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

Chapter 57 "Comrades"

The harassment tactics achieved great success on the battlefield. After all, the main means of mobile transportation in this era were horses, mules, and dogs... During World War I in Europe, dogs were often used to pull machine guns and ammunition to reduce the manpower burden.

Under this situation, Charles developed a harassment tactic of using sidecars and motorcycles, which was to carry out a dimensionality reduction attack on the German army at the mobile level.

Although it did not cause direct casualties to the German army, it reduced the German army's marching efficiency and combat effectiveness. On the other hand, it strengthened the communication and intelligence capabilities of the French army. The indirect losses caused to the German army as a result of this trade-off were immeasurable.

The direct impact of the tactical success was that it brought huge benefits to Charles.

He received a large number of orders from the military: the first batch of 3,000 sidecars was followed soon after by another 3,000, and the first batch of motorcycles was directly ordered for 5,000.

The profit of each sidecar is 280 francs, and the profit of each motorcycle is 180 francs (the military purchase price of motorcycles is 360 francs).

Preliminary estimates show that the first batch of orders from the French military alone generated a profit of 258 million francs.

Soon the motorcycle factory received orders from the British Army, and even people from Russia, far away on the other side, sent orders.

Russia's idea is to buy a batch first for trial, and if the products can adapt to its terrain, it hopes to open a branch factory in Russia for mass production.

Charles is very confident about this. The Russian army's communication problems are very backward, which has affected the coordination of various troops and become a shortcoming in combat effectiveness. The addition of motorcycles can make up for this deficiency to a certain extent.

Charles was doing well, and Francis felt a lot of pressure.

……

Francis' private villa, where he is having a candlelight dinner with his family.

They had steak for dinner. Several family members present ate their food in silence with napkins around their necks. The table, which should have been filled with laughter and conversation, became a little weird because Francis remained silent.

Just as everyone was secretly guessing what was going on, Francis asked in a muffled voice, "Did you know that Joseph resigned?"

Pierre paused in his movements, knowing that these words were addressed to him.

"I know it, father!" answered Pierre.

"Do you know where he went?" Francis asked again.

Pierre was stunned and answered with a slightly embarrassed expression: "No, I don't know!"

"And Thomas, do you know where he went?" Francis asked again.

Pierre shook his head slightly. He had realized that this was not a "question" but a "blame".

Sure enough, the next second Francis raised his head and stared at Pierre, his voice becoming low with anger: "Joseph, Thomas, Victor, Paret, a total of seventy-seven people, these most technically skilled employees have resigned for more than half a month, but you don't know anything!"

Without waiting for Pierre to answer, Francis gave the answer:

"They've all gone to the new tractor factory in the Charles, Pierre!"

"And you didn't even know that Charles built a tractor factory next to the motorcycle factory and imported the 'Holt 75' from England!"

Pierre looked up at Francis in shock. He really knew nothing about this. As the eldest son, he was more concerned about which young and beautiful dancer had just arrived at the "Foley Trevis" in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. (Note: Foley Trevis is the hottest nightclub in Paris)

Francis cut off a piece of beef, put it into his mouth, chewed it vigorously and said:

"The motorcycle factory that we regarded as waste turned into a goose that lays golden eggs in Charles' hands in less than a month!"

"It is said that the orders he received are fully booked for next year. Three groups of workers are working day and night, and the output has been increased several times, but the supply is still insufficient to meet the demand."

"Now he has opened a tractor factory, and his tractors are one generation more advanced than ours!"

Francis stopped what he was doing and stared at Pierre fiercely, his tone full of sarcasm: "And what have you done, Pierre? Have you improved your skills in flirting, or have you improved your skills in bed?"

Amber, who was sitting next to Pierre, lowered her head unconsciously. She was Pierre's wife. She knew about Pierre's affairs but never asked about them. She thought that as long as she lived her own life, it was enough. What Pierre did outside had nothing to do with her.

Francis was furious when he saw this. He thought Amber should control her husband. Her indulgence was one of the reasons why Pierre indulged in sensual pleasures.

Pierre was calm and composed. He seemed to be used to Francis' tone of voice. So no matter how angry Francis got, he just cut the steak and put it into his mouth gracefully.

"Don't you want to think of a solution?" Francis looked at Pierre with a look of disappointment: "If you can't solve this problem, your good days will soon be over, Pierre!"

Pierre knew what this meant. The money he used to live a life of luxury came from the tractor factory. If the tractor factory was eliminated by Charles, his source of income would be cut off.

"I don't understand one thing, father!" Pierre replied calmly: "Since Charles has already sold the industrial property rights of the tank, why did he open a tractor factory? Is it just to eliminate us?"

This doesn't make sense.

Charles should know that civilian tractors cannot be sold, and the ownership of military tractors converted into tanks is in Grevi's hands and produced by the Francis Tractor Factory. So who should Charles sell his tractors to?

Francis snorted:
"Do you think Ciel would do business at a loss? That little guy is nothing like his father!"

"He's got all these ideas in his head. If he could come up with the first tank and the sidecar, he could come up with the second tank!"

"If he succeeds, it's all over for us, Pierre!"

Pierre nodded. He had underestimated Charles after all. This little guy was indeed not simple. He planned to crush the Francis Tractor Factory in both civilian and military fields.

"He was almost there," said Pierre. "But..."

"What a pity?" Francis retorted, "Do you have any way to deal with him?"

Francis thought the situation was settled, so he focused on producing tanks and completely ignored Charles' actions, so that Charles had an advantage over his tractor factory in terms of technology, workers and funds.

It’s unbelievable. It’s only been less than a month and decades of hard work have been wasted. How did this little guy do it?
But Pierre didn't think so. He reminded: "The ownership of the tank is in Grevy's hands, father, so..."

Francis suddenly understood that he was so caught up in the situation that he forgot this point. Charles's actions would affect Grevey's interests, which meant that nobles like Grevey would become his "comrades-in-arms" on the same front as him!
After thinking about it, Francis nodded and said, "That makes sense!"

Then he raised his glass to Pierre, who responded calmly.

(End of this chapter)