CHAPTER 243: AFTER MODIFICATION: CHAPTER 243 STUPID PEOPLE

Bombing results can’t be determined accurately.

This is because bomber pilots only drop bombs and then can only take a distant glance at the bombed scene from the sky, unable to know exactly how many planes were destroyed or how many enemy pilots were killed.

But undoubtedly, France has regained control of the sky over the defense line... The previously fierce German Air Force suddenly vanished, replaced by Shire’s First Flying Squadron’s "Aphro".

People thought that the German Air Force was scared away as soon as Shire’s First Flying Squadron took action.

It indeed seemed so on the surface.

They only knew that during this period, Xia Fei’s Army Aviation was relentlessly attacked by the German Air Force, with almost daily losses of warplanes or airports to the attacks, forcing Xia Fei to relocate and hide the planes.

Xia Fei’s method was to drag the planes out of the airports and cover them with canvases so that the German fighters coming for stealth attacks couldn’t find them and therefore couldn’t destroy them.

Although this approach was safe, it obviously failed to cultivate new talents: both pilots and trainees could only stay on the ground.

Then Shire’s First Flying Squadron appeared, and the German Air Force vanished.

People speculated that Shire’s First Flying Squadron chased away the German Air Force!

The next day, the "Merit Newspaper" published a distantly taken photograph along with an ambiguous report: Shire’s newly developed aircraft made great achievements, carrying 16,000 kilograms of bombs and destroyed two German airports.

Only then did people suddenly realize that battles had already taken place without their knowledge and victory had been achieved.

Public opinion boiled over again, and people spontaneously gathered at the House of Representatives shouting:

"Support integrating Army planes, let Shire command uniformly."

"Spare those poor pilots; their fate under Xia Fei can only be escape or death."

"We should let someone who understands air combat command the planes, not those lifelong army tacticians!"

...

Many Army pilots even exposed the chaos of the Army airfields, expressing their fears to reporters:

"All we do every day is hide; we are not real pilots at all."

"Many of us still don’t know how to fly planes, let alone shoot down enemy aircraft in the air!"

"The planes are wasted under our control; we don’t understand why this situation occurs!"

...

The ball was kicked to Xia Fei.

Headquarters, Xia Fei was standing by the window, staring at the sky in a daze as a few "Aphro" fighters flew past in the snowy sky.

Kanes stood by, not daring to speak.

If Kanes were in such a situation himself, he would have chosen to let go without hesitation.

The current situation was obvious; Xia Fei had lost the airplane battle miserably.

Every decision he made seemed wrong, from the establishment of airports to the purchase of airplanes and the training plans for pilots, all were failures.

They all bore evident Army characteristics and offensive spirit, but air combat was apparently different from land combat.

If he continued not conceding, he would have to wait for the Parliament’s decision to be enforced forcibly; at that point, he would not only lose the planes but also his face.

But Xia Fei was never one to let go easily. He considered for a while, said slowly with a tone full of complaints: "Foolish people, they can’t tell the difference between the two. Shire used bombers to defeat the Germans, not his First Flying Squadron. If we had such bombers, we could win too!"

Kanes couldn’t help but widen his eyes.

Xia Fei’s words seemed true, this kind of bomber could achieve victory in anyone’s hands.

But the key point was that it was the new model developed by Shire, and it was under Shire’s command that they defeated the Germans. The Germans had recently inflicted heavy casualties on the Army planes, forcing them to hide everywhere, and Xia Fei, as the commander, had no solution for this.

Now, Shire did it using this method, yet Xia Fei easily said, "If I had such planes, I could do it too!"

Then he erased all of Shire’s achievements, telling people that Army planes still had value, and he could even do better than Shire...

Kanes couldn’t bear to listen anymore, and his expression turned awkward.

But Xia Fei’s expression remained unchanged; he seemed convinced that he was right: "What we should do is not hand over Army planes to Shire but to buy a batch of bombers to change the current situation!"

"But General!" Kanes said, "How should we explain to the public?"

"That’s a matter for the newspapers." Xia Fei turned his eyes to the map: "As long as we hold a press conference to explain it clearly, then achieve a few victories..."

Kanes suddenly understood, Shire’s bombers could create perfect victories for Xia Fei: previously, boasting victories to the media required presenting some outcomes, but with these bombers, just deploying them would allow Xia Fei to brag to journalists about the Army bombers’ fabulous victories.

Journalists and people couldn’t verify since these victories occurred in enemy-controlled areas.

At this moment, a staff officer reported to Xia Fei with a microphone from several meters away: "General, Committee Member Clemenceau!"

Xia Fei’s expression changed, and he approached without emotion, picking up the phone:

"Yes, Committee Member."

"Alright, I understand!"

"I have no opinion, sir; adhering to the Parliament’s decision!"

After putting down the phone, Xia Fei’s face became extremely unsightly.

He understood what it meant: the social grievances during the war were boiling, and the Christmas truce was actually a "silent protest" from the soldiers against the government, making the government and Parliament, which once promised to end the war soon, feel tremendous pressure. They were unwilling to risk taking on more responsibilities for Xia Fei.

"Those bastards!" Xia Fei murmured furiously: "They only care about their interests, not what’s truly beneficial for France. They will regret their decision!"

"General?" Kanes sensed a change and cautiously approached to ask.

Xia Fei gritted his teeth and ordered: "Hand over all planes and pilots to the Paris City Defense Command!"

"Yes, General!" Kanes responded crisply.

(The above image shows former Prime Minister, now Army Committee Member Clemenceau, most famous for proposing a series of reform measures favorable to workers to win popular support, including the 8-hour workday, but never fulfilled them. Instead, he sent troops to suppress a general strike for the 8-hour workday.)