I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 867: "Dirty Work
Hughes looked grave: "If we want to defend against the United States, we may need tanks, Prime Minister, and the most advanced 'Shire B1'."
"Is Shire willing to sell this tank?" Bowden asked.
Hughes shook his head lightly:
"This may not be a question of willingness, but rather of production capacity unable to meet demand."
"The French Army also needs this tank, as they're still engaged in combat, and even the US Army cannot equip them."
"And we haven't gone to war yet, so..."
Bowden sighed softly. If that's the case, there isn't much hope.
However, under Hughes' suggestion, he still sent a telegram to Shire with a "give it a try" mindset.
Shire's reply took them by surprise: 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
"I don't think you need tanks, Prime Minister."
"You know the 'Shire B1' tank's cannon cannot pierce the 'Shire B1' armor, and neither can the 75 cannon."
"Do you understand what this means?"
Hughes suddenly reacted:
"He's right, Prime Minister."
"What we need is to destroy the tanks that might approach our defensive line."
"If one day, the Americans drive 'Shire B1' tanks near our defensive line, even if we equip 'Shire B1' we won't be able to destroy them."
Bowden understood. He sent a telegram to Shire: "Then, Vice Admiral, what means do we have against 'Shire B1'?"
There was a brief silence from Shire's side, seemingly troubled, before replying:
"I shouldn't originally sell this equipment because it poses a threat to 'Shire B1'."
"But I understand your difficulties, for Canada's safety and to prevent war, I believe we shouldn't hold back."
"Yes, we have a way to deal with 'Shire B1', it's a type of artillery, only sold not licensed."
Then Shire sent over the artillery data:
47MM caliber, weighing 1070 kilograms, requiring vehicle towing.
Designed specifically to counter enemy tanks, thus having a low barrel to avoid detection by the enemy.
Armor-piercing shell weighs 3.27 kilograms, can penetrate 60MM homogeneous armor at 550 meters, 50MM armor at 1000 meters.
(The above image shows France's 1930S anti-tank, 47MM caliber, known as the best anti-tank equipment of WWII, though the French Army rarely had a chance to use it)
It's a new type of anti-tank cannon produced by the Stokes Institute, model SA-16.
Upon receiving the data, Hughes was overjoyed: "Prime Minister, 'Shire B1' armor is only 40MM thick, meaning this cannon can destroy such tanks from 1000 meters away; it's exactly what we need."
Bowden nodded with satisfaction.
Even though he didn't understand military affairs, he knew: as long as enemy tanks are destroyed, it comes down to trench warfare, and in this aspect, Canadian troops are not afraid of Americans.
Ultimately, Bowden completed the deal with Shire happily, purchasing 50 units at a unit price of 6000 Canadian dollars.
This was just the first batch, and Hughes planned to order at least 100 more if satisfied after trial use.
What Bowden didn't know was that Hughes felt relieved as he walked out of the Prime Minister's office: he managed to accomplish Shire's mission without disgrace.
...
Shire had set up Hughes as this line for some time already.
This mission was personally assigned to Lucia by Shire in Osborne Park, because it seemed rather "irregular"; it was "dirty work."
Shire laid some groundwork.
"You know what I'm doing, Lucia." Shire's tone was deep.
"Yes." Lucia held Shire's arm and looked at Shire's profile, her eyes full of smiles and a bit of admiration.
"I know." She said, "You're performing the spirit of France, the true spirit of France; it's wonderful, I've never been so proud before!"
Shire truly is a perfect person, she thought, advocating for universal love for humanity.
Others only use "fraternity" as a tool, including those parliament members who frequently utter it; only Shire truly achieved it.
Lucia was somewhat worried before, wondering what would happen if one day Belgium and France became enemies?
As a Belgian, would she have to become an enemy of Shire?
Now, she thought it completely unnecessary, Shire would unite everyone, with no war, no pain, no death.
It's great!
Shire felt a bit guilty; Lucia was the one who believed in him unreservedly, with no interest entanglements.
However, the Shire in her eyes was false, all of it was lies.
Shire walked silently forward along the gravel path, finally speaking: "Some things aren't as beautiful as we imagine, some even... you know, don't conform to norms."
"I understand." Lucia answered.
"You understand?" Shire couldn't believe it; he hadn't said anything.
"Yes, I understand." Lucia nodded confidently: "Like revealing the English merchant ship routes to the Germans, resulting in German submarines being hunted."
Shire uttered a "hmm" sound.
Indeed, there was such a thing before, though Lucia misunderstood.
Shire revealed the English merchant ship information to Germans to create panic, thus controlling transportation rights under the "Echo Detector".
Of course, Germans' submarines being hunted was also true.
Lucia linked the two events together with her imagination.
"Speak, what's the mission?" Lucia jumped in front of Shire, reached out and tidied Shire's uniform collar: "Rest assured, guaranteed to accomplish the mission, my Vice Admiral!"
Shire dared not meet Lucia's gaze; he turned away and continued walking forward: "It's like this, the Canadian Army is equipped with a Ross rifle, and its performance is very poor; it seriously affects the Canadian Army's combat effectiveness."
Lucia was somewhat confused; she didn't understand what this had to do with the intelligence unit "White Lady".
Shire continued: "After an in-depth investigation, we found that the rifle was purchased under Canadian Defense Minister Hughes' charge, at the time there were suspicions of data falsification during testing, we suspect..."
Lucia understood: "Defense Minister Hughes is likely in a relationship of interest with the manufacturer? In other words, Hughes is likely accepting bribes?"
"Yes." Shire nodded.
"Those bastards." Lucia gritted her teeth angrily: "Soldiers on the front line are fighting bravely, yet they are lining their own pockets, completely disregarding soldiers' lives!"
Then she assured Shire: "I'll definitely expose his scandals, General."
"No." Shire shook his head: "I didn't ask you to expose his scandals."
"What?" Lucia was stunned, besides that, what else could be done?
Shire stood up straight and cleared his throat: "You must ensure the evidence remains only in our hands; the rest is up to me, understand?"
"Understood." Lucia answered promptly.
In reality, she didn't understand.
But what Shire said was surely right!
