Chapter 624: Asymmetric Tactics of the Navy
Charles did not answer Wells directly. He asked, "Mr. Wells, I want to confirm one thing before this: Do you have a reliable R&D team?"
"Of course, General." Wells answered confidently: "I have a research and development team that is completely under my control. Even the military has no right to interfere."
Ciel nodded.
This is a characteristic of private ownership countries. Equipment patents and technologies are often in the hands of big capitalists rather than the state.
The big capitalists are not stupid. They know that as long as they hold on to these technologies, they can sell a bag of screws for $90,000 and a shell for $800,000, just like in modern America.
Therefore, they will do their best to keep secrets, even if it sometimes requires "suicide" on their own people.
"Then I think we can improve the fire control." Charles replied: "The fire control system currently used by our warships is bidirectionally stable, right?"
"Yes." There was a flash of surprise in Wells' eyes. Charles actually knew about the bidirectional stable fire control system?
But on second thought, I think this is normal.
Charles is not only a general, he is also a genius inventor. He recently invented landing craft and amphibious landing ships, and has also conducted in-depth research on torpedoes. It is not surprising that he knows about the two-way stable fire control system.
Charles pointed out the answer: "We should invest in the development of a three-way stabilized fire control system to improve the accuracy of naval guns."
"Three-way stability?" Wells's admiration for Charles increased even more. Even he, who had been dealing with shipbuilding for many years, had never heard of this.
"Yes." Charles felt a little thirsty, so he took a sip from his glass and continued, "We all know that pitch also affects the accuracy of naval guns, so a two-way stabilization system alone is not enough, far from enough."
Wells looked at Charles with eyes full of admiration: "Pitch" will affect the accuracy of naval guns, which is still in the exploration and verification stage. Even the R&D personnel don't know much about it. I didn't expect Charles to know it.
What Wells didn't know was that Charles was deliberately misleading him.
The third dimension that affects the accuracy of naval guns is not "pitch" but "roll".
After the war, the Germans failed to improve the accuracy much because they mistakenly thought it was "pitch roll", and it was not until 6 years later that they discovered it was "roll".
By doing this, Charles was keeping a hand for Wells.
He knew that the nature of capitalists is profit-seeking, and that asking them to be "loyal" was unrealistic, and even stupid.
Therefore, Charles needs to play a "long game" and keep these capitalists or technologies firmly in its hands.
More importantly, if the Germans or British got wind of it, they would be misled by the "pitch" that Charles proposed.
When necessary, Ciel would make the final decision: "Oh, how about we try to change the third direction to target 'roll'?"
This wouldn't take much time, but the effect would be immediate, and the initiative would always be in Charles' hands.
Wells nodded thoughtfully and said, "If this technology is successfully developed, it can indeed improve the quality of our warships, and even make a qualitative leap."
This meant the difference between an accurate shot and an inaccurate one in a naval battle, allowing one French naval ship to match the firepower of two or even three.
Given the inability to build ships, it is indeed a way to improve our strength.
But then Wells slowly shook his head again, his tone heavy: "It seems feasible, General. But research and development takes time. After successful research and development, the fire control systems of all naval guns need to be upgraded, which also takes time. It is especially difficult to upgrade the large naval guns of battleships, or even impossible. This may..."
Far water cannot quench near thirst.
In comparison, it is still more realistic to shift the strategic focus to Toulon.
"We only upgrade destroyers." Charles interrupted Wells.
"Only upgrade the destroyers?" Wells frowned.
It might be much simpler to just upgrade the destroyers, but when the destroyers face tough battleships, the accuracy of their guns doesn't seem to make much difference.
(Note: At this time, destroyers were generally small in tonnage, and their small-caliber naval guns could hardly cause effective damage to battleships)
"Have you ever heard of asymmetric warfare?" Charles asked calmly.
Wells was confused. He was a businessman. Although he had experience in shipbuilding, he didn't know much about tactics, and he had never heard of "asymmetric warfare".
"To put it simply," Charles explained, "it means to maximize your advantage in a certain aspect during the war, and then use this advantage to completely defeat the opponent's corresponding arms. Then, the opponent will be restricted in every way due to the serious lack of a certain arm, and eventually the overall combat effectiveness will be reduced, and they will be completely passive and vulnerable."
Wells seemed to understand, but didn't understand: "But this doesn't seem to have anything to do with our confrontation with the British Royal Fleet."
Charles reminded: "If we only upgrade the destroyers, they will have more accurate guns and new torpedoes, which will give them an absolute advantage over the destroyers and torpedo boats of the British Royal Navy."
Wells suddenly woke up: "General, you mean that we can use our destroyers to completely defeat the destroyers and torpedo boats of the British Royal Navy?"
"Yes." Charles nodded and asked again: "It's not difficult to do this, is it?"
Wells hesitated for a moment, then said confidently: "It's not difficult. Our destroyers are faster than battleships. We can always stay out of their range. Once the British send destroyers to chase, they will be sunk by our destroyers with their absolute advantage in naval guns and torpedoes."
"Next." Charles smiled softly, "You can assume that the British Royal Fleet has lost most of its destroyers and even torpedo boats, and then use this to expand the victory."
Wells suddenly realized: "Then, we can use destroyers and torpedo boats to besiege the enemy's battleships and cruisers."
The reason is simple. The battleships of this period were afraid of torpedo ships. No matter how powerful and advanced the battleships were, they could only be hit with one shot.
The huge cannons on the battleships had a headache facing these fast and small torpedo boats. Their penetration and power were almost useless, which was tantamount to using a cannon to kill a mosquito. Even if a few ships were sunk by chance, the loss to the French fleet would be negligible.
Destroyers are the natural enemies of torpedo boats. They are fast and equipped with small and medium-caliber naval guns, which can deal with torpedo boats more effectively.
But if the destroyers of the French fleet crushed the British destroyers and completely defeated them, it would trigger a series of chain reactions like the first domino to fall, eventually leading to the complete collapse of the seemingly powerful British Royal Fleet.
Wells stood up suddenly, his face full of excitement, and even his breathing became rapid.
This seems to be a solution, a very good and clever solution.
But soon, he calmed down again: "But General, if the British adopt a long-range blockade strategy like they did against the Germans, we may not be able to use this asymmetric warfare tactic."
(End of this chapter)
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