Chapter 613: Paper Sea Blockade
Of course, this only shows that the armed forces coming from all over North Africa do not think that the Italian army is an unbeatable opponent, and they can be fought against. If Sheffield were here, he could only admire the well-informed tribal armed forces here!
Benghazi, the Ottoman town in North Africa, actually has only tens of thousands of people, which is the size of a small town in many countries. Now in this so-called important town, there are more Ottoman soldiers than local residents. And seeing the cargo ships gathering on the seashore, it seems that this trend will end.
For example, regarding the operation of transporting goods and soldiers to North Africa from all directions, Sheffield believed that no matter how lazy the Italian Navy was, if it took too long, it would definitely be discovered, and the probability of this was 100%.
So they should gather all the freighters in their hands and take a gamble. If they are discovered, the operation will naturally be terminated. If they are not discovered, the gathered freighters will unload all the people and weapons. In this way, there are only two possibilities, being discovered and not being discovered. Theoretically, the probability is 50%.
In the world at the beginning of the twentieth century, there were a few companies as wealthy as Sheffield that had the ability to use radio to contact the bosses of all the locations, but there was no one who used it to do this.
A brand new Confederate flag had been raised on the flagpole in Benghazi. John Connor got off the ship and discussed the current situation with Brown, who had arrived a few days earlier. "If we count from October last year, the war has been going on for nearly five months. Apart from the Arab cavalry hunting down the Italian troops at the beginning and the resistance and suppression around Tripoli, there have been no major battles?"
"From what we know so far, this is indeed the case. It is no wonder that the Italian Navy allowed us to dock in Benghazi after more than four months of cruising. Even the British Royal Navy would have relaxed their minds after such a long blockade. Moreover, the British have also promised that they will not allow the Ottoman army to pass through British Egypt to support here."
"It's normal to not allow their army to pass through after taking their land. Who in this world dares to do anything to the British Empire?" John Connor said with a mocking smile, "Quickly seal the ship where the infectious disease appeared and send it back to the base for careful cleaning. In order to keep the secret, we completely seal these people in the cabin and throw the bodies overboard one by one when crossing the Arabian Sea. If we change to the Atlantic route, maybe sharks will follow."
"Indians are not worth much, and a loss of more than a thousand people is acceptable." Brown has been in the Middle East for many years, but he did not make a fuss about this matter. "Of course, I agree to quarantine the people who disembarked for half a month first."
Thanks to the progress of the times, Black Gold Company no longer has to carry only a few hundred people on a ship like it did decades ago. Black Gold Company's cargo ships are even equipped with refrigeration systems and have a variety of transportation experience.
The space inside these cargo ships has been calculated. With the professional support of Black Gold, the number of people that can be accommodated in theory can be crammed in. Sheffield was not kidding when he planned to use 20 ships to transport 100,000 people. However, it is uncertain how many people can survive when they arrive at the destination. In the past, a 100-ton sailing ship could fit hundreds of people, but now Black Gold has already built a 10,000-ton ship.
Deep in the sea, in the muddy sand, lie the forgotten bodies of men in chains. In the dead darkness, gleam the bones of unfortunate slaves, who cry out from the black waves: "We are witnesses!"
There were 20,000 soldiers from Eastern sects on the cargo ship that set sail from the Persian Gulf, and 30,000 from Hindustan. After boarding the ship, they were strictly forbidden to leave the cabin, and under the majestic Stars and Stripes, they safely passed through the British-controlled ocean.
The successful docking now makes this transportation seem safe, but if you think about it carefully, the two encounters along the way also made John Connor and Brown break out in cold sweats.
Except for a few habitable towns, the rest is completely an endless desert. This is people's impression of North Africa. But to be more precise, it is the appearance of British Egypt. The seemingly flat Gobi desert in North Africa actually hides large and small rock terraces and natural rift valleys.
On the line between Libya, Tunisia and Algeria stands a large area of low hills and rocky mountains. These products of tens of thousands of years of geological movements stand on the barren Gobi Desert, forming a natural barrier between the two African countries.
There are many places for John Connor to repair. In the early 20th century, North Africa had a small population, and the only remaining territory was in the hands of the Ottoman Empire. It was vast and sparsely populated. Compared with Algeria and Tunisia occupied by France and Egypt controlled by Britain, it was almost like a no-man's land. No one knew how many people there were in this vast land.
For colonists who controlled the population to shape the market, the lack of population meant that there was no manpower to exploit. This made this the last piece of North African territory in the hands of the Ottoman Empire. However, the world is changing, and for Italy, it is better to solve the problem of whether it exists or not before asking whether it is good or not.
"Enver Pasha, I say hello to you on behalf of my boss. Although you two have never met, I heard from my boss that in the current Ottoman Empire, you are a Pasha that he admires very much." After meeting Enver Pasha, John Connor looked at him.
There is also an Ottoman Empire crescent pattern on Enver Pasha's hat. The two ends of the crescent are pointed upwards, which matches Enver's upturned beard and is very distinctive.
"You are from the United Company. We didn't expect that at this time, a group of Americans would come to help us." Enver Pasha smiled bitterly. The fact that Ottoman diplomats traveled around Europe, hoping that European countries would stop Italy but repeatedly hit a wall made him depressed.
"This is different. There are some scenarios that our companies can do, but it is difficult for formal countries to express their opinions." John Connor hinted that the reason why Sheffield dared to blatantly transport mercenaries here was related to this reason.
What if we are unlucky and are intercepted by the Italian Navy? This is a very good question. Sheffield means to admit the mistake honestly. If it doesn't work, the Italian Navy can temporarily detain the Black Gold Company's freighter. Then we can find a way to get it back. Can you still sink my ship?
Putting aside the question of whether it complies with international law, at least the United States' position in the world today is stronger than Italy, which claims to be one of the six major powers in Europe. But if the slave owner is the head of a country, he would never dare to directly intervene in the war, which is equivalent to declaring war. If the Italian navy really sank his freighter, he could only stare blankly.
In fact, the most fundamental reason for the private enterprises to gain 50% of the chance of passing the customs is that the slave owners believe that the Italian Navy will not sink so many American cargo ships. Even if they are discovered, at most the United Company will be scolded, and the federal government will face a serious protest from the Italian Kingdom Government. At the same time, these cargo ships will be detained, and larger ones will be confiscated.
This risk had no power to scare Sheffield away, nor could it change his determination to seek wealth and fame at the risk of his life.
Anyway, when Enver Pasha heard that more than 50,000 people had arrived, he was very happy. He frowned and said, "I just don't know about the weapons."
"Light weapons actually save more space than humans! Our company has the authorization from Mauser and has imitated a batch of Mauser rifles." John Connor indicated that there was no need to worry about this. Anyway, the boss had said before they came that they would do whatever the Ottoman soldiers did, and if the Ottoman soldiers kept fighting, they would keep fighting like that.
Since they learned that Italy had invaded for more than five months, and apart from suppressing Tripoli, it had not fought many battles with the Ottoman army, John Connor and Brown felt relieved all of a sudden, and it seemed that it would not be difficult to get away with it.
Since it was not a real army, the arrangements made by John Connor and the others were naturally different. Because of the different hiring prices, the soldiers from Hindustan and the Eastern sect soldiers from the Persian Gulf could not be organized together. Arabs and Hindustanese did not speak the same language.
The retired officers and employees of the Black Gold Company who followed the two men to North Africa integrated two units according to the corps organization during the Civil War. The largest organization was the corps: division, brigade, regiment, battalion and company.
John Connor did not dare to follow his boss's instructions and call the two legions the Texas Legion or something like that. He named them the Long Lance Legion and the Holy Sword Legion according to their religious elements, and their flags were the Southern Cross flag of the Confederacy.
The two of them set up two camps in the North African desert. A simple tent was set up on the side away from the bushes. Other travelers built camps with stones by the pool, and there were some dead branches and horse manure that could be used as fuel.
The two legions were stationed not far from each other and they successfully settled down in North Africa. When the camps were built and isolated, this armed force that was very conspicuous in the desert was finally discovered by Italian soldiers who were busy suppressing Tripoli.
"Are the Italians going to war? Why are they bringing cameras?" Reports of the Southern Cross flag appearing in North Africa were like a depth bomb dropped on European countries.
Various speculations and reports, mixed with theories of US threats, have led to sensational headlines.
Sheffield was finally invited to the FBI for tea. He crossed his legs and said helplessly, "Are our allies surprised? I have to face congressional questioning again. Do you have any new ideas? Do you know how many times I have been to Congress? Besides, I am the richest man in the United States. Can you please respect me? Do you still want the American dream?"
"It's okay. We did it for the Italians." Konstantinovich sighed and said with a headache, "How did you send tens of thousands of people to North Africa? The Italian ambassador wants us to explain."
"Explain? What on earth did the Italian Navy do? How should I know?" Sheffield chuckled. "Even if they take the people away now, Italy will become a laughing stock in Europe."
(End of this chapter)
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