Chapter 443 Starting from the corner

@@@@@@@@@@@@ After pushing the window, the sultry in the office suddenly eased a lot. Looking at the bustling streets of San Diego intertwined with horse-drawn carriages and new cars, Simmons' eyebrows still could not be untied. He turned his head and said, 'H. Ambassador, with all due respect, our country is a neutral country, and it is impossible to limit I do know who owns about the saltpeter mine, but I'm sorry, I promised that the man would never say his name.

Simmons' words darkened the British ambassador in front of him. He got domestic news and asked him to do his best to limit the flow of Chilean saltpeter into Germany from now on. Therefore, he has been sorting out the investor composition of Chilean saltpeter mines recently. Although nearly 60% of the saltpetre mines are still in the hands of the British Empire, he It was found that the remaining 40% were very mysterious and related to the actual master of the Chilean navy, so I came to ask if I hoped to buy it at a high price, but I didn't expect to get such a reply.

'Sir Simmons, I think it's necessary for you to think clearly that it's not a good idea to offend the British Empire.' The British ambassador had a cold face. He didn't expect that this small South American country attached to the United Kingdom suddenly gave him a feeling of extreme difficulty. First of all, the three large copper mines found in the country had nothing to do with the United Kingdom. Now even 40% of the saltpetre is missing. Isn't this eye medicine for Britain!

Copper is good. The British Empire has 24 million square kilometers of colonies, so there is no shortage of copper mines, but saltpeter is extremely **. It is the most important raw material for the production of explosives in various countries. Although Peru and the Pacific islands have accumulated for thousands of years, the dried bird droppings after chemical reactions can also be used as explosives. Pharmaceutical raw materials, but compared with Chilean saltpeter, which accounts for 70% of the world's reserves, those are too small to change anything.

Now Germany is challenging the British Empire everywhere. Restricting Germany has become Britain's top priority. Saltpeter is also an extremely ** strategic material. Without Chile's saltpeter, I'm afraid that Germany can't even produce shells, so it has become a top priority to completely control the saltpeter trading in Britain, but the problem is now Only then did he find that such an important thing mysteriously disappeared 40% under his own eyes!

How can I explain this to the Prime Minister and the Parliament?

The cold eyes of the British ambassador also made Simmons uncomfortable. These days, not everyone resists the threat of the British ambassador. He even had the idea of confessing to Li Mo, but the problem is that Master Li is now equally plump, and 40% of the saltpeter must have been shipped back to China by him for production. Explosives, can Chile resist the Xinhua naval fleet that has just defeated Russia?!

One is the empire, and the other is an emerging power. It's really uncomfortable for Chile to be mixed in the middle, so he shook his head: 'Your Excellency, I just want to say that those saltpetre is not in my hands, and the rest is not for comment."

'Mr. Simmons, don't you understand what it means to refuse Britain?

'I know, just like our country lost two battleships.' Simmons gritted his teeth and said stiffly.

The British ambassador did not expect that the Chilean vice admiral would mention the two fast-class battleships that had been handed over to Russia and had been sunk. He was immediately speechless. It was really not authentic about the seizure of the warship and finally tearing up the contract, but does the British Empire need to take credit? Besides, the contract stated that Britain had the right to urgently requisition, so after seeing the other party for a while, he grabbed his hat and got up and said heavily, "Please forgive me for disturbing you!"

After sending the British ambassador away, Simmons breathed a sigh of relief and took out a cigar from the table.

Looking at the smoke dissipating in front of him, he frowned more and more tightly. He was not a fool. The proud British Empire actually relied on monopolizing saltpeter trading to curb the development trend of Germany and Xinhua, which was enough to prove that the empire began to be powerless in dealing with competition, while Li Mo relied on the navy to start and fought abruptly in just a few years. With the reputation of the largest land country, although in fact the British 24 million square kilometers of colonies is higher than that of Xinhua, the management model of the colony and the overall provincial management model of Xinhua are very different.

The roaring naval gun for ten years has undoubtedly inspired those countries that want to challenge British hegemony. Among them, Germany, which has just surpassed Britain as the second economic power in the world, is the most urgent. For the Americas, it also has to face the infiltration of the world's largest economic power. The ubiquitous American goods from this continent It has taken countless money and suppressed the industrial pace of the Americas, so how to maintain Chile's reading has become the most urgent thing.

Although Chile has a huge saltpeter mine, its geography and national strength determine that it is impossible to participate in this game. Although he is eager to participate in it as a navy, as a country, Chile must continue to remain neutral.

But Chile is not without hidden worries, and the territorial disputes with Argentina are intermittent. Because of helping Li Mo start, Britain's dissatisfaction with Chile has increased sharply, which is bound to inspire the ambitions of Argentines. If it hadn't been for the saltpeter, Britain might have abandoned Chile long ago.

The loss of two express-class second-class battleships was a heavy blow to the Chilean navy, which made the Chilean navy's position in South America suddenly fall to Brazil and Argentina. Fortunately, it obtained two Arctic-star second-hand battleships at a low price. Although they can't be compared with the express-class, they have passed the test of actual combat after all. A good choice.

"It's just that I offended the British ambassador today. Will it cast a shadow on the future?" Simmons was thinking when the phone on the table suddenly rang. Shortly after he picked it up, his face began to gloom.

The phone came from the presidential palace, but the British ambassador was still unwilling and went to find the president again to put pressure on himself.

Although the president's influence on the navy is not very important, it is difficult to say whether the parliament will be affected. Simmons didn't want to do it again in the civil war more than a dozen years ago, so he had to go to the president to explain clearly and let him know that Chile must remain neutral, instead of being involved in the competition between Xinhua and Britain, but when he opened the door, He was almost hit by someone. He took a step back and found that it was Qiu Zishan, an old friend, Xinhua's ambassador to Chile.

'Haha, Qiu, didn't they say you went to Brazil? When did you come back? Shall we go for a drink?' Simmons looked close and laughed, but he didn't dare to boo this thin middle-aged man in his heart. Although he was nominally only an ambassador to Chile, in fact, he often traveled to South American countries. From some signs, he was likely to be Li Mo's top in charge in South America, and he was also in charge of Pang in South America for Li Mo. Great wealth.

'Mr. Simmons, it's been almost ten years, but your temper hasn't changed at all.' Hearing Simmons' words, Qiu Zishan also laughed. After handing over a document to him, he suddenly leaned over and bit his ear and said, "There is a box of Lafite in my car."

'What!' Simmons licked his lips and pulled Qiu Zishan to rush out. The latter quickly grabbed him and couldn't laugh or cry: "Dear Lieutenant General, you should finish your business first."

'Oh, right.

Simmons remembered that he was still holding the documents, but when it was opened, the newly raised wine power completely disappeared. Two battleships, two first-class armored cruisers, and two 10,000-ton-class cruisers they called light cruisers, all of which are a new generation of warships, plus the necessary auxiliary ships, will exceed Twelve ships!

Such a large lineup, not to mention training and exercises, is enough to paralyze the navy of any country in South America!

What on earth does Li Mo want to do?

'Mr. Simmons, do you think there is anything good to invest in Ecuador? Qiu Zishan narrowed his eyes and looked at Simmons, who frowned, and suddenly lowered his voice.

This sentence shocked Simmons, the corners of his mouth suddenly became cold, and his face suddenly became serious: 'No, you shouldn't do that. This is South America, not the Far East.'

'Haha.' Qiu Zishan knew that Simmons had misunderstood, but he couldn't tell us that we wanted the Cologne Islands. He quickly waved his hand and said, "My General Simmons, where do you think? We don't want to go to war in this land."

'Then you."

'Ha ha, let's talk about it on the way. I'm just going to see His Excellency the President.' Qiu Zishan looked around and mysteriously pulled Simmons downstairs. When he got to the car, he rubbed his hands and said, "Actually, there are too many Russian [***] ships. Now this kind of old warships are very difficult to fight, so we want to cooperate with you and your fleet. Of course It's just a small reward.

Qiu Zishan handed over a check of $10,000. Looking at the check, Simmons finally understood that Li Mo was ready to take an opportunity to exercise with the Chilean navy, creating the illusion of regional tension, and then selling his warship!

But this has nothing to do with him. The military exercise plan has long been approved by the parliament. As for the content of the exercise, it is decided by the navy itself. As long as you act, you can get 10,000 dollars. What's wrong? Moreover, the words of the British ambassador just now have shown that Britain is dissatisfied with Chile. The visit of the Xinhua Fleet, which has just won, can give Chile a choice to check and balance each other, which is a good way for Chile.

What's more, as long as they slightly reveal the personal relationship between the Xinhua Navy and themselves, the President will have to consider the impact of his dismissal.

It's just that Li Mo is actually calculating himself again. It's really abominable, 'Bastar! Add two more boxes of Lafite!' Thinking of this, he couldn't help swearing and immediately laughed.

'Deal!' Qiu Zishan also laughed.

With a telegram quickly sent back to Honolulu, the competition for corners officially began

(to be continued)