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

Chapter 620: The Navy’s Asymmetric Tactics

Shire did not directly answer Wells. Instead, he asked, "Mr. Wells, before we proceed, I want to confirm one thing: Do you have a reliable research and development team?"

"Of course, General." Wells responded confidently, "I have a research and development team that is under my full control; even the military has no authority to intervene."

Shire nodded.

This is a characteristic of private ownership countries, where the patents and technology of equipment are often in the hands of big capitalists rather than the state.

The big capitalists are not stupid; they know that as long as they hold on to these technologies, they can sell a bag of screws for 90,000 US Dollars and a shell for 800,000 US Dollars, just like the modern United States.

Therefore, they ensure the utmost secrecy, even if it sometimes requires making their own people "commit suicide."

"Then, I think we can improve the fire control system," Shire replied. "The fire control system on our warships is currently bi-directionally stabilized, correct?"

"Yes." A look of surprise flashed across Wells’s eyes. Shire actually knew about the bi-directionally stabilized fire control system?

But on second thought, it seemed normal.

Shire was not just a general, but also a genius inventor. He had recently invented the landing craft, the amphibious landing ship, and had in-depth research on torpedoes. Knowing about the bi-directionally stabilized fire control system was not surprising.

Shire revealed the answer, "We should invest in developing a tri-directionally stabilized fire control system to improve the accuracy of naval guns."

"Tri-directional stabilization?" Wells’s admiration for Shire grew. Even he, who had been involved in shipbuilding for years, had never heard of it.

"Yes." Shire felt a bit thirsty, took a sip of his wine, and continued, "We all know that ’pitch’ also affects gun accuracy. So, a bi-directionally stabilized system is not enough, far from enough."

Wells looked at Shire with admiration. The influence of ’pitch’ on gun accuracy was still being explored and validated, even many researchers knew little about it. He did not expect Shire to know.

What Wells didn’t know was that Shire was deliberately misleading him.

The third factor affecting gun accuracy was not ’pitch,’ but ’roll.’

After the war, the Germans mistakenly thought it was ’pitch,’ and thus couldn’t improve accuracy much until they realized it was ’roll’ six years later.

Shire did this intentionally to hold back Wells.

He knew the nature of capitalists was profit-driven. Expecting them to be ’loyal’ was unrealistic, even foolish.

Therefore, Shire needed to release a ’long line’ to keep these capitalists or their technology firmly in his grasp.

More importantly, if the Germans or British heard any rumors, they would be misled by Shire’s mention of ’pitch.’

If necessary, Shire could then decisively suggest, "Oh, how about we change the third factor to target ’roll’?"

This wouldn’t take much time, but the effect would be immediate, and Shire would always have the upper hand.

Wells nodded thoughtfully, "If this technology is successfully developed, it could indeed enhance the quality of our navy, even a qualitative leap."

This was the difference between hitting and missing in naval warfare, potentially making one French Navy ship equal in firepower to two or even three others.

Given the inability to build more ships, it was indeed a way to enhance strength.

But then Wells slowly shook his head and spoke in a heavy tone, "It seems feasible, General. But development takes time, and once developed, all gun fire control systems would need upgrading, which also takes time. Upgrading large battleship guns, in particular, might be difficult or even impossible. This could..."

Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst.

In contrast, shifting the strategic focus to Toulon was still more realistic.

"We will upgrade only the destroyers." Shire interrupted Wells.

"Only the destroyers?" Wells frowned.

Upgrading only the destroyers might be much simpler, but when facing the heavily armored battleships, whether the destroyer guns were accurate or not seemed to make little difference.

(Note: At this time, destroyers generally had small tonnage, and their small-caliber guns struggled to inflict effective damage on battleships.)

"Have you heard of asymmetrical warfare?" Shire asked calmly.

Wells was puzzled. He was a businessman, and although experienced in shipbuilding, he knew little about tactics. "Asymmetrical warfare" was unheard of to him.

"Simply put," Shire explained, "it involves maximizing one’s advantage in a particular aspect during war and then using that advantage to completely defeat the corresponding enemy units. The opponent will then be severely constrained due to the significant lack of those units, ultimately reducing their overall combat capability, leading to a comprehensive passive beating."

Wells seemed to understand but also didn’t understand, "But this doesn’t seem relevant to our conflict with the Royal Navy."

Shire reminded, "By upgrading only the destroyers, giving them more accurate guns and new torpedoes, they can form an overwhelming advantage over the Royal Navy’s destroyers and Thunder Strike Ships (torpedo boats)."

Wells suddenly awoke, "General, you mean we can use our destroyers to completely defeat the Royal Navy’s destroyers and Thunder Strike ships?"

"Yes." Shire nodded, then asked, "Accomplishing this isn’t difficult, is it?"

Wells hesitated for a moment, then confidently replied, "It’s not difficult. Our destroyers are faster than battleships, allowing us to stay out of their range. If the British Army sends destroyers to chase us, they will be sunk by our destroyers’ absolute advantage in guns and torpedoes."

"Then," Shire smiled gently, "you can imagine the scenario where the British Royal Fleet loses most of their destroyers and even Thunder Strike ships, thereby expanding our victories."

Wells suddenly realized, "Then we can use destroyers and Thunder Strike ships to encircle and attack the enemy’s battleships and cruisers."

The logic was simple. At this time, battleships feared Thunder Strike ships, as even the strongest and most advanced battleships could succumb to a single well-placed hit.

Yet the giant guns on battleships had a tough time dealing with the fast and small Thunder Strike ships. Their penetration power and impact were almost useless, like using a cannon to shoot mosquitoes. Even if they managed to sink a few by chance, the loss for the French Fleet would be negligible.

Destroyers were the nemesis of Thunder Strike ships; they were fast and equipped with small to medium-caliber guns that were more effective against Thunder Strike ships.

But if the French Fleet’s destroyers could crush the British destroyers and completely defeat them, it would trigger a series of cascading effects, ultimately leading to the total collapse of the seemingly powerful British Royal Fleet.

Wells stood up abruptly, visibly excited, even his breathing became rapid.

This indeed seemed like a plan—a great and brilliant plan.

But he quickly calmed down, "But General, if the British adopt a remote blockade strategy like they did against Germany, we might not be able to use such asymmetric warfare tactics."