Chapter 539: A wave of anti-submarine drills first
The restaurant behind the scenes is located near the Palais Bourbon in the 7th district of Paris.
In the beginning, it only existed as a high-end restaurant serving the upper class.
However, due to the relatively private environment, not too far away from core institutions, and the high price, which is equivalent to setting a certain threshold for entry, it has gradually become a "open door" for some middle- and high-level people after get off work. Xiaohui" location.
After several decades, the status of this restaurant has risen sharply, and it has basically reached the level of "no one goes anywhere".
People in the political, business, and entertainment circles tend to talk about things they don't want to make public here
Accordingly, the privacy and security inside the restaurant have far exceeded those of the past.
It is said that no media has ever dug out useful information in this restaurant.
Despite this, many reporters still like to squat nearby to see if they can catch any useful information.
After get off work, Le Maire did not use his own driver, but asked Caroline to drive him in a private car to the door of the restaurant behind the scenes.
What is going to happen next is suspected of exceeding authority. Although it is impossible for anyone to seize any evidence, the fewer people who know, the better.
As Le Maire's secretary, Caroline is technically a government employee and is not completely controlled by the latter, but they both prosper and suffer, and are more reliable than drivers who drive the same for everyone. many.
Of course, the more important point is that Caroline got the news about the fleet visit led by Vice Admiral Laurie Vojour, and even the detailed schedule.
She was originally an insider.
"I'll wait for you in the parking lot on the east block."
Caroline dropped Flamel at the door of the hotel and drove away.
It's like leaving an acquaintance halfway along the way.
For a restaurant of this level and type, it is naturally the basic professional ethics not to ask the customer’s identity.
Le Maire reported a series of numbers, and the staff pointed out the location of the private room to him.
Following the other party's guidance, he quickly opened the private room door with a card.
Vice Admiral Vojour, who was also wearing casual clothes and a low-key appearance, was already sitting inside.
Judging from the remaining amount of coffee in front of you, you must have been waiting for a while.
"Good evening, Laurie."
After meeting, the two gave a warm hug first.
Although we don’t meet often, we are still from the same hometown struggling in Paris, and it is absolutely impossible to be a stranger:
"Sorry for coming a little late. I went to Singapore on a business trip before, and I have a lot of things to deal with when I come back."
"It's okay, Guillaume."
Vaujour patted Le Mel's shoulder showed that he didn't care:
"It's boring desk work, I understand."
Le Maire slowly hung up his hat, scarf and windbreaker on his clothes. on the hat rack, then take a seat opposite Vojour:
"It's not all useless things."
"For example, recently our association is preparing to establish a military aviation equipment management committee and is considering the specific composition of candidates."
"That's not the case. Or..."
The Lieutenant General wanted to blurt out something useless, but he realized something was wrong mid-sentence.
Le Maire is not a newbie. He said this out of the blue on this occasion, obviously not because he had nothing to say.
But to imply something.
"What is this committee responsible for specifically?"
Wuruer poured coffee into the cup in front of the fellow villager and asked pretending to be careless.
“Meet the needs of aviation companies and the military, and then be responsible for some quality supervision and equipment acceptance as a third party, hard work.”
Seeing the other party taking the bait, Lemay Er explained immediately.
Of course, Wojru would never believe this evaluation.
Responsible for management and acceptance, all fools know that this is the most lucrative position.
Of course, the Lieutenant General himself is an active soldier and holds a high official position, so it is definitely impossible for him to do it himself.
But if you can arrange for your cronies or even relatives...
There is still a lot to be done.
Of course, Vojour knew very well that it was impossible for Flamel to call him here specifically for charity.
Although they are from the same hometown, their relationship is not that good.
However, in this situation, it would be inappropriate for him to engage in revolving door transactions too nakedly.
So the scene froze for a moment.
Seeing the lieutenant general's reaction, Flamel knew that his foreplay had been done well. It's time to get down to business.
"Laurie, I heard from friends in the media two days ago that you will take the fleet to visit East and Southeast Asia in a while?"
Wait until the waiter rang the doorbell, came in and took the two people's After dinner was served, Le Maire asked straight away.
The visit itself is not a big secret, but the specific itinerary has not been made public.
“That’s right.”
Vojour nodded helplessly:
“This is a real hard job. It will take nearly half a year including the distance. Fortunately, there is a big ship called the Durance River in the formation, otherwise I wouldn’t even know what’s going on. How should I spend the month..."
Young grassroots crew members generally like to go on ships and go on missions because they can get higher subsidies.
But for a senior general of Wojru's level, this little money no longer matters.
This visit is not an important mission that attracts national attention. For this reason, leaving Paris, the center of power, for a long time is definitely not worth the gain.
"What is the specific schedule for the visit?"
Le Maire's question is obviously a bit out of bounds.
Logically speaking, the fleet's sailing schedule should be kept secret.
However, in the current situation, it is certainly impossible for Vojour to refuse the answer:
“Start from the Port of Toulon, cross the Suez Canal, visit Egypt on the way, and then head east along the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian Peninsula. , first stopping at India and Bangladesh, then the eight ASEAN countries except Cambodia and Vietnam, then Japan and South Korea, and finally going to China.”
"Just a visit?"
Le Maire's tone was brisk, like chatting, and you couldn't tell where his focus was.
"Other countries are, and finally China. The above request is to conduct some surface activities with the Chinese Navy to enhance mutual trust between the two sides, but so far no specific arrangements have been determined."
Wuruer said, taking a piece of snail meat out of the shell and stuffing it into his mouth:
"My adjutant is writing the specific visit plan. If nothing else, it will probably be the crew football game. , joint search and rescue exercises, as well as main gun target shooting and other content, it is a cliché..."
"Can you consider arranging a joint anti-submarine exercise?"
Le Maire did not go around in circles and said directly:
"Of course it doesn't have to be particularly complicated. Let's show off our navy's anti-submarine capabilities. Just be level.”
His idea is very simple.
When he was in Singapore before, he once asked the Chinese exhibitors in a subtle way whether the improved dolphin helicopter was an active equipment of the Chinese army.
The reply received was that the assault transport type on display has not yet entered service with the Chinese Army, but a prototype of the naval type using similar improvement ideas has been delivered to the navy for trial.
According to Le Maire’s experience, the Chinese Navy is currently at a stage where it needs to demonstrate its military strength to outsiders.
So, if such an exercise can be arranged, you will definitely have the opportunity to see a comparison between the original dolphin and the improved dolphin.
Then he can find a reason to cooperate with China.
Deciding on the specific content of the visit sounds like a big deal, but for Vojul it was just a matter of writing.
"Hiss... I wish you had said it earlier."
He said in a pityful tone:
"The Jean Bart is a C70-class air defense ship. If you want to demonstrate its anti-submarine capabilities, , it is better to use the F70 anti-submarine model..."
"No need"
Le Maire quickly shook his fork in mid-air:
"The anti-submarine helicopter on the F70 is the Big Lynx. We can't use our resources to promote the British..."
Although he said that, Vojul on the opposite side quickly understood the implication. :
“Are you going to take this opportunity to demonstrate the performance of our helicopters, let the Chinese Navy learn a lot, and make an advertisement by the way?”
One sentence almost shocked Le Maire. Choked.
He said in his heart that I really want people to gain knowledge, but I don’t want to let Chinese people...
But it would be a bit troublesome to explain it.
So after thinking for a while, he nodded.
"Yes, that's it."
"That's easy to say."
The Lieutenant General did not doubt that he was there, and immediately agreed to Flamel's request:
"Although we still need to coordinate with the Chinese side, a simple anti-submarine exercise is not a sensitive project. I guess it won't be a big problem..."
(End of Chapter)