1855 United States Tycoon

"Mr. Michel, the latest information, those things are on the ship. This ship called "Amphitrite (Ocean Fairy)" is sent to Drago. There is no doubt that the ship must be full Weapons!" A man was reporting information to Michelle, the second secretary of the British consulate in Boston.

"Sure there are weapons on board?" Michelle asked.

"Yes. Just last night, some large parts were delivered to the ship. It is a large part. Although it is not clear at night, and the thing is tightly wrapped, it should look like something A very thick tube. I visually observed that it may be forty feet long and very heavy. It needs to be lifted onto the ship by the largest crane in the port. This is definitely not a normal thing. I suspect it may be a heavy artillery gun. Tube."

"The length of more than eleven meters is very thick and heavy." Michelle estimated in his own head, and then compared this size with the known numbers of various weapons exported by United States, especially heavy artillery. , The image of a weapon immediately came to his mind:

"McDonald's 1889 11-inch fortress gun! The caliber is 11 inches, the barrel is 42 times the caliber, and the length is 38.5 feet. With the packaging, it is quite normal to have a length of 40 feet. Besides, the visual inspection may not be so accurate. . Yes, it is likely to be this! These Boers are really frantic and even buy such things!"

Although Michelle felt that the cost-effectiveness of spending $80,000 to repair the fortress was not high, but in any case, if the Boers were to build a fortress with several doors near the gold mine, then It is indeed very troublesome. This thing has a longer range than any cannon that the British can drag near Johannesburg, and it is much more powerful. It's a big trouble no matter what.

"Do you see how many of these things are there?" Michelle asked.

"I have counted, there are twelve in total," the man replied.

"Twelve?" Michelle was taken aback, because even if the Boers had to prepare spare barrels for these damn fortress guns on a one-to-one basis, it meant that there would be at least on that possible fortress. Six such heavy fortress cannons. If that were the case, it would be really a big trouble.

"You must stop that ship at sea," Michelle thought.

"Anything else besides these things?" Michelle continued to ask.

"There are also some trucks, and some things that look like towed artillery. But they are so tightly packed that you can't see the model." The man replied.

But this does not need to be seen clearly. The types of artillery produced by McDonald’s Infantry Weapons Company are limited. 70mm infantry guns are drawn by humans, 76mm artillery is a mule horse drawn, and only 155mm caliber. This is a heavy howitzer. The power of that thing...Michel couldn't help but shiver.

"Damn United States guy!" Michelle gritted his teeth and whispered.

But now that this matter is known, and even the ship carrying these materials has been figured out, the British still have a way to solve the problem. Although the United Kingdom has not imposed an arms embargo on the Boers, there are still a lot of ways to detain the ship first, and then drag it until the matter is resolved. It is not impossible, even, It is not too difficult for the Royal Navy to let that ship disappear into the depths of the ocean silently.

"Very good." Michelle said at last, while pushing a small pocket from the table to the person sitting across from him, "Keep watching."

The man put away the little pocket silently, then stood up and walked out. Michelle stayed inside, drank the coffee slowly, then got up and left.

...

All the cargo was on board, and after a flute, Captain Adock's ship lifted anchor and sailed out of Boston Harbor.

"Okay, move on, you lazy pigs! Slowly, the British will throw you all into the sea to feed the sharks!" After the "Amphitrite" sailed out of the port and entered the ocean On the fourth day, Captain Adok began his magic show.

Under the urging of the captain, the sailors hurriedly began to tear a large piece of cloth from the hull of the ship, which was covered with paint, and the original light blue "Amphitrite" immediately changed. It became dark blue, and of course, the name of the ship also became "Thetis".

Just as in Greek mythology, the sea fairy Thetis and Poseidon's queen Amphitrite are sisters, and the "Thetis" and the "Amphitrite" are also sisters. They are the same type of bulk carrier purchased at the same time. Except for the color of the paint and the name of the ship sprayed, in other places, they are exactly the same.

"Good job, lads!" Captain Adock said to the sailors who had just finished the reshaping of the ship, "Let those British fools go to the Amphitrite! Pig brain! Hahaha!"

From the triumphant laughter of Captain Adok, it is not difficult for us to know that most of the idea came from this old fried dough stick.

...

Almost at the same time, another ship, now also called "Thetis", arrived at the pier in the port of Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana. French Guiana borders Brazil and is backed by the endless Amazon jungle, which is rich in all kinds of wood, such as the famous Brazilian rosewood. The ship departed from Boston, where she would also load a batch of Brazilian mahogany and some other wood, and then head to Madagascar.

"Captain, are you going to Europe with these woods?" Portmaster Bernard said to Drogba, the captain of the "Thetis".

"Ah, no, let's go to Madagascar." Captain Drogba replied.

"Oh my God, do you have something wrong? I don't remember Madagascar will be short of wood. The rosewood produced there is very good wood." Obviously, Bernard is familiar with all kinds of wood.

"Oh, it's not our business, it's the order over there. We just brought them along the way. Maybe they bought this item to India or even China as soon as they changed hands. Anyway, this is not something I need to consider. Things." Captain Drogba said, spreading his hands.

"Oh, I heard that in the East, some people used our wood to make fake antiques. Maybe it was these people who ordered these things." Bernard made up for a reasonable reason on his own.

"Ah, it's possible, but it's not our turn. We don't care what they do with this wood, even if they use this as a cannon, it doesn't care about our business." Captain Drogba said with a smile.

"That's true, as long as there is money to be made. What do you care about so much?" Bernard also said with a smile.

The next day, the ship left French Guiana, then changed its skin on the Atlantic Ocean and became the "Amphitrite", heading towards the Cape of Good Hope.

...

"Everyone, we got the information that the Boers ordered a batch of heavy weapons from the damn United States guys. If these things are actually delivered to the Boers, it will be even more difficult for the British Empire to get a gold mine. There are these things on it, so most of them don’t walk through the canal, but walk here and go to the Cape of Good Hope. So they ordered us to find the boat, stop her, and detain her. Understand?" Lieutenant Colonel Chris Speaking very solemnly to the officers in the hall.

"Sir, don't worry, there is no path through the Cape of Good Hope to allow an 8,000-ton cargo ship to sneak past. We already know the name of this ship, and with the picture of this ship, we can’t let her slip past. "An officer replied.

"Don't talk too much, Bill, if I were the captain of this boat, then I would choose a stormy day to cross the Cape of Good Hope. Are you really sure to catch every boat in this weather?" You know, the chances of such bad weather in the Cape of Good Hope are not small."

"A good hope in this weather, unless he is crazy," the officer named Bill mumbled.

"For those desperadoes, as long as they have money, what can they not dare? What's more, he may not really need to take much risk. The largest ship here is only two thousand tons. The performance of HNA, especially high The sailing performance in sea conditions is mostly inferior to the 8,000-ton cargo. For us in the sea conditions that cannot be navigated, they may be able to move forward. So, it is not that simple! However, these United States guys must have never thought of it. The Royal Navy dares to go to sea at any time. So, we must deal with it seriously, maybe we need to go to sea in strong winds and waves. Bill, the maintenance of your ship must be done well, and don’t go out in strong winds and waves. Question. At that time, let those United States guys just slip past, but it will be difficult to deal with." Lieutenant Colonel Chris said seriously.

"Don't worry, Lieutenant Colonel, there is no problem with my boat. As long as there is enough coal, she can continue to sail on the sea until the end of the world!"

"According to time, in these few days, this boat should arrive here. Everyone keep their eyes bright."

...

However, the matter did not seem to be as complicated as Lieutenant Colonel Chris thought, because only four days later, he received a message from the patrolling cruiser on a rare and sunny day:

"The freighter'Amphitrite' was found approaching."

"Awesome!" Lieutenant Colonel Chris couldn't help shouting. Catching this boat is definitely a great achievement. He originally thought that he had retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel at most in his life, but now it seems that he still has a chance to be promoted to colonel before retirement.

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