Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 824 High risk, high return.

   more than half a month later

On October 15, 1904, Tsarist Russia’s Second Pacific Fleet departed from the Libourg base on the Baltic coast. The commander of the fleet was Roger Stevinsky, leading a large formation consisting of 38 main battleships and more than 100 supply ships. He embarked on a long journey to the Far East.

  In this unprecedented large formation, there are more than 70 coal ships hired from Germany alone, providing important fuel supplies.

  At this moment

  Manila, thousands of miles away, is windy and sunny, and the sea breeze blows the coconut trees gently, creating a peaceful picture of the years.

  A week ago

Major General Jason Adenauer received an appointment from the African Squadron under the Indian Ocean Fleet and immediately took his family aboard the express cruise ship to Mozambique. At this moment, he estimated that he was sitting on the deck somewhere off the Indian subcontinent. Basking in the warm sun, leisurely drinking afternoon tea.

  Beside Li Siyuan, now only Brigadier General Geng Chengen, who is always by his side, replaced the role of Major General Jason Ardenne, and further served as the Deputy Director of the Military Strategy Institute of the Royal Admiralty and Director of the Royal Attaché’s Office.

  If you switch to the official sequence of the Qing court, it will almost be the role of the prince Taibao.

  In the small garden of the mansion

Brigadier General Geng Chengen was drinking afternoon tea with Li Siyuan. There were only the two of them in the Western-style pavilion. On the second floor of this mansion, his wife Geng Wu was accompanied by Princess Pan to talk about women’s affairs. Let’s talk about the newly popular topic of wearing sweaters.

  Ocean Empire royal nobility etiquette mostly originated from the United Kingdom, both with Chinese characteristics, can be regarded as a fusion of Chinese and Western, characterized by simplicity and clarity, without so many cumbersome avoidances.

   Picking up the coffee cup and taking a sip, Li Siyuan asked; "Brother Chengen, what did the fleet say?"

   Brigadier General Geng En replied; "Oh, that's it... Your Highness;

  I went there in the morning and did not see the fleet commander Zhang. Deputy Commander Li Jie led the "Melbourne" fleet to cruise north, only to see the Fleet Chief of Staff Li Sixian who was about to go to Mindanao to inspect the situation of the bandits.

  Because of the rush of time, I just stood on the dock and said a few words.

A total of three sets of experimental "radio rangefinders" were produced, all of which were equipped on the ships of our Pacific Fleet. The first two sets were equipped on the "Melbourne" and "Beilun" on this northern voyage, and the last set was on our ship. Aboard the "Samarinda".

   Chief of Staff Li means;

  Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief did not specifically explain that, since there is a fleet of Beihang ships conducting sea experiments, the "Samalinda" is still in the dock for maintenance as planned. Everything will be done after the ships are overhauled. Anyway, there is no need to worry about these three or two months. "

  Speaking of this, Brigadier General Geng Chengen gave a dry cough, showing a little hesitant expression.

  Hearing this news, Li Siyuan was inevitably disappointed. Seeing his appearance a little annoyed, he said; “It’s okay to say something outright, don’t hesitate like a lady.”

   "Uh... Chief of Staff Li said one last word; No rules can't make a circle, please be considerate of the embarrassment of the fleet."

  Chief of Staff Li’s cryptic meaning is obvious; don’t use the radio rangefinder to talk about things. Those who should be suspended will have to suspend the flight. Punishment is inevitable.

  Li Siyuan was stunned for a while, with a dumbfounded expression on his face; "Brother Chengen, am I so obvious?"

   "Indeed... a little bit."

  "When will the three marinda enter the dock?"

“The ones that can be repaired are Dock 1 and Dock 2. Now Dock 1 is building a 15,000-ton navy fast coal carrier. It will not be able to get out in a short time. We can only wait for Dock 2. I guess it will take more than a month, and our boat will definitely be able to get in."

   "Oh, that's all there is." Li Siyuan sighed helplessly.

  Luzon Islands can only repair large battleships No. 1 and No. 2, which are huge docks of 26,000 tons. They belong to the Manila Shipyard under the Red Mountain Ship Group. They have strong technical force and can undertake large-scale ship construction orders.

  These two large docks are the most important facilities in Manila, the home port of the Pacific Fleet. With them, the main battleship does not need to travel thousands of kilometers to return to Australia for maintenance and repair, and can be completed in the home port.

  In the entire Western Pacific region (excluding mainland Australia), except for Manila, only the port of Nagasaki in the country of Fuso has the maintenance capability of the main battleship of more than 10,000 tons.

  There are many large docks in Australia, but this is too time-consuming to come and go, and you can only give it up after thinking about it.

  I can only be idle during this time. Li Siyuan felt bored and asked casually; "How is the situation of the Somali company's trade with Russia?"

   "I don't know this yet, and I don't care about it." This question was abrupt, and Brigadier General Geng Chengen was taken aback before replied; "Or...I'll call them and the person in charge will come over and report to you in person."

   "Is Sir Lee still there?"

   "Should be there, I will call now and let Sir Li..."

  "Don’t bother, just sit around and have nothing to do, tell him we go there, let’s meet and chat."

   "That's it, listen to your Royal Highness's instructions."

The headquarters of the Somali company is also established in Manila. After several years of development, it not only has a large tobacco plantation in Legazpi, but also has developed tens of thousands of acres of orchards. It uses the region's excellent subtropical climate to grow fruits and develop canned fruit products. .

  Because there is no mature cold chain technology, wanting to eat fresh tropical fruits is purely a dream in Europe. Therefore, canned fruits from tropical regions are very popular in Europe and have a good market.

It is precisely this business opportunity that the Somali company has turned canned fruit into another specialty product. One dime can buy more than 10 pounds of fruit in the Luzon Islands. After the canned fruit is sold to Europe, it can be sold in one pound. To 4 to 5 pence, which is about 3 cents to 5 cents to 4 cents, the value increases dozens of times.

  Australia has a wealth of food additives resources, sucrose resources and fruit resources, the combination of the three, the development of canned fruit products is very promising.

The exported canned fruits are all in large packages of 80 pounds per barrel. After they arrive in Europe, they are divided into small household packages of one pound, two pounds, and five pounds, while the whole barrel of 80 pounds is packaged. Suitable for restaurants.

  Exporting canned tropical fruits to Europe, the Somali company is a unique business without any competitors.

  In Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent

The French Indochina Peninsula has similar favorable climatic and geographical conditions, but it has not developed a decent industry. Even matches and shovels need to be imported. The Netherlands East Indies is also in a similar situation. There is basically no development of industry, and it is completely based on primary agricultural products. Mainly for export, supplemented by a small number of handicraft workshops.

  South India has a large population, high survival pressure, frequent natural disasters, droughts and locust plagues every three to five, and even basic food needs cannot be guaranteed, let alone exporting a large amount of fruit.

  Somali Company is a super-large comprehensive company that involves tobacco, fruit and grain cultivation, processing and production, foreign trade, transportation, finance and commercial real estate, and employs more than 100,000 workers.

  The capital from the armed smuggling industry in Somalia has been laundered through the company, and the development has become more prosperous.

  Li Siyuan, Duke of Shangri-La, specially emphasized the need to keep a low profile before coming here.

   Therefore, only a few senior executives from the company came forward to greet him early. Chairman Li Yong, Viscount Li Yong, led the company’s general manager Luo Jianye, deputy general manager Igor Smolnikov, director Li Xiaozu and others to greet His Royal Highness and his entourage.

  Li Siyuan took a light car and followed him. He brought only Brigadier General Geng Chengen and two secretaries to the Somalia company. After the greetings, he came to the luxurious living room that had been prepared for a long time, and the guests and the host sat down.

Viscount Li Yong, on behalf of the Somali company, first expressed his warm welcome to His Highness's visit, and briefly introduced the company's current business, focusing on trade with Russia.

  The specific business is handled by Igor Smolnikov, deputy general manager of Russian origin, who will give a detailed introduction.

  According to the introduction;

Trade with Russia is very prosperous. It is mainly divided into two parts. One is the European branch offices in St. Petersburg and Moscow, which deal with high-end luxury products produced by the Ocean Empire, including cashmere sweaters and high-end wool that are popular among the upper-class celebrities and celebrities of Tsarist Russia. Clothing, various brands of cars, bicycles, cigarettes, etc., the product sales are very hot and profitable.

  Thanks to the huge population size, the consumption power of the middle and upper classes in Tsarist Russia is quite amazing. In addition, it is located in the high-cold area. There is a huge demand for high-end clothing such as cashmere sweaters and woolen clothes, which are light, soft and warm.

  Even if the price is expensive, it cannot stop the enthusiasm for buying.

  The biggest obstacle to the development of Tsarist Russia’s trade is the rampant corruption of local officials and government departments. If they don’t have a strong trading partner, they will be devoured every minute.

One is to supply a large amount of materials to the Russian Far East, including cigarettes, sugar, various cans, meat sausages, grain, bristles and oil. This part of the materials is purchased by the Russian officials uniformly in the Somali company and paid for the high freight. Somalia The company is responsible for delivery to the Russian city on the border of Heilongjiang.

  Armed smuggling is precisely what Somali companies do. They have 20 years of professional experience in this field and show a high degree of professionalism in the entire transportation process.

The Somali company set Naha Port in the Ryukyu Islands as the home port for smuggling. There is a large warehouse group here. The materials for Tsarist Russia are transported here by ordinary freighters. This part of the voyage is under the protection of the Royal Pacific Fleet. No one dares to make it. Second-rate.

  Continuing north from here, is the flames of the Yellow Sea.

The Fusang Joint Fleet has been wandering around the outer waters of Lushun Port for a long time to perform blockade missions. There is an endless stream of supply cargo ships from Fusang to Dalian, Jinzhou and other places. Three provinces in the northeast, and then transported a large number of wounded and sick back to the mainland.

The war for hegemony in the Far East fought by Fusang with the power of the whole country cost countless materials. Every day, hundreds of freighters travel on this busy route to transport soldiers and materials forward.

  In view of this

The eleven 1,500-ton fast smuggling ships specially transferred by the Somali company formed two convoys and planned the western Pacific route through the east side of the Fusang Islands. After bypassing the Fusang Islands, from Nemuro north of Hokkaido The strait turns to the northwest, and then uses high speed to cross the Zonggu Strait at night and enter the Heilongjiang Channel.

  The speed of the fast smuggling ship is as high as 27 knots, and the ordinary light cruisers of Fuso can not catch up. However, the destroyers of hundreds of tons and the torpedo boats of dozens of tons cannot sail far, let alone catch the trace of the fast smuggling ships in the vast sea.

  So, the smuggling business of Somali companies has been going smoothly for several months.

  High risks bring high returns. The Somali company’s armed smuggling business is lucrative, and transportation costs are more expensive than goods. In order to maintain the supply of materials to the army ahead, Tsarist Russia had to bite the bullet.

  Compared with the huge cost of transporting materials from Russia to the Far East, it is more cost-effective to entrust the transportation of Somali companies.

  (End of this chapter)