Chapter 371 Forced to equip
At the French General Headquarters, Joffre was in his office with several staff officers, drawing on a map while discussing the upcoming offensive.
"We need artillery." Xiafei pointed the pencil in his hand in the direction of the enemy: "105MM howitzer."
"But General." A staff officer raised his head in confusion: "We discussed before that special artillery units cannot have long artillery preparations when attacking..."
"You fool!" Joffre interrupted the staff officer and said mercilessly: "We are worried that the enemy will have time to organize artillery to cover our tanks. We need 105MM howitzers for this purpose. They can suppress enemy artillery, but 75mm guns cannot do that."
"Yes, General." The staff officer responded quickly.
Xiafei glanced at the staff officer with dissatisfaction. It was because the headquarters was full of such idiots that he had to risk embarrassment and get Charles' plans and tactics.
What Joffre had not considered was that the reason why the staff became like this was also related to them: the French army had been guided by offensive theory for a long time, and the troops only had 75 guns, the tactics were rigid and single, and there were basically no other needs. Over time, their thinking naturally solidified.
Then Joffre pointed to two points on his own defense line and said, "One 105th artillery regiment on each side, one on the left and one on the right. Only in this way can we effectively provide fire cover for the attacking troops."
The staff officer looked at Joffre hesitantly and said, "General, we only have one 105MM howitzer regiment!"
"Then form another one immediately," Joffre ordered impatiently, "no matter what method you use."
"Yes." The staff officer responded and immediately turned around to make the contact.
The 105MM howitzer is the French M1913 howitzer, which was developed by Schneider in 1913. However, because the 75 gun was too excellent, other artillery pieces were abandoned, so the entire army only had 3 guns when the war broke out.
At the same time, Schneider had no machinery and personnel reserves, and only 31 guns had been produced since the emergency production began, which was barely enough to equip an artillery regiment.
(Note: A regiment usually has 36 guns)
(The picture above shows the French M1913 howitzer, with a range of 12,000 meters. It is not inferior to the German 105MM howitzer, but because of its small production, it has never been able to change the disadvantage in artillery warfare)
Soon the staff officer came back and told Joffre tremblingly: "General, Schneider's reply is that there is only one way, import from Italy."
Italy acquired the production rights from Schneider a year ago. It attaches great importance to this artillery and produces it in large quantities. It may be the country with the most of this artillery.
Joffre gritted his teeth. The French army was actually going to import French artillery from another country, and that was from its ally Italy!
Just as Joffre was considering whether to swallow his pride and allow diplomats to contact Italy, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Kanais hurried into the office with a telegram. He glanced at the staff in the room and gave Joffre a look.
Xiafei understood and immediately ended the discussion and sent the signalman away.
What they wanted to discuss was not a secret, but the fact that Joffre was secretly "asking for advice" from Charles, which must not be known to others.
Kanais closed the door cautiously, turned around and handed the intelligence to Xiafei, lowering his voice and saying, "Charles thinks we should not develop anti-tank rifles. Its biggest flaw is that the recoil is too large, making it difficult to use. Once the enemy strengthens the tank armor, it will be eliminated."
Joffre thought about it for a while, then said "hmm". He had to admit that this analysis made sense. The anti-tank rifles captured from the German army did have this defect.
However……
If the French army did not develop anti-tank rifles, how would it deal with the German army's new tanks?
The combination of the heavy "Saint-Samond" and "Saint-Samond M21" was aimed at the German A7V tank.
But now the Germans have suddenly come up with a new type of tank, and it is a light tank!
At this time, Kanais added: "Charles means that we can equip the infantry with 37mm guns to fight tanks."
Xiafei was stunned for a moment, then nodded slightly. The "Charle A1" uses this small-caliber artillery, which can easily penetrate the armor of the A7V. It should not be difficult to penetrate the German light tanks.
If this type of gun is equipped in large quantities to infantry, the infantry's anti-tank capability will have a qualitative leap.
However, thinking about it more deeply, Xiafei frowned in embarrassment.
"This gun belongs to Charles," said Joffre. "To buy this gun is to give him the business."
Due to Joffre, French front-line troops were rarely equipped with 37mm guns, especially the Central Army Group and the Eastern Army Group directly commanded by Joffre.
Kanais suggested: "We only need a small batch of equipment, General, one or two hundred guns will be enough to equip the First Special Artillery Division..."
Joffre shook his head slightly. "The point is that we don't know where the enemy tanks will appear, Kanais."
Kanais understood instantly.
He made a mistake, thinking that wherever the French attacked the Germans, the tanks would be sent to block them.
This situation is difficult to encounter in actual combat. The French attack will be carried out in strict secrecy, and the German army does not know the French attack intentions and positions.
Unless a few days after the offensive was launched, the German army decided to use tanks to encircle and intercept the French army.
Joffre looked at the map on the table again and said thoughtfully, "If we use tanks to break through the German defenses, and the Germans also use tanks to break through our defenses, then it is not a victory, understand?"
"Understood." Kanais responded.
What the British wanted was a "remarkable" victory, only in this way could they bring Italy into the Allied Powers.
Then Kanais understood Joffre's dilemma: "If we want to prevent a possible attack from the Germans, do we have to fully equip Charles with 37mm guns?"
Joffre nodded slightly: "Only in this way can it be a 'remarkable' victory."
Kanais thought for a while and sighed deeply. If a million-strong army were fully equipped, there would be at least tens of thousands of guns. This would undoubtedly be a big deal.
More importantly, the large-scale deployment of mortars had already caused Schneider's dissatisfaction, and now there was the 37mm gun. How should Joffre explain it to James?
"We have no other choice, General." Kanais said carefully: "I believe Mr. James can understand."
Xiafei smiled lightly. Capitalists only care about profits and never talk about reason. It is wishful thinking to hope that James can understand.
What's more, the mortar was a last resort, and the 37mm gun was also a last resort. What if Charles produced other artillery in the future?
Can Schneider tolerate being forced to do something one after another?
If Schneider tolerates it, does it mean that he has lost the competition?
Xiafei slowly stood up, walked to the window with his hands behind his back, and cast a melancholy gaze through the window to the distant forest, thinking of a possibility that made him very uncomfortable:
If this was just the beginning, would he be forced to stand on Ciel's side in the future?
(End of this chapter)
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