Chapter 161 The Germans Are Here

Jiang Hao looked at the crowd and said, "You must know that you must learn to judge the situation at any time. I can tell you clearly that I am not optimistic about Italy, Mussolini, or even the mythical German head of state. "

"If they fail, what will happen to Italy and Germany, I think you can imagine. At that time, the lira and the mark will become waste paper, and all our previous efforts will be in vain."

"If it weren't for the gold control, I would prefer to replace them all with gold. The gold jewelry I got from Tunisia was given to the Germans and the Italian Navy. Can't you see that they don't like paper money."

After a while, Jiang Hao took Fabio, Cassani and others to the banks in Palermo, trying to convert the lira into dollars and pounds, but Palermo was still smaller, and they went inland again , in Naples, and then all the cash was exchanged.

The organization's money was about 8 million lire, and it was finally exchanged for 500,000 US dollars. Jiang Hao's private 10 million lire was exchanged for more than 600,000 US dollars. This is the current exchange rate. Not much.

As for the Deutsche mark, definitely not.

There is a story in later generations. After Germany was defeated in the war, an American journalist told Germany that he went to the bank to exchange marks and took out 5 dollars. The bank clerk said embarrassedly, "Sorry, sir, the bank's money is not enough to exchange this piece. currency."

"How much can it be exchanged for?"

"Only for three dollars."

A bank's money can only be exchanged for three dollars. It is conceivable that the value of the German mark at that time, and now the German mark is called the golden mark, and the conversion ratio to the US dollar is 2.5 marks to 1 US dollar.

Time never stops, and in the blink of an eye it was the end of the summer of 1942,

The smoke of gunpowder is still in the air, the world war is in full swing, the Germans and the British are engaged in a tug of war in North Africa, and Rommel and Montgomery have made their names here.

Jiang Hao knew that in a month or two, the famous Battle of El Alamein would take place. This battle is also known as the turning battle of the North African battlefield. It started on October 23 and lasted 12 days. The German army was defeated and expelled. Egypt, retreat to Tunisia.

I am afraid that at that time, his smuggling business will not be easy to do. He once again convened a meeting of his own gang and asked to increase the storage of cut tobacco in the near future, at least not to have enough goods before Germany shows its failure.

At this time, Jiang Hao's organization already had 1,000 official members, and more than 3,000 peripheral personnel.

During this period, Jiang Hao also obtained a large amount of weapons and ammunition through the German and Italian troops. Except for the necessary equipment, everything else was stored, including rifles, machine guns, grenades, and some heavy weapons, such as mortars and high-purity explosives. Wait.

The pace of history is amazingly consistent, or this is the original history. The Battle of El Alamein broke out and the German army was defeated. The German head of state saw the crisis and immediately ordered the army to go to Sicily. At this time, a large number of German troops poured into Sicily.

On this day, when Jiang Hao was reading a book in the study, Basali came over to report, "Boss, the Germans said they want to see you."

"German, do you know why you want to see me?" Jiang Hao asked as he put down his book.

"It's supposed to be a cigarette thing."

"The Germans are going to hold a cocktail party and invite big businessmen from all over Sicily. I think they probably want to kill the businessmen and let us send them supplies." Basali said.

The current environment of the German army is getting worse and worse, and supplies are gradually unable to keep up. The German army's method is to replenish supplies on the spot as much as possible. The army cannot do without cigarettes. He is also the owner of the largest cigarette factory in the area. .

Jiang Hao thought for a while, and said lightly, "I see, you will pick me up tomorrow evening."

The reception was held in the best hotel in Palermo. After Jiang Hao walked in, he found that a lot of people had gathered. In addition to the German and Italian officers, they were businessmen in suits. The officers all had smiles on their faces, but these businessmen They were not so happy.

A German major general came to the stage, raised his glass and said: "Everyone, in order to defeat those damned British and Americans, in order to protect Sicily, we came here, hesitated and marched hastily, and the army supplies did not keep up, according to the wartime As a rule, the army has the right to withdraw any material. Of course, the army will pay."

The merchants in the audience immediately began to talk about it. The army paid the money, but they only bought it at the price set by the state. At such a price, even the raw materials could not be bought in the market. The price was more than ten times different from the black market price. No matter how much you sell, you will lose as much as you can. Who wants to do such a business.

The German major general's face was a little unpleasant, thinking that these businessmen are too ignorant to praise, do they really want to be hard.

In the eyes of the soldiers, businessmen are like a flock of fattening lambs, they should be slaughtered when needed, and they will never be soft-handed.

At this moment, a voice sounded, Jiang Hao stood up and said, "Your Excellency General, I am Bernano from the Sicilian Cigarette Factory, and I am willing to supply all the cigarettes for the army."

The German Major General's face immediately showed a happy look, he walked to Jiang Hao's side, reached out and shook his hand, "A businessman like you is a truly sensible businessman."

Some people started, and those who knew the current affairs agreed to provide supplies for the army, but some people still refused, they would not do business at a loss.

However, Jiang Hao knew that these guys would not have good results.

Back at the manor, Jiang Hao said to Basali: "I take the initiative to send the cigarettes to the various armies. Since we have to do it, we must do it perfectly."

Basali said with a bitter face, "Boss, in this case, we will probably have to pay 100,000 lire a day."

"It doesn't matter if you lose money, there will always be a day when you will get your money back. Remember to write down the address of each army and the number of cigarettes provided, and give me a detailed record back." Jiang Hao said with a smile.

"What's the use of that thing?" Basali asked curiously.

"Hehe, it's very useful."

Another month passed, and Luca came back with the news that the situation in Tunisia was getting more and more tense, the Allied offensive was very fierce, the Italian Navy blocked the Tunis Strait, and the naval contact warned Luca that the smuggling ships must stop.

Then stop.

Before stepping up the inventory, the shredded tobacco was enough for the cigarette factory to use for a few months.

Time flies and it's Christmas again. This year's Christmas, Jiang Hao and Malena didn't go anywhere, they just lived in the manor.

Lovely,

Also very romantic.

"Woooooo~~~"

Suddenly, a high-pitched air defense siren sounded in the distance. Jiang Hao and Malena stood at the window, looking at the dark night sky. Jiang Hao said, "The bombing of the Allied forces has started again, and there will be no rest for Christmas."