Chapter 304 The Road to the Black Sea is Difficult
When Xiao Peng said "set off now", he meant splitting the troops into two groups. Fabian and Chen Cheng led the fleet, including the "Calysop" and five sailboats, to Odessa, Ukraine.
By the way, Xiao Peng has also chosen the names of the five sailboats: 'Seiya', 'Shiryu', 'Shun', 'Hyoga' and 'Ikki', which happen to be the five bronze sailboats in "Saint Seiya".
Why would Fabian follow? He's the one who's paying!
The Calythorpe has a range of 15,000 nautical miles! Fuel prices in Europe are incredibly high; a full tank of gas on the Calythorpe costs €3 million.
The cost of docking in Odessa is even more shocking! There are no special rates there!
The Ukrainians have been going crazy with poverty for a long time! They are the ones who are taking advantage of the passing geese!
Ivan suggested that Xiao Peng's fleet go directly to Sochi, a Russian port where berthing fees are much cheaper, but Xiao Peng rejected the proposal.
Whose treasure were they searching for? What was the wealth of the Ukrainian Hetman Doroshenko? Where did Doroshenko's sphere of influence extend? The right bank of the Dnieper River encompassed the Crimean Peninsula. Odessa, situated at the mouth of the Dnieper River, was a key route for ancient Black Sea trade.
Another important reason why Xiao Peng went to Belarus is that Minsk, Belarus, was also a necessary route for ancient trade routes.
In ancient times, river trade was much more common than sea trade. Otherwise, why did the Sui Dynasty in China build the Grand Canal?
For Eastern Europe, the Dnieper River is undoubtedly one of their "mother rivers." The Svisloch River, which flows through the Belarusian capital, is a tributary of the Dnieper River and an important ancient trade route. Xiao Peng wanted to visit the Dnieper River to see what it was like.
There was another significant issue with Fabian leading the fleet to the Black Sea: the fleet would have to pass through the Turkish Straits. The Turkish Straits are notoriously difficult to navigate! The renowned city of Istanbul is located within the Turkish Straits, with territory belonging to both sides. This makes Istanbul a rare city that straddles two continents. This means that the entire Turkish Straits are under Turkish control.
Istanbul is actually the famous Byzantine capital Constantinople. After the Ottoman Empire destroyed the Byzantine Empire, it occupied this place and renamed it Istanbul, making it the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
Later, the Ottoman Empire was defeated and most of their territories in Europe were divided up. The Ottoman Empire became Turkey. Even Istanbul was in danger at that time, so in order to ensure national security, they chose to move the capital to Ankara in central Turkey.
But the war was over and Istanbul was saved, so it became the most important city in the whole of Türkiye and their cash cow - because the Turkish Strait is here.
This is the only road connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
Türkiye is worried about how to make money in the Turkish Straits!
Generally speaking, countries that control important transportation routes make a lot of money!
For example, Egypt and Panama have the Suez Canal connecting the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, and the Panama Canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. Countries like these are the kind that make money even without doing anything. They collect tolls until their hands cramp!
But Türkiye cannot do this.
According to the Convention on the Law of the Sea, straits are not canals and are all international waterways, so Turkey cannot charge tolls. The world's famous straits are free, such as the Strait of Gibraltar, the Strait of Malacca, etc.
Some countries can make a fortune by relying on the straits. For example, Singapore makes a lot of money by providing services such as maintenance and loading and unloading to passing ships. However, Türkiye cannot learn from their way of making money.
The Turkish Straits consist of three parts: the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, and the Bosphorus. Each strait is extremely narrow, shaped like a crab shell: pointed at both ends and rounded in the middle. The Bosphorus, near the Black Sea, is particularly narrow, with a width of just over 700 meters at its narrowest point. Ships approaching this strait are eager to pass through quickly. Making money here is incredibly difficult for Turkey!
Looking at Egypt and then looking at ourselves, Türkiye is definitely a country that is begging with a golden bowl in its hands.
But Turkey is not just sitting around doing nothing. Is the saying "Husky among dogs, Turkey among countries" for nothing? They have done so many "stunning operations"!
Want to pass through the Turkish Straits? No problem, it's free. However, the Bosphorus Strait is flanked by Istanbul, and many ships passing through it are mostly carrying oil, gas, or hazardous chemicals. A leak could pose a danger to local residents. To prevent this, all passing ships must use our pilots and tugboats: this service is not free!
If it were simply that, it would be fine, but then again, they say: tugboats are limited and must be slow, while the shipping volume in the Turkish Straits is enormous. As a result, the Sea of Marmara, which runs through the Turkish Straits, is often jammed with hundreds of ships queuing year-round. "How bored are you all stuck here? Come on, support our local tourism industry and stimulate consumption."
The Varyag was supposed to pass through the Turkish Straits, but Turkey refused to let it through. The reason was that the ship was too deep and would damage Turkish waters. The Varyag's passage is fine: dismantle the entire ship into parts and let us transport them for you. Remember to pay for it.
Because of this matter, the 'Varyag' was blocked for more than 800 days. In the end, China paid 1 billion in 'deposits' and China's advanced rocket artillery technology at the time. Although the money was paid back in the end, they did get China's military technology!
This country also has a "hereditary" targeting of China.
In their eyes, China built the Great Wall because of them. Their country's history textbooks say: Our great ancestors forced the Chinese people to build the Great Wall.
Didn't the Chinese build the Great Wall to defend against the Huns? Even if someone truly claims, "Our great ancestors forced the Chinese to build the Great Wall," wouldn't that be someone from Hungary, a descendant of the Huns, saying this? (In fact, Hungary wasn't founded by the Huns, but the Hungarians insist on claiming it was. Just be happy with that.) When did they become associated with descendants of the Turks? Don't they even know who their ancestors were?
Anyway, it all comes down to one thing: "The Turkish Straits are difficult to cross." Let Fabian lead the team through the Turkish Straits. I believe Fabian will find a way to solve this problem.
He was right to think so, but unfortunately what happened later proved that he had made a bad move. That’s another story!
As for Xiao Peng, he took Hua Chong and Kashin to Minsk by plane.
Why take them both with you? Belarus also has visa exemption for Russians...
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