Spy Shadow: Command & Conquer

Chapter 2067, The Mediterranean is Where It Gets Lively

As it turned out, the three destroyers were indeed of little use.

Without the cover of aircraft, even simple navigation is difficult. Once discovered, one will be surrounded and attacked.

The British not only had carrier-based aircraft, but also land-based aircraft.

The Mediterranean Sea is only so big; it can be easily monitored by aircraft. Besides, the British also have radar.

The only thing they could do was perhaps attack passing merchant ships.

But Zhang Yong would definitely not do that. Nor would he proactively attack the enemy's warships.

They only retaliate when attacked by others.

After all, it makes me feel more at ease.

"what?"

"Remote delivery?"

Suddenly, an idea struck me. I wanted to add oil.

This isn't for the Germans. It's for the Italians. Sending them some heavy fuel oil?

I don't know if Italians are experiencing a fuel shortage. But it seems like they probably are.

Europe is only so big, and there are very few oil-producing regions.

Only Romania's oil fields are slightly larger.

Italy itself doesn't have much oil. It relies mostly on imports.

But now, the Mediterranean is essentially blockaded by the British navy. It's very difficult to import oil from outside. The Italians should be short of oil.

Since that's the case, then—

[Remote Delivery]

Heavy fuel oil for warships: 1 tons

[Deployment complete]

Wait a moment. Then they continued distributing the supplies.

Ten thousand tons isn't enough! We need at least fifty thousand tons to start!
Oh, and some more aviation gasoline.

chaos.

Make it even more messy.

The Mediterranean Sea is in complete disarray...

Be in high spirits.

Sure enough, doing bad things is exhilarating.

Finally, 50,000 tons of heavy oil and 20,000 tons of aviation gasoline were dumped on the Italians.

Only then did he give up.

Hand over the fleet to the AI, select the "survival" strategy, and then leave it to its own devices.

Now, getting to Khartoum is the priority.

Busy.

ready.

The next day, the bomber formation took off from Cairo Airport.

In addition to the six bombers, Zhang Yong also piloted a P-38 fighter plane alone, fully loaded with machine gun ammunition.

This is for escort purposes.

It was also used for escaping.

Although the chances of needing it are slim, the journey should be safe.

Zhang Yong was quite confident about this flight. Even if they reached their destination but couldn't land, they could still return.

Alternatively, you could fly directly to Djibouti, where there is also a British military airport.

Why Khartoum?

Because the Italian army's headquarters were located in Khartoum.

It is not within Ethiopian territory.

Honestly, sometimes it's hard to understand the Italian way of thinking.

Why would you come to this remote and impoverished place? This place is truly barren!

If you're after Greece or France, that's understandable.

But they set their sights on distant Africa.

It's one thing to travel along the Mediterranean coast, but to travel so far away is another.

Can't understand...

Completely incomprehensible...

Oh, that's not the Italian way of thinking.

That's Mussolini's way of thinking.

Mussolini couldn't even handle Sicily, yet he had to travel so far.

Nonsense...

Flying silently.

The soldiers were all drowsy.

They spent almost the entire journey in the air.

I flew from China to overseas, and then kept flying...

The cumulative voyage may have reached 20,000 kilometers.

Zhang Yong, on the other hand, was in high spirits.

Every now and then, the air command map showed that fighter jets were passing by nearby.

There were Italians and British people.

Quietly avoid them.

We have arrived safely near Khartoum.

Since we were newcomers, we didn't have detailed information beforehand.

Therefore, Zhang Yong was in charge of scouting ahead. Low-altitude flyby.

No abnormalities were found.

The Italians were very lax in their precautions.

When fighter jets were spotted flying overhead, some people even raised their hands and cheered.

Zhang Yong suddenly felt apologetic.

I would actually feel a little guilty if I had to fire a shot later.

I hope this can be resolved peacefully...

The radar map shows gold indicators. Many.

Sure enough, the Italians' gold is indeed here. They made the right choice this time.

Return quickly. Low altitude.

landing.

Exit the cabin.

[External language pack activated]

[Italian]

The system suddenly issued a notification.

Zhang Yong: ...

Great, that solves the communication problem.

Directing the bombers to land.

At this point, the Italians seemed to realize that something was wrong.

How can there be so many planes?

Once the plane came to a stop, the soldiers disembarked and landed, only to be filled with doubt again.

I've never seen military uniforms like that before. Not even their faces.

Which part was it again?

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

"We flew all the way from Rome. Where is your commander?"

Zhang Yong answered in Italian.

The other party looked at him suspiciously for a moment, but found nothing unusual.

As they were talking, the second and third P-108 bombers had already landed safely.

The officer who came up to ask questions looked at the Piaggio P-108 bombers and was certain they were his own men.

Because only the Italian Air Force possesses such large bombers.

"Are you from the Air Force?"

"No."

"Then you are..."

"We are here on orders from the Chancellor's Office to pick up some things for our German partners."

"Oh, I understand, I understand."

The Italian officer suddenly realized what was going on. Then he filled in the blanks with his imagination.

The so-called Prime Minister's Office was actually Mussolini's official residence! So the other party was sent by Mussolini.

A short while later, an Italian army lieutenant general appeared.

Face full of red light.

She looks great.

He looks like someone who has always lived a life of luxury.

It must be admitted that Mussolini treated the military very well after he came to power.

However, the performance of the Italian army was simply...

Hehe, it's a long story.

"Excuse me, Your Excellency..."

"Lello".

Zhang Yong casually made up a name.

The other side might have some doubts. But the bombers in the background were proof enough.

That's a genuine Italian product. Absolutely no fakes.

Apart from the Italian Air Force, no one else had them.

and so……

The other party must be one of our own.

"Your Excellency..." "Give me the items. I'll take them immediately."

"Ok."

The other party had absolutely no suspicion.

Moreover, it automatically filled in many details in its mind. In the end, it was determined to be a secret operation.

Since it's a secret operation, it certainly can't be publicized.

Therefore, we need to arrange loading as soon as possible.

"quick!"

"quick!"

One by one, heavy wooden crates were loaded onto the bombers.

The wooden crates were filled with heavy gold. It was shown on the radar map.

There were thirty wooden crates in total. Each crate was estimated to weigh one hundred kilograms. That's a total of three tons. Not a lot, but not a little either.

Compared to the twenty-five tons of gold Spencer mentioned, it was certainly a small amount. However, Zhang Yong didn't mind. Even a little bit is still something. As long as it ended up in his own pocket, that was fine.

"Thank you."

"Goodbye."

everything's ready.

They also arranged for the system to deliver aviation fuel.

The Italians were even more convinced that he was one of their own. Unfortunately, they didn't dare to try and get too close.

Refuel. Take off again.

In the eyes of Italians, it means flying north.

But once it reached high altitude, it began to turn and flew towards Muscat.

Then it was time to return.

They returned all the way to Calcutta to unload the gold.

then……

It was quietly stored in his personal space.

This mission is now about halfway complete.

How did they manage to get their hands on the gold that had already been transported to Casablanca...?

There's no clue at the moment. We can only wait.

……

In September, Zhang Yong arrived at the port of Eritrea.

Li Tianxia has already led her troops ashore here.

Among those that landed earlier were the Indian 1st Division, which considered itself the main force of the counter-offensive.

Subsequently, battles broke out one after another.

The Italian army began to consolidate its defensive lines and retreat towards Khartoum.

In just one month, Commonwealth forces drove out the Italian army and recaptured the whole of Ethiopia.

Throughout the entire process, Zhang Yong remained in an observational state.

I have absolutely no interest.

It's a bunch of noobs fighting each other. Not worth getting involved in at all.

There were no beautiful women or delicious food in the area, so I had absolutely no interest in it.

The Nationalist army under Li Tianxia's command was mostly on the march, with very few battles taking place. This was because the Italians were too fast.

"Commissioner, this war is so boring! All we do is run around every day!"

"It started like this."

Zhang Yong answered lazily, yawning.

Fortunately, there were Willys Jeeps. And many large trucks as well.

Li Tianxia's troops were completely mechanized. They moved around in jeeps or large trucks.

They were the envy of other Commonwealth armies.

Cardoso went directly to Zhang Yong and purchased three hundred Willys Jeeps.

In this way, the South African 4th Division was one-third mechanized. At least, their officers no longer needed to walk.

"start?"

"The fighting will become increasingly intense in the future."

Zhang Yong answered casually.

They didn't mention it was the Soviet-German battlefield, for fear of frightening the other side.

The Eastern Front was incredibly brutal. Both sides deployed their elite forces. It was a deluge of steel and gunpowder.

On the Eastern Front, the human body alone was nothing more than a speck of dust.

Faced with various high-powered weapons, an entire regiment or brigade would be wiped out in no time.

A platoon, a company—on the Eastern Front, they weren't even worthy of description. A division, an corps—they were all minor figures.

They often refer to large units such as army groups, army corps, and front armies.

yawn……

That's really boring!
The global server is actually quite boring.

It's more fun to go back to the Mediterranean.

How about we go to Italy?
It's true that I have a special connection with the Sicilians.

Before, we always used the Sicilians as an excuse for everything. Now, shouldn't we reciprocate?
"Suddenly..."

"Suddenly..."

The sound of heavy machine gun fire could be heard.

This is standard procedure. It's used to deter the enemy from a distance.

By mounting an American-made M2 ​​heavy machine gun on a Willys Jeep, it becomes a long-range assault vehicle.

Go all the way.

They fired indiscriminately.

Whenever a suspicious spot was discovered, a few shots were fired.

Actually, there is nothing.

boring……

Let's run away!
It's much more lively over the Mediterranean.

Just do it.

After making some arrangements with Li Tianxia, ​​I left.

Finally back in Cairo.

After wandering around for a while, I came to find Florence.

The beautiful woman stayed in the coffee shop the whole time. The British people didn't even notice her.

"Mr. Commissioner, you're so busy!"

“It’s just so-so!”

"You stole so much of our gold, and you still have the nerve to show your face again?"

"Do you have any evidence? If not, I will sue you for defamation with the League of Nations."

"You know exactly what you've done."

"I have done a lot of good deeds."

Zhang Yong felt perfectly justified.

I'm giving you 70,000 tons of oil!

At market prices, 70,000 tons of oil is roughly equivalent to three tons of gold.

One ton of oil is a lot. Let alone 70,000 tons?
That's enough for you Italians for a year.

"Why did you come to me?"

"I'd like to visit Rome. Is that alright?"

"You? You want to go to Rome?"

"Just kidding. Of course not. What would I go to Rome for?"

Zhang Yong's smile was forced and insincere.

He certainly didn't go to Rome. Would he go to walk right into a trap?
He simply wants to create chaos in the world, leaving all sides of the Mediterranean scarred and destroyed.

You hit me, I hit you, and in the end we both die.

"I've come to tell you some news. German warships have arrived in the Mediterranean."

"what?"

"Now, the German warships are quietly heading towards the port of Taranto."

"what?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Zhang Yong subtly implied, "That's right, it was me behind this again."

I ordered three destroyers, flying the German flag, to approach the port of Taranto. We were preparing to make a show of ourselves to the Italians.

Actually, the main purpose was to tell the Germans.

Once the Italians discover this, they will certainly verify it with the Germans. Then the Germans will find out.

Then you'll be confused. You won't know what's going on.

Farewell.

Go back to sleep. Wait for time to pass.

The air command map shows that the AI ​​fleet is approaching the port of Taranto.

No fighting broke out between the two sides.

However, the AI ​​fleet did not enter Italian ports.

The other party did not grant permission because the identities of the three destroyers could not be confirmed.

"what?"

"Our destroyers?"

"Appeared in the Mediterranean?"

When German Navy Commander Dönitz received the report, he found it utterly baffling.

what happened?

Are the Italians talking nonsense?
How could German destroyers suddenly appear in the Mediterranean?

How could the German navy possibly break through the British blockade and enter the Mediterranean? Even submarines would have to be extremely cautious.

Most importantly, those three destroyers didn't contact the Germans at all!
What exactly happened on the other side of the Mediterranean?
[To be continued]

(End of this chapter)