I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France
Chapter 169: Mortar Fire

Chapter 169: Chapter 169: Mortar Fire

(The image above shows a large-caliber, short-barreled mortar used by the German Army during World War I. It requires four people to move it with wheels, and it cannot be disassembled. The German soldiers in the picture are wearing the 1916 helmets.) (If the review takes a long time, you might see a surprise Chapter next time.)

During this period, mortars already existed.

The Germans used a large-caliber, short-barreled mortar that had a curved trajectory, allowing it to fire shells into the trenches of the Allies.

However, it looked like a mortar but conceptually was completely different from a mortar.

It was actually a howitzer, with a trigger, requiring charging, and was a breech-loading artillery piece, essentially a fixed artillery position on the battlefield, making it hard to move.

The design Shire proposed was a true mortar: the Stokes mortar invented by the British in 1915.

Shire knew that Steed did not completely understand, as the mortar was not as simple as he thought.

But that didn’t matter; Shire didn’t need to explain too clearly.

"We need to keep its weight under 50 kilograms!" Shire briefly introduced: "During wartime, it should be transferable by two people and can be disassembled into three parts, carried by three soldiers during marches."

Shire looked up at Steed and asked: "Your arsenal should be able to produce this artillery, right?"

"Of course!" Steed nodded hastily: "Of course, it won’t take much time!"

Steed was telling the truth. The artillery already had ready-made blueprints and was fairly simple in structure, especially since the barrel didn’t even need a trigger mechanism, just a firing pin at the bottom of the barrel.

If such a simple thing couldn’t be produced, then Saint-Etienne wouldn’t qualify to cooperate with Shire.

"So, you agree to produce this artillery?" Shire asked.

"Of course!" Steed nodded meaningfully, leaned forward to shake Shire’s hand: "Very happy to, I’ll produce it in the shortest time possible!"

"Great!" Shire replied: "I’ll persuade the military to procure it, estimating an order of several thousand units!"

The two looked at each other and smiled.

...

After leaving the Ritz Hotel, Dejoka suddenly remembered something. He pulled over and turned to Shire: "We forgot something, Shire, you haven’t responded to Mr. Steed yet!"

"Respond to what?" Shire asked.

"His first question." Dejoka reminded: "I believe he hoped we would promise a long-term collaboration with him!"

"No, father!" Shire replied softly: "I have already responded to him."

"Really...?" Dejoka was stunned, tilted his head, and drove back onto the road, half-believing that he missed something. But thinking back carefully, he clearly didn’t hear Shire’s response.

...

In the hotel’s meeting room, the butler Lucas was asking Steed the same question.

"Sir!" Lucas said with some concern: "Shire seemed to intentionally avoid your question. He might not have plans for long-term cooperation with us. Should we plan otherwise?"

Steed, carefully examining the mortar blueprints, chuckled. He waved the document and said: "No, Lucas, Shire gave a better answer!"

"Is it this?" Lucas asked, puzzled: "Another invention? What does it mean?"

Lucas was concerned that Steed, eager for talent, might be swayed by the invention before him and overlook more important issues.

Steed smiled and shook his head: "You think this is just an invention? No, Lucas, this is the foundation of our alliance with Shire!"

"The foundation of the alliance?" Lucas looked confused.

Steed nodded and explained meaningfully: "I’m worried Shire might ally with other capitalists, and Shire is equally worried that I might team up with other capitalists. Therefore, there’s only one way for us to come together and trust each other. Do you know what it is?"

Lucas still looked puzzled, but when his gaze turned to the artillery blueprints, he suddenly understood: "Producing artillery to challenge Schneider?"

Steed chuckled: "Not challenging, after all, this artillery won’t directly compete with Schneider yet, but it already signals our stance. Think about it, if there was an artillery produced by the Saint-Etienne Arsenal in collaboration with Shire, what would others think?"

Lucas realized: "This is to tell everyone that we stand with Shire against Schneider!"

"Yes!" Steed stood up, smiling confidently, and said: "The old Saint-Etienne was like a sickly old man, but with Shire, we can rival Schneider! Wait for us, James!"

Lucas suddenly noticed that Steed looked much younger than he did before the meeting.

...

The next day, at the Paris City Defense Command.

This time, Shire arrived half an hour later than usual. It wasn’t his intention; passionate Parisians had somehow learned he arrived an hour early and were blocking his way on the streets.

Shire had no choice but to choose to be late by half an hour, while also spreading the news that ’Shire had already entered the headquarters.’ The crowd then dispersed in disappointment.

Perhaps this was the French people’s romance, willing to spend time on such meaningless things.

Shire thought if they truly loved Shire, they should donate to Shire, even if it were only a cent per person per day, it would be enough for Shire to live comfortably.

That would be meaningful, or convert the flowers given to him into cash!

"General!" Shire walked straight to Gallieni: "I need a unit!"

"What?" Gallieni joked: "You want to use it to kill the Parisians blocking your way?"

The officers in the command laughed, saying one after another:

"Be content, Shire, we don’t have that many people blocking our way!"

"Hey, Luqini, if it weren’t for Shire working here, you’d be one of the blockers, right?"

"Of course, Kane, I’m Shire’s number one fan!"

...

Shire ignored them. He handed the mortar blueprints to Gallieni and explained: "I need a unit to avoid the same mistakes as with the grenades."

Gallieni took the blueprints and flipped through them with interest, saying: "How about Brownie’s unit? They are training right now..."

"No!" Shire interrupted Gallieni: "This is equipment to be widely used by front-line soldiers. If we use Brownie’s unit for training, the same problem will occur." Gallieni immediately understood. They would learn and then return to the front line to teach others, Brownie’s tank unit was clearly not suitable.

After considering for a moment, Gallieni said:

"I think you don’t need an ordinary unit, Lieutenant. You need an officer unit!"

"I will draw two officers from each division to report to you."

"You teach them, and they go back to teach their units!"

This seemed like a good idea!

(The image above shows the British Army gun crew and the Stokes mortar, invented by Stokes, an engineer at a mechanical company who had never designed a military weapon before.)

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