readytorunbook Chapter 154: Transport
Chapter 154: Transport
Thirty minutes later, Zhang Wenwu and Taylor finally agreed on the transaction price. After friendly negotiations, Zhang Wenwu purchased the brand new P-36 aircraft for US$140. Since Zhang Wenwu used gold to settle the payment, after Taylor's calculations, Zhang Wenwu needed to give him taels of gold.
Zhang Wenwu came to Cao Huaguo's room and asked him to take out fourteen large yellow croakers and pack them for him. Then he took the gold back to the office and gave it to Taylor for inspection.
Looking at the big gold bars shining in front of him, Taylor's heart beat faster. After verifying that they were real gold, Taylor happily put seven of them into the briefcase he brought with him. The other seven would need to be given to Zhang Wenwu after he had checked the aircraft parts box and delivered the goods.
"Major Zhang, I have to say that you are really an amazing person. You came up with such a crazy rescue plan before, and now you can come up with so much gold to buy a plane. It's incredible to think about it." Taylor is still a little overwhelmed. He feels that all this is like a dream.
Zhang Wenwu was in a good mood, so he chatted with Taylor and Smith. After Taylor said goodbye and left, Zhang Wenwu said to Smith who was waving at Taylor: "Major Smith, don't you want to earn some pocket money?"
After hearing what Zhang Wenwu said, Smith's waving arms froze in mid-air. After a while, he slowly put down his arms, shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "Major Zhang, I don't have anything to sell to you anymore. You should consider Taylor." He also wanted to make money, but he couldn't sell everything in the British warehouse. What would the British army use then?
"Oh, Major Smith, I think you must be interested in my proposal below, I promise." Zhang Wenwu said mysteriously to Smith.
In his heart, Smith had been persuading himself not to let Zhang Wenwu say that damned and poisonous proposal, but he could not resist the temptation of making money and couldn't help but say: "What proposal?"
"Major Smith, don't you think that there is a very important link missing in the deal between me and Captain Taylor?" Zhang Wenwu began to ask Smith questions. He was trying to get Smith involved in another way.
Smith was stunned. What important link was missing? He began to think seriously and hard. Suddenly, he thought of it, and then he said happily as if he had guessed the riddle: "Oh, I thought of it, Major Zhang, your deal with Captain Taylor is indeed still missing an important link, that is, how can you transport this new plane back to your Air Force department, although it is still in the state of a pile of parts." After giving the answer, Smith looked at Zhang Wenwu with a smug look on his face, and he almost asked Zhang Wenwu for a little red flower.
Zhang Wenwu nodded in agreement, then smiled at Smith and said, "Major Smith, you are right, but I have already figured out how to transport the plane back. This is why you are going to make money."
Smith is a little confused now. If you want to transport it to some place in the concession, I can definitely do it myself. But you want to transport a plane out of Shanghai, and it has to pass through the war zone to the rear of the Chinese army. How can you possibly do it yourself?
"Major Zhang, I don't quite understand. Can you explain it to me?" Smith thought about it and couldn't figure out how to transport the plane out, so he humbly asked Zhang Wenwu for an answer.
Zhang Wenwu lit a cigarette, took two puffs, and then said, "Major Smith, I don't want you to transport this plane. You can contact people who can do it, for example, the British Royal Navy, which has a great and glorious history." After saying this, Zhang Wenwu smiled and blinked at Smith.
Smith looked at Zhang Wenwu in amazement. He now understood that Zhang Wenwu wanted to use British warships to cross the crossfire zone and the Japanese blockade, and then transport the planes by water to the rear of the Chinese army. It must be said that Zhang Wenwu's bold idea was really feasible, because Zhang Wenwu had a prerequisite for success, that is, money.
Yes, Zhang Wenwu is too rich. He can buy an airplane with fourteen large gold bars. Then he can use the gold bars in his hands to make the great British Royal Navy's warships serve him. Which captain doesn't love gold, especially gold that is so easy to make? It's just a simple cruise training mission, and he can make so much money. As for the Japanese blockade line and war zone, please, do the Japanese dare to fire at the great British Royal Navy?
"Major Zhang, how much money are you prepared to spend to accomplish this? I know all the captains in the Huangpu River. I think as long as the price is right, they should be very happy to let their warships do a cruise training along the Yangtze River." Smith told Zhang Wenwu directly that as long as you pay the money, everything else will not be a problem. As long as you don't let them fire at the Japanese army, he can assist with everything else.
After hearing what Smith said, Zhang Wenwu said directly: "Major Smith, you need to talk to the captain you are familiar with. I am willing to provide 40 taels of gold, which is four large yellow croakers, for this cruise training. In addition, I will give you a small yellow croaker, which is five taels of gold. How about it?"
When Smith heard that Zhang Wenwu was so generous and that he could get five taels of gold just by pulling the strings, his face immediately flushed with excitement. He lit up his cigar and took a few puffs, then looked at Zhang Wenwu and said, "Major Zhang, you are my good friend. I will definitely help you with the transportation. Don't worry, I will be able to determine which warship will be lucky enough to complete the mission tomorrow."
The next afternoon, Smith told Zhang Wenwu with a happy face that he had contacted the British Royal Navy's destroyer "Duncan". After Zhang Wenwu and Taylor completed the transaction, the warship would deliver the goods to the destination according to Zhang Wenwu's requirements.
When Zhang Wenwu heard Smith say that the transportation had been arranged, he immediately asked Smith to contact Taylor. He needed to go to the warehouse of the United States Marine Corps to inspect the goods.
At 11 o'clock that evening, Smith drove Zhang Wenwu to the U.S. Marine Corps camp in Shanghai. Captain Taylor was already waiting for them at the gate of the camp. As soon as Smith's car arrived, Captain Taylor asked the guards to open the roadblocks. Then he jumped into Smith's jeep and drove them to the warehouse where the aircraft were stored.
"Major Zhang, this is the new P-36 fighter you purchased." Taylor said, pointing to a pile of wooden boxes of different sizes.
Zhang Wenwu's first reaction when he saw the pile of wooden boxes was: what a mess. But he could also tell the fuselage boxes from the wing boxes by their size. However, he was still quite confident in Taylor. He was not going to make a fake plane to deceive him. If that happened, the first person who would not let him go would be Smith, because it would directly affect his business dealings with Smith. Besides, there was no need for them to deceive him. They were all waiting to do more business with Zhang Wenwu and make more money.
"Captain Taylor, thank you for selling me a brand new P-36 aircraft. However, I see that you have more than one aircraft of this type." Zhang Wenwu found that there were many similar wooden boxes in the warehouse. Judging from the number of these boxes, there were at least two aircraft parts of the same model here.
"Oh, yes, Major Zhang, you are very observant. There are still two P-36 aircraft parts in this warehouse. But I can't sell them all to you. You know, we have only shipped three of the latest P-36 aircraft. If I sell them all to you, the two pilots in our barracks will not agree." Taylor quickly cut off Zhang Wenwu's idea.
Zhang Wenwu nodded. He felt it was a pity that America let the plane just lie in the warehouse. It would be better for them to sell it to him. If possible, he would like to buy the pilot as well.
Zhang Wenwu told Taylor to wait for his phone call, and then Taylor would be responsible for transporting all the planes to the designated dock. Once there, he would pay the remaining balance on the spot. Taylor said there was no problem and he could proceed with the transaction at any time according to Zhang Wenwu's request.
After returning to the British Consulate, Zhang Wenwu came to Smith's office. He asked Smith to call Rick and ask Rick to help contact Deputy Minister Chen. He also asked Deputy Minister Chen to call Smith's office. He had to contact Deputy Minister Chen, otherwise even if he bought the plane, he would not know where to transport it.
Rick acted very quickly. He called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China directly and asked them to notify Deputy Minister Chen to call the military attaché's office of the British Consulate in Shanghai. He did not say what the matter was, just that it was related to the military exchanges between the two countries. When the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China heard this, they wondered when the British attached so much importance to the Chinese army that they actually took the initiative to propose exchanges. They did not dare to delay and reported the matter to the Military Commission. The Military Commission was now overwhelmed by the war in Shanghai. After suddenly receiving the news from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they were a little puzzled, but they immediately sent a telegram to notify Deputy Minister Chen who was at the Suzhou War Zone Command.
When Deputy Minister Chen received the telegram, he didn't understand what it meant. In order to communicate smoothly with the British, he specially found an officer who could speak English in the headquarters to serve as a temporary translator.
Deputy Minister Chen finally got through to the British Consulate in Shanghai, but when they knew it was him who called, the voice of a foreigner speaking English turned into a Chinese voice: "Hello, Chief Chen. I am Zhang Wenwu from the Quartermaster Department of the 102nd Division of the th Army. I am reporting to you. I have something important to report to you."
After listening to Zhang Wenwu's report, Deputy Minister Chen was stunned on the spot. Zhang Wenwu was too awesome. He could even mobilize the British to use warships to do things for him. Who would believe it if he told others about it?