I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 41 Maintain Speed

It was just entering the afternoon.

The warm sunlight streamed through the window into the canvas tent. Kluck sat silently on the campaign chair, staring at the coffee in his hand. It clearly emitted an enticing aroma, but to Kluck, it looked like a cup of coagulated, blackened blood, filled with death and pain.

"According to the statistical data from each unit, our army has suffered over sixty thousand casualties!" The staff officer reported the latest intelligence while marking the map:

"The 2nd and 3rd Corps are on our left wing, the 4th Corps is on our right wing, and the position of the 9th Corps is unknown. They should be scattered behind our forces and haven’t been organized yet..."

Kluck, who had been as still as a statue, suddenly raised his head, his voice not loud but unusually cold: "Remove Major General Dimke, and Major General Baldwin will take over. Order him to organize the 9th Corps before nightfall!"

"Yes, sir!" The staff officer responded immediately and had the communications officer convey Kluck’s order.

One of Kluck’s strengths was his extraordinary memory. He knew the main commanders and their specialties and temperaments of each corps and even each division under the First Army as if they were engraved in his mind, allowing him to easily deploy them without checking documents and never making a mistake.

After a moment of silence, Kluck asked again, "Where is the 2nd Army now?"

The staff officer glanced at the map and replied, "Five kilometers behind us. Considering our retreat, they have stopped advancing."

Kluck responded with a calm "Hmm," and said, "Tell them they can resume their advance early tomorrow morning!"

"But General!" The staff officer was a bit anxious, "The Chief of Staff’s order is to continue retreating. There are two enemy armies in front of us, and the British Expeditionary Force has rejoined the counteroffensive sequence..."

Kluck said nothing, merely giving the staff officer a cold glance that frightened him into silence. Finally, the staff officer only responded quietly with a "Yes," and passed the order down again.

Kluck knew he still had a chance.

Although the First Army had suffered over sixty thousand casualties, they still had more than two hundred thousand troops remaining, their strength still intact.

As for the two French armies... they only seemed intimidating due to their numbers.

The tactics of the French Army were always repetitive, to the point that Kluck could guess their next move.

The German Army only needed to hide in the cover, inflict casualties on the enemy’s living forces to break their morale, and then launch a counteroffensive to defeat them and win victory.

As for the Chief of Staff, he was just scared by the enemy’s numbers. Once the First Army defeated the French Army again and achieved victory, he would change his mind.

I will definitely win, Kluck thought, even if the enemy has "iron monsters," my artillery will blast them to pieces!

Kluck stood up, looked out the window at the soldiers resting in the open field. They were the three mixed infantry brigades directly under the army, more than twenty thousand men in total.

They were the most loyal and elite troops of the Empire, well-trained, showing no sign of discouragement even in this adversity.

Watching their orderly demeanor, Kluck confidently made a judgment: "Nothing can stop them from marching into Paris! Nothing!"

However, as if in response to Kluck’s judgment.

Intense gunfire suddenly erupted, and the orderly camp quickly turned chaotic. Several soldiers were struck by bullets and fell to the ground, screaming, right in Kluck’s line of sight.

"What happened?" Kluck shouted loudly.

He recognized the sound of Maxim machine guns, yet the enemy wasn’t equipped with Maxims.

Could it be friendly fire, mistaking them for enemies?

As Kluck was puzzled, a few bullets whizzed through his tent, and a three-wheeled motorcycle sped past Kluck’s astonished gaze, only meters away from him.

Before Kluck could see clearly, the captain of the Guard Battalion lunged in, tackling Kluck to the ground. The next second, machine gun bullets whizzed overhead.

With just one glance, Kluck confirmed it was the enemy.

The German Army didn’t have such motorcycles, and the rider wore the distinctive red pants of the French Soldiers!

But why would the enemy attack here?

Why had the rear-guard regiment not sent any warning?

Had they been annihilated before they could react?

Impossible!

However, the reality was that the enemy was right before him, nearly turning him, the army commander, into a sieve!

...

It was Major Brownie’s third infantry battalion that had stormed into Kluck’s camp.

At dawn, they drove the motorcycles from the factory, picking up two local guides familiar with the terrain while buying supplies in a town.

On the way, they evaded Major General Gad’s main forces and entered the mountain roads.

The motorcycle convoy meandered through the mountain paths, taking several hours to return to the highway.

They hadn’t traveled far on the highway when, rounding a high ground, a vast open space and a massive camp unexpectedly appeared before them.

Unprepared for this, the motorcycles slowed one after another, and the soldiers stared dumbfounded at the densely packed enemy ahead.

The Germans showed no reaction, not anticipating the enemy could penetrate here, naturally mistaking the convoy for their own.

"God, that’s at least twenty thousand men!" Machine gunner Yves, sitting in a sidecar, reported to the just arrived Major Brownie, "What should we do, Major?"

Major Brownie craned his neck to look over the motorcycles at the open space, then responded through gritted teeth, "What else? We have no retreat!"

He turned to look at the following sidecar vehicles and waved his hand, "Enemy ahead, prepare for battle!"

"Enemy ahead, prepare for battle!" frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

...

The command was passed down.

The motorcyclists hunkered down, keeping their heads as low as possible under the armor, while the machine gunners loaded the ammunition belts, pulled the bolts, and gripped the gun handles.

Major Brownie was one of the machine gunners, operating a machine gun in a sidecar.

"Maintain speed!" Major Brownie added, "Rush through as fast as possible, don’t look back!"

The soldiers responded scatteringly:

"Yes, Major!"

Someone asked nervously, "Major, if we rush forward and there are still enemies ahead, what then?"

Major Brownie replied flatly, "Then kill them!"

Before the soldiers could ask more questions, Major Brownie grabbed his machine gun with one hand and swung the other forward, shouting:

"Charge, boys! Kill them all!"

The motorcycles roared off the road onto the open ground, slicing into the left flank of the German camp like a knife...

The Maxim machine gun in the right-sidecar roared even before reaching the camp, a storm of bullets sweeping furiously towards the German camp!

(Note: After Napoleon, France switched to driving on the right side, unlike Britain, hence French-sidecars are on the right.)