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

Shire didn't interfere much in the formation of the new party, nor was it appropriate for him to do so. As long as this party was established on the basis of supporting him in the future, it was enough.

After this was settled, Shire turned his attention back to tanks.

He instructed Estiny not to tell anyone about the "tank development direction," including the military.

Estiny initially found this incomprehensible: "But Colonel, if we don't inform the military, won't they possibly develop in the wrong direction?"

However, Estiny quickly understood that Shire didn't want Schneider and other competitors to learn about the development direction and get ahead.

After weighing it, Estiny nodded in agreement.

After all, the Shire Tractor Factory was the one manufacturing tanks for France. As long as Shire and Estiny knew the development direction, France wouldn't go the wrong way.

What Estiny didn't know was that his view was "judging others' hearts by his own small mind."

...

The next day, the first thing Shire did after returning to the City Defense Headquarters was to make a request to Gallieni.

"General." Shire said seriously, "I hope to transfer a technical advisor from the naval shipyard to assist us in our work."

"Shipyard?" Gallieni looked at Shire with a peculiar expression, "You don't intend to build warships, do you?"

"No, General." Shire replied, "In fact, I want to build tanks. You should know I have two models of tanks."

Gallieni nodded, one was the "Mark I" and the other was the "Shire A1."

"But..." Gallieni was puzzled, "Isn't the 'Mark I' tank supposed to be phased out?"

"No, General." Shire answered confidently, "On the contrary, it's not only not being phased out, but we also need to upgrade it further."

"Upgrade?" Gallieni was confused, "Will we still use the 'Mark I' in the future?"

"Of course." Shire explained earnestly, "Both tanks have their strengths: the 'Shire A1' is fast and highly mobile, but its armor is thin and it lacks the space for large-caliber artillery. While the 'Mark I,' despite its slow speed and logistical challenges, can bear thicker armor and potentially mount large-caliber artillery, which is advantageous for assaulting or destroying enemy bunkers."

Gallieni believed this right away. After all, what Shire said seemed to make sense.

However, after pondering for a moment, Gallieni asked, "What does this have to do with the shipyard's technical advisor?"

"We will need to make the 'Mark I' larger, General." Shire explained, "Its size and weight may be several times that of the current 'Mark I', which will make it more like a ship. Issues like balance and the stress distribution of the chassis will be similar to shipbuilding."

Gallieni nodded and straightforwardly agreed, "I'll contact the shipyard immediately..."

"No, General." Shire interrupted, reminding him, "For confidentiality reasons, it's best if the technical advisor is from the military!"

Gallieni agreed it made sense and nodded, "No problem, I'll notify the Ministry of the Navy to send someone."

After that, Shire let things develop as they would.

He wasn't really planning to upgrade the 'Mark I'.

France already had the 'Shire A1' tanks with turrets. If any upgrades were needed, it would be for the 'Shire A1'. Upgrading the 'Mark I' was redundant.

But Colonel Estiny had reminded Shire.

It was actually Schneider's "light tank" that reminded Shire: If Schneider would develop light tanks in response to the 'Shire A1', wouldn't the Germans have similar ideas?

The Germans had ample reasons to develop light tanks:

The A7V they developed at great expense — packed with cannons and machine guns and requiring 18 operators — was easily defeated by small tanks operated by just two.

More importantly, Germany was France's enemy, and they had no concerns about "industrial property rights."

So why wait? Of course, they would copy the 'Shire A1'!

Germany was clearly more formidable than Schneider: they had a stronger industrial base, a more comprehensive talent pool, and more reliable research directions. They'd even used suspension on the A7V.

And anything Germany developed would be used on the battlefield, where it would face off against the 'Shire A1'.

So, regardless of public or private interests, Shire needed to create a "trap" for the Germans.

The most reliable "trap" was undeniably the "Super Heavy Tank."

The Germans seemed to have a particular obsession with "super heavy" things, like "Big Bertha" and later the "Paris Cannon," and even the "Gustav" giant cannon during World War II. In tanks, Germany even developed the "Maus" in World War II.

With this in mind, Shire believed it would be easy to steer German tank development toward "super heavy" tanks. The challenge was how to pass this information to the Germans discreetly.

Shire thought of the spy, Hari.

He also thought of the Minister of the Navy.

If he could get someone from the Ministry of the Navy, could the information about the "Super Heavy Tank" be passed to the Germans through them?

That's why he made the request to Gallieni.

Shire wasn't sure if he would succeed, but "man proposes, God disposes." He would just wait to see what tanks the Germans would bring to the battlefield.

In fact, Gallieni was puzzled by Shire's request.

He knew about Shire's relationship with Wells. Not long ago, Shire had even saved Wells' son, Tijani, and Wells had special privileges in the navy. Getting someone through Wells would have been a simple matter, yet Shire had chosen to take the long route and contact the Ministry of the Navy through him.

However, this thought only flashed briefly through Gallieni's mind.

He simply assumed that Shire was trying to keep his distance from Wells by doing so.

...

Soon, Shire realized that things weren't as simple as he had thought.

That afternoon, Shire was surprised to find Tijani in front of him.

Tijani was panting heavily, seemingly having run up the stairs, and said cheerfully, "Reporting to you, Colonel!"

"What are you doing here?" Shire asked in bewilderment.

Then he glanced at the guards in confusion. They shouldn't have let Tijani in.

Since the reorganization of the Headquarters, it had been forbidden for "unauthorized personnel" to enter freely, including officers.

Tijani smiled faintly and handed a document to Shire, "This is the transfer order, Colonel! Didn't you need a naval technical advisor? I'm honored to serve you!"

"You, you're the technical advisor sent by the navy?" Shire looked at Tijani with difficulty.

This guy had clearly pulled some strings to "secure" this position. Otherwise, there's no way a naval technical advisor would send an army major general.

Tijani generously admitted it and shrugged, "Don't underestimate me, Colonel. I might be the all-round technical advisor."

Then he added, "No matter what problem it is, I can find someone to help you solve it!"