Chapter 391 Paris Cannon

Gallieni asked dubiously: "Are you sure? A cannon that can hit Paris?"

"No, I'm not sure." Charles shook his head: "I just received the news. As for the source of the news, I'm sorry, I have to keep it secret."

Gallieni nodded in understanding.

Publicizing sources would threaten intelligence personnel and would be tantamount to telling the Germans who the spies were.

Lieutenant Colonel Fernand joined the discussion: "I don't think that's believable, Brigadier. Why didn't they just use airships like they bombed London?"

After last night's events, many people were speculating that the Germans would bomb Paris in the same way.

"It is not feasible for airships to bomb Paris." Charles answered firmly.

"Why?" Lieutenant Colonel Fernand expressed confusion.

Charles walked to the large map hanging on the wall and explained while drawing:

"From both strategic and tactical considerations, it is unlikely that the Germans would use airships to bomb Paris."

"Strategically, the Germans bombed London in order to cooperate with their submarine blockade of Britain and strive to attack from both inside and outside to force Britain to surrender."

"Bombing Paris, why did they do it?"

Gallieni nodded slightly. Paris was on the mainland and had developed transportation. There was no real meaning in bombing Paris.

Charles continued: "In terms of tactics, London is not far from the coastline. The German airships have to cross the English Channel to bomb it. It is an open ocean. Even if the British Royal Navy is there, it will be difficult to detect the airships overhead."

Lieutenant Colonel Fernand understood when he heard this: "Paris is deep inland. If an airship wants to bomb Paris, it must pass through hundreds of kilometers or even thousands of kilometers of land. It can be easily discovered by people and report to us in advance!"

"Yes." Charles continued his analysis: "Once a slow airship is locked in position, it is almost inevitable to be tracked and shot down, unless it can escape back to its own airspace before dawn."

"There seems to be no point in escaping back to your own airspace," Gallieni said.

"Indeed." Ciel agreed.

The French army is equipped with a large number of "Camel" fighter planes, which control the air with an overwhelming advantage. Even if the airship escapes back to the German airspace, it will still be overtaken and destroyed.

Fernand added: "Even if it returns to the base and lands, it may not be safe."

"That's right." Charles nodded.

There is nothing wrong with this. With the "Caproni" bombers around, even the airship base itself has to worry about being bombed.

"So." Gallieni concluded: "They can only develop cannons that can hit Paris."

"Is there really such a cannon?" Fernand still couldn't believe it: "To hit Paris from the German-controlled area, it would have a range of at least more than a hundred kilometers, right?"

This was difficult to imagine during World War I, when the range of artillery was still generally around 10 kilometers.

Gallieni replied calmly: "Think of 'Big Bertha', Lieutenant Colonel, that's what the Germans like to do!"

Lieutenant Colonel Fernand was stunned for a moment, then nodded, which seemed to be a German sign.

After it was confirmed, the headquarters immediately became nervous.

"A cannon that can hit Paris" cannot be compared to an airship. One day the Germans really succeeded in developing it, and they could bomb not only Paris, but also the logistics supply routes behind the Western Front.

If all roads, railways, bridges, etc. within a hundred kilometers behind the defense line are destroyed, the French army will really not know how to defend it.

Then, the French army will be forced to retreat layer by layer until all the land is lost!

(The picture above shows the "Paris Cannon". The barrel of the gun is 36 meters long, more than 10 stories high, and has a maximum range of 131 kilometers. A total of 9 pieces of this gun were produced, one of which was destroyed by French artillery fire, and the other was damaged by gunfire. The bolts burst and became unusable, and in the end only 7 were used to bombard Paris)

This is actually a misunderstanding on their part.

The Germans were indeed able to develop such cannons, but they only had 9 of them. They were high-cost, low-yield, and poor in accuracy. They were not mass-produced equipment and they had no effect. They were more just to scare people.

As soon as the staff heard the word "cannon", they would immediately think of the scene of artillery shells pouring down on the battlefield.

But Charles didn't say anything, because this was what he wanted to see, and only in this way could he sell anxiety.

"Perhaps." Lieutenant Colonel Fernan still held a glimmer of hope: "We can destroy it with bombers. After all, we have air superiority!"

The advantage of having air superiority is that the bombers can bomb wherever they want.

But Charles shook his head and gave a negative answer: "If it were me, knowing that there was no air superiority, I would build a solid cement fortification to protect these cannons."

Lieutenant Colonel Fernand was speechless.

Caproni bombers currently carry dozens of kilograms of small aerial bombs, which cannot pose a threat to solid cement fortifications.

…

Things went as Charles hoped, and soon "cannons capable of hitting Paris" spread from the city defense headquarters.

This was not because the city defense headquarters was lax, but because Gallieni believed that this information was very important and must discuss countermeasures as soon as possible, so he reported it to the top government and military officials as soon as possible.

When more people know about it, the news naturally spreads like wildfire, and people talk about it:

"If the Germans had such artillery, Paris would be in ruins!"

"Isn't there anything Ciel can do?"

"That is a cannon that can hit a hundred kilometers away, and it is said that the Germans will hide it in fortifications. What can Charles do?"

"I also heard that the Germans will use cannons and airships at the same time!"

...

In the midst of panic and doubt, the insurance companies wavered.

They might receive more insurance policies and earn more money because people think their property is in danger.

However, with the precedent of a large number of insurance companies going bankrupt in Dunkirk, they are very clear about their situation.

One day, as long as the Germans fire such a super-range cannon, their companies will soon face high claims.

However, reject these high-risk businesses?

Then it seems that there is no need for insurance companies to continue?

At this time, insurance companies are eager for someone to take over their business. The risk is too great and beyond their tolerance!

Deyoka, who was busy at the tractor factory, also heard the news. He was also surprised at first that there was such a cannon in the world.

However, the Germans did make many large-caliber artillery, and this was also news from the military, which was quite credible.

Wait, the military!

Deyoka suddenly realized that this was the "change" that Charles told him.

In other words, this was probably news that Charles deliberately released.

This news may be true or false, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that it can scare the insurance companies.

So Djokovic knew that it was time to buy at the bottom!