Chapter 623 If quantity cannot keep up, quality can be considered
After seeing off General Winter, Charles immediately went to find Wells.
Wells owned a small villa in the shipyard. It was built on the seaside, with a view of the naval port on one side and the endless ocean on the other.
Wells liked to enjoy the sea breeze on the balcony and watch the warships he managed sail out to the sea to conquer the world.
Only at this time can he feel powerful, strong, and safe.
However, whenever Wells thought of Britain across the street, this feeling would be greatly reduced or even disappear.
That afternoon, after returning from the factory, Wells stood on the balcony and looked out at the sea as usual.
He looked silently at the other side of the ocean, with a pipe in his mouth, standing motionless in the cold wind, like a statue.
The French navy has declined and is now barely ranked fifth in the world.
(The naval rankings during World War I were: Britain, Germany, the United States, Japan, and France)
Fifth in the world might have seemed like a good idea, but Wells knew it wouldn't work.
Because the French Navy has always been suppressed by the British Royal Navy, just like the German Navy, which has done nothing.
The only difference is that the German Navy was directly blockaded, while the French Navy was indirectly blockaded.
"Sir." At this time, the butler walked to Wells, bowed carefully and said, "Someone wants to see you. It's General Charles. He is outside the door."
Wells was stunned. His face, which had been as stagnant as a pool of water, suddenly became lively like a blooming flower: "Please come in!"
In fact, there was no need to invite him, because Wells had already walked out quickly to greet him personally.
As soon as he saw Charles, he shook Charles' hand enthusiastically, with surprise in his eyes: "Nice to meet you, General. Is this your first time coming to the shipyard? You should have informed me in advance so that I could be prepared."
"No, Mr. Wells," Charles replied.
Generals like Charles were reluctant to reveal their itinerary when traveling, which was something businessmen like Wells could not understand.
The two sat down on the sofa. Wells sent the servant away and personally poured Charles a glass of red wine.
"Do you need anything to eat?" Wells asked. "I'll ask the servant to make it right away."
He learned from Tijani that the army's food was very poor during this period.
"No." Charles refused. He wanted to finish the task at hand as quickly as possible and didn't want to waste time.
Charles recounted the attempt by the Minister of the Navy and General Winter to purchase industrial property and production rights.
Wells seemed to be startled. He widened his eyes and said with lingering fear: "If they buy the ownership of the 'Echo Sounder', the Brest Shipyard will be finished."
Charles felt strange.
He could understand that the "Echo Sounder" must not fall into the hands of the British. But why could it still threaten the survival of the shipyard if it was bought by the Secretary of the Navy?
Wells explained:
"France also has a shipyard in Toulon to the south, General."
"The Minister of the Navy intends to shift the focus to the Toulon shipyard."
"Because the Brest shipyard mainly deals with the Atlantic, while the Toulon shipyard deals with the Mediterranean."
Charles suddenly realized.
In the Atlantic Ocean, there was a giant, the British Royal Navy, sitting opposite. The French Navy believed that it could not compete with it, so it planned to give up.
If we give up this side, we can turn to the Mediterranean.
After all, what they have to face in the Mediterranean are just a group of minions, and the French Navy can be regarded as the best there.
Charles smiled and said, "If we do this, the French navy will never catch up with the British navy."
It was weak to begin with, and it divided its strength into two and shifted its focus to the remote Mediterranean Sea. This is no different from kneeling down and surrendering.
"Yes." Wells sighed, helplessly: "But it seems unavoidable."
"You also think that France cannot compete with England?" asked Charles.
"The navy is different from the army, General." Wells explained with a heavy face, "It requires long-term accumulation, several years, more than ten years, or even decades. It is not like the army, which can win by relying on a few advanced equipment and excellent tactics."
The tonnage is there, and most naval battles are fought head-on with warships and naval guns. Without industrial capacity and supplies, everything is like a castle in the air.
At this time, France was in great shortage of supplies due to the war, and the construction of its navy was basically at a standstill.
Wells then added:
"I'm sorry, General. You may not want to hear this, but it's the truth."
"Even if we have more advanced torpedoes and echo sounders, we can't change this in the end."
"For example, right now, our navy can only participate in limited combat under the command of the British Royal Navy, and there are even dangers."
Charles looked at Wells in confusion: "Danger?"
Wells nodded helplessly: "The British are not as simple as you think. General Winter said they can handle it themselves. Have you ever thought about how they can handle it?"
Charles didn't say anything. It was a confidential matter and he didn't believe Wells knew the reason.
Wells raised his glass and clinked it with Charles's. "One thing I can think of is that our warships encountered some accidents while performing their missions, such as being sunk by German submarines or hitting mines. This is inevitable, isn't it?"
Ciel understood. "And then the British can get the 'echo sounder'?"
Wells said "hmm" and asked, "Why not? They can prepare and rescue as quickly as possible, and finally blow up and destroy the evidence. What can we do?"
Ciel was silent, which he didn't expect.
But it is possible and very likely.
In the face of national interests, especially the possibility that all supplies may be completely controlled and blocked by Charles, what does this despicable little trick matter?
What’s more, the opponent is the “Minister of Munitions” who is always known for his shamelessness.
After thinking for a while, Charles said thoughtfully:
"It seems necessary to remind Professor Versenden that we should install a self-destruct device."
"We don't need a lot of explosives. We just need to blow up the core part."
Wells' eyes lit up. Self-destruct device? This is a good idea. Now the British will have to go through more trouble to obtain this technology.
But Wells's expression immediately darkened again: "The more serious problem is that our steel and coal mines have been under the control of the Germans for a long time, which has led to a growing gap between our navy and that of Britain. Competing with them... seems unrealistic."
Because Britain had loans from the United States and its domestic minerals were not affected by the battlefield, its situation was much better than that of France.
Ciel nodded in understanding, but he didn't give up.
"If we can't keep up with the quantity, we can consider the quality," said Xiaer.
"Quality?" Wells looked at Charles in confusion.
He didn't understand, who could compare with Britain in building warships?
(End of this chapter)
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