Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 102 As long as it's suitable for this era, there's nothing wrong with big ships and giant cannons.

Hearing that Admiral Tirpitz, the Minister of the Navy, was also meeting with the Emperor at Potsdam Palace, and that Lelouch had the power to make contact with him, Gustav immediately rushed over.

His driver drove incredibly fast, covering the 20-kilometer distance in just half an hour.

Gustav couldn't discuss business directly with Lelouch in the palace, but there were plenty of high-end meeting venues near Potsdam Palace, so he booked one and arranged a luncheon.

After His Excellency the Navy Minister finishes his business, the Emperor will likely not invite him to stay for lunch. It would be an honor for Gustav to host His Excellency the Minister's lunch.

After booking the venue, before Marshal Tirpitz had even finished his audience, Gustav asked Lelouch to have some tea alone, chatting as they waited.

Lelouch happened to have some business with Gustav about three-phase electric arc furnace steel, so he took advantage of this window of opportunity to handle it first.

"Mr. Gustav, have you seen the three-phase electric arc furnace steel samples and the performance report that my sister brought you?"

Gustav: "We've seen it all. We're very satisfied with the price you can offer Krupp three-phase electric arc furnace steel at 1500 marks per ton."

The new steel is indeed of excellent quality; we can use it for gun barrels and manufacturing high-end artillery. Even if the cost per ton is 2.3 to 2.4 times that of traditional open-hearth steel, I believe the military will pay for its superior performance.

Lelouch quoted Gustav a wholesale price of 1500 marks per ton for three-phase electric arc furnace steel.

This price represents the total cost from the initial iron ore smelting process to the entire production cycle; there is no profit involved.

However, Lelouch has his own source of scrap steel from sunken ships, so he doesn't need to purchase raw materials for production. He only needs some pre-processing costs, which can save 400-500 marks per ton in production costs. In the end, the quality of the steel produced can even be slightly better.

This part is Lelouch's own unique cost advantage, and has nothing to do with Krupp, so it is still sold to outsiders for 1500.

Compared to the previous cost of 4000 marks per ton for single-phase electric arc furnace steel, which had no market competitiveness, the current cost of 1500 marks is quite cost-effective. Whether something is good or bad cannot be judged in isolation; it must be compared with the previous generation of products.

If Lelouch is able to gradually improve production technology and further reduce costs in the future, he will be able to earn even more.

If he can produce better quality steel, he will have the confidence to raise the price further.

The main cost of a cannon lies in the manufacturing technology; the steel itself only accounts for a small portion. Even if the price of cannon barrel steel increases by 2.4 times, the price of the entire cannon will only increase by a maximum of 30%, which is not too exaggerated.

After Gustav accepted Lelouch's offer, he immediately changed the subject:
"However, the demand for and application scenarios for this type of high-quality steel are still relatively small at present."

Even if we accept this purchase price, we can't buy too much. The most suitable scenario I can think of for using the new high-priced steel is the high-caliber, long-range 150mm cannon barrel.

The better the steel used in these anti-tank guns, the higher the chamber pressure they can withstand, and the longer their range. This can bring about a qualitative change in combat effectiveness.

For other heavy howitzers, range and accuracy are not as critical, so there's no need to use electric arc furnace steel, which is too expensive; open-hearth steel works just as well.

Gustav was very frank, making no secret of the fact that his expected procurement scale was very small.

Fortunately, Lelouch had anticipated this, so he didn't mind.

When anything new is first introduced, users of the old era often fail to think of many application scenarios or underestimate what the new thing can do.

In that case, Lelouch can help the customer come up with more application scenarios:

"Mr. Gustav, why didn't you consider looking for some applications for three-phase electric arc furnace steel in the field of naval guns?"

"How big are the army's counter-battery cannons? The navy has so many large tubes; if the performance and quality of this area can be improved, even if it costs millions more marks per battleship, the navy is likely to pay for it."

But Gustav had clearly considered this question as well, so he wasn't fooled at first glance and immediately retorted:

"Let the navy use your gun steel? The navy's light cruiser guns/battleship secondary guns don't need to care too much about their own weight, nor do they need to pursue the maximum range, right?"
As for the main guns of battleships, they do require high chamber pressure and long range, but can you build them? The steel for battleship guns must at least ensure that the steel required for each layer of the gun barrel is cast from the same furnace of molten steel.

How many tons can your electric arc furnace have per cylinder? For the Baria-class battleship, a single gun barrel weighs 70 tons, and the raw steel billet before forging and cutting weighs at least 150 tons.

Even considering the three-layer casing structure of the gun barrel, the longest inner tube would weigh 20 tons, requiring over 40 tons of raw steel. Previous electric arc furnaces could only produce 10 tons of molten steel per furnace…wait a minute! You're using a three-phase furnace! Could you possibly increase the single-furnace output to 30 tons?”

Lelouch then smiled: "You really know your stuff. Moreover, we have some other technological optimizations. Now we can not only produce 30 tons of steel per furnace, but 50 tons per furnace! Give us more time, and in the future we can even produce 70 tons or 80 tons per furnace!"

Gustav's breathing finally became slightly heavier; he had clearly also spotted a larger market.

"If we could use better steel for the main guns of battleships, it would definitely greatly enhance the combat power of the Imperial Navy. This would be a good thing for the country and its people."

Unfortunately, simply replacing the gun steel without adjusting the design is a waste. Good gun steel can withstand higher propellant chamber pressures and drive heavier shells. But that requires design adjustments, increasing the chamber volume, at least adding space for an additional propellant charge, to make it all work.

The chamber size has been enlarged, the breech has become heavier, and the barrel diameter will likely need to be increased by two to three times. This shouldn't be finished in less than six months…”

Gustav became increasingly regretful as he spoke, so engrossed in his own world that he didn't realize the solution was right in front of him.

According to his estimate, even minor design tweaks would take several months. If a new cannon were to be developed from scratch based on new gun steel, it would be even slower, potentially taking one or two years.

Fortunately, Lelouch remained perfectly clear-headed. He patted Gustav on the shoulder at just the right moment, pulling him back to reality.
"What's so difficult about that? We're here to see Lord Tirpitz today, isn't it a perfect opportunity to discuss this? If there's a better design, we can change it. Anyway, only the first two of the Baria-class battleships have been launched; the hulls of the remaining three haven't even been completed yet."

Even ships already launched will require about a year of construction time. The turrets can be installed later, as long as it doesn't affect the electrical system or the warship's overall center of gravity. Delaying the installation by six months is perfectly feasible—isn't six months enough for your experiments, adjustments, testing, and production?

“Yes, you really dare to think big…” Gustav finally stopped hesitating, but what followed was an even greater shock, “You…you actually have the confidence to persuade His Excellency Tirpitz to accept the design changes and additional budget?”

"How will we know if we don't try? Well, Lord Tirpitz is here. It's perfect that the three of us sit down and have a good talk about the naval guns."

As Lelouch was speaking, he saw that Minister Tirpitz had arrived, and he quickly got up to greet him.

Gustav quickly followed Lelouch to greet him. He was very curious about how Mr. Lelouch had managed to get in touch with the Minister of the Navy and even gain his favor.

“Minister Tirpitz, it is an honor that you have taken the time to meet with us,” Lelouch said first.

Field Marshal Tirpitz nodded and shook hands with him:
“I should thank you too. I heard from Secretary Baden that you helped write his speech in support of the Navy during the Congressional discussion on the additional Navy budget. You actually managed to keep those guys like Burns and Kautsky in check.”

"That Navy budget was perfectly reasonable and should have been passed."

It was Minister Baden's patriotism and sincerity that moved those wavering members of parliament. I merely wrote a speech; what merit do I have to speak of?

I met with Burns and Kautsky a few days ago and we had a long talk. They were both very supportive of my views on the war.

Lelouch smiled modestly, not taking credit at all, but his words also concealed his sharpness: "I am already a rising star in the military who is appreciated by several members of the parliament."

Gustav, standing nearby, only fully understood the grievances at this moment:
No wonder Marshal Tirpitz was so kind to this kid even though he had never met him before.

It turns out that Lelouch had also done a little bit of work in helping the Navy raise funds, at least managing to get a few senators to vote in favor.

Of course, to be honest, Marshal Tirpitz's budget proposal did not just barely pass the cut-off; it still had some votes to spare.

In other words, even if Burns, Kautsky, and their small group had voted against it, it wouldn't have stopped the wheels of history from turning.

However, in countries with parliaments, ministers are generally quite polite to brokers who can influence members of parliament.

Even if a few votes aren't a big deal this time, who knows what will happen next time? If you offend someone, and next time what was meant to help turns into something annoying, then you'll be left with nothing but regret.

After Lelouch finished being modest, he immediately changed the subject and pressed his advantage:

"Your Excellency Minister, it is a pleasure to have you and Mr. Gustav of Krupp here today. We just happened to be talking about a recent advancement in metallurgical technology that can be used in gun steel."

"Would you be interested in listening? Perhaps it could improve the artillery capabilities of the Empire's warships currently under construction."

When discussing this kind of matter, you should talk to the big boss directly.

As Minister of the Navy and the de facto leader of the Imperial Navy's development over the years, Tirpitz was most enthusiastic about improving naval gunnery and was immediately drawn to the idea.

"Tell me in detail first..."

Lelouch then started by discussing the new main guns of the battleships, reiterating the points he had just made with Gustav.

Tirpitz listened attentively and finally made a decisive decision: "If the performance is indeed improved and can pass the test, this cycle is acceptable, and we can consider increasing the budget."

However, you, Krupp, must ensure that the first two of the Baria-class battleships are completed on schedule!
In my opinion, you should build at least 16 extra gun barrels as spares, so that even if the new gun barrels are ultimately not successfully manufactured, the warships can still be commissioned on time.

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P.S.: There will be two updates today, but the second one won't be until after class this afternoon. Also, both updates will only be 3,000 words each.

(End of this chapter)