I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 92 I Was Tricked by Shire Again

Within Antwerp City, hundreds of thousands of citizens witnessed the entire battle.

They initially thought that this time Antwerp was doomed, many even held their children and wept softly, or shivered while contemplating where to hide their children, or whether surrender might save their lives.

However...

Before they could come up with an answer, the monster approaching them in the sky turned into a fireball and disintegrated amidst a series of explosions. novelbuddy.cσ๓

The change happened too suddenly, many people didn’t understand what happened, they just stared blankly at the collapsed monster that had terrified them to the core, the crowd remained silent except for a few gasps.

After a while, someone asked:

"Was it done by our people?"

Someone immediately replied:

"Of course, didn’t you see what our planes fired?"

"Yes, it smoked, I saw it explode! Though I don’t know what it was!"

"When did we have such powerful weapons?"

...

The crowd fell silent, looking at each other, none of them knew what this weapon was.

Suddenly someone suggested a possibility:

"Shire is in the city, he invented the tank and the sidecar, could this weapon also be..."

This enlightened the people, they discussed eagerly:

"That’s right, it must be!"

"Who else could invent such a weapon besides him?"

"God, he saved us once again!"

...

People clapped and cheered, many cried tears of joy, they embraced their children tightly, saying to them over and over:

"We are saved! We are saved!"

"Shire saved us!"

"When you grow up, become someone like Shire, he is a hero and a role model for everyone!"

...

No one knew who started it, people waved their fists and shouted rhythmically:

"Shire!"

"Shire!"

"Shire!"

...

Albert I stood on the lookout tower overlooking the city, he listened to the shouts from below with a nod of satisfaction, then turned to General Gis, his eyes showing the joy of victory: "It looks like the Belgian people also believe in Shire, they are with me, General!"

General Gis awkwardly grunted twice, not knowing how to respond, he knew any rebuttal would be futile, and would turn into shameless slander, at least for now.

Contrary to the high morale of the Belgian soldiers and civilians, the German soldiers were bewildered by the sudden "disaster".

The airship flew in from the east, passing over the German positions, it was shot down right above the German troops, the soldiers saw every detail clearly, including the few "shells" fired by the planes.

Flames scattered from the sky like rain, some burned out in mid-air, disappearing completely before hitting the ground, while others crashed down with a clang, some even falling into the soldiers’ trenches, causing them to scatter in avoidance.

The German soldiers didn’t even think of rushing forward to rescue.

They knew it was futile, the upper part of the airship had been blown to bits, and only some remnants remained of the lower part.

But everything visible was engulfed in flames, even the aluminum skeleton was on fire, emitting sparks and smoke, burning like a volcano, the battlefield nearly turned into purgatory.

After a while, a German soldier nervously discussed:

"Did I see it wrong? Was it a shell? Did a shell destroy it?"

"Yes, what else but artillery could it be?"

"How did they get the artillery onto the plane?"

"You... should ask Shire!"

...

Thus, everyone knew this was Shire’s handiwork, the name "Shire" was deeply imprinted in their hearts like a red-hot iron, unforgettable and haunting like a nightmare.

Bessler silently watched all this, gradually slumping against a nearby rock, seemingly too weak to support his body anymore.

Suddenly, he remembered "Big Bertha", as long as there was "Big Bertha", there was still hope for victory!

Thinking this, Bessler sprang up and looked towards "Big Bertha", then immediately shouted: "Protect ’Big Bertha’, planes, enemy planes..."

Bessler reacted quickly, remaining rational and thinking of a possibility: if the enemy planes could destroy the airship with artillery, couldn’t they also destroy "Big Bertha"?

Thus, when he saw two biplanes heading towards "Big Bertha", he immediately realized the battle was not over.

Perhaps "Big Bertha" was Shire’s real target!

Damn it, I’ve been tricked by Shire again!

Bessler felt deeply frustrated, destroying the airship was merely a distraction, including distracting me!

However, not everyone had such quick reactions. The others stared blankly at the sky, some looking at Bessler, not understanding what he meant by his shouts.

Protect? How to protect?

Why would the planes bomb "Big Bertha"?

Aren’t they used to bomb the airship?

...

A few German pilots reacted promptly.

Just as the two biplanes split into two directions to dive towards "Big Bertha" with their noses pointed at the target, a "Dove" suddenly crossed their path and collided with one of the biplanes.

The more fragile "Dove" was instantly shattered into pieces, although the biplane was sturdier, its wing was still half broken, losing balance and rolling towards the ground, disintegrating with a series of cracking noises, soon bursting into flames.

Bessler shouted joyfully: "There’s one more, there’s one more!"

But in fact, he wasn’t the one commanding, the battlefield was entirely dependent on the self-awareness and initiative of the German pilots, this era had no ground units capable of commanding planes in the air, especially in such critical moments.

Another German "Dove" tailed the remaining biplane.

It was piloted by Eric, he knew he was in danger, but he couldn’t avoid it.

This was a temptation, with Eric’s flying skills, he could easily shake off the enemy, but he couldn’t do it.

Because once he avoided, he might lose his only chance to destroy the target.

Thinking this, Eric could only grit his teeth and choose to ignore the "Dove" pursuing him and maintain his flight path.

Continuing like this was impossible to succeed.

The speed of the "Aphro" biplane was indeed faster than the "Dove", but that was without rockets; once rockets were installed, not only did the weight increase but the aerodynamic layout was affected, the "Dove" could easily catch up and crash it.

Eric didn’t even have the opportunity to launch the rockets!

He complained: "This is why the little guy wanted me to believe in the Belgians, he considered everything! But, can I trust the Belgians..."

Before he finished speaking, Eric felt a shadow pass over his head, followed by a crisp sound behind him... a Belgian pilot sacrificed himself to knock down the enemy, giving Eric a chance to launch.

Eric didn’t look back, his eyes fixed on the target, the distance gradually closing, then he sharply pressed the detonation switch!

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

"Whoosh whoosh!"

...

Rockets flew towards the target one after another.

(The above picture is of the "Dove" monoplane, low-cost and simple-structured. Its most prominent feature is the large area of wing and fuselage covered in linen, allowing sunlight to penetrate it, making it semi-transparent, difficult for ground infantry to spot. It was widely used for reconnaissance during WWI.)