Problems with transport ships...... Seems like a big problem. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

"I don't want bulk carriers." Qin Lang emphasized in an accentuated tone, and was still gently knocking on the table, "It must be a passenger ship." ”

He only wanted a passenger liner - only a passenger ship could provide an adequate supply of lifeboats. Of course, this is not for escape, but because the mercenaries may have to fight a landing battle in the Philippines, and the number of small boats directly determines the total number of mercenaries who land on the beach at the first time, which is a military issue that cannot be ignored.

Qin Lang needs a passenger ferry.

But......

"Whether it's Shanghai, Hong Kong or Zhanjiang, most ocean-going ships are bulk carriers, and the number of cruise ships is very small." A retired Navy lieutenant, a military adviser who coordinates maritime transport, replied, looking helpless.

It's not something he's capable of solving. In the past, present and future, the main business scope of the maritime industry has always been the transportation of goods, and the number of cargo ships far exceeds that of passenger ships on any known route...... And passenger ships also have cargo holds, even for luxury cruise ships.

At the end of the 19th century, there was no room for the slow-moving, tourist-operated supercruise ships.

Of course, this has nothing to do with Qin Lang's problem, and even the number of passenger ships is too scarce. "We only need ten...... Twenty passenger liners at most, Major Statham, I don't think this matter is difficult. He was a little confused, at least on his face, he did.

"Actually, it is, sir."

In fact, one thing must be clear: England, France, Japan, Italy...... Of course, there were steamship companies from other countries that would never get involved in the war between the United States and Spain. Even if their countries support the United States, or even if they all support the United States, directors and bosses have to worry about the safety of their ships and crews. And there is no doubt that European countries and Japan will certainly oppose the declaration of war by the United States on Spain.

So, Umbrella can only hire American passenger liners, so the choice of ships is reduced to a small range, but that's not all the trouble. The second problem is that the vast majority of the passenger ships that Qin Lang can choose from are not in East Asia. They're either in the Pacific Ocean or in some port on the West Coast.

"We can only hire seven passenger ships, one of which is in Tokyo, two in Shanghai, one in Hong Kong and the remaining three in Zhanjiang." Major Statham flipped through his folders, word by word, slowly, clearly—his style, but no one else liked it.

"Seven is simply not enough." Harrington couldn't wait to make a pessimistic remark, which was followed by a warning glare from him.

"Thanks, Lieutenant Colonel, we are all well aware of this." After speaking, Qin Lang turned his gaze to the Navy Lieutenant Commander again, "What about the passenger ship that is about to arrive at the port?" ”

Statham slowly flipped to the next page. "According to the results of my consultation with shipping companies, six passenger ships will arrive in the Far East in the next three weeks."

Seven plus six? Seems to be barely enough. "Major, thirteen ......"

"Not thirteen, but five, sir." The Navy Lieutenant interrupted Qin Lang, and then reported a bad news that was enough to make people angry, "I have made some inquiries, eight of the thirteen passenger ships have been scheduled, and the steamship company is not willing to cancel the flight, unless we are willing to pay a high rental. ”

"How much?" Rachel asked. She is always very sensitive to prices.

Statham was still slowly flipping through his papers, not caring at all about the anxious gaze coming from beside him. Of course, the way he speaks hasn't changed. "I inquired about the rental price of one of the passenger ships. ' Isabella's, with 800 beds and a capacity of 1,650 tons, was required by the steamship company to pay a deposit of $15,000 and $2,500 per day for rent, and the charter was to be counted from the day after the contract was signed. ”

Qin Lang suddenly laughed and turned to Rachel, Yi Shui, O'Connor, and Duncan. "Someone is planning to ransack us."

"I'll teach those idiots a lesson." Rachel replied fiercely.

However, this does not help to solve the current problem.

Qin Lang continued to laugh. "Do you think the Senate will accept our bills?"

The answer is no. "No, it won't."

At the price of the "Isabella", it would cost at least a million dollars to charter eight passenger ships, because Umbrella would have to sign the contract now. Unfortunately, this is only an ideal extrapolation, and in reality, the steamship company will certainly raise the charter fees for the other five passenger liners.

Congress will never approve that damn bill.

"We're going to have to find another way." Qin Lang put away his smile.

"We should have chartered the transport ship in advance." A military adviser said Major Nolasco, an army officer, who was born into a family of professional soldiers and knew nothing about business.

So his remarks caused a suppressed laugh among the military advisers. Even without considering how late this advice comes, who would rent something in advance that won't be available for months? And the rent will not be reduced by a penny, but will be much more - let the shipping companies vacate their passenger ships, and they will not be able to operate normally for months, and the bosses must have broken their brains if they don't hammer it out.

"Don't expect patriotism to play much of a role in such things." If patriotism really worked, the steamship company wouldn't have charged such high rents, "and how are you going to let the company negotiate?" Qin Lang continued, "Tell the steamship company that our mercenaries will take their passenger ship to participate in a landing battle in a few months?" ”

He couldn't divulge the secret, he couldn't, he still can't—though every American was calling on the government to declare war on Spain, but it couldn't be used as a reason until Washington actually did. Whether anyone believes is one thing, and if it causes a diplomatic dispute, then it is another trouble.

Moreover, Umbrella is a commercial company, and the steamship company is also a profitable commercial organization, and the only thing that two pure commercial organizations can do is business. But since it's a business, signs like "Washington" or "important mission from the state" don't work at all.

"Are there any other ideas?"

"Why don't you use a freighter?" Duncan gestured, "Freighters are easy to find, there are no schedules, and the rent is not high...... Oh, I think you'll all remember that every week a ship carrying cotton arrives in Zhanjiang......"

"Thanks, Duncan, we all know about it." Qin Lang interrupted him, "But the bulk carrier does not meet the operational requirements. ”

"What do you mean?"

"The bulk carrier did not have enough lifeboats to act as landing craft." Rear Admiral Statham explained.

"Oh...... That's a problem. Duncan had no idea about landing operations and couldn't figure out the lifeboats...... What could a landing craft do, but since a major said he needed them, he could only answer with a shrug of nonchalance.

However, less than a minute later, before the others could begin to speak, he added: "Since you only need lifeboats on passenger ships, why don't you just charter them...... Or simply buy it? I think it should be easy. ”

The military advisers began to exchange glances and whisper to each other.

"This proposal is feasible." After a while, Statham announced that "the steamship company is willing to lease the lifeboats on board to us......"

"It sounds like, 'This proposal lacks viability.'" Rachel muttered as he spoke. Duncan rolled his eyes, but finally decided to ignore her.

"Personally, I think it's almost impossible to do." Statham didn't heed Rachel's whispered ridicule, which had nothing to do with him, and continued: "Once a passenger ship without a lifeboat sinks at sea, it will be a very serious shipwreck......

"That doesn't seem to have anything to do with us?" Major Nolasco's tone was full of uncertainty. It is the shadow left by the ridicule of the suggestion just now.

"It's about us." The directors and bosses of the steamship companies were not fools willing to take full responsibility, and there were also lend-lease contracts as evidence. Although War Company has always lacked a good public image, Qin Lang will not take risks if it may involve judicial disputes.

Duncan thought for a moment and defended his suggestion: "Those passenger liners are not necessarily going to sink......

However, he misunderstood what Qin Lang meant. In fact, Qin Lang just wanted to say: "We bypassed the steamship company and traded directly with the captain of the passenger ship." ”

The Lieutenant General was a little hesitant. "But ......"

"Relax." Qin Lang said. Before a passenger liner sinks, no one cares how many lifeboats there are on board – passengers, crew or bosses; But if a passenger liner sinks in the Pacific Ocean, no one knows where her lifeboat has gone – of course, even if someone who knows the secret survives, it will be easy to make up for it.

As soon as it was decided to solve the problem of landing craft in such a way, the rest became easy, only about the rent of a freighter, but that would undoubtedly be much cheaper than the rent of a passenger ship.

The discussion continued for a while, after which the military advisers left, and new instructions were conveyed to the senior employees responsible for solving the problem.

Qin Lang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Maybe we should build a couple of landing ships." Then he suggested to.

"Maybe we shouldn't waste money." Rachel objected, and then interjected. "When are you going to go?" You should know that time is running out. ”

"Don't worry." Qin Lang laughed, "I found a boat that is fast enough. (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )