Chapter 511: The Congreve Rocket
Charles had a bit of a ramble with the two men, as if explaining or perhaps complaining:
“You know, we need the ‘Congreve’ rockets to destroy the enemy’s balloons, and we also need rockets to bomb the enemy’s artillery positions.”
“I tried to produce the rockets ourselves, but I ran into difficulties with the rocket propellant, so I had to buy it from Schneider.”
“God, he’s tripled the price of the rockets, which has kept them in short supply.”
...
Charles' words were half true, half false. The price of the rockets had indeed tripled, but that was fairly normal given the dire shortage of supplies in France.
Schneider’s focus had always been on steel and artillery, and he had no interest in dealing with these outdated, less-demanded items.
He even believed that if he raised the price, other armament factories or even Britain would increase their production and capture the market with cheaper prices.
Only Charles knew the truth was not so simple.
Rockets were by no means “outdated” or “low in demand.”
The reason Charles had to buy from Britain was because he knew the British were ahead in this area, especially the British Navy.
The British Navy was attempting to use ships equipped with large numbers of rocket launchers for amphibious operations or close-range strikes against naval vessels.
The British rocket launcher first had the “beach mattress” and later the “land mattress,” and the British had always tried to improve the rocket propellant for greater accuracy. Their manufacturing process was more advanced and safer than Schneider’s, making it more suitable for mass production.
(Note: Producing old-fashioned rocket propellant required repeatedly rolling the semi-liquid, semi-solid propellant at specific temperatures to ensure uniformity. This process was highly dangerous and not suitable for mass production.)
Charles had now pinpointed his target, and with ease, he could purchase the technology from Britain and surpass Schneider.
Of course, Charles would not let anyone see how much he wanted this.
“This is not a hard condition,” Charles added. “I know many countries have this technology. It just costs a bit of money. If you’re unwilling, I can propose another condition…”
The key was to “propose another condition.”
“No, no.” The “Minister of the Navy” quickly interrupted Charles. “As for the propellant technology, we can even include the rockets we’re developing.”
Although the British Navy had invested heavily in rocket artillery, the project had already been proven to be a failure: No matter how hard the researchers tried, they couldn’t improve the rockets' accuracy, and without accuracy, rockets had no value.
Using a failed technology that was about to be discarded as a negotiation condition was perfect, as it was as cheap as it could get!
“Is that so? That’s great!” Charles responded. “Thank you so much, Captain, you’ve saved me a lot of trouble.”
Though he said this, his face showed no excitement, as if he had completed an insignificant task.
Charles’ little play had successfully deceived the “Minister of the Navy.” The minister didn’t suspect a thing and stood up to shake Charles' hand:
“Well then, it’s been a pleasure to cooperate, Major General.”
“I’ll contact the Navy immediately and prepare for coordination with your Navy.”
“Of course, I will send the rockets and related technology to you as soon as possible, faster than you expect!”
...
The “Minister of the Navy” followed through on his promise. The next morning, two “Avros” were parked at Antwerp Airport.
The planes didn’t just bring the rocket propellant technology; they also brought an unformed rocket sample and data. The two men who had arrived with the shipment were technicians—one worked on the rocket propellant, and the other on the rockets themselves.
“We’ve been ordered to teach your technicians how to produce the propellant and rockets before we can return.”
“This might take about a week, if all the equipment is available.”
“If the equipment isn’t ready, it may take a few more days, depending on how quickly you can purchase it. After all, these are extraordinary times.”
Charles was almost overwhelmed by this sudden stroke of luck. This was undoubtedly a “grand gift” from the “Minister of the Navy.”
Did the “Minister of the Navy” know what he was doing?
If he ever found out, he’d surely regret it!
Charles suppressed his excitement, nodded calmly, and stood to shake hands with the technicians:
“Alright, thank you very much. I’ll send someone to take you to Paris right away.”
“Have you heard of the ‘Saint-Étienne’ Armaments Factory?”
“Yes, that’s where you’ll be going. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they treat you well. The factory has plenty of money!”
When the “Avro” carrying the technicians took off again for Paris, Tigani looked at Charles with a puzzled expression and asked, “Rockets? What do we need these for?”
“Of course, to destroy the enemy’s balloons,” Charles answered casually. “We need rockets with a longer range and better accuracy…”
“Please, Major General,” Tigani interrupted. “You seem to have forgotten what you said. The ‘Congreve’ will soon be replaced by a type of incendiary bullet, one that’s loaded with an incendiary agent. Wouldn’t that be more accurate and have a longer range than a rocket?”
The lie was ruthlessly exposed by Tigani, and indeed, Charles had said that. This type of bullet was already in production and would soon be distributed to the air force.
“Alright!” Charles answered helplessly. “It’s meant to deal with the German 105mm howitzers.”
Tigani paused for a moment, then laughed: “Oh, yes. I was planning to have a carpenter make a bow and arrow to deal with the enemy’s rifles!”
“I’m serious, General,” Charles replied.
“You don’t expect me to believe that, do you?” Tigani stared at Charles incredulously. “A 105mm howitzer can hit targets more than ten kilometers away, Major General—farther and more accurately. A rocket, though? You can’t even guarantee it will hit anything a kilometer or two away. And yet you want to use it against the 105 howitzers?”
Tigani smirked: “That’s not funny at all, Major General. The British artillery you’re producing may still have a chance.”
He was talking about the 6-inch 26-pounder howitzers imported from Britain.
They were indeed a good piece of equipment, but the range still wasn’t enough to fully suppress the German 105 howitzers.
Charles didn’t bother to explain further. He smiled lightly: “Remember what I said today, General. You won’t need the rockets!”
“Yes,” Tigani replied confidently, nodding. “I won’t need them!”