I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 800: Pressure from England

At this moment, Shire had not yet reached the point of absolute power.

The Eastern Army Group was still under the control of the parliament and capitalists.

In fact, capitalist influence was present, to varying degrees, in Fuxu’s Northern Group Army, Petain’s Central Army Group, and even Gallieni’s Reserve Army Group.

The formation of ice three feet thick is not achieved in a single day; it is not something that can be uprooted overnight.

Only Shire’s Heavy Armor Army Group had very little penetration by external forces.

The reason was that Shire’s promotion principle did not care about one’s background or which military academy they graduated from; everything depended solely on merit and ability.

The connections between capitalists and the parliament mostly originated from military academies and the upper class. They generally had no actual military achievements and certainly not the abilities, and under Shire’s promotion system, they would typically be eliminated.

In other words, Shire was using the war as a means to purge the troops, and it was to let his subordinates "wholeheartedly submit."

Tijani was an exception. Although he was a wealthy heir, he had followed Shire for a long time and carved out his own realm.

Sometimes, Shire thought Tijani would be fit to lead a marine corps because he understood both the navy and the army.

Even so, the army issue was not significant.

Because whether it was the Central Army, Northern Army, or the General Commander or Ganmelin.

No matter how they messed around, the core forces of tanks, fighter planes, bombers, truck cannons, etc., were all in the hands of Shire’s Heavy Armor Army.

The Eastern Army Group, even with money, would have to purchase tanks from Shire to form an armored unit.

The best they could buy were outdated "Shire A1" models, without matching tactics, and certainly no qualified commanders.

Once a war began, it was always the Heavy Armor Army’s domain.

The navy, however, was a different story.

Shire’s control over the navy was weaker, having only the Brest Shipyard, and even that was weakened in the Atlantic direction.

The Toulon Faction under the Minister of the Navy was the main force.

Shire’s current position was not stable enough to leverage parliamentary control to forcefully change the Minister of the Navy’s direction, which would cause a backlash from the parliament.

However, Shire could exploit the British instead.

...

Paris City Hall.

The Minister of the Navy was in his office reviewing documents.

In reality, there weren’t many documents to handle, as there had been no significant military actions in the Mediterranean since the Dardanelles Strait campaign ended.

If the Toulon Fleet had any task, it was to protect the maritime transport lines between France and Italy and Greece.

(Note: In 1915, despite the opposition of neutral Greece, the Anglo-French forces forcibly landed 150,000 troops at the northeastern Greek port of Salonica, with follow-up forces increasing to 250,000. The Greek King was forced to abdicate, and by June 1917, Greece was almost forced to join the Allies.)

The Minister of the Navy was still brooding over Shire seizing Neon’s production capacity, which involved 12 destroyers of over 3,000 tonnage each, reportedly sold at a mere $100,000 each.

It was simply robbery, as these should have belonged to the Toulon Fleet.

The Minister of the Navy had protested to the Neon authorities, but Miyamoto Jiro had bowed graciously and apologized:

"I am terribly sorry, Minister."

"Our discussions with General Shire were about a private shipbuilding plan."

"To be precise, it was a collaboration with the Bernard Company, so... my deepest apologies!"

Miyamoto Jiro bowed so sincerely, a ninety-degree bend.

"Oh, really?" the Minister of the Navy replied, "Since that is a cooperation between your country and Bernard Company, does that mean your country’s promise to assist France in shipbuilding should be calculated separately?"

The Minister of the Navy’s logic was clear, implying the Neon should manufacture another batch of warships to fulfill their promise.

But he underestimated the Neon’s people.

Miyamoto Jiro looked bewildered, slightly rising while asking, "Minister, General Shire is a French general, correct?"

"Of course," the Minister of the Navy replied, not understanding the intent behind the words.

Miyamoto Jiro asked again, "The warships purchased by Shire are for fighting for France, right?"

The Minister of the Navy was stunned; he seemed to understand Miyamoto Jiro’s point.

"Well..." Miyamoto Jiro continued to explain:

"We have completed the shipbuilding plan with the French general who purchased the warships for France’s warfare. This means we have fulfilled the promise."

"As for the Minister’s request... We deeply regret that our production capacity is limited and cannot fulfill additional orders!"

"Very sorry, please forgive us. Once we complete this batch of warships, we will seriously consider your request!"

Another bow, his head almost touching the ground.

The Minister of the Navy did not know how to respond.

Moreover, understanding that this was an established fact that couldn’t be changed, throwing a tantrum would do no good and might even offend the Neon. In the end, he could only leave the matter at that.

The Minister of the Navy kept harboring resentment; it wasn’t that he didn’t want revenge, but he was suffering because Shire practically controlled everything, so he had to swallow his grievances.

He was determined not to allow Shire to extend his reach into the Toulon Fleet; this was his last line of defense.

Once Shire did so, he would organize all Toulon Fleet personnel to protest.

As long as the Toulon Fleet was firmly in his grasp, the Mediterranean would always be under his control.

At that moment, a staff officer brought in a telegram: "Minister, a telegram from London."

The Minister of the Navy acknowledged with a hum, receiving the telegram, appearing relaxed.

He had maintained excellent relations with Britain. The Anglo-French forces’ forced landing in Greece could not have been achieved without the Toulon Fleet’s cooperation.

Therefore, telegrams from London were usually good news.

For instance, how much more supplies had been transported from Ah San.

However, upon glancing at the telegram, the Minister of the Navy’s smile froze instantly.

The telegram read: "We require four ’Rooks Flag’ class warships, Minister. Please immediately dispatch the ships to Brest Port to report."

These were the latest model destroyers produced by the Toulon Shipyard, of which only eight had been produced, with four more under construction.

They really demanded four at once?

Furthermore, it was to "report to Brest Port"!

The Minister of the Navy nearly gritted his teeth as he sent a response: "Does this mean to have these four destroyers under Shire’s command?"

London’s response came from the Minister of the Navy, playing dumb: "Is it a problem? Shire’s command is excellent. Have you forgotten his recent major victories in anti-submarine operations and naval battles in the North Sea? I don’t see any issue with this."

The Minister of the Navy followed up with another telegram:

"Of course, this is your domestic affair that I shouldn’t interfere with. But it’s out of the Allies’ combat needs that we require these class warships’ cooperation."

"Specifically, it’s about Shire’s modifications to them."

"I must remind you, Minister, this is very important to us, crucial to the Allies, and we will spare no effort to achieve it."

The Minister of the Navy immediately understood that this matter was unchangeable.