Chapter 115 Spy
The room was quiet except for a grandfather clock ticking.
This is the commander's office at the Port Fulan Naval Headquarters. It is different from the extremely monotonous office of a certain earl. There are several potted plants in the room that clearly have been carefully cared for. There is also an oil painting hanging on the wall. The red sun is rising slowly from the vast sea.
The owner of the office, Navy Commander Austin, was sitting on the chair behind his desk, closing his eyes and relaxing.
The Navy Commander's brain will definitely not be idle at this time. There are too many things for him to consider recently.
First there is the matter of shipbuilding.
A new batch of Slupp ships is being built intensively in the shipyard's dock. The reason why it is called a batch is because two ships were started at the same time this time.
The newly built Throop ship is certainly not a simple copy of the "Hope".
On the one hand, Lord Grayman came up with a new word after personally experiencing the trial voyage - "ergonomics".
He requested that the comfort of the crew on board should be improved as much as possible (relatively speaking) without affecting the combat effectiveness of the ship. For example, the furnishings on the deck should be as neat and orderly as possible, and should not be messy and cause headaches at first glance. The sails should be improved and simplified. operating procedures and other aspects.
In short, it is best to make the sailors feel "home". Of course, small boats like Slupp have little potential for improvement in this aspect, but the lord requested that this design concept be continued to be built later. in large ships.
Everyone knows the reason for this. It is relatively easy to maintain a good mood and physical strength in a relatively comfortable environment.
"What I'm saying is that without affecting combat effectiveness, combat effectiveness is the foundation of everything." Earl Grayman emphasized in the end.
On the other hand, although the sea trial of the "Hope" was generally successful, some flaws were discovered one after another during the subsequent frequent training by Quick and others.
These flaws and some improvement suggestions put forward by naval officers and soldiers were fed back to the shipyard as soon as possible, so that Rubin, Benjamin and others could modify the design in time and make improvements on the new ship.
The above two aspects have created considerable challenges for the craftsmen of the shipyard.
Then there's the problem of pirates.
Not only Count Greyman, but Austin himself also suspected that there were spies from the Loach Gang lurking in or near the Navy. He had assigned Captain Valk of the Navy picket to team up with Cecil and sent intelligence officer Duran stationed in Port Fulan to investigate the matter. , and I don’t know when the results will be available.
If there were indeed spies, the fact that the Navy was about to take the initiative might have been leaked.
"Beep!" A knock on the door interrupted Austin's thoughts.
He opened his eyes and shouted, "Come in!"
After the door was pushed open, two people walked in, it was Captain Valk and Intelligence Officer Duran.
Austin motioned for the two of them to sit down and said, "I hope what you two bring me is good news."
The two looked at each other, and Duran made a gesture of invitation to Valk.
The picket captain said sternly to Austin: "Commander, there is good news and bad news."
Austin immediately said: "Let's talk about the bad first!"
At least there is good news later to comfort myself.
"The navy does have spies planted by pirates."
Ah, this isn't too bad. I thought it was a nine out of ten possibility before.
"So, what's the good news?"
"We have identified who the spy is."
Captain Valk handed a stack of papers to Austin.
Austin browsed through it hurriedly and said with a hint of helplessness: "Well, it seems that Mr. Grayman pays a lot of salary to the soldiers. They actually have spare money to do such things."
The spy planted by the pirates in Port Fulan turned out to be the owner of the only brothel in the town, named Clement.
The means he used to obtain naval intelligence can be imagined.
"Is the evidence conclusive?"
"It's very conclusive. We sent people to follow a contact person."
"How many people in the Navy have been to his store?"
"So far we have confirmed that a total of 48 people have been there, including six officers."
With so many people, Austin's face gradually stiffened, and he felt very annoyed. There must have been many bastards who were tricked into talking out of words in bed.
"Kick out all those who have been to brothels from the army!" "No one in the army will be allowed to go looking for women in the future."
Austin was just about to yell, but after thinking about it, he gave up. He ordered: "Find out the specific person who leaked the information, and do whatever the military regulations say."
Captain Valk responded: "Yes, Commander."
The Duran intelligence officer on the side said: "Should we directly ask the city hall to cooperate with the closure of this brothel?"
Austin waved his hand and said, "No, I'm worried that I won't have a chance to catch Loach. Maybe this is a good opportunity to use this spy to set a trap for Loach."
"Anyway, let's have a good talk with Boss Clement first."
…
Clement was tied up and hung in a secret room in his brothel.
There is no mistake. One post, one content, one 6 one, one book, one book, one read!
He whimpered hard with his gagged mouth, but it had no effect at all. People outside the room could not hear him at all.
After all, he put a lot of effort into soundproofing the room for the convenience of his clients.
One person said, "Open his mouth, Clement, if you dare to scream, humph!"
The towel blocking Clement's mouth was pulled out.
The guy took a few deep and greedy breaths and begged for mercy: "Navy uncles, I confess, I confess everything."
The man just now smiled cunningly: "Oh, you are guilty so soon? What do you want to confess?"
"I..." Clement was speechless for a while.
Today is Clement's most unlucky day. His business was doing well, and several naval officers and soldiers came in groups. He was thinking of taking the opportunity to find out some intelligence.
Several naval officers and soldiers booked a room alone and called girls to eat, drink and have fun in it. Unexpectedly, they quarreled in it and smashed a lot of things. Clement, as the boss, naturally had to go over to take a look.
The officers and soldiers drove out the ladies who accompanied them to drink, and then asked the boss to judge them.
Who would have thought that these guys would actually close the door and rush over to subdue him.
Then he became what he is now.
Clement squeaked and whimpered: "I... I... I confessed to tax evasion."
"Pah!" A loud slap slapped the brothel owner's face, making the fat flesh on his face tremble.
An officer lowered his voice and asked: "We don't care whether you evade taxes or not. Tell me! Are you a spy planted by pirates in Fulan Port? Speak to me in a low voice."
"It's unfair. How could I have a deal with those vicious bastards."
Clement wanted to quibble, but the naval officers and soldiers quickly produced evidence that made him dumbfounded. In addition, the gleaming knife was pointed at his face, and the brothel owner finally admitted that he had connections with the Loach Gang among the pirates.
The officer came over and patted his fleshy face, as if he was patting a pig that was about to be sent to the slaughterhouse.
He said with a fake smile: "According to our Commander Austin, you will be executed immediately after you confess."
Clement showed a strong sense of fear. He was about to beg for mercy, but his mouth was immediately covered tightly.
But he heard the officer continue to say: "Just listen to me. There is a chance to survive in front of you. I don't know if you can seize it."
Hearing that he could still survive, Clement nodded vigorously with his mouth covered.
Thanks to the book friend "天?定" for the reward!