Chapter 227
(The picture below shows the Lutetia Hotel in Paris, which opened in 1903)
In the Lutetia Hotel in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, a fire is roaring in the warm conference room.
Colonel Johnson took out his pocket watch while smoking a cigar and looked at it nervously. The pointer was already pointing to ten o'clock but there was no one there. Was he going to miss the queue again?
Colonel Johnson was the head of the United States Tank Research Laboratory.
Ever since the first tank appeared on the battlefield and won victory, the US military immediately developed a keen interest in this weapon that could reduce casualties. Colonel Johnson, who graduated from Princeton University, was ordered to set up a tank research laboratory.
The military would rather develop its own American tank, but after more than a month of hard work, Colonel Johnson regretfully discovered that they could only build tanks like the CLB75.
Tractor chassis plus steel plates, this is all Colonel Johnson's understanding of tanks.
After it was built, it looked more like an ironclad battleship from the Civil War, except that it was smaller and sailed on land.
What else could it be, Colonel Johnson thought, if it was just to block bullets, then this shape must be right.
Johnson soon discovered that he was wrong and the French had left them far behind.
First came the "Mark I", which had super trench-crossing capabilities and won an unexpected victory on the battlefield.
Next is the "Char A1", which is even more surprising. It is so small that it can only be operated by two people and it also uses a rotating turret.
After much consideration, Colonel Johnson, who had no idea what to do, could only report to General Smith:
"I think part of it is that they're in combat and they know what it takes."
"We are doomed to fall behind if we do not participate in the war, so I suggest buying tanks from France or authorizing their production."
“We can consider innovation only after we have learned their technology, so as not to fall too far behind!”
General Smith agreed, and Colonel Johnson traveled day and night to France.
After arriving here, he found that there were too many countries waiting to buy the "Char A1" tank, including Spain, Switzerland, Romania... Many countries hoped to have this type of tank to strengthen their own army.
The French government representative told Johnson in embarrassment: "We have combat needs, Colonel. Of course, we must give priority to producing tanks for ourselves. The military has placed a large order. You'd better wait for a while."
What Johnson can't tolerate is "waiting", because that would mean falling behind for the United States.
Finally, the French representative was so annoyed that he could only reply: "Unless you can convince Charles."
…
Time passed minute by minute, and Johnson looked at his watch and found that it was already ten minutes past the agreed time.
His mood gradually became depressed, it seemed that all this was not realistic.
Assistant Nathan said: "Maybe they won't come. If it were me, I wouldn't be in a hurry to sell the most advanced equipment."
Johnson nodded. It is wartime now. If tanks like the Char A1 are sold everywhere, it will be easy for the Germans to obtain key data and even technology.
However, as long as there is a one percent chance, Johnson is willing to wait, just to buy a little more time.
At this time, the door of the conference room opened.
A young colonel in military uniform came in with an assistant in civilian clothes. The colonel quickly stepped forward and shook hands with Johnson: "Sorry, Colonel Johnson, I'm late!"
Charles was not late on purpose. It took some time to meet General Winter, and he was talking to him about more important military matters. He couldn't just make another appointment halfway through the conversation.
"It's okay, Colonel...Colonel Charles!" Colonel Johnson was a little flattered. He awkwardly asked Charles to sit down.
"I received a message from the government," Charles said straight to the point, "I heard that you are interested in purchasing the 'Charr A1' tank?"
"Yes!" Johnson nodded quickly.
"But you know." Charles looked embarrassed: "We are in the midst of a war. We have just received an order for 500 tanks from the military. If we want to produce the tanks you need, we may have to wait..."
Charles turned his gaze to Djoka.
Djoka understood and continued, "With our current production capacity, it may take about half a year. This tank is not as simple as other tanks."
Charles turned his gaze back to Johnson: "We will give priority to your production. How many do you need?"
Colonel Johnson's confidence, which had just been reeled in, instantly plummeted to the bottom.
In half a year, with the current speed of tank upgrades and iterations, I'm afraid we will fall behind again by then.
"In fact," Colonel Johnson said hesitantly, "I'm considering another option. Can we cooperate in the form of licensed production?"
As considered before, licensed production carries the risk of leaks, so it is much more difficult than purchasing.
Johnson was just asking with the mentality of giving it a try.
He thought Charles would refuse outright, but unexpectedly, Charles frowned and thought: "Well, this won't add pressure to our production capacity."
Johnson thought there might be a chance, and immediately took out a cooperation plan from his briefcase and handed it to Charles: "Please rest assured that the confidentiality work can be supervised by your intelligence personnel, and we will cover all the expenses. In addition, we are willing to pay a licensing fee of 1 million US dollars, and the property rights fee is calculated separately!"
Djoka's eyes lit up instantly. One million US dollars was a huge sum of money at that time. Calculated at the exchange rate, it was 43 million francs. His wealth instantly doubled.
But Charles pushed back the cooperation plan: "This is not what I need, Colonel Johnson."
Colonel Johnson, who had not yet had time to feel disappointed, heard this and his eyes lit up instantly: "So, what do you need? As long as we can do it!"
"You know." Charles replied calmly: "The Germans occupied the industrial zone in the northeast of France, where 68% of our steel industry is located. Now our country is in great shortage of steel, especially special steel used to produce tanks..."
"No problem!" Colonel Johnson agreed immediately: "We will export special steel to you unconditionally!"
"No!" Charles said, "If I authorize your country to produce tanks, you can directly send the finished tank armor to us, which can speed up our production. You see..."
"Of course!" Johnson nodded hurriedly. This was just a small matter for the United States and he certainly would not refuse.
What he didn't know was that this was a big deal for Ciel.
At this time, the forging of special steel is in Schneider's hands, and this will become his weapon to control Charles.
But now, there is no need to worry about this anymore.
Even in the future, Shire can continue to expand cooperation with the United States in the field of special materials.
(The picture above shows the CLB75 tank developed by the United States. It has not participated in actual combat and is only used for exercises)
(End of this chapter)
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