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

Chapter 632: Free Market Bidding

Shire’s planned supply quantity also startled Dejoka.

"Ten thousand units." Shire said, "Additionally, long-term ammunition supply."

"Ten thousand units?" Dejoka was stunned and after a while he said, "Shire, each unit loses about 10 US Dollars, which means ten thousand units will cost 100,000 US Dollars."

"It’s worth it, father." Shire replied, "And this is just the first batch, we might provide more depending on the situation later."

"Are you sure?" Dejoka swallowed hard.

"Sure." Shire’s tone was firm.

Dejoka had no choice but to prepare the telegram and send it to Joseph according to Shire’s instructions.

Shire knew what the situation was in the United States.

At that time, the United States was in an era where gangs were rampant, and these gangs had grown to be large, standardized, and even quasi-military, with some factions having tens of thousands of members.

(The image above is of the American mafia boss John Morris, who was also a senator. At that time, American mafia bosses often gained enough popularity to be elected as senators, blending both legitimate and illegitimate power. After Roosevelt took office, he started to crack down on the gangs that were flourishing everywhere, arresting more than 5,000 gang leaders.)

These ten thousand Galland Rifles sold at half price to civilians would undoubtedly strengthen the gangs, while the United States Army only had 130,000 soldiers armed with Springfield rifles, lacking light machine guns and submachine guns.

It is easy to imagine that once a conflict breaks out, even if the army is dispatched, it would be difficult to counter the gangs equipped with Galland Rifles.

By then, would the U.S. military still refrain from equipping themselves with Galland Rifles?

Shire could even make the gangs and the government bid against each other to buy these rifles.

Isn’t it all about free competition?

Isn’t it about respecting the market?

Then let the highest bidder win.

Yes, let’s do that. When the time comes, don’t kneel and beg me!

Thinking about it, Shire added, "Additionally, share some tactical strategies for the Galland Rifle with civilians, such as the tactic of three rifles suppressing a machine gun by taking turns to shoot, and preferably share some tactics on alternating fire and coordinated combat."

Dejoka listened, looking bewildered.

These are battlefield tactics, yet Shire wants to share them with American civilians—what use could that possibly have?

But Shire was thinking in his heart: Godfathers, it’s up to you now, you must do well!

As Shire and Dejoka continued discussing other equipment developments, a phone call came in.

Dejoka picked up the phone and listened for a while, then covered the receiver and turned to Shire with a proud look on his face: "The guard at the door called. General Winter wants to see you."

Dejoka didn’t know who this General Winter was, but the guard informed him that it was a naval vice admiral, a Royal Navy vice admiral.

God, a Royal Navy vice admiral actually came here to see Shire.

Could it be that Shire’s reputation has spread to Britain? And that’s the world’s strongest Royal Navy!

Dejoka originally thought Shire would be surprised or flattered and then quickly stand up and go out to greet him.

Unexpectedly, Shire just replied indifferently, "Let him in!"

Dejoka was stunned: "You, this... Is he your friend?"

He worried that Shire’s behavior was too indifferent and might offend the Royal Navy vice admiral.

His meaning was that Shire should be more polite.

However, Shire still didn’t care: "Not really a friend, helped him win a few battles, this time he must be here to ask for help again."

Dejoka’s eyes widened in shock, the Royal Navy actually needed Shire’s help in fighting?

Could he have misheard?

But what happened next made Dejoka have to believe Shire’s words.

General Winter walked in with a smile, holding a gift in his hand, and warmly shook Dejoka’s hand as he entered:

"Hello, Mr. Dejoka."

"I’m Shire’s friend. Sorry for the unannounced visit."

"This is a gift for you, a token of my respect!"

Dejoka did not know what to do with the gift box in his hand. He looked at Shire and saw Shire nodding before he dared to accept it.

After Dejoka left and opened it, he found it was a valuable pocket watch from Switzerland.

However, the key point was not the value of the pocket watch; at this point, Dejoka didn’t care about such money.

The important thing was that Shire was interacting with people of this level, and Shire even considered it not worth treating him as a friend.

Dejoka couldn’t help but sigh in his heart, Shire now seemed to have reached a level difficult for him to imagine.

...

In the office, Shire as the host served General Winter a cup of coffee and coldly asked, "What do you want?"

"Come on, Shire." General Winter said, "When did we become strangers?"

"I think it’s better to remain strangers." Shire sat back on his chair, "As you said, we each have our interests. Sometimes we’re friends, sometimes we’re enemies. I find it hard to switch as smoothly as you do."

"I just separate private and public matters." General Winter defended himself.

"Then," Shire asked, "you didn’t come here for personal matters today, did you?"

"Of course." General Winter nodded.

He had come from London, obviously not for friendship.

Shire spread his hands.

Isn’t that clear? Talking business means being rivals, potential enemies.

General Winter looked helpless: "Alright, remember the encryption machine we retrieved from the German submarine in the Dadarli Strait?"

"Of course." Shire leisurely responded with his coffee, then paused and asked, "Is there something wrong with it?"

"Yes." General Winter sighed, "The Germans have changed the encryption."

"That was bound to happen." Shire remained unfazed, "You should have been more covert; that way it might have lasted another year or so."

Then he seemed to remember something, and he lifted his head with a feigned surprise: "You weren’t hoping to use that encryption machine to thwart the German Navy’s breakout, were you?"

General Winter smiled bitterly: "You guessed it. It’s our most powerful asset. We could decode their plans and even locate their fleet through the encryption machine. But now..."

"No wonder you were so confident last time." Shire seemed to gloat, "But, I believe the world’s strongest navy must have a way to solve it, am I wrong?"

General Winter could clearly hear the sarcasm in Shire’s words but he didn’t mind.

If it were someone else, General Winter would have been outraged and might even resort to a duel to defend his honor.

But Shire has the right to mock anyone.

"I’m here to seek cooperation, Shire." General Winter stared at Shire, showing sincerity: "As you said, teamwork between the Royal Navy and the French Navy."

Shire continued to act clueless: "Shouldn’t you discuss this with the Minister of the Navy?"

"I’ve already talked to him." General Winter shrugged: "He has no objections. But I know, the most important person is you!"