Chapter 681 - Smoothbore guns

Finally, the price agreed by Joseph and the US military was $160 per unit.

Joseph gave the US military a discount, and the original price of double the price should be $170 per unit.

But Johnson said that the US military's long-term large-scale purchases can share the research and development costs of the "Garand" rifle, and the military factory should give some concessions.

Joseph felt that this seemed to make sense, so he reluctantly signed the contract for the first batch of 100,000 rifles.

"This is at least tens of millions of dollars in profit." Deyoka said excitedly: "One rifle can make more than one hundred dollars, and this does not include the cost of bullets and subsequent maintenance and replacement of parts."

Tens of millions of dollars is not a small amount in this era. This money is enough to build 10 new destroyers with a displacement of 2,000 tons.

But Charles felt that this was not enough, far from enough.

He closed the file, turned to Deyoka and said, "Now, we can sell submachine guns at half price."

"What?" Deyoka looked at Charles in astonishment: "Submachine gun?"

After hesitating for a while, Deyoka added, "This will plunge the United States into another storm, Charles, this is probably a piece of equipment that is more suitable for gangsters than rifles."

Gangsters usually hide in cities and fight in almost all street battles.

Submachine guns are undoubtedly the king in street battles, and the Garand rifles in the hands of the US military are more suitable for long-range combat on open terrain.

Char answered calmly, "This is not what we need to consider, father, we are businessmen."

Deyoka nodded, with a hint of helplessness in his eyes: "Okay, I'll notify Joseph right away."

Char watched Deyoka leave.

He could see the hesitation in Deyoka's heart.

On the matter of gangs, the soft-hearted Deyoka thought that Charles should stop at the right time and sell the rifles to ensure that the military factory can gain a foothold in New York.

Now they sell submachine guns to the public at a low price...

Although it is for business, as a "conscientious capitalist", they should consider how much harm the gangs will cause to civilians and society after owning submachine guns, even though that is the United States.

Charles does not consider these.

He wants to control the US arms market while the US military industry has not yet developed.

This is not just a matter of money, but also a struggle for power and discourse power.

Facing an industrial country like the United States, Charles believes that he has no room for "softness", and he can only use the gangs to compete for the military market as soon as possible.

Otherwise, American capitalists may be able to overtake on the curve with their strong industrial capacity.

…

The tank gun laboratory is busy.

Deyoka built it next to the artillery factory to facilitate exchanges between researchers and technicians in the artillery factory.

The initial planned land area is more than 3,000 square meters, which is the area for building a tank gun production line.

It turns out that this is necessary, because the researchers in the laboratory have almost built a complete set of equipment for producing artillery here, except for the gun barrel.

However, recently Stokes discovered that they may have to produce the barrel themselves.

The reason is that shortening the breech block reduces the weight and moves the center of gravity forward, which makes the original barrel length no longer meet the requirements of the tank gun.

Stokes discussed this issue fiercely with several researchers.

They are roughly divided into two factions, one is to use the original barrel, and the other is to produce the barrel by themselves and shorten the barrel.

"Reusing the original barrel can shorten the time and cost. All we have to do is add counterweight to the breech block."

"Are you crazy? Every bit of space and weight in the tank is very valuable. They are trying to reduce weight, but you want to add counterweight, which is meaningless weight."

"But it is difficult to produce the barrel and it takes a long time. We are at war now!"

...

Stokes remained silent.

Both sides seem to have reasons. The former is more in line with the immediate interests, while the latter considers the long-term.

It would be better if Charles was there. He is the one who can make the decision.

At this moment, Stokes was surprised to see Charles, dressed in general uniforms, and Deyoka coming in from the gate together.

He hurriedly led a group of researchers to greet them.

"Mr. Deyoka, General." Stokes shook hands with the two enthusiastically: "Welcome!"

The researchers also stepped forward to shake hands with the two, and their eyes were full of admiration when they shook hands with Charles:

"It's nice to meet you, General."

"We have all heard of you, General, and it's an honor to serve you!"

"Compared with your command, we hardly dare to discuss the war!"

The researchers laughed, their expressions slightly embarrassed.

They were referring to the poor performance of the British Expeditionary Force. As British people, they always "hate their lack of competition and lament their misfortune" when discussing and comparing the performance of the British and French armies.

Charles replied with an approachable smile on his face:

"That's because they didn't make good use of you."

"I heard that they actually planned to recruit you into the army?"

"Incredible, you are top talents, and the role you can play is at least worth several infantry divisions, but they just want to give you a rifle and rush to the battlefield!"

Charles implicitly praised them, knowing that talents often value self-worth more than salary.

Sure enough, the researchers looked at Charles with strange eyes:

God, this is how Charles sees us?

Our decision is right, he values ​​us very much, and we can work for him without any worries

This is a recognition, an affirmation, and a trust. Nothing is more important than these!

"Are you having any difficulties?" Charles asked. He just saw several people arguing.

"It's like this." Stokes took Charles to the desk and said to the drawings: "We are considering whether it is necessary to produce the barrels ourselves. The original barrels are no longer in line with the needs of the new tank guns..."

"Of course it is necessary." Charles said firmly: "I will provide all the funds, and you can get all the technology you need from the artillery factory."

The artillery factory is the production line of British caliber artillery, and the barrel technology is the same as that of 75mm artillery.

Stokes was a little surprised. He didn't expect Charles to make a decision so quickly without any hesitation.

"You may not know, General, this may double the research and development funds." Stokes said, "There is still time, because it is difficult to produce gun barrels, especially the 28 right-hand rifling in the barrel."

(Note: The French 75 gun is a rifled gun, with a 2.69-meter-long 36-caliber barrel and 28 right-hand rifling in the barrel)

"I know." Charles replied, "But we can simplify production appropriately, such as removing the rifling and changing it to a smoothbore gun."

Stokes and a group of researchers looked at each other, and then expressed their opposition:

"I don't recommend this, General, rifled guns have higher accuracy than smoothbore guns."

"Not only that, rifled guns have a longer range because it makes the shells spin, which makes it more stable."

"We would rather use the method of adding counterweights than changing it to a smoothbore gun, which will have a great impact on combat effectiveness."

……