Chapter 330: The Introduction of Chauchat Light Machine Guns

Asking the waiter to clear away the plates and serve desserts and fruits, Steed said while eating: "They have already planned to invest in light machine guns. The first batch is estimated to be at least 10,000, and will be sent to the Gallipoli battlefield."

Having said this, Steed looked up at Ciel to observe his reaction secretly.

If it were before, Ciel would definitely hesitate.

This kind of malfunction-ridden machine gun sent to Gallipoli is bound to cause a series of "accidents" and cause unnecessary casualties to the troops, which is something that Charles will not allow.

But now Ciel just said a calm "hmm" and continued to put the pieces of apple in front of him into his mouth as if he didn't hear it.

Now is not the season for apples to ripen. The reason why we can still eat apples is that we use industrial refrigerators to preserve them.

But of course, this is a treat only the rich can experience.

(The picture above shows the first electric compressor household refrigerator invented in 1923. The principle of the refrigerator was first invented in 1834. After that, it was in industrial use for a long time and failed to spread to households)

Seeing that Charles didn't express his position, Dominic looked at Charles suspiciously and asked, "Shouldn't we be the first to launch our machine guns?"

Charles replied coldly: "You can wait a little longer, now is not the time."

"But..." Dominic looked a little nervous: "It may cause big problems. When we designed this machine gun, we wanted it to be used in France, but now they plan to use it in Gallipoli."

Most French battlefields are inland, and Gallipoli is a peninsula, a place with high salt and humidity. Even if there is no sand in the Chauchat hollow magazine, there may still be tiny salt crystals. In addition, in that environment it More prone to rust.

These can lead to breakdowns, and more breakdowns.

"Gallipoli needs light machine guns." Charles answered evasively: "Heavy machine guns are too bulky and need to use precious fresh water for cooling."

This is Shire's combat experience. Sometimes soldiers have no water to drink, but they have to save water for heavy machine guns.

(If you use seawater for refrigeration, there will be a series of problems. It is corrosive to metals and makes them rust. In addition, after seawater evaporates, a large amount of salt crystals will be left behind)

"This is not a question of whether we need it, Colonel." Dominic emphasized: "We also have light machine guns, which are of much better quality than Chauchat. It has produced 30,000 guns, which is enough for the Gallipoli battlefield!"

Dominic's underlying message is that if we supplied Gallipoli with light machine guns now, a lot less people would probably die.

Steed smiled, and Deschar answered the question:

"The Colonel is right, Dominic."

"There is no gap without comparison. We should first let people understand how bad the Chauchat machine gun is, and then we can let them understand how good our machine gun is from the side."

“That’s when we truly defeat our opponent!”

Dominic looked at Steed in shock, then turned to look at Ciel with an expression of disbelief.

It's normal for Steed to think this way. He only sees money, interests, and his own business.

But Ciel, he is not such a person!

Ciel didn't answer, which was considered acquiescence.

This is just one of the reasons. At this time, there was no light machine gun but there was an urgent need for light machine guns. Although the "Shaosha" was riddled with malfunctions, due to the large demand on the battlefield, it urgently expanded production and manufactured a total of 260,000 guns in the next two years.

To attack opponents, of course we have to wait until the "emergency expansion" rather than during this "trial period".

Dominic waited for a while but saw no reply from Charles. His eyes gradually showed disappointment, and his words were sarcastic: "You have indeed become cruel, Colonel, you are worthy of your combat experience!"

Steed glared at Dominic reproachfully:

"You mean the soldiers who fought at Gallipoli?"

"They are Australians, Dominicans, New Zealanders, British and Africans, it has nothing to do with us, Dominicans."

"The only 105th Infantry Regiment of the French Army has withdrawn!"

Dominic retorted: "But they are also lives, father!"

Steed's face darkened and he asked:

"So, is it our responsibility for them to fight each other on the battlefield?"

"Did we start the war? Or was it the warships and troops we sent?"

"We are just selling equipment, your anger seems to have been directed at the wrong target!"

Dominic did not retort, but his eyes were full of anger and he still protested silently, and the restaurant fell into an awkward silence.

Steed smiled apologetically at Charles and said, "I'm very sorry, Colonel. I hope this won't cause you any trouble."

"No, of course not." Charles replied, turning to look at Dominic, and asked calmly: "What is it called? I mean the machine gun we produced?"

"It's called the 'Saint-Etienne 2' machine gun." Dominic replied.

Ciel raised his eyebrows, it was a good name and a smart move.

This can build momentum for the Saint-Etienne Arsenal. Once this machine gun is a great success on the battlefield, the soldiers and civilians will identify not with it itself, but with the Saint-Etienne Arsenal.

"What if I leave the decision-making power to you?" Charles asked again.

"What?" Dominic was stunned.

"It's up to you to decide when to put in the machine gun." Charles said firmly, "I'm serious."

"Of course I will push it out now." Dominic's eyes rekindled hope.

"Do you think they will definitely choose a better one?" Charles asked again, as if he saw his former self.

Dominic was stunned, and seemed to understand the problem: even if the Saint-Etienne Arsenal launched a machine gun now, it would probably not be recognized and accepted by the parliament.

The Saint-Etienne Arsenal is no longer the same as before, and its voice is being eroded by other capitalists.

"We can list it as a wartime procurement regulation." Dominic said.

"My tank is the same." Charles replied: "Do you know why I didn't list the 'Charle A1' tank as a wartime procurement regulation?"

Dominic was speechless.

He knew the reason, and everyone knew it.

At that time, the "Charle A1" tank had almost no chance of defeating its opponent in the competition for the "Wartime Procurement Regulations". It could only prove itself on the battlefield.

The current situation seems to be the same. It is not about who is better, but who is more powerful and has more say.

"I bet." Charles continued: "If you launch the machine gun now, it is likely that the latter will be popularized faster and save more people than if you launch it later."

"How is this possible?" Dominic asked back: "Will the launch of machine guns later not require the approval of Parliament and wartime regulations?"

"Of course it does." Charles replied: "But it also has actual combat victories. The French military and civilians already know that our machine guns are better. If Parliament does not pass, do you know what will happen?"

Parades, demonstrations, strikes, and even military strikes in resistance...

Dominic then realized that Charles was actually using the public to put pressure on Parliament, forcing parliamentarians to accept the Saint-Etienne 2 machine gun.