Chapter 624: Asymmetric tactics of the navy

Charles did not answer Wells directly. He asked back: "Mr. Wells, before that, I want to confirm one thing: Do you have a reliable R\u0026D team?"

"Of course, General." Wells answered with certainty: "I have a R\u0026D team that is completely controlled by me, and even the military has no right to interfere."

Charles nodded.

This is a characteristic of private ownership countries. The patents and technologies of equipment are often in the hands of big capitalists rather than the state.

Big capitalists are not stupid. They know that as long as they hold on to these technologies, they can sell a bag of screws for 90,000 US dollars and a shell for 800,000 US dollars like modern America.

Therefore, they will do their best to keep secrets, even if sometimes they need to "commit suicide" on their own people.

"Then, I think we can improve the fire control." Charles replied: "The fire control system currently used by our warships is bidirectionally stable, right?"

"Yes." Wells' eyes flashed with a hint of surprise. Charles actually knew about the bidirectionally stable fire control system?

But on second thought, he thought it was normal.

Charles is not only a general, he is also a genius inventor. Not long ago, he invented landing craft and amphibious landing ship, and he also has in-depth research on torpedoes. It is not surprising that he knows about the two-way stable fire control system.

Charles pointed out the answer: "We should invest in the development of a three-way stable fire control system to improve the accuracy of naval guns."

"Three-way stability?" Wells admired Charles even more, even he, who has been dealing with shipbuilding for many years, had never heard of it.

"Yes." Charles felt a little thirsty, took a sip from the wine glass, and then said: "We all know that the accuracy of naval guns is also affected by 'pitch', so only a two-way stable system is not enough, far from enough."

Wells looked at Charles with admiration: "Pitch" will affect the accuracy of naval guns. It is still in the exploration and verification stage. Even the R\u0026D personnel don't know much. I didn't expect Charles to know it.

What Wells didn't know was that Charles was deliberately misleading him.

The third direction that affects the accuracy of naval guns is not "pitch", but "roll".

After the war, the Germans failed to improve the accuracy because they mistakenly thought it was "pitch", and it was not until 6 years later that they found out that it was "roll".

Charles did this to keep a hand for Wells.

He knew that the nature of capitalists is to pursue profits, and it is not realistic to ask them to be "loyal", and it can even be said to be stupid.

Therefore, Charles needs to release a "long line" to hold these capitalists or technologies tightly in his hands.

More importantly, if the Germans or the British get wind of it, they will be misled by the "pitch" proposed by Charles.

When necessary, Charles will make the final decision: "Oh, how about we try to change the third direction to target "roll"? "

It won't take much time, but the effect can be seen immediately, and the initiative will always be in Charles' hands.

Wells nodded thoughtfully and said: "If this technology is successfully developed, it can indeed improve the quality of our warships, and even make a qualitative leap."

This is the difference between accurate and inaccurate in naval battles, and it can make the French Navy have the firepower of two or even three ships.

On the basis of being unable to build ships, it is indeed a way to improve strength.

But then Wells shook his head slowly, his tone heavy: "It seems feasible, General. But research and development takes time. After successful research and development, the fire control system of all naval guns needs to be upgraded, which also takes time, especially for battleships. It is more difficult to upgrade large naval guns, or even impossible. This may be..."

Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst.

In contrast, it is still more realistic to shift the strategic focus to Toulon.

"We only upgrade destroyers." Charles interrupted Wells.

"Only upgrade destroyers?" Wells frowned.

It may be much simpler to upgrade only destroyers, but when destroyers face tough battleships, it seems that there is not much difference between the accuracy of naval guns.

(Note: At this time, destroyers are generally small in tonnage, and small-caliber naval guns are difficult to cause effective damage to battleships)

"Have you heard of asymmetric warfare?" Charles said calmly.

Wells was confused. He was a businessman. Although he had experience in shipbuilding, he didn't know much about tactics. "Asymmetric warfare" was unheard of.

"To put it simply," Charles explained, "it is to expand one's own advantages in a certain aspect as much as possible in the war, and then use this advantage to completely defeat the opponent's corresponding arms. Then, the opponent will be restricted everywhere due to the serious lack of a certain arm, and eventually lower the overall combat effectiveness and fall into a passive attack."

Wells seemed to understand, but didn't understand: "But this doesn't seem to have anything to do with our confrontation with the British Royal Fleet."

Charles reminded: "Only upgrade the destroyer, it has more accurate naval guns and new torpedoes, so it can form an absolute advantage over the British Royal Navy's destroyers and torpedo boats (torpedo boats)."

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

Wells suddenly woke up: "General, you mean, we can use our destroyers to completely defeat the destroyers and torpedo boats of the British Royal Navy?"

"Yes." Charles nodded, and asked again: "It's not difficult to do this, right?"

Wells hesitated for a while, then said with certainty: "It's not difficult. Our destroyers are faster than battleships. We can always fight outside their range. Once the British send destroyers to chase, they will be sunk by our destroyers with the absolute advantage of naval guns and torpedoes."

"Next." Charles smiled lightly: "You can assume that the British Royal Fleet has lost most of its destroyers and even torpedo boats, and then seize this point to expand the results of the battle."

Wells suddenly reacted: "Then, we can use destroyers and torpedo boats to besiege the enemy's battleships and cruisers."

The reason is simple. The battleships of this period are afraid of torpedo boats. No matter how strong and advanced the battleships are, they often hit the target with one shot.

The huge guns on the battleships are very troubled by these fast and small torpedo boats. Their penetration and power are almost useless, which is tantamount to a cannon hitting a mosquito. Even if a few ships are sunk by chance, the loss to the French fleet can be ignored.

Destroyers are the natural enemies of torpedo boats. They are fast and equipped with small and medium-caliber naval guns, which can deal with torpedo boats more effectively.

But if the destroyers of the French fleet crush the British destroyers and completely defeat them, it will trigger a series of chain reactions like the first domino to fall, and eventually lead to the complete collapse of the seemingly powerful British Royal Fleet.

Wells stood up suddenly, his face was excited, and even his breathing became rapid.

This seems to be a solution, a very good and clever solution.

But soon, he calmed down again: "But General, if the British adopt a long-range blockade strategy like they did against the Germans, we may not be able to use this asymmetric warfare tactic."