Chapter 1113: Spy Sea Storm Clouds

  Chapter 1092 – Sea of Spies
Any open secret, that is not a secret. Hoarding ordinary strategic materials, labeled as aid to Russia is just a matter of time, warships this big guy simply can not keep secrets.

Finding a hidden harbor for secret production is even more of a joke. Nowadays, the battleships are tens of thousands of tons, and need to mobilize a lot of manpower and material resources.

Unless the god Luo play closed country, or normal flow of goods once on the scale, simply can not keep secret.

Hiding, that’s all a child’s idea. In reality, it was simply impossible to do so.

The era of free trade accelerated the flow of goods and capital, and at the same time created conditions for spies to sneak around.

Ever since the Russian-Australian naval agreement was signed, the major shipyards of Shen Luo became the focus of spies’ attention.

It was naturally impossible to directly enter and view them. Spies that stupid would have been eliminated long ago in the last century.

Nowadays, everyone had learned to attack from the sidelines, for example: by counting the number of workers entering and exiting the shipyards every day, transportation vehicles, price fluctuations in the raw materials market, and analyzing them to draw conclusions.

Needless to say, the accuracy is not much higher than riddles. Raw materials are shipped in, but what they are actually used for is not something the outside world can know.

Shipyards don’t just build warships, they also build merchant ships. Even if they are building warships, it is also impossible to determine what specifications of warships they are going to build.

Because of the intelligence error, make a wrong judgment, Britain is not once or twice experienced. In addition to a few times is a real mistake, more often than not is the Royal Navy willfully error.

Thinking back to the previous several arms races, the Vienna government each time there is an ambitious shipbuilding program, although not a tiger, but the shipbuilding time will be extended by so “billion points”.

The same shipbuilding program, completed in two or three years and completed in more than ten years, that is a completely different concept.

Technology is constantly advancing, warships this thing, that is the later the construction, the more excellent performance.

At a certain period of time, pile up the construction of warships, seems to be very impressive, but in fact, it is to give up the opportunity to optimize the performance of warships.

Learn from your mistakes, and you will be wiser.

Having been fooled more times than not, the British government has learned its lesson. No matter how serious the Royal Navy says it is, the London government has to investigate before deciding whether to follow up.

This time was no exception, after receiving the naval treaty signed by Russia and Austria, the British government’s first order – investigate.

……

Hamburg, since the Holy Roman Empire completed its unification, this ancient port city, jumped to become one of the shipbuilding centers of Shinra.

Especially after the formation of the North Sea Fleet by Godroe, the importance of Hamburg was further increased, becoming the production and maintenance place of warships for the North Sea Fleet.

When the strategic position went up, there were more eyes on it. As a member of the Naval Intelligence Service, Kaba was stationed in the Free City of Hamburg to collect information on the construction of warships by the Shinra Navy.

Undoubtedly, compared to the vast majority of his peers, Kaba was responsible for collecting information on warship construction, which was definitely a beautiful job.

Unlike ordinary people, Kaba didn’t go directly to keep an eye on the shipyards, but instead chose to open a café in the wholesale steel market.

In the beginning, Kaba was still very serious about recording information and carefully studying and analyzing it. As a result, he was criticized by his superiors because of his misjudgment and the distortion of the information submitted.

After several consecutive failures, Kaba, who had been hit, was also negative and slack. The risk of making a judgment in advance is too great, then simply wait for the warship to launch before reporting.

The news does lag a little bit, but the accuracy rate is 100%. Moreover, even if it is slower, it is still faster than the London newspapers, right?

Although he hadn’t been praised, Kaba hadn’t been criticized either. After realizing that in the eyes of his superiors, no fault is merit, Kaba’s fighting spirit is completely gone.

Benefit from the rapid development of the Shenla economy, Caba in the intelligence gathering not much to build, but on the contrary, the management of the café business is booming.

If it is not the Naval Intelligence Service also issued a subsidy, every once in a while you need to report information, it is estimated that he is about to forget that he is an intelligence officer.

Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned, and when Kaba didn’t want to make the effort, orders from his superiors came.

Theoretically, if the Russo-Austrian Naval Treaty was true, the place where the warships were to be built would most likely be in the north for ease of delivery.

As an intelligence officer stationed in Hamburg, Kaba receives orders to find out if several local shipyards, have undertaken warship construction, and the specifications of the warships.

In short, the more detailed the information, the better. As for how to get the information, that was the business of the intelligence officers below, the superiors did not care at all.

After closing the Bible and burning the translated note, Kaba was left with a face full of bitterness.

After so many years in Hamburg, he naturally did not live in vain. The downline naturally developed there, only that it was never activated.

To be exact, these downlines themselves didn’t know when they had become Britannia intelligence officers. The connection with the Cabal, that was also just an ordinary friend relationship.

The only difference was that most of these people were shipyard staff, or were able to enter and exit the shipyard for various reasons.

Well, just to get a few more paychecks. Those who do intelligence work generally have a single line of communication, and London has no idea how many people are down there.

You can’t even verify them, because if you do, it will lead to the disclosure of the identities of the people who are lurking around. Anyone with a little bit of ingenuity will get a few more paychecks.

Fake it all together, crematorium afterwards.

Right now, Kaba was on his way to the “crematorium”, perhaps because he had performed so well that his superiors had overestimated his abilities and given him this nearly impossible order.

Did the Hamburg shipyards take on the task of building warships?
Without thinking, Kaba could answer – yes. There are orders for warships every year, but the difference lies only in the size of the orders.

It’s not even hard to figure out the number of warships being built, there are always clues from the neighborhood.

The trouble is to figure out the specification parameters of the warships, this thing can not get. Probably not wait to find out the parameters, the police will first come to the door.

Not to mention the outside, even the shipyard workers don’t know the specific parameters of the warship. Before the warship was launched, the number of people who knew about it was in the single digits, and anyone who wanted to buy it would know where to start.

No matter how difficult it was, Kaba had to find out, it was a dead order.

After receiving the salary of the Navy’s Military Intelligence Office for so many years, now the time has come to throw his head and spill his blood for Britain, how could he be allowed to retreat.

Looking at his sleeping wife and son, Caba sighed helplessly. There was no hiding, no organization would be soft on traitors.

A sleepless night.

The next day, Kaba strong spirit, pick up the old business was deserted, began to pay attention to the vehicle in and out.

Unfortunately, times are different nowadays, along with the booming of the maritime industry, the shipbuilding industry is also followed by the rise of the ship.

The most prominent is the demand for steel, Hamburg steel wholesale center, every day there are thousands of tons of steel in and out, most of which flow into the shipyard.

Today, steel is also used in large quantities in civilian merchant ships, and it is no longer appropriate to judge the construction of warships purely on the basis of the amount of steel consumed.

Intelligence work is the most avoidable impatience, but at the end of the day is to receive professional training, Caba’s mind is still very calm.

……

Holding his little son, teasing for a while, Kaba pretended to be calm and said, “Dear, there is a reception in the evening, need to socialize, do not need to leave me dinner.”

In the past, this kind of social entertainment he had brought his wife along. But not now, back to his old business, Kaba did not want to involve his family in it.

Although he was a bit puzzled, but after looking at the child, his wife didn’t say anything, but only instructed, “Come back early, and don’t drink too much.”

“Got it.”

Kaba replied.

The feelings of middle-aged couples were often so plain and simple. A few simple lines of conversation were actually filled with endless concern.

Driving his beloved car slowly out, Kaba’s heart was unsettled. Although Hamburg was a free city, it didn’t mean that Shinra’s counterintelligence ability was weak.

Everyone knew that this was the critical moment for Shinra and Britannia to battle it out. If they won, everyone would enjoy the dividends together, and if they lost then they would have to live in misery together.

In a sense, this was also the time when the Holy Roman Empire was at its most united, with all levels of society waiting to receive Britannia’s legacy.

The Free City could not be an exception to this, and many of those who had missed out on the great development of the Holy Roman were sharpening their fists and preparing to make a big splash in this final wave.

Against this general background, it was natural for spies to have a hard time. Once a trace was revealed, it could be taken for credit at any time.

One must know that in the Holy Roman Empire merit can be accumulated, and this thing is something that absolutely no one will have too much of.

Even the best of friends can’t stand up to the temptation of profit, especially when it involves the national interests of the country.

Along with the nightfall, the reception also drew to a close. Absent-minded Kaba, holding the wine glass motionless, as if in a spell.

“Bang.”

The sound of wine glasses clashing pulled Kaba back to the real world. A familiar voice had sounded in his ears.

“What is it, my friend. Your mental state is very off today, could it be that you’re in trouble?”

Surveying the person coming, Kaba calmly replied, “It’s fine, I merely didn’t sleep well last night and am not in a good state today.

It’s not like in the past, once a person gets older, they don’t have much energy to do anything.

I thought that when I stayed up for three days and three nights, I was able to get energized, but now I can’t even make it through one night.

Hey, Wyatt. What have you been up to lately, I haven’t seen you for a long time.”

After such an interruption, Wyatt is also embarrassed to get to the bottom of the matter, “Then you can take care of your health, we can’t afford to toss and turn when we are in our middle age.

Look at me, even if I’m busy, I don’t forget to take a vacation. Recently, the shipyard’s tasks are more urgent than one another, but I still take time out to relax.”

The words were not meant to be said, but they were meant to be heard.

The phrase “heavy tasks at the shipyard” made Kaba think of many things. He only knew clearly that this seemingly big-hearted friend, once it came to the confidentiality clause, his mouth was absolutely tight.

In order not to attract suspicion, Kaba pretended to be an amateur to test: “Don’t worry, I know to pay attention to the body. If it wasn’t for the child’s middle-of-the-night tantrums, I wouldn’t have lost sleep.

On the contrary, it’s you who has a heavy workload, so divide it up amongst your disciples.

It’s just that young people need the opportunity to exercise, so give them more opportunities and you’ll be able to relax a bit.

Don’t make yourself so nervous that you don’t even participate in daily activities.”

Dividing the work among the apprentices, Wyatt wanted to do the same. Anyone would want to be a hands-off manager, but unfortunately, reality was cruel.

Students who had just graduated from school did not have any work experience, and the important work tasks, Wyatt did not feel comfortable handing over to these fledgling brats.

Rolling his eyes, Wyatt made a helpless expression: “You think it’s brewing coffee, ah, is a person can do.

My job is to build ships, to build the most advanced ships in the world. Every technology and every program used, that is only finalized after many times of verification and deduction.

Not to mention those kids, even I, the old engineer, often can only follow the soy sauce, responsible for some simple processes.

……”

Without waiting for Wyatt to finish his sentence, Kaba interrupted, “Stop it, there’s no point in pulling these specialized things with me.

With all this effort, we might as well study ……”

Ending the topic in advance, that was able to inquire about the news, and now that it was all known, the deeper things Wyatt would not say at all.

Instead of risking exposure by delving deeper, it would be better to take it for what it was and continue to play his role as the café owner.

As for the task, a deeper reading of the conversation just now was already enough to write a report.

After befriending him for so many years, Kaba still had a few things to learn about White’s position in the shipyard.

Although not one of the big names, it was still an absolute core engineer. The vast majority of the ships, White was independently presided over the construction.

To ask him, the core engineer to play a hand, that is only one situation – the construction of warships, and is not a general warship.

Determining the construction site of a super battleship, this information is already enough to cope with for a while. As for the specific parameters, it can be said that “not yet determined”.

No kidding, many warships at the beginning of the construction, the parameters of performance is only known to the designers and the Ministry of the Navy senior management, the shipyard engineers at most based on experience to make a general judgment.

Experience this thing, undoubtedly unreliable. Shipbuilding technology is progressing, the same warship block head, displacement is often also a world of difference.

When it comes to tonnage utilization, even if it’s just a few percentage points higher, the parameters of the warships end up being vastly different.

Kaba can responsibly say, looking for professionals to analyze and judge, the accuracy rate will not be much higher than his second-hand projection.

Back home, after some deep thought, Caba wrote down on paper Klute Shipyard, suspected to receive a super battleship order, displacement of about “25,000 tons ~ 28,000 tons”.

After a moment’s pause, Kaba crossed out the displacement judgment, leaving only a suspected super battleship.

Intelligence, certainly can not be submitted all at once. Only a long stream of water can let the superiors know their first-line suffering.

Not seeking to get a lot of bonus, Caba is just looking forward to take a few less missions to reduce the risk of his exposure, so that he can retire safely.

As for the “Intelligence Elite” who were often honored internally, they did seem to have a bright and promising future, but Kaba knew that these stars of intelligence would be replaced every once in a while.

Although there was no explanation from above, Kaba knew what was going on, it was just that they worked too hard and were exposed in the process of gathering intelligence.

As an organization that could not be seen in the light of day, once an intelligence officer’s identity was exposed, it did not only mean that the mission had failed, but it also meant that his life would be terminated.

If it was a small, weak country, with Britain’s name, it was still possible to be fished out.

If it fell into the hands of a big country, unless it met a conscientious boss, perhaps there was still a possibility to return to the country during the exchange of intelligence officers, otherwise it was a question of when to step into the gates of hell.

In his years of intelligence career, Kaba had seen too much of the cruelty of the human world to want to leave his fate in the hands of others.

……

There are salty intelligence officers, and equally there are struggling intelligence officers. Along with the London government’s order, Britain’s several major intelligence organizations, all active.

The specific manifestation of this was that in recent times, the Shinra police had arrested a record number of spies.

The facts once again proved the truth of “more work, more mistakes, no work, no good”.

Even in the 21st century, it was very easy for spies to sneak around, not to mention the early 20th century.

It can be said that as long as you don’t get into trouble, there is no way to identify who is a spy. Often there is only one reason for exposure, and that is to “move”.

There is a payoff when there is a payoff, although the intelligence officers were exposed a lot, but compared to the information that was sent back, it was still worth it.

Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s residence.

Looking at the information gathered from all over the world in his hands, Prime Minister Campbell’s face became more and more ugly.

The most feared situation still happened, Shen Luo really started to build ships, only the number of construction is not the 8 super battleships on the surface, but 13 ships.

There was no way to verify the authenticity of this number for a while. But whether it was 8, or 13, once so many super battleships were in service, it would break Britannia’s sea power advantage.

Shen Luo and Britain is not the same, as a land power country, as long as there is five points of certainty, the Vienna government dares to play pokies at sea.

Gambling to win the world hegemony, gambling to lose the big deal nestled in the Mediterranean Sea to work hard for five years, and then come back for a second showdown.

This is Britain never can, not to mention the Royal Navy defeat, even if only two losses, Britain will fall from heaven to hell.

After determining that Shinra began to explode warships, the choice left to the British government is only one way – follow up.

Not only to follow up, but also to build more warships to protect the Royal Navy’s dominant position.

As for the Russo-Austrian naval agreement, Campbell directly as a fart. Even if the agreement is true, the government of Vienna in accordance with the agreement to fulfill.

But once the hegemony of the war broke out, Shen Luo navy can also be requisitioned first, and then handed over to the Russians after the fight, can the tsarist government still say “no”?
(End of chapter)