I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

"I have already negotiated with the Brest Shipyard." Charles explained: "They will provide torpedoes and technicians to the aircraft manufacturer, and our R\u0026D department will be responsible for mounting the torpedoes on the aircraft and putting them into effective use."

This was proposed by Charles at the shipyard.

Charles did not tell Wells more details. He only told Wells that he would use torpedoes and further improve their performance.

Because Charles had previously provided torpedo design ideas and torpedo charge formulas, Wells had no doubts.

Even if he had doubts, there was nothing he could do. At this time, Charles had become the core of the development direction of the French Navy. Any problems encountered in the future development still needed to be solved by Charles. Now Charles just made a request and he dared not agree.

"No problem." Eric agreed: "We will set up this torpedo attack aircraft R\u0026D department tomorrow."

He already had a preliminary idea in his mind. This required several modified Caproni bombers, and then a piece of water suitable for experiments, and it would be best if the area was blocked.

Charles gave a rough experimental direction:

"Initially, we can use models with equal weight, shape, and specific gravity for testing."

"The first stage requires ensuring that the torpedo enters the water in the best posture."

Eric was a little confused.

He understood why the model test was used. Torpedoes are expensive and it is impossible to throw them casually at the beginning.

But...

"General, what is specific gravity?" Eric asked.

"The weight of each part of the torpedo." Charles explained: "Its head charge and the weight of the rear compressed air and combustion chamber are different. It may be head-heavy and tail-light. When using a bomber to throw it at high speed, it will affect its entry posture into the water."

Eric understood instantly: "So, we need to make some adjustments to it according to the situation, and if necessary, we need to change the layout, right?"

"Yes." Charles nodded: "In addition, the internal parts of the torpedo need to be strengthened, because the impact of it entering the water from the air is likely to damage some parts and cause failures."

This was one of the problems of the American air-launched torpedoes in the early days of World War II.

This problem directly led to the extremely harsh conditions for launching American air-launched torpedoes: torpedo attack aircraft must maintain a straight-line flight, low altitude, and not too fast.

This made American torpedo attack aircraft almost suicidal in the war.

Warships in World War II generally had air defense, but torpedo aircraft flew at low altitude and low speed in a predictable straight trajectory, becoming targets for anti-aircraft machine guns and cannons.

This was one of the reasons why the United States was completely defeated by the Japanese Navy in the early days of the Pacific War.

However, on second thought, Charles felt that the requirements in this regard did not need to be too high during this period. After all, anti-aircraft guns had not yet been invented, and warships were only equipped with a small number of "non-professional" machine guns and artillery, which could hardly hit the target.

(Note: Hitting targets in three-dimensional space in the air is not as simple as imagined. One of the difficulties is that the shooter cannot see the direction of the bullets and shells, so he cannot judge whether they are off target or how much they are off target. Therefore, he cannot correct the trajectory and can only rely on his feelings. The solution is to use tracer bullets to assist shooting)

Eric listened and nodded repeatedly to show that he understood. When Charles said this, he knew what this institute was going to do.

At the same time, he sighed in his heart: If this bomber can succeed, the entire naval warfare model may be completely overturned. The German battleships with a displacement of tens of thousands of tons can be easily solved by dropping a torpedo from this aircraft.

What Eric didn't know was that Charles was not thinking about dealing with the Germans, but the British.

With torpedo attack aircraft, the English Channel will undoubtedly be under the control of France, and even the British fleet within 300 kilometers of the coast cannot get close. As long as they get close, they will become targets of torpedo attack aircraft.

(Note: The Caproni bomber has a range of 600 kilometers, and the longest projection distance is about 300 kilometers)

…

The lights in the officers' club were dim, and the officers were talking loudly.

The theme was of course Charles' latest achievement: the Hasselt penetration.

"This is another perfect victory. This time, the number of Germans captured was even more than that of Antwerp."

"It's not important, Field. What's important is that this is the second successful penetration."

"Yes, many people thought that the penetration in Antwerp was because the Germans were not prepared, so it could not be copied and could not be widely used as a tactic, but now it has been proved that this is completely wrong, it can be copied!"

…

But there are still people who doubt it:

"What if this is another coincidence?"

"Yes, the Germans are still not prepared, and they transferred their main force to attack Antwerp. "

"I heard that the Germans in Hasselt only have two infantry regiments."

...

After delivering the drinks, Garrel put the tray on the bar and complained to Lucia who was busy inside: "Can't they talk about something else? Is Charles the only man in the world?"

Lucia glared at Garrel: "You can plug your ears or shut your mouth, Garrel."

Garel laughed: "I forgot that there is someone here who just wants to hear about Charles, and he never gets tired of hearing it."

Please...collect 6...books...!

Lucia put the prepared cocktail on the tray, pushed it in front of Garrel and said viciously: "Table 3, get out of my sight!"

Garrel turned around and saw Charles coming in. He turned back and lowered his voice and teased: "I hope you can say the same thing to him."

Lucia looked along Garrel's line of sight. She couldn't believe her eyes. Shouldn't Charles be in Hasselt at this time?

Before Lucia could react, Charles was surrounded by officers:

"General, it's Lieutenant General Charles."

"He's really here!"

"Congratulations, General, you have won another incredible victory!"

...

This time, the officers were not as tactful as before to give time and space to Lucia. They asked one after another:

"General, can you tell us about this battle?"

"And the Antwerp insertion, this is not a coincidence, right?"

"But both times happened when the Germans were not prepared."

...

Charles could understand the psychology of these officers.

They hope to get an answer, an answer that can convince them, or a theory that they may use when they go to the battlefield one day.

Not only to save their lives, but also to create miracles like Charles.

Charles nodded to Lucia and asked her to wait for a moment, then walked into the crowd and sat with the officers.

"This is not a coincidence, gentlemen," Charles said, "but a necessity, including the Germans' lack of preparedness, which is also a necessity."

The officers were all stunned.

How could lack of preparedness be a necessity?

As long as the Germans pay attention next time and take targeted measures, can't they fill this loophole?