I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France

Chapter 619: If Quantity Can’t Keep Up, Consider Quality

After seeing off General Winter, Shire immediately went to find Wells.

Wells had a small villa within the shipyard, built by the sea, with one side overlooking the naval port and the other stretching into the endless ocean.

Wells enjoyed standing on the balcony, feeling the sea breeze and watching the warships he handled sail one by one into the ocean to conquer the world.

It was only at such times that he felt the power, strength, and security.

However, every time Wells thought of the fact that Britain was just across the way, these feelings would drastically diminish, sometimes disappearing altogether.

That afternoon, after returning from the factory, Wells stood on the balcony as usual, gazing at the sea.

He silently looked towards the other end of the ocean, with a pipe in his mouth, standing still in the cold wind like a statue.

The French Navy had declined, now barely ranking fifth in the world.

(During the First World War, the naval rankings were: Britain, Germany, the United States, Japan, France)

It seemed decent being the fifth in the world, but Wells knew this wouldn’t suffice.

Because the French Navy was always suppressed by the Royal Navy, just like the German Navy, being unable to accomplish anything.

The only difference was that the German Navy was directly blockaded, whereas the French Navy was indirectly blockaded.

"Sir." At this moment, a butler approached Wells, cautiously bowing and saying, "Someone wishes to see you. It is General Shire; he is waiting outside."

Wells was startled, his once lifeless face suddenly coming alive with vigor, like a blossoming flower: "Please, bring him in quickly!"

In fact, there was no need to invite him, as Wells had already walked briskly outside to greet him personally.

As soon as he saw Shire, he enthusiastically shook Shire’s hand, his eyes gleaming with surprise: "Very pleased to see you, General. This is your first time at the shipyard, isn’t it? You should have told me in advance so that I could be prepared."

"No need, Mr. Wells," Shire replied.

A general like Shire avoided exposing his itinerary, something a businessman like Wells couldn’t understand.

The two sat down in front of the sofa, and Wells dismissed the servants, personally pouring a glass of red wine for Shire.

"Would you like something to eat?" Wells asked. "I’ll have the servants prepare it right away."

He knew from Tijani that the army had been having poor rations lately.

"No," Shire declined, wanting to complete his business as soon as possible without wasting time.

Shire recounted the attempt by the Minister of the Navy and General Winter to purchase industrial and production rights.

Wells seemed taken aback as he opened his eyes wide, saying with lingering fear, "If the rights to the ’Echo Detector’ are bought by them, the Brest Shipyard would be finished."

Shire found it strange.

He understood why the ’Echo Detector’ couldn’t fall into British hands, but didn’t understand why it would threaten the shipyard’s existence if bought by the Minister of the Navy.

Wells explained:

"France has another shipyard in the south, the Toulon Shipyard, General."

"The Minister of the Navy intends to shift the focus to the Toulon Shipyard."

"Because the Brest Shipyard mainly deals with the Atlantic, while Toulon Shipyard addresses the Mediterranean."

Shire suddenly understood.

Facing the immense Royal Navy in the Atlantic, the French Navy deemed it impossible to compete, thus contemplating withdrawal.

Abandoning this side would allow them to focus on the Mediterranean.

After all, the Mediterranean only had to deal with minor opponents, where the French Navy could once again be number one.

Shire smiled, "If this is done, the French Navy will never catch up with Britain."

Already weak, splitting their forces and moving the focus to the comparatively quieter Mediterranean was akin to surrendering.

"Yes," Wells sighed helplessly. "But it seems unavoidable."

"Do you also believe France cannot compete with Britain?" Shire asked.

"The navy is different from the army, General," Wells explained solemnly. "It requires long-term accumulation, years, decades, even centuries, unlike the army which can use advanced equipment and exceptional tactics to secure victory."

With tonnage being key and naval battles often being direct ship-to-ship conflicts, without industrial capabilities and resources, everything is like a castle in the air.

And currently, France, affected by the great war, was severely lacking in resources, with naval construction nearly at a standstill.

Wells then added:

"Sorry, General. You might not want to hear this, but it’s the truth."

"Even if we have more advanced torpedoes and the ’Echo Detector,’ it still won’t change the situation."

"For instance, now, our navy can only participate in limited combat under the command of the Royal Navy, and there are even risks."

Shire looked at Wells puzzled, "Risks?"

Wells nodded helplessly, "The British are not as simple as you think, General Winter said they could ’handle it themselves,’ and did you think about how they would do that?"

Shire didn’t respond; it was confidential, and he didn’t trust Wells to know the details.

Wells raised his glass and clinked it lightly with Shire’s, "What I can think of is our warships suffering certain accidents during missions, like being sunk by German submarines or hitting mines, etc. Such incidents are unavoidable, don’t you agree?"

Shire understood, "Then, the British could obtain the ’Echo Detector’?"

Wells made a sound of agreement and retorted, "Why not? They can be prepared and ’rescue’ it at the fastest speed and then destroy the evidence through a controlled explosion. What can we do?"

Shire fell silent; this was something he hadn’t considered.

But it was indeed possible, and highly likely.

In the face of national interests, especially with the ability to almost completely be controlled and blockaded by Shire’s forces at stake, such petty tricks were nothing.

Especially when dealing with the "Minister of Military Supplies," who was notorious for being shameless.

After thinking for a while, Shire thoughtfully said:

"It seems necessary to remind Professor Fursden that we should install self-destruct devices."

"It doesn’t need much explosive, just enough to destroy the core areas."

Wells’ eyes lit up, self-destruct devices? A great idea, this way, the British would face significant difficulties in acquiring this technology.

But Wells’ expression soon turned gloomy again, "The more critical issue is that our steel and coal mines have long been under German control, which widens the gap with Britain, making competition seem unrealistic."

Britain had American loans, and as its homeland was not a battleground, its mines remained unaffected, hence their situation was much better than that of France.

Shire nodded in understanding but did not give up.

"If we cannot match them in quantity, we can consider quality," Shire said.

"Quality?" Wells looked at Shire, puzzled.

He didn’t understand who could surpass Britain in warship construction?