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

Chapter 39 General Problems with Ammunition
Not long after, Uncle Guillaume came back with a group of workers.

Uncle Guillaume knew these workers well. They had solid skills and were completely different from those who got to middle and senior levels by fawning or relying on nepotism.

In addition, these people are quite loyal.

Uncle Guillaume took them to Charles and said, "Master Charles, after hearing about your story, they all said they could modify these motorcycles for us for free!"

The workers said in unison:

"Helping the army is helping ourselves, Master Charles. We also want to do our part for France!"

"Yes, many of us have children serving in the military, and we support you in this!"

"If you are short of funds, we can still make up some!"

……

"Thank you, thank you everyone!" Charles greeted the workers: "I appreciate your kindness. I need workers who will work for me for a long time, so of course you need wages, otherwise you won't be able to support your family!"

Charles would not be greedy for such a small amount of money, it would be better for him to be generous and earn more goodwill.

Sure enough, when the workers heard about their families, they nodded silently in acceptance; they were not wealthy enough to work for free.

"Don't worry!" Charles comforted him, "If you work hard and manage the motorcycle factory well, I can make money, so I can pay you wages and continue to help those in need. What do you think?"

"Of course, Master Charles!"

“This is our goal!”

“We’d love to do that!”

……

Charles will train these people to become the backbone of the motorcycle factory.

In their future work and life, they will pass on Charles' story and spirit to every worker. Then, all workers will know that they are not being exploited by working hard, but are indirectly helping those in need.

This may not seem important, after all, workers work for you and you pay them.

However, the workers' enthusiasm for work varied greatly. At least the average of more than 500 strikes per year in France during this period would not occur in Charles' factories, and management talents and technical workers would be difficult to be poached by others with high salaries because they wanted more than just wages.

Without further ado, the workers began to modify the sidecar, and soon someone discovered the shortcomings of the "prototype":

"Hey, Guillaume! Isn't it too fragile to connect with only one steel pipe? It's easy to break during driving. We should add a few more steel pipes!"

"That's right. As for this machine gun stand, we need to support the Maxim machine gun. I suggest changing it to a tripod. It will be more stable!"

"Also, should we equip it with shock absorbers? Otherwise, a small pit can break the machine gunner's butt in half!"

……

The workers burst into laughter, and Guillaume responded one by one and made improvements to the sidecar on the drawing.

The result of brainstorming was quite amazing. In less than an hour, the sidecar had been upgraded several levels and basically reached the appearance of a modern sidecar.

"Uncle Guillaume!" Charles called out to Guillaume who was about to test drive the new car: "There are a few things you should pay attention to when driving: start or accelerate as slowly as possible, otherwise you will be pulled to the right; the same is true when braking to slow down, if you brake suddenly the front of the car will be pulled to the left..."

Guillaume looked at Charles in surprise: "Master Charles, how did you know? I thought it was a problem with the prototype."

Guillaume had noticed this before while driving, but he didn't know why and didn't dare to say it. Now that Charles reminded him, he realized that this might be a common feature of all sidecars.

"No, Uncle Guillaume!" Charles explained, "This is because the power and brakes of the sidecar are not in the center. It is asymmetrical! The sidecar always moves in the opposite direction to the motorcycle due to inertia. The heavier the sidecar, the more obvious this effect is. It is important to know this!"

Guillaume nodded, not quite understanding.

He didn't know what inertia was, but Master Charles could accurately explain the problem without even test driving it, so he must be right.

People who have read books are different, Guillaume sighed in his heart!
At this time, Major Browne and his men arrived.

More than two hundred soldiers marched into the factory in neat formation, and they spontaneously saluted and greeted Charles.

In the eyes of the soldiers, Charles is their comrade because he has fought with the soldiers in previous battles.

Charles was their savior because the tank he invented saved them more than once.

They even thought that Charles was the hope of France, because only a capitalist like Charles would help the army and the country so selflessly!
……

Major Browne shouted the order to disperse. He walked up to Charles and saluted. He turned around and waved his hand to direct the carriages behind to follow:

"I'm worried that you need machine guns to test! So I'm sending a batch here first, and more will come later!"

"You've got me ahead of me, Major!" said Charles. "But I think you'd better bring some German rifles with you, too."

"Rifle? German?" Major Browne looked at Charles in confusion: "Why?"

"Have you ever thought about this?" Charles explained, "You are using the German Maxim machine gun, but the French Lebel rifle. What will happen on the battlefield?"

Major Browne said "Oh" and nodded slightly. The bullets used by the two were different.

When the battle was extremely fierce, the soldiers grabbed a handful of bullets from the ammunition box and rushed to the battlefield, only to find out when they stood in front of the enemy that they were bullets for the Maxim machine gun.

Or vice versa, a few Lebel rifle bullets were mixed into the ammunition belt of the Maxim machine gun.

In either case, there is the potential for deadly chaos.

Major Brownie looked at Charles, trust in his eyes. Although he still had questions, he had become accustomed to believing that Charles must be right:
"So, if we are going to use the Maxim machine gun, we should equip ourselves with and become familiar with the German rifles?"

"Of course!" Charles nodded.

"But what about supplies?" Major Browne asked again: "If we run out of ammunition, but our comrades and the logistics troops send us French 8MM bullets..."

"Major!" Charles interrupted Major Browne and said, "If you drive this sidecar, there will be more Germans around you. In other words, you are more likely to get German 8MM bullets than 7.92MM bullets!"

"What?" Major Brownie looked at Charles in horror. Does this mean we have to fight deep inside the enemy's territory? But we only have more than 200 people...

"We should discuss tactics!" Charles seemed to see through Major Brownie's thoughts. He asked calmly, "Do you have a map, Major?"

"Yes, of course!" Major Brownie hurriedly took out a military map from his arms and spread it out in front of Charles, with fear in his eyes. This little guy, would he think we are supermen?
Of course, Charles did not regard Major Brownie as a superman. He just wanted to teach Brownie how to fight mobile warfare.

Driving a sidecar equipped with a Maxim machine gun, if you don't fight a mobile war but instead fight a positional war step by step, it would be tantamount to seeking death!

Charles didn't want to see this result, because it meant that not a single sidecar could be sold!

(End of this chapter)