Chapter 232 Christmas is coming
Of course, problematic designs should be left to opponents.
Steed's approach was simple.
There are usually such designers in the factory. They rely on the fact that they know many secrets of the St. Etienne Arsenal and think that Steed dare not fire them. Steed does have such concerns and often turns a blind eye to their violations and laziness, but in return they become more and more rampant.
Now, Steed thought he could take this opportunity to clean them up.
Of course, before firing them, Steed would first sign something like a "confidentiality agreement" with them, and write down in detail how much compensation would be paid if the information was leaked, so that these designers would firmly believe that the information they had was useful.
There was no doubt that the design drawings of the Chauchat machine gun would eventually fall into the hands of the Puteaux Arsenal.
But that's exactly what Steed wanted.
Steed could even imagine how the Pito Arsenal would feel when they saw the design drawings of this machine gun.
They have neither design experience nor relevant talent. Perhaps they are collecting machine guns from all over the world, taking them apart to learn from them, and then trying to find a way to build a machine gun of their own.
Suddenly, a mature machine gun design is presented before them. They will certainly be overjoyed. They will rush to register the industrial property rights and then purchase machines for mass production as quickly as possible, because only in this way can they get ahead of the Saint-Etienne Arsenal.
Unfortunately, they didn't know that Saint-Etienne was not on the same level as them. Their machine guns were produced with only one purpose, which was to be ruthlessly trampled under Saint-Etienne's feet and become the foil of the victor.
Steed was quite satisfied with the scene, and he was more determined in his thoughts: supporting Charles was the right choice, and no one could defeat Charles, whether on the battlefield or in equipment design, because he was the one who understood war best and had talent in this area.
Before leaving, Charles gave Steed another suggestion: "It's time to develop a new bullet, Steed. Only in this way can you regain the rifle market!"
Steed woke up as if from a dream.
Charles was right, everything was because of bullets: Lebel's tubular magazine was because of bullets, Berthier's capacity of only three rounds was because of bullets, and the Chauchat machine gun was designed with a sickle-shaped magazine because of bullets.
All of the design flaws are caused by the bullet taper being too large, so why not address the root of the problem?
Steed held Charles' hand tightly and said excitedly, "Thank you very much, Colonel! I know what to do now."
He did know how to do it. It was simple. He just had to copy the bullets of the German Mauser rifles. What could the Mauser company do during the war? Besides, the Germans were also copying Saint-Etienne's grenades and mortars!
Steed really wanted to say some corny words: "You are our direction, our future, Colonel!", "With you, we are invincible!".
But thinking that this didn't seem to be in line with my age, I ended up just hiding the compliment and excitement in my eyes.
…
Charles was granted three days' leave, the first time he had been there since he joined the army.
Gallieni had approved the holiday, and he said to Charles with a smile in his eyes: "Merry Christmas!"
Charles was stunned, then he realized that Christmas had arrived for people in Europe.
"Merry Christmas!" replied Charles.
This feeling is a bit strange. As a time traveler, Charles celebrates the Spring Festival more often, but this is not the case here.
…
On the way back to Darvaz, Charles looked curiously at the falling snow outside the car.
Before this, Charles had always thought that hexagonal snowflakes only appeared in comic books in the fairy tale world and that they were beautified things. Now he realized that they really existed and were falling right before his eyes.
"Charles!"
Just as Ciel was wondering how they were formed, he heard someone calling his name in the distance.
Turning my head, I saw a group of teenagers chasing and playing under a sycamore tree on the roadside.
They were throwing snowballs at each other when they noticed Charles' car. They stopped what they were doing and waved to Charles, some even called on him to join in.
Charles recognized them as his classmates, including Teddy, and quickly turned around and waved back, "Hello!"
Laurent turned his head and asked softly, "Do we need to stop, Colonel?"
Charles hesitated for a moment, then replied: "No, Major, I have other things to do."
In fact, Charles was very free and wanted to be with them, but he found that he seemed unable to fit in with this carefree group, even though Charles was of the same age as them.
And they, Charles' former classmates, would definitely feel pressured if Charles really joined them to play.
Charles could even imagine that strange scene: miraculously, none of the snowballs could hit him, and his classmates were all very cautious, glancing from time to time at the revolver on Charles' waist, and at Major Laurent who was standing nearby and watching all this.
So, let’s keep our distance!
…
The car slowly stopped in front of Djoka's cottage. Djoka and Camille were decorating the Christmas tree in the house. When they saw Charles' car, they came out to greet them.
"Merry Christmas!" Camille opened his arms and gave Charles a hug with a proud and happy smile on his face.
Dejoka called Laurent: "Would you like a glass of wine, Major? Or come inside and warm yourself up?"
"No, Mr. Deyoka!" Laurent declined: "I should go to the factory to take a look. Those bastards always make me worry!"
Djokovic did not insist, but waved to Laurent who was turning around and shouted, "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas!" Major Laurent responded.
Djokovic added: "Tell them I'll put Christmas presents in the security room, everyone will have one!"
"Thank you very much, Mr. Deyoka!" Laurent turned around and responded.
As the car accelerated, Major Laurent sighed in his heart that they were all good people, conscientious capitalists, and all French capitalists should be like them.
This is the strength of the sentimental Djokovic. He knows how to treat the people around him well, including guards, neighbors, and employees.
This trait would be a disaster if it happened to small capitalists. Small capitalists do not have the capital to treat others well, and they will soon go bankrupt because of this. Then they will be looked down upon by others, even those who have treated them well before.
But Charles was no longer a small capitalist at this time. His assets increased dramatically to more than 20 million francs in just three months.
Motorcycles, tractors, tanks, grenades, airplanes...
This does not include the deposit for the "Char A1" tank and the US military's $43.8275 million production authorization fee.
The former was because the French military had no money and hoped that the Charles Tractor Factory could "deliver first and pay later."
The latter is because the US military needs to go through procedures, and it is estimated that the money will arrive in the next two days.
By selling arms, especially arms that can win wars, wealth can grow at an unimaginable rate, and the rate is accelerating.
With such an economic foundation, Charles needs a steward like Dejoka: spending a little insignificant money and giving others a little favor can gain a good reputation, so why not do it?
(End of this chapter)
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