Tonight’s second Chapter will be slightly delayed. I will be home from traveling around eight o’clock. We will return to three updates a day tomorrow! Sorry for the long wait!
Shire’s proposal soon gained approval from both the British and French Parliaments.
This was somewhat unusual.
Ordinarily, proposals in both the British and French Parliaments could be dragged for weeks, with discussions going back and forth for months, and finally, when they passed, they could be vetoed by the Senate and deliberated anew, repeatedly.
But this time, both Britain and France passed the "Authorization for Russia to Purchase Bomber Production" bill within just a few days.
Everyone, including Gallieni, was quite surprised.
Gallieni mechanically signed the documents in his hand, but in his mind, he was thinking:
This is funded by the capitalists, and it got passed by both parliaments. It would have been good enough to be discussed within a month, but it only took a few days!
After pondering for a moment, Gallieni seemed to understand.
It probably had to do with the British, French, and Russian alliance: after the Dardanelles Strait was blockaded, everyone, including the capitalists, feared that Russia would exit the war and remain neutral as Britain and France could no longer support Russia, which was struggling alone on the Eastern Front.
Brittan’s and France’s show of support for Russia in terms of funding and technology could solidify the alliance and ensure that Russia continued to commit troops to the Eastern Front to hold Germany at bay.
Shire cleverly utilized this psychological advantage, giving Britain and France an "opportunity to act" while he made a huge profit!
Smart guy, Gallieni smiled and shook his head. His astuteness in commerce seemed to be no less than his wisdom on the battlefield.
At that moment, the phone rang. Gallieni put down the document in his hand and answered the call. It was from the Mainland Affairs Council:
"What? The British Government is planning to purchase bombers?"
"Authorized production? But I think that’s not very appropriate, Commissioner..."
"Okay, I understand."
After hanging up the phone, Gallieni frowned. He dazed off for a moment and then called Shire over:
"You have more business, Colonel! The British are planning to purchase your bombers. Like Russia, they want authorized production."
"The British believe that since you are willing to sell to Russia, you would be willing to sell to Britain as well. It’s just a matter of price."
"And our government, they think this is beneficial to the current war situation, so they agreed to Britain’s request and decided to facilitate this transaction."
Shire simply said, "Oh," but it wasn’t just a matter of price.
Although Britain and France were allies, they were also potential enemies, and the French Government foolishly didn’t see that point.
Gallieni clearly saw the problem. He leaned forward a bit, lowered his voice, and asked, "I want to know, is it possible for your bombers to cross the La Manche Strait in the future?"
"Of course, General," Shire gave a firm answer.
It wasn’t much of an issue; the narrowest part of the La Manche Strait was only 34 kilometers, and bombers could easily cross it.
Even with the current Caproni Bombers, reducing a few bombs and mounting auxiliary fuel tanks would enable them to take off from Britain and directly bomb the French capital, Paris.
(Note: The closest distance from the British coastline to Paris is just over three hundred kilometers.)
"So!" Gallieni stared at Shire, his tone firm, "We shouldn’t sell this kind of bomber to Britain."
Shire realized that Gallieni knew he couldn’t persuade the foolish government, so he planned to convince Shire to stop the deal.
Isn’t this blocking my way to fortune?
After thinking for a moment, Shire calmly replied, "General, my thoughts are exactly the opposite of yours. I think this is precisely why we should sell!"
"What do you mean?" Gallieni’s face showed a trace of bewilderment. He suspected that Shire was saying this purely for the money.
"We cannot stop the British from producing bombers." Shire spoke very softly. After all, this was a discussion meant to guard against "British," the ally, and it wouldn’t be good if word got out.
"Britain is a great power with a strong industrial base," Shire explained. "The main reason they want to purchase now is because of industrial property restrictions. If we don’t sell, we will force Britain to develop independently, finding their own way..."
Gallieni nodded slightly with an "Oh."
This was different from Russia; Russia might not be able to develop independently, but Britain certainly had the prowess.
"So," Shire continued, "the right approach should be to sell the bombers to Britain, even gradually loosening the technical restrictions, leading the British step by step into a trap and having them follow our lead, eventually becoming dependent on us..."
Shire stopped at the right moment, as the following words were quite sensitive.
Once Britain became dependent on Shire’s technology, to a certain extent, its diplomatic and political stances would be subject to French influence...or rather, Shire’s control.
This was a common tactic used by modern great powers to control allied countries: offering various advanced equipment for free or through joint development.
The ultimate result was that the militaries of these countries would all be unable to operate without the great power’s support. If the great power withheld arms, these countries would be unable to fight, and of course, they would have to follow the great power’s lead.
At this moment, Shire was already ahead in the field of aviation and had even poached the research and development personnel from Aston Martin in Britain to interrupt their research and development in aviation engines.
The most crucial factor was that Shire was present, assuring that the research direction remained correct and consistently ahead of the world.
In this way, similar strategies could be employed to control other countries through military-industrial means.
When Britain wanted to invest funds to assemble a team for research and development, Shire could wave his hand and say, "Don’t bother; we are allies. Why not use mine? I’ll sell it cheap!"
Britain would then calculate: R&D required massive costs, not only time-consuming and laborious but also uncertain of success. Moreover, it could become obsolete upon development. Why not buy the ready-made ones?
So, they would shelve their R&D plans and disband their teams, buying the technology authorized by Shire instead.
Over time, Britain would not only lose its self-development capabilities but would even need France to send over qualified technicians.
Gallieni was a smart man. Though he wasn’t well-versed in commerce or politics, he could still understand Shire’s intentions. This approach, when broken down, simply leveraged a technological advantage to continually disrupt Britain’s "self-R&D" rhythm.
In that case, even if Britain had bombers capable of reaching Paris, so what?
As long as France cut off technological and personnel support, all of Britain’s bombers would soon fall behind due to lack of maintenance.
Gallieni was greatly impressed. This was a real strategy, a profound tactic!
"You’re right!" Gallieni nodded heavily. "I’ll respond to them immediately. The rest of the operations will be up to you!"
"Yes, General!" Shire replied.
This actually didn’t require Gallieni’s instructions. Shire had been planning this ever since he decided to buy Martin Automobile Company.