Chapter 402: The Cheaper Version
Charles looked at Matthew in astonishment. "How did you know I was planning to modify it?"
"Come on, Charles," Matthew said with a grin. "What do you think I’ve been doing all this time?"
Charles asked with confusion, "Isn't it working on engine improvements?"
That was the task Charles had assigned to Matthew—developing the tank engine.
Matthew nodded. "Yes, but I’ve also been studying tanks, Charles. Tanks are meant for the battlefield. To develop an outstanding tank, I have to understand the battlefield. I’ve learned a lot from Colonel Estigny."
Charles immediately understood—Matthew had been "infiltrating" military theory.
"Do you know what I discovered?" Matthew asked.
"What?" Charles responded.
Matthew gave Charles a thumbs-up. "You’re brilliant."
Charles chuckled, assuming Matthew was joking. Matthew was known for his carefree and irreverent nature.
But Matthew wasn’t laughing. He solemnly added, "I’m serious, Charles. The more I learn, the more I realize how remarkable you are. They say your tactics are 'unpredictable' and 'highly adaptable,' and I couldn’t agree more. Sometimes, it feels like you know the future. It’s incredible."
Charles was startled. Had he been found out?
"Let’s not talk about this," Charles quickly changed the subject. "You still haven’t answered me. How did you know I wanted to modify it?"
Leaning on his chair, Matthew stood up, limped to the Saint-Chamond, and examined its protruding cannon. "You bought the Saint-Chamond, sent it to the police base, and then moved several units to the tractor factory. That’s when I knew you were planning modifications."
Charles nodded in realization.
Sending the Saint-Chamond to the police base was for training, and sending it to the tractor factory was for improvements. This way, both training and modifications could proceed simultaneously.
Matthew had deduced the plan from these actions.
Charles was about to say something, but Matthew interrupted, "Let me guess: you plan to remove all the machine guns and add a rotating turret, correct?"
Matthew thought Charles’s modifications were aimed at countering the German Army’s new tank, the Upper Silesia. A 75mm cannon could penetrate the Upper Silesia at a greater distance.
He had even made a bet over the phone with Colonel Estigny: "The direction of the Charles A1's improvements will be to thicken its armor. In that case, we’ll need a tank with a larger-caliber cannon to suppress the Germans’ Upper Silesia at both close and long ranges. I believe it will be the Saint-Chamond."
Estigny found Matthew's analysis reasonable but still doubted it. "If that’s the case, why not design an entirely new tank instead of purchasing the Saint-Chamond? There’s no issue of industrial rights with it."
Matthew replied, "Let’s wait and see, Colonel. Two packs of 'Gypsy' cigarettes are on the line."
...
Now, Matthew looked confidently at Charles. "Did I guess correctly?"
Charles smiled and shook his head. "You’re half right. The machine guns will indeed be removed, but there’s no need for a rotating turret."
Matthew’s smile froze. "How is that possible? How will it deal with the Upper Silesia...?"
"It’s just a cannon, Matthew," Charles explained. "Equipment doesn’t need to be overly complex. Sometimes, simplicity, reliability, affordability, and quantity matter more."
Matthew frowned. "But the Saint-Chamond isn’t exactly cheap..."
Charles didn’t answer directly. He stepped forward and pointed to the front and rear sections of the Saint-Chamond. "After removing the four machine guns, there’s a lot of leftover space. We can shorten both ends to improve off-road performance."
Matthew nodded. The Saint-Chamond’s biggest flaw was its protruding ends, which made it prone to getting stuck on the battlefield.
"Move the cannon’s center of gravity to the middle," Charles continued. "That will prevent it from being front-heavy."
Matthew agreed. The Saint-Chamond’s front-heavy design made it impossible to thicken the frontal armor.
"And finally," Charles said, patting the front section, "isolate the driver’s cabin from the rear compartment."
Matthew’s eyes widened. "No, we can’t do that."
Matthew understood Charles’s reasoning. When the 75mm cannon fired, it produced heavy smoke. Isolating the front and rear compartments would prevent the smoke from obstructing the driver and gunner in the front.
However...
"This doesn’t make sense, Charles," Matthew argued. "Have you considered the noise from the engine and cannon? Communication among the crew is already difficult. If you isolate the compartments, they won’t even hear each other shout."
The Saint-Chamond would essentially become two separate sections, operating independently.
"They’ll communicate," Charles said calmly. "We just need to install telephones in the front and rear compartments."
Matthew was stunned. Then, he burst out laughing. "You scoundrel. How did you come up with that? Telephones—inside a tank!"
With that, the Saint-Chamond’s last major issue was resolved. The driver and gunner in the front wouldn’t be affected by the smoke, while the rear crew could handle the smoke using gas masks. Communication between the compartments would be managed by telephones.
Charles had even envisioned a specialized, long-lasting gas mask for the rear crew.
Hearing Charles’s description, Matthew could already picture the modifications in his mind. Confidently, he nodded. "While these changes appear significant on the surface, they’re mostly adjustments to the exterior and layout. The complex components like the chassis, engine, and transmission remain untouched. It shouldn’t be too difficult. We can complete it in no time."
"One month," Charles set the deadline. "Convert all the Saint-Chamond units within a month. Can you do it?"
Matthew hesitated for a moment. Then, gritting his teeth, he nodded firmly. "It can be done."
"But this is just a modification," Matthew said, tapping the Saint-Chamond’s steel plate. "I still don’t see how it becomes cheap. If we’re talking about mass production, just manufacturing over a hundred engines would take months."
"There’s another cheaper version," Charles replied.
"What?" Matthew couldn’t believe it. There was nothing left to cut; the tank was already down to a chassis and a cannon. Could the chassis be removed as well?
Charles pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Matthew. It was a sketch he had drawn the night before.
Matthew unfolded the paper and was momentarily dumbfounded. After a long pause, he exclaimed, "This really is the cheap version!"
It was a truck-mounted cannon—a simple combination of a truck and a 75mm cannon mounted in the truck bed.