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

Chapter 722: After modification - 722 Artillery Equipment

In the end, Shire finalized the deal at a unit price of 1.6 million US dollars.

A warship with a displacement of over 3000 tons was only 100 thousand US dollars more expensive than the 2000-ton warship produced by Brest Shipyard, which was practically a steal.

Shire knew he had gained a great advantage, but he pretended to be reluctant: "Alright, 1.6 million US dollars, but..."

Shire hesitated for a moment.

Miyamoto Jiro’s heart sank, was there something else he was dissatisfied with?

Shire’s demands were indeed stringent, worthy of being "France’s Mars," meticulous about warfare!

Miyamoto Jiro bowed nervously in response: "If you have any additional requests, sir, please feel free to bring them forward. We will do our utmost to fulfill them."

Shire nodded lightly: "Mr. Ming Yuan, you know, we typically divide our warships into three fleets, so the ideal number is 12 ships instead of 10."

Dividing 12 ships into three fleets means each fleet has 4 ships, while 10 ships cannot be allocated properly.

Shire’s intention in saying this was to inform Miyamoto Jiro: I am not seeking to take advantage of you, but rather to meet actual combat requirements.

Miyamoto Jiro was momentarily stunned.

He understood clearly, Shire wanted to increase the order.

As long as there was profit to be made, Miyamoto Jiro wouldn’t even furrow his brows.

However, the unit price of 1.6 million US dollars was not even enough to cover the costs, Neon would have to subsidize, all for the sake of fostering friendly relations with France and getting closer to Shire.

Now, they actually wanted to add 2 ships?

"What’s the matter? Is there a problem?" Shire’s face darkened as he asked coldly: "If it’s difficult, Mr. Ming Yuan doesn’t need to trouble yourself."

"No, no, there’s no problem, no problem." Miyamoto Jiro quickly responded: "12 ships, of course, we need 12 ships."

A small failure can ruin a great strategy, seeing that success was within reach, how could he let it slip away because of a mere 2 warships?

Besides, carefully calculating, the loss of tens of thousands per ship wasn’t a considerable amount.

"Hmm, that’s settled then." Shire signed the contract with satisfaction.

Shire had originally thought of upgrading the destroyers to 3000 ton-class later, as increasing the displacement of destroyers was the future direction.

Now, with Neon’s proactive upgrade of the destroyers, it saved the development of the navy a significant amount of time and space.

After putting away the contract, Miyamoto Jiro nodded and smiled apologetically:

"Sir, there’s just one thing I must explain to you in advance."

"The cruisers we produce for you will not be equipped with naval command instruments, range clocks, or gunnery equipment."

"It’s not that we are unwilling, but our gunnery equipment is outdated. I believe your country would prefer to install your own."

(Above image shows a white "disc" at the top of the mast, which is the "range clock," usually installed either on the front and back or on all four sides)

(Above image shows a "range clock," a product of outdated communication equipment from WWI. The mechanical rangefinder measures the target distance and displays it across the ship’s artillery via mechanical linkage through the "range clock." The gunners set the parameters based on the displayed distance. It was advanced equipment during WWI, but Neon only produced its first type 4 "range clock" in 1915)

Shire responded with an "Hmm," not giving it much thought.

He knew that at this moment, Neon was relatively behind in terms of gunnery.

The reason was that Neon had won the war against Russia in 1905.

Russia was an ally of Britain, and though Neon was also an ally of Britain, Britain considered the balance of power in the Far East and thus stopped disclosing, exporting any gunnery concepts, designs, and equipment to Neon from 1909 onwards.

(Note: This is a common tactic employed by Britain. In regions where multiple powers are engaged in a balance-of-power struggle, Britain’s control is strengthened by aiding the losing side. Conversely, the winning side will face technological embargoes from Britain)

This left Neon about 10 years behind Europe in terms of gunnery.

"You just need to build the ships well." Shire responded: "We will handle the gunnery equipment ourselves."

"Yes, sir." Miyamoto Jiro nodded.

After a pause, he said hesitantly: "But we need to know their dimensions and reserve space. Ideally, sir, if you could provide us with a set of equipment, we’d be able to settle this perfectly."

Shire finally realized the complexity, Miyamoto Jiro’s roundabout explanation was actually aiming to obtain France’s gunnery equipment.

Shire responded briskly: "No problem, I’ll arrange for someone to send you a set."

This was a tactic to divide the Neon-Britain alliance, showing Neon that what Britain couldn’t provide, France could.

Besides, it wasn’t a significant item, it would soon be rendered obsolete with the development of communication equipment.

Using it to secure Neon’s "cooperation," why not?

Miyamoto Jiro was overjoyed: "Thank you, sir, thank you very much!"

"However," Shire added: "You must ensure that no one knows, including the Minister of the Navy, understand?"

This was a message to Neon, indicating that many in France were aligned with Britain, but Shire was not; he could only cooperate with Shire.

"Understood." Miyamoto Jiro nodded repeatedly, eyes filled with gratitude.

Indeed, this transaction was worth it; Neon might break Britain’s years-long embargo because of it.

...

Just as Miyamoto Jiro left, Wells showed up, accompanied by Admiral Gephardt.

He was still uneasy about Shire’s ability to "sway" the Minister of the Navy’s decision, as it concerned the fate of Brest Shipyard. He dared not take any chances.

Thus, he sought out Admiral Gephardt.

He said to Admiral Gephardt: "I do not doubt Shire’s capabilities, but Shire has to face the Minister of the Navy and parliamentarians, generals, all alone, without any naval power to assist him."

Admiral Gephardt found it reasonable.

After all, Shire was a Vice Admiral; although he had led naval commands and won a victory, the direct command in the North Sea battle was Admiral Gephardt’s; Shire’s reputation in the navy was still nascent.

If this matter were to be discussed in parliament, Shire might face "professional challenges" from the Minister of the Navy and others.

But with Admiral Gephardt and Wells assisting him, it would be much better.

The former representing the navy, and the latter representing the shipyard, they could handle any specialized naval issues.

Only when they arrived in Paris did they find nothing had happened.

More precisely, it wasn’t that nothing happened—the parliament was fiercely debating the affairs of the Meuse River battle, completely devoid of any agenda about Neon’s shipbuilding.

"Do they consider this a minor matter?" Admiral Gephardt said with dissatisfaction: "They don’t even bother bringing it to parliament."

"Not a minor matter." Wells, who had long been involved in parliament, responded calmly: "But it’s not a hotspot compared to the Meuse River battle, understand?"

Admiral Gephardt suddenly understood.

The parliamentarians follow the hotspots, as only this way can they attract voters’ attention, rather than dealing with more significant matters.