I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 226: Shao Sha Machine Gun?

In the Ritz Hotel conference room, Shire briefly explained the requirements for aviation bombs to Steed, including the triggers.

The triggers for aviation bombs must be different.

If we still set the trigger at the front end like ordinary shells, such as mortars, a serious problem could arise: the strong wind aboard the airplane might cause the bombs to collide with each other or even directly trigger the fuse upon release, leading to an explosion.

This is one of the reasons why bombs were seldom carried by planes during this period, and if they were, they were usually thrown by hand at low speed. Even so, accidents were unavoidable.

The solution was to use a "windmill-type trigger mechanism" specific to aviation bombs.

This mechanism has a small propeller attached to the tail fin.

After disarming, the small propeller is driven by the wind and starts spinning. At this point, it does not explode.

After the bomb is dropped, the propeller continues to spin with the wind until the bomb loses velocity and stops spinning or spins very slowly upon hitting the ground, triggering a "boom" to explode.

(The above image captures a scene from the movie Pearl Harbor, where the enemy bombs use a "windmill-type trigger mechanism", with the red circle indicating a small spinning windmill)

This method ensures the safety of the airplane and only allows the bomb to explode upon hitting the ground, thus named "windmill-type trigger mechanism".

"This is confidential," Shire said to Steed. "The technicians and workers producing these bombs must undergo strict screening!"

"No problem, Colonel!" Steed confidently replied, "Leave it to me, we’ll produce it shortly."

The Saint-Étienne armory has a well-established management system; their confidentiality levels are even higher than those of the military or the government since it concerns the interests of the capitalists.

"But I might be in trouble, Colonel," Steed said with a pained expression, "I know you are very busy, I should not disturb you with such trivial matters, but..."

"What trouble?" Shire asked.

"It’s like this." Steed habitually took out a cigar but put it back upon glancing at Shire. "Do you know the Puteaux factory?"

"I’ve heard some," Shire nodded.

"It was originally an ordnance factory specializing in machine tools," Steed said. "It produced tools and equipment for us. But now it has started producing rifles, specifically the Bedier Rifle."

"Bedier Rifle?" Shire had heard of the name but couldn’t recall.

"Yes," Steed explained, "It’s a shortened version of the Lebel Rifle, originally meant to equip cavalry."

Shire responded with an "oh", now he remembered.

The French Lebel Rifle could not be used by cavalry due to loading defects, prompting the creation of a cavalry version.

Not only was the barrel shortened, but the tubular loading was changed to vertical loading, though only three rounds could be loaded due to bullet taper issues.

Unexpectedly, this cavalry rifle became very popular among infantry, with everyone considering it much better than the original Lebel Rifle, which had been largely ignored and relegated to colonial troops.

From this, it was evident how unpopular the tubular loading of the Lebel Rifle was. For new recruits trained for just a few weeks before heading to the battlefield, it was a disaster, including Shire.

"They initially planned to have the American Remington Company make improvements to better suit infantry combat," Steed continued, "But now this task has been given to the Puteaux factory."

Shire was surprised; from a proficiency and scalability standpoint, the improvement work should have been given to the Saint-Étienne armory.

Steed added, "It is said to be arranged by Schneider."

So Shire understood; Schneider was suppressing anyone cooperating with Shire.

This compressed Shire’s development space and served as a warning for others not to cooperate with Shire.

Fundamentally, this was not a matter of Saint-Étienne but a battle between Shire and Schneider. frёeωebɳovel.com

Steed said worriedly, "It is said the Puteaux factory is also developing a new type of machine gun. You know, the foundation of the Saint-Étienne armory is rifles and machine guns. If the Lebel Rifle and machine guns are all taken by the Puteaux factory..."

Then Saint-Étienne would no longer be Saint-Étienne.

Shire understood the implications.

Because Saint-Étienne has the manufacturing basis and capabilities, whether it was bombs, grenades, or even 37-style cannons, they could be quickly produced by simply providing blueprints or briefly describing the requirements to Steed.

This was not about money, nor just about machines; it involved skilled workers and relevant talents, a whole systematic team.

If Saint-Étienne lost orders for rifles and machine guns, these workers and talents would migrate, and subsequently, they would lose manufacturing capabilities.

"So, you hope to have a more advanced rifle?" Shire asked.

"A rifle would be good," Steed replied, "But we are more urgent to produce a machine gun. Actually, we have been developing a machine gun, but we still cannot resolve its defects..."

This was after the Saint-Étienne machine gun was eliminated. As the owner of the Saint-Étienne armory, Steed had to consider upgrading, instead of letting others steal the opportunity.

"Then, what about the machine gun?" Shire asked, puzzled.

"Hold on, Colonel." Steed glanced towards the door, "I’m sorry, I asked my son to bring the machine gun. He’s an expert in this field, and I believe he can explain it to you better."

Soon, a knock was heard at the door, followed by Dominic walking in with a long case.

Shire looked at him, puzzled, "Instructor, what are you doing here..."

Looking at the long case in Dominic’s hand, Shire suddenly realized that Dominic was Steed’s son!

Dominic was also surprised to see Shire; Steed had only told him to bring the machine gun, not that he would be meeting Shire.

Steed was stunned for a moment, "You know each other?"

"Of course, Father!" Dominic laughed, "You forgot, I am an instructor at the police training base."

Steed responded with an "oh" and nodded. Dominic was responsible for training with mortars, 37-style cannons, a series of equipment invented by Shire. They had obviously met before.

However, Steed introduced, "My son Dominic, he has no other hobbies but guns."

Dominic blushed, recalling the incident at the officer’s club, but fortunately, Shire seemed to have no memory of it.

Steed spread his hands, and Dominic realized this was a signal to proceed. He quickly opened the long case on the conference table and took out a machine gun, introducing it as he assembled it, saying, "This is a machine gun we’ve just developed, using the same 8MM Lebel bullets as the rifles, with a 20-round capacity..."

Seeing the machine gun made Shire feel dizzy; it was the infamous "worst machine gun", the Shao Sha?

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