novelraw Chapter 614 "Echo Detector" Intellectual Property Rights
Chapter 614 "Echo Detector" Intellectual Property Rights
Hasselt, Belgium.
After several days of "cleaning up," the surrounded German Army had mostly surrendered, and the siege of Antwerp was naturally resolved.
Albert I and Major General Eden were busy collecting prisoners and checking spoils of war town by town.
However, they were very thorough in their manners, reporting to Shire every time they recovered a place and sending detailed lists of the spoils to Shire’s headquarters without missing a single item. They only dared to use and distribute them after getting Shire’s signature.
From Shire’s perspective, this was unnecessary.
In principle, Albert I and Major General Eden, as well as the entire Belgian Army, were not his subordinates and did not need to follow his orders, but Albert I insisted on doing so.
That noon, Shire, chewing on bread to stave off hunger while signing documents at headquarters, couldn’t help but complain, "My God, doesn’t he know this increases my burden? Signing orders alone is nearly crippling me!"
The 6th Army Group Commander already had numerous tasks, and with the hundreds of thousands of Belgians, the regular army alone numbered nearly 500,000, not to mention the 800,000 militia.
As Tijani was eating a can of vegetables, he laughed, "I think it’s a smart move."
"What?" Shire didn’t understand Tijani’s meaning.
He thought Albert I, considering Belgium’s independence, should try everything to keep military power in his own hands. This was one of the reasons Shire tried to control the FN Arms Factory.
However, Tijani had a different idea, "He’s already recognized you, General. You’re the only one who can guarantee Belgium’s safety, both now and in the future."
"In the future?" Shire looked at Tijani, puzzled.
"Yes." Tijani nodded.
With a gloomy face, he mixed the indistinguishable mush in his can with a spoon, finding the taste and appearance hard to swallow.
He forced down a spoonful, swallowing it like medicine, almost vomiting from the disgust, and after a while, he looked up with a pale face and said, "Think about it, General. Belgium is wedged between England, Germany, and France. It must have a solid backer, and that backer is you."
Shire seemed to understand.
Germany would be a defeated nation in the future, and Britain’s strength lay in its navy. From Belgium’s perspective, the bet had to be placed on France.
And if one had to choose a faction in France, it had to be Shire.
This might be the main reason Albert I was desperately trying to win him over.
Shire felt his previous actions had been a bit redundant. He had previously tried to control Belgium by controlling the FN Arms Factory, which now seemed unnecessary.
At this moment, a staff officer brought a telegram, sent by Fuxu through Wei Gang: "We have mostly shaken off British control, continue to maintain naval superiority, and do not let other forces get involved in the ’Echo Detector,’ any forces."
Shire casually stuffed the telegram into his pocket. This "private telegram" did not need Tijani to know.
"Business matters?" Tijani was indifferent.
"Yes," Shire responded.
Just as Shire was putting away the unfinished bread, ready to end his meal, another telegram was brought: "General, the Minister of the Navy is negotiating with Professor Fursden about purchasing the industrial rights of the ’Echo Detector.’ In addition, the British have sent representatives, seemingly interested in buying it as well."
Shire was taken aback; he had expected the British would do this but hadn’t considered the French Navy would have the same idea.
Tijani reminded, "It’s not the French Navy, General, it’s the Parliament."
Shire instantly understood. Once the patent falls into the hands of the Navy, the ’Echo Detector’ would be controlled by the Parliament, not Shire.
The Parliament finally knew what the key issue was.
...
At the Brest Shipyard, Professor Fursden had his own laboratory.
The laboratory was grand, equipped with a simulated testing platform converted from an indoor swimming pool, allowing many experiments to be completed indoors without being affected by the elements.
Professor Fursden and his assistants were intensely working on improvements to the ’Echo Detector.’
From the data returned from real battles, while the ’Echo Detector’ had achieved significant victories, sinking 12 submarines in its first battle and another 5 subsequently, surpassing all previous sub sinkings combined.
(Note: During World War I, Germany lost a total of 199 submarines, most sunk after the sonar was equipped.)
However, Professor Fursden knew this was far from enough.
"The biggest shortcoming is the detection range," Professor Fursden set the next target for the laboratory, "The insufficient range increases the difficulty of tracking submarines, combined with unstable signals and errors, making our warships prone to losing targets."
"Professor," someone objected, "But from the battle data, the probability of losing targets is not high."
"Fool," Professor Fursden scolded unceremoniously, "That’s because the Germans didn’t know about the ’Echo Detector.’ Their submarines always fled in straight lines underwater instead of evading. Once they know about it, it won’t be the same data you see now."
Professor Fursden had personally boarded ships and discussed the use of the ’Echo Detector’ with sailors, captains, and operators.
He believed this was the only way to truly understand combat needs and make the ’Echo Detector’ more perfect.
As Professor Fursden and his assistants were discussing improvements at the desk, several naval officers entered the laboratory, led by a grandly uniformed admiral.
Noticing the disturbance, Professor Fursden looked up and was slightly startled by the scene, quickly setting aside his work to greet them.
The admiral rushed forward to shake hands with Professor Fursden: "Hello, Professor. Let me introduce myself, I am the Minister of the Navy of France. Thank you very much for your invention, it has greatly contributed to the battlefield."
Professor Fursden sensitively detected the insincerity of the admiral’s praise and knew it wasn’t the real reason for his visit.
Because it had been more than ten days since the ’Echo Detector’ achieved its great victory; if praise and awards were the intent, the navy should have been here long ago.
Nonetheless, Professor Fursden politely responded, "It’s what I should do, General."
The Minister of the Navy glanced around and asked, "Can we talk alone?"
"Of course," Professor Fursden welcomed the admiral into the conference room.
In the large space of the conference room, aside from the professor and the minister, there was also the minister’s staff officer holding a briefcase.
The admiral got straight to the point: "I heard the industrial rights to the ’Echo Detector’ are in your hands?"
"Yes," Professor Fursden nodded.
This was one of the conditions of his collaboration with Shire.
But soon, Professor Fursden shook his head: "But not entirely, General. I originally intended to use it for iceberg detection. Detecting submarines was Shire’s idea, and I believe Shire should at least hold part of the rights!"