1855 United States Tycoon

The news of the British victory immediately caused repercussions in the market. Because of this victory, it is generally believed that the British Empire will win the final victory over the Boers in the near future. In this way, the output of South Africa’s gold and diamond mines will be restored, and even, because these mines did not stop production during the war, those gold mines with British property rights remained unchanged after being controlled by the government of the Transvaal Republic. In production, it's just that the sea route is blocked and cannot be shipped out. Once the war ends with the victory of Britain, the gold will still appear on the market. Therefore, the futures prices of other precious metals also fell along with this news.

...

The capital of the Transvaal Republic, Johannesburg.

President Kruger is discussing the war with his cabinet members.

"If we failed to take Cape Town quickly, our first goal could not be achieved. Now, we can only deal with this war according to the second set of records. General Piet Joubert believes that in the current situation Next, we have to lure the British army to disperse its forces, and then concentrate its superior forces to fight one or two beautiful annihilation battles." Defense Minister Pete first relayed the views of the generals.

"How does General Pierre plan to distract the British?" President Kruger asked.

"General Pierre asked the government to allow him to abandon some of the cities and colonies that have been captured." Peter continued to explain, "The total number of troops transferred by the British is still quite limited. If, every time we abandon one of the strongholds, They need to keep a part of the army to defend. Moreover, because they have won along the way, the resistance is not fierce, so the British will naturally not send more reinforcements. On the other hand, we are withdrawing some important In the city, we can also do some damage to some important and very important facilities for the war. This will also make the British more eager to march, rushing to capture these cities before we destroy the facilities. In this way, they will It’s easy to make a radical decision to divide the forces, and even keep some heavy artillery behind for speed. This way, we have the opportunity to concentrate our forces, destroy some of them, and use our cavalry units. It has the advantage of maneuverability to attack and destroy those heavy troops that are behind and lack protection."

"What do our friends from United States and Germany think about this strategy?" President Kruger asked.

"Friends from United States believe that the United Kingdom is actually quite optimistic. They believe that the strength of the three divisions is enough to defeat us in a short time. Therefore, the British did not make the decision to continue to mobilize more troops to South Africa. . And the British of the three divisions, being used on such a vast land, the situation of insufficient strength is conceivable. So they all think that General Pierre’s idea is reasonable. As for our German friends People, they think this war may be long-term, so he suggested that we should prepare more weapons and ammunition. Of course, you know, whether it is from the United States or the Germans, they all hope to sell us more weapons, Earn more money." An official of the foreign ministry replied.

"How about our stockpile of weapons?" President Kruger asked.

"At present, it should be sufficient. Moreover, if you want to continue the purchase, it must be transported through the Portuguese area. The Portuguese may not dare to let the ships carrying weapons use their ports." Another official replied.

"Friends from United States said that they have a way to evade British inspections and deliver weapons to us, but the transportation capacity is very limited and the transportation cost is also high." The official replied.

This is completely understandable. To forcefully break through the blockade of the British Navy and send supplies over, the risk is not so high, and all business in the world has a basic principle, that is, the greater the risk, the corresponding profit. Must be higher. However, since the stock of weapons is still sufficient, there is no need to spend a lot of money on these things for the time being. So the president just nodded, and did not continue to say more.

"Well, do you have any comments on General Pierre's strategy?" President Kruger asked.

He looked around and saw that everyone was silent. So he smiled and said: "One of my elders said that professional matters should be handed over to professional people. We are not as good as Pierre when it comes to warfare. Since he thinks it is best to do this, then Do what he wants."

...

In addition to the aircraft, a submarine is also undergoing testing in the University of Cleveland's large laboratory. In fact, submarines are really nothing new. Especially in United States, it is nothing new. As early as the end of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth century, Leonardo da Vinci, a rare legendary all-round genius in European history, proposed the idea of ​​submarine. In the eighteenth century, during the United States War of Independence, the United States man David Bushnell built a human submarine called the "Turtle". This submarine injects water into the water tank through a pedal valve, can dive to 6 meters underwater, and can stay underwater for about 30 minutes. The boat is equipped with two hand cranked propellers to enable the boat to obtain a speed of about 3 knots and to control the elevation of the boat. There is a hand-operated pressure water pump in the boat to drain the water in the tank and make the boat float. The outside of the boat carries an explosive package that can be detonated with a timed fuze, which can be placed on the bottom of the enemy ship in the control system of the boat. Only one person can operate the rudder and propeller inside. In 1776, the Turtle attempted to attack the British Royal Navy Eagle (HMSEagle). Although it was unsuccessful, it opened the era of submarines for naval warfare.

The first case of a submarine sinking a warship was also created by the United States. During the Civil War, Horace Lawson Hanley of the South built a larger submarine that used pole mines to carry out suicide attacks. And successfully sunk a federal navy frigate in the war. Of course, this submarine also died in the explosion of the pole mine.

With the emergence of the synthetic ammonia industry, the production capacity of large-scale pressure tanks has greatly developed, and larger, steel-made, mechanically propelled submarines have also appeared. At least, the United States Navy has equipped a submarine with a displacement of up to 600 tons that uses a hybrid diesel engine and an electric motor and uses compressed air torpedoes as power.

Therefore, ordinary submarines do not need to be secretly manufactured in the small shipyard attached to the large laboratory of the University of Cleveland. This submarine is absolutely different. This is a submarine used for secret transportation missions. Although Morgan McDonald Shipyard can also manufacture such a submarine, Scrooge does not want Morgan to know that he built such a submarine.. This is this epoch-making giant submarine with a displacement of up to 1,650 tons. Because it is used for transportation, this submarine is unarmed. But its power is quite strong. It is equipped with a large 300-horsepower diesel engine and an electric motor of the same horsepower, and a battery pack of up to ten tons can run at a speed of 12 knots on the sea, even if it is underwater, It can also run at a speed of 7-8 knots. At the same time, the advancement of the pressure hull also allows it to dive to a depth of close to 100 meters.

The submarine can sail nearly two thousand nautical miles on the internal fuel alone. This voyage is not enough to provide arms to the Boers in South Africa. However, if it is equipped with a dedicated transport and supply ship, the situation will be completely different.

In fact, both the British and the Boers underestimated the opponent's will to fight. The British thought that as long as they taught the Boers a little lesson, they would surrender obediently, crying and screaming that the shackles given to them by the British were hung on themselves like bracelets and necklaces. The Boers also believe that British people are all cowards. As long as enough British people are killed, they can give up their ambitions for South Africa's gold and obediently retract their paws. But I don't think about it, what is an empire? If you see money, but you cherish your life, and you are afraid of the dead, you deserve to be called an empire?

Therefore, whether they are the Boers or the British, their preparations for war are actually still insufficient. The Boers only prepared weapons and ammunition for regular operations. As for weapons and ammunition for long-term guerrilla warfare, they were not fully prepared. And their arsenal is also concentrated in a few well-defended major cities. Once these cities fall, the replenishment of their weapons and ammunition will have major problems. The British will also tightly block their coasts and cut off their way to the Portuguese-controlled area. At that time, they can only rely on this kind of shipping from United States people, and at this time, these arms will surely be able to sell for a sky-high price.

But if it was just to sell arms, Scrooge wouldn't need such extra attention. Although the profit rate of this kind of business is very high, how many weapons can be carried in by one or two submarines alone? Even if it is sold at a sky-high price, the total income is still limited, at least, for the current Scrooge, this is already a small amount of money.

This submarine also has a bigger task, which is to transport the Boer's gold out!

The Boers had already stored part of their gold in the vault of the McDonald Ventures Bank, but Scrooge knew that there was more gold in the hands of the Boers, and after they declared war with the British, they immediately seized the British. The total amount obtained from the gold mines and what they have since then mined is definitely quite a lot. By the late stage of the war and the safety of their city was seriously threatened, Scrooge believed that the Boers would agree to transport the gold to the vault of the McDonald Venture Capital Bank via submarine. In this way, even if the Boers are defeated in the end, with this money, the Boers will have an economic foundation to work hard for the restoration of the country.

However, Scrooge knew that the Boers could not regain the country, and their government in exile would soon disappear. At that time, as long as a few key figures are bought, the gold will always exist in McDonald’s vault. Inside, although in name, these things are still someone else's, but in fact, what is the difference between it and McDonald's?

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