Chapter 1352 I am a paper tiger (first update, please subscribe)
Zhongdu Empire Navy Building, Office of the Third Section of the Naval Intelligence Department.
The newly promoted section chief Qian Guochen was concentrating on reviewing the reports that had just been compiled. These reports were compiled by analysts from the mountains of intelligence. However, Qian Guochen still needed to analyze them. Because he had been up all night, his eye circles were dark and his eyeballs were red. He looked a bit like the pairs of "iron-eating beasts" in the Imperial Royal Zoo.
Of course, "iron-eating beasts" is an ancient name. In fact, their name is pandas, which were gifts from the Tang Dynasty to His Majesty. As soon as they appeared in the Royal Zoo, they became the hottest chicken in the Royal Zoo.
There is no other reason, the "iron-eating beast" looks very cute and adorable, it is really likable.
However, in some people's eyes, Qian Guochen is also very likable.
"Section Chief, please have some tea."
The female secretary brought the tea tray with a smile. Her slender figure looked particularly seductive against the backdrop of her navy skirt uniform.
"Um……"
Qian Guochen, holding the teacup, did not even raise his head in the face of all this. He knew that there were some bottom lines in the empire that could not be touched.
If it is touched, all the efforts of the past six years will be wasted!
Although Qian Guochen's surname is Qian, he has no relationship with the prime minister of the current dynasty. In fact, there is no official in his family for three generations. His father brought him to Linhai in 1966 and learned to read on the immigration ship. He was admitted to the Imperial Naval School in the 10th year of Shengde. After graduating in the 14th year, he served in the fleet and worked in the naval attaché office in the United States for 16 years. Because he showed a talent for intelligence analysis, he entered the Naval University in 18th year to study naval intelligence. In 19th year, he entered the Second Section of the Intelligence Department of the Navy.
At the beginning of the year, Qian Guochen, who was only 33 years old, was promoted to the head of the Second Section, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and his monthly salary was adjusted to 316 yuan. In addition, he even had a pretty and charming female secretary!
Life is like this, what else is there to be dissatisfied with?
However, facing the charming female secretary, he knew that the bottom line of the empire could not be touched. One of the bottom lines was to have an improper relationship with a subordinate. Once it was exposed, no matter whether the other party was willing or not, it would mean the end of his future.
This is power, but also a minefield.
"It's okay, Xiao Xu, you can go down first."
Qian Guochen swallowed his saliva and drove the female secretary away, continuing to review the intelligence in front of him. He needed to select the most priority ones from these intelligence and submit them to the director, which would then be made into a briefing and sent to the minister and chief of staff.
Even if it's just for the salary and the future of this job, work hard!
Qian Guochen stopped having wild thoughts and once again turned his attention to the intelligence on the case. Suddenly, a report in the intelligence caught his attention.
“HM Naval Heavy Fuel Oil Storage at Bombay Port Reaches Lowest Level This Year…”
Although it may seem like an insignificant report, in the eyes of intelligence analysts, it actually contains many secrets that will not be easily revealed.
"Heavy oil, heavy oil..."
While muttering this word, Qian Guochen thought of the current situation - in Persia, the British were furious because of Russia's invasion. While they lodged a diplomatic protest, they even sent a fleet of four dreadnoughts to the Persian Gulf.
The British Empire's response was swift, even fierce.
"Four dreadnoughts... But, how can there be no oil?"
Qian Guochen frowned as he talked to himself.
Heavy oil may not seem impressive, but what is the biggest commonality of dreadnoughts around the world? The steam turbine that uses a mixture of coal and heavy oil as fuel replaces the previous compound steam engine that only burns coal as the ship's power plant, which greatly increases its speed.
And now, like the Empire, Britain has decided that its warships will use heavy oil as their main fuel.
"Insufficient fuel means that Britain has no intention of going to war with Russia in Persia. If they are sending a fleet to the Persian Gulf to prepare for war, they will definitely ensure the fuel supply first, and also..."
As if remembering something, Qian Guochen flipped through another piece of intelligence, which was a report on the ammunition storage in Mumbai and Bangladesh.
"There are only 675 12-inch shells in Bombay, and the inventory of 13.5-inch and 14-inch shells is... zero!"
He opened his eyes wide and looked at the report, then Qian Guochen kept looking through the ammunition storage in places from Bangladesh to Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.
"Sure enough, just as I guessed, there is nothing!"
What Qian Guochen meant by "no" was that the arsenals of those colonies did not have any reserves of 13.5-inch and 14-inch shells.
"Because Britain does not need to send dreadnoughts equipped with 13.5-inch and 14-inch guns to the colonies, pre-dreadnoughts or second-class dreadnoughts with 12-inch guns are sufficient to meet this need. The main guns of the fleet they are sending to the Persian Gulf are all 14-inch guns!"
In other words, they neither had enough heavy oil nor enough artillery shells. Under such circumstances, the massive armed demonstrations aimed at forcing Russia to make concessions were actually... just bluffing demonstrations of force.
Soon, Qian Guochen's report was sent to the Minister of the Navy, Shen Yaozu. The newly appointed Minister of the Navy flipped through the newspaper, then looked up and asked.
“Is the intelligence accurate?”
"All the intelligence has been confirmed many times by Naval Intelligence."
Xu Jiekun, director of the Naval Intelligence Department, thought for a moment and said.
"His conclusion was also based on the accurate intelligence of the Intelligence Service, and I personally agree with his conclusion that Britain... is more inclined to compromise on the Persian issue and has no intention of going to war with Russia over the Persian issue."
"That's true. Britain has just experienced a failed Boer War. They will definitely not be willing to go ashore and fight the Russians. So..."
While nodding in agreement, Shen Yaozu continued.
"The Russians may have a chance to occupy Persia..."
Pursing his lips, Shen Yaozu said.
"Use our official channels to report this intelligence to the Russians."
"Notify the Russians?"
Xu Jiekun was stunned for a moment, then said.
"In this way, the Russians are very likely not to compromise on the Persian issue. This intelligence actually shows that the British are bluffing..."
"Yes, that's what we need!"
As the Minister of the Navy, Shen Yaozu certainly knew that the empire had entered the countdown, and the current Persian incident was a good triggering factor.
"For the Empire, Russia's expansion in Persia is in the fundamental interests of the Empire. If the Russians get this intelligence, they will ignore the British threat of war. The only question is whether Britain will sit back and watch Russia occupy Persia!"
This is the biggest problem.
After all, Britain was bluffing. In essence, Britain was a paper tiger. Is it possible that this paper tiger would go to war with the Russians for Persia?
Regarding this, the Navy Minister Shen Yaozu had no idea.
But it is precisely because of this that the Russians need to continue to provoke the British until they reach the bottom line of Britain. Even a tiger has an unacceptable bottom line.
As long as that bottom line is touched, even a paper tiger will explode.
The old group is down, so I created a new book club group: 739209015. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.
(End of this chapter)
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