Chapter 498 Cooperation
Antwerp Airport.
Charles looked at the BAR sketch left by Browning for a while, then threw it to Tijani.
"It's yours," said Charles.
"What?" Tijani looked at Charles blankly. He didn't understand what Charles meant.
"Didn't you complain that your troops didn't have submachine guns?" Charles stood up and made himself a cup of coffee: "This rifle can be equipped to your troops first."
Tijani's eyes lit up instantly: "Is this true?"
This was a surprise. He originally thought that this new gun would also be equipped to the armored units first and then the mechanized units. After all, the armored units needed to be at the front and fight tough battles.
"Of course it's real." Charles sat back at the table, stirring his coffee, and said with some disdain: "Do you think it's a good thing?"
"Of course, Brigadier General." Tijani nodded heavily while holding the sketch as if he had found a treasure: "Of course it is a good thing!"
Ciel asked casually, "Tell me what you understand about it. How do you plan to deploy your troops?"
Tijani stared at the sketch for a while and said slowly:
"I think we should select soldiers with excellent physical fitness to use it."
"One per class, or two."
"I'm not sure. I'll know after I get the gun and try it out."
Charles nodded. Tijani's understanding was correct. He did not blindly say, "I want everyone to use this gun and use it to eliminate all rifles!"
The idea is tempting.
Imagine the scene: automatic rifles are firing wildly at the enemy, and the enemy positions will be covered with flying bullets.
But the reality is: most soldiers cannot control this gun.
The heavy gun body, the recoil during continuous firing, and the at least 200 rounds of ammunition will cause great trouble to the soldiers using it.
(Note: A bolt-action rifle has about 100 rounds of ammunition, but a BAR is an automatic rifle. 200 rounds of ammunition is not enough to fight a battle. Modern automatic rifles usually need to carry 300 rounds of ammunition.)
At this time, the guard came in and reported: "Commodore, Mr. Browning and Mr. Boyata are back again, and they want to see you."
Charles nodded and continued to drink his coffee calmly.
"You seem to know that they will come back?" Tijani looked at Charles in confusion.
Charles shook his head slightly. He didn't know this, but he knew why Browning came back.
The moment Charles saw the sketch he should have at least thought about it for a while or pretended to ask a few questions. This made Browning suspicious.
Sure enough, Browning walked up to Charles in two steps and asked breathlessly, "General, you...you know this kind of gun, right?"
Ciel hadn't figured out how to answer yet.
"I mean," Browning explained, "you've thought about designing a similar gun, haven't you?"
Charles was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "You can say that, Mr. Browning. I did think about it, but you're faster than me. You've even made a prototype gun."
Browning laughed. "I knew it, I knew it!"
As he spoke, he moved a stool and sat in front of Charles, his movements smooth and natural, as if he was having a long conversation with an old friend.
Boyata looked surprised, how could he be so casual in front of the brigadier general?
Just as he was about to step forward to remind him, Charles stopped him with his eyes.
Browning didn't notice Boyata's little move at all. He sat down and said impatiently:
"General, I was actually inspired by you, to be exact, 'Saint-Etienne 2'."
"If I can think of it, you can think of it too."
"After all, it was you who changed the heavy machine gun into a light machine gun, giving it better mobility."
Browning's words were somewhat abstract, incoherent, and illogical, but Charles understood them, and he went on to say:
"Oh, yes."
"Since a heavy machine gun can be converted into a light machine gun, a light machine gun can be converted into a rifle."
“So there was a BAR!”
Browning laughed excitedly again. His laughter was loud and unpleasant, like the squeal of a pig:
"I thought so too. It's unbelievable that there is such a coincidence!"
"But it's not surprising at all, is it? Because it's a growing trend."
“We just saw a trend in it!”
Browning naturally used the word "we", and he regarded Charles as one of the same type of people.
No one knows how lonely a person like Browning is, and no one knows how difficult it is for him to find someone with common interests and hobbies and with whom he can chat.
But Charles didn't say anything. He just looked at Browning quietly.
"Is there any problem?" The smile on Browning's face gradually turned into confusion.
Then Browning suddenly realized:
"You know something, right? It's different than I thought!"
"Yes, I knew it."
"Although I am in the front, you want to be in the front, and you know how to avoid the flaws of BAR."
Charles admitted it with a "hmm", otherwise Browning would regard it as disrespect for him and an insult to his intelligence.
"But I can't tell you, Mr. Browning," Charles said directly, "for many reasons."
Browning nodded to show his understanding: "I understand, General, this is your idea, it belongs to France, and I..."
He looked back at Boyata standing behind him, with a hint of helplessness in his eyes: "I belong to FN, I belong to Belgium."
Browning sighed softly:
"You're right, you shouldn't tell me the answer."
"I'm sorry, I just...I just want to know."
Charles nodded to show his understanding. This was a desire for knowledge, not plagiarism with ulterior motives.
What the two men didn't know was that after hearing these words, Boyata, who was standing behind Browning, felt his hands and feet go cold, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
This is not a good thing, Boyata thought.
Everyone can see that Charles is Browning's best partner. Putting their ideas together will definitely allow them to design the best gun in the world.
What’s worse is that they…sympathize with each other, yes, they are like old friends!
Even though the two had only known each other for a short time and had a huge age gap, they were able to think alike miraculously.
I can't be a barrier between them, Boyata thought, otherwise FN will lose Browning, there is no doubt about it.
Thinking of this, Boyata hurried forward and advised: "No, no, I don't think these are problems, General."
Then Boyata looked at Browning again: "I have a suggestion!"
"What?" Charles asked, but he could actually guess a little.
"Why don't we cooperate?" Boyata said excitedly: "FN and Saint-Etienne cooperate, we have a common enemy, we both want to produce the best equipment, we both have..."
Boyata waved at the two men, indicating that both sides had excellent gun designers.
Browning's eyes lit up instantly. This was indeed a good suggestion.
But soon, his excitement quickly dimmed, and he smiled self-deprecatingly and said to Boyata: "No, Jonathan, the general can accomplish what he wants without us. He doesn't need to cooperate with us."
Browning smiled bitterly and shrugged. He had never felt so humble before.
Boyata thought about it and felt that this was true. Charles had the creativity and the Saint-Etienne Arsenal to realize it, so why should they cooperate with FN?
What they didn't know was that Charles found this profitable.
Because this would allow them to more thoroughly control Belgium's military industry, gain access to Browning's talent, and obtain FN's production capacity.
All you need to do is distribute the profits, so why not do it?
(End of this chapter)
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