I Became a Tycoon During World War I - Chapter 278

Chapter 278: Charles' Toy

While Gallieni was struggling to handle the pressure from the MPs in the National Assembly, Charles was meeting Wells in a conference room at the Ritz Hotel.

This was Charles' first meeting with Wells.

Wells appeared troubled, and he stared expressionlessly at Charles sitting across from him. The young man before him seemed no different from an ordinary person, his face even showing traces of youth.

If it weren’t for knowing that this young man was the one who had driven all of France mad, Wells would have surely mistaken him for an ordinary person.

"It's an honor to meet you, Colonel!" Wells said politely, leaning forward to shake Charles' hand. Then, he glanced at Tigani, who was sitting beside him. "Please allow me to express my gratitude; you saved Tigani..."

"No, sir," Charles interrupted Wells, "As a soldier, it is my duty."

Charles genuinely believed that, as soldiers, their role was to fight for their country, and rescuing each other was part of the job, with no personal grudges involved.

If there were any debts to be paid, it should be to France.

Wells nodded slightly and praised, "Your ideas on torpedoes are very constructive. We're currently looking for explosives with greater power than TNT. This way, we could reduce the size of the warhead, as you suggested..."

Wells seemed to be speaking in circles; this was already information Charles had conveyed to him through Tigani, but now he was repeating it.

However, Charles understood that Wells was testing him.

Wells obviously still didn’t fully trust Charles' abilities, so bringing up old matters was simply a way to test Charles' "true skills" in person.

"Hexanitrodiphenylamine," Charles suddenly blurted out a term, without any preface.

"What?" Wells blinked in confusion.

Tigani, too, was puzzled. What was hexanitrodiphenylamine?

Charles calmly explained, "An explosive with greater power—60% TNT mixed with 40% hexanitrodiphenylamine. Its power will be 7% stronger than pure TNT!"

Wells' eyes widened in shock. He looked at Charles with a mix of disbelief, his voice trembling, "Is this... Is this true? Can it really improve by 7%?"

Although 7% might not seem like much, it could still be considered a breakthrough, and it could be the first step toward increasing the torpedo’s range.

Tigani asked, "Colonel, how did you know this? And with such detail on the mixture ratio—do you have a research team in this field?"

"You guessed right, General," Charles replied straightforwardly. "I’ve assembled a research team, and we’ve made significant progress."

This wasn’t true. He didn’t have any research team at all.

Charles said this partly to explain how he knew the formula, and partly to signal to Wells: I control the development of torpedoes, and you must choose between me and Schneider, your choice!

This could push Wells, who was still wavering, to make a decision.

Wells, a seasoned businessman, knew exactly what Charles was doing.

After a moment's thought, a kind smile slowly appeared on his face. "That's wonderful, Colonel, I'm confident in the research team you've assembled!"

Charles smiled. He knew Wells was now showing his stance.

Tigani, however, was still confused. He felt like he understood but also didn’t quite get it.

Charles didn’t waste any time and immediately pulled two sketches from his briefcase, placing them in front of Wells. "Sir, I hope you can build these two types of ships for me."

Wells took the documents, glanced at them, and frowned, puzzled.

Both were ships he had never seen before, and their designs were very strange:

One had a large open space in the middle, and the bow was sharply raised, resembling a clown's boot.

The other one, though a ship, looked more like a car.

Why would Charles want such odd little boats? Was he planning to have them sail along the Seine River just for fun? The Seine was flooded, so perhaps he thought these boats would catch some attention.

Tigani leaned over to take a closer look, then suddenly became excited. "Colonel, you don't mean... you want to use these ships for the landings at the Dardanelles Strait, do you?"

Wells, alerted by Tigani's suggestion, suddenly realized: these were for landing operations, military ships!

Charles nodded gently.

If he wanted Wells to build these ships, he had to clarify their purpose and requirements so that Wells knew which direction to take.

"Yes," Charles explained. "As far as I know, our forces are still using wooden boats for landings. They are not only slow but also very dangerous; they’re easily destroyed by the enemy in the water..."

Tigani, both shocked and excited, took the two sketches and looked at them again. He eagerly spoke up, "With these two ships, landings would be so much faster. How... how did you think of this? My God, they’re beautiful."

Tigani picked up the first sketch. "This one can quickly carry a large number of soldiers ashore. The iron plate in the front will provide cover for the soldiers. Once it reaches the shallow beach, it can drop down to act as a ramp for the soldiers to disembark!"

He then picked up the second sketch. "This one, if I’m not mistaken, can move both on land and at sea. Supplies can be directly delivered to the troops that have landed!"

Charles nodded, impressed by Tigani’s insight. He could tell just by looking that Tigani understood their function.

Wells looked at Tigani, then at Charles, and finally returned his gaze to the two sketches that he had initially thought were just "Charles' toys."

Seeing the designs and then considering what Tigani had said, it suddenly all clicked.

Wells felt a surge of admiration and had a new understanding of Charles' abilities. He was now certain of Charles' capabilities.

On the other hand, Wells felt a sense of relief. Tigani didn’t seem as useless as he had thought. It seemed like his time in the army had taught him something.

Seeing Wells lost in thought as he stared at the sketches, Charles asked, "Is there any difficulty in producing these two ships?"

"No, no!" Wells responded after examining them carefully. "There’s no difficulty at all. In fact, they are quite simple!"

Indeed, they were simple.

The first landing craft was essentially an engine encased in a hull.

The second amphibious landing ship might be a bit more complex, but the only challenge was managing the engine’s switch between the propeller and wheel drive. Everything else was already within existing technology.

"How many do you need?" Wells asked.

"Twenty of each!" Charles replied. "I need them delivered in two weeks."

"No problem!" Wells answered readily. For his shipyard, this was a piece of cake.

Charles added, "Due to the sudden nature of battlefield requirements, it’s top secret, sir!"

"Understood!" Wells answered confidently. "Before they are deployed on the battlefield, all the workers involved will be confined to the shipyard."

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