Mediterranean hegemon

Seeing a steady stream of people and equipment arriving, Enzo and Ji'an, who were in charge of security, finally breathed a sigh of relief: the president's safety was finally guaranteed.

In the past, they had proposed to strengthen security forces for Contini, and this time when they went to the United States, they were no exception. They had sufficient strength according to the traffic security alert requirements. After all, the United States was not a place of chaos, but when Contini arrived a month ago When he asked for heavy equipment such as tanks and armored vehicles, they were also shocked. What did the president mean? Want to rebel in the United States and prepare to storm the White House?

Contini smiled: "It's more serious than entering the White House. The situation in the United States will soon be turned upside down..."

Just as the two were about to persuade each other, Contini waved his hand: "Of course, I use economic means and will not use violence, but I want to prevent others from using violence against me, so I must rely on all-round security forces. I will also let the battleships Anchor in New York, if it doesn’t work, we will retreat directly..."

The two looked at each other and didn't understand why the president's face was so ferocious when he said the word "economic means", but they knew not to ask about things they shouldn't ask. Didn't the president survive the French in Algeria? What are you afraid of? The U.S. police and National Guard are really not in the eyes of the president's security guards despite their weak-footed skills.

There are not many tanks and armored vehicles. They are pretending to be security equipment imported by Blackwater Company. These have been approved in advance. Besides, the quantities are not large. They only need 6 and 12 vehicles. The United States has agreed, but these There was no approval among the equipment. The seemingly inconspicuous ones that had high hopes were heavy-duty off-road vehicles. They used the customs channel to declare for import. There were more than 40 vehicles in total.

Contini took the concept of a later-generation pickup truck equipped with a machine gun and used the high-power universal chassis built with General Motors to create an all-directional 4-wheel-drive off-road vehicle equipped with an 8-liter diesel engine. It has high horsepower and strong passing performance. It is suitable for use in Italy's unique and complex terrains such as deserts, deserted beaches, and mountains. As for the fuel consumption, of course it is also astonishingly high at 45 liters per 100 kilometers. If it is heavily loaded for off-road use, there is no suspense about exceeding 55 liters.

The doors on both sides of this new off-road vehicle and key parts of the body are covered with 4-5mm armor, which can prevent the threat of pistol bullets and grenade explosive fragments at close range. Of course, it is not enough to deal with machine guns and rifles, but this is not the case with these armors. The entire vehicle is generally equipped with a Browning heavy machine gun, with 3,000 rounds of ammunition. The firepower is very strong and has played a prominent role in the Libyan battlefield. Of course, it is also expensive. The production cost is slightly more expensive than Fiat's 3000a series tanks. Dot, because the 3000a series tank only weighs 6 tons, this armored off-road vehicle actually weighs nearly 4 tons.

Contini was very satisfied with this model, but then the bad taste came up again and he personally named it the Hummer H1 armed off-road vehicle for use with the Joint Forces sidecar motorcycle.

This new type of off-road vehicle immediately entered Contini's bodyguard team after arriving in the United States, and was used to continuously enrich the force. The vehicle has no weapons when entering customs, so it is a civilian product and does not need to be reported to the Ministry of Defense. After arriving in the United States, Brown Ning machine guns can be purchased and installed locally through the American branch of Blackwater, and then these vehicles are equipped with heavy machine guns. Americans always think that those heavy machine guns are used for fixed fortification defense. Who would have thought that the Italians would put them on vehicles? The so-called inspection of the US military industry is actually to purchase these security weapons.

As for other American equipment, Contini has almost no regard for it. The only one he cares about is probably the Garand rifle. But when the Italian arsenal was making improvements based on Garand's design and finalizing it into the 1929 semi-automatic rifle (caliber: 92mm, using the same bullet as the 1926 rifle, k98), the United States' own Garand rifle was still in mass production. After constantly arguing with the Ministry of National Defense, the plan was overturned and restarted, and the comparative test had not even been carried out. Garland was so angry that he called the Ministry of National Defense a stupid pig. In addition, with the continuous urging from the Italian side, he even took the entire team to Italy last year. Too lazy to come back, the Ministry of National Defense asked others to just deal with it as they pleased. This time when he came back with Contini, the Ministry of National Defense had not received any confirmation yet, leaving him completely speechless.

During the inspection, Contini smiled at Garland and said: "So the system is still very important. Many American intellectuals attack my slogans and misunderstand the fascist policy. You have personally communicated with the two defense systems of Italy and the United States." You must have a deep understanding of it after dealing with it, right?”

Garland nodded and said bitterly: "I wish I could put a 1929 rifle on their heads to let them know what efficiency is, but I can't..."

"Why don't you resign from your job at the Springfield Arsenal? Follow me and go to Italy. Anyway, you are not a native American. You immigrated from Quebec." Contini advised, "Just move to Italy. Okay, as long as you are willing to come over, I will solve the nationality issue for you immediately when you arrive in Italy. I will not say any other nonsense. I will give you a technical level of 6 and an annual salary of 120,000 US dollars. I will give you additional money. Shares in the company can enjoy dividends every year.”

"120,000 U.S. dollars?" Garland stuttered in disbelief, "President, I still earn less than 10,000 U.S. dollars a year at Springfield Arsenal."

"120,000 is just the basic salary. Settlement expenses, transportation expenses, clothing expenses, children's education expenses, etc. are calculated separately. You can choose the joint community expert building, whichever one you like. There is also a car with technical level 6." Tiny smiled, "You see, didn't Hallik (the Czech light machine gun designer) just come over? And your compatriot Mr. Christie, didn't he successfully tinker with a tank recently? They are also technology level 6. Inventions Mr. Domarco, who is always busy, is not Italian, so he still works and lives in Italy? I have no concept or geographical perspective in employing people. I just hope that talents can play their own value. Life is short. , if the US military doesn’t adopt it in 10 years, why don’t you wait 10 years? How many more 10 years do you have to wait for a semi-automatic rifle? If you see a fully automatic rifle, your glasses will be shattered. ?”

Garland nodded: After the semi-automatic rifle was adopted, Contini proposed the concept of a fully automatic rifle. However, he also frankly pointed out that the current rifle ammunition would be too powerful if made fully automatic, and the 9mm pistol bullets commonly used for submachine guns would be too powerful. The power is not enough, so he thinks that using bullets with intermediate power will make it possible for a fully automatic rifle to succeed. He is eager to try this concept and would like to tinker with a new weapon, but the problem is that only Italy can show off its skills. Opportunities, in America? Semi-automatic rifles have not passed, so how can they possibly engage in something as illusory as intermediate-power ammunition?

He gritted his teeth and made up his mind: "Okay, I will apply for my resignation in the next two days, and I will go with you when you return to Italy."

Contini asked Administrative Secretary Aquilani to quickly take out a check, fill in the figure of 220,000 US dollars, and then handed it to Garland: "First advance the settlement fee, subsidy and first year's salary, and give it to your wife and Buy more gifts for the children to dispel their concerns and hope we can have the opportunity to continue our cooperation. ”

Garland now truly understands why the capable technical backbones of the United Group always respect the president when they mention the president. The president is an intellectual and caring person. No matter how happy it is to work under him, some people always say that there is no freedom in Italy, but Garland never looked at it that way. He believed that no matter how tiring or complicated it was to do research and development in Italy, he was willing to do it. For those who really wanted to do business, even the air there was sweet. As for those who did nothing, they always wanted to point fingers and criticize. Of course, those who criticize this and that can only give greetings with an iron fist to the fascist dictatorship.

After tricking Garand away, Contini now wants to see what kind of rifle the US military will adopt in the future. He is now full of expectations for this kind of prank. However, the time is not yet ripe for large-scale poaching, and it is impossible for him to give everyone such high salaries as Garland, Christie and others. Then the United Group must go bankrupt. The only way is to wait until the crisis breaks out, and countless middle-class people and engineers will be wiped out overnight. Being thrown onto the streets in between, that’s a good time to hunt for bargains on talent.

The talent pool in the military industry is almost done. Now Contini needs someone who can detonate the stock market. He already has this person's name: Jesse Livermore!

Livermore's office is on the 18th floor of the Heckscher Building in New York. Security facilities and confidentiality measures are very tight. The janitor downstairs collected his money. When Livermore came to visit unexpectedly, When the visitor arrived, the janitor said: "There has never been a man named Jesse Livermore here." Even if the visitor came by appointment, a bodyguard would come to the door of Livermore's room when he arrived. Do a safety check. There were about 60 people in the room tending the telephones, telegraphs, and stock market telex receivers.

However, it was not so complicated for Contini to meet Livermore. On the evening of May 4, he directly entered Livermore's luxury apartment in Long Island, New York, surrounded by numerous security guards. At first, Livermore's bodyguards were frightened by this unscrupulous intrusion, waving pistols and threatening to use force. But when Livermore saw clearly that it was Contini, he immediately put away his unhappy expression and said sarcastically. He smiled and said, "I thought it was some distinguished guest, but it turned out to be His Excellency the President. If you want to see me, just make a phone call. You don't need to mobilize so many people. I can't afford it..."

Contini laughed loudly: "You and Baruch are big players in the stock market and the most influential and successful stock traders on Wall Street. It would be very disrespectful to call you and come to your door."

"No, no, no... you are the most influential person on Wall Street. We are just living under your care." Others don't know how strong Contini is, but Livermore knows clearly. A big shot who can stand up to the Federal Reserve is much more powerful than a speculator like him, but why would he suddenly come looking for him?

"Won't you buy me a cup of coffee?"

"Of course, of course, it's my honor to have the president here. Please..."