Great warships

Chapter 436 Take the Suez Canal
"Your Excellency Mamish, I'm very sorry to disturb you." Qin Tao took Vitalia to a certain place and met his old friend.

When Mamish saw the guest in front of him, he certainly knew what the other party was doing, with a warm smile on his face: "Mr. Qin, you are very welcome. Do you need my help?"

"Your Excellency Mamish, you should have heard of it. Recently, our Mingzhou Group received a ship refit business and helped transport it along the way. It wanted to pass through the Suez Canal, but the management of the canal has always refused." Qin Qin Tao said: "For us, it would waste a lot of time and money if we made a detour, so if possible, we hope to take the Suez Canal."

"Of course I've heard about it." Mamish said, "You played the chicken man around in the Turk Strait, and the person in charge of that strait lost his job. You are really amazing."

"Your Excellency Mamish, it's inappropriate for you to say that. It's obvious that the other party deliberately made things difficult." Qin Tao said: "After all, it is an international waterway, which is different from here. The canal area here belongs to your side, so your The party has the right to decide whether to allow us to pass. We hope that you will provide us with this convenience."

"Your floating dock is too huge, and the Dongfang Maritime Blockade is installed on it. It is too huge, so it is really not easy to pass." Mamish said: "It's not that we don't provide convenience. , if something goes wrong and blocks the air route, it will be a big trouble."

Qin Tao nodded: "Yes, it is too huge, but oil tankers with hundreds of thousands of tons can pass through. Our ship is much easier to control than those oil tankers."

Oil tankers, container ships, etc., can pass through the canal, why can't our Shenzhou floating dock?It used to be an oil tanker and often traveled through the Suez Canal.

Hearing Qin Tao's words, Mamish shook his head helplessly: "Sorry, I really can't do anything about this."

What next?leave directly?How can that work? For Qin Tao, there is still a glimmer of hope, so he has to work harder.

Use the diesel-electric submarine ordered by the other party to make a fuss?Of course, this is not appropriate, after all, one size is one size.

After all, the situation here is different from that of the local chickens. It really passed through other people's land.

Vitalia looked at Qin Tao expectantly, and sure enough, Qin Tao lived up to his trust, he suddenly thought of something.

"Well, since you have difficulties, we will not force you. We cannot make things difficult for you." Qin Tao said, "Let's stop here. By the way, you have heard that there is no Arctic sea route? "

What Mamish didn't realize yet: "Arctic route? Are you talking about the American route?"

Starting from the Bering Strait, head eastward along the northern offshore waters of Alaska, the United States, through the Canadian Arctic Islands, until Davis Strait, so that a transportation task in the east-west direction of the Americas can be completed. This route is closer than detouring Panama Much, much more so, has been welcomed by the United States and Canada, and ships have gone this way during the northern hemisphere summer.

Qin Tao shook his head: "Of course not. I'm talking about the northeast air route. Go directly to the north of Damao, so that there will be the shortest air route directly connecting the two continents of Europe and Asia."

Mamish's face suddenly changed.

The reason why the Suez Canal can generate continuous profits is because, on the one hand, the main oil producing areas are nearby. It is most convenient to transport oil to Europe through the Suez Canal.On the other hand, there is a large demand for transportation from Asia to Europe.

There are four small dragons in the east, with huge markets and products, and their exchanges with Europe are very frequent. If you can take the Suez Canal, then this route is by far the most economical.

However, there are certainly routes that are closer than this route, such as going to the North Pole!
I can't look at the flat map. From the flat map, Lao Maozi's northern border is quite long. The map is distorted. The North Pole is clearly a point, but on that map, it is stretched a lot.

Looking at the globe, you can know how close it is from the north of Da Mao.

For example, from the island country to Germany, the Eurasian waterway through the Suez Canal is about 1.25 miles long, while the Arctic waterway is only about 0.93 miles long.The latter saves about ten days in transportation time than the former.

Therefore, the advantages of this route can be seen.

However, there are also disadvantages to this route.

"President Qin, the air route you mentioned was still feasible during the Red Empire era, but after the collapse of the Red Empire, they lacked enough funds to maintain the operation of the air route. Now, this air route is almost abandoned."

For Lao Maozi, this route is very important, so Lao Maozi has been maintaining it. Since 1935, even if the route has been opened up, Lao Maozi's cargo ships often travel between east and west. this route.

However, there are also problems.

There is no problem with a cargo ship sailing normally, but what about accidents?It is necessary to find a port to anchor nearby. Therefore, to set up a port along the way, at least there must be a rescue point to provide supplies and the like.

In other words, there must be a group of guaranteed bases in the permafrost at high latitudes.

Secondly, it is very cold there, and even in summer, the shipping routes will often freeze. Therefore, if you want to navigate, the ships need to have a certain ability to resist glaciers. Moreover, once they are frozen, they need the help of icebreakers.

In the era of the Red Empire, Lao Maozi built a lot of icebreakers, and even nuclear-powered icebreakers. There were four of them with a displacement of more than [-] tons. However, with the collapse of the Red Empire, these icebreakers became fewer and fewer.

Mamish does not believe that this route can work.

"It depends on who will host it." Qin Tao said: "We attach great importance to the Eurasian air route, so we Mingzhou Group hope to develop this air route in the future, and we also have unique advantages."

Sitting next to Qin Tao is Vitalia, her identity does not need to be hidden, as many people know it.

The two teamed up to develop this route, and it was really a success.

"In the future, when our Mingzhou Group builds ships, we will also manufacture ships with anti-ice capabilities to increase the ability to navigate in the Arctic. After all, the transportation of this route can greatly save costs. We believe that there is no road in the world. , when there are many people walking, it becomes a road. Whether it is on land or on the sea.”

Qin Tao's meaning is very clear.

We have already suffered a lot of grievances at the local chickens, and we are full of anger. If you are still pushing back and forth here, we will go around. We will look for new routes. Our Mingzhou Group has the strength, and we can work with Da Mao to develop the Arctic route.

At that time, do you still want to sit on the ground and collect money?Your profits will also be greatly reduced!
You know, one of the incomes of the Pyramid Kingdom is tourism, and the other is the canal!
If fewer ships pass through the canal, their income will be greatly reduced.

"Everyone in the world can see that the canal, which is only 300 meters wide, is a throat for shipping. Once there is a problem here, it will be a big problem. Therefore, there will definitely be people who want to find an alternative road." Qin Tao said: "Besides, as the global climate continues to warm, the ice there will gradually disappear, and it will become easier and easier to walk in the future. It just needs someone to open it first."

"President Qin, your idea is very important, and I will convey your idea to the canal management agency." Mamish said: "Please wait patiently."

"We only have one day to decide which route to take." Qin Tao said, "I hope we can receive good news from you tomorrow morning."

After finishing speaking, Qin Tao stood up: "We treat our friends very sincerely. We were all once the four ancient civilizations, and they are all states of etiquette."

They are also the four ancient civilizations. If you look at other people’s wishes for the country, they will come to help you. If you look at you, you just passed it. How can you be so uninteresting?Can we still be friends in the future?
Vitalia didn't speak during the whole process. She just kept smiling. Now, after she came out, Vitalia said, "Qin, you are so talented. It's the best way to threaten them with the Arctic route. If the words come out of your mouth, they have to believe it even if they don’t believe it.”

If someone else came to the Pyramid Country to show off, I am going to open up the Arctic sea route, and there will be fewer and fewer ships passing through you in the future, are you afraid?That would definitely be dismissed as a lunatic.

However, Qin Tao is different.

The Mingzhou Group led by Qin Tao is now very famous all over the world. Qin Tao said that he wants to open up the Arctic sea route, and it is really possible to succeed.

If this route is really opened up, there is no doubt that the last thing they want to see is the Pyramid Kingdom. Therefore, they must make some friendly gestures now, otherwise Qin Tao will be annoyed and can do anything come out.

"I really want to open up this route. For us, this route is too important." Qin Tao said: "Even if there is no such thing, we will design a batch of ships capable of sailing in the North Pole in the future." .”

Qin Tao is doing a lot of planning. He suggests building railways and oil pipelines directly to Gwadar Port, so that when necessary, land transportation can be used to avoid the throat of the Strait of Malacca. This is because there is no way to transport oil from oil areas. another way.

For the motherland, it will become a big manufacturing country in the future, and its exchanges with Europe will be very frequent. If it keeps going through the Suez Canal, it will also have to go to Malacca.

If you want to avoid Malacca, you can only open up the Arctic route. Therefore, this route must be taken in the future. Since it has to be taken, of course it must be planned in advance.

Hearing Qin Tao's words, Vitalia was a little curious. She didn't know what Qin Tao's intentions were for doing this. She thought for a while, and then said, "Then if the Pyramid Kingdom agreed to let us take the canal, we can still open up a sea route?"

Doesn't this wipe out the people of the Pyramid country?

Qin Tao smiled: "If they agree, then we can delay a few years."

Any promise is time-sensitive.Qin Tao promised to be late for a few years, of course it doesn't count. After all, the world is changing rapidly, and there are too many things that can be changed in a few years.

Vitalia smiled. Qin Tao is definitely a good hand when it comes to deceiving people. She continued: "I don't know if the Pyramid people will agree."

"Who knows, if you agree, it will be an unexpected surprise." Qin Tao is very optimistic.

Unexpectedly, the unexpected surprise really came.

The next day, the person in charge of the canal management department called in person and told them that the Shenzhou floating dock could pass through the canal, but they needed to sign a letter of commitment. Compensation will be made by Chuanglv Company.

This is of course what it should be. If the shipping route is blocked, a lot of money will be lost in one day, and the compensation must be compensated. The unlucky container ship in later generations got stuck in the middle of the canal, causing the canal to be blocked for three months. Hundreds of ships nearby Waiting to cross the river became a spectacular scene, and the shipowner later lost hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

Of course, that was just negligence.

Of course, the current Shenzhou will not make such a mistake.

A few days later, the huge combination finally moved to the Suez Canal.

The tugboat Nikola Chickel, finally changing direction for the first time, came to the rear of the combination.

This time, we really have to provide braking capability when needed. After all, even if we pass slowly at a speed of a few knots, once the ship goes sideways, it is still difficult to have time to react. You know, the narrowest part of the canal , only about 300 meters!

If the container ship in the later generations was all turned sideways, it would be blocked immediately.

At this time, on the Shenzhou, Yang Xin looked at the scene on both sides and felt very emotional: "This is the first time we have traveled the Suez Canal since the refit."

Although I have been to Lao Maozi to transport submarines before, since the destination is St. Petersburg, taking the Suez Canal does not save much road, and it will attract attention, so I simply detoured to the Atlantic Ocean.

This time I originally planned to go to the Atlantic Ocean, but I didn't expect to take a shortcut.

The people on the Dongfang Haiducheng above were even more moved. Looking out from the ship island, they could have a panoramic view of everything around them.

"Our perspective is absolutely unprecedented." Zhang Zhen said with emotion.

Even if the US aircraft carrier passes by, it is not so high. After all, their Dongfang Sea Blockade sits directly on the floating dock, which is eight or nine meters higher than their own sailing!
In addition, the island of this ship is already tall.

Although the rusty surface looks rough, as long as it is driven to the Mingzhou Shipyard, it will definitely look brand new.

Thinking that the ship is getting closer and closer to home, everyone is very excited.

There are also countless people on both sides of the strait watching, and their eyes are very complicated.

"Damn it, no matter what we do, we still haven't stopped this ship from sailing east." In a window, someone looked towards this side and clenched their fists.

"Yeah, we have only one way left, as long as we place a mine under the water and blow it up, we can stop it and make them suffer high compensation and go bankrupt," another person said.

Boom!
At this moment, the outside door was suddenly kicked open, and then, a group of people in uniform rushed in, each holding fire sticks: "You are now arrested by us because you are suspected of destroying the canal!"

"We didn't do anything!"

"Your accomplices who went to place the mines have been found by us, you guys who should go to hell!"

This kind of thing was carried out silently. Some gangs tried to destroy the canal to prevent this combination from passing through. The relevant departments of the Pyramid Kingdom also took action. After receiving the mysterious news, they quickly dispatched and indeed gained something.

For the safe return of the Dongfang Haicheng, I don't know how many people are silently paying.

Pass the narrowest Suez Canal, enter the Red Sea, pass through the Mandeb Strait, and enter the Gulf of Aden, which is like a trumpet.

Next, it's a smooth road.

The tugboat Nikola Chickel moved to the front and was still towing ahead. The sailors on board knew that the road ahead would be smooth, and they were very happy.

Little did they know, the danger was slowly approaching.

In the southern part of the Gulf of Aden, there is an endless desert area at a glance.

The waves beat against the beach, and then receded slowly. A mottled fishing boat was docked there. In the shadow of the fishing boat, several people squatted there, smoking cigarettes.

"Didi" heard the sound of a car horn in the distance. They looked up and saw a Toyota pickup truck driving over from the gravel, with countless yellow sand rolling up behind it.

"I'm coming!"

They stood up excitedly and threw away the cigarette butts in their hands.

"Abbas, did they really bring us something good?"

"Yes, Hassan, if they dare to lie, we will kill them and eat their flesh!" The young man named Abbas was very arrogant.

The pickup truck drove to the front, and two bodyguards in black suits got out of the car, protecting a middle-aged man with a big belly. The middle-aged man was smoking a cigar and looked very high-end.

"Mr. Nicholas, have you brought anything?"

"Yes, I brought you five AKs, [-] rounds of ammunition, and two RPGs. These things are enough for you to use. I wish you success." Nicholas said, winking at the people around him.

So, the bodyguard went to the pickup truck behind him and took out the things.

Abbas picked up the AK excitedly, and with a clatter, pulled the bolt.

The bodyguard's expression changed immediately, and he protected Nicholas behind him, while reaching into his arms to draw his gun.

Then, he saw Abbas point his gun at the sky and pull the trigger.

Chu Chu Chu!
The nozzle of the AK was blazing, and the sound was carried far away on the empty beach, and the shell casings kept being thrown from the side.

A magazine was just emptied!

These guys really are doing whatever they want, enjoy No.1!There were only [-] rounds of bullets in total, and [-] rounds were shot out in one fell swoop!

After Abbas finished playing, he was very excited and looked at Nicholas: "Very good, we are very satisfied with these things."

At this time, Hassan had also taken over an RPG, but instead of carrying it on his shoulders immediately, he poked the thing in the sand, then knelt down and kowtowed to it, still plausibly speaking, I don’t know what are you talking about.

There was contempt in Nicholas' eyes, these guys, do they think prayers can make this thing hit the target?

However, he quickly put away his contempt, he was here for something important.

"Abbas, an AK is 160 dollars, an RPG is [-] dollars, a total of [-] dollars, and the bullets are free." Nicholas said.

Hearing this, the expression on Abbas' face became complicated. Where does he have money?It is impossible to buy these things for tens of dollars abroad, but in this place, everything is possible.

There is also a cheaper one, of course, is to grab it for nothing.

Just as he was about to move, another person got off the pickup truck and put a machine gun on the cargo box of the pickup truck as if nothing had happened. So, Abbas immediately dispelled his unrealistic fantasy, he thought If you want to black eat black, you will be eaten by the other party in one bite, and there will be no residue left.

"If you don't have money, I can provide a way to make money." Nicholas continued.

"Really? What method?" Abbas asked quickly.

"The sea." Nicholas said: "Behind you is the sea. Your ancestors have been here for generations, but in recent decades, trawlers from all over the world have come here to fish, and they have caught everything in the sea. It's not fair that you fishermen from generation to generation have nothing to gain!"

"Yes, it is!" Hearing this, Hassan stood up after praying, with anger on his face.

In the past few decades, large foreign fishing boats have passed by continuously, taking all the sea fish by the way. If they can still fish, they will not be reduced to the current situation!
"This place originally belonged to you, but it was plundered by others. Do you want to take back what you lost?"

"Yes! But how are we going to do it?"

"Loot those boats!" Nicholas said: "The waterways near here are all yours, but no one has paid tolls. You should take the initiative to get them. You just need to take the small boats, step on those boats, and control those boats. With enough profits, a normal cargo ship can pay at least several million dollars in tolls, even tens of millions!"

Hearing this, Abbas opened his eyes wide.

That's right, why didn't I think that there is such a way to make money?There was hope in his eyes.

"You are protecting the interests of the country, and your behavior will inevitably be admired by more people. In the future, you will also need more weapons. You are welcome to continue to come to me. This first batch of weapons will wait until you succeed. It's not too late to give me money." Nicholas was very generous.

"Okay, let's go now, but we don't know which ship to attack!"

"If you want to succeed, you have to attack slow targets." Nicholas said: "Now, there is a floating dock, with the help of tugboats, coming from the Red Sea. If you attack it, you will be successful, and, The owner of the ship is very rich, and the boat is worth at least 2000 million US dollars, think about it, you can get 2000 million US dollars with one move!"

Abbas swallowed and said, "Okay, then we will attack this boat!"

Nicholas has a smile on his face, these things are nothing to him, what he wants is to hinder the sailing of that boat!

For this reason, even if I opened a Pandora's box, I would not hesitate!

(End of this chapter)