Chapter 270 Internal Problems

Layom considered Grevy's words carefully.

He thought that what Grevi said was right. Before this, Layom had not realized that Charles was his potential opponent. Now he was awakened from his dream.

If he continues like this, it will not be him but Charles who will own Saint-Etienne in the future.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Layom understood what Grevi meant by "cooperation", which was to deal with Charles.

However……

"You can't do anything about Charles." Layom looked at Grevi with doubt in his eyes. "You can't compete with Charles in industry. At the same time, Charles is under the strict protection of the military. You can't do anything!"

Layom wondered if Grevy was worth his cooperation.

If he could only talk, there would be no point in cooperating, and he would be used as a gun to rush to the front to fight with Charles. Maybe even his father and brother!

There was a flash of embarrassment in Grevy's eyes. What Layom said was basically right. Grevy really could not do anything. All he could do was to win over the forces that had potential conflicts with Charles.

Benefit?

There seems to be no benefit to the right wing in doing this, and the right wing is even wasting money on these things.

Purpose?

Grevi's original idea was to use capitalists to defeat capitalists and let them engage in internal friction, and it would be best if he could force Charles to join his own system.

However, Grevy found himself to be too naive.

Charles' inventions came one after another like a surging tide. In just a few months, his assets increased several times. He even developed his business overseas, leaving his assets far behind. Even Schneider was overwhelmed and unable to cope with it.

Force Charles to turn back?

Charles did not feel the pressure from the right wing at all. Instead, it was the right wing that felt the pressure from Charles. Many people on the right wing felt that the agricultural-based society was gone forever, and Charles would lead French industry to a new peak!

But Grevi still refused to give in.

This is not the country and society he wants, and this is not the future of France. Especially when he sits here and sees the gloomy Saint-Etienne, his determination is further strengthened.

"I really can't give you anything, Mr. Layom." Grevy leaned forward across the table and lowered his voice: "But Schneider can."

Layom understood immediately that Grevi was here to connect him with Schneider.

…

In the conference room of the Ritz Hotel in Paris, there is a machine gun with a round magazine mounted on the table.

Steed opened a bottle of champagne and poured it for Charles himself.

Dominic took one, too.

He never drank because it would make him unable to see the crosshairs and shoot. He hated the feeling of holding a gun but not being able to hit the target. Whenever this happened, he felt that his hands, eyes, and even brain were not his own.

But today, at this moment, Dominic thought he could have a drink for the birth of this machine gun.

"It's heavier than the Chauchat." Dominic held the wine glass, his eyes fixed on the machine gun, a smile on his face. "The Chauchat weighs 9 kilograms, and it weighs 9.1 kilograms, but it's still better because it can carry 47 rounds of ammunition, while the Chauchat only has 20!"

Dominic turned his gaze to Charles, his eyes sparkling with admiration and surprise: "We just enlarged the disc by a few centimeters, and it can hold 7 more bullets. It's unimaginable."

This is normal. What expands is the diameter and what increases is the circumference.

The relationship between circumference and diameter is πd, and the number of bullets that can be squeezed in is determined by the circumference.

Steed stepped forward and patted the machine gun, nodding with satisfaction:

"We put it through rigorous shooting tests and of course compared it with the Chauchat machine gun."

"Its failure rate is significantly lower than that of the Chauchat machine gun, and its firepower sustainability is particularly outstanding."

"If we use two spare barrels instead of one, its rate of fire could even rival that of a heavy machine gun!"

…

This is a bit of an exaggeration. In actual combat, it is impossible for a light machine gun to fire continuously like the Maxim with a belt of 250 rounds. Changing the magazine and the barrel is enough to keep the assistant gunner busy for a while.

But this is enough to illustrate the excellence of the rotary machine gun.

Then Steed changed the subject: "The Pitt Arsenal is already producing Chauchat machine guns, should we..."

"We can wait a little longer." Charles interrupted Steed: "Let's put this machine gun into production first."

Steed was stunned: "Why not give it to the military for testing first?"

The production of weapons and equipment mostly involves producing samples for military testing, and then mass production after obtaining military orders.

By doing this, the company's risks will be much smaller, otherwise it may produce a large number of machine guns but no one will buy them.

"Father." Dominic said with a confident smile on his face: "The colonel is right, you don't have to worry about this machine gun not being able to sell. It will be snapped up as soon as it is on the market!"

Then Dominic added: "Including the international market."

Charles nodded secretly. Dominic might not understand business, but he understood guns.

Once Steed was reminded by Dominic, his original concerns disappeared.

He also has great confidence in machine guns, but France's current society cannot win by excellence alone; it also requires decisions to be made by parliament.

Just as Charles' superior tanks always lost in Parliament, Steed was worried that a large number of machine guns would eventually be piled up in warehouses and no one would care about them because of the obstacle of Parliament.

But Dominic's words "including the international market" made Steed suddenly realize.

If France doesn't want it, we will sell it to Britain, Russia and the United States. They are not like France, which does not use good things but uses worse ones. This is the ugliness of capitalists.

Steed seemed to have forgotten that for seven years before the war the St. Etienne machine guns had suppressed the Hotchkiss because of the "capitalist ugliness."

Then, Steed understood Charles' intention. He raised the champagne in his hand and looked at Charles with appreciation: "If we start mass production now, one day when the quantity is large enough, we suddenly put it on the market, which may eliminate all the Chauchat machine guns that are in mass production, which will cause a heavy blow to the Pitot Arsenal."

This is exactly what Charles thought, but he added: "The rifle should be the one that can finally strike the Pito Arsenal."

"Yes," Steed agreed. "We are already developing bullets."

As he said this, he turned his gaze to Dominic.

Dominic nodded and replied: "Maybe there will be a result next week. We are also thinking about the rifle to match it."

Charles hummed, and said in a neutral tone, "Perhaps you should consider the internal issues more."

"Internal problem?" Steed looked at Charles in confusion.

Dominic also looked confused. What went wrong inside?

What did Charles know?

How did he know?

(End of this chapter)