It seems like a sound plan."

With General Gillis’s authority, achieving this would be relatively easy. All it required was a bit of cooperation from the Germans—not exposing the lie.

And General Gillis happened to have a connection in General von Beseler.

Deblaume reminded him, "If you think it’s feasible, you need to act quickly. Otherwise..."

General Gillis grew tense. As long as Charles remained in Antwerp, Belgium retained leverage in negotiations with the Germans. Once Charles left, Antwerp’s destruction would be inevitable.

What General Gillis didn’t realize was that if he reviewed their conversation word for word, he would find that Deblaume never mentioned "Charles" or any specific plan.

Everything... was entirely General Gillis’s own speculation!

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