Chapter 263 Naval Technical Advisor
Charles did not interfere too much in the formation of the new party, nor was it convenient for him to interfere too much. As long as the party was based on him and would support him in the future, it would be fine.
This being over, Charles turned his attention back to the tank.
He told Estiny not to tell anyone, including the military, about the "direction of tank development."
At first, Estiny was puzzled: "But Colonel, if we don't tell the military, won't the military be likely to go in the wrong direction?"
But then Estiny realized that Charles did not want competitors like Schneider to know the direction of tank development and get ahead of them.
After weighing the pros and cons for a moment, Astinni nodded in agreement.
After all, it was the Charles Tractor Factory that produced tanks for France. As long as Charles and Estinie knew the direction of development, France would not go in the wrong direction.
What Astinhos didn't know was that by thinking this way he was actually judging others by one's own standards.
…
The next day, the first thing Charles did when he returned to the city defense headquarters was to make a request to Gallieni.
"General," Charles said seriously, "I hope to transfer a technical consultant from the Navy Shipyard to assist us in our work."
"Shipyard?" Gallieni looked at Charles with a strange expression: "You don't want to build warships?"
"No, General," Charles replied, "I actually want to build a tank. You should know that I have two tanks."
Gallieni said "hmm", one is "Mark I" and the other is "Charles A1".
"But..." Gallieni was puzzled: "Isn't the Mark I tank going to be eliminated?"
"No, General." Charles answered confidently: "On the contrary, not only is it not eliminated, we are also going to upgrade it further."
"Upgrade?" Gallieni looked confused. "Will we need the Mark I again in the future?"
"Of course." Charles explained seriously, "These two tanks have their own strengths: the 'Charr A1' is fast and highly maneuverable, but its armor is thin and there is no extra space for large-caliber artillery. Although the 'Mark I' is slow and logistically difficult, it can be equipped with thicker armor and may be equipped with large-caliber artillery, which is beneficial for attacking or destroying enemy bunkers."
Gallieni believed it immediately, after all, what Charles said seemed to make sense.
But after a moment's hesitation, Gallieni asked again: "What does this have to do with the shipyard's technical consultant?"
"We are going to make the Mark I even bigger, General." Charles explained, "Its size and weight may be several times larger than the current Mark I. This will make it more like a ship, with counterweights and stress issues on various parts of the hull, all similar to shipbuilding."
Gallieni said "Oh", and then responded straightforwardly: "I will contact the shipyard immediately..."
"No, General." Charles interrupted Gallieni and reminded him, "For reasons of confidentiality, this technical advisor had better be a military person!"
Gallieni thought it made sense and nodded: "No problem, I will notify the Navy Department and ask them to send someone."
After that, Charles just let the matter develop.
He didn't really want to upgrade the Mark I.
France already has a turreted tank called the "Charler A1". If it needs to upgrade, it should be the "Charler A1". Upgrading the "Mark I" would be a waste of time.
But Colonel Estiny reminded Charles.
To be precise, it was Schneider's "light tank" that reminded Char: If Schneider would develop a light tank because of the "Charr A1", would the Germans have similar ideas?
The Germans had good reasons to develop light tanks:
The A7V, which they had developed at great expense, was equipped with both cannons and machine guns and required 18 people to operate it, but it was beaten to a pulp by a small tank operated by two people.
More importantly, Germany is France's enemy, and they have no problems with "industrial property rights".
So what are you waiting for? Of course, copy it according to the appearance of "Charles A1"!
Germany is obviously more formidable than Schneider: they have a stronger industrial base, more comprehensive talent pool and more reliable research direction, and even the A7V has used suspension.
What Germany developed will still be used on the battlefield, where it will have a life-and-death duel with the "Char A1".
Therefore, both for public and private reasons, Charles needed to dig a "pit" for the Germans to jump into.
The most reliable "pitfall" is undoubtedly the "super heavy tank".
The Germans seem to have a certain obsession with "super-heavy" weapons, such as the "Big Bertha", the "Paris Cannon", and the "Gustav" cannon during World War II. In terms of tanks, the Germans were able to develop the "Maus" even during World War II.
Considering this, Charles believed that it would not be difficult to lead the German tank research and development direction towards "super heavy", but the difficulty lay in how to convey the information to the Germans without leaving any trace.
Charles thought of the spy Harry.
I thought of the Secretary of the Navy again.
If someone could be transferred from the Navy Department, could the development information of this "super-heavy tank" be passed on to the Germans through them?
Hence the demand on Gallieni.
Charles was not sure whether he could succeed, but as the saying goes, "Man proposes, God disposes," he just had to wait and see what kind of tanks Germany would send to the battlefield.
In fact, Gallieni had doubts about Charles' request.
He knew the relationship between Charles and Wells. Not long ago, Charles had saved Wells' son Tijani. Wells enjoyed privileges in the navy, and it was only a matter of a word to transfer someone through Wells. But now he had to go through him to contact the Admiralty.
However, this thought only flashed through Gallieni's mind.
He simply thought that Charles was doing this to distance himself from Wells.
…
Soon, Charles discovered that things were not as simple as he thought.
That afternoon, Charles was surprised to find Tijani running up to him.
Tijani was panting, as if he had run all the way up the stairs. He said cheerfully, "Reporting to you, Colonel!"
"What are you doing here?" Charles asked in confusion.
Then he looked at the guards in surprise. They shouldn't have let Tijani in.
Since the headquarters was "reorganized", "outsiders" are no longer allowed to enter and leave the headquarters at will, including officers.
Tijani smiled slightly and took out a document and handed it to Charles: "This is a transfer order, Colonel! Don't you need a naval technical advisor? It's an honor to serve you!"
"Are you the technical consultant sent by the Navy?" Charles looked at Tijani with difficulty.
This guy must have used his connections to "fight" for this position, otherwise a naval technical advisor would never be sent by an army major general.
Tijani admitted it generously. He spread his hands and said, "Don't underestimate me, Colonel. I may be a comprehensive technical advisor."
Then he added: "No matter what the problem is, I can find someone to help you solve it!"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
