LRAB Chapter 81 The Gift from the Queen of the European Mafia
Chapter 81 The Gift from the Queen of the European Mafia
Wusongkou Wharf. Late at night.
A 10,000-ton cargo ship flying the Dutch flag slowly docked.
There were no lights on the dock.
Only Chen Zijun, Mo Lanzhi, and Su Guiying, the protagonist of this transport, stood at the end of the pier, followed by more than a dozen fully armed guards.
The cargo ship's crane slowly lowered a steel cable.
The other end of the steel cable was connected to a huge waterproof canvas.
The canvas was hoisted onto the dock and slammed onto the ground with a dull metallic clang.
Chen Zijun walked over and personally lifted a corner of the canvas.
Moonlight shone on the black steel shell.
Streamlined hull. Torpedo tube openings. A faded German nameplate on the conning tower.
U-93.
A German Imperial Navy U-boat from World War I.
Mo Lanzhi gasped.
"Is this the gift Lily Kurag gave us?"
"To be precise, it's her family's pledge of allegiance." Standing next to Chen Zijun, Su Guiying touched the cold hull of the boat and said seriously, "The Kurlag family has established a shipping and smuggling route from the French Concession to the Far East. They need a partner who can call the shots in the East China Sea."
"So she gave us this submarine?" Moranzhi's expression was somewhat incredulous.
"The Italian Mafia never wastes time in business," Su Guiying said, patting the hull of the boat. "The size of the gift they give you as a greeting shows how much money they want to make from you."
"A decommissioned ocean-going submarine costs around £300,000 on the European black market."
Moranzhi's eyes narrowed slightly.
"So how much do they want to make from us?"
"At least ten times." Su Guiying turned around. "We had an agreement with them back then: top-grade opium, morphine, pounds sterling, and nowadays sulfonamides. We provided the goods, they handled the transportation and sales, and the profits were split 30/70..."
Before he could finish speaking, Chen Zijun shuddered and heard a familiar voice deep within his mind.
【Ding! 】
[Host detected to have acquired physical technology carrier: German Imperial Navy U-93 class ocean-going submarine (produced in 1917)]
[Automatic parsing in progress... Parsing complete!]
[Congratulations, host! You have unlocked the complete set of "Basic Technical Blueprints for German U-boats during World War I"!]
【包含：艇体结构设计图×12、柴油-电动推进系统原理图×8、鱼雷发射机构详图×6、水下通信设备图×3、潜望镜光学系统图×2】
A total of 31 complete industrial drawings have been stored in the system repository and can be retrieved at any time!
Chen Zijun's pupils dilated slightly.
Thirty-one complete industrial drawings.
It is not a fragment, nor a remnant.
It is a complete set of technical data that can be directly used in industrial production.
"What's wrong, young master?" Mo Lanzhi noticed the change in his expression.
"It's nothing." Chen Zijun looked away, a smile he couldn't suppress. "I just suddenly realized this deal was incredibly worthwhile."
He raised his head and looked towards the dark East China Sea.
The cruisers of the Japanese Third Fleet are still patrolling and blockading the open sea.
Those steel behemoths with displacements of tens of thousands of tons are colossal creatures that Chen's army cannot currently confront head-on.
But starting today, things are different.
"You don't need to be bigger than a shark," Chen Zijun muttered to himself. "You just need to be quieter than a shark."
……
The next day.
Peace Hotel. Private room on the third floor.
Felix sat opposite Chen Zijun, holding a cup of coffee that had gone cold.
He had been looking at the blueprints for a full half hour.
That was Chen Zijun's request.
Felix's hands were trembling.
He was Jewish. But he grew up in Berlin and had a profound understanding of the rise and fall of the German Navy.
During World War I, it was these U-boats that instilled a "thalassophobia" in the Royal Navy of the British Empire. The German submarine force sank more than 5,000 Allied merchant ships in the Atlantic, nearly strangling Britain.
Now, this Chinese warlord wants to hire retired submariners who have long been boycotted by European countries.
What does he want to do?
"General Chen," Felix finally put down the blueprints. His voice was a little hoarse. "Do you know what it means for you to hire and recruit these people?"
"I know." Chen Zijun pushed a mahogany box in front of him.
Felix opened the box.
Two gold bars.
One kilogram per piece.
"This isn't payment," Chen Zijun said. "It's a deposit."
Felix looked up.
"Deposit?"
"I need people." Chen Zijun's tone was as calm as ordering a bowl of plain noodles. "Retired submariners from the Weimar Defence Force. Veterans who served in World War I. People who can operate these machines underwater."
How many people?
"Minimum of three hundred people."
Felix nearly dropped his coffee cup.
"Three hundred... General Chen, do you know that the entire Weimar naval force only has 15,000 men? You need World War I veterans, who are scattered throughout the slums and taverns of Germany. We have to find them one by one..."
"That's why I'm giving you a deposit," Chen Zijun interrupted him. "Settlement allowance: 1,000 pounds for ordinary sailors. 5,000 pounds for instructors. 10,000 pounds for captains."
Felix opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
One thousand pounds.
In Weimar Germany, where the economy was collapsing and the mark was worthless, a thousand pounds was enough for a retired soldier to buy a house with a garden and live comfortably for ten years.
Chen Zijun immediately asked for three hundred people.
This means a resettlement allowance of at least £300,000, not including subsequent military pay and equipment.
"We'll use the Dutch and Portuguese merchant shipping routes." Chen Zijun stood up, put his hands behind his back, and walked to the window. "Fifty people in each batch, transported in batches. I need to see the first batch within a month."
Felix took a deep breath.
Then he took another deep breath.
Then he picked up the already cold cup of coffee on the table and drank it all in one gulp.
"General Chen." He wiped his mouth. "I've worked at the Far East Chamber of Commerce for twelve years, handling countless outrageous orders. But yours—"
He looked at the blueprints spread out on the table and the two gold bars.
"Yours is the craziest."
Chen Zijun turned around.
"Can you do it?"
Felix remained silent for three seconds.
Then he stood up and extended his hand.
"One month. The first batch of fifty people. I vouch for it with my reputation."
Chen Zijun grasped his hand.
"it is good."
Felix took two steps, then suddenly stopped and looked back at Chen Zijun, who was standing alone by the window.
"Commander Chen, even if you have these people, it won't be of much use. You still need submarines, but submarines..."
Chen Zijun simply said, "That's not something you need to worry about..."
On the Huangpu River, a British cruiser is slowly sailing past the Bund.
Its cannons gleamed in the sunlight, looking majestic and imposing.
Chen Zijun looked at the warship and suddenly smiled.
The smile was very soft and faint.
But the chill in his eyes was as cold as the waters deep in the East China Sea.
"Enjoy your last good days."