1855 United States Tycoon

It was the cruiser "Resolve" that found the "Amphitrite". It was about nine o'clock in the morning. Captain Peterson was drinking coffee in the captain's room while reading tabloid newspapers full of content that the people would love to see. The weather on this day was rare and good. The sky was cloudless and the sun was shining. Even the waves became gentle. The cruiser swayed slightly in the waves, which made people very comfortable. Peterson thinks that there should be nothing to discover today. Those United States guys are not fools. They are pulling a boat of arms against Britain, and they will definitely choose a bad weather to get through the Cape of Good Hope. Of course, this is very dangerous, but the United States guys have always been afraid of anything as long as they have money. Of course, the British are the same.

While Captain Peterson was sipping coffee comfortably, a lookout voice suddenly came from the microphone on the side: "Captain, I found a cargo ship, it should be ‘Amphitrite’!"

This discovery exceeded Peterson’s expectation. However, Peterson did not jump up like a United States guy or an army dumpling and rushed out to see what happened. Instead, he continued to slowly finish his coffee and take his napkin carefully. He wiped his mouth, and then slowly walked towards the bridge-the navy, especially the navy of the British Empire, has such a noble style.

Slowly on the bridge, first officer Balbo was already waiting there.

"Captain, look, over there." Balbo handed a pair of telescopes to Peterson. Peterson raised his binoculars and looked over there. Sure enough, there was a merchant ship with a light blue hull, a white superstructure, and a white painted "Amphitrite" at the stern. Yes, this is what the information mentioned. The ammunition ship carrying weapons.

"Send them a signal and ask to board the ship for inspection. Ask the soldiers to retreat their gun jackets and be prepared." Although Peterson didn't think those United States guys would try to resist after seeing a cruiser, he lighted up the cannon. It is a very, very happy thing to come out and show them, and then look at their faces.

The correspondent hung out the relevant flag, and the cargo ship on the opposite side began to slow down.

"Well, a wise choice. Isn't it?" Peterson said.

"Yes, let our boys go on the boat and take them back to Cape Town." First Mate Balbo said.

...

A small boat leaned on the "Amphitrite", which had been parked. The United States sailors on the boat were very cooperative and dropped the rope ladder. A British officer and several British sailors climbed up the rope ladder.

"Hello, I'm Drogba, the captain of this ship. Is there any question?" Captain Drogba said to the British officer who came on board.

"Hello, Captain Drogba, it is nice to meet you. I am Lieutenant Darcy of the British Imperial Navy. We suspect that your ship has prohibited items, so I need to check your logbook and temporarily seize your ship. Go to Cape Town for a detailed inspection." Lieutenant Darcy said so politely, but his high chin clearly showed his contempt for this group of United States guys.

"My ship is full of legal materials, and we have not committed any illegal activities. You intercepted merchant ships arbitrarily on international routes. This is a typical act of piracy, and I want to protest!" Although he had anticipated this situation a long time ago, he This time the ship went to sea, largely for the British to catch, but Captain Drogba still behaved very angry.

"That's your business. I have to execute the order now. So, Captain, I hope you and your crew can cooperate with us. It's good for everyone." Lieutenant Darcy still maintained a very polite posture.

"Damn it! Do whatever you want!"

Lieutenant Darcy took a few sailors to the captain's room, first took the nautical record, and then sent the cruiser a signal that "the target ship has been controlled".

...

A dark blue cargo ship is lining up on the Suez Canal. An official of the Egyptian Port Authority and several British men boarded the ship.

"Captain, hello, where is your ship going?" Looking at the drunken bearded captain, the port authority official, the devout Muslim Basel frowned slightly.

"Ah, let's go to Bahrain first, and then to Mumbai." Captain Adok replied.

"What kind of cargo is on the ship? We need to check it." The port officer said.

"Some Brazilian Sumu was shipped to India. The rich people there like it very much. There are also some potatoes, flour, etc., which were shipped to Bahrain. If you are interested, you can go and see for yourself." After Captain Duck finished speaking, he turned around and said to the seaman behind: "Eddie, take them to the inner area of ​​the warehouse."

"Okay, Captain." Eddie replied.

"Wait, Captain, can I read your sailing diary?" said the Englishman who followed the port officer.

"No problem, you can go to the captain's room with me." Adoc replied.

So the Egyptian port officer took a few people down to the cargo hold with the sailor Eddie, while the Englishman followed Captain Adok to the captain's room.

...

"Look, this is the Brazilian Sumu, not many, only twelve." Eddie pointed to the "Brazilian Sumu" in the warehouse and said, "Would you like to go down and take a look?"

"No, let's go and see the others." Basel said.

Eddie breathed a sigh of relief, but it didn't matter if it really depends. The two exposed ends of the barrels were wrapped in real Brazilian hematoxylin. If you don't check it carefully, you can't see the problem.

"Let's come here." Eddie opened another warehouse. Here are all potatoes shipped to Bahrain. As Eddie opened the warehouse, a few potatoes rolled out, and at the same time a smell of moldy potatoes poured into the noses of a few people. Basel covered his nose and looked inside, and saw that the pile was full of potatoes, so he shook his head and said, "Your potatoes are all rotten."

"There is no way, the Arab chiefs will have a bargain. Anyway, they are cooked, dried, and ground into powder. Few people can see that there is any problem."

At that time, Arab oil had not yet been developed on a large scale, and naturally, it had not brought huge petrodollars to those Arab chiefs. So at that time, most Arabs were poor.

Basel took another look and said, "Close the door, there is nothing to see!"

Unbeknownst to Basel, several trucks and 155mm howitzers were buried under this pile of potatoes and flour.

...

In the captain's room.

"Would you like a little drink?" Captain Adok said while passing the voyage record to the British guy, "This damn place is so hot! If there is no beer, I will die of heatstroke. How about it? Don't you have a drink too?"

"Ah, no need." The Englishman said when he saw that Adoc took out another large glass.

Captain Adok poured himself a large glass of beer leisurely, and after a sip, he said, "How long have you been in Egypt?"

"Five years." The Englishman replied absent-mindedly while looking through the nautical records.

"Damn! You stayed in such a hot place for five years? You haven't been melted yet? And, I know, it seems it's not easy to buy beer here in Egypt, right? I can't stay in such a place for a whole day... Really don't need a drink?"

"Thank you for your kindness, but I don't drink." said the Englishman.

"Ah, do men still count as men if they don't drink? You don't believe in what they teach, do you?"

"How is it possible? I am a devout Christian." When it comes to the question of faith, the British finally responded seriously.

"Ah, how can Christians not drink? You didn't know that Jesus Christ was in the Last Supper..."

Captain Adoc buzzed like a passionate fly, making the British guy's head a size bigger. He hurriedly looked through the voyage records and saw that there seemed to be no problem, so he hurried. 'S goodbye and left.

After a while, the person who inspected the goods also returned. They shook their heads at the Englishman and said, "Everything is normal." Then they said goodbye to Captain Adok and left.

In the afternoon, Captain Adok’s "Thetis" sailed on the Suez Canal smoothly.

...

"What is this?" a British soldier asked, pointing to a pile of tightly wrapped long cylinders.

"You can just open it and see. Brazil Sum!" Captain Drogba replied irritably.

"You transport wood to Madagascar? Madagascar still lacks wood?" an Englishman asked.

"People ordered this. We don't care what they want to do. We don't ask customers what do you want this to do. As long as they are willing to pay for it. Please check it. If there is no problem, we have to hurry. Well. In case the date is delayed, you British will give us compensation?" Captain Drogba was obviously in a bad mood.

"We will check it very carefully." The British said.

This is what the British said and did the same. They called in the cranes, and lifted the Brazilian hematoxylins one by one to the shore, carefully inspecting them one by one. However, the results of the inspection made them very disappointed. The tightly wrapped cylinders are really authentic Brazilian Sumu that can no longer be authentic.

"Damn it, your ship came out of Boston, how come there is Brazilian Sumu?" The British was a little frustrated.

"Damn it, didn't you see that this wood has been air-dried for more than ten years? This is a cargo that changed hands, understand?" Captain Drogba looked like angrily.

In fact, if the British were more knowledgeable, they would be able to see that these woods were not really air-dried for more than ten years, at most they were only left there for two or three years.

As for the other cabins, they quickly completed the inspection. There were trucks there, exactly the same as the numbers on the intelligence, and they also found the kind of suspected howitzer mentioned in the intelligence-a two-wheeled trailer for hauling wood. . This thing stretched out a long stretch of towing arm to one side, and then the whole was wrapped in greased paper. Looking at it from a distance in the dark, it looked like a cannon.

"Damn it!" Lieutenant Colonel Chris could no longer maintain his so-called demeanor. He originally thought that he had hoped to retire at the rank of colonel. Who knows, this is actually a miscalculation of intelligence. Before the ship was brought back, a telegram was sent out. If it is held for a long time, it will definitely cause diplomatic problems.

"Reload the goods and let them go." Lieutenant Colonel Chris finally made this decision.

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