Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 566 Core Military Equipment: Large Stamping Press, Le Quessault Arsenal

Just one day later, the Paris branch sent a reply.

Fang Wen looked at the contents of the telegram and showed a surprised expression.

The telegram said that after the branch manager, Paul Lin, leaked the information, someone soon came to the branch office.

The visitor was no ordinary person; he was from Schneider Electric.

This is a large French steel and military enterprise that began mass production of munitions as early as World War I.

Fang Wen found it hard to believe that such a behemoth would come knocking on his door.

To find out what was going on, he contacted Paul Lin, the manager of the Paris branch, by telegram, asking him to investigate before making a decision.

After some investigation, Paul Lin confirmed that the visitor was indeed a representative of Schneider Electric.

As to why Schneider Electric did this, we have to go back a few years.

At that time, not only Spain had a Popular Front government, but France also elected a similar Popular Front government.

This is a coalition government system comprised of the French Socialist Party, the Liberal Party, and moderate parties.

At the time, the French Popular Front government imposed extremely high taxes on large companies and demanded higher wages and benefits for workers. It even proposed to nationalize Schneider Electric's core asset, the Le Quesault arms factory in France.

Although the People's Front government eventually came to power and a series of policies were not implemented, Schneider Electric still lost nearly a quarter of its market value and almost never recovered.

But these are not all the problems Schneider Electric faces.

It also has a very important asset in the Czech Republic: the Škoda Arms Factory.

The Škoda Arms Factory, the second largest arms factory in Europe, was located in the Sudetenland. After World War I, it was on the verge of bankruptcy when Schneider Electric acquired 60% of its shares and incorporated it into Schneider Electric's military industry system.

Little did anyone know that with the signing of the Munich Agreement last year, the Sudetenland region was incorporated into Germany, and control of the arms factories subsequently fell into German hands.

In an effort to recoup its losses, Schneider Electric sold all of its shares to the Germans, but it's uncertain how much cash it would receive in return.

After this back and forth, Schneider Electric was severely damaged, which led to its idea of ​​selling some of its industrial equipment.

Taishan Airlines, a company in its growth phase, is precisely the kind of transaction target that Schneider Electric approves of.

After learning about these circumstances, Fang Wen decided to go to Europe to talk to the people from Schneider Electric in person.

He then packed his belongings and set off with his bodyguard, Gong Xiuneng.

4 month 19 day.

Fang Wen piloted his company's flight and landed at Paris Airport.

After the other passengers disembarked, he and Gong Xiuneng got off the plane and walked out of the airport.

April in Paris is springtime, and the plane trees lining the roads outside the airport are just sprouting new green leaves.

Under the tree, Paul Lin had been waiting for some time, with two burly men standing behind him, their eyes scanning the surroundings warily.

"General Manager, you've worked hard." Lin Baolu greeted him.

"These two look unfamiliar. Are they newly recruited by the branch office?" Fang Wen asked.

"It was a requirement from headquarters, saying that they wanted to increase the security for the general manager, so I specially hired professional bodyguards."

The fact that Fang Wen was almost attacked from behind with a knife in the cafeteria last time made Taishan Airlines headquarters take it very seriously, so they made special arrangements for Fang Wen's trip abroad this time.

Fang Wen remained noncommittal and continued his conversation with Lin Baoluo: "What about Schneider's people?"

"They said they would send a car to pick me up, but I knew the general manager preferred to drive himself, so I declined."

Fang Wen nodded, walked over and got into the black Citroën sedan, opened the driver's side door, and sat down.

Gong Xiuneng and two bodyguards sat in the back seat, the three burly men looking a bit cramped, while Lin Baoluo sat in the front passenger seat.

Did Schneider's representatives say who specifically came forward?

"It's their managing director, Mr. DuPont. I had someone check, and this Mr. DuPont is a member of the Schneider family. Last year, when the Skoda arms factory was taken over by the Germans, he was in charge of the final negotiations. I heard that he has always advocated 'cutting off an arm to survive' in the board of directors, and it was his idea to contact us this time."

As he spoke, Paul Lin opened his briefcase, revealing a stack of yellowed newspapers and documents: "Look, this is a report from three years ago when the French Popular Front was in power. The workers at Schneider's Le Queseau factory went on strike for three months, and the government almost forcibly nationalized it. Now, although the right wing is in power, they haven't recovered their strength. Last year, when they sold their Skoda shares to the Germans, they reportedly only received 3% in cash, with the rest being war bonds—who knows if Germany will default on its debts?"

Fang Wen flipped through the documents, one of which was a list of Schneider Electric's assets for sale.

The production line appears to be complete, including: metal cutting equipment, steel pretreatment equipment, casting equipment, etc.

“But there’s a problem,” Paul Lin continued. “DuPont hinted yesterday that some of the equipment was smuggled back from Skoda and still bears their logo. If the Germans find out they’re selling us military equipment, we could be in trouble.”

"No problem, it will be shipped to Asia immediately once the transaction is completed. Where to now?"

"The Four Seasons Hotel on George V Avenue, they'll be here in two hours."

Fang Wen started the car and drove into Paris. Sunlight filtered through the plane tree leaves outside the car window, casting dappled shadows on his face.

Looking at the general manager, Lin Baoluo suddenly realized that Fang Wen's trip was not only for a military production line, but also to open a crack in the door to military industrial self-reliance for Taishan Aviation in Europe where war was raging.

And Schneider Electric, this giant ship tossed about in the storm, may just be the springboard they need.

The car turns from the Champs-Élysées onto Avenue George V, and stops after driving 400 meters; that's where the Four Seasons Hotel is.

The doorman standing at the hotel entrance ran over, bent down, and asked, "Sir, do you need parking?"

Paul Lin spoke with him, and then the doorman guided him to a parking space on the side of the road.

Valet parking services didn't exist in this era, but large hotels like this did provide parking directions.

After parking the car, Fang Wen and his group entered the hotel. The lobby manager came over to inquire, and Lin Baolu took care of the check-in process.

Afterwards, the group took the hotel elevator upstairs and rested in their guest rooms.

Two hours later, there was a knock on the door.

Gong Xiuneng stood up and gestured to one of the two bodyguards to open the door.

The bodyguard went over, opened the door, spoke with someone, and then turned back to report, "It's someone from Schneider Electric."

Then the door opened and two Frenchmen walked in.

The Frenchman at the head of the group was tall, wearing a dark gray pinstripe suit, a tie that was perfectly tied, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his nose. His gaze behind the lenses was sharp and cautious.

He took the initiative and said in slightly broken English, "General Manager Fang Wen, I am DuPont, Managing Director of Schneider Electric."

The man behind him was slightly older, with graying hair, and wearing a dark blue overall jacket. "This is Le Maire, our technical engineer, responsible for the technical coordination of the production line for this transaction," DuPont introduced.

Fang Wen stood up and shook hands with the two men. "Mr. DuPont, Mr. Le Maire, please have a seat."

He gestured for the two to sit on the sofa opposite him. Gong Xiuneng stood quietly behind Fang Wen, his gaze sweeping over the brown leather suitcases carried by the two guests.

DuPont feigned emotion: "I've long admired Taishan Aviation. You continued to grow stronger during the war, embarking on the path of the military industry. We, on the other hand, declined during the war and had to divest assets to reduce pressure."

Fang Wen feigned surprise: "Who in the military industry doesn't know Schneider's name? As a newcomer, I have great respect for you. This acquisition of production line equipment is just a normal business activity. I believe Schneider will definitely shine again." Everyone loves to hear nice things, and DuPont was no exception.

He smiled, opened his briefcase, and took out a roll of blueprints, spreading it on the coffee table: "Mr. Fang, please take a look. As per your request, this is a list of the relevant equipment currently in the Le Quesso factory, including three state-of-the-art horizontal lathes from 1935, with a precision of 0.05 millimeters, sufficient for machining bullet tapers; and two sets of fuse stamping dies imported from Skoda. You know the Czech craftsmanship; their error is 30% smaller than our existing equipment."

After listening to DuPont's explanation, Fang Wen pondered in his heart.

Schneider Electric, as a large French steel and military enterprise, owns far more equipment than just these.

Fang Wen wanted large-scale stamping equipment.

In Europe during this era, stamping equipment had become a key tool in machinery manufacturing, especially in the production of automobiles, military products, and daily necessities. The level of technology was clearly stratified according to industrial needs, with both continuous mechanical equipment adapted to large-scale production and simple devices that relied on human labor.

Stamping machines are widely used in the military industry, such as in the processing of cartridge cases (bullets, shells, rockets) and armor plates.

Such equipment is needed to mass-produce rockets.

However, DuPont is currently only referring to Schneider's small stamping presses (1-50 ton class).

This type of ton-class stamping equipment is a vertical crank press with a cast iron body. Die replacement is done manually, and the stamping speed is relatively low (10-30 times per minute).

In fact, similar equipment also exists at the Taishan Ammunition Factory, mainly used for processing bullet casings, fuse casings, and small weapon parts (such as trigger guards).

At most, it can be used for stamping and forming the fuse casing of 82mm rockets.

Fang Wen wanted a stamping press.

It can process artillery shell bodies (such as the middle section of a 75mm howitzer shell) and aircraft skin (aluminum alloy sheet stamping).

In the rocket project, rocket casings and tail fins (stamped and bent iron sheets) can be manufactured by stamping.

Without this equipment, the significance of this purchase would be greatly diminished.

Therefore, he said, "Mr. DuPont, I have come all the way from the East, and you are selling me these things? That's not very sincere. What I want is a better stamping machine; that's what's truly valuable."

"You want a Creusot 800?! That's absolutely impossible."

DuPont, to avoid jeopardizing the negotiations, immediately added, "The Creusot 800, used at the Lequesso plant to process armor steel, is one of the core pieces of equipment in our army's tank production; it's not for sale. Do you want to produce tanks?"

Fang Wen shook his head: "I don't have such plans for the time being. I need a stamping machine that can process 80mm caliber projectiles."

After hearing Fang Wen's explanation, DuPont understood.

“The Creusot400 can solve your needs; I happen to have one of these spare devices. But it’s very expensive.”

Expensive is not a problem.

In this day and age, stamping machines are the pinnacle of mechanical industrial equipment, and if you buy one, there are countless places where you can use it.

Fang Wen had wanted to buy it before but never had a way to do so. Now that the technology was being offered to him, he wasn't going to let it go.

Then he asked, "How much?"

"1300 million francs."

Fang Wen calculated in his mind that it was equivalent to $50.

It's really expensive; it's worth as much as 14 gunboats.

Fang Wen would be willing to trade 20 gunboats for this equipment.

He agreed without hesitation.

"Sure, but I need to check the actual condition of the equipment."

“No problem, the goods are at the Le Quesso factory, we can go and see them now.”

"how far?"

"300 kilometers away."

"Is there a flat area or a wide body of water where we can park the plane?"

"Yes. There are two rivers there, and the waterways are wide. I can inform them to reserve a water area for aircraft to land."

And so, Fang Wen reached an agreement with DuPont and prepared to fly to the Le Quesso factory.

An hour later, two cars arrived at the airport's parking area. After parking, the group entered the airport and went to Taishan Airlines' hangar.

There was a luxurious private amphibious aircraft there, which Fang Wen hadn't used since he flew to the Soviet Union last time.

But the branch office staff have always maintained it very well; it looks brand new inside and out.

Fang Wen and his group boarded the plane, and he personally piloted it out of the hangar, accelerated on the runway, and took off.

It was also DuPont's first time riding in such a luxurious private jet. He looked around and then went outside the cockpit.

He exclaimed, "Mr. Fang, your airplane is so attractive to me."

While piloting the plane, Fang Wen replied, "It is indeed very suitable for travel. I have a French friend who plans to learn to fly at my aviation school, and then buy one of these planes to fly around the world."

"Really?" DuPont became even more interested.

Fang Wen's heart skipped a beat, and he decided to give it a push: "Indeed, its speed is only 200 kilometers per hour, making it easy to drive. It also uses a specially designed gull wing, giving it a strong range. Moreover, it can land on water or land, as long as the terrain is flat."

DuPont eventually decided to buy one and proposed to learn to fly at Taishan Aviation School.

This means they made some money back on the deal.

An hour and a half later, the plane arrived at its destination.

The area below is called Le Queso.

It is a small town in eastern France, bordering Paris to the north, Lyon to the south, and Dijon to the east. It is very close to these three major cities, and is flanked by the Somme and Loire rivers, making water transport extremely convenient.

The waters where Fang Wen was about to land were the Loire River.

The boats there had already left, leaving a large stretch of water in the river.

Immediately, Fang Wen adjusted the aircraft's position and landed on the river.

The plane landed and docked at the pier.

Fang Wen and his group disembarked and took a car sent by the Le Quess Arms Factory.

The car drove through the town and into the massive arsenal district.

There are multiple factory areas there, with tens of thousands of workers, and the sounds of roaring and metal clanging are constant.

DuPont led Fang Wen to a locked factory building and had the arsenal workers unlock it and pull open the heavy door.

Inside, the Creusot 400 sat quietly in its place, and Fang Wen walked over eagerly.

(The Schlomann closed die press, a large German stamping press from World War II, was later dismantled and shipped to the Soviet Union, and is still in use today.)
(End of this chapter)