Chapter 198 The Conscience of Smugglers (Second update, please subscribe)

In the sea fog that was as thin as gauze, the roar of the ship's guns sounded like the roar of Thor pretending to resound through the sky.

Suddenly, a low-freeboard smuggling ship painted in block camouflage rushed out from the sea fog. Although the wind and waves on the sea were not strong, due to the speed, the surging waves kept hitting the high-speed smuggling ship. The waves kept flying over the bow, over the side, and hitting the deck.

The sailors who ran out on the deck braved the waves and tried to tighten the ropes of the canvas. If it weren't for the ropes tied around their waists, they would probably have been thrown into the sea if a wave hit them.

"arrive!"

Finally, with an excited roar, the port of Wilmington came into the sailors' sight.

The Port of Wilmington is not a very large port, but when ports such as New Orleans were occupied or blockaded, it became one of the channels between the South and the outside world.

For the merchants in the city, they would stand by the port and stare at the sea every day, hoping that merchant ships would break through the blockade and bring supplies that the South urgently needed - large quantities of shoes, salt, medicines, military supplies and other goods, but these items were mainly obtained from the outside world.

Of course, the merchants did not need to pay in cash. They had a large amount of cotton, an agricultural product that was urgently needed by the outside world. The outside world needed cotton from the South, and the South also needed to obtain supplies by exporting cotton.

As always, when the businessmen in the hotel once again looked out at the empty bay, they couldn't help but sigh.

"Brian, it's another lonely night!"

"Yes, there is not a single boat."

"Oh, what a pity! When will the damn navy be able to break through the Yankee blockade and defeat their fleet?"

Just as the businessmen were talking to each other, suddenly, someone rushed in and shouted loudly.

"There's a ship, there's a ship breaking in!"

What!

In an instant, the merchants who were originally sighing there, as if they were given an injection of chicken blood, rushed out like a whirlwind. When they ran to the port, they saw a low-sided smuggling ship slowly sailing into the bay. As long as they saw its hull, they could recognize its identity.

"It's a ghost!"

"It's a ghost ship on the sea!"

"Long live!"

Suddenly there was a cheer on the dock. The ghost of the sea, in fact, this kind of breakthrough ship painted with striped camouflage first became famous in New Orleans. It once transported much-needed supplies there under the cover of dusk. Because of their secretive whereabouts and extremely fast speed, they were called "Caribbean Ghosts". Later, they slowly appeared in various places.

As soon as the ship docked, Lin Yuehu felt the enthusiasm of the Port of Wilmington. Just like in the past, the merchants at the port waved their hats and shouted at them, asking about the types of goods. Some even shouted that they wanted to take over all the goods on the ship.

Of course, this was impossible, and soon several officials came forward to welcome him.

"Welcome, Captain."

"Thanks."

Without waiting for the official to ask, Lin Yuehu took out the cargo list.

"Here is my cargo manifest, sir. As in the past, 70% of the 1,100 tons of cargo on board is military supplies."

In order to ensure the transportation of military supplies, the Confederacy issued corresponding regulations that 70% of the tonnage of each ship must be used to transport military supplies. However, even so, many smugglers would still try their best to transport those goods with higher added value. For example, weapons are definitely more valuable than boots and military uniforms. However, for the South, they need more than just weapons. Boots and military uniforms are also urgently needed supplies.

Boots in particular may not look very impressive, but they are extremely important supplies for the army. However, there was no large-scale military boot factory in the South. The shortage of military boots even affected the combat effectiveness of the Confederate Army. Many soldiers had to march barefoot after their boots were damaged.

But for those smugglers, they don’t care about these, all they care about is money.

But unlike them, Lin Yuehu's ship not only had the weapons needed by the Confederacy, but also various military supplies such as leather boots, military uniforms, etc. that they urgently needed.

As soon as he saw the cargo list, the official knew that the captain in front of him must be a very conscientious person. He actually brought tens of thousands of pairs of boots! After all, boots only have a double profit. Ordinary smugglers simply look down on such a small business.

This is definitely a person with a conscience!

In his gratitude, he also discovered that there were some items in the cargo list that had never appeared before.

"What kind of rifle is this?"

the officer asked, pointing to the model of rifle in the manifest.

"No Enfield rifles?"

"Smith 1862 rifle."

Lin Yuehu took a rifle from the crew member and introduced it.

"The Enfield P1853 rifle is definitely the best muzzle-loading rifle of this era. There is no doubt about that. But the Spiessmann 1862 rifle is the best rifle in the world."

The Spencer 1862 rifle was an improved version of the Spencer rifle by Nanhua. In fact, it just used the .45.58 centerfire bullet. The excellent performance of the bullet made a revolutionary change in its range and power, making it an extremely deadly weapon on the battlefield.

Thanks to the expansion of the arsenal, Nanhua can now mass-produce and export this type of rifle. Under the condition that it can meet its own needs, it is natural to export a batch to the south, which has become a big hit!

"The Enfield rifle may be excellent, but apart from the rifling and the fulminate of mercury percussion cap, it is essentially no different from the musket of the Napoleonic era. Even the best rifleman can only fire two or three times a minute at most. This old-fashioned weapon can no longer keep up with the trend of the times."

As Lin Yuehu spoke, he pulled the lever of the rifle to load it, then aimed at the sea about 400 meters away and fired several shots.

"My God, it fires so fast..."

Seeing the officials looking dumbfounded, Lin Yuehu said with a smile,

"Although it's not cheap, believe me, on the battlefield, one Sniper rifleman is equivalent to ten muzzleloaders!"

Good products are not cheap, and cheap products are not good.

The same is true for weapons. The more expensive the weapon, the better it is. In fact, for the Confederate logistics officers, they don't care about the price at all, because... being able to buy it is already a blessing from God.

Soon, the two sides reached an agreement - they paid for the goods with cotton, and the price was 10 cents per pound of cotton. The price was so cheap that it even felt like they had picked it up for free.

While the black slaves were carrying the military supplies off the ship, Lin Yuehu and his party came to the shore and went to the hotel with those enthusiastic businessmen.

The official business was done, and now it was time to deal with private individuals. Although it was a time of war, the Confederacy did not completely monopolize trade, but instead confiscated smuggling ships, all of which carried certain civilian supplies to meet civilian needs. Of course, these merchants who were qualified to purchase supplies in the port might be the "white gloves" of those officials.

"Sir, half cash, half cotton, if you can accept that, I only want 9.5 cents per pound of cotton!"

"Sir, under the same conditions, my cotton is only 9 cents..."

There was no need for even bargaining. As soon as they received the list of goods, the merchants started to pack up. Lin Yuehu was naturally happy to see this. Of course, he didn't even care about his ship. It was impossible to transport all the cotton. The excess cotton would be stored in the warehouse. The cotton was extremely cheap. Even if it was kept in the warehouse for a few years, it would still be possible to make extremely lucrative profits by shipping it out when the war was over or the maritime blockade was broken.

Of course, it is precisely because of this that both the official and private sectors extremely welcome smugglers like him. After all, other smugglers would never accept such barter transactions. For them, after filling up their cargoes with cotton, the remaining supplies must be paid with gold and silver coins, not a cent less.

However, these transactions did not require Lin Yuehu's participation at all. There was also a full-time second mate on the ship who was responsible for trading with merchants. In fact, Lin Yuehu was not just a simple captain. He also had another identity - a reserve officer of the Coast Guard. In fact, breaking through the blockade was also a kind of training for him and his sailors.

While the second mate was negotiating with the businessmen, Lin Yuehu accidentally glanced out the window. When he saw the sailors who had disembarked were surrounded by a group of women, a smile appeared on his face.

"These guys are really sailors! They found fun so quickly."

I have set up a book club: 335260551. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.

(End of this chapter)