"As we expected, I think it won't be long before the Royal Admiralty will give their Cabinet a report on the conclusion that our navy is against the Royal Navy." He threw on his desk a newspaper containing the German threat theory that had been sent back from England.

"Actually, the British are not completely wrong, are they, the core of the risk fleet theory is indeed to engage the most powerful naval states with the purpose of fighting, although we are only trying to protect ourselves, not to provoke war." Jochen said with some self-deprecation.

"Now the whole British community is wantonly attacking and insulting our country in an attempt to challenge their maritime authority, blindly attacking our naval shipbuilding program, but selectively ignoring the actions of the Americans on the other side of the ocean." Tirpitz said angrily.

The Americans on the other side of the strait began to expand their naval strength in 1890, but in just 11 years, they have jumped from the 12th in the world navy to the fifth in the world's navy.

But it was useless to be angry, so Jochen said: "The whole of England is jealous of the rapid development of our overseas trade. If Britain loses their maritime trade advantage, it is only a matter of time before British naval dominance is gone, and the British are instinctively aware of it.

Of course, the British government will do everything in its power to prevent this from happening, perhaps by maintaining their maritime superiority peacefully rather than through war. But how long can this last? War itself is existent, and it is better to be prepared to deal with it than to be afraid. (Note 1)

"Yes, Your Highness." Koster and Tirpitz responded.

The Naval Command, under Koster, continued to develop operational plans for the British, while Tirpitz's Naval Office campaigned for further expansion of the Navy.

Of course, it is not the German character to keep your head down and suffer losses. It just so happened that the dark chess that the Germans had planned before had also come to the time to make a move.

"Albert, they're coming." In a small village on the outskirts of Durban Harbour, a Jewish man dressed as French hurried into a small two-story house in the village, a little further from the center of the village, and greeted his companion. Around the house, several white bodyguards dressed as Boers patrolled the area.

These people have been here for a week, and their purpose here is for this big shot who is about to arrive.

"Don't worry, it's full of GSG snipers all around here. And our bodyguards are also these ruthless characters, these guys will keep us safe. It's also remote, so it's easy to get out of a shootout, and don't forget, we're French citizens. Watching his companion check his clothes up and down, the Jew who had greeted him earlier said lightly.

"I'm not worried about that, Jacob, I'm just checking that I'm dressed for exactly who I am." This Jew named Albert said.

"Yes, yes, you're the Jewish banker introduced by Mr. Reynolds. And I'm your advisor, and your Excellency won't be too suspicious. The Jew named Jacob shrugged his shoulders and said.

The two men were certainly not some so-called French bankers and his advisers, and those people outside were certainly not hired white bodyguards.

Both men were subordinate to the reorganized Army Secret Intelligence Service of the Army General Staff, formerly known as the IIIb Division, but they were indeed French citizens on the surface.

Several waves of anti-Semitism in France, especially the Dreyfus case of 1894, made the Jews in France feel extremely uneasy about their current situation, in this context. German Army intelligence, which was still at the IIIb at the time, found that there was a lot to be done.

Naturally, Jochen would not allow the German intelligence services to make the same mistakes as they did in history - the army's fanaticism for its own military power had a bad effect on the intelligence services, and the French agents of the German army were put on the shelf for 40 years!

In the anti-Semitic wave that followed the Dreyfus case. The IIIb department kept its main spy in France, Agent Auguste 17? Feng? Schluga developed Jewish spies in France, while in Germany, because Frederick III and Jochen did not promote anti-Semitism, although there were indeed anti-Semitic forces in the country, they could not make much of a storm.

In this case, Schluga's work was also fruitful, and indeed a sizable spy network was developed. Let the real French play the role. Naturally, it is more suitable to play it than to find a German Jew, at least the authentic Parisian accent will not be learned for a while.

And the bodyguards outside are of course the GSG people of the Army, and their mission is not only to protect their agents, they have other work to do.

As for Mr. Renault, it was naturally the ND Bureau that was trying to distract the British. The agent who deliberately delivered legal weapons to the Boers, but he didn't expect him to take the Kronje line and become an extremely important secret agent.

Today, the information and connections brought by this shadow are starting to work.

After a while, a bearded, dark-skinned man in his sixties, under the protection of a dozen heavily armed Boer soldiers, walked into the building.

Albert, as the "master", stood up and politely extended his hand to the other party: "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you, General Cronye. ”

The person who came was none other than the famous general of the Boers, Piette, known as the "black general"? Cronye, as the commander of the Boers on the Western Front, led the troops led by Cronyer to inflict huge losses on the British army, and even Roberts, the commander of the British South African Expeditionary Force, found it extremely troublesome.

Cronje was supposed to surrender in 1900 after being besieged by the British at the Battle of Mount Boubald, and the defeat of his nearly 5,000 troops eliminated the British on the Western Front. However, in this plane, Cronye's fate has taken a small turn.

"Hello, Mr. Albert, how is Mr. Renault? Why didn't he come in person this time? Cronye asked.

"Sir Cronye, Mr. Reynolds is an arms dealer, and you know. The British are now keeping a close eye on people like Mr. Reynolds, and if we were here with me, we would probably not be able to accomplish anything. Albert said with a smile.

"Then if you see Mr. Renault, remember to say hello to him on my behalf, if it weren't for Mr. Renault who provided me with a large number of weapons, I guess I would have been killed by the British by now." Kronye said. Of course, this Mr. Reynaud did not just provide some guns and artillery to Cronye. In addition, he also sold him a lot of information, which allowed Cronye to avoid the misfortune of being dumpled by the British.

"Of course, please rest assured. ...... you come today," Albert asked, rubbing his hands together and making a businessman's face.

"I've only had a dozen people here today, do you think I look like I've brought gold?" Cronye replied unhurriedly.

"Your Excellency, this is not what we said at the beginning!" Albert's face changed dramatically: "Although you can now evade the British and you may be able to leave here and go wherever you want, but with the British still completely blockading the entire East African coast, do you think you can take the gold with you?" ”

Cronye, who escaped the encirclement of the British, became more cautious in the days that followed, and his troops became part and pieces of guerrilla warfare. The only Boer formed regular army.

Thus, under these circumstances, the government-in-exile of the Republic of Dewasland and the Orange Free State entrusted more than 200 tons of gold to Kronje for safekeeping, and allowed the funds to be used to purchase arms to support the continued resistance of the Boers.

However, the situation of the war was getting worse and worse, and the emergence of concentration camps greatly damaged the will of the Boers to resist, and the naval blockade of the British made the smuggling of weapons and equipment more difficult.

Kronye also knows. I have too much British blood on my hands, and the name "Black General" is really struck. Therefore, even if you take out the gold in exchange for your surrender, you may not be able to have a good result, after all, the ruthlessness of the British has been clearly seen.

At this time, his French arms supplier, after learning that he had gold in his hands, offered to let one of his banker friends help transfer the gold to France, and he could exchange it for a large amount of cash to allow him to leave Africa to live a happy life. Of course, Renault himself will make a fortune in it, and Renault also said that if he didn't have so much cash, the deal would be covered by himself.

Although more than 200 tons of gold are worth a fortune, carrying and transporting them is simply a burden, and Kronye, who is hiding in Tibet with these things, knows that this is not the way to go on after all. The defeat of the Boers was already doomed, the country to which they were loyal was gone, and instead of cheapening the British with this gold, it was better to exchange it for cash and let themselves and their men live well.

So we have today's meeting.

However, Kronye is not a fool, the other party ran away directly after taking the gold, and it was impossible for him to chase him to Europe, so naturally it was impossible to agree to the deal so readily.

"Your Excellency, please believe in our sincerity, there are four accounts from Citibank in the United States, from the Bank of the Netherlands, the Bank of the Netherlands, the Deutsche Bank and the Bank of France, each with 7 million pounds on their accounts, for a total of 28 million pounds.

Of course, this may not be enough money compared to the gold in your hands, but you should understand that you can't get a penny for this gold in your hands except us.

As long as the transaction is successful, you, your family, and your subordinates will be able to leave Africa safely with a large amount of cash in hand, and I think it would be difficult for you to leave here without the drag of gold. Albert said complimentingly.

"Okay, but I need to verify the authenticity of these accounts first." Eventually, Cronye made up her mind.

"Of course, that's fine, but can you tell me where you put your gold, we can't go too far to transport it." Albert asked.

"You don't have to worry about this, the gold is under the noses of the British, and the British will not think that we will hide the gold in Durban, as long as your ship can get out, transportation is not a problem." Cronje had thought of transporting gold along the railway line from Pretoria to Lorenço Marques, the capital of Portuguese Mozambique.

But the British patrolled the border so tightly that Kronje had to transport the gold to the port of Durban, which was under the noses of the British, another port where gold could be transshipped out.

"Rest assured, you will take the cash with you when the transaction is successful, and the transportation of the gold will be our business." Albert said confidently.

A few days later, after the British bank in the port of Durban confirmed that there were no problems with the funds in the four accounts, Kronye handed over 242 tons of gold to Albert. (To be continued......)

PS: Note 1: This passage is in place of German Admiral Otto? Ferdinand? Maximilian? Feng? Morality? Gortz said in 1904 that Goltz resigned in 1895 for health reasons. This passage proves that Goltz is very clearly aware of the relationship between economy and sea power, and he sees sea power for the sake of sea power much more thoroughly than the British themselves see sea power for sea power's sake.