I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 780: Paris Cannon

In the end, Shire smoothly obtained 30 million US dollars in R&D funding from the parliament.

Strictly speaking, this was money the government had to spend, because it was related to national security.

Shire was conveying a message to them: I’m out of money, I can’t hold on any longer. National matters can’t all be counted on the Bernard Group, right? The Bernard Group doesn’t have the ability to confront a country, especially when that country is Germany!

So the parliamentarians had only two choices: either fall behind or provide the money.

Providing the money was inevitable, as the parliament controlled by Shire usually wouldn’t have any surprises, and this was more about showing the capitalists and the public why this money was spent.

And this was just the first step. R&D funding could be increased at any time, and besides tanks, there were also planes, warships, cannons, etc., all aspects needing financial investment.

These might not even be enough to cover the cost of buying land, but it doesn’t matter, as long as the Davaz factory is mortgaged to the government to obtain loans.

There’s a saying that goes well, poor people save money, rich people borrow money.

Right now, Shire is the latter.

When the debt to the nation is too much, even the nation wouldn’t allow the Bernard Group to go bankrupt; otherwise, it wouldn’t be able to recover the loan.

And for Shire at this moment, these were just formalities.

Just at this time, the Germans were quite cooperative, providing unexpected assistance for Shire in raising funds and suppressing land prices.

...

As time moved into June, the summer sun in Paris was ample but not scorching.

Although wartime materials were in short supply, the trees along the street were lush and verdant, their leaves swaying freely in the breeze, seemingly unaffected by the ongoing war.

Suddenly, a sharp whistling sound came from the sky, followed by a loud explosion suddenly erupting by the Seine River, instantly producing billowing smoke. Trees were blasted askew, their broken branches and fallen leaves scattered everywhere.

The frightened Parisians screamed and fled in all directions, with several cars crashing into each other. Fortunately, only a few people were injured.

Those who were calm ran to the phone booths first to dial the police station’s number.

...

Shire was in Davaz Town, sitting in the office of the tractor factory, drinking coffee while reading the newspaper.

Dejoka was busy with the mortgage loans beside him.

If it weren’t for Shire’s neat and clean military uniform, he would look like a typical 996 publicly listed company employee at a glance.

The defense line on the east bank of the Meuse River had been handed over to the British Expeditionary Force, which used Metz as their base to attack the German Army’s flank stationed in Alsace and achieved victory amid cheers.

The British newspapers were jubilant, with Haig spending money to publish this victory in French newspapers:

"The British Expeditionary Force has proven their bravery and worth."

"The French Army has never been able to reclaim Alsace, a wish of the French people for 46 years."

"Today, the British Expeditionary Force helped the French people achieve it."

"This is our glory, our honor, and pride!"

...

Everyone knew Haig was secretly telling the French: The British Army is more formidable than the French Army, especially Shire.

But the French had enough confidence, given by Shire.

When they saw these reports, they either scoffed or smiled indifferently.

Even if there was discussion, it was filled with ridicule:

"Look at this guy; he seems to have forgotten that Metz was given to him by Shire."

"Without Shire, he might already be swimming in the sea, and now he tries to outshine Shire."

"He should study a few more years!"

...

When Shire saw Haig’s remarks in the newspaper, he just smiled faintly; it was nothing but Hindenburg’s strategy of "feigning weakness to mislead the enemy."

He intentionally let the British mistakenly believe that the German Army would "strategically retract" on the Western Front and wouldn’t counterattack.

After all, this fits well with Hindenburg’s stance, who has always emphasized "East first, then West," and now being the Chief of General Staff, he would surely retract the Western Front and shift focus to the Eastern Front.

As a result, the British Army marched forward, deploying over 500,000 troops to the east bank, with supplies transported nonstop throughout the night, ready to follow the German Army and advance into Germany in one fell swoop.

Shire could even imagine the conversation between Haig and Kitchener:

"As long as we counterattack into Germany, it’s our victory, as we’ve taken the first step."

"Yes, this way, we can ignore those clowns at home who look down on us, letting them know we can defeat the Germans without Shire!"

...

They never expected that Hindenburg was secretly gathering strength to launch a counteroffensive.

By then, with both armies thinking about attacking, who knows what sparks would fly when they collide.

Shire was growing impatient!

As Shire imagined that scene, the phone rang.

Dejoka answered the phone, listened for a while, and then looked in shock at Shire: "An explosion occurred in Paris, they said it was German bombers."

"Bombers?" Shire was taken aback, a loophole in air defense?

Before Shire could figure it out, there was a rush of footsteps outside, then Major Laurent pushed the door open: "General, General Gallieni wants you to return to Paris, urgent situation."

...

Shire met with Gallieni at the Paris City Hall, his current position being Minister of the Army.

However, Major Fernan was always with him, his most capable assistant.

The office seemed very busy, with calls coming in constantly, and assistants running back and forth with documents. Gallieni was sitting at his desk comparing several photographs.

As soon as he saw Shire entering, Gallieni signaled Shire to come forward with a nod.

"Something strange." Gallieni handed the photos to Shire:

"Major Durra said this might be enemy pilots successfully crossing the border from high altitude to attack Paris."

"We are contacting the front-line troops and the air corps, hoping to find out the loophole in air defense."

"If necessary, you should dispatch an air squadron to shoot them down."

When Shire took the photos, he immediately made a judgment: "No, these are shells."

"Shells?" Gallieni was stunned.

"Yes." Shire pointed to the crater and told Gallieni, "An aviation bomb can’t have such a deep crater, they usually explode on the surface, only shells would be like this."

Major Durra was in intelligence work, and both he and Gallieni’s combat experience was before airplanes became popular, so they didn’t know these things.

Gallieni suddenly realized: "You mentioned before, the Germans possibly have a cannon that can hit Paris?"

The office’s air instantly froze, everyone seemingly paused in their movements at the same time, staring at Shire.

"Yes." Shire nodded.

Gallieni’s face instantly changed.

Major Fernan was too shocked to speak.

The others looked at each other in disbelief, not even realizing when the documents in their hands fell to the ground.