Chapter 727 - 727: The Transformation of Naval Warfare

The three men greeted each other with warm embraces.

Charles wasn't particularly close to either Wells or Vice Admiral Gai Platt on a personal level, but their shared interest in the Brest shipyard had brought them together—like comrades fighting on the same front.

Charles was a bit surprised to see Wells. "You're not supposed to be here, Mr. Wells. Otherwise, certain members of parliament might start turning this into a political scandal."

Wells smiled nonchalantly. "You seem to forget, General, that you are the principal funder of the Brest shipyard now. I'm just here to discuss shipbuilding plans with our investor. Nothing improper about that, is there?"

Everyone laughed.

In truth, given Charles's current rank and popularity, there was no need to worry about gossip or insinuations.

He had reached a new level—respected by the public, trusted by the army, and with his own military theories already gaining traction and institutional validation.

At this point, no one could take him down by muttering "military-business collusion."

If a member of parliament were to question him during a session:

"Charles supports the Brest shipyard only because he has a backroom deal with Wells."

"He stands to gain personally."

"We have reason to believe he holds shares in the shipyard—or perhaps he's taken bribes from Mr. Wells."

"After all, they do have private contact."

…

That kind of accusation would be instantly drowned out:

"My God, don't you know Charles donated those ships out of his own pocket?"

"What benefit could be greater than footing the bill for a fleet? That's tens of millions of dollars!"

"Even if there was a benefit—so what? He built ships for the Navy. Isn't he allowed to pick a friendly yard?"

…

The citizens of France had been won over by Charles. Whatever rumors surfaced, they were more inclined to doubt parliament than to doubt him.

Even the politicians themselves knew this line of attack wouldn't work—not anymore. They didn't even try.

After some polite conversation, Gai Platt sank into his chair in the conference room. As a staffer handed him coffee, he couldn't hold back his complaint:

"You won't believe what parliament is debating now."

"Several of them are openly questioning your strategy in the Meuse River campaign."

Charles blinked in surprise. "My strategy at the Meuse?"

As far as he was concerned, there had been nothing wrong with the Meuse campaign. It had been a major success and was already entering its final phase.

"Indeed," Gai Platt said with a smirk. "They're saying you were too conservative. That the 1st Armored Corps should have crossed the river and reclaimed all of France while the German rear was still weak."

Charles nearly choked on his coffee. "They really said that?"

Wells raised an eyebrow. "I can confirm it. But don't be surprised. They're parliamentarians, not generals—let alone Charles."

Both Wells and Gai Platt chuckled.

Parliamentarians knew little about military affairs—yet they were the ones deciding grand strategy, interfering in operations, and even appointing commanders.

Then Wells changed the subject back to the point of their visit. "So, what's the update on the warships? I heard you just met with the Nihon attaché."

"I did," Charles replied, pulling the freshly signed contract from the drawer and handing it over. "Everything went smoothly."

Wells and Gai Platt leaned in to look—and both frowned.

Wells was the first to speak. "This... can't be right. 1.6 million dollars? For more than 3,000 tons of displacement?"

"What's wrong?" Charles asked. "You're not satisfied?"

"No, no," Wells clarified quickly. "It's just... at that price, our own production costs now seem inflated—by a lot."

Charles chuckled. "Relax, Mr. Wells. I know what's going on. It's simple—Nihon is offering the ships at a loss. They're willing to bleed money just to secure this deal."

Wells finally relaxed, his smile returning.

If Nihon could build this class of cruiser, the Brest shipyard could easily follow suit with slight modifications. That meant France now had a solid blueprint—saving time and cost on design and testing.

In other words, the future of Brest shipbuilding was secure.

Vice Admiral Gai Platt stared at the structural plans of the warship for a while, then raised a concern.

"I've been wondering, General. How exactly are we going to train with these ships?"

"I mean, these new cruisers—along with the ones Nihon is building for us. They're meant for anti-air and anti-submarine warfare, correct?"

Gai Platt had been studying Charles's North Sea campaign closely and had come to understand the rising importance of air superiority in naval combat. He'd also heard whispers that Britain was building an aircraft carrier.

In fact, it was Charles who had told Tijani, who then passed it on to Gai Platt.

At first, the admiral hadn't believed it. But with Britain's HMS Ark Royal already in service as a seaplane carrier, it now seemed entirely plausible.

He could only sigh: the world was changing too quickly. Naval warfare might be about to undergo a complete transformation—and they were already mid-transition.

Charles nodded. "You could say that. At least for us, yes. But we still have to be ready for ship-to-ship combat."

That was due to limited reconnaissance capabilities at the time. Without radar or aircraft carriers, naval engagements still happened within line-of-sight or within gun range.

Gai Platt agreed.

"But we need to rethink our approach to surface warfare," Charles added. "When we lack air support, our guns should prioritize enemy destroyers. Let torpedoes deal with battleships."

That was the philosophy behind Nihon's torpedo squadrons—except Nihon had yet to implement it fully due to the absence of proper command ships.

Gai Platt nodded thoughtfully. He was starting to grasp the direction naval training needed to take and began running drills in his mind.

Then Charles added, "We'll also need to change how we fire and communicate. More precisely, we need a new coordination system."

"What?" Gai Platt looked confused.

His internal simulation had been based on traditional gunnery and communications protocols. If those had to change too, then everything he had imagined was wrong—completely wrong.

Charles gestured toward the contract on the table. "In my vision, coordination works more like one 3,000-ton cruiser paired with one destroyer."

Gai Platt was stunned. He exchanged a look with Wells. Both saw the surprise in each other's eyes.

They had expected Charles to use the Nihon-built cruisers as flagships, commanding large fleets of new and old destroyers.

But one cruiser per destroyer?

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