What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 562 Short Selling
"The priority is to sink those damn submarines; those noisy underwater tractors almost deafened the sonar listeners!"

Wayne only paid slight attention to the new air-to-air missile, and it was no surprise that the new weapon was only interested in destroying the mosquitoes' lair—the U-boat!
These outdated relics are still using the long-obsolete underwater mothership tactics, and with this they are brazenly making noise underwater, constantly provoking everyone's nerves. It's simply outrageous!
"Britain has enough anti-submarine aircraft, but lacks air cover. With our escort, they will launch an attack."

Rams' answer was convincing. After all, as the gateway to the North Sea and the only way for the polar bear nuclear submarines to reach the Atlantic Ocean, the Nordic countries had accumulated a considerable anti-submarine force over half a century, and their anti-submarine munitions were countless.

In fact, the main task of the entire Air Force is anti-submarine warfare, and its capabilities in this area are beyond doubt.

The fact that releasing mosquitoes is such a bizarre function is so unethical; otherwise, even a thousand U-boats would only be tools for anti-submarine aircraft to rack up kill counts.

Just as Prism Building was making tense preparations for a counterattack, Director York of the BRRD Paranormal Research Bureau and Professor David Gross were boarding a KC-135 refueling aircraft.

The former seemed unfazed by the impending epic battle, and instead addressed Gross, saying:

"Professor, the appearance of hundreds of warships on Greenland can only be explained by wormholes."

"As long as the theory of spacetime is correct, we should be able to discover something."

Gross shouted something and then climbed into the cabin first, followed closely by York.

This KC-135 was originally a tanker aircraft, but at this time it was carrying several physicists, including Gross, and the space where the fuel tanks were originally in the cabin was used to install a huge and extremely power-consuming device:

Physicists don't really agree with the so-called "wormhole" theory, but given the military's sudden large-scale investment in gravitational wave observatories, they eventually managed to produce something:
Airborne gravitational wave detector.

The principle is the same as that of the LIGO gravitational wave observatory, which uses laser interferometry, but the sensitivity is reduced by several orders of magnitude, making it almost impossible to detect gravitational waves in the universe in a scientific sense.

Even so, the cost of modifying this aircraft was exorbitant, almost half that of the LIGO project, reaching a staggering $4 million. Moreover, most of the equipment was hastily put together and had not undergone thorough testing.

However, if the aircraft circles Antarctica a few times and there really are wormholes operating within a few hundred kilometers, it has a high chance of making a discovery.

Due to its enormous power consumption, only the KC135, which was converted from a passenger plane, can provide sufficient power and heat dissipation.

Now, this KC135 will fly to France, drop off the experts there, and then stand by in Britain. Once a ship of the Third Fleet sinks, it will rush over to listen in, and maybe it will actually discover something.

……

We have sunk two enemy destroyers!

We sank an enemy aircraft carrier!

[Battle Results: 88 Silver Coins (800%), 114800 Experience (800%)]

[Obtain the special flag "Revenge" and 3 Christmas Supply Boxes]

Tang Wen wasn't too concerned about the profits; instead, he sighed deeply, recalling the horrific scene of the Royal Ark engulfed in flames.

The navy is a branch of the military that can be wiped out in an afternoon, a fact that was proven once again at this moment.

Maintaining three light aircraft carriers with Britain's financial resources is no easy feat, yet in just five minutes, nearly a third of its naval power was wiped out, and years of effort vanished in an instant.

Only a large and powerful empire can withstand the pressure and maintain its global strategy as if nothing happened. In fact, it can become even stronger if it wants to restart a few old aircraft carriers!
The easy victory allowed Tang Wen to temporarily hand over the fleet to Jean Bart and Lütjens, and he himself quickly returned to Vale Island. ...

"Boss, we've struck it rich! We've struck it rich!"

He was no longer surprised by the sudden appearance of Tang Wenwang Hu, but immediately stepped forward to flatter him:

Tang Wen, who had long decided to become a stock market guru, was smart enough not to fall into the trap of the financial crisis and let the IRS's evil schemes take another hit.

The focus of this fortune-making venture is Hong Kong, or more precisely, HSBC.

In the past two months, Tang Wen had Li Zhengyang make several trips to Hong Kong, presenting a peaceful image and starting to invest in local industries. At the same time, he borrowed money to buy a large number of bonds and stocks in HSBC and Prudential Insurance.

Especially after Tang Wen gained influence in the United States through his MDA, Li Zhengyang took the opportunity to more easily buy a lot of British assets. He also scraped together $5 million and deposited it into his account. This was not announced to the outside world at the time, but it was seen as a gesture of goodwill towards Hong Kong and Britain.

But all of this was for today's arrival. Secretly, Gaijin also bought a lot through intermediaries, all to be sold off today when HSBC's share price plummeted, triggering a run on the bank, so as to cooperate with short selling.

HSBC's stock price plummeted by 11% during the Gulf War; it would be a huge embarrassment if it couldn't even manage a 20% drop after the attack on its home turf!

However, besides making a little money through Hong Kong stocks, Tang Wen also informed others about this inside information in advance via U-boat: Da Mao and Nan Ou.

The advance notice time is only about seven or eight hours, so even if there is a leak, it won't have a significant impact.

Although the money they earned had nothing to do with him, Tang Wen was willing to do it as long as Ying suffered losses!
Those oligarchs already held a lot of British-listed bonds and stocks, so how could they not sell them off after the Royal Ark sank?

Under Tang Wen's guidance, Wang Hu also got involved in the local "small-scale" business. Although his capital was pitifully small compared to Gai Jin's, he had already earned a sum of money that he could never have imagined!
However, news of the aircraft carrier's sinking hadn't arrived yet, and a slight 4% drop in HSBC's stock price was nothing to worry about. Tang Wen looked at the smug Wang Hu and couldn't help but say:
"Don't rush to leave, wait a bit, there's still a lot more to come!"

……

at the same time.

Although there were no air raid sirens, the citizens of Daiying already felt an apocalyptic atmosphere.

Leicester is located just north of Lakenshire. When more than 50 F-15s, F-16s and other aircraft flew overhead heading north, everyone could only stand on the ground, bewildered, feeling the deafening roar of the jet engines.

When rumors first circulated early in the morning that "Hans have attacked," everyone scoffed. It wasn't until around 10 a.m., when various reports became more detailed and even included satellite maps, that a wave of panic ensued. However, Prime Minister Blair quickly announced that it was a rumor.

But stock prices don't lie. The news was only confirmed when large numbers of wealthy people were spotted at airports and a large number of bonds were sold off on exchanges. However, the cabinet never responded to this. All that was seen was the frequent troop movements and various fighter jets flying north in unison.

At 15 PM, a startling message arrived:

Radio enthusiasts have heard the destruction of the HMS Ark Royal, and coastal cities in Ireland have confirmed seeing the badly damaged fighter planes.

Half an hour later, The Times finally published the news:

The HMS Ark Royal sank.

(End of this chapter)