America 1881: They Call Me Legend

It sounds like a bold idea.

However, as a vehicle engineer, Diesel still couldn't understand what his boss was thinking.

"Boss, what do we need that thing for?" He asked weakly from the side after thinking for a long time.

"Plow the ground."

Chen Jianqiu replied absent-mindedly.

That's right, it's just plowing, but it doesn't matter whether it is a crawler plow or a shell plow.

The image of hundreds of tanks galloping across the Chihuahuan Desert instantly appeared in his mind.

There are various models, from "Tiger", to Sherman, to T34, until M1A2, Leopard 2, 99A appeared later
This is a kind of romance unique to men, which makes people mesmerized.

But Diesel on the side was even more confused.

Fortunately, Boss Chen did not confuse this outstanding tractor inventor for too long.

He himself quickly recovered from the imagining of the torrent of steel, and his gaze once again stopped on the tractor in front of him.

Ideals are beautiful, but reality is cruel.

Chen Jianqiu knew that his state just now was a fantasy based on good wishes, commonly known as daydreams.

It's just that the protagonists of other people's Bairimen are usually beautiful women, while his is arms.

Daydreaming once in a while is beneficial to physical and mental health; but if you do it too much, there will be more or less problems with the person's mental state.

As a man of action, Chen Jianqiu would not allow such a situation to happen.

"Go, go back to the chamber, let's have another meeting."

An hour later, in the Roswell conference hall, a group of top engineers and inventors gathered in the association, including Browning, Ford, the German cannon designer, and of course the tractor research and development master Diesel. you.

Chen Jianqiu started his "I Draw You Guess" activity again.

But this time things are a little more complicated.

Chen Jianqiu had no background in cartography, so naturally it was impossible for them to hand-draw the drawings.

He just drew a schematic diagram of a tank with a rotating turret and a coaxial machine gun.

As for the parameters, we can only count on these talented designers to balance them themselves.

Limited by the power of the internal combustion engine, Chen Jianqiu didn't expect the speed of this tank to be much faster than that of a horse-drawn carriage. It was about ten kilometers per hour.

Early tanks, what else can you expect?Just enough momentum.

Armed with the success of mortars, scientists were motivated.

Money is one aspect.

They marveled at the boss's full imagination.

Chen Jianqiu has been brainwashing these people.

People who are troubled by Party A's high demands and whimsical ideas, even fearful, are mediocrity.

What true genius can say no to a wild idea?
What's more, the idea is paid for.

"Can do it!"

Several engineers, designers, and inventors with different English accents studied and discussed for a while around the schematic diagram that was comparable to an abstract painting, and then came to the final conclusion.

Chen Jianqiu laughed out loud.

This time, he did not give a specific time.

But scientists all know that the faster the results come out, the more generous their bosses will be.

Chen Jianqiu handed over the research to the scientific research team, while he went to Lincolnshire to deal with another important matter.

He has an order from Africa.

Since Chen Jianqiu and his family moved to New York, his house in Lincolnshire has been basically empty.

Despite the cold winters in New York, New Mexico doesn't look like a place for a vacation.

Therefore, generally only Chen Jianqiu occasionally settles down here.

It suddenly got busy here today.

Four or five European gentlemen in formal attire appeared at the door of the mansion.

"Mr. Chen is waiting for you inside." The Chinese guard at the door said to the group of people.

One of the four or five people seemed to be a translator, who translated the chatter of the guard into an unknown language and told the people behind.

The bearded leader nodded and walked into the room.

Chen Jianqiu was reading a newspaper in the yard.

Hearing the movement at the door, he stood up and greeted the translator warmly.

"Hey, Mr. Schneider, long time no see."

The translator's name is Schneider, a German, who is acquainted with Chen Jianqiu. He is a manager of Knuber Company and is responsible for business connection with Chen Jianqiu Company.

This person has lived in the United States for a long time and is fluent in English as well as German and Dutch.

"Long time no see, Mr. Chen." The translator stepped forward and held Chen Jianqiu's hand with a smile.

"Come and sit." Chen Jianqiu pointed to the tables and chairs in the yard.

It's not cold outside in New Mexico winter.

A ray of sunlight hit the table, which was extraordinarily gentle.

A group of people sat down around the table.

"You said in the telegram that you were not very clear. You only mentioned that you wanted to reach an arms deal with us. What? Is William II also interested in this?"

Chen Jianqiu asked half jokingly.

Schneider's eyes hesitated for a moment, but he chose to tell the truth:

"His Majesty the King knows about this, but the munitions purchased this time are not for the German army, but for the Republic of Vasland."

Schneider began to introduce Big Beard and the people behind him to Chen Jianqiu.

Beard is a logistics officer in the Army of the Transvaalsland Republic, while the others are also members of the Republic government.

"Isn't there a business relationship between us?" Chen Jianqiu was a little puzzled, and he gestured between himself and the bearded man with his fingers.

He had been shipping to the Boers through a company registered in the Netherlands, in exchange for gold.

"The British plan to attack the Republic of Dvaziland again." Schneider said, "They need more equipment."

Chen Jianqiu raised his eyebrows.

The bearded man looked a little anxious, and began to dance and gesture.

"He's talking." Chen Jianqiu roughly understood, and turned to Schneider.

"Well, that's right, it's the portable mortar you used when attacking San Juan Heights." Schneider added.

It turned out that the Boers were eyeing the mortars.

The bearded man chattered a lot, Schneider nodded repeatedly, and then translated to Chen Jianqiu:

"They thought the weapon would be very useful against the British."

Chen Jianqiu let out an "oh".

"But how did they know we used this thing?" He looked at Schneider and asked knowingly.

Schneider looked a little embarrassed, but he replied honestly:
"We sent observers, um, not only us, but also observers all over Europe, so this doesn't seem to be a secret."

"Then I can't sell it to you."

Chen Jianqiu looked troubled.

"If the British know that I sell mortars to you, how will my factory in the UK do business?"

Schneider and Beard looked at each other.

"Mr. Chen, as you said, haven't you been selling arms to Devaziland through a Dutch company before?" Schneider asked puzzled.

"As you said, now my family is the only one producing this thing in the whole world. Will the British kill me if they find out?" Chen Jianqiu shrugged, "But."

"But what?" Schneider asked quickly.

"However, just like the Maxim machine gun, I can license the patent to Knub, and you can just produce it. I will collect patent fees and sell mortar shells." Chen Jianqiu expressed his thoughts.

The technical content of mortars is actually not high, and there is nothing mysterious about mortar shells.

On the contrary, the cost of mortar shells is actually cheaper.

Because in order to produce a better blasting effect, the quality of the cast iron used in the shells is not very good.

Raise the price and make a fortune before these guys figure out what's going on.

In Chen Jianqiu's villa in Lincolnshire, the Boers signed a contract for mortar shells, as well as some machine gun ammunition and a small number of rifle contracts.

A few months after the contract was signed, the Second Boer War broke out.

It was the Boers who took the lead.

Taking advantage of their familiarity with the local terrain and flexible tactics, they harassed the British army's supply lines and distribution points, while dispatching the main force to besiege the main force of the British army at the Ladysmith stronghold.

Under the leadership of Lieutenant General White, the more than 4000 British troops in the stronghold tried to touch the Boers who besieged them, but they were beaten badly by the main force of the Boers led by Joubert, and lost more than 1000 corpses It was then retracted back into Ladysmith.

At this time, more than [-] British expeditionary forces led by General Buller also arrived in Cape Town.

They rushed to Ladysmith without stopping to rescue the trapped local garrison.

It has to be said that in the first phase of the Boer War, the performance of the British army was as horrible as that of the American army in the Spanish-American War.

Admiral Buller's command is not even as good as Major General Kent who has diarrhea.

Outnumbered, he attacked the Boer forces surrounding Ladysmith.

There are actually only [-] Boers.

It stands to reason that this is a battle that should not be lost.

But the British still lost, and the loss was terrible.

The Boers hid their artillery positions, although they actually had only five field guns.

But they have new weapons provided by Chen Jianqiu.

The British troops who lined up to charge collectively were hit on the head by shells like raindrops.

A British commander who died couldn't believe why the Boers had so much curved fire.

The attacking British army was quickly beaten up by Krupp heavy artillery and mortars, and more than 1000 people died.

At the same time, the British army on the western and central lines was also defeated, losing more than 2800 people.

With new weapons and flexible tactics, the Boers defeated the British on various battlefields.

It has been a long time since the British Empire has lost so thoroughly, the underpants are almost gone!
"Why do they have such fierce firepower?"

Lord Roberts, the new commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, was puzzled after listening to the staff's analysis.

"They used a new weapon at the company platoon level called 'mortars' which the Americans used in the Spanish-American War when a Chinese regiment with some mortars destroyed the Spanish Defense at Hushan Highland." The staff officer said.

"Chinese Legion?" Roberts thought for a while.

A person came to his mind.

Chen Jianqiu's reputation in the UK is actually not small. After all, his staff Max Qin has been awarded honors.

"Is that Chen who sold them the new weapon?" Roberts asked, frowning.

The staff officer shook his head.

"No, sir, we checked. Those mortars were made in Germany, and they were probably imitated by the Germans."

"Then what are you waiting for, hurry up and find Chen!" Roberts roared, "The Boers have it, so we must have it too!"

After the Maxim machine gun, the British government approached Chen Jianqiu again.

After learning the purpose of this group of people, Chen Jianqiu didn't hide it, and directly took a batch of stock from the warehouse and sold it to them at a high price.

And of course, mortar shells.

Roberts headed to Africa again with new weapons and reinforcements from Australia, New Zealand, and India to recapture the glory of the British Empire itself.

Chen Jianqiu didn't care who would win the war, the British or the Boers.

As soon as the cannon rang, the gold was ten thousand taels.

In business, one code is one code. (end of this chapter)