Chapter 372: Head-On Confrontation
The predicament that Joffre found himself in was exactly what Charles wanted to see.
The struggle for power is often about more than just money.
The full deployment of the 37-gun can indeed bring economic benefits to Charles. It sells for 1,500 francs each, and Charles can earn more than 300 francs after the profit is divided equally with "Saint-Etienne".
Even if 10,000 units were sold, it would only cost over three million, which was just a drop in the bucket for Charles at this time.
On the other hand, it is mainly used for fighting tanks and consumes much less shells than ordinary artillery. In the long run, its profit is not as good as that of mortars, machine guns, grenades, and even military uniforms.
But if it can go a step further in the field of anti-tank guns, create some conflicts for Joffre and Schneider or divide their relationship, or make secret arrangements, then it will be different.
…
Police training base, 105th Infantry Regiment headquarters.
Tijani cheered after receiving a telegram: "Great, they handed over the task of anti-toxic training to the 89th Infantry Regiment."
Charles stared at the map in a daze and did not respond. Tijani patted him on the shoulder when he passed by and continued to complain:
"You have no idea how tedious it is, repeating those simple steps over and over again."
"I'd rather take the soldiers and run laps around the playground."
Ciel responded casually: "What? Gas masks don't suit your aesthetic?"
"That's not what I mean." Tijani walked to the desk and sat down. He picked up the pencil from the table and shook it in the direction of Charles: "It's like, a sword should make the enemy tremble in fear on the battlefield. "
"Then you should run with the soldiers on the battlefield." Ciel said.
Tijani smiled and shook his head: "I mean wearing the gas mask repeatedly, which is not helpful in the war."
Ciel did not continue. He did not intend to discuss his concept of war art with Tijani, which was a bit abstract for Ciel.
Dominic knocked on the door and came in. He excitedly said to Charles: "General, Joffre has placed an order with Saint-Etienne, 37 guns, and the first batch is 10,000."
Ciel said "Yeah", which was what he expected.
"How did Schneider react?" Charles asked.
Dominic curled his lips: "I don't have any more news, but I heard that Schneider has slowed down the production progress of the 105 howitzer."
Good idea, Ciel secretly praised it.
The 105 howitzer is also urgently needed by Xiafei, and slowing down the progress is putting pressure on him.
At this time, silence is better than sound, which shows that Joffre and Schneider are already secretly competing.
Tijani interjected: "This seems to be detrimental to the war. The military needs 105 howitzers, not just Joffre."
This is Tijani's unique perspective. He always considers the war as a whole. Whether he can make money or whether he can attack Joffre or Schneider is not his concern.
"Then it depends on whether the 37 cannon or the 105 howitzer is more important." Charles replied.
Tijani looked at Charles in astonishment: "Do you think the 37-gun is more important than the 105-mm howitzer?"
Most people would not come to this conclusion. The 105 howitzer can compete with German artillery, but the 37 gun obviously cannot.
"You should think about it this way." Charles said: "So far, the monthly production of 105 howitzers is only about 5 pieces. How much role can these artillery play on the battlefield? What can they change? But there is a large inventory of 37 guns and the production cycle is very short. "
The stock of 37 guns was a preparation for the "Saint-Etienne" arsenal. Steed was sure that this unique thing would be a big seller, so he went ahead with production from the beginning.
Tijani was stunned for a while, and then he understood: "Production, production is also the determining factor."
A new variable, Tijani's eyes flashed with excitement.
He used to pay little attention to output, thinking that it was just investing people and money, and then it was a matter of time. This seems not to be the case now, especially during the war.
Standing aside, Dominic thought of the "Saint-Etienne 2" machine gun, which had been put into mass production before it was launched, with a monthly output of 3,000.
This output is not as good as the 10,000 per month of "Chauchard", but considering its quality and service life, "Saint-Etienne 2" will undoubtedly crush "Chauchard".
Charles was still staring at the map: Xiafei ordered 37 guns, which meant that he was completely unaware of being led into a pit by Charles, this idiot!
At this time, a staff officer hurried out from the telecommunications room and said nervously: "General, the Germans have launched an attack. In Cambrai, they concentrated more than two hundred tanks under the cover of fighter planes and artillery to try to tear apart our defense line. !”
Everyone was shocked. There were more than two hundred tanks and fighter planes. The Germans had obviously planned for a long time, but France had not received any news.
Only Ciel looked calm, which was exactly what he wanted to see.
Charles knew from the beginning: in the contest for Italy, the Allies needed a "remarkable" victory, and so did Germany.
Therefore, it is not difficult to guess that France is preparing to attack and Germany is also preparing to attack.
If the French army takes the lead, the German army with more flexible tactics will most likely not use its main force to pursue and intercept it. They will choose to use the "infantry + anti-tank rifle + K bomb" mode to stop the main French army. At the same time, the main force will attack the French army as planned. Line of defense.
This will evolve into "you fight yours and I will fight mine", and it will be a matter of who has the greater victory in the end.
It would be different if the Germans attacked first.
Under Joffre's obstruction, the 37mm gun was not popularized in the French army, and the French soldiers did not have anti-tank rifles and K bullets. The infantry had nothing to fight against tanks, and they were just targets in front of enemy tanks.
Therefore, there was only one way to stop the main force of the German army: the 1st Special Artillery Division.
This would cause the tanks of both sides to collide fiercely, and it would be a head-on collision. What an exciting scene!
Charles was not gloating, he just wanted to know more detailed data of the German new tanks through such a battle, such as armor thickness, tank speed, artillery armor-piercing ability, and advantages.
But of course, he was also happy to see the troops equipped with the two types of "Saint-Chamond" tanks, and the tragic situation of being defeated by the German army under the leadership of Joffre.
This was a double blow to Joffre and Schneider, so why not?
Tijani was busy reading the telegram and analyzing the battle situation with the staff, and did not notice Charles' expression.
Dominic noticed it, and he thought:
Wouldn't these be what Charles expected?
No, this was not expected.
This was his plan. He threw out the 37 gun not to make money, nor to compete for the artillery field, but to delay the attack time of Xiafei!
Xiafei should have launched the attack long ago, but hesitated on the issue of 37 guns.
By the time he finally decided to place an order, he had already missed the opportunity!