Chapter 272: Adding Fuel to the Fire

Fortunately for Steed, Bonnett has not publicly announced his separation from the Republican Party.

Steed guessed that Schneider hoped that Bonnett would continue to lurk in the Republican Party. At the critical moment, the "Little Daily" would suddenly change its tone and expose some unfavorable remarks about Shire, and then Shire would be in chaos.

Since Bonnet made no move, Steed pretended not to know and was happy to see Bonnet continue to "pretend" like this.

As for Layom, Steed secretly went to the Saint-Etienne Arsenal under the arrangement of security captain Klein.

When Steed suddenly appeared in Rayom's office and brought the entire office under control, Rayom realized that something had been revealed.

"Father!" Layom's face instantly lost all color, and he stood up from the table in fear.

Klein brought a chair and put it down in front of Rayom. Steed slowly stepped forward and sat down, and squeezed out a few words through his teeth: "What conditions does Schneider give you?"

"Father, I didn't..." Rayom seemed to want to defend, but Klein's pistol was already pressed against Rayom's head.

Klein is not so much the security captain as the commander of Steed's personal army. He has been protecting Steed's safety for many years, including, of course, eliminating dissidents for him.

"Be careful." The murderous intent in Steed's eyes flashed: "I don't want to hear any lies. You know what I will do for the benefit of the family and the future of Saint-Etienne."

Lajome simply stopped pretending and asked sharply: "The family interests and the future of Saint-Etienne you mentioned are just to hand them over to Charles? What can we gain?"

Seeing that Steed didn't say anything, Rayom boldly continued: "Father, if there were no Charles, Saint-Etienne would at least belong to us and our family..."

"Really?" Steed asked coldly: "What new equipment has Saint-Etienne invented under your management over the years? What I see is that it is being eroded bit by bit."

Layom retorted: "Even so, it does not mean that we have to surrender to the Ciel..."

Steed stood up suddenly and slapped Layom to the ground hard, and cursed:

"Idiot, if it weren't for Ciel, we might even be defeated by Pito Arsenal!"

"You think that without our support, the Ciel will not be able to rise?"

"You think Ciel needs us? Do you think we are irreplaceable?"

"Is Shire unable to produce grenades, mortars, aerial bombs and 37MM artillery?!"

Rayom was stunned.

As the manager of the Saint-Etienne Arsenal, he certainly knew that the production of these equipment was extremely simple, especially grenades, which only required a few workers and a little training.

Therefore, it is Saint-Etienne who needs Charles, not Charles who needs Saint-Etienne.

Without Saint-Etienne, Charles could find any arsenal or even open one of his own. Then, these equipments will pop up like mushrooms after a rain.

By then, the largest arsenal in France will be the Charles Arsenal, and Saint-Etienne without new weapons will be quickly eliminated under the attack of several forces, and no one can save it.

Steed looked at Rayom who was sitting on the ground in a daze and shook his head slightly: "You still don't understand that the future of the arsenal lies in creativity. Whoever masters creativity has the right to speak. But in your eyes, you only see factories, workers and machines. , why don’t you think: All of this is comparable to a grenade that Charles drew casually?”

Rayom felt that he had done something stupid and that the path his father had chosen was probably the right one.

Factories, workers, and even machines can easily find substitutes, but ideas cannot.

Charles has such ideas, every one of them is enough to shake up Saint-Etienne, and there may be more to come.

Therefore, Charles is undoubtedly the king of military industry.

His father realized this and chose to fully support him. Only in this way can he obtain the greatest benefits and lead Saint-Etienne to glory.

But he regarded it as surrender without a fight, and even hoped to cooperate with Schneider to drive away the threat of Ciel!

…

At the city defense headquarters, Charles received a call from Steed and knew that he had successfully convinced Rayom.

Charles didn't care much about this matter. Once Grave was followed, Layom's affairs were destined to be exposed. Once the matter is exposed, Rayom has only one way to "be persuaded".

After all, the Layums are in the Saint-Etienne Arsenal. After this incident, Steed will definitely "protect" Layum closely.

Charles's attention was mainly focused on the Dardanelles Strait, and one piece of intelligence was passed through Charles's hands to General Galieni.

Gallieni summarized the war:

"The number of battleships has increased to 18, as well as dozens of cruisers and destroyers, but it seems to have had little effect. They don't even dare to enter the strait to fight."

"Can't these battleships force their way through?"

Gallieni was an outsider in naval warfare. He believed that battleships could forcefully pass through the Dardanelles with their speed and armor. As long as they entered the wider Sea of ​​Marmara, they would be able to take the initiative in the war.

"Mainly mines, General." Charles replied: "Just one mine can sink a battleship, and the Ottomans have mined the narrow strait."

Gallieni raised the document in his hand: "They are bringing many minesweepers and destroyers at the same time. The minesweepers and destroyers can open the way in front, and the battleships can follow behind..."

"The Ottomans found a clever way to deal with it." Charles explained: "Their artillery can't do anything to battleships, but it is enough to sink minesweepers and destroyers. Therefore, they chose to concentrate their firepower on minesweepers."

Galieni said "Oh" and said nothing more.

The war should indeed be fought as Gallieni said, with battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and minesweepers together, with minesweepers and destroyers sweeping mines in the front and the main battleships following behind.

Although there will be casualties and costs, as long as they keep moving forward, the fleet will soon be able to pass through the Dardanelles and enter the Sea of ​​Marmada.

But Vice Admiral Carden, the commander-in-chief of the fleet, has always been concerned about this. He is worried that if he fights a small country like the Ottoman Empire, once the fleet pays a heavy price, his command will become a world-class joke.

Therefore, Vice Admiral Carden has always adopted what he thinks is a more secure way of fighting: warships bombard coastal defense artillery from a distance during the day, and minesweepers sneak into the strait to sweep mines at night.

This tactic seems safe, but in fact it gives the enemy more time to react and eventually becomes a "refueling tactic": after the enemy grasps the pattern, they immediately make corresponding countermeasures. They hide their guns during the day and come out at night to bomb minesweepers and replenish torpedoes in time.

Vice Admiral Carden naturally regarded the enemy as a fool who could not adapt!