I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 35 Sidecar

With a "whoosh", Guillaume opened the door of the warehouse and turned on the light.

Although the sun was high in the sky, the light in the warehouse was not very good. Without turning on the lights, only gray shadows could be seen.

Under the lights, rows of brand new motorcycles are neatly placed in the warehouse, like troops waiting for inspection.

"I'm telling you the truth, Master Charles!" Guillaume hesitated. "Perhaps you shouldn't have bought the motorcycle factory. Its sales were not good to begin with, and it became even worse after the war. Part of the reason why all the workers left was because of this. If the motorcycles can't be sold, they won't get paid, and they don't want to waste their efforts here!"

Djokovic agreed with this. He always believed that buying the motorcycle factory was not a wise choice. Although the price was only 3.5% off, it did not mean that it would be profitable.

"How much stock do we have altogether?" asked Charles.

"More than 1,500!" Guillaume replied, "We need to check the documents for the exact number!"

"How many can be produced per month?" Charles asked again.

Guillaume and Dejoka looked at Charles as if they had seen a ghost. The inventory could not be sold yet, so shouldn't they find a way to sell them?

And Charles actually cares about production!
"About three hundred a month!" said Guillaume. "But I think..."

"Can we expand production?" Charles asked again, "For example, we can have three shifts and recruit three groups of workers to produce at different times!"

Djokovic couldn't help it: "Char, should we consider the sales issue?"

Guillaume agreed: "Mr. Deyoka is right, Master Charles, you should listen to your father!"

After all, he is still a child, and he treats business as a joke, Guillaume thought.

Charles didn't say yes or no. He walked to the front of the motorcycle, took a look, grabbed the motorcycle head and twisted it, then turned around and asked:

"Are these motorcycles in good working order, Guillaume?"

"Of course!" replied Guillaume. "As long as they are filled with petrol, they are ready to use. They are of good quality. They are of the British Victory brand!"

(Note: The "Victory" brand motorcycle is also translated as the "Triumph" brand. Its characteristics are reliable performance and simple maintenance. During World War I, it was praised by the army as "the trustworthy 'Victory'!")
"Okay!" Charles moved aside and pointed to the bracket under the motorcycle. "We can extend a column from here and add a wheel on the side, so that it has a more stable three-wheel structure. Add a column to the position of the side wheel, which can be used by the machine gunner to mount the machine gun. We can also add some armor in the front. Can this be done?"

Guillaume's eyes widened instantly.
Two wheels become three wheels?
This seems to be able to carry more things and more people!

What a genius idea, why didn't anyone think of it?

After a long pause, Guillaume swallowed his saliva and nodded hurriedly: "Yes... yes, Master Charles, of course! It's not difficult! In fact, it's very simple, I may only need a few hours to modify it!"

Charles said, "Hmm," Then let's do it!

Deyoka understood what Charles was going to do. After all, Charles had just mentioned machine guns. "You want to convert them into military use?"

"Of course, father!" Charles replied, "Nothing can make more money than military industry now. As long as the army needs it, they will definitely buy it in large quantities, regardless of the cost!"

Guillaume, who was pushing his motorcycle out, stopped and turned back unconsciously after hearing this. He said excitedly, "That's right, Master Charles! If it is useful on the battlefield, we will receive countless orders in a short time. These motorcycles will be sold out soon and may not even be enough..."

Guillaume suddenly understood why Charles said that he wanted to expand production by three shifts. If that was the case, producing more than 300 cars a month was indeed too few. It would be best if he could produce 3,000 cars a month!
"We might get rich!" Guillaume said as he pushed his motorcycle and started running. He wanted to realize Charles' idea as quickly as possible to see if the result was useful.

Deyoka and Charles followed Guillaume all the way. They wanted to see the modification process and also wanted to know Guillaume's craftsmanship.

The sidecar design actually appeared in this era. Six years ago, during an exercise in Canada, a non-commissioned officer pioneered the idea of ​​adding a sidecar to a motorcycle and equipped it with a machine gun.

However, the sidecar was very bumpy when driving, and the machine gun had no accuracy when firing while maneuvering. The officers commented on it: "It is much more likely to kill its own people than to kill the enemy!"

Therefore, no one paid attention to this design. It only appeared symbolically a few times in exercises and then disappeared from people's sight. No one would apply for a patent for it.

This is also the reason why Guillaume and Djokovic still don’t know about this thing until now.

Not only them, only a few people in the world know or remember this design.

"So!" Djokovic asked, "is this another 'tank'?"

"No, it's a little different from a tank!" Charles replied: "Tanks are used to block bullets, but this thing is... speed, father. On the battlefield, speed sometimes means victory!"

It was difficult for Deyoka to understand this. Coming from a businessman family, he knew nothing about military affairs. However, he believed that Charles was right. After all, Charles had helped the French army win two battles, two crucial battles!

"Do you know what your neighbors say about you?" Djokovic suddenly laughed.

"How to say?"

"They say you are better than General Gallieni! They think you should be the general in command of the French army!"

Charles was frightened by this statement; he did not want to serve in the army.

"They also made a comparison!" Deyoka didn't notice Charles' expression, and his face was still full of pride when he spoke: "They said that Gallieni commanded the Sixth Army to attack the Germans but lost! But you commanded a few hundred people and defeated the Germans twice! And it was the same group of Germans! What does this prove?"

Charles lowered his voice and reminded, "Father, this might get me a conscription order!"

Deyoka was shocked, and the smile on his face immediately disappeared, replaced by fear: "You are right, Charles, they can't say that! This... This is nonsense, we have never done such a thing! We just invent things, that's all!"

Charles was silent for a while. He felt that this matter was not something he could just keep silent about or cover up with another explanation. The people would still spread the word by word of mouth, and the military and the government would still hear it.

After thinking for a while, he said thoughtfully:

"No, Father! I did do these things!"

"Not only did I do all these things, I also trained the troops, drove back the deserters, and stopped the army when it was collapsing!"

"They returned to the battlefield because they heard about equipment like tanks!"

Djoka looked confused. What was Charles thinking?
After a moment's silence, he suddenly understood.

If denial doesn't work, then exaggerate it to make it sound more like a "rumor" and turn it into a completely illogical "folk rumor"!
(End of this chapter)