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

There was an unexpected incident today, so I can't make it in time. There might be only two chapters, and the other one will be released later, sorry!

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Shire asked Tijani, not without irony, "Do you understand design?"

"No, I don't." Tijani answered bluntly.

Shire asked again, "Do you understand mathematics?"

Tijani laughed, "I never passed my math exams!"

"Then what are you here for?"

Actually, Shire had already guessed the answer. This rich second-generation was here to "chase stars."

Tijani spread his hands, looking a bit aggrieved, "Come on, Colonel, I have resources, isn't that enough?"

Shire fell silent instantly. Having resources indeed was a talent, one that not everyone would be reborn with.

On closer thought, it was actually a good thing that Tijani knew nothing.

Because this meant he would need to hand over the problems to the technicians at the shipyard, and then "Shire plans to produce a Super Heavy Tank" would quickly spread around, including Shire's design drawings.

Thinking of this, Shire nodded slightly, indicating Tijani should sit in the chair in front of his desk.

He took a document out of his briefcase and handed it to Tijani, lightly patting it and lowering his voice, "This is the tank I want, General. It's a military secret."

"Understood, Colonel!" Tijani responded, flipping the document with great interest.

However, after just a glance, he looked at Shire in shock, "13 meters long, 3 meters wide, weighing 120 tons... This is a monster!"

The "Shire A1" was only 8 tons. This was more than ten times the size of the "Shire A1."

"Of course," Shire answered, "Because it's a monster, we need a naval technology advisor. I want to know if the design is feasible, like whether the steel can bear the weight of the hull, and what standard of tracks are needed to support around 120 tons."

"Colonel..." Tijani turned his puzzled gaze to the document, his tone a bit hesitant, "You don't really intend to produce this tank, do you?"

"Is there a problem?" Shire countered.

"No, it's not... not a problem." Tijani scratched his head, his eyes showing slight disappointment, "It seems I was wrong. After seeing the 'Shire A1,' I thought a tank should be like that, nothing better could be made. But now..."

Shire was a little surprised.

He didn't expect this rich second-generation, who seemed clueless, to have such insight.

Clearly, Tijani didn't have professional knowledge, but he seemed to "feel" the direction of tank development just by intuition, his thinking even ahead of Colonel Estiny.

Actually, Shire misunderstood. Tijani wasn't entirely relying on "intuition."

For ordinary people, research and development always involuntarily fall into the purpose of combat or making money. Tijani, however, elevated it to another level: he believed equipment R&D was an art, a process of human society's progress, a kind of violent beauty of war.

Perhaps because he stood on another level, he could see farther, clearer, and more ahead.

Only someone of Tijani's background could achieve this, because ordinary people couldn't see military equipment as toys or appreciate warships like a painting; they didn't have the conditions.

Shire didn't waste words with Tijani, "I just want to know the answer, General. Do you have a solution?"

"Of course I do." Tijani answered with a cheeky grin, "Rest assured, Colonel, I'll bring the design plan and the data you need tomorrow, ensuring your satisfaction!"

Shire "hmm"ed and turned to review a stack of telegrams just submitted by Major Fernan, seemingly telling Tijani: Go on with your business, see yourself out.

Tijani didn't leave, instead smiling apologetically as he approached, "Colonel, we've hit some snags with the torpedo improvement."

Shire didn't respond, continuing with his work. If torpedoes were easy, there'd be no need for your R&D.

Tijani, not minding being given the cold shoulder, acted as if nothing was wrong, slouching in his chair as he picked up a pencil, playing with it while talking to himself:

"The main difficulty is the complexity of the hydrological situation."

"After a torpedo is fired, it's easily affected by undercurrents, and we can't even predict the direction of the current, so its launching direction becomes uncontrollable."

"We've thought of many methods, like increasing the torpedo's speed or adding sensors for self-adjustment, but none have been ideal."

...

Although Shire didn't intend to listen, he was still drawn to Tijani's issues, his hands flipping through intelligence but his mind shifting.

This issue actually also occurred with artillery shells.

The difference was that airborne shells were affected by wind, and the wind's influence was obviously much smaller than the ocean currents.

On the other hand, in a local area and at a specific time, wind forces could be measured, like northwest wind, southeast wind, and their levels. Artillery could correct for wind deviation to achieve relatively accurate ballistic trajectories.

Torpedoes launched in the sea couldn't do that; ocean currents might even have whirlpools throwing the torpedo in another direction.

So there were cases in this period where a torpedo missed its target at a distance of 150 meters, or even hit its own warship after turning around.

(Note: Such an incident occurred with the Royal Navy in 1942)

In modern times, the significant leap in torpedoes occurred after adding gyroscopes, allowing them self-corrective navigation.

But there could be a simpler, more direct method...

Shire pondered for a moment, then answered, "We might be able to solve this problem using wire guidance."

"Wire guidance?" Tijani looked at Shire calmly, "You're talking about the Brenan Torpedo?"

This time, Shire was confused.

He had thought that when he proposed the advanced concept of wire-guided torpedoes, Tijani would exclaim, "Right, Colonel, we just need to add a wire at the tail of the torpedo to control its path to the target in the sea! You're amazing, how did none of us think of that!"

However...

Tijani's expression was merely a bit puzzled, and he mentioned a term Shire didn't know: "Brenan Torpedo."

Shire's reaction also surprised Tijani. His eyes flashed with a hint of astonishment and admiration, "My God, you don't know about the Brenan Torpedo, yet you still thought of using wire guidance to solve the accuracy problem."

Shire caught the implication of Tijani's words and paused his work to look at him, "General, you mean wire-guided torpedoes have already been invented?"

"Yes, Colonel!" Tijani nodded heavily, "It should have been... about twenty years ago, I'm not quite sure. The inventor was Ireland's Brenan, so it was named the 'Brenan Torpedo.'

Shire was a bit dizzy.

This was the Great War, he always thought the equipment of this era was primitive and backward. He didn't expect torpedoes to have evolved to wire guidance, a guiding technology still used in the present day.

Then Shire found it odd, "If such torpedoes exist, why are there still accuracy problems?"

Shire was implying: why don't you just use them?

Tijani shook his head, "It has significant limitations, Colonel. Many of us are still discussing whether to use this method."

(Above is the Brenan Torpedo, invented in 1887. The long rod on the torpedo body is used for observing its position, with wires connected at the rear for powering and controlling it)