Although everything went according to plan during the celebration, with Gustav giving a speech and the guests chatting and congratulating each other, every step was completed, but until the very end, Alan still felt that something was missing.
He felt that the atmosphere of the entire celebration was weird. Ever since he listened to Queen Margaret, when he looked at Gustav, he always felt that the old guy had a stubborn temper and was silently resisting.
Why……
Faced with the current situation, Alan judged others by himself. If it were him, he probably wouldn't end up like Gustav.
But everyone has their own way of dealing with things. Now is not the worst of the situation. Let's talk about it later. If it comes to the end...
Maybe we can provide remote support to Gustav?
…
Sweden is one hour ahead of Great Britain.
Alan was invited to attend a private dinner at Queen Margaret's home in the evening. When he returned to the hotel, it was already past eleven o'clock.
And in Wales far away, it was only a little after ten o'clock in the evening.
At this time of year, Swansea's nightlife has already started early.
Unlike Llanelli next door, which lacks nightlife, Swansea is relatively better at night. After all... the management is relatively lax. Rumors have been spreading in the city recently, and small incidents have happened from time to time. Even ordinary people have sensed a bit of tension in the atmosphere. At night, it is the time to invite three or five good friends out for a drink and bragging, share the gossip they have heard, and discuss which big shot has gotten into trouble recently.
It is close to the development zone, which is the area Swansea specially set aside for foreign investors to build factories. The nightlife here is the richest.
The current economic situation is not good, but these foreigners, or employees of foreign companies, generally have higher wages than locals and stronger spending power. There are many karaoke bars and bars around here, surrounding the entire development zone. It is one of the areas with the richest nightlife, and it is lively until late at night every night.
Mixed in a warehouse at the end of the bar street, there was nothing in the warehouse at this time, but dozens of people were standing there.
Old Carl was sitting in front of a table with a map of the development zone on it. He was holding a magnifying glass and frowning as he looked at the several areas drawn on the map, struggling with his thoughts.
"Sir, this is what Bentley has researched. The production lines we need most are marked with red pen, and other areas are also marked with different colors according to priority."
Little Stone stood by and pointed at the map to explain to Old Carl.
"So, these areas of other colors don't matter, and the red area is the focus?"
"Yes... But Sir, if you can, you'd better keep these green areas as much as possible."
Little Stone looked at Old Carl and explained something.
"I can't stay here! If so many areas won't be moved, where else can I move?"
Old Carl rolled his eyes at the little stone and continued looking at the map.
This is a detailed map of the equipment distribution within each factory area of the development zone.
Among them are dozens of factories of large international companies, the most valuable of which is Ford's factory. They will produce some corresponding auto parts and provide parts for their European regional assembly plants.
As for things like auto parts factories, most of them can be produced as long as the molds are modified.
It just so happens...Llanelli, not far from Swansea, is Bentley's production base. The two sides are so close, although there is no direct competition, but there are still many production lines in the Ford factory that Bentley can use.
Alan wants Swansea, not just in name. He doesn't care about the name at all; instead, he minds it a lot.
What he really wants is the money, channels, talents and factories here.
These things all have owners. It doesn't mean that after the Russell family is driven away, they can take whatever they want. They are all foreign companies, and if they really start fighting, it will easily get out of hand.
The subsequent plan was to use the Russell family's name to drive these foreign companies away, or destroy their factories, so that they would be disappointed with the investment environment here, and either withdraw their capital or resell their factories. Anyway, as long as they were driven away, it would be fine.
For large items like auto parts factories, they can take these production lines away or sell them to other buyers, or resell them on the spot to see if there are any buyers.
According to normal operating procedures, even if it was resold, Alan didn't want to pay the normal price.
If he had money, why didn't he buy a new one?
He wished he didn't have to pay a penny, but that would be too embarrassing, so he finally decided to let old Carl make a big fuss and scare the Americans into leaving first, so that they would consider selling the production line first, and then he could lower the price as much as possible.
As a loyal servant of the Hill family, Old Carl would not only do what Allen asked him to do, but also try his best to do it well.
What kind of things can make these Americans eager to get rid of these factories here, and give priority to reselling them at a low price and not care too much about the price?
Of course it’s the instability of the environment!
This place was stable before because they were too close to Carmarthenshire and benefited from the Hill family.
Now it's very easy to make them unstable.
If something big happens in their development zone and the surrounding environment becomes risky, then even if these production lines are built here, even if they want to sell them to outsiders, those outsiders will have to dare to come and take a look at the goods.
Now……
There just happens to be a very suitable person and reason around here.
The famous Northern Irish rioters!
They have been causing trouble all these years. They dared to carry out bomb attacks in London, so it is reasonable for them to come to the small town of Swansea to cause some trouble, right?
There just happens to be a development zone here with some foreign companies. Swansea is also not far from Northern Ireland, so both the distance and the reasons for committing the crime are sufficient.
And today is the day that old Carl had planned.
…
Looking at the forty strong young men in front of him, they all changed into old clothes. As for clothing, it is too easy to imitate the Northern Ireland rioters. These attackers don't have any uniform clothes. Every time they make trouble, they just pick a target with great influence. Their personnel are very streamlined.
But this time, in order to act quickly and end the battle quickly, Old Carl specially picked these forty people, and he made sure to destroy the designated target area within half an hour!
And these people... used to be deliverymen for the Blue Knights takeaway company. The area where they usually delivered food was Swansea, and everyone was basically familiar with the terrain nearby.
As for weapons, the main purpose this time was destruction and intimidation. All of the weapons used were homemade Molotov cocktails. The lethality was controlled very low, but the destructive power was extremely great.
…
Calling everyone over, Old Carl's gaze lingered on each young man's face for a few seconds. These people were the thugs that his young master had spent money to support for several years.
Since they were discharged from the army, the food delivery company has provided them with stable jobs and stable salaries. Even in the current economic downturn, the company has not laid off any deliverymen.
Only at this time, when they look at the status of their friends around them and then look at themselves, will they feel what benefits they have gained from following the right people!
After enjoying the benefits for so long, now is the time to use them.
As long as they do their job as ordered this time, they will be promoted and get a raise in salary!
What they have to do is simple... set fire to the areas planned on the map.
…
"Right on time!"
Several minutes passed while Old Carl hung up the map of the development zone. It was the first time for him to do such a big job. Although he had done dirty work before, he did it secretly. The experience of doing dirty work with "regular troops" like now was completely different.
Even at old Carl's age, he couldn't help but feel nervous and excited!
The team was divided into eight groups of five. Each group was responsible for a designated area. They didn't need to worry about each other. They just had to do their own thing and evacuate according to the plan.
Old Carl didn't dare to make things too big, just to complete this job steadily, set the fire and run away!
"Start on time!"
Looking at these people again, Old Carl looked at his watch and said, "It is now 10:30 p.m. You have an hour and a half to prepare. At 12:00 a.m., all groups will act at the same time and evacuate on time at 12:30 a.m. No matter what accidents happen during this period, as long as you are exposed, you will change to the next target. After completing the last task, gather at my place and be sure to pay attention to safety. I hope to see you here in two hours."
"clear!"
"clear!"
"clear!"
"Let's go!"
Old Carl waved his hand, and everyone picked up a simple, unbranded black backpack from the ground beside him. Inside the backpack were six simple Molotov cocktails fixed with cloth strips.
It's one of those crude products made from big green stick beer bottles.
Not only gasoline is added, but also some asphalt is mixed in to increase adhesion.
When this thing is lit and thrown out, it breaks into pieces when it hits the ground. The asphalt mixed with gasoline inside cannot be wiped off wherever it gets on, making it very suitable for arson and sabotage.
Each person carries six, and they are not very conspicuous at night. These things are common items that can be obtained locally, and you can't find them even if you want to check them later.
As for how they act?
They were all equipped with bicycles. Riding a bicycle was quiet at night, increased speed, and was more exciting and flexible. Old Karl gave them a full hour and a half to prepare.
Watching the people carrying their backpacks one by one and the groups leaving in groups, Old Carl stood with his hands behind his back looking at the empty warehouse. This kind of thing could only be done when Alan was not at home.
In this way, it would be impossible to have anything to do with Allen.
As for him, the commander of the operation, he will return to America after completing this task. What happened here tonight will definitely not be small. I don’t know whether London will send people to assist in the investigation, but the main investigation still depends on the people in Wales.
In this way...
Even if they really found some clues and pointed the target at a certain person, should they continue to investigate or pretend they didn't know?
Sometimes, it is better not to be too serious about some things. Since it was done by the rioters in Northern Ireland, it is better to make it a reality to avoid getting yourself into trouble. Anyway, it is the foreign companies that suffer the losses, and we are all Welsh, so why bring trouble to your own family?
…
On September 17, the day after Gustav's coronation ceremony, Alan rushed back as he could no longer stay in Sweden.
The Swedish officials reacted quickly, saying that the statistical investigation of the Human Rights Council investigation team needed to be re-investigated. The next day, people were sent out and the Swedish officials learned the news.
Of course, some smart people felt that something was wrong with this obviously abnormal arrangement, so they directly contacted the team leader Alan to ask what went wrong and whether they needed official assistance to resolve it.
The Swedish government still attaches great importance to joining the European Community. Now that a problem has arisen, they subconsciously want to resolve it quickly, but what can Alan say?
He just wants to drag it out this time. Now that the problem has been resolved, how can he make the Swedes anxious?
If they weren't in a hurry, who would bother Victoria?
But he was in Sweden, and as the leader of the inspection team, it would be unreasonable for him not to meet with other people. Finally, Alan happened to see the newspaper.
In the early morning of September 16, a vicious incident occurred in the southern Welsh city of Swansea, suspected to be an attack by rioters from Northern Ireland. Dozens of foreign-owned factories in the development zone suffered man-made fires, and the fire did not burn until the second half of the night before it was completely extinguished.
According to newspaper reports, the initial estimated losses have reached $400 million.
The rest have not been counted yet.
Allen's fiefdom is so close to Swansea, so it is reasonable for him to go home and take a look at the emergency situation.
Faced with his statement, the Swedish officials had no choice but to accept it and wait for the leader of the inspection team to go home and take care of family affairs, and the rest would be dealt with after he came back.
…
Cardiff International Airport.
Alan, who had just got off the plane, clearly felt that the atmosphere at the airport, which was not very strict in the past, was particularly heavy today.
A conspicuous cordon was set up around the terminal.
Dozens of policemen wearing vests were standing at the security office at the boarding gate.
Even security equipment has been increased, and every guest entering and leaving the country must be checked.
Of course, Alan's situation was still the same. No one dared to check on him. He was the only one in Wales who dared to order his family's fleet to drive to the side of the runway to wait for people. Even if Cardiff exploded, it would not be traced to Alan.
…
After leaving the airport, there were fewer pedestrians on the streets of Cardiff. Today is Friday, and at this time of day, there are still a lot of people on the streets.
But now Swansea, not far from them, was attacked by rioters from Northern Ireland!
Ordinary people know very well what this word means.
Every time this group of people causes trouble, ordinary people are the ones who suffer the most. Few big shots are killed, and it is always civilians who are accidentally injured.
When they heard that this group of people actually showed up in Swansea, some timid people wanted to stay at home and not come out. In this situation, who would dare to go out?
Alan looked at the sparsely populated streets, the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously. These people... were still as timid as ever. They would behave themselves if they were scared. Although this time it had nothing to do with him on the surface, just seeing that a fire had such a great deterrent effect, Alan was still very satisfied.