Chapter 131: Curing The Germanian Obsession With Precision
After helping Gustav Krupp lobby the Naval Ministry and resolving a few minor issues, Gustav and Lelouch’s relationship grew increasingly close, and they became more willing to deepen cooperation in business.
In the following days, Lelouch took advantage of his spare time while staying in Wilhelmshaven to discuss several more business collaborations with Gustav.
Lelouch originally opened a steel mill in Dunkirk, which was ultimately just an experimental small plant, aimed at breaking through the resource dispatch restrictions for building factories within Germania, while also conveniently utilizing the scrapped steel from sunken ships at “Iron Bottom Sound”—
During wartime, the dispatch of resources like iron ore, coal, and electricity within Germania was all controlled by the state. If you set up a new innovative production capacity without verification, you couldn’t even get the power department to approve your permit.
Although Lelouch had military merit and a position, he previously had no foundation or reputation in the industrial world, and no one would trust his vision, so it was naturally easier to start quickly by setting up operations abroad.
However, since the first step had succeeded, returning to the country for the second step would face much less resistance. Moreover, with Krupp willing to cooperate sincerely, everything would be easy to discuss.
This time, Lelouch struck while the iron was hot and suggested: “Mr. Gustav, I think the production capacity of electric furnace steel can continue to expand. In the future, it should not only be used to make high-length-to-diameter ratio gun barrels but also to make more things, such as gears, bearings, and even other fields with extremely high requirements for steel impurity removal and uniform distribution of alloying elements.
After these fields adopt electric furnace steel, the performance of future products may see qualitative improvements, which would greatly help the Empire’s war machine, and the military would absolutely buy it even if it’s more expensive.”
Gustav hadn’t yet considered the technical application prospects, and was temporarily puzzled, so he humbly asked: “I know that for things like gears and bearings, better steel means better quality, but metallurgy is only the first step; mechanical processing and heat treatment must also keep up. Moreover, current gears and bearings are already functional enough. For further improvements, what military industry scenarios absolutely require new material high-quality gears?”
Fortunately, Lelouch was very familiar with future military industry trends and could answer such questions offhand: “Isn’t that easy to think of? Look, we’re at the Wilhelmshaven naval shipyard today, so I’ll use the nearby battleship as an example—
You’ve done a lot for the navy, so you should know that the propulsion systems of the pre-dreadnought era, although their triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines were very inefficient, far below modern steam turbines, the large-diameter propellers used with triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines actually had higher propulsion efficiency than the small-diameter propellers on current dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts.
Because reciprocating steam engines represent ‘high torque, low speed,’ while steam turbines represent ‘high speed, low torque.’ High-power steam turbines rotate extremely fast, and currently there are no gearboxes with sufficient strength and accuracy to reduce the turbine main shaft’s speed output, so the propeller has to turn as fast as the turbine.
But if the propeller turns too fast, it easily produces cavitation, wasting much of the thrust on seawater. It should use ‘large-diameter, low-speed’ propellers to better utilize the engine’s output. Currently, no navies can achieve this due to the lack of high-quality steel and high-precision gear gearboxes. The gearboxes for cars and submarines can’t be scaled up proportionally for battleships.
Without high-strength, high-precision gear gearboxes for large steam turbines, even if large steam turbines increase pressure and output or improve boiler steam efficiency, it’s useless because the propeller can’t be enlarged and can only spin faster, which is meaningless. To further increase warship power output, they can only stack more boilers and shafts, leading to waste. A 28-knot battlecruiser with 350mm main guns has to be 230 meters long with so many boilers and smokestacks.
But if we produce large shipboard gear gearboxes that can withstand tens of thousands of horsepower torque? Then we can further develop high-pressure steam turbines, small-tube boilers, large-diameter low-speed propellers… All of this must start with high-strength electric furnace steel transmission systems.
Even future high-pressure turbine blades must be made from electric furnace steel, not converter steel—this improvement is comprehensive! Better electric furnace steel bearings can allow warship hydraulic rotation systems to handle heavier battleship main turrets, increase rotation speed, and support triple-mounted large-caliber main guns…
The improvements here are simply too numerous. In short, expanding electric furnace steel production and procurement, and fully switching to electric furnace steel in bearings, gears, turbine blades, gearboxes, and drive shafts, would comprehensively enhance the mechanical efficiency of the Empire’s entire war machine. There’s no need to worry that such quality improvements won’t find buyers.”
After hearing this series of pie-in-the-sky ideas, Gustav finally gained full confidence in the broad applications of electric furnace steel. It turned out that making gun barrels was just the beginning; large quantities of high-quality electric furnace steel with evenly distributed trace elements could provide such comprehensive enhancements to the war machine.
“So electric furnace steel has so many bestselling application scenarios… I understand. I’ll have Krupp’s mechanical plants procure as much electric furnace steel as you can provide.” Gustav sincerely exclaimed.
Lelouch: “Moreover, expanding electric furnace steel production has another advantage: although electric furnace steel is more expensive, it doesn’t require high-quality coking coal to reduce molten steel; it only needs electricity. In peacetime, the cost is much higher and it’s prone to oversupply. But in wartime, steel can sell for one or two times the price, so why not develop this production capacity that doesn’t occupy existing capacity and has fewer restrictions?
The Empire doesn’t lack power coal; the Ruhr Area’s coal could last a hundred years. As long as generators can be built, more thermal power plants can be expanded. The Empire also doesn’t lack iron ore; the Lorraine iron mines can be dug for another 20 years, and if not, there’s neutral Sweden’s iron ore.
But as far as I know, since the war began, the Empire’s total steel production capacity hasn’t increased, and the main bottleneck is probably high-quality coking coal. The Empire has vast amounts of power coal, which is also high-quality coal, but it’s single-grade quality. To blend it for high-quality coking coal for steelmaking, multiple coal components need to be mixed and coked.
With maritime trade cut off, imports of other coking coal components for blending are insufficient, which is why the Empire had 20 million tons of annual steel production pre-war, and even after the war broke out, it’s still at most 20 million tons, unable to expand.”
The issue Lelouch raised indeed deeply touched Gustav.
Germania has nearly 20 million tons of annual steel production, and Krupp Company alone accounts for half, around 10 million tons; it is the largest steel king.
Gustav certainly knew that after the war broke out, the Empire’s steel industry hadn’t seen major development, and where the bottleneck was.
He couldn’t help but sigh: “Who says otherwise? The Empire’s power coal can be fully supplied by digging in the Ruhr itself, but many blending components for coking coal had to be imported pre-war. Now, although substitutes can be found, the problems are still significant.
From what you’re saying, you plan to mass-produce electric furnace steel, ignoring that its actual energy consumption is 3 times that of converter steel? As long as electric furnace steel can produce steel using only power coal, without being bottlenecked by high-quality blended coking coal?
But mass-building power plants will also consume a lot of steel; generators require copper, and there are high construction costs. The investment payback period would be very long; I think it can’t be done rashly. If the war ends in one or two years, such an investment would definitely lose money.”
Lelouch interrupted decisively: “The war won’t end in one or two years! Moreover, even if it does, we must prepare as if it won’t. Only then will the enemy fear us, know we can drag it out, and thus end the war in one or two years!
Some capabilities you may not use and can be built at a loss, but you can’t lack them. If you don’t have them and the enemy knows it, they won’t fear you. Confidence and expectations are the most precious things, more valuable than gold!”
Gustav was invigorated by this wake-up call and involuntarily shifted his thinking,
Calming down to carefully savor it, he had to admit that Colonel Lelouch was absolutely right.
To win the war, letting the enemy see our sustainable development potential is the most crucial thing.
He reconsidered the cost issues in Lelouch’s suggestion seriously, then sincerely asked: “Alright, at first I was too fixated on the profit payback period. But even ignoring the profit payback period, mass-expanding steel mills and power plants faces severe raw material bottlenecks.
In wartime, money can’t buy enough steel and copper to build new factories. Power coal can be mined almost unlimitedly, but you know, the Ruhr Area’s coal mines are already starting to pile up inventory that can’t be shipped out.
The Empire’s railway system is also under high load due to war pressure. To expand transport capacity, we’d need to convince the National Railway Company to double-track some bottleneck sections, which is another huge expense and manpower drain. After repairing the railways, the shortage of locomotives and freight cars is an even bigger problem. The roads aren’t full yet, but the rolling stock is far from sufficient.”
Gustav threw out several very realistic problems that troubled him and Krupp Company daily in one breath.
The reason Germania Empire’s industrial expansion during wartime was slow boiled down to the ultimate key bottlenecks being locomotives and freight cars, then railways, and only then other resource shortages. By comparison, lacking copper or high-quality blended coking coal wasn’t a big deal.
At the time, Ruhr coal could be dug continuously, but historically by late war, in the winter of 1916 and even 1917, more and more remote areas’ people couldn’t even buy coal for winter heating.
The lack of heating fuel was also one of the key factors historically leading to the Turnip Winter and shifting public sentiment.
But Germania is clearly a coal superpower—doesn’t it seem ridiculous that its people ended up without heating coal or power coal?
It wasn’t that more coal couldn’t be produced, but that the Armament Department didn’t allocate enough steel and materials to the railway and locomotive production departments to increase transport capacity and ship coal everywhere.
Thinking of the current predicament and the worsening prospects in this area, Lelouch couldn’t help sighing inwardly:
All of this could actually be counted as one of Ludendorff’s crimes, that war maniac. Historically, after he became director of military supplies, he disregarded civilian needs and the nation’s sustainable operations, exhaustively fishing by diverting massive steel to military industry, just asking everyone to grit their teeth through the hard times until victory.
But in fact he couldn’t win, so his so-called “total war” dispatch thinking instead became a poison that backfired on the nation.
And these drawbacks can still be changed now. At least from the roots, insufficient crude steel production and insufficient coal transport capacity are actually easy to solve.
After sorting out his thoughts, Lelouch took a deep breath and earnestly guided Gustav:
“So, Mr. Gustav! Discovering so many problems now is a good thing. Finding problems means we at least have a direction to solve them.
Currently, the Empire doesn’t lack coal, but lacks coal transport capacity. To solve this requires steel for rails and trains, and steelmaking requires more coal, especially imported high-quality blended coking coal raw materials.
So, one key breakthrough point I can think of is that the Empire needs to massively expand low-cost production capacity in the Ruhr Area for ‘steel that only meets basic quality.’
This inferior steel doesn’t need very fine impurity removal or finely blended coking coal as reductant; just directly coke ordinary power coal and use it to make low-cost steel. As the steel king, Krupp has an obligation here.”
Gustav was, after all, a perfectionist Germania industrialist; decades of life experience and business habits made it impossible for him to think of such a damaging trick himself. After hearing Lelouch’s suggestion, he almost instinctively jumped up:
“Colonel Lelouch?! Do you know what you’re saying? Are you trying to ruin Krupp’s brand reputation? And what use is steel crudely made by casually coking power coal? Which military industry client would dare use it?”
Lelouch: “I didn’t ask you to sell it to military clients—but haven’t you noticed? The Empire’s original steel industry was too conscientious; the industry’s minimum quality standards for steel were set too high. Many times, for less important things, there’s no need to use good steel.
You’re afraid of no customers? I can immediately think of two for you: First, you can apply to the National Railway Company that wartime requires expanding locomotive capacity and increasing rail double-tracking rate. Some newly laid double-track railways don’t need top-quality steel.
Especially plain area railway rails; slightly inferior ones can still run trains without safety issues. Freight-only lines run slower than passenger lines, so poorer rail quality doesn’t matter. They just carry more load, but as long as the sleepers and gravel base are solid and don’t sink, it’s fine.
In previous peacetime, Empire railways required rails to last at least 30 years, and with rigorous maintenance and inspection, 50 years wasn’t impossible. But now it’s wartime—what’s the point of building rails guaranteed for 30 years? Can the war last 30 years?
Slightly cut corners within controllable limits, as long as technically verified to reliably last 20 years and up to 30 with maintenance, that’s enough! After victory, when the Empire recovers, we can slowly upgrade infrastructure in peacetime!
As for freight cars, even more so. Trains’ anti-collision quality requirements should be lower than cars! Because nothing else collides with trains! Even if locomotive heads can’t use inferior steel, freight cars absolutely can.
With inferior rails and freight cars, coal can be shipped continuously nationwide, and civilian goods transport won’t be obviously affected by military trains. You know the Empire’s economy is more affected by railways than other enemy countries because peacetime railways were so good, making nationwide industry and agriculture highly dependent on them.”
This view of Lelouch actually came from the inspiration of the WWII “Liberty Ship” case in later generations.
In Earth’s WWII history, the Ugly Country, to counter submarine warfare, came up with the so-called “Liberty Ship” plan, having domestic shipyards launch one large ship per week. Eventually, shipbuilding speed exceeded enemy submarine sinkings, surviving the submarine war.
The success of “Liberty Ships” hinged on cost reduction and efficiency, on “cutting corners,” starting with inferior steel; every step cut corners. Other ships had designs lasting twenty or thirty years, while Liberty Ships were designed for only five years!
Some continued running normally after five years, but were often taken for study to see why they lasted so long.
And since ocean countries like the Ugly Country and Britain could make Liberty Ships.
Why couldn’t a railway country like Germania make “Liberty Trains”?
Moreover, in his previous life playing Hearts of Iron 4, a railway tech “National Railway 52” left a deep impression on Lelouch. At first, he thought later-era trains in the game would outperform early ones, like having better resistance to air raid damage than “armored trains”—
But after playing more, he noticed the last generation of trains’ biggest feature was “cheap,” using fewer resources, with no performance improvement.
In Earth’s history, late WWII trains were also reduced in quality and cost. Unfortunately, WWI bureaucrats were too slow to notice this savings point.
Originally rails designed for 30 years; Lelouch, being conscientious, didn’t aim to reduce to five or ten years, but to 20 years, with actual use extendable by a few years—absolutely enough to finish this world war, survive the ceasefire, and finish off the enemy.
A 30-year minimum lifespan was a bit too wasteful.
Freight cars, as long as for cargo not people, can similarly lower quality standards. No one drives into trains; are you afraid inferior steel freight cars will fall apart while running?
The Empire lacks precisely blended high-quality coking coal but has abundant surplus power coal and iron ore—not making inferior steel would be a waste!
Gustav was truly moved; he knew if this succeeded, it would be big business and profit, and serve the country.
It was just a bit damaging to Krupp’s century-old steel king brand image.
Lelouch seemed to see the core concern in Gustav’s hesitation, patted his shoulder, and helped firm his resolve: “If worried about brand image, don’t put the Krupp name on the new steel mills.
The business is still yours, and I’ll figure out exclusive distribution for you; you just expand production. Where else to find such a good deal? I have one requirement: for exclusive distribution, supply me at most 15% gross margin over cost price; no steel price hikes.
I’ll take your steel and use the ‘Volkswagen’ brand to make liberty trains. This brand just cooperated with Skoda people on half-track tractors—making dumb, big, crude, cheap, practical low-end transport tools. I don’t fear damaging brand image.
Equipment and raw materials needed for locomotive factories, procure from you; pay with proceeds from my electric furnace steel mill shipments bit by bit. I can also add tens of millions of marks in investment. For double-track rail steel, your inferior steel mill produces directly. We’ll figure out ways together to smooth relations with National Railway people.
If not, lobby Parliament, reorganize National Railway, have Prussia Railway Company and Baria Railway Company, Baden, Württemberg states’ railway companies deeply integrate wartime operations, elect a railway planning director—best also handling occupied area railway planning.
This way, I can pull votes from Baria, Württemberg, Baden three grand duchies. The Grand Duke of Baden controls the Prisoner of War and Occupied Area Affairs Department; grabbing planning rights for our people is feasible. Worst case, give some interests to Prussia Junker side; armament production coordination to their people.”
After much thought, Gustav was finally convinced by Lelouch’s plan of “mass-producing inferior steel specifically for trains and rails”:
“Hope you can operate this promptly. I’ll start expanding steel mills immediately, aiming for progress in three months, mass steel and train production in six months.”
Lelouch: “Faster; we must produce enough low-cost freight cars by this winter so people nationwide don’t freeze this winter, at least ensuring Ruhr coal doesn’t pile up and can ship out whenever needed.”
Gustav: “That fast? Laying rails and building factories requires massive labor, which may not be procurable. It’s wartime; using able-bodied labor too obviously—Empire already drafted over 3 million young men into the army. Labor market is now controlled; can’t recruit just by raising wages.
You should know, railway construction’s biggest cost is manpower: leveling ground, laying roadbed, sleepers, fastening rivets—all heavy labor. Rail steel costs are minor by comparison.”
Lelouch: “Labor issue, I’ll handle with Duke Rupprecht and Grand Duke of Baden! We just captured 700,000 prisoners of war on the southeast front, and Grand Duke of Baden is the minister of Prisoner of War and Occupied Area Affairs Department. Capturing and allocating them are both my superiors who listen to me—this cooperation with you is foolproof.”
With words to this point, Gustav finally regarded Lelouch with deep respect.
This was a key structural hole for getting things done!
Everyone gives him face, such broad connections—who else to work with but Colonel Lelouch?
Even Krupp’s century-old factory now needed to hug Colonel Lelouch’s thigh a bit.
“Alright, quickly get me a batch of prisoners of war for heavy labor. Once labor gap filled, I’ll expand steel mills, prepare to build railways—guarantee everything on track in half a year! Wartime speed!”
“Deal, cheers.”
