Chapter 498 Cooperation

Antwerp Airport.

Charles looked at the BAR sketch left by Browning for a while, then threw it to Tijani.

"It's yours," said Charles.

"What?" Tijani looked at Ciel blankly. He didn't understand what Ciel meant.

"Aren't you complaining that your troops don't have submachine guns?" Charles stood up and made himself a cup of coffee: "This rifle can be equipped with your troops first."

Tijani's eyes lit up instantly: "This, is this true?"

This was a surprise. He originally thought that this new gun would be equipped with armored troops and then equipped with mechanized troops. After all, armored troops need to be at the forefront to fight tough battles.

"Of course it's true." Charles stirred the coffee and sat back at the table, with a bit of disdain in his tone: "Do you think it is a good thing?"

"Of course, Brigadier." Tijani, who felt like he had found a treasure, nodded heavily while holding the sketch: "Of course it is a good thing!"

Charles asked casually: "Tell me what you understand about it, and how do you plan to deploy your troops?"

Tijani stared at the sketch for a while and said slowly:

"I think we should select soldiers with excellent physical fitness to use it."

"One, or two, per class."

"I'm not sure. I won't know until I try it after I get the gun."

Charles nodded. Tijani's understanding was correct. He did not blindly say: "I want everyone to use this gun and use it to eliminate all rifles!"

The idea is tempting.

Think about that scene: automatic rifles fire wildly at the enemy, and the enemy position will be covered with flying bullets.

But the reality is: most soldiers cannot control this kind of gun.

The heavy gun body, recoil during bursts, and at least 200 rounds of ammunition will cause great trouble to the soldiers who use it.

(Note: A bolt-action rifle has a base ammunition of about 100 rounds, but the BAR is an automatic rifle. 200 rounds of ammunition are not even enough to fight a battle. Modern automatic rifles usually need to carry 300 rounds of ammunition.)

At this time the guard came in and reported: "Brigadier General, Mr. Browning and Mr. Boyata are back again. They want to see you."

Charles nodded and continued to drink his coffee calmly.

"You seem to know that they will come back?" Tijani looked at Ciel doubtfully.

Charles shook his head slightly. He didn't know this, but he knew why Browning came back.

The moment Charles saw the sketch, he should have at least thought for a while or pretended to ask a few questions. This made Browning suspicious.

Sure enough, Browning quickly walked up to Charles in three steps and asked breathlessly: "General, you...you know this kind of gun, right?"

Ciel hadn't yet decided how to answer.

"I mean," Browning explained, "You've also thought about designing a similar gun, haven't you?"

Charles was stunned and nodded: "You can say that, Mr. Browning, I did think about it, but your movements are faster than mine. You have even made a prototype gun."

Browning laughed: "I knew it, I knew it!"

As he spoke, he moved a stool and sat in front of Charles. His movements were smooth and natural, as if he was having a long conversation with an old friend.

Boyata looked surprised. How could he be so casual in front of the brigadier general?

Just as he was about to step forward to remind him, Ciel stopped him with his eyes.

Browning didn't notice Boyata's little movement at all. After sitting down, he couldn't wait to say:

"General, I was actually inspired by your inspiration, to be precise, 'Saint Etienne 2'."

"If I can think of it, you can, too."

"After all, you changed the heavy machine gun into a light machine gun, giving it better maneuverability."

What Browning said was a bit abstract, incoherent and confusing, but Charles understood it, and he continued:

"Oh, yes."

"Since heavy machine guns can be changed into light machine guns, light machine guns can be changed into rifles."

“So there’s BAR!”

Browning laughed excitedly again. The laughter was loud and hard to hear, like a pig's cry:

"That's what I thought too. It's unbelievable that there is such a coincidence!"

"But that's not surprising at all, is it? Because it's a growing trend."

“We just saw it trending!”

Browning used "we" naturally, and he regarded Charles as the same kind of person.

No one knows how lonely a person like Browning is, and how difficult it is for him to find someone with whom he has common interests and with whom he can chat for a few words.

But Charles didn't answer. He looked at Browning quietly.

"Is there any problem?" The smile on Browning's face gradually turned into confusion.

Then Browning suddenly figured it out:

"You know something, right? It's different from what I thought!"

"Yes, I knew it."

"Although I am in the lead, you want to be in the lead. You know how to avoid the flaws of BAR."

Charles admitted with a "hmm", otherwise Browning would regard him as disrespectful and an insult to his IQ.

"But I can't tell you, Mr. Browning." Charles said directly: "Because there are many reasons."

Browning nodded to express his understanding: "I understand, General, this is your idea, it belongs to France, and I..."

He looked back at Boyata standing behind him, with a hint of helplessness in his eyes: "I belong to FN and Belgium."

Browning sighed softly:

"You're right, you shouldn't tell me the answer."

"I'm sorry, I just...I just wanted to know."

Charles nodded to express his understanding. This was a desire for knowledge, not plagiarism with ulterior motives.

What the two of them didn't know was that after hearing these words, Boyata, who was standing behind Browning, instantly felt his hands and feet go cold, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

This is not a good thing, Boyata thought.

Everyone can see that Shire is Browning's best partner, and by putting their minds together they will be able to design the best gun in the world.

What's more serious is that they... cherish each other, yes, they are like old friends!

Even though the two of them had just met each other not long ago and there was a huge age gap, they could magically think of each other.

I can't be a barrier between them, Boyata thought, otherwise FN will lose Browning, there's no doubt about it.

Thinking of this, Boyata hurriedly stepped forward to persuade: "No, no, I don't think these are problems, general."

Then Boyata looked at Browning: "I have a suggestion!"

"What?" Charles asked, but he could actually guess something.

"Why don't we cooperate?" Boyata said excitedly: "FN and Saint-Etienne cooperate. We have a common enemy. We both want to produce the best equipment. We all have..."

Boyata waved his hands to the two, indicating that both sides had excellent firearms designers.

Browning's eyes lit up instantly. This was indeed a good suggestion.

But soon, his excitement quickly dimmed. He smiled self-deprecatingly and said to Boyata: "No, Jonathan, the general can accomplish what he wants without us. He doesn't need to cooperate with us."

Browning smiled wryly and shrugged. He had never been so humble.

Boyata thought about it and felt that this was the case. Charles had the idea and the "Saint-Etienne" Arsenal realized it. Why should he cooperate with FN?

What they didn't know was that Ciel found this lucrative.

Because this can more completely control Belgium's military industry, obtain the talent of Browning, and obtain the production capacity of FN.

All you need to pay is to distribute profits, so why not?