I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 75 Who is Shire?

In the evening, Antwerp was originally dark, but it became brighter because of the twilight shining through the clouds.

Twenty-five kilometers east of the fortress, in a basin formed by hills, the German First Army Group Third Reserve Corps Commander Von Bessler stood on high ground, quietly looking ahead through a telescope.

"Boom!" A loud noise.

In a storm-like cloud of smoke, the entire ground shook, as if there was an earthquake.

When the shell left the barrel, it almost sucked the air off the ground, causing a gust of wind. Everyone instinctively bent down and covered their ears.

That was the roar of the 420MM heavy artillery "Big Bertha." Its range could reach 14 kilometers, with a shell weighing 1000 kilograms, requiring 200 people to operate, and it could only fire two shells per hour.

General Bessler did not move. He stood steadily like a sculpture, holding the telescope in the fluctuating air. A minute later, a radiation-like plume of smoke suddenly rose in the gray-black air in the distance, and a light shone through it. The shell had exploded.

General Bessler frowned and shouted angrily at the staff beside him, "Tell Frex he wasted another shell. This time it missed by at least a kilometer!"

"Yes, General!" The staff responded and went to pass the order.

"These bastards!" General Bessler turned around, walked a few steps to the ammunition box, and complained as he stared at the map pressed with a bayonet, "As an artilleryman, shouldn’t they be ashamed of such waste? We should have been standing on the city wall of Antwerp accepting Gis’s surrender a long time ago!"

General Bessler and General Gis were old acquaintances. Before the war, Germany and Belgium maintained good relations. Most of Belgium’s weapons and equipment were purchased from Germany, including the Belgian Army’s rifles and the fort’s cannons.

This was a kind of irony; Belgium was using German weapons to fight against Germany.

Bessler and Gis had the kind of relationship where they would have a drink and play chess after discussing business. They were not close friends but were considered friends.

But now they had to meet on the battlefield. Bessler didn’t know whether he should hope to see him soon or never meet again.

"General!" At this moment, a staff officer came forward to report, "We heard Shire is in Antwerp!"

Bessler responded with a "hmm," still staring at the target on the map—Wavre Castle. In his mind, he thought, as long as this fortress was destroyed, the water supply system to Antwerp could be cut off, and then Antwerp would lose its fresh water source.

"General!" The staff officer reminded again, "Shire might be in Antwerp!"

Interrupted, Bessler angrily looked up, "Does it matter who is in Antwerp? Are you going to read the name of everyone in Antwerp in front of me..."

Before he could finish, Bessler suddenly realized something, "Who did you say is there? Shire?"

"Yes, General!"

"Shire of France? The guy who invented the tank and sidecar?" Bessler asked again.

At this time, the terms "tank" and "sidecar" had spread throughout the German army, and Bessler had also heard about Shire.

"Yes, General!" The staff officer nodded.

Bessler squinted his eyes, "Are you sure? Where did the information come from?"

The staff officer became cautious; he knew that squinting was Bessler’s habit, reserved for important matters where no mistakes could be made.

"I’m not sure, General!" The staff officer was a little nervous, "We got the news from a Belgian merchant who had just returned from France. He heard something about Shire flying into Antwerp this morning!"

Bessler was stunned for a moment and then immediately issued a series of orders:

"Send someone to verify if there were any planes entering Antwerp this morning. If so, I want to know the model!"

The model was important; it could indicate whether it was a single-seater or a two-seater. If it was a single-seater, the news was false because that little guy Shire was unlikely to fly a plane.

"Deploy a division... no, immediately deploy two divisions here; we might need to completely surround Antwerp!"

He couldn’t wait until the information was verified to move the troops. What if it was true?

"Additionally, deploy ten more planes; we need to surround Antwerp from the air!"

The staff officer noted down the orders in a small notebook and asked doubtfully, "But General, even with the planes, we can’t stop the enemy’s planes..."

"Crash them if you have to!" Bessler roared, "Go now, do as I said!"

"Yes, General!" The staff officer ran off as if escaping to give the orders.

"These guys!" Bessler cursed, "They never understand how important this is!"

Then he turned his gaze toward Antwerp and murmured, "Is that guy really there? Who brought him here? These idiots!"

After considering for a while, Bessler still felt uneasy and turned his head to shout, "Luca!"

A guard responded and came over, carrying a rifle on his shoulder.

"You are in charge of delivering a letter!" Bessler gestured in the direction of Antwerp, "Send it to the Belgians and have them give it to General Gis!"

"Yes, General!"

...

In the Antwerp Operations Office, the red lights illuminated the room like daylight. General Gis was discussing troop deployment with General Winter in front of a map.

General Winter said thoughtfully, "I think deploying the troops to the front line overnight is a good choice. We can dig a trench before the enemy discovers us. Otherwise, we might be bombarded while digging the trench!"

General Gis agreed, "What we most need to strengthen is the defense of Wavre Fortress. Once it’s breached, the Germans will enter the Vandyke area through the gap. That area contains our fresh water supply system, and the entire city will lose its fresh water supply if that happens!"

General Winter’s expression became serious; he knew what it meant for a coastal city to lose its fresh water supply.

"Don’t worry, General!" General Winter said, "We will organize the defense there. Even if Wavre Fortress is breached, the Germans will face our steel defense line!"

General Winter had great confidence in his troops. The British troops were equipped with Enfield Rifles, the fastest-firing rifle, even more useful than the French machine guns. With them guarding the trenches, the Germans couldn’t possibly break through their defense line.

While the two were further discussing the trench layout, a staff officer knocked on the door and came in, handing General Gis a letter, "General, this is from the Germans. They said it’s a letter from General Bessler to you!"

General Gis glanced at the envelope and recognized Bessler’s handwriting.

"It’s definitely a surrender request!" General Gis smiled, casually breaking the wax seal and pulling out the letter. After reading it for a while, he asked puzzledly, "Who is Shire? They say that as long as we hand Shire over to them, they will guarantee not to attack Antwerp any further, now or in the future!"

"Shire?" General Winter was confused, "Is he here?"