BSI Chapter 30 Did I hear that right?
Chapter 30 Did I hear that right?
However, Thorne ultimately failed to retain the position of "Industrial Liaison Bureau".
Thorne's initial job was with the "Industrial Liaison Bureau," where he spent half the morning as an industrial liaison and the other half as a staff officer at Montgomery Command.
But not long after, Montgomery abolished what he considered an unreasonable attendance system.
That day, Montgomery stared blankly at the map, then suddenly looked up and called out, "Thorn!"
Gray, who was organizing documents, looked up and glanced to both sides before replying, "General, Thorne should be at the Industrial Liaison Bureau. I'll go get him!"
Montgomery frowned and called out to Gray before he left.
"Is the Industrial Liaison Bureau busy?" he asked.
"No, General," Gray replied, "Thorne's job mostly involves organizing documents and then getting them signed by you."
"Well then," Montgomery's voice hardened, his eyes filled with displeasure and a hint of anger, "Is that so?"
"Why not delegate these tasks to others?"
"Do you think Thorne needs to do this?"
"Or do you think the work of the Industrial Liaison Bureau is more important than that of the command headquarters?"
Gray immediately understood: "Yes, General, I'll take care of it right away!"
After Gray left, Montgomery still couldn't help but curse, "When will these guys ever learn to be efficient?!"
Chief of Staff Degang saw this and understood that Montgomery considered it an unforgivable waste to put someone as talented as Thorne in the Industrial Liaison Bureau.
Soon after, Thorne followed Gray up.
Montgomery didn't waste any words. Pointing to the Mediterranean Sea on the map, he asked, "You said before that the Mediterranean Sea has a counter-clockwise circulation. I'd like to know about its periodicity. For example, when will it stop or change?"
"Rest assured, General," Thorne replied.
"It's permanent. September is probably a dividing line."
"Before September, the circulation speed is relatively slow and the ocean currents are turbulent, which means that fewer oil drums drift to the coast of North Africa."
Montgomery understood what he meant: "After September, will it move faster and more systematically?"
"Yes." Thorne nodded firmly.
Montgomery looked up at Thorne: "Do you understand what I mean, Captain?"
"Understood, General," Thorne replied. "This means 'poison oil' must be produced continuously."
Montgomery gave a satisfied "hmm".
Talking to a smart person like Thorne is effortless; he understands everything you mean with just one sentence.
Only by continuously producing and dumping "poisonous oil" into the sea could Rommel not feel safe using the gasoline he had salvaged, thus preventing the German army from obtaining more fuel in the future.
"You'll be working here from now on," Montgomery said in an unquestionable tone.
"Yes, General."
So Thorne stayed at the command post, his desk right across from Gray's.
As for the Industrial Liaison Bureau, Thorne continued to maintain a close relationship with them, especially by making phone calls and sending telegrams.
In principle, military bases are not allowed to make external communications, and even if they do, they are subject to censorship.
However, the Industrial Liaison Department is different; they need to constantly monitor the information and data of relevant companies, so their review process is much more lenient.
Thorne used this to his advantage to contact Wells.
Red Sea Oil Company is one of the military's suppliers, and there's nothing wrong with Thorne contacting its head.
"Something's gone wrong, Thorne." Wells sounded a bit frustrated on the other end of the phone.
"I had already made contact, and the Alexandria barrel factory agreed to sell for £10."
"But they changed their minds the next day when it came time to sign the contract, because Shell intended to acquire it for the original price of £30."
Thorne immediately understood: Shell had its sights set on Red Sea oil.
This is a price war, with Shell trying to spend an extra £20 to block a possible outlet for Red Sea oil.
"Forget about it!" Wells had given up: "We can't raise £30, and even if we did, Shell would ask for a higher price."
Engaging in a price war with oil giants was clearly not a wise choice, and Wells couldn't think of any way to break the deadlock.
But Thorne remained calm: "Continue talking to them tomorrow, Father. You just need to tell them about the 'Griffin'."
"But we don't have that much money." Wells thought, "Has Thorne gone mad?"
"We don't need any more money," Thorne said confidently. "They'll sell it to you for £10, but they'll ask that you don't say anything."
"Oh, really?" Wells asked, still somewhat skeptical.
Thorne, however, was quite certain.
He obtained a lead from the Industrial Liaison Bureau and learned that Drake, the head of the Alexander Barrel Factory, was secretly smuggling fuel.
If it were just ordinary smuggling, it wouldn't be a big deal.
However, this fuel flowed into Libya through the black market.
More precisely, this fuel was transferred to the Germans through Egyptian guerrillas.
This is an act of treason.
Therefore, Thorne was certain that Drake would sell the factory to Wells for £10 unless he wanted to go to jail.
Sure enough, the next day Wells excitedly told Thorne on the phone:
"We bought it, God, unbelievable, he actually signed the contract."
"Just as you thought, he only asked me to forget about the 'Griffin'."
"It's unusual, isn't it?"
“You don’t need to know this, Father,” Thorne said.
After hanging up the phone, Thorne took out two oil drums that he had prepared in advance from the storage box, and carried them upstairs to the command post, one in each hand.
At that moment, Montgomery was looking at the defensive line map and discussing something with Degangan, seemingly deducing the possibilities of an attack.
Thorne placed two oil drums on Montgomery's desk: "You should take a look at this, General."
"Wait, Thorne." Montgomery frowned slightly. "Can't you see I'm busy?"
But Thorne insisted, "This is important, General."
Montgomery was getting angry. He glanced up at Thorne, then turned to the two oil drums Thorne had brought: "So, you think they're more important than the battle plan?"
Thorne nodded seriously: "Yes, you could even say that there would be no victory without them, even if we devised a perfect battle plan."
Montgomery paused for a moment, then laughed. "Okay, I'm listening!"
Degangan, standing nearby, secretly gave Thorne a wink.
Degangan knew Montgomery well; whenever he said this, if you didn't get a satisfactory answer, you'd be facing his "wrath."
But Thorne pretended not to see it, and picked up the oil drum on his right:
"General, I think you remember these oil drums; they were used by the Germans."
"If we replaced all the oil drums with these, I mean, imitations."
"Then our fuel consumption will immediately increase by 20% to 25%!"
Montgomery looked at Thorne in disbelief:
Do you know what you're saying?
"Did I hear that right?"
"20% to 25%?"