In the autumn of 1918, the war was raging on the Great 6 in Europe. German ambition, French determination, and British ambition were at an unprecedented stalemate on the Marne front in eastern France, with artillery, machine guns, barbed wire, and dense trenches leaving commanders at a loss for what to do, leaving millions of soldiers helpless to wait and wait in the muddy trenches.

The war of attrition unfolding in this small area was a great test of manpower, material, and patience for the two camps of the Alliance and the Entente.

On the other side of Europe's Big 6, the beautiful Mediterranean Sea is calm on the surface, but in fact there is a turbulent undercurrent.

There were both the naval power of the Central Powers, Austria-Hungary and Turkey, which had the most advanced navy, and the powerful fleets of the Entente, the powerful British Mediterranean Fleet, the main French fleet, and the Italian Navy, which had just entered the war in the spring.

The Allies had absolute superiority in the Mediterranean, Austria-Hungary's fleet was pinned down in the Adriatic by their rivals, the Italians, and the Turks were exhausted by the Anglo-French attacks on the 6 and at sea, and their weak navy could only do nothing behind the Dardanelles, which their opponents could not cross.

It was the imbalance of power that gave the Mediterranean its unnatural serenity, but at least until autumn came, the ships of the Entente and neutral countries were largely unimpeded.

The route from the Suez Canal to the Strait of Gibraltar was even busier than in peacetime, and Britain and France were constantly moving troops and supplies from their colonies in Africa and Asia, and the only real threat to them was the Allied shark hunters, who were accustomed to sneaking under the sea.

But neither Austria-Hungary nor Turkey had very few submarines.

As a result, in the eyes of most Allied captains, the probability of being hit by an Allied ** in the Mediterranean Sea is very small, and they jokingly call it something that will only happen on Black Friday...... Friday, September 25, 1915.

In the middle of the Mediterranean, between Crete and Caspassos, a steamer with three chimneys is moving from south to north.

Although it doesn't have the sheer size and lavish ornamentation of the Titanic, it has a voyage to show off in these seas; Although there was not a single cannon on the ship, a formidable flag flew high on its mast.

There is no one on this planet who does not recognize it, it is a symbol of the dignity and force of the world's first naval power, and it is also the only flag in the world that is under the sun 24 hours a day.

"Cheers to the pleasant weather and our pleasant journey!"

In the ship's most spacious and luxuriously decorated room, a bearded man in a captain's hat and a well-dressed middle-aged gentleman stood by the window, each holding a glass of wine.

After the crystal clear glass gently touched each other to make a pleasant sound, the bearded man drank the blood-red wine in his glass, and the gentleman only took a sip lightly.

"Good wine! Wine! The purest Bordeaux wine! ”

The bearded man praised it.

"I said, Mr. Captain, we should have more than ten hours to get to Athens! Although the wine is fragrant, we can't miss our business! ”

The gentleman's lukewarm tone obviously made the bearded captain very unhappy, but he was unhappy, and the guy with his chin shaved in front of him was his own rich man.

Thinking of this, the bearded man couldn't help but laugh.

"Mr. Finger, let your heart go for a hundred! Is there anyone in Cairo who doesn't know me John. White and this boat that can race against **! Do you know why the Navy did not requisition my ship as a troop carrier? It's because my ship is so fast, fast enough to leave the whole fleet behind! ”

"Really?"

A meaningful smile flashed across the gentleman's lips.

This ship is fast, but the capacity is so small, who would spend a lot of money to hire a ship that can only carry a few thousand tons of cargo across the Mediterranean, except for customers like themselves who need to carry valuable cargo?

"Anyway, I will only pay the rest of the money until the people and goods arrive in Athens safely!"

The gentleman raised his glass to eye level, allowing the sunlight to refract through the red liquid into his eyes.

Red is not only the color of blood and wine, crystal clarity is not a unique quality of glass, in the safe in this room, a string of red and crystalline gems has a million times the value of this bottle of red wine, which is also the proudest collection of his personal and the entire Finger family.

More than 100 years ago, it was only on very important ceremonies that the most honorable woman in all of India was entitled to wear it around her beautiful neck.

"Of course!"

The bearded captain grabbed the bottle of red wine labeled in French from the table without care, and said confidently as he poured it into his glass: "The pirates that once roamed the Mediterranean disappeared a hundred years ago, and I don't think anyone dares to offend the ships of our British Empire except those damned Germans and Turks!" Even if the Goeben comes, we can leave it far behind! ”

"The Goburn? Hum! ”

The gentleman seemed very dismissive of this name, in his eyes it was just a warship with only the ability to escape, and now that the main forces of the British and French fleets were gathering at the mouth of the Dardanelles, it probably did not even have the courage to leave Istanbul to breathe, how could it dare to cruise in the Aegean Sea.

"Either way, you can't go wrong with being careful! And, Mr. Captain, I don't want to see any more of your men running to my door. If something goes wrong, I'm not responsible! ”

The gentleman glanced at the sturdy safe in the corner of the room, which was the real "cargo" of his trip compared to the mahogany furniture in the cabin and the 500 barrels of whiskey made from the finest wheat

。

However, don't think that he is a fish on this ship, and if you want to enter this room, you must ask the four brawny men at the door and the fast guns on them.

"Mr. Finger, don't worry, I'll keep this in their minds!"

The bearded captain drank the rest of the wine in his cup in one go, and before leaving, he did not forget to stuff the wine bottle with more than half a bottle of wine into his coat pocket, "You can rest well, I will let them bring you lunch, goodbye!" ”

"No more!"

The gentleman did not say angrily that if it weren't for the fact that all the luxury passenger ships in Cairo had been requisitioned by the navy as troop carriers, he would not have chosen such a drunken captain and such a stupid ship.

On the deck of this ship, the stokers who did not have their turn were leisurely enjoying the warm spring sun, for these sailors who lived at sea all year round, it was natural to be able to go ashore to have fun, but during the voyage, listening to the stories of the old sailors was a great pleasure for them to spend time without spending money.

"In 1756, the British East India Company was at the height of its business, and they were doing lucrative business in India, building up their own army, training Indians to fight for them, and building a huge fort in Calcutta to garrison their troops and store valuable supplies. Think about it, who would want outsiders to build such a fortress in their own home? So, this soon aroused the discontent of the Indians, and the Bengal Wanab ordered an attack on the fort after protesting to the East India Company to no avail. There were only 900 British in Calcutta at that time, and there were less than 3,000 Indian soldiers they trained, and they had 70,000 opponents! ”

"Did they win the war?"

A little man asked.

"Damn, Jim, you're interrupting ...... again"

Another stout stout stoker waved his fist.

"Ahem! 3,000 against 70,000, is this battle winnable? …… Of course, you can't win! ”

The old sailor shook his head, and suddenly there was a sigh.

Judging from the facial contours and features of these people, except for the old sailor and the small sailor, who were typical Europeans, the others should have been native Egyptians.

"Don't worry, don't worry, this head-to-head battle can't be won, our East India Company has other means!"

The old sailor sold the ** pass, and was very proud to replace it with "we" in the next

word.

Seeing that the people around him were really anxious, he said unhurriedly: "So, we spent a lot of money to buy the officers of Wanab, and when we went to war with the Indian army again, they started infighting, and even Wanab was killed by us!" Our troops took the opportunity to march on the Bengal treasury, when the gates of the treasury were opened...... My God! The warehouse is full of gold and silver jewelry, and it is dazzling to see! Just listen to the sound of 'rob'! Tut-tut! The scene spiraled out of control, and everyone desperately stuffed jewels into their pockets, boots, and even hats! Do you know what the British commander at the time said later? ”

"Say what?"

The sailors poked their heads in envy and curiosity.

The old sailor said, "He said, 'Ah, I was so stupid, I was surrounded by gold, silver and jewelry, whole boxes and whole boxes of gold bars, whole bags and whole bags of all kinds of precious stones, but I only took 200,000 pounds! ”

"Hey......"

The surrounding sighs have different connotations, some regret, some envy, and some jealousy.

"A fortune worth more than £58 million!"

The old sailor spoke of this figure in a particularly aggravated tone, "The officers and soldiers grabbed 21 million, and the rest went to the East India Company!" ”

"Ah......h

These riches are still astronomical today, and the sailors are almost straight-eyed, and they only hate that they were not born more than 100 years early, even if they are ordinary horsemen, they have to participate in that exciting battle for wealth.

"Actually, don't be discouraged!"

The old sailor suddenly said in a very mysterious tone: "Gold and silver jewels are not found only in Indians!" For example, this Aegean seabed has countless treasures! ”

"Hey, old Jack, you're not bluffing us!"