Chapter 91: Turning Decay Into Magic, Enemies Into Friends
Rochlin and Heilong, these two engineers, followed Lelouch back to the occupation forces headquarters, sat down in the office, and talked for a long time,
before confirming that Lelouch was indeed a big shot in the occupation forces, and he really knew some technology, had vision, had boldness, and really had financial resources.
Such an all-around benefactor was simply heaven-sent.
Finally, after a day of negotiations and discussions, Rochlin and Heilong made up their minds, left Krupp Company, and decided to work for Lelouch. Despite the “new-style electric furnace steel mill” that Lelouch described, which currently only had a few empty factory buildings（ that were bought cheaply or even confiscated from the Franks）.
Since they were going to follow the new boss, they definitely had to show some skills. After the two reasoned it out, they patted their chests and gave Lelouch a guarantee: on the basis of the existing “single-phase electric furnace,” further researching the “three-phase electric furnace” was something they had actually been pondering and secretly experimenting with for these past few years.
It was just that before, they were afraid of infringing on the Franks’ patents, and afraid that after developing it, there would be no use for it and it would instead leak secrets, so they hadn’t completed the final push.
As long as Lelouch provided sufficient support, ample experimental funds, a laboratory with complete equipment, and supporting factories, they were confident that within a month they could fill in the last few technical shortcomings, break in a production-ready plan, and then proceed to build the electric furnace steel mill.
However, the specific production equipment would still need to be custom-ordered from the old employer Krupp Company at that time, so they couldn’t afford to offend them.
Lelouch believed in these two’s abilities and was firmly convinced that the “three-phase electric arc furnace” could be realized in the short term—because historically, right after World War I ended and in 1920 when the Franks’ invention protection period expired, these two immediately came up with the three-phase furnace technology and applied for a patent. This showed they had likely already developed it almost completely and were just holding back, waiting for the opponent’s technology to go out of protection.
So Lelouch showed extraordinary magnanimity, “using people without doubt” like Liu Bei or Cao Cao.
He patted his chest and assured them that the laboratory and funds were absolutely no problem, and the relationship with Krupp Company didn’t need to be worried about. He was very familiar with Mr. Gustav, and they had cooperated happily before on the railway gun project; Gustav wouldn’t offend him, this big military benefactor.
Moreover, Lelouch in turn comforted Rochlin and Heilong: Mr. Gustav also couldn’t foresee the true potential of the “three-phase electric arc furnace steelmaking method” or what problems it could solve, so he wouldn’t see the new factory as a competitor.
Krupp Company itself produced massive amounts of steel using traditional steelmaking methods, with an annual output of over ten million tons, and wouldn’t care about Lelouch’s side producing just 50,000 or 100,000 tons a year of small-scale operations.
This way, the division of labor and cooperation between both sides was clear: Lelouch would use the engineers poached from Krupp and his unique supporting resources to quickly set up a new operation for small quantities of high-end steel.
While Krupp continued to produce large quantities of traditional steel, with high- and low-end supply chains matching perfectly, they could exchange and cooperate to make money.
And in this world today, only Lelouch had absolutely forward-looking vision, knowing how huge the future market application prospects for high-end electric furnace steel would be—the current battleship gun barrels were generally at their limit at 380 mm caliber.
Steel produced by the open hearth method was inferior to electric furnace steel in terms of impurity removal and crystallization uniformity.
Once the gun barrel wall became thicker, the shortcomings of open hearth steel, such as uneven distribution of alloying elements like nickel, chromium, and molybdenum, and uneven internal stress, would lead to quality hazards in the gun barrel.
So in Earth’s history, it wasn’t until 1920, when Rochlin and Heilong broke through the three-phase electric furnace technology, elevating electric furnace steel to a new level in both capacity and quality, that the three major naval powers soon began building “BIG7” battleships: the Colorado class and Nelson class used 406 mm main guns, and the Nagato class used 410 mm main guns.
These new-style battleship main guns, as well as future even larger naval guns, would all need to be manufactured using steel from three-phase electric arc furnaces.
It could be said that with this technology, battleship main guns could upgrade from “pre-World War I battleships” to “interwar battleships”（ of course, other metal processing and heat treatment technologies also needed to upgrade accordingly, and it couldn’t just be the material itself upgrading）.
Once Lelouch produced high-quality steel from the three-phase electric arc furnace, and let Krupp’s people test it, Krupp would come knocking to beg for cooperation.
At that time, both sides would get what they needed: Lelouch would provide Krupp with high-quality gun barrel steel, and Krupp would provide Lelouch with other supporting technologies, establishing the technical team and mechanical processing and manufacturing capabilities needed for researching and developing tanks and other mechanized new equipment, progressing together.
Anyway, building tanks wouldn’t be delayed by just one or two months; it was like sharpening the axe wouldn’t delay chopping wood—first solidify the industrial base that Lelouch could control a bit more.
……
After finalizing the plan to build the three-phase electric arc furnace steel mill, Lelouch spent a few more days locally procuring the instruments and equipment needed for experiments and trial production, trying to set up the laboratory framework.
For the missing items, buy them with money if possible; for those unwilling to sell, confiscate them outright—fortunately, Dunkirk City already had some industrial supporting foundation, including a small steel mill, power plant, and mechanical processing and repair shops, all supporting the port.
Since Lelouch had become the temporary person in charge of the occupation forces, so what if it was forced buying and selling. He couldn’t act recklessly within Germania, but in the occupied area, it was convenient, and he could also coordinate some resources from the neighboring Belgians.
Trial production experiments also required considerable electricity allocation, and Lelouch directly had his subordinates manage Dunkirk City’s power supply: surrounding cities should have rotating power cuts and shutdowns where needed, no need to be polite.
The impact on the grid load when starting an electric arc furnace was enormous; having a boss in charge of the power department’s switches made things much easier.
The laboratory’s initial framework was quickly set up, and Rochlin and the others’ work progress was also going smoothly.
Three days later, also the last day of February, Rochlin submitted two documents to Lelouch.
One was a list of equipment to procure and custom parts needed for formally trial-building the three-phase electric arc furnace; these items all needed to be arranged through Krupp Company with money.
The second was Rochlin’s, per Lelouch’s requirements, calculated “energy consumption assessment report for steelmaking using shipbuilding scrap steel as raw material in a three-phase electric arc furnace.”
This report also conducted a detailed assessment of the economic viability of three-phase electric arc furnace steelmaking.
The report noted that before the war broke out, not considering wartime inflation, the production cost of open hearth steel was about 600~700 marks per ton, averaging around 650 marks.
While at that time, single-phase electric arc furnace steel cost as high as 4000 marks, equivalent to 6 times that of open hearth steel.
So even though single-phase electric arc steel had a slight quality advantage, almost no one produced it. It was simply too expensive and too unprofitable; that small quality improvement wasn’t enough for users to pay six times the cost difference in peacetime.
However, with the three-phase electric arc furnace designed by Rochlin and the others, the production cost could be reduced to 1500 marks per ton, and the output steel quality would be even better.
1500 was still much more expensive than 650, but at least far cheaper than 4000. Plus, wartime demand for high-quality steel was very strong; people were willing to spend more for quality, so this deal had some prospects.
And Rochlin further calculated that if not starting from iron ore for steelmaking, but directly from shipbuilding scrap steel with few alloy impurities, the three-phase electric arc furnace’s energy consumption could be reduced by more than half.
The previous estimate was that starting from iron ore, each ton of electric furnace steel required 20G joules of energy, but remelting with shipbuilding scrap steel as raw material could reduce energy consumption per ton to 6~8G joules.
Of course, electricity was the biggest part of electric furnace steel costs, but not all of it. Total costs also needed to account for raw materials and equipment depreciation, personnel wages, and various other expenses.
But for Lelouch, he could even save most of the raw material costs, because his shipbuilding scrap steel was directly salvaged from the neighboring “Iron Bottom Sound,” where the stranded and sunken ships could yield hundreds of thousands of tons of steel.
Ultimately, he estimated he could compress the three-phase electric arc furnace steel cost to 900~1000 marks per ton（ saving 500 marks in electricity costs）, which wasn’t far off from open hearth steel’s 650 marks.
And his steel’s superior quality could make gun barrels, giving it very strong competitiveness.
With such detailed data in hand, Lelouch’s confidence in increasing investment was even stronger.
He poured in millions of marks front and back, placing various procurement orders, and also called Mr. Gustav, explaining that he wanted to order and customize some equipment, all payable in cash.
Gustav also roughly asked what he planned to make, and Lelouch selectively shared what he could say, without completely concealing it.
Upon learning that Lelouch was tinkering with electric arc furnace steel, Gustav gentlemanly said:
“Then I hope everything goes smoothly for you, and that we can cooperate happily in more areas in the future. Krupp Company isn’t so desperate as to covet the electric arc furnace steel market.
But if you really can produce electric arc furnace steel with significantly improved quality, I hope you let me know in time; our big gun R&D department would be interested in testing it, and if the results are good, we’ll place large orders to make guns for the Empire.”
Lelouch also sincerely exchanged business compliments over the phone: “Mr. Gustav is indeed someone who does big things; he can let others handle even tens of thousands of tons a year of high-quality steel business, what boldness! Rest assured, when I really produce good steel, you’ll be the first I think of for providing gun barrel steel.”
Gustav said nothing more, just steadily and politely said goodbye and hung up.
With Krupp Company’s annual steel capacity of ten million tons, they certainly wouldn’t offend the hotshot in front of Grand Duke of Baden and Baria Crown Prince just for tens of thousands of tons of high-end steel business.
……
After finalizing the research and development of three-phase electric arc furnace steel and the factory layout arrangements, what Lelouch needed to do was wait for Rochlin and the others to gradually produce results, then he could proceed to the next steps.
He calculated the schedule: the rest and recuperation period would end at latest by the end of April. Before early May, he had to arrive at the Hungarian theater on the Eastern Front with the troops.
With just over fifty days left, he should perhaps take time to return home, scout some industry talents, fill gaps in his layout, and maybe even go back to Ollie to return in glory and bring the original body’s remaining relatives like sister, brother-in-law, and little sister.
Anyway, the electric furnace steel trial production would take another month; he could use this month to handle all the personnel matters, and perhaps after a round trip, he’d even find operating and management talents for the steel mill.
Lelouch was a man of action, immediately planning the schedule and preparing to head back two days later.
Before leaving, he wanted to inspect the field hospital one more time to see the latest efficacy feedback after the large-scale deployment of sulfonamide.
IG Farben’s new medicine had only been on the market for a dozen days, with new situations possibly every day; he couldn’t be careless at this time.
On March 2nd, Lelouch toured the major trauma hospitals in Dunkirk again.
The wounded soldiers’ conditions were much better than when he came a few days ago, and hospital beds were emptying out. Hospitals that originally housed over a thousand people had at least three or four hundred infected wounded soldiers discharged, with the remaining under a thousand, easing the nursing pressure considerably.
There, Lelouch unsurprisingly saw the Duchess of Anhalt and Charlotte Loretta again, but it was just polite nods, no deep conversation.
What slightly surprised him was, just as he was about to leave the hospital, a Mercedes-Benz car suddenly stopped at the hospital entrance.
A young guard officer got out first, it was Joachim whom he’d met several times. Joachim was in the passenger seat; as soon as he got out, he opened the rear door, and then an elderly man with a steady demeanor got out—it was Minister of Prisoner of War Affairs Mark von Grand Duke of Baden.
“Your Highness, what a coincidence, I didn’t expect to see you here.” Since they bumped into each other face-to-face, Lelouch of course went up to greet him.
Grand Duke of Baden in turn firmly grasped his hand and shook it forcefully: “I came back specially from Berlin to see how the over hundred thousand prisoners of war here are doing, and if there are any better follow-up placement plans. Don’t think it’s a coincidence; I heard you were coming to the wounded soldiers’ hospital today and came specifically to intercept you.”
Lelouch smiled awkwardly: “If you had something, one phone call to summon me would do; no need for you to come personally.”
Grand Duke of Baden didn’t stand on ceremony, pulled him back into the hospital while walking and saying: “I remember it very clearly: the month before last, when the campaign was only halfway done, on the train back to Frankfurt, you chatted with me about the prisoner of war issue.
At that time you said ‘human empathy is universal, any ethnicity can be educated, Britannia prisoners of war might not impossibly truly work for the Empire in the future’—these were your exact words; I’ve remembered every one for you.
Now the campaign is finally over, it’s time for you to deliver on your idea. Tell me, is there a way to persuade these Britannia prisoners of war to truly serve the Empire? Not just eating and doing some manual labor in the prisoner of war camps; I hope to have the prisoners do more things.”
Lelouch also remembered: he had indeed boasted on the train back then, and later repeatedly said it was no problem; now the Minister had finally come to collect on his promise.
“I can certainly try my best on this, and there will definitely be results, but I can’t guarantee everyone will listen.”
“No problem, even a little effect is fine; that at least has propaganda value.” Grand Duke of Baden’s requirements weren’t high; while telling Lelouch not to feel pressure, he also speculated himself,
“I actually roughly guessed what you want to do—you’re planning to use the anti-infection miracle drug you just developed to also cure the Britannia infected wounded soldiers, then use the Empire’s sincerity to win them over?”
While the Grand Duke spoke, he stared at Lelouch with eyes slightly eager for knowledge, very much wanting an affirmative answer.
However, he was soon disappointed.
Not disappointed in Lelouch, but disappointed in his own intelligence and guessing ability.
Lelouch: “Sorry, this can indeed be considered a small part of my plan, but just a small part. To persuade Britannia prisoners of war to truly turn against their homeland’s rulers, I have plenty of other methods.
Moreover, when the pill technology was still immature at the start, giving it first to captured enemy wounded was just to use the enemies for the more dangerous early clinical trials, not out of compassion—of course, for those already saved, there’s no need to tell them the truth; let them continue to feel grateful.”
Grand Duke of Baden was slightly stunned: “Oh? I actually guessed wrong? Such a huge favor was just for testing drugs, and merely a small part of your psychological warfare stratagem?
Then I’m curious: what does the ‘major part’ you’re holding back look like? Do you have time recently to give me some pointers on surrender negotiation and reformation work?”
Lelouch subconsciously glanced at his watch, though the face had no calendar.
Then he thoughtfully said: “Sure, but at most delaying you two or three days; I still need to return home to handle some military industry matters. But rest assured, two or three days is enough to see results. In a bit, I’ll go to the prisoner of war camp and wounded camp for a mobilization speech, but I hope you can organize some supporting work.”
Grand Duke of Baden: “Absolutely, then I’ll wait and see what skills you have to turn enemies into our own people.”
