North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 157 Blockade the Fleet!

While summoning Victoria, Monica, and Sixth Master, Azu also summoned Old Martinez.

"Old Ma, I have an urgent task for you!"

Facing Azu, old Martinez patted his chest and said, "Boss, just tell me what tasks you need, and I guarantee I'll complete them perfectly!"

"very good!"

Azu continued, "In the San Francisco Strait, right on this side of the naval fortress, I plan to build our own fortress battery for the California National Guard!"

"what……?"

Old Martinez was taken aback: "Build our own fortress batteries? Why...?"

Ah Zu said in a deep voice, "Our Huamei Industrial's main industries are almost all concentrated in the bay area. Once enemy warships intrude into the bay area, without our own warships to protect us, our Huamei Industrial industries will be lambs to the slaughter!"

"The naval fortress's gun emplacements, while capable of blocking the entrance to the bay area, namely the San Francisco Strait."

"But that's not entirely in our own hands! What if the enemy ships that intrude into the bay happen to be American naval vessels...?"

Upon hearing this, old Martinez suddenly realized!
"Boss, do you mean to build our own fortresses and gun emplacements, and blockade the strait when necessary, so that no warships can enter the bay area?"

Ah Zu nodded: "That's exactly what I mean!"

"Our headquarters in China, the arsenals on Alcatraz and Angel Island, the three main shipyards, as well as pharmaceutical factories, machinery factories, chemical plants, etc., are all located along the coast inside the bay area, all within the range of warships' gunfire."

"If hostile warships are allowed to enter the bay area, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

Azu stared at old Martins and said, "So, the task I'm giving you is to build a powerful fortress and artillery battery of our own as soon as possible on the other side of the naval fortress, on this side of the strait!"

"And among all of us, old Martinez, you are the most familiar with artillery and warships! You are also the commander of the independent artillery regiment, so this important task can only be entrusted to you!"

"I understand!" Old Martinez puffed out his chest, then asked, "But, building a fortress is easy, but we don't have any cannons!"

"Moreover, what the fortress emplacements need are large-caliber fortress guns that can fire at the same rate as the large-caliber guns of warships!"

"Cannons will be available soon! Large-caliber fortress cannons will be available too!"

Azu replied, "Building a fortress takes a considerable amount of time and cannot be accomplished overnight. I will try my best to get the large-caliber fortress guns you need in place within six months."

Old Martinez continued, "Boss, what size should this fortress be? How many gun emplacements will it need?"

"Hmm...!" Azu thought for a moment, "At least it can guarantee that all the Pacific Fleet and the like will be kept out of the strait!"

"Blockade the Pacific Fleet...tsk tsk!" Old Martinez clicked his tongue. "Then this fortress can't be small! It needs at least thirty large-caliber fortress guns...!"

“Manpower is not a problem, supplies are not a problem, money is not a problem, and artillery is not a problem!” Azu replied, “Just ask me for whatever you need.”

"Within six months, I want to see an impregnable and powerful fortress standing on the shore of the San Francisco Strait!"

"I understand, don't worry!" Old Martinez stood at attention and said, "Boss, I guarantee the mission will be completed!"

Azu continued, "Don't rush to make any promises! The fortress cannons deployed in our fortress are not the kind of muzzle-loading smoothbore cannons you know."

"Not a muzzle-loading smoothbore cannon? Then what kind of cannon is it?"

Under the astonished gaze of old Martinez, Azu picked up a pen and paper and personally drew his design for the 203mm breech-loading rifled heavy gun.

Not only the shape of the cannon, but also its size, were all handed over to old Martinez.

"Old Ma, you should arrange and set up all the gun positions according to the power, range, shape and size of this 203mm breech-loading rifled heavy gun, understand?"

If Azu hadn't personally given instructions and had allowed old Martinez to arrange and set up the gun positions according to the original muzzle-loading smoothbore guns, then in the end it would definitely have been completely misguided.

"Now I understand completely!"

Although old Martinez still couldn't figure out what his boss's unheard-of breech-loading rifled cannon was, that didn't stop him from constructing the fortress according to the data given by Azu.
-
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, at dusk, the O'Hara sisters stood on the porch of a two-story building, watching the satisfied Manager Hao walk further and further away.

"This guy has been coming almost every day these past few days. Isn't that a bit too frequent?"

When her brother Tony asked her question, Susan O'Hara covered her mouth and chuckled, "What? My brother, are you jealous?"

“Jealous? Hmph…!” Tony O’Hara sneered, “Jealous of a dirty Chinese guy?”

"I'm wondering if if he comes every day like this, won't it arouse suspicion?"

Tony said coldly, "If he's suspected, sooner or later the suspicion will fall on us."

"This is absolutely not helpful to our mission! On the contrary, it puts us in extreme danger."

"Hehe...!" Susan chuckled lightly, her expression unchanged. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Make him disappear!"

Tony said coldly, "Anyway, he's no longer of any use to us! We've already established connections with higher-ups at Huamei Company, and keeping him around would be an unstable factor."

"My dear brother, you really are a heartless and ungrateful person!"

Susan covered her mouth and giggled sweetly, "After all, without Manager Hao, how could our mission have gone so smoothly? How could he just disappear like that?"

"Besides, wouldn't letting him disappear without a trace arouse suspicion on the other side?"

Tony's gaze finally fell on his sister: "So what do you suggest we do?"

"Hmm... let me think... how about we let him die in an accident?" Susan said softly, as if discussing the fate of an ant.

Did he die in an accident?

After a moment's thought, Tony nodded and said, "Then let Sean do it. He's best at making people die in accidents!"

After the brother and sister returned to the small building, they summoned their two attendants again: the short and stocky Klaus and the tall Sean.

"Klaus, you went to see that colonel again. What did he say? Was he still unwilling to do it himself?"

Faced with Tony's question, Klaus took a sip of his sweet, peach-flavored Golden Glow wine, then silently shook his head.

"That colonel, after all, has only recently joined the organization and has not yet shown any spirit of dedication to it."

Klaus said in a somber tone, "With his outstanding West Point graduate status and impeccable resume, the offers we made are hardly tempting to him. Getting him to take such a huge risk and personally kill that Chinese guy is, I think, extremely difficult!"

"Moreover, the army delegation will be leaving San Francisco tomorrow. Who knows when that colonel will get another chance to get close to that Chinese guy."

“Master, I think we can’t place our hopes on that colonel.”

Tony nodded in agreement: "I never placed my hopes on him; I was just testing him a little."

"If he agrees so easily, then there must be something wrong with that colonel!"

"They're either out of their minds or have a problem with their stance!"

Tony smiled knowingly and said, "It's obvious that a distinguished West Point graduate, a young man who has become a colonel chief of staff, is definitely not mentally challenged."

"If he agrees so easily, it only shows that his stance was already problematic!"

This convoluted logic was somewhat perplexing even to Klaus and Sean, two Solomon Temple Knights and elites among Freemasons.

But Tony didn't explain further, and continued, "Krown, you didn't leak any information about us during your two meetings with that colonel, did you?"

“Of course not!” Klaus said proudly. “I am absolutely certain that my words and actions have not revealed even the slightest bit of information about us.”

“Very good!” Tony then turned his gaze to Sean: “You’ve infiltrated the headquarters of Huamei for two consecutive nights. What have you found this time?”

"The only takeaway is how vast it is!" Sean shook his head and said, "The interior of the Huamei headquarters is like a giant city!"

"The headquarters of Huamei covers an area of ​​at least 5,000 acres, occupying a huge area in the southern suburbs of San Francisco."

"The size of the headquarters of Huamei is definitely larger than the downtown area of ​​San Francisco!"

"The headquarters of Huamei is further divided into industrial areas, office areas, residential areas, and activity areas, as well as National Guard barracks and training areas...!"

"The number of Chinese American employees and their families working and living at headquarters has definitely exceeded 30,000! This does not include the thousands of National Guard troops stationed there!"

"The security around the Huamei headquarters is extremely tight. In addition to the high and thick walls, there are police outposts everywhere, as well as internal security posts, both visible and hidden. Just trying to sneak in would be extremely difficult."

"Moreover, there are various checkpoints and inspections between different areas. Especially in industrial and office areas, it is impossible to sneak in without the necessary identification and procedures."

"However, last night, I still managed to sneak into the industrial area of ​​Huamei's headquarters under a legal identity...!"

"Oh...?" Tony asked with great interest, "What did you find in the industrial area?"

“The industrial zone contains the core pharmaceutical factories, machinery factories, chemical plants, and shipyards. These areas are heavily guarded, and I have no way to infiltrate them for the time being.”

"Besides these core factory areas, there are also textile and garment factories. The defenses in these two places are a bit lax. I've infiltrated them, but I didn't find any valuable intelligence."

Tony frowned and said, "So, after two days of infiltration, we haven't gathered any valuable intelligence?"

“No!” Sean shook his head. “To say there were no gains wouldn’t be true! At least I’ve basically figured out the layout of the Huamei headquarters. And…!”

"And what?"

"And I've also discovered something very interesting?"

"whats the matter?"

“Every night, most of the employees of Huamei Company, whether Chinese or white, adults or children, all have to attend a free school together!”

"Furthermore, Huamei Company will provide certain rewards to any adults or children who attend school!"

"Hehe, going to night school...!" Susan covered her mouth and chuckled, "What kind of valuable information is that?"

"No, no, no!" Tony said thoughtfully, "Susan, you're wrong! This is extremely valuable intelligence!"

"Hehe, what's the value?" Susan continued to laugh dismissively, "If it's so valuable, why can't I see it?"

Tony glanced at her: "Susan, if you were the owner of a business, would you both fund and expend a great deal of effort to organize all your employees to attend night school to eradicate illiteracy and learn various kinds of knowledge?"

"Hehe...unless I'm crazy!" Susan chuckled softly.

"So why did that Chinese guy specifically choose to do that?"

Tony asked in a deep voice, "He's already so rich, so powerful, and so influential, why does he still spend so much effort and resources to have his employees learn for free?"

"Why? My brother, what do you think he did it for?"

Tony replied, "That at least shows that he's not content with being just a business owner, or even just the first governor of California...!"

Susan finally stopped smiling: "My brother, what are you talking about? Why don't I understand?"

Tony's expression grew colder: "My sister, don't you think that Chinaman is trying every means to improve the overall quality of everyone?"

"Civilized behavior across the board?" Susan asked doubtfully. "I understand the term, but what's the use?"

"Heh, what's the use...?" Tony stared at his sister's beautiful face and said in a deep voice, "Whether it's building a powerful corporation, a powerful army, or a powerful navy...!"

"No matter what great things you want to accomplish, if you want to dominate a region, you will need a large number of highly qualified personnel!"

Hearing this, Susan finally understood!

"My brother, from what you're saying, does that Chinese guy have an even bigger scheme?"

Tony nodded emphatically: "He is now one of the richest men in the United States, and he is also the first governor of California elected by the people. What's more, he also commands a National Guard that is quite capable!"

"If he were content with this, there would be no need for him to expend so much effort to establish a nationwide night school and improve the overall quality of the population!"

"Unless, that damned Chinaman has an even bigger scheme in mind!"

“A bigger scheme?” Susan frowned slightly. “Now, he is the undisputed king of California, and no force in the entire state can shake his position. So what could his bigger scheme be?”

Tony pondered for a long time but couldn't come up with any answer, and in the end he could only shake his head helplessly.

Even I don't understand what he's trying to do!

"To the west of California lies the endless ocean, to the east the desolate Nevada desert, to the south the endless Mexican desert, and to the north the dense forests of Oregon!"

“California is not suitable for expanding its territory on any side,” Tony pondered. “Besides, California is already vast enough. Even if you include all the Chinese and Native Americans, the total population is only around 300,000. This small population is simply not enough to support any of his ambitions.”

"Hehe...!" Hearing this, Susan chuckled with relief: "My brother, aren't you overthinking it? That Chinese guy might just be trying to protect himself?"

"Is it just about self-preservation?"

After pondering for a long time, Tony finally nodded slowly: "At least for now, all he can do is protect himself!"

At this point, Tony changed the subject: "According to reliable intelligence sources, the Southwest Command Army delegation has just observed a revolutionary firearm produced by the Huamei Company."

"It is said that this powerful weapon is so powerful that it could overturn the officers of all delegations, and even overturn all existing army tactics!"

Tony turned to Klein and said, “Try to get as much accurate information about this powerful weapon as possible from that colonel.”

"We probably won't find a way to take down that Chinese guy in a short time, so we might as well start with these kinds of guns."

Klaus nodded: "I will get all the information about this firearm as soon as possible!"

"It would be best to get the actual product!" Tony emphasized.

"I understand!"

Tony turned to Sean again: "Sean, you need to find a way to kill that Manager Hao in an accident! His frequent contact with us is already a threat to us."

“No problem!” Sean nodded in agreement.

Tony continued, "We still need to explore the situation at the Huamei headquarters further. Sean, if possible, you should get yourself official Huamei employee status; that would be extremely convenient."

"Huamei's official employee status?" Sean thought for a moment and replied, "I think that's not difficult! Huamei is always openly recruiting people."

Tony further clarified, "The identity you obtain should ideally be that of an employee in one of Huamei's core factory areas, such as the pharmaceutical factory, the arms factory, the machinery factory, the chemical factory, and so on!"

“Sure, no problem!” Sean readily agreed.
-
The following night, Manager Hao, who was not yet thirty years old, fell into a stinking ditch by the roadside while drunk and drowned on that cold winter night.

Each of these junior purchasing managers represents the lowest level of management within Huamei Company.

For a behemoth like Huamei Industrial, the unexpected death of a junior manager did not cause any ripples.

Everyone, including the San Francisco Police Department, believed that this junior supervisor had died in an accident.

He has only himself to blame; he didn't keep himself clean and developed an alcohol addiction at a young age. And to make matters worse, on this cold winter night, he collapsed in a shallow, stinking ditch.

Such trivial matters wouldn't even appear on Ah Zu's desk.

(End of this chapter)