I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France
Chapter 178: Revised - 178 Buying Frenzy

Chapter 178: Revised: Chapter 178 Buying Frenzy

The agreement was finally reached smoothly.

Francis got what he wanted and left the manor, both satisfied and apprehensive.

Watching Francis’s car disappear beyond the gates, Arman handed Grevy a cigarette and curiously asked, "I can tell you’re not very keen on upgrading the CA-1."

"It doesn’t help us, Arman!" Grevy answered, "It’s a means Schneider uses to control us."

Arman was stunned, he even paused his action of lighting the cigarette, "A means to control us?"

Grevy made a sound of agreement, struck a match to light Arman’s cigarette, then lit his own and explained through the cloud of smoke, "We have nothing industrially. If we rely on Schneider for the upgrade now..."

Arman suddenly understood and nodded, "In the future, we’ll always need Schneider, even for tank maintenance we’d need their personnel."

Grevy gave a sound of confirmation and exhaled a long plume of smoke, "James is quite shrewd. He seems like he’s helping us, but he actually intends to use our money for his own benefit!"

Arman was puzzled again, "But knowing all this, why did you finally agree to the terms? It doesn’t seem to benefit us."

If there was any benefit, it was that the CA-1 production could continue, bringing in some revenue for the right wing.

But the right wing cared not for revenue.

"Schneider might have overlooked one thing," Grevy answered thoughtfully, "If he invests the same level of technology in the CA-1 as in the ’Saint Chammon’, like upgrading it with the ’Holt 120’ engine, it could become a weapon to counter Schneider."

Arman was taken aback for a while, only coming to realize after careful consideration:

Though the CA-1 might not have much technology, one day, when Schneider and Shire are equally matched, it could exert a weighty influence.

Then Grevy only needs to hand the CA-1 to Shire, and Shire could achieve a decisive victory. Thus, Grevy would have a weapon to balance power against both Schneider and Shire.

Thinking of this, Arman couldn’t help but silently admire Grevy, considering such a step ahead; surely, he couldn’t be considered a normal person?

Only Arman and Grevy didn’t realize Shire might not even care for this technology, which was outdated and bound to be eliminated, no matter how it was upgraded!

...

In the afternoon, Shire continued organizing documents in the command center as usual.

Perhaps both sides were worn out from the fighting, as the offensive and defensive reports from the front lines gradually decreased, replaced by reports of shortages in supplies, tools, and grenades.

The plan to send two officers from each division to train in Paris was underway.

The report time was set for a week later, giving the front-line troops time to select and send personnel to Paris. Additionally, the Saint Etienne Arsenal needed a few days to produce mortars, followed by testing.

At this moment, a guard came up to report to Shire, "Major, your father asked me to tell you that he hopes you will call the factory."

As an ordinary citizen, Dejoka could not call into the City Defense Headquarters and could only rely on this method to communicate with Shire.

Shire immediately called the tractor factory to inquire about the situation.

"Eric sent a telegram back; he has successfully contacted the Martin Company," Dejoka said over the phone, "The negotiation was going well initially, with the other party planning to sell the entire set of machines for 800,000 francs. The core technical staff were not many, only about thirty, and after talking to them, Eric was confident that most of them could accept a monthly salary of 200 francs to work in France."

"What’s the problem?" Shire asked. If that was all, it should be considered perfect.

Dejoka continued, "But someone soon also wanted to buy them and seems to have raised the price to 1 million francs. Eric hasn’t found out who the other party is."

Shire frowned, this was troublesome, someone was competing.

This would lead to both sides raising the price, and even if they got the deal, it would be at a much higher cost than before.

Who could it be?

Shire first thought of the British Sopwith Aircraft Company, as it historically did buy this automobile company.

But Shire thought it was too coincidental, appearing just when Eric was negotiating with the Martin Automobile Company.

This was evidently targeted, and the target was himself...

In the next second, Shire knew who it was: Schneider.

This was a common tactic used by dominant companies to suppress emerging competitors by buying what the newcomer wants, thus limiting their growth.

Schneider might lack foresight and didn’t need to foresee the future like Shire; he only needed to do one thing: bid on anything Shire wanted, raising the price. While Schneider might lose money, Shire would get nothing and be left to struggle with limited resources.

Without further thought, Shire immediately told Dejoka, "Have Eric continue bidding, increase by 100,000 or 200,000 gradually, up to around 2 million!"

"Shire..." Dejoka seemed to want to persuade Shire to give up, as it clearly wasn’t worth it.

Shire added, "Do not mention the technical personnel, and don’t contact them!"

Dejoka responded with an understanding "Oh."

Upon hanging up, Shire immediately contacted Steed.

When the call connected, Steed’s excited voice came through the receiver, "We’ve already produced ten prototypes, Shire, and they’re surprisingly effective!"

Shire wasn’t planning to discuss this with Steed, he anxiously asked, "Mr. Steed, do you have any personnel stationed in Britain?"

"Of course." Steed replied, "I just sent a team to discuss the purchase of grenades with the British Military!"

Steed believed this could rapidly increase grenade sales, as the British Army was fighting in France. If they bought the grenades, it would be "exports" that didn’t need to leave the country but were consumed domestically.

"Please do me a favor, Mr. Steed!" Shire spoke quickly, "I need you to have this team use all their connections, even the British Military, to sign the core technical personnel of the Martin Automobile Company!"

Shire added, "I hope this can be done secretly!"

Shire didn’t need to say much more, Steed, being experienced at this, immediately understood the situation.

"Leave it to me!" Steed responded decisively, "Don’t worry, Shire, they won’t escape!"

After putting down the phone, Shire still felt anxious.

He realized he had been careless and should have had Eric leave secretly with an excuse to avoid complications at the critical moment.

If they couldn’t sign this team, was there any other company to replace it?

Shire couldn’t think of any automobile company with equivalent strength willing to sell.

Moreover, no matter what he bought, Schneider was likely to interfere, which was the most troublesome part!

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.