Chapter 512 is finally here!

"That's a new kind of cargo ship."

Chen Ping was in a hurry. He pointed to the Yin commercial aircraft carrier with a standard displacement of 15,000 tons in the distance that had not been marked with a port, and pretended to be relaxed and said, "You see, its dry side is relatively high. There is a large cargo compartment in it, and standard containers can also be stacked on it. According to our calculations, after this method is adopted, one It can transport twice as many goods.

"Of course, it is still in the test." Chen Ping pretended to be relaxed, but in fact, he had already scolded the dispatcher in his heart. He said that the Chileans should not approach Ryukyu before leaving, but there was still something wrong, so he could only pretend to joke, "Simmons, do you want to keep it a secret for us?"

Simmons frowned. Although he felt that there was something wrong, he did not delve into it, because the matter of Xinhua's special transportation of large boxes had long spread to the world. Many countries are using this method, and there are indeed some very different ships, and after experiencing labor pains, every All kinds of strange ships were built in the sky, so they soon forgot.

But Chen Ping still didn't dare to be careless. He not only withdrew the naval dispatcher, but also immediately asked people to find cargo boxes full of the upper deck of the aircraft carrier. At least before the Chileans leave, they must be disguised like this.

Fortunately, soon Simmons and other Chilean officers were attracted all the attention of the two super battleships that had completed all the tests and were about to be delivered. Compared with the strange flat-top ships, what is more attractive than having a super battleship in their own country!

Now in Brazil, the battleships ordered by Argentina have been delivered, with only three. Not long ago, one Arctic star battleships repurchased by Xinhua and resold to Colombia are getting old. Twenty years of wind and frost have made them unable to bear heavy responsibilities, so Chile has long been looking forward to the return of these two battleships. .

On the blue sea, two slender steel monsters are waiting for the arrival of their owners, with a standard displacement of 28,500 tons, a full load of 32,300 tons, a length of 202 meters, and a maximum width of 28 meters. They are designed with a long-long building and installed Xinhua's first invention of a stronger triangular mast. The top of the mast is set. There are two layers of observation towers, a three-meter optical rangefinder and a simple artillery command instrument.

It uses the latest reciprocating steam engine from Germany. Because Chile is worried about oil supply, it has adopted 16 kerosene-mixed small water pipe boilers. With 320 million horsepower, the two big guys have reached 20 knots from 18 knots in design.

However, the most attention is the firepower, 5 double-linked 356mm/L45 naval guns, front and rear backpack plus one in the middle of the chimney, 6 double-linked 152mm, 8 single 76mm guns, regardless of the main and deputy are the Hebei-class battleships second only to the Xinhua Royal Navy in the same caliber battleships.

Admiral Lator, Admiral Curion, is the name of these two battleships, in order to commemorate the two greatest generals in the history of the Chilean navy, because there is no doubt that when the two battleships return home, the crown of the first navy in South America, which has been lost for many years, will return to Chile.

In order to farewell the two most valuable sister ships in the history of Xinhua Shipbuilding, the Ryukyu Shipyard and the Royal Navy held a grand welcome ceremony. When Li Mo and Simmons cut the brocade in front of the gangway at the same time, the Chilean sailors began to board the warship one after another, and there was a neat line in the sky. The ribbons flew under the abdomen of the nine Osprey planes that swept through the low altitude at the same time, adding a little excitement to the delivery ceremony.

The huge sunshade blocked the hot sun, and a farewell party was being held on the deck of Admiral Latour under the shed, adding a little anger to the cold fighter.

"For friendship."

The beard raised the glass excitedly, gently touched Li Mo and Chen Ping, and drank all the expensive Bordeaux red wine he had specially brought to entertain him.

"Ha ha, Simmons, you can't lead the fleet when you are drunk." Li Mo pushed him affectionately and continued to laugh, "Isn't your biggest dream to lead the most powerful fleet?"

"Of course!" Simmons jumped up drunkenly, patted the thick barrel beside him, and sighed in a blink of an eye, "This is the best big guy I've ever seen!" Unfortunately, they may not be able to fire shells at the enemy during their entire service.

Li Mowei nodded. Although the beard was blushing and slightly drunk with alcohol, there was nothing wrong, because it was declared neutrality more than a decade ago. After resolving the border dispute with Argentina in recent years, for Chile, these two battleships were not so much war machines as decoration. After all, if you don't have one or two battleships in this era, you will be embarrassed to say hello to others when you go out.

"Simons, I want to talk to you about business."

"Business!" Hearing these two words, Simmons even forgot the wine. He pricked up his ears and rushed to his side and asked, "Great Your Majesty, do you want to buy these two battleships?"

"It's beautiful to think about it. The young master is not as hungry as Britain." Li Mo secretly despised that Chile must have regretted buying two facades at such a high price. How could he want such a thin-skinned and stuffing explosive bag? He shook his head quickly and said, "No, I don't want to rob your baby."

"Baby?" Simmons's mouth was a little bitter, 4.8 million pounds, a total of 33.6 million blue coins. Even the rich Chile was a little breathless, so he could only sigh that when he saw the warships parked in the bay and the 15-inch guns unloaded on the ship.

Although he really wanted to sell one and save money, when he saw Li Mo, he could only say, "What else is there besides buying them?"

"I want to buy the last two Arctic star battleships in your hands. In addition, if possible, I would like to buy a few warships of the same tonnage." Li Mo smiled and said.

"What?!" Simmons took out his ears and thought he had heard it wrong. This guy didn't buy the latest 14-inch guy, but went to buy those classic goods. What's the reason? Is it possible that he wants to sell it to countries such as Colombia as last time? But even if you buy a lot of old-fashioned battleships, they are not as good as the Admiral Lator under your feet!

What's the reason?

Although Simmons asked several times, Li Mo and Chen Ping just smiled and said nothing. After returning without success, he could only say, "There is no problem with our country, but Europe is very nervous now, and the United States is certainly not willing to sell it. I'm afraid it's a little difficult to buy it."

"It is not necessary to be a battleship, but it must have a tonnage of more than 10,000 tons, and the service life is preferably less than 20 years." Chen Ping naturally knew what Li Mo was going to do. In fact, this was a relatively unexpected plan, because this was just proposed by Li Mo. No one had prepared before, otherwise he would not have sold the old battleships in his hand.

Originally, I was going to build a new ship, but it was definitely not cost-effective, and the cost was too high, so I wanted to buy a batch of old warships to modify.

Simmons racked his brains. Although Li Mo's requirements were strange, and the atmosphere in the Atlantic Ocean was tense at this time, and the battleships must not have any hope, he could still buy several 12,000-ton armored cruisers, especially Brazil and Argentina, who were eager to sell their old warships after getting the new battleships. If it goes well, add two Polaris, and it should be no problem to get eight or nine, so he immediately asked, "Chen, how many do you need? What about the price?

"About ten ships are fine, and the price is 150,000 pounds. Do you think it's okay?"

"150,000!" Simmons' eyes widened. Although the old warships have depreciated and the result of waiting for them is to be sold or used as scrap iron, they are not so cheap!

"Weapons can be dismantled!" Li Mo smiled.

"Removing weapons?" Simmons can't laugh or cry. It's cheap to remove the weapon, but the question is, what does the seller want to leave the weapon?

For the act of selling a large number of Russian [***] ships seized by Emperor Li at a high price, earning a large number of votes, and returning to buy back at a low price when the old warship was cheaper than scrap iron, Simmons could only sigh, because this deal was simply too cost-effective!

Although the price was pitifully low, he still agreed to the business. Take the two Polaris in Chile as an example. When the two battleships return home, they must be the fate of being a mascot in Hong Kong for a long time. In that way, it will cost a large amount of maintenance costs. In the end, they can only wait for the sea to rust into scrap iron in the sea, compared with this tragedy. 150,000 pounds is indeed a good price.

Simmons patted his chest and promised to drive two Arctic star battleships as soon as he returned home. In addition, he also promised to help Li Mo buy at least five. In order not to let the beard return empty-handed, Li Mo also promised that each ship could give him a benefit fee of 10,000 pounds.

As soon as he heard that it was good, his beard's eyes were straight. He immediately began to figure out where to buy an old warship that was enough to satisfy Li Mo. Just as he pinched his fingers to calculate, three jeeps suddenly rushed from the dock. Just as everyone turned their heads and looked at it, the royal guard soldiers with live ammunition had jumped out of the car, one of them The captain rushed to the warship anxiously.

"What's the matter?" Before Du Dazhuang could meet him, the major had rushed to Li Mo and Chen Ping, handed over a telegram urgently forwarded by the Golden Eagle from the Mediterranean to Chen Ping, and shouted, "Report, European emergency telegram."

As soon as he heard that he was from Europe, Chen Ping, who had been paying attention to it recently, quickly opened the translated telegram, but he was stunned when he saw it. After half an hour, he turned his head and said in dismay, "Your Majesty, at 11 o'clock last night Paris time, Grand Duke Ferdinand and his wife, Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, were on board. The train was struck by lightning on the way to Bosnia, and there was a big explosion on the train. The couple died on the spot, and the bodyguards and entourage were also killed by the armed men who suddenly rushed out!"

"What!"

Li Mo was also stunned by the news. Today is only June 20th. It is reasonable that there are still 8 days left for the famous Sarajevo incident, so he has time to come here to meet Simmons to attend the delivery ceremony, but how can it be earlier!

"Li, I can consider selling these two battleships to you." Although it is the same sentence, the meaning is completely different at this moment. Although Simmons is in South America, he also knows exactly what the death of Prince Ferdinand and his wife in the assassination of Prince of Oridi is a sign! So it may have been just to save money before, but now it means that he wants to help Li Mo strengthen his strength!

Looking at the smiling face and the cold beard, Li Mo patted him on the shoulder gratefully and said with a wry smile, "No, I can solve it." After saying that, he asked Du Dazhuang for a cigarette and slowly walked to the deck alone.

The early assassination, the unexpected attack method, but the exactly the same result, all show that the expected but extremely nervous catastrophe finally came after 20 years of waiting!

(to be continued)