Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 398 The Victory and Loss of the British

"Wipe your face..." Xie Ning reminded in a loud voice.

Tang Huan faced the mirror and wiped it with a towel a few times, "Is there any problem now?"

"Okay." Xie Ning looked at it carefully and nodded in confirmation.

"Then I'll go to the meeting first, and you take care of yourself." Tang Huan went to the living room, ate a few more cookies to replenish the lost energy, and then said loudly: "Remember to send some more cookies tomorrow. Strange biscuits, less sugar."

"Understood." Xie Ning agreed, and when she heard the sound of closing the door, she let out a long breath and started staring at the wall in a daze.

……

"You're going to be late for the meeting." Yang Qinglin, who opened the door for Tang Huan, reminded him, and then whispered, "But he looks particularly radiant."

"We're going to be late, and there's so much nonsense." A refreshed Tang Huan smiled and waved to urge.

By the time they arrived at the Jardine General Meeting of Shareholders, they were already 10 minutes late, but no one dared to say anything to their face. Tang Huan, whose face was red and glowing, looked so powerful that everyone took it for granted that he was using this kind of late arrival. way to declare one's authority as the master.

Scanning the participants, Tang Huan unexpectedly saw Shen Bi, chairman of HSBC, come to join in the fun, and he frowned involuntarily.

"During the acquisition process, part of Jardine's shares held by Landmark fell into the hands of HSBC. Shen Bi used this excuse to attend the meeting." Zhou Mi explained in a low voice.

"Wouldn't his coming here increase the variables in the meeting?" Tang Huan asked thoughtfully.

"Then how do you get rid of Shen Bi? His status is extraordinary." Zhou Mi showed a perplexed expression.

"It's because he's extraordinary that I can't allow him to stir up wind and rain here." Tang Huan snorted, waved for Huo Jianning, and gave instructions in a low voice.

After hearing Zhou Mi clearly next to him, he couldn't help but glance at Shen Bi, who was sitting in a conspicuous place, and said to himself, "If you don't stay in your own one-third of an acre and enjoy the blessings, you have to come here to cause chaos." Joining in the excitement of the Tang Dynasty is really humiliating yourself."

Soon, Huo Jianning walked up to Shen Bi, and said very respectfully: "Mr. Shen Bi, Mr. Tang thinks that you do not meet the requirements for attending the meeting. He asks you to step up and go to the reception room to rest."

Before Shen Bi could speak, Simon Keswick, who was sitting at the side, took over the conversation with a sneer, "Are you kidding, don't you know that HSBC also holds shares in Jardine?"

"That transaction is suspected of being a black box operation, and Mr. Tang will not approve it." Huo Jianning smiled and opened the folder in his hand and showed it, "This is a promissory note from Citibank, which is specially used to repay the debt that Jardine Matheson owed to HSBC. Please also ask Mr. Shen Bi to talk to me about the details of returning the shares."

Seeing this scene, Simon Keswick suddenly changed color, turned his eyes to Tang Huan, and stared at him for a long time.

"What, do you have something to say to me?" Tang Huan asked lightly.

"Don't push people too far?" Simon Keswick threatened sternly.

"Why don't you say that you are going against the trend and are ignorant of current affairs?" Tang Huan snorted, "The reason why you jump up and down is only for the interests of the Keswick family, not for the interests of Jardine. Jardine is at the helm of me In the end, we will get rid of the current predicament and usher in a new opportunity."

Simon Keswick was forced by Tang Huan's momentum and was unable to fight back even a little bit effectively in words, so he could only look at Shen Bi, hoping that the other party would rely on HSBC's power to stay here and support him.

Sandberg, born in 1927—Shen Bi, studied at St. Edward's College, Oxford University. He joined the army as early as 1945 and volunteered to join the Indian Army.When India became independent, he turned to join the cavalry regiment.

In 1949, Shen Bi was demobilized to Xiangjiang and joined HSBC Bank. He worked in HSBC branches in Singapore and Japan for several years. He was promoted to general manager in 1971 and was appointed chairman of HSBC Bank in 1977.

It can be said that Shen Bi is very clever, which can be seen from his close relationship with Chinese business people. He has successively recruited several Chinese members such as Li Ka-shing and Deng Lianru to the HSBC board of directors.

Regarding the future of Xiangjiang, Shen Bi bluntly stated that "Britain must retain the right to govern, and handing over sovereignty is just for show." His idea of ​​"sovereignty for governance" has a lot of market in Xiangjiang.

Therefore, Shen Bi, who was a diehard, did not want Tang Huan, a billionaire with strong financial resources and a complicated mainland background, to take root in Xiangjiang, but the reality slapped him in the face time and time again.

Shen Bi's expression changed for a long time, and finally he had to nod helplessly, got up and walked out with Huo Jianning.

Seeing that the big Buddha of HSBC gave in, Simon Keswick leaned back in his chair dejectedly.

"You guys are acquainted." Tang Huan snorted secretly, and began to speak as the chairman of Qinhe's board of directors.

……

"I think everyone has heard of Jardine Matheson's title of 'Debt King', so I won't go into details. I just want to point out that although I acquired Jardine Matheson and Land, it is not as good as some people imagined. What a huge advantage that is, and I still have to fulfill my obligation to solve these asset structure problems."

"Since the 1970s, Jardine has made large-scale overseas investments year after year. By 1977, the proportion of Jardine's overseas assets had exceeded 60.00%, while that of Xiangjiang had dropped to less than 40.00%. So far, Jardine has developed into a multinational company in the Asia-Pacific region."

"I heard that some senior officials were complacent about this, thinking that the name of Jardine Matheson Company was little known outside the Far East before 1975, but now everyone around the world is very familiar with Jardine Matheson, especially the United States. It’s really remarkable progress.”

"It is not difficult to find that everyone is very eager for the U.S. market. I think you may have heard of my existing business performance in the United States. When the strengths of these two aspects are combined, I don’t know what you are interested in. What are its prospects?”

"Over the past 100 years, Jardine Matheson has made countless fortunes in mainland China. I think everyone must have been thinking about this market. Now that the opportunity to re-enter this market has come, I may be able to lead everyone to seize it."

……

During Tang Huan's speech, he clearly listed out the advantages that he possessed but Jardine wanted but did not have, which made many British shareholders who were originally expressionless.

The atmosphere of the following meeting unconsciously began to become heated around Tang Huan, which made Simon Keswick feel uncomfortable.

……

On the other side of the earth, thousands of miles away from Hong Kong, is the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean.

As early as the evening of May 5, about 21 British troops from the 4000rd Marine Brigade and the [-]nd and [-]rd Battalions of the Parachute Regiment landed on the beach in the San Carlos waters on the north coast of Dongma Island by boarding a landing ship. , and successfully established a safe beachhead the next day.

Brigadier General Thomson, who was in charge of the command, planned to occupy Darwin and Goose Green first, and then Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands.

行动从5月27日早上持续到5月28日，英国第二伞兵营约500人逼近并攻击由阿根廷第12步兵团防守的达尔文和古斯格林。

Fierce fighting continued from night to the next day. In the end, the British army lost 17 soldiers, the Argentinians lost 55 soldiers, and another 1050 people were captured.

Lt. Col. Jones, commander of the [-]nd Parachute Battalion, was killed in action because the battle had been previewed via BBC News.

After regaining Gus Green, which was blocked between the British army and San Carlos-San Carlos, the British army can advance towards the bridgehead of San Carlos.

Starting from May 5th, the 27th Commando and the 45rd Paratrooper Battalion walked across the East Malaysia Island and rushed to the Teal Inlet by the coast - the settlement of Blue Green Bay.

In response to the British landings, the Argentine Air Force countered them with night bombings by Canberra bombers.

Due to the lack of air defense capabilities, the United Kingdom was somewhat passive. Ships carrying important materials including helicopters, runway construction equipment, and tents were sunk one after another, causing serious losses.

However, due to the low-altitude bombing, many bombs did not have enough time to activate the fuze, and the results of the Argentine Air Force did not expand further.

Since then, fierce fighting broke out between Britain and Argentina in the area around Kent Mountains, with special forces and helicopters playing the leading roles.

Although Argentina lost in the end, this pattern shocked Han Anyuan who insisted on staying in the Falkland Islands, as well as Lu Xiaohu and Zheng Gang who were in charge of protecting him.

"When we fought with Vietnam, we didn't have such technical content." Lu Xiaohu sighed with emotion.

Zheng Gang nodded approvingly, while Han Anyuan smiled while writing his notes: "Now you won't regret staying with me on Madoka."

Lu Xiaohu scratched his head, "I enjoyed watching it, but it's too dangerous to always go to the front line of the battle. I don't know how to explain it to Datang."

"Don't tell me, let's be more careful at the same time, it's fine." Han Anyuan patted his notebook, "After bringing back the first-hand information on these battlefields, even if I don't explain the research significance, you should be able to estimate how much it is. Divide."

Lu Xiaohu sighed noncommittally, "We are about to enter the final stage of this war - the battle for Port Stanley. The battle will surely become more intense. Brother, you must be mentally prepared."

Without waiting for Han Anyuan to answer, Zheng Gang patted his chest boldly and said, "Don't worry, uncle. In order to help you fulfill your wish, I will risk my life to keep you safe."

Han Anyuan smiled bitterly and shook his head, "You two are singing softly and hardly in harmony, can I not listen?"

……

After several days of reconnaissance and rest, on the night of June 6, the British army began to launch a brigade-level night attack on the highlands around Port Stanley. The Royal Third Marine Brigade launched an offensive on Mount Halle, the Two Sisters and Mount Langdon at the same time.

When the British Royal Navy's Glamorgan supported the British Marine Corps to attack the Afghan army's position, it was hit by the Afghan army's vehicle-mounted Exocet missile, killing 13 crew members on the spot.

After seeing the surface ships being so vulnerable to anti-ship missiles, Han Anyuan, Lu Xiaohu, and Zheng Gang looked at each other and took a breath of air. This kind of practical combat skills in modern warfare is really an eye-opener.

After a night of fighting, the British army cleared all the planned targets according to the battle plan.

On the night of June 6, the British army took advantage of the victory and launched a second wave of attacks.The 13nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment captured Radio Hill, and the [-]nd Battalion of the Scots Guards Brigade captured Rotten House Hill.

When the British army broke through the last natural defense line of Argentina, the Argentine army guarding Port Stanley finally realized that their failure was inevitable, so the atmosphere of hesitation and frustration spread rapidly. , the British living in Falklands, cheered, it can be said that the joy is beyond words.

Seeing this scene, a platoon leader of the Afghan army ordered his subordinates, if a Kelper resists, shoot him - if the local residents resist, shoot him.

Fortunately, this war did not make people completely irrational and plunged into madness, and its subordinates did not act like this.

On June 6, Major General Menendez, commander of the Argentine garrison, surrendered to Major General Moore of the British Royal Marine Corps. 14 Argentine soldiers became prisoners of war; Ocean cruise ship repatriated to Argentina.

The main representatives of the warring parties attending the signing ceremony of the instrument of surrender included: Colonel Melbourne Hussey, Rear Admiral Menendez, Lieutenant Colonel Redford, and a legal adviser to the Argentine government from Argentina; Rear Admiral Moore from the United Kingdom, two army colonels , a Colonel of the Marine Corps, a Lieutenant Colonel of the Army, etc.

In addition, war reporters including Han Anyuan, Lu Xiaohu, Zheng Gang, etc. also witnessed this historical moment.

The content of the drop book is:
I, Major General Menendez, Commander of the Argentine Army, Navy and Air Force in the Falkland Islands, surrender unconditionally to Major General JJ Moore, the representative of Her Majesty's Government.

Under this agreement, all Afghan troops stationed in Mashima will go to the place designated by Major General Moore to hand over their guns, ammunition, various weapons and various tools of war designated by General Moore or other British officers.

Once this Agreement comes into force, all Afghan troops will be treated with honor and obey all instructions regarding movement and centralized accommodation in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Convention signed in 1949.

本协定于标准时间6月14日23:59——当地时间20:59，正式生效，并适用于部署在斯坦利港周边、东／西马岛与其他外岛之阿根廷驻军。

The news of the British army's complete victory in the Falkland Islands spread to the UK, and the whole country was jubilant. The rising morale of the people seemed to make the various social problems caused by the economic depression less acute.

But one group, the British Far East Business Interest Group, could not be happy, because on June 6, the Jardine Matheson shareholders' meeting came to an end, and not only the Land shares previously controlled by Jardine Matheson were transferred to Qinhe's name and split off Attendance and Technology and Attendance and Infrastructure even made the outside world unexpectedly pass the capital increase and share expansion plan.

Because of Simon Keswick's unpopularity, the Keswick family's shares in Jardine were diluted, which made him want to cry.

(End of this chapter)