I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 804: Buying Is Better Than Building

Pershing sat upright, muscles tense.

Shire, being the gracious host, took the coffee from the orderly and handed it to Pershing.

Pershing quickly stood up, accepted it with both hands, and slightly bowed: "Thank you very much, Vice Admiral."

Hubbard sat nearby, hardly daring to breathe, and he quickly snatched the coffee from the orderly's tray even before Shire could hand it over.

He similarly bowed to Shire in gratitude: "Thank you very much, Vice Admiral!"

Shire dropped a sugar cube into his coffee and gently stirred it, looking at Pershing sitting opposite: "Have you encountered any difficulties, General?"

Shire tried not to refer to Pershing's military rank.

Because Pershing's rank was only "Brigadier General," yet he served as the Commander of the American Expeditionary Force, which was not quite commensurate.

Pershing was holding the coffee cup, about to take a sip, but upon hearing Shire's words, he paused and placed the coffee back on the table.

"Yes, Vice Admiral," Pershing said earnestly, as if a student seeking advice from a teacher: "As you know, we are preparing to join this war, but we haven't undergone the relevant war training, nor have we experienced such a battlefield, so..."

"So there are some problems with the training direction?" Shire's tone was calm. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Yes, Vice Admiral." Pershing increasingly felt he had made the right decision to come.

Shire's single remark had pinpointed the crux of the issue.

Meanwhile, Kitchener just wanted to train the American Army like the British Army and then send them to the battlefield to die.

"Do you have a training plan?" Shire's tone was casual, as if discussing something trivial.

Pershing turned his gaze to Hubbard, who immediately took a document from his briefcase and handed it over, so nervous that when he stood up, the briefcase fell to the ground.

Shire took the document and glanced at it, raising his eyebrows: "So, you plan to train in the United States for two months first?"

"Yes." Pershing explained: "I believe they should first gain some basic shooting skills and experience in fortification, only then can they protect themselves..."

"General," Shire interrupted Pershing: "Don't you think the psychological state of American soldiers is more challenging?"

Pershing was left with his mouth half open, and after a moment of realization, he nodded: "Yes, General, that's exactly what I think."

Shire questioned: "So, do you think training on American soil will help their psychological state?"

He then added: "It's a strange approach, the most difficult thing is the psychological state, yet you have them train in the United States."

Pershing instantly understood Shire's point: "You're right, Vice Admiral. We should send the troops to France as soon as possible and let them feel the pressure of the battlefield."

Hubbard nodded in agreement: "We should even let them see the battlefield, make them understand from the start what they are facing, only then can they be psychologically prepared and possibly adapt!"

As Shire continued to flip through the documents, soon he looked at Pershing with a puzzled expression.

Pershing wore a look of embarrassment:

"I'm very sorry, Vice Admiral. My training plans and equipment directions largely stem from your armored forces."

"I tried to make some changes, at least so you wouldn't recognize them."

"But I found they couldn't be altered, as any changes would destroy the coordination among the branches."

This was also one of the reasons Pershing was amazed by Shire's talent.

The coordination of infantry, tanks, and artillery, along with the air force, tactically combined to form a whole, eventually cultivating a fast-paced, powerful, and well-informed unit.

This was not only tactically elite but also a strategic force.

Shire nodded slightly while reviewing the documents.

Pershing could be said to have the most thorough understanding of tactics, even surpassing Tijani who was always by his side.

This might be related to Tijani's focus on the "artistic value" of equipment, which limited his vision to the tactical level.

However, Pershing knew that having such a unit could carry out "scalpel-like" combat against the enemy, turning trench warfare into a maneuver-based breakthrough operation for both sides.

But problems arose too.

"Building such a unit won't be easy, General," Shire put down the document: "It requires not just tactics but a lot of equipment cooperation."

Shire slowed his speech: "And this equipment can be said to be the most advanced war weapons in the world."

Pershing nodded in response: "I understand, General, and this is one of the purposes of my visit, I hope you can agree to the sale of these equipment."

Hubbard took out another document from his briefcase and handed it over.

Shire took a look at it, it was a list of equipment.

The list started with the most important "Shire B1" tanks, including armored cars, 75 truck-mounted guns, Saint-Chamond, armored bridging vehicles, fighters, bombers... almost covering all equipment of armored and mechanized divisions.

Except for one thing, the rocket artillery.

Until World War II, America looked down on rocket artillery, preferring precision equipment, and Pershing was no exception.

Buying equipment was something Shire had anticipated a long time ago.

Shire's idea was that it must be sold.

To England, they should be secretive because secrecy was effective.

Because England's industrial and technological prowess had declined, many things Shire didn't sell them, they couldn't produce.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't that England couldn't produce but as the first strong nation, they were inherently proud, stubborn, and conservative.

They knew Shire's equipment and tactics were correct, but out of pride disdained to "follow suit," insisting on developing the "Independent" multi-turret tank, taking the wrong path of "infantry tank" tactics.

America was different.

At that time, America was striving to surpass Britain, thus maintained a humble attitude of learning, always striving to excel.

The Pershing in front of him put down his airs to learn from Shire, the thirst for knowledge in his eyes could be said to be a true reflection of Americans of that era.

For such a country, if Shire was secretive, it wouldn't take long for America to develop equipment similar to Shire's.

France's called "Shire B1," America's called "Pershing B1."

Taking "industrial property rights" to court?

It might take years without results, having to prove each component one by one!

The correct approach was to actively cooperate, first drawing America into Bernard Group's whirlpool of equipment.

Then create an illusion that "manufacturing is inferior to buying," suppressing American R&D teams, ultimately making America dependent on the equipment produced by Bernard Group.

This was a tactic America used against other countries in modern history, Shire was now "using their own ways against them."

Of course, Shire wouldn't miss out on America as a "wealthy patron."

He faked a look of difficulty, furrowing his brow:

"General, although I am very willing to sell this equipment."

"Because selling to anyone is business, is making money, which makes no difference to Bernard Group, especially since you're allies."

"However, from a national perspective, these are all top military secrets, even relating to the future and fate of France!"