Chapter 618: Ownership of “Echo Sounder”
Hasselt, Belgium.
After several days of "cleaning", the surrounded German troops had almost surrendered, and the siege of Antwerp was lifted without any help.
Albert I and Major General Eden were very busy, collecting prisoners and counting spoils from town to town.
However, they were very considerate in their etiquette. They would report to Charles every time they recaptured a place, and they would send people to Charles' headquarters to deliver the list of spoils without missing a single one. They would only dare to use and distribute them after Charles signed.
From Ciel's point of view this was unnecessary.
In principle, Albert I, Major General Eden and even all the Belgian troops were not his subordinates and did not need to obey his orders, but Albert I insisted on doing so.
At noon that day, Charles was signing documents while eating bread to fill his stomach at the headquarters. He couldn't help but complain: "My God, doesn't he know that this will increase my burden? Just signing the order almost made me disabled!"
The commander of the 6th Army Group already had a lot of things to do. Including the hundreds of thousands of people in Belgium, there were nearly 500,000 regular troops, and more than 800,000 militiamen.
"I think this is a very smart move," laughed Tijani, who was eating canned vegetables.
"What?" Charles didn't understand what Tijani meant.
He thought that Albert I, considering the independence of Belgium, should try his best to take military power into his own hands. This was one of the reasons why Charles tried to control the FN military factory.
However, Tijani thought otherwise: "He has recognized you, General. You are the only one who can guarantee the safety of Belgium, now and in the future."
"The future?" Charles looked at Tijani in confusion.
"Yes." Tijani nodded.
With a bitter face, he used a spoon to stir the indistinguishable paste in the can. The taste and color made it difficult for him to swallow.
He reluctantly scooped up a spoonful and swallowed it with difficulty as if he were taking medicine. He was so nauseated that he almost vomited. After a while, he looked up palely and replied: "Think about it, General. Belgium is sandwiched between Britain, Germany and France. It must have a solid backer, and that backer is you."
Ciel seemed to understand.
Germany will be a defeated country in the future, and Britain is strong in its navy. From Belgium's perspective, the bet must be placed on France.
And if one had to choose a power from France, it would have to be Charles.
This may be the main reason why Albert I tried so hard to win him over.
Charles felt that his previous actions were a bit unnecessary. He had previously wanted to control Belgium by controlling the FN Arsenal, but now it seems not very necessary.
At this time, the staff sent a telegram from Foch through Weygand: "We have basically gotten rid of the control of the British. We will continue to maintain our maritime superiority. Don't let other forces get involved in the 'Echo Sounder', any force."
Charles casually put the telegram into his pocket. This was a "private telegram" that Tijani didn't need to know.
"Business matters?" Tijani didn't care.
"Yes," Charles responded.
Just as Charles put away the unfinished bread and prepared to finish the meal, the staff officer sent another telegram: "General, the Minister of the Navy is discussing the purchase of the industrial property rights of the 'echo sounder' with Professor Versenden. In addition, the British side has also sent someone and seems to be interested in purchasing it."
Charles was shocked. He had thought that Britain would do this, but he did not expect that the French Navy had the same idea.
Tijani reminded: "It's not the French navy, the general, it's the parliament."
It suddenly dawned on Charles that once the patent fell into the hands of the Navy, the "Echo Sounder" would be controlled by Parliament instead of Charles.
The parliament finally understood what the point was.
…
Brest Shipyard, where Professor Versenden has his own laboratory.
The laboratory is huge. It has a simulation test platform converted from an indoor swimming pool. Many experiments can be completed indoors without being affected by external wind, waves and darkness.
Professor Versenden and his assistants are working intensively to improve the "echo sounder".
Judging from the data sent back from actual combat, although the "Echo Sounder" achieved a major victory, it hunted down 12 submarines in the first battle and sank 5 more subsequently. This record has exceeded the total of all previous submarine hunting.
(Note: Germany lost a total of 199 submarines during World War I, most of which were sunk after being equipped with sonar.)
However, Professor Versenden knew that this was far from enough.
"The biggest shortcoming is the detection range." Professor Versenden set the next goal for the laboratory: "The insufficient detection range will increase the difficulty of tracking submarines. In addition, the signal is unstable and has errors, so our warships can easily lose the target."
"Professor," someone objected, "but judging from actual combat data, the probability of losing the target is not high."
"Idiot." Professor Versenden scolded unceremoniously, "That's because the Germans don't know about the 'echo sounder' yet. Their submarines always escape in a straight line underwater instead of avoiding it. Once they know it, the data you see will not be the same."
Professor Versenden personally went on board the ship and discussed his experience with the use of the "echo sounder" with sailors, captains, operators and others.
He believes that only in this way can we truly understand actual combat needs and make the "echo sounder" more perfect.
Just as Professor Versenden and his assistant were discussing improvement plans at their desks, several officers in naval uniforms walked into the laboratory, led by an admiral in gorgeous military uniform.
Professor Versenden, who noticed the movement, looked up. He was stunned when he saw the scene and quickly put down what he was doing and came forward.
The admiral rushed forward to shake hands with Professor Versenden. "Hello, professor. Let me introduce myself. I am the French Navy Minister. Thank you very much for the equipment you invented. It has played a very important role on the battlefield."
Professor Versenden was sensitive enough to realize that the admiral's praise was insincere, and he also knew that this was not the purpose of his visit.
Because it has been more than ten days since the great victory of the "Echo Sounder". If praise and rewards are to be given, the naval forces should have stood in front of us long ago.
However, Professor Versenden replied politely: "That's what I should do, General."
The Navy Minister glanced around and asked, "Can we talk alone?"
"Of course." Professor Versenden welcomed the Admiral into the conference room.
In the large conference room, in addition to the professor and the minister, there was also a staff officer brought by the minister, who was holding a briefcase in his hand.
The admiral asked straight to the point: "I heard that you have the industrial property rights of the 'Echo Sounder'?"
"Yes." Professor Versenden nodded.
This was one of the conditions for his cooperation with Charles.
But immediately, Professor Versenden shook his head again: "But not entirely, General, I only wanted to use it to detect icebergs. Detecting submarines was Charles's idea. I think Charles at least owns part of the property rights!"
(End of this chapter)
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