"Greystone, it looks like you're really right this time." Donald shook his head at Greystone and said, "Even if we don't do it, someone else does." Do you know who did this...... Forget it, this one is pointless. Anyway, it's a fight. Well, Uncle Scrooge is looking for you, and most likely will ask about our company's preparations for the war that will follow. ”

"Ah, then I'll go to him first. We'll talk about it when we're back later. Greystone replied, with a confident look on his face.

Greystone is indeed confident. Because the integration of steel, mining, shipbuilding and other enterprises, which were most important in the war, was basically completed before the outbreak of the war. Although some shipbuilding companies and mines still fell into the hands of Morgan because of the competition of the Morgan consortium, Greystone did not care too much. Because although these companies in Morgan's hands can also make money in the war, because Morgan's business field has been excessively focused on finance, they have always been inferior to MacDonald in terms of technical strength. Over the years, MacDonald's technical department, under the direct leadership of Scrooge, has demonstrated a high level of scientific efficiency. Over the years, MacDonald's key scientific research projects have almost never had serious mistakes in the technical route and market judgment. This allows MacDonald to make the most efficient use of almost every dollar he invests in research. With Morgan, research is much less efficient, and most research projects end up proving to be technically or cost-inviable, or simply not adapted to the needs of the market (of course, in fact, this is the normal state of research). On MacDonald's side, it's all Scrooge. Although Scrooge was born in science and engineering in his last life, no matter how good he is, it is impossible for him to memorize all kinds of technical parameters. However, as a traverser, he can judge whether a project has technical possibilities and whether it has a technical future based on the history of later generations. And when Morgan and his family were finally on the verge of completing a meaningful, lucrative research, the MacDonald consortium was always one step ahead, came up with something, and quickly erected patent barriers, so that Morgan's previous investment was completely lost.

In order to compete with MacDonald, Morgan even used the method of bribing spies to steal MacDonald's research materials. As a result, they succeeded in stealing information about the very tall wireless power transmission technology. Of course, because most of the power lines and stuff were in McDonald's hands, the technology was terminated after only completing the pre-research. Morgan Jr. thought that if they made additional investment in the development of this technology, they might be able to break the control of the MacDonald consortium over the grid in one fell swoop. The stakes were so great that Morgan Jr. gritted his teeth at the time and went ahead with the project, and the result was ...... The result is basically the word "hehe". It is said that the Morgan consortium has invested seven or eight million dollars in it, but it has not risked a single one. Some patents have been obtained, but few of them are useful, and these few useful patents, considering the current state of technology, their so-called usefulness will also be put in a few decades, and by that time, these patents have also expired.

In short, it is in the field of technology research that the Morgan consortium has been suppressed very badly by MacDonald. By now, he has basically given up the idea of fighting with McDonald.

Since they can't compare to MacDonald in terms of technical strength, once they are involved in manufacturing, Morgan's competitiveness is naturally not as good as MacDonald's. So, there was a little bit of a factory or something that fell into Morgan's hands, and Greystone didn't care too much.

Greystone walked into Scrooge's office, ready to report to Scrooge on his recent work.

"Dad, we've recently taken control of ......," Gladstone could finish his sentence when he was interrupted by a smile from Scrooge.

"Ah, son, I didn't come to you to find out about this. I'm reassured of you on this issue. I just want to find out, what's next for you? ”

"Dad, since the war has begun, I think both Britain and Germany will order all kinds of supplies from us. However, German business must be done quickly, because it is likely that the British will soon begin a total blockade of the Germans. "With the strength of the Germans, it may not be possible to break through the blockade of the British." At that point, the business will not be done. So I just got in touch with some Germans. Dad, you know, the Germans also had a merchant fleet, and today a lot of this merchant fleet is on the ocean. I think they came up with such a deal. ”

"What kind of deal, tell me about it?" Scrooge asked.

"I asked them to sell us this batch of merchant ships at a relatively low price, because once the British began to blockade the coast, these merchant ships of theirs were useless. Even if they could really get the ship back to Germany, what good would it be? Most of them will be expropriated by the German government. It is better to sell it to us cheaper, and let the money from the sale of the ship be deposited in our bank, or use the money to buy supplies directly from us, and we can pay for it in dollars, which are comparable to German banknotes in a state of war. Ticket stable. Gladstone said.

"Did they agree?" Scrooge asked.

Some agreed. But some people still don't have their heads open. Greystone said hatefully, "They don't want to do such a win-win business, they have to go to the British." ”

"Well, what do you have in mind with these people?" Scrooge asked again.

"I advise them to disperse their ships, so that if the British react quickly enough, and the blockade proceeds quickly enough, their losses will not be too great. Of course, once the British blockade began, they would probably have to sell their ships. But at that time, the price will only be more ......."

"When do you think the total blockade of Germany by the British will begin?" Scrooge asked.

"I talked to Donald and he thought the British fleet was not quite ready," said Greystone, "and it would take time for the fleet to go to war, and because of the pressure of the German High Seas Fleet." The High Seas Fleet had several battle cruisers that were now in the Atlantic. If you don't kill them, the British won't be able to sleep well. But the British Grand Fleet had to keep an eye on the German High Seas Fleet, and had to draw out its fleet to destroy the German battlecruisers that were acting as attack ships, and before the Germans were dealt with the battlecruisers, Donald and I both felt that it would be difficult for the British to immediately mobilize enough fleets to carry out the task of a complete blockade of merchant ships in a short period of time. ”

Gladstone will never hide Donald's credit, because he no longer needs to compete with Donald for inheritance, although as long as Scrooge is not fully retired, it cannot be said that there will be no accidents, but it can basically be said that the overall situation is decided. The most important thing for him now is to prove to the family that he is up to the position of the family's commander-in-chief. Although Greystone did not study military affairs specifically, Clausewitz's "On War" was also carefully studied. In addition to the requirements for ordinary generals, there is also a very important article for the commander-in-chief, that is, justice. If a commander-in-chief is biased when directing operations, and always thinks about taking advantage of things to let his descendants be on the line, and things that are at a loss should be miscellaneous, then it is absolutely not good to be a commander-in-chief. When Greystone usually chatted with Scrooge about these reading experiences, Scrooge also appreciated his views very much, and even said something that Glestone didn't understand too well, as if "Chang Kaishen is a negative example" or something. Scrooge even argues that for a supreme commander, the quality of impartiality may even be more important than technical ability.

"The lack of technical ability can be compensated for by an excellent staff team, but the lack of impartiality will inevitably lead to internal divisions, which cannot be remedied." That's what Scrooge seems to have said at the time.

"How long do you think it will take the British to start a full-blown lockdown?" Scrooge asked again.

"Dad, it's hard to say, the sea is so big, it's not easy to find a couple of battlecruisers. However, considering that the ports available to the Germans were very limited, and the self-sustaining power of the battle cruisers was also limited, we felt that one to two months should almost have some success, plus Italy occupied the side of the Entente, the British Mediterranean Fleet was freed up, and some warships could be provided, so that in about a month, the British should be able to complete a relatively tight blockade. Also, Dad, I've sent personnel to contact the French and sell them chemical suits that provide full body protection. and transfer mustard to them. Child. Gas technology. And I've already loaded a high-speed merchant ship with new chemical protective suits and headed for France, which is estimated to arrive in a week. We must arm the French with full-body chemical protective suits as soon as possible, lest they be quickly routed by the mustard gas of the Germans. ”

"You're doing the right thing." Scrooge said, "Is there any reaction from the French side now?" ”

"There's been no response yet." "Still, I'm sure they'll have the kind of reaction we're expecting." ”

At this time, the phone on Scrooge's desk rang, Scrooge reached out and picked up the receiver, and from it came the voice of his secretary Murphytos: "Mr. MacDonald, there are several French diplomats who are anxious to find Mr. MacDonald Jr., and they say that there is something very urgent. ”