Any open secret, that's not a secret. It is enough to hoard ordinary strategic materials and label them as aid to Russia. Big guys like warships cannot keep secrets at all.
Find a hidden port, secret production is a joke. Today's time is different from the past. Today's battleships move tens of thousands of tons, and a lot of manpower and material resources need to be mobilized.
Unless Shinra is in seclusion, otherwise, once the normal flow of goods is on a large scale, it cannot be kept secret at all.
Hidden and tucked, that's all a child's idea. In reality, it's simply impossible to do.
In the era of free trade, the circulation of commodities and capital has been accelerated, and conditions have also been created for spies to lurk.
Since the signing of the Russian-Austrian naval agreement, Shinra's major shipyards have become the focus of spies.
It is naturally impossible to directly look inside. Such a stupid spy was eliminated long ago in the last century.
Now everyone has 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, and draw conclusions through analysis.
Needless to say, the accuracy rate is not much higher than that of guessing riddles. The raw materials were shipped in, but what they were used for is not known to the outside world.
Shipyards not only build warships, but also commercial ships. Even if it is to build warships, it is also impossible to determine what specifications of warships to build.
Because of intelligence mistakes and wrong judgments, Britain has not experienced it once or twice. Except for a few occasions when it was a real mistake, more often it was a deliberate error by the Royal Navy.
Looking back at the previous arms races, the Vienna government has an ambitious shipbuilding plan every time. Although there is no anticlimactic, the shipbuilding time will be extended by "a hundred million points".
The same shipbuilding plan, completed in two or three years and completed in more than ten years, is a completely different concept.
Technology is constantly improving. The later the warship is built, the better the performance.
At a certain period of time, building warships together seems to be very majestic, but in fact it gave up the opportunity to optimize the performance of warships.
learn from mistakes.
It has been fooled many times, and the British government has learned its lesson. No matter how serious the Royal Navy said, the London government must first investigate and decide whether to follow up.
This time is no exception. After receiving the naval treaty signed by Russia and Austria, the British government immediately ordered an investigation.
…
Hamburg, an ancient port city since the reunification of the Holy Roman Empire, has become one of the shipbuilding centers of the Holy Roman Empire.
Especially after Shinra established the North Sea Fleet, the importance of Hamburg has been further increased, and it has become the production and maintenance site of the North Sea Fleet.
The strategic position has gone up, and the attention will be more. As a member of the Naval Intelligence Service, Kabbah was posted to the Free City of Hamburg to collect information on the construction of the Shinra Navy's warships.
There is no doubt that, compared with most of his peers, Kabbah is responsible for collecting information on the construction of warships, which is definitely a beautiful job.
Unlike ordinary people, Kaba did not go directly to the shipyard, but chose to open a cafe in the steel wholesale market.
At the beginning, Kabbah was still very serious about recording the data and carefully studying and analyzing it. As a result, due to misjudgment, the submitted information was distorted, and was approved by the superiors.
After several consecutive failures, Kabbah, who was hit, also slowed down. It is too risky to make a judgment in advance, so simply wait for the warship to be launched before reporting.
The message did lag a little bit, but it was 100 percent accurate. Besides, no matter how slow it is, it is faster than a London newspaper, isn't it
Although he has not been praised, Kabbah has not been criticized. After realizing that in the eyes of his superiors, no fault is merit, Kabbah's fighting spirit was completely lost.
Benefiting from the rapid development of Shinra's economy, Kabbah did not make much achievements in intelligence collection, but instead, the business of the cafe he ran was booming.
If it weren't for the fact that the Naval Intelligence Office still issued a subsidy and needed to report news every once in a while, it is estimated that he would almost forget that he was an intelligence officer.
It's a pity that things always backfire. When Kaba didn't want to work hard, the order from the superior came.
In theory, if the Russian-Austrian naval treaty is true, in order to facilitate delivery, most of the warships should be built in the north.
As an intelligence officer stationed in Hamburg, Kabbah received an order to find out several local shipyards, whether they have undertaken the construction of warships, and the specifications of warships.
In short, the more detailed the information, the better. As for how to get the information, that is the matter of the intelligence personnel below, and the superiors don't care at all.
After closing the Bible and burning the translated note, Kabbah's face was full of bitterness.
After so many years in Hamburg, he is naturally not in vain. There are some that go offline naturally, but they have never been enabled.
Precisely speaking, these downlines themselves did not know when they became British intelligence personnel. The connection with Kabbah is just an ordinary friendship.
The only difference is that most of these people are shipyard staff, or people who can enter and leave the shipyard for various reasons.
Well, just to get some extra pay. Those who do intelligence work are generally in single-line contact. London has no idea how many people there are.
It is impossible to verify it, because a check will lead to the disclosure of the identities of the lurking personnel. Those who are a little more flexible will receive a few more salaries.
It's cool to fake it together, and crematorium afterwards.
Now Kabbah feels a little rushed to the "crematorium", perhaps because his usual performance is so excellent that his superiors overestimated his ability and issued this near-impossible order.
Did the shipyard in Hamburg undertake the task of building warships
Without thinking, Kabbah can answer - yes. Warship orders are placed every year, and the difference is only in the size of the order.
Even to find out, it is not difficult to build the number of warships, and there will always be clues from the surrounding area.
The trouble lies in figuring out the specifications of the warship, this thing can't be done. It is estimated that without waiting for the parameters to be found out, the police will come to the door first.
Not to mention the outside, even the workers of the shipyard do not know the specific parameters of the warship. Before the warship was launched, the insiders were in single digits, and they knew where to start if they wanted to buy.
No matter how big the difficulty is, Kabbah must go to investigate, this is a death order.
How could he be allowed to back down when it was time to throw his head and shed blood for Britain after he had been in charge of the Navy's Military Intelligence Service for so many years.
Looking at his sleeping wife and children, Kaba sighed helplessly. There is no way to escape, and no organization will be soft on traitors.
Sleepless nights.
The next day, Kabaqiang cheered up, picked up the old business that was abandoned, and began to pay attention to the entry and exit of vehicles.
It is a pity that today is different from the past. With the vigorous development of the maritime industry, the shipbuilding industry has also risen with the tide.
The most prominent is the demand for steel. The steel wholesale center in Hamburg has thousands of tons of steel coming in and out every day, most of which flow into the shipyard.
Today, civilian merchant ships are also using a large amount of steel. It is already out of date to judge whether to build warships purely from the consumption of steel.
Intelligence work is the most taboo to be impetuous. After all, he has received professional training, and Kabbah's mentality is still very peaceful.
…
Holding his young son and teasing for a while, Kaba pretended to be calm and said, "Darling, there is a cocktail party tonight, I need to socialize a little, so I don't need to leave meals for me."
Usually, he took his wife with him for this kind of social entertainment. But it can't be done now, and he has resumed his old business. Kabbah doesn't want to involve his family.
Although a little puzzled, but after looking at the child, the wife didn't say anything, just instructed: "Come back early, don't drink too much."
"understood."
Kabbah replied.
The relationship between middle-aged couples is often so unpretentious. A few simple conversations, in fact, full of endless concern.
Driving out of the car slowly, Kaba's heart is not calm. Although Hamburg is a free city, it does not mean that Shinra's anti-espionage capabilities are weak.
Everyone knows that now is a critical moment in the battle between Shinra and Britain. If you win, everyone will enjoy the dividends together. If you lose, you will have to live a hard life together.
In a sense, this is also the time when the Holy Roman Empire is at its most united, with all segments of society waiting to receive Britain's heritage.
Free City is no exception. Many people who have missed the development of Shinra are gearing up and preparing to flex their muscles in this last wave.
In this context, the life of spies is naturally difficult. Once the clues are revealed, it may be exchanged for credit at any time.
You must know that merits in the Holy Roman Empire can be accumulated, and no one will think too much of this stuff.
No matter how good friends are, they can't stand the temptation of interests, especially if they involve the interests of the country and the nation, let alone.
As night fell, the reception also kicked off. Kabbah, who was absent-minded, motionless with his wine glass in his hand, seemed to be in a daze.
"boom".
The collision of wine glasses brought Kabbalah back to the real world. A familiar voice rang out in his ears.
"What's the matter, my friend. Your mental state is very wrong today. Could it be that you are in trouble?"
After looking at the person, Kaba replied calmly: "It's okay, I just didn't sleep well last night, and I'm not in a good state today.
It's not as good as it used to be, people are getting older, and they don't have enough energy to do anything.
I thought I could stay up for three days and three nights back then, but now I can't stand it all night.
Right, White. What have you been up to lately, I haven't seen you for a long time. "
After such an interruption, White was embarrassed to ask the bottom line: "Then you have to take care of your health, we can't afford to toss when people are middle-aged.
Look at me, no matter how busy you are, don't forget to take a vacation. The tasks at the shipyard recently are more urgent than the last, so I still take time out to relax. "
The speaker is indifferent, the listening is intentional.
The phrase "the shipyard has a heavy task" reminded Kabbah a lot. It's just that he knows that this seemingly carefree friend will be absolutely tight when it comes to confidentiality clauses.
In order not to arouse suspicion, Kaba pretended to be a layman and said, "Don't worry, I know how to pay attention to my body. If it wasn't for the child being noisy in the middle of the night, I wouldn't have lost sleep.
On the contrary, it is you who have heavy work tasks, so you will distribute more to your apprentices.
It happens that young people need the opportunity to exercise, give them more opportunities, and you can relax a little.
Don't get too nervous and don't even participate in daily activities. "
Divide the work among the apprentices, and White wants to do the same. Everyone wants to be the boss, but the reality is cruel.
Students who have just graduated from school without any work experience and important work tasks, White can't be assured of handing over to these fledgling boys.
Rolling his eyes, White made a helpless expression: "You mean making coffee, anyone can do it.
My job is shipbuilding, building the most advanced ships in the world. Every technology and every plan adopted is finally determined after multiple verifications and scrutiny.
Not to mention the gang of boys, even an old engineer like me can only follow the soy sauce and be responsible for some simple processes.
…”
Before White could finish speaking, Kabbah interrupted: "Don't talk about it, it doesn't make any sense to talk about these professional things with me.
With these skills, we might as well study it…”
I ended the topic ahead of time, that was the news that could be inquired, and now I know it, and the deeper things White won't say at all.
Rather than risk exposure to delve deeper, he might as well just leave it and continue to play his role as the cafe owner.
As for the task, an in-depth interpretation of the conversation just now is enough to write a report.
After so many years of friendship, Kabbah still has some understanding of White's position in the shipyard.
Although he is not one of the best figures, he is also an absolute core engineer. The vast majority of ships were built independently by White.
For him, the core engineer, to attack, there is only one situation - to build a warship, and it is not an ordinary warship.
The construction site of a super battleship has been determined, and this information is enough to deal with it for a while. As for the specific parameters, it can be inferred that "not yet determined".
It's not a joke. At the beginning of construction of many warships, only the designers and the high-level officials of the Admiralty know the parameters and performance, and the engineers of the shipyard can make a rough judgment based on experience at most.
Experience this stuff is undoubtedly unreliable. Shipbuilding technology is progressing, and the displacement of the same warship is often very different.
When it comes to tonnage utilization, even if it is only increased by a few percentage points, the parameters of the final warship are very different.
Kabbah can say responsibly that if he finds a professional for analysis and judgment, the accuracy rate will not be much higher than that calculated by his two knives.
After returning home, after some deep contemplation, Kabbah wrote on the paper Klute Shipyard, suspected to have received an order for a super battleship, with a displacement of about "25,000 tons to 28,000 tons".
After a pause, Kaba crossed out the displacement judgment again, leaving only one suspected super battleship.
As for information, it is definitely not possible to submit it all at once. Only when the water flows, can the superiors know their suffering.
Not asking for a lot of bonuses, Kabbah just looks forward to taking fewer tasks and reducing the risk of his exposure, so that he can retire safely.
As for the "intelligence elites" who are often commended internally, it seems that they are indeed bright and promising, but Kabbah knows that these intelligence stars will be replaced every once in a while.
Although no explanation was given above, Kabbah also knew what was going on. It was nothing more than working too hard and was exposed in the process of gathering intelligence.
As an invisible organization, once the identity of the intelligence personnel is exposed, it not only means the failure of the mission, but also means the end of life.
If it is a small or weak country, with the name of Britain, it may still be fished out.
If it falls into the hands of a big country, unless you meet a conscientious boss, and perhaps return to China during the exchange of intelligence personnel, it is a question of when to step into the gate of hell.
In his years of intelligence career, Kabbah has seen too much cruelty in the world, and does not want to hand his fate to others.
…
There are salted fish intelligence personnel, and there are also struggling intelligence personnel. Following an order from the London government, several major intelligence organizations in Britain became active.
The specific performance is that in the recent period of time, the number of spies arrested by the Shinra police has repeatedly hit new highs.
Facts have once again proved the truth of "doing more is more wrong than not doing well".
Not to mention in the early 20th century, even in the 21st century, it is very easy for spies to sneak in.
It can be said that as long as things are not done, there is no way to identify who is a spy. There is often only one reason for exposure, and that is "moving".
If you pay, you will be rewarded. Although the intelligence personnel have exposed a lot, it is still worthwhile compared to the information sent back.
Downing Street, in the Prime Minister's residence.
Looking at the information gathered from all over the place in his hand, Prime Minister Campbell's face became more and more ugly.
The most worrying situation still happened. Shinra did start frantically building ships, but the number of super battleships built was not the 8 super battleships on the bright side, but 13.
There is no way to verify the authenticity of this number for a while. But whether it is 8 or 13, once so many super battleships are in service, they will break Britain's sea power advantage.
Shinra is different from Britain. As a land-power country, as long as it has five points of confidence, the Vienna government dares to play stud on the sea.
If you win the bet for world hegemony, if you lose the bet, you will stay in the Mediterranean and work hard for five years, and then come to the second decisive battle.
This is absolutely impossible for Britain, not to mention the defeat of the Royal Navy. Even if it is only a loss for both sides, Britain will fall from heaven to hell.
After it was determined that Shinra had begun to explode warships, the only option left to the British government was to follow up.
Not only to keep up, but also to build more warships to ensure the dominant position of the Royal Navy.
As for the Russian-Austrian naval agreement, Campbell directly regarded it as a fart. Even if the agreement is true, the Vienna government will honor it.
But once the hegemonic war breaks out, the Shinra Navy can also be requisitioned first, and then handed over to the Russians after the battle is over. Can the Tsarist government still say "no"