I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 917: So Much for Shire

As everyone saw the speaker stepping out from the backlight, they exclaimed:

"The Vice Admiral, the Vice Admiral is here."

"It's Admiral Shire."

...

The French engineers stood up to greet him, and the British advisory group followed suit. Even Stephen restrained his arrogant demeanor and saluted Shire.

Shire casually found a seat and sat down, speaking in a relaxed tone, "Let's keep it informal, gentlemen, discuss as we normally do. After all, I'm from the army, most of what you say, I probably won't understand."

Everyone laughed, though their expressions varied. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

The French engineers took Shire's words as "humor," not believing for a second that Shire truly didn't understand naval matters.

The victory at the North Sea, which drew worldwide attention, was commanded by Shire. He also developed the "Echo Detector" and "Torpedo Aircraft" that took submarines and warships by the throat—how could he "not understand"?

The British advisory group, however, took the words seriously.

This stems from the Royal Navy's world-leading arrogance, and also because of England's media blockade or deliberate guidance, causing the mid-to-lower tier British advisory group to scoff at the revolutionary change brought by "Torpedo Aircraft":

"The success of France's 'Torpedo Aircraft' is simply because warships currently lack anti-air preparations."

"Once the enemy uses seaplanes for interception, they won't even get close to the target; and even if they do, they'd be destroyed by anti-aircraft fire!"

"The ruler of the seas is still battleships; that won't change, 'Torpedo Aircraft' can't shift their dominance!"

...

Stephen's thoughts weren't as absolute, but were similar.

He believes that as long as carriers develop to launch more advanced and faster fighters, the "Torpedo Aircraft" modified from bombers would be insignificant.

"Vice Admiral." Colonel Stephen stepped away from the table to approach Shire, respectfully handing over the files, "Here's the data you requested, currently only part of it; the rest will be sent in batches."

This is a tactic of the Minister of Military Supplies.

If all the data were handed to Shire at once, Shire might copy it and say it's useless before sending it back, everything the Minister did would be in vain.

Therefore, handing over data and advice in batches is wise. Best yet, it can choke France's carrier construction, or lead it in the wrong direction.

Shire flipped through and saw it was indeed an English carrier design, but an outdated plan for the modified "Furious."

(The image shows the "Furious" cruiser of WWI, converted into a carrier, retaining rear guns, but landing was extremely difficult, experimental results were unfavorable, converted to flush deck the next year.)

Before Shire could ask, Stephen hurriedly explained:

"As a warship, we believe the removal of all weaponry is extremely dangerous; it will completely lose its self-defense capability in naval battles."

"Furthermore, the benefits of completely removing the guns are minimal."

"Because even if the deck is extended to over a hundred meters, only either take-off or landing can be chosen at a time; otherwise, landing aircraft might collide with those taking off."

"Doing so is clearly not worth it; numerous experiments have led us to this conclusion!"

Shire secretly laughed.

This must be the opinion of the Minister of Military Supplies; otherwise, a naval colonel wouldn't have such authority to discuss the carrier's development direction, as the Royal Navy's core secrets aren't accessible to a colonel.

But Shire didn't point it out; he feigned agreement by flipping through the files for awhile, lightly nodding as if agreeing with Stephen's idea.

This would ease the Minister of Military Supplies, and he would send more materials and data.

Even if only part of it is real, it can save France a lot of time, and also catches England off guard.

Seeing Shire's response, Stephen relaxed a bit.

Shire didn't see anything amiss; he thought, after all, they are dealing with something completely new and France is a blank canvas—who decides which direction is correct?

Then, he glanced demonstratively at the opposite French engineers.

"What do you think?" Shire turned his gaze to the engineers.

The engineers exchanged looks and then stated their positions one by one:

"I agree with this plan; it's the integration of warship firepower and take-off/landing platform."

"Colonel Stephen makes sense; if alternating take-off and landing is inevitable, then an 80-meter deck would suffice; extending the deck isn't really helpful."

"Removing all guns is dangerous; it would turn the carrier into a target for the enemy."

...

A bunch of idiots, Shire cursed in his mind, deceived so easily.

If five battleships are remodeled using this plan, France's carrier project will be delayed by at least two years or more.

Since France is originally short on funds, this severe hit would cripple them.

Which is exactly what England aims to see.

Eventually, Shire's gaze landed on the middle-aged Major General.

The middle-aged Major General was in a panic; even in winter, sweat dotted his forehead.

The middle-aged Major General named Pierre Ronak, is Toulon Fleet's Chief of Staff, a trusted aide of the Minister of the Navy.

(The image depicts Major General Pierre Ronak, who showed outstanding performance in submarine warfare during WWI. He pioneered the tactic of positioning German submarines using "Air, Submarine, Fast Boat," later using drag net fishing boats to violently trap the subs. Promoted to Admiral post-war, modern France named their first FDI-class frigate after him—the "Admiral Ronak.")

As a staunch anti-Shire advocate, he suspected he might be among the first batch cleared from the Toulon Fleet by Shire.

Because only then could Shire better control the Toulon Fleet.

Now, he unequivocally gave Shire an excuse, a perfect one:

Everyone thought the carrier's rear gun should be retained, yet he advocated for complete removal, which would be seen as having an "ulterior motive," even wishing harm to the Toulon Fleet or Shire!

"Major General," Shire asked, "Don't you have anything to say?"

Shire's voice was calm, a courteous inquiry.

But to Major General Pierre, it sounded like a final ultimatum: Don't you have anything to say? That's an admission of guilt—get out, you fool!

Pierre gritted his teeth, stood up fiercely, meeting Shire's gaze defiantly:

"I'm sorry, I don't agree with this plan, Vice Admiral. If we proceed this way, the final outcome might be that none of it works."

"I mean in actual combat, the rear guns may not yield the expected self-defense results, whereas the flying deck upfront may not provide a spacious, stable flight platform for aircraft."

"Though I can't offer evidence, my intuition tells me this is wrong."

...

Shire said nothing, staring at Major General Pierre for a moment, then suddenly laughed, with a mocking grin and helpless eyes.

Others laughed as well, the British advisors included.

Colonel Stephen laughed the hardest.

Shire was nothing special; he believed this claim!