Chapter 368 This is Politics
The problem of the speed asynchrony between tanks and infantry unexpectedly developed in two directions after World War I:
Although Britain is the country that invented the tank, it did not truly understand the advantages of the tank and the appropriate tactics. It chose to slow down the tank to match the speed of the infantry, so there were so-called "infantry tanks", such as the "Matilda".
After the war, Germany emphasized blitzkrieg, which focused on attack and speed. It wanted its infantry to speed up and keep up with the tanks, so it developed half-track armored vehicles, sidecars, etc. to coordinate infantry and tanks.
Charles knew the correct answer, so he certainly did not hesitate at all on this issue. He immediately equipped the troops with armored vehicles, and they were armored vehicles that could transport troops.
(Note: Armored vehicles had already appeared during this period, but most of them did not have the ability to transport troops. They were used to cooperate with infantry rather than tanks. For example, the picture below shows a Rolls-Royce armored vehicle equipped by the British Army at the end of 1914)
After arranging the tank brigade's affairs, Charles went to the flying club again. The pilots were actively training the "Eight Rules of Air Combat" under Carter's command, so Charles had nothing to worry about.
At noon, Charles returned to the police training base. As soon as he entered the command center, Dominic followed him. He was obviously waiting for Charles.
"General." Dominic handed Charles a newspaper in a hurry, pointed to one of the articles and said, "You should probably take a look at this."
It was a news item about the Gallipoli War, describing the stalemate between the two armies on land and sea, with the Allied offensive making no progress.
Charles looked up with some confusion and asked, "When did you start to care about the war in Gallipoli?"
"No." Dominic came up and pointed to a line of words and said, "This is it."
Charles took a closer look and found that in an inconspicuous corner of the article it was written: "The soldiers complained about the Chauchat machine gun. They said that the machine gun had never fired 200 rounds in a row without malfunctioning, and even rifles could do this."
Charles just skimmed through the page and didn't see this sentence.
"Are you concerned about the actual combat performance of the Chauchat machine gun?" Charles asked.
"Yes," Dominic replied, "It has been in service for three weeks. The soldiers have had a strong reaction to it. Some troops even refused to accept it because they thought it would only waste their resources and take time to maintain."
Charles was not surprised by this. The "Chauchat" already had a lot of problems, and now it was serving in an environment of high salt and humidity. It would be strange if there were no problems.
Then Dominic asked cautiously: "General, should we send up the 'Saint-Etienne 2' machine gun?"
This was Dominic's real intention. He continued to pay attention to the war in Gallipoli not to watch the "Chauchat" machine gun perform, nor for the "Saint-Etienne 2" machine gun to sell well, but to hope that the "Saint-Etienne 2" machine gun would be equipped to the Allies as soon as possible to reduce the number of deaths.
Charles cursed in his heart, this soft-hearted guy, how is he going to inherit Steed's career in the future!
After thinking for a moment, Ciel nodded and replied, "It's about time."
Dominic's expression relaxed, and he said impatiently, "I'll do it right away."
"Wait." Charles stopped Dominic who was about to leave and said, "For the time being, equip the 29th Division of the British Army and the 5th Australian Light Cavalry Regiment."
Dominic was stunned: "Why not equip the French army first?"
We are France's arms dealers. Shouldn't we put our national interests first?
Charles had long guessed that Dominic would have this reaction. He shook his head slightly. A qualified capitalist should not put the interests of the "country" first, but the interests of "me" first.
Charles reminded: "This is an opportunity for the Saint-Etienne Arsenal, Dominic, a great advertising opportunity, it can expand the influence of Saint-Etienne."
"Advertising opportunity?" Dominic didn't understand. What was the difference between equipping the British army and equipping the French army? Wasn't battlefield performance the best advertisement?
Charles asked in return: "Most of the Chauchat machine guns are equipped by the French army, right?"
"Yes." Dominic nodded. Although the "Chauchat" is from the "Puteaux" Arsenal, it is also a French machine gun and of course it is equipped first to the French army.
Then Dominic seemed to have figured it out: "You mean, let the 'Chauchat' machine gun and the 'Saint-Etienne 2' machine gun appear on the battlefield at the same time to form a sharp contrast?"
"You could say that." Charles motioned for Dominic to sit down on the chair in front of him. "But there are other reasons. What can you think of?"
Dominic looked at Charles with confusion in his eyes.
Charles gave the answer without delay: "People will think that this is Schneider and Joffre's doing, that they are suppressing Saint-Étienne, and people will be angry and call for retaliation, especially the soldiers who have suffered the most."
Dominic was stunned: "But they didn't do that."
"I know." Charles spread his hands: "But this is not important!"
Dominic understood: “You are intentionally misleading people!”
Charles did not deny it.
Prior to this, Schneider had teamed up with Joffre to suppress Charles and the Saint-Etienne Arsenal many times.
Now, what would people's reaction be if the crudely made Chauchat machine gun was equipped to the French army, while the Saint-Etienne II machine gun, also produced by a French arsenal but with excellent performance, was only equipped to the British army?
They will take it for granted:
"They are all French equipment. Why would the French army equip itself with the inferior one?"
"Shouldn't we keep the good ones for ourselves? This will affect the lives of the soldiers!"
"This must be the work of Joffre and Schneider. Once again, they have squeezed out the better equipment."
…
"But that's a lie." Dominic's face was full of opposition.
"This is politics and business," Charles retorted. "Besides, we didn't do anything. People just thought so."
“But they have their own newspaper and they will clarify the matter.”
Charles smiled and said, "Do you think people will believe it? Once people are convinced, they will regard this kind of 'clarification' as an attempt to cover up the truth."
At the same time, if Charles and Saint-Étienne remain silent, people will think they are under some kind of pressure and dare not speak out.
Even if the truth comes out one day, nothing can be changed.
Dominic shook his head. "We can't do that, General."
Charles only replied: "This will make the 'Saint-Etienne 2' machine gun faster and more widely used, which means more people can be saved. Choose between honesty and morality or the lives of soldiers!"
Dominic was stunned, and finally nodded helplessly: "You are right, I know what to do."
(End of this chapter)
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