On 9 November, Contini's fleet left Calcutta to replenish supplies and fuel, heading for its next stop, Singapore.

On the way, Contini said to the attaché and naval officers: "See, this is the pride of Great Britain India, relying on the continuous blood transfusion of this colony, Britain has maintained its current position, we must build Libya well, in the future we can also be as strong as Great Britain." ”

Everyone nodded yes, starting from India, other countries such as Burma, Malaya, Borneo, etc. are British territory, and even the small Netherlands occupies the huge Dutch East Indies, which really makes these people indignant - Italy rose too late, otherwise, Italy would also have the qualifications to compete, and finally God and his old man were still open-eyed, and sent us the United Group, not only found oil in Libya, but also got crude oil from the French, Otherwise, Italy's status and international image would be too bad – Italy would be a great power anyway.

Singapore itself is not large, but can get sufficient supplies, taking advantage of the opportunity to stay in Singapore, Contini asked the officers to look at Singapore's garrison in detail, when they saw the thick coastal fortifications, the officers all sighed that the defense is powerful, worthy of the Far East "Gibraltar Fortress", Contini laughed in his heart: these artillery aimed at the sea, there is no way to deal with the enemy behind it, and when Malaya is clicked in the back road, Singapore will be finished.

Thinking so, he said: "Everyone should take a good look at the deployment of the Singapore fortress, and in the future, we will also build Tripoli, Benghazi and Tobruk into fortresses of this level." ”

The crowd nodded yes, and with the importance of Libya's position and the injection of large amounts of investment from the coalition bloc, Libya's position has become more and more important, and war preparedness has become an indispensable and key part. After leaving Singapore, the fleet began to adjust its course, first heading for the Dutch East Indies.

There wasn't much to see in the Dutch East Indies, other than sugar cane plantations, rubber plantations, and the Palembang oil fields, but Contini apparently had other ideas, and he told Huang Xinguo: "Do you have any reliable Chinese businessmen you know there, and if so, you can go and talk to them." ”

"What do you mean, President?"

"I want to buy sugar and rubber in bulk, but I don't want to be taken away by the Dutch in vain, and more importantly, can you sell the products of the United Group or Italy, and establish a stable market and sales channels."

"I see, I have a few acquaintances, but I'm not familiar with them, I'll try it......"

"Try boldly, don't worry, you must have a pioneering spirit in business." Contini lowered his voice, "If they want scrap steel, it's negotiable." ”

Huang Xinguo understood, it turned out that what the president really wanted to sell was scrap steel, and at this moment he suddenly understood Contini's thoughts: Aren't you Great Britain going to make trouble in Libya? Then I will find this field in the South Seas, and as for India, Contini has no hope for this - they all advocate non-violence and non-cooperation, and selling scrap steel to them is also playing the harp to the cow.

Now the president sells scrap steel very profitably, and a large number of warships are carried on several warships - no one in the Italian warships can dare to search, and to dare to search is equivalent to going to war, and the strength of the Count of Cavour still has the strength to fight against the fleets of Britain, France, and the Netherlands in the Far East, and Contini is not afraid, he is born on the edge of war, and he has done a lot of things in the fire, and he is not afraid of this.

During his stay in the Dutch East Indies, Contini also took people on a trip to Bali, which was still unexplored and pristine compared to the tourist paradise of later generations. Everyone thought it strange that Contini insisted on coming here, but he said with a smile: "Don't you think that this island has good air, lush vegetation and flowers, and I think there is an opportunity to open up a tourist destination!" ”

"This ......" Everyone was stunned, their minds were full of battles and fortresses, but they didn't expect the president to jump to the tour in one breath.

"Although Libya is not far from Italy, to be honest, it is not very suitable for tourism, and the Greek islands are good, but I think the Far East has a ......different style," he told Zakaria, "You go and ask, if the land is expensive, if it is not too expensive, you can buy it for tourism development." ”

However, contrary to Contini's expectations, the Dutch colonial authorities who controlled Bali were suspicious of Contini's so-called tourism development, believing that the motive was not pure, and did not agree to sell the land, but set a very high price, which made Contini shake his head and give up, in fact, the development of tourism was also his whim for a while.

"Forget it, it doesn't matter if the Dutch don't sell it, I'll ask the natives to buy it in the future!"

Everyone didn't understand what it meant to ask the natives to buy, but since the president didn't mention it anymore, they quickly revealed it.

In late November, the fleet arrived in the Philippines, and there are not many attractions to see in the Philippines, but this is the territory controlled by the Americans, compared with the Anglo-Dutch colonies, there is no other taste, at least those prostrate on the ground, for people to trample on the aborigines are gone, fortunately, the fruits and seafood in the Philippines are good, mangoes, bananas, durian everyone tasted, and the seafood was held on the warship to hold a unique barbecue meeting. In terms of food, Italy is second only to France in Europe, and the British don't know how many streets, and in the face of food, the resistance from top to bottom is very weak, and even Agnes and Ida, who are afraid of fat, have eaten a lot.

Coupled with all kinds of wine, everyone thinks it's good to follow the president out to travel at public expense, at least this Thanksgiving is very enjoyable - Europeans usually don't have Thanksgiving, but the Philippines is controlled by the United States, so there is, Contini proposed to follow the local customs, and everyone is happy together.

At the beginning of December, the fleet headed for Saigon, and no matter what the relations between the European countries were in Europe, at least in the Far East everyone was very face-saving to each other, and in the face of the visiting Italian fleet, the French Far East Fleet also expressed a warm welcome, and the two sides also conducted small-scale joint exercises.

Saigon is full of French-style buildings, which are closer to the taste of Italians, and of course, Contini did not come to Saigon simply to see the scenery, he hoped to buy a port area in Cam Ranh Bay to develop shipping and civil aviation, and if the Italian fleet needed to make ocean visits in the future, he also hoped to be able to make use of it.

Cam Ranh Bay is 17 kilometers inland, 6 kilometers wide, and has a water area of more than 100 square kilometers. The average depth of water in the bay is 16 to 25 metres, with the deepest depth reaching 32 metres. Due to the depth of the water and the wide bay, hundreds of large ships of 10,000 tons can be berthed in the port, which is a rare good port.

Contini tentatively proposed the purchase of a commercial dock, but the colonial authorities readily agreed, and the price was not outrageously expensive, and Contini hurriedly ordered his men to sign the contract. Later, I realized that after the French occupied Indochina, Cam Ranh Bay had opened up Cam Ranh Bay into a large commercial port, and warships could also use it as a docking point for coal supply (only supplies, not a regular military port), but because the development time was not long, it was not lively for the time being, and the colonial authorities also hoped to be able to drive it.

As for the problem of warships that Contini was worried about, it did not exist at this time, and the main anchorage of the French Far Eastern Fleet was not Cam Ranh Bay but Gulf of Tonkin (Beibu Gulf) and Shanghai, and in Indochina the main resting place was the port of Haiphong, in other words, they did not need Cam Ranh Bay at all, which was very convenient.

So on December 14, the two sides formally signed a contract, and the United Group acquired a wharf and a vacant land in Cam Ranh Bay for the development of civil aviation, although both indicated that they could not be used for military purposes, but it was still possible to moor warships once in a while - and that was enough for Contini!

On December 17th, the replenished Contini fleet pulled anchor and set sail, ready to cross the South China Sea to the city of Guangzhou, Chang Dashuai's wedding was scheduled for Christmas Eve on December 24, it is said that Chang Dashuai had announced his conversion to Christianity, Contini told him that his fleet would appear on time on the afternoon of December 21 near Guangzhou, and also said that he could fire a salute for Chang Dashuai's wedding with the newly obtained Nationalist Government Navy according to the highest specifications!

This one is not a light for Chang Dashuai......