I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 117: The First Flight Squadron

"The "machine gun synchronization gear" was invented by a French pilot named Garros in 1915.

It was originally called the "machine gun deflection system," which initially involved strengthening the propeller with inverted triangular steel plates, coupled with a device linked to the engine shaft to minimize bullets hitting the propeller as much as possible.

If a bullet hit the propeller, it would be deflected by the inverted triangular deflector, effectively blocking the bullet.

Later, the plane he was flying was captured by the German Army, who then improved the system by changing the "engine shaft linkage" to "propeller linkage" for greater precision, thus formally ushering aerial combat into World War I.

From Shire’s capitalist perspective, he might have been better off inventing the primitive "machine gun deflection system" first rather than directly bringing the "machine gun synchronization gear" into this world.

However, when bullets hit the deflector plate in the former, they often bounced back, damaging the engine or even killing the pilot.

In an era where pilots were so scarce, this was hard to accept, so Shire chose the safer latter option.

Back at the headquarters, Shire habitually sat next to Major Fernan to organize intelligence, one of his regular tasks.

But before he could warm his seat, he heard Gallieni order, "Fernan, your team will assist Shire in forming an independent command!"

"Yes, General..." Fernan habitually responded, but the last two words gradually slowed down.

"Assist Shire"? Did I hear that right?

Shire was also stunned. He and Fernan looked at Gallieni in unison, their eyes filled with confusion.

"Didn’t you hear me?" Gallieni emphasized again, expressionless, "Shire needs an independent command!"

"General..." Shire asked, puzzled, "Who am I commanding?"

"The Flying Club!" Gallieni answered without thinking, "If I remember correctly, those pilots are under your command. You know them best!"

"But I’m just a lieutenant..." Shire replied.

"I value ability over rank!" Gallieni interrupted Shire, not raising his eyes, still looking at the documents in his hand.

"I, I have no command experience, General!" Shire answered.

Gallieni finally looked up at Shire, with a hint of sarcasm in his eyes, "No experience? Aren’t you the only one who successfully commanded an aerial battle? Did I remember that wrong?"

Shire then remembered that he had indeed commanded the Belgian flying squadron to shoot down an airship and destroy a "Big Bertha" in Antwerp, which could be considered the only aerial battle of that era.

However, how could this be considered an aerial battle?

Ignoring Shire, Gallieni looked around the operations meeting room and said, "If anyone has any objections, now is the time to speak up!"

The staff officers responded one after another:

"No, no objections, General!"

"Shire has the ability to command!"

"We will follow his orders!"

...

Gallieni raised his eyebrows at Shire, "War doesn’t give us time to prepare, Lieutenant. The First Fighter Squadron has been formed and will rush to Ypres this afternoon for combat, and you are their commander!"

Shire was stunned, not reacting for a long time.

Paris’s First Fighter Squadron, with him as a lieutenant commanding a bunch of lieutenants who had never been to the battlefield.

And his staff included a major, as well as three captains, two lieutenants, a dedicated radio station, and three communicators.

This put immense pressure on Shire, especially since Major Fernan, who had once ordered him, was among his subordinates; he couldn’t mentally adjust for a while.

"Relax, Lieutenant!" Major Fernan seemed to sense Shire’s predicament, he leaned in and whispered to comfort him, "This is very common in the military, I’ve been prepared for this day for a long time!"

Major Fernan’s words were half-true.

It’s true that he was mentally prepared, after all, Shire was so excellent that Major Fernan thought he couldn’t teach Shire anything but had always learned from him. He believed that one day Shire would become his superior, something he would feel honored for!

The false part was "a long time"... Major Fernan didn’t expect this day to come so soon either.

"Yes, Major!" Shire replied, but he still couldn’t get into the state of mind.

While bewildered, a pair of strong hands placed on Shire’s shoulders pushed him to the map spread out on the table.

It was Gallieni, who said to Shire in a deep voice:

"Forget the ranks, staff, pilots, none of that matters."

"Just think about one thing: you are on the battlefield, you have those airplanes in your hands, how can you defeat the enemy."

Shire suddenly realized, the most important thing was always the battlefield. He wasn’t facing Major Fernan or the several staff officers with higher ranks than him, he was facing the enemy.

Shire nodded, gathered his thoughts, and then calmly began to give orders, "I need a place, about 30 kilometers in a straight line from Ypres, with flat terrain and convenient transportation!"

Major Fernan immediately assigned the task, "Jerald, find such a place!"

"Yes, sir!" Jerald looked around the map, and in less than two minutes, he looked up and replied, "Rodenzi Town, 35 kilometers from Ypres, 2 kilometers from the train station!"

"Rodenzi Town!" Major Fernan repeated the name.

"Send a team of engineers!" Shire continued to order, "Find a piece of land nearby to construct a temporary airport and mark the location on the map!"

Major Fernan assigned, "Michael, you are responsible for contacting the engineers!"

Major Fernan was very familiar with these staff members and knew what they were good at.

"I need a batch of Vickers machine guns and ammunition!" Shire continued, "At least 100, with 2,000 rounds per machine gun!"

Major Fernan dominantly pointed to a staff officer and shouted, "Contact the British, hurry up!"

"And ’Congreve’ rockets and gasoline!" Shire’s gaze left the map and paced in the empty office, "Enough fuel for 30 planes for 3 days, 200 rockets and electric detonators, all delivered to..."

Shire’s memory wasn’t very good, to be precise, he hadn’t yet adapted to remembering foreign place names.

"Rodenzi Town!" Major Fernan supplemented the place name and passed on the order, "Our temporary airport!"

"Right!" Shire emphasized, "Secret transportation, don’t let the enemy find out!"

Major Fernan repeated the order while jotting it down in a notebook, "Secret transportation!"

Gallieni watched all this with satisfaction, he knew this kid was a born commander!

At this moment, a communicator guarding the phone reported to Gallieni, "General, the House of Representatives demands you accept an emergency inquiry this afternoon!"

Gallieni frowned and muttered a curse, "Those guys, do they think France has already won? Inquiring at this time!"