Chapter 679

Any open secret was not a secret. Hoarding ordinary strategic materials and labeling it as aiding Russia was fine. Big things like warships could not be kept secret at all.

Finding a hidden port to secretly produce was a joke. Today was different from the past. Today's warships moved tens of thousands of tons and needed to mobilize a lot of manpower and material resources.

Unless Shinra closed the country, once the normal flow of goods reached a certain scale, it would be impossible to keep secrets.

Hiding it was just a child's way of thinking. In reality, it was impossible to do so.

The era of free trade accelerated the flow of goods and capital. At the same time, it created conditions for spies to lurk.

Since the signing of the Russian-Austrian Naval Agreement, the major shipyards in Shinra became the focus of spies.

Of course, it was impossible to enter directly to check. Such stupid spies had long been eliminated in the last century.

Now everyone had learned to attack from the side. For example, by counting the number of workers entering and leaving the shipyard every day, transport vehicles, and price fluctuations in the raw material market, they could analyze and draw conclusions.

Needless to say, the accuracy was not much higher than guessing riddles. The raw materials were transported in, but what were they used for? This was not something the outside world could know.

The shipyard not only built warships but also merchant ships. Even if it was building warships, it was also impossible to determine the specifications of warships to build.

Because of intelligence errors, Britannia had made wrong judgments more than once or twice. Except for a few real mistakes, most of the time it was deliberate mistakes by the Royal Navy.

Thinking back to the previous arms races, the Government of Vienna always had an ambitious warship building plan. Although there was no strong start and weak finish, the warship building time would be extended by "a little bit."

The same warship building plan was completed in two or three years and completed in more than ten years. It was a completely different concept.

Technology was constantly improving. For warships, the later they were built, the better the performance.

At a certain time, building warships seemed very impressive, but in fact, it was giving up the opportunity to optimize the performance of warships.

A fall into the pit, a gain in wisdom.

After being fooled many times, the Government of the United Kingdom also learned its lesson. No matter how serious the Royal Navy said, the Government of London had to investigate before deciding whether to follow up.

This time was no exception. After receiving the naval treaty signed by Russia and Austria, the Government of the United Kingdom immediately ordered – investigate.

…

Hamburg. Since the unification of the Holy Roman Empire, this ancient port city had become one of Shinra's shipbuilding centers.

Especially after Shinra formed the North Sea Fleet, Hamburg's importance was further increased and became the warship production and maintenance center of the North Sea Fleet.

Once their strategic position was raised, more people would pay attention to them. As a member of the Naval Intelligence Department, Kaba was stationed in the Free City of Hamburg to collect information on the construction of warships by the Shenluo Navy.

Without a doubt, compared to the vast majority of his peers, Ka Ba was in charge of collecting information on the construction of warships. This was definitely a good job.

Unlike ordinary people, Ka Ba did not go directly to the shipyard. Instead, he chose to open a coffee shop in the steel wholesale market.

In the beginning, Ka Ba was still very serious about recording the information and analyzing it carefully. In the end, because of his misjudgment, the information he submitted was inaccurate, and he was severely criticized by his superiors.

After a few consecutive failures, Ka Ba, who had suffered a setback, started to slack off. The risk of making.. Early was. of. of Hamburg. Dong.. Hamburg.

The news was a little late, but it was 100% accurate. No matter how slow it was, it was faster than the London newspaper, right?

Although Kabba didn't receive praise, he didn't receive criticism. After realizing that in the eyes of his superiors, not making any mistakes was a merit, Ka Ba's fighting spirit was completely gone.

Benefiting from the rapid economic development of Shinra, Kabba didn't have much success in intelligence gathering. Instead, the coffee shop business was booming.

If it weren't for the fact that the Naval Intelligence Division still gave him a subsidy and required him to report information every once in a while, he would have probably forgotten that he was an intelligence officer.

Unfortunately, things always turned out contrary to one's wishes. Just when Ka Ba didn't want to work hard, his superior gave him an order.

In theory, if the Russian-Austrian naval treaty was real, for the convenience of delivery, the warship should be built in the north.

As an intelligence officer stationed in Hamburg, the order Kaba received was to find out if the local shipyards had accepted the construction of warships and the specifications of the warships.

In short, the more detailed the information, the better. As for how to get the information, it was the intelligence officer's job. His superiors didn't care.

Closing the Bible and burning the translated notes, Ka Ba's face was full of bitterness.

After being in Hamburg for so many years, he didn't waste his time. Naturally, there were people who were offline, but they were never used.

To be precise, these people who had gone offline did not even know when they had become British intelligence agents. His relationship with Ka Ba was just that of an ordinary friend.

The only difference was that most of these people were shipyard staff or people who could enter and leave the shipyard for various reasons.

Well, it was just to get a little more salary. Those who worked in the intelligence field usually communicated through a single line. London had no idea how many people there were under them.

Even if they wanted to verify it, it would cause the identity of the hidden personnel to be exposed. Those who were a little more clever would get a few more salaries.

Fake it together, then crematorium afterwards.

Now, Kabba felt like he was rushing to the "crematorium". Perhaps because of his outstanding performance, his superiors overestimated his ability and issued this order that was almost impossible to complete.

Did the shipyard in Hamburg accept the task of building warships?

Without thinking, Kabba could answer – yes. Every year, there would be warship orders. The only difference was the size of the order.

It wasn't difficult to even figure out the number of warships built. There would always be clues from the surroundings.

The trouble was to figure out the specifications of the warships. This thing couldn't be done. It was estimated that before the parameters were known, the police would come to the door first.

Not to mention the outside, even the shipyard workers didn't know the specific parameters of the warships. Before the warships were launched, the number of people who knew was in the single digits. If you wanted to bribe someone, you would know where to start.

No matter how difficult it was, Kabba had to investigate. This was a death order.

After receiving the salary of the Marine Intelligence for so many years, now that it was time to shed blood for Britannia, how could he be allowed to retreat.

Looking at his sleeping wife and children, Kabba sighed helplessly. He couldn't hide. No organization would be soft on traitors.

A sleepless night.

The next day, Kabba forced himself to pick up the abandoned old business and began to pay attention to the vehicles coming in and out.

Unfortunately, today was different from the past. With the vigorous development of the maritime industry, the shipbuilding industry also rose.

The most prominent was the demand for steel. The Hamburg Steel Wholesale Center had thousands of tons of steel coming in and out every day, most of which flowed into the shipyard.

Today, civil merchant ships also used a lot of steel. It was no longer appropriate to judge whether to build warships purely from the consumption of steel.

The most taboo in intelligence work was impetuous. After all, he had received professional training, and Kabba's mentality was still very calm.

…

Holding his little son and playing with him for a while, Kabba pretended to be calm and said, "My dear, there is a reception in the evening. I need to socialize. You don't have to leave me any food."

In the past, he took his wife with him to such social events. But not now. He resumed his old business, and Kabba didn't want to involve his family.

Although there were some doubts, his wife looked at the child and didn't say anything. She just said, "Come back early, don't drink too much."

"Got it."

Kabba replied.

The relationship between middle-aged couples was often so simple and unpretentious. It was just a few simple words, but it was filled with endless concern.

Driving the car slowly out, Kabba's heart was not calm. Although Hamburg was a free city, it didn't mean that Shinra's anti-espionage ability was weak.

Everyone knew that it was a crucial moment in the battle between Shinra and Britannia. If they won, everyone would enjoy the dividends together. If they lost, they would have to suffer together.

In a sense, it was also the most united time in the Holy Roman Empire. All social strata were waiting to receive Britannia's inheritance.

The free city was no exception. Many people who missed out on the great development of Shinra were rubbing their fists, ready to make a big show in this last wave.

Under such a big background, the life of spies was naturally not easy. Once the slightest clue was exposed, it could be taken away by others at any time to exchange for credit.

In the Holy Roman Empire, meritorious service could be accumulated. No one would complain about having too much of it.

No matter how good a friend was, they couldn't resist the temptation of benefits, especially when it involved the interests of the country and the nation.

As night fell, the banquet also began. Kabba, who was absent-minded, held his glass motionlessly as if he was in a trance.

"Bang."

The sound of glasses clinking brought Kabba back to the real world. He heard a familiar voice.

"What's wrong, my friend? You don't seem to be in a good state of mind today. Are you in trouble? "

Kabba looked at the person and replied calmly, "It's nothing. I just didn't sleep well last night, so I'm not in a good state today.

I'm not like before. Once I get older, I don't have the energy to do anything.

Back then, I could stay awake after staying up for three days and three nights. Now, I can't even last one night.

By the way, White. What have you been busy with recently? I haven't seen you for a long time. "

After such an interruption, White was embarrassed to get to the bottom of the matter. "Then you have to take care of yourself. We can't afford to toss and turn when we're middle-aged.

Look at me, I don't forget to take a vacation no matter how busy I am. Recently, the shipyard's missions are getting more and more urgent. I still have to take some time out to relax. "

The speaker didn't mean it, but the listener was interested.

The phrase "the shipyard's missions are urgent" made Kabba think of many things. However, he knew that this seemingly carefree friend of his would be absolutely tight-lipped when it came to confidentiality.

In order not to arouse suspicion, Kabba pretended to be an amateur and probed, "Don't worry, I know how to take care of my body. If it weren't for the child, I wouldn't have lost sleep.

On the other hand, you have a heavy workload, so give it to your apprentices.

It just so happens that young people need opportunities to train. Give them more opportunities, and you can also relax.

Don't be so nervous that you don't even participate in your daily activities. "

White also wanted to do the same thing by giving the work to his apprentices. Everyone wanted to be a hands-off boss, but unfortunately, the reality was cruel.

Students who just graduated from school had no work experience. White didn't feel at ease giving important tasks to these fledgling kids.

White rolled his eyes and made a helpless expression. "Do you think it's making coffee? Anyone can do it.

My job is to build the most advanced ships in the world. Every technology and every plan used was verified and deliberated many times before it was finally decided.

Not to mention those kids, even an old engineer like me can only follow along and be in charge of some simple processes most of the time.

… "

Without waiting for White to finish, Kabba interrupted, "Don't talk about it. There is no point in talking to me about these professional things.

If we have the time, we might as well research … "

He ended the topic prematurely. That was the information that could be found out. Now that he knew everything, White would not say anything deeper.

Instead of taking the risk of being exposed, it was better to stop and continue to play the role of a coffee shop owner.

As for the task, the in-depth interpretation of the conversation was enough to write a report.

After being friends for so many years, Kabba had some understanding of White's position in the shipyard.

Although he wasn't one of the top people, he was definitely a core engineer. White independently presided over the construction of most ships.

As a core engineer, there was only one situation – the construction of a warship, and not an ordinary warship.

After confirming the construction site of a super battleship, this information was enough to last them for a while. As for the specific parameters, it could be said "not yet determined."

This wasn't a joke. At the beginning of the construction of many warships, the parameters and performance were only known by the designers and senior executives of the Navy. The shipyard engineers made a rough judgment based on their experience.

Experience was undoubtedly unreliable. Shipbuilding technology was advancing. The same size of warships often had a huge difference in displacement.

When it came to tonnage utilization, even if it was only a few percent increase, the final parameters of the warship would be completely different.

Kabba could responsibly say that even if he found a professional to analyze and judge, the accuracy wouldn't be much higher than him.

After returning home, Kabba scratched his head and pondered for a while. Then, he wrote down on the paper that Kelut Shipyard seemed to have received an order for a super battleship, with a displacement of about "25000 to 28000 tons."

After pausing for a moment, Kabba crossed out the displacement judgment, leaving only a suspected super battleship.

The information couldn't be submitted all at once. Only by doing it slowly could they let their superiors know the hardships of the frontline.

Kabba didn't want to get a lot of bonuses. He just wanted to take fewer tasks to reduce the risk of exposure so he could safely retire.

As for the "intelligence elite" who was often praised internally, it seemed that they were indeed glorious and promising, but Kabba knew that these intelligence stars would change every once in a while.

Although there was no explanation, Kabba also knew what was going on. It was nothing more than working too hard and being exposed in the process of collecting intelligence.

As an organization that couldn't be seen, once the identity of the intelligence personnel was exposed, not only did it mean the failure of the mission, but it also meant the end of their lives.

If it was a small or weak country, with the name of Britannia, it was possible to be fished out.

If it fell into the hands of a big country, unless it met a boss with a conscience, it might be possible to return to China during the exchange of intelligence personnel. Otherwise, it would be a problem of when to step into the gates of hell.

In his many years of intelligence career, Kabba had seen too much cruelty in the world. He didn't want to hand his fate to others.

…

There were idle intelligence personnel, but there were also hard-working intelligence personnel. With an order from the Government of London, several major intelligence organizations in Britannia became active.

Specifically, in recent times, the number of spies arrested by the Shinra police reached new highs.

Facts once again proved the truth of "the more you do, the more mistakes you make."

Not to mention at the beginning of the 20th century, even in the 21st century, it was very easy for spies to lurk.

It could be said that as long as they didn't cause trouble, there was no way to identify who was a spy. There was often only one reason to be exposed, and that was "moving."

Where there was effort, there would be returns. Although many of the intelligence personnel had been exposed, it was still worth it when compared to the information that had been sent back.

Downing Street, in the Prime Minister's residence.

Looking at the intelligence gathered from all over the world, Prime Minister Campbell's face became more and more ugly.

The most worrying situation still happened. Shinra did begin to build ships like crazy, but the number of super battleships built was not the eight on the surface, but 13.

The authenticity of this number could not be verified for a while. But whether it was eight or 13, once so many super battleships entered service, it would break Britannia's sea power advantage.

Shinra was different from Britannia. As a land power country, as long as there was a 50% chance, the Government of Vienna dared to play at sea.

If they won the bet for world hegemony, if they lost the bet, they could just work hard in the Mediterranean for five years and fight a second battle.

This was absolutely unacceptable for Britannia. Not to mention the defeat of the Royal Navy, even if both sides suffered losses, Britannia would fall from heaven to hell.

After confirming that Shinra began to destroy warships, there was only one choice left for the Government of the United Kingdom – follow up.

Not only did they have to follow up, but they also had to build more warships to protect the dominant position of the Royal Navy.

As for the Russian-Austrian Naval Agreement, Campbell treated it as a fart. Even if the agreement was true, the Government of Vienna would fulfill it according to the agreement.

But once the war for world hegemony broke out, the Shinra Navy could also be requisitioned first and then handed over to the Russians after the war. Could the Tsarist government say "no"?