The Fox of France

Chapter 138: The Smuggling Ship

Under Joseph's persuasive talk, Vebitzki emptied his pockets of all the money he had within his authority. Vebitzki also complained about how remote Toulon was, making it nearly impossible to find a Jewish moneylender who would lend money at high interest rates. (In reality, there were some in Toulon, but they had been purged by Kudon and harvested by Fouch, and were yet to regrow.)

Joseph then introduced Vebitzki to the guerrilla warfare training they offered at their institute. He suggested that if the Poles were willing to pay, they could provide military training services. Vebitzki was very interested in this idea. They signed a contract, with Vebitzki paying half of the deposit. They agreed on the approximate time and location of delivery and left their contact information. Then, Vebitzki took his leave.

Joseph went on to arrange production and sent for Napoleon.

After Napoleon arrived, Joseph explained the situation in detail to him. Napoleon responded, "Sending the goods to Denmark won't be difficult. Although your 'black pearls' might experience some turbulence at sea, our people have sailed to Norway a few times (to purchase caustic soda). The North Sea can be rough, but it's not impossible to traverse. But about providing military training, do we have such a project?"

"We don't," Joseph admitted, "but, Napoleon, when you see an opportunity to make money, shouldn't we seize it? Besides, we really need the money right now, don't we?"

"Are you suggesting that we assemble a team now?" Napoleon asked. "But time might not be on our side. I have my doubts about those Poles. Even if you cram their heads with all that knowledge, I don't believe they have what it takes to achieve these things. What you're talking about might sound simple, but we both know that it takes a high level of organization to make it happen. Can we count on these Poles? I don't think they can rival Suvorov."

Napoleon shook his head as he spoke.

"I know that," Joseph acknowledged. "Maybe in a few more months, at most until next year, they will collapse militarily. But if we can start guerrilla warfare, even if it's not successful, it will distract our enemies and create more wealth for us. As for training the personnel..."

Joseph thought for a moment and continued, "After the Red Army is disbanded, do you still have contacts with your former comrades?"

"We do, they're our old subordinates. How can we not have contact?" Napoleon replied.

"Their lives must be quite difficult now, and Carnot doesn't have the budget to let them hone their skills through actual combat exercises. He can't afford to send them into battle either. So, we can propose to him that we provide the funds to hire some Red Army soldiers to carry out this task. See, that way, the problem is solved, isn't it?"

"Well, Joseph, that's indeed a good idea!" Napoleon's eyes lit up, and he quickly agreed.

According to the contract they had signed, over a month later, Vebitzki returned to the "Bonaparte Institute." He would accompany the smuggling ship to Denmark to deliver the goods.

This was the first significant foreign customer for the "Bonaparte Institute," so both Joseph and Bonaparte attached great importance to this operation. They arranged the best smuggling ship and the most skilled sailors for the task.

"Mr. Vebitzki, this is our best captain, Captain Van der Deken. He's Dutch and doesn't speak much French, only Low German and English. But he's our best captain, always, when it comes to sailing, the Dutch are the best in the world," Joseph introduced Captain Van der Deken to Vebitzki, showing him the "Flying" ship.

"Hello, Captain Deken," Vebitzki greeted the Dutchman in English, noting that the captain had only one eye.

"Nice to meet you, sir. On behalf of all the sailors, welcome aboard," the one-eyed captain said with a friendly smile, and he laughed heartily, the sunlight gleaming on his large golden teeth.

Vebitzki knew that many of the French smuggling ships were formerly pirate ships. From the captain to the sailors, they were all ruthless pirates. Later, the revolutionary government needed to engage in smuggling activities and pardoned them. Now, looking at Captain Deken's one eye and the sailors next to him, who didn't seem like the most righteous of men, Vebitzki couldn't help but label them as "pirates" in his mind.

With Vebitzki's witness, the cargo was loaded onto the ship. He followed Captain Deken aboard the ship. This ship was a typical clipper ship. It was slightly larger than the original "Black Pearl" but still had a tonnage of only about five to six hundred. The ship was not large, so Captain Deken took Vebitzki around the full ship in less than ten minutes.

Finally, Captain Deken led Vebitzki to his cabin.

"Mr. Vebitzki, this is your room," Captain Deken said as he opened the door. "Our ship is small, and space is limited, so it's cramped. You'll have to bear with it."

To lower the ship's center of gravity, almost all the cabins were below the deck. It was especially dark inside. With the help of a lantern, Vebitzki saw that the so-called room was as small as a pigeon cage. There was only a bed about a meter wide, and if someone sat on it, the door couldn't be closed.

There were also two conspicuous red straps on the bed.

"Our ship can be quite turbulent at sea. Sometimes it can toss people up. So when you sleep, you need to tie yourself to the bed with these two straps for safety," Captain Deken explained.

"Will the little cantaloupes be okay then?" Vebitzki asked, thinking of the little cantaloupes on the ship.

"Oh, those little cantaloupes are securely fastened; after all, we're afraid of death too," Captain Deken laughed.

Seeing that Captain Deken was in a good mood, Vebitzki asked, "Why haven't I seen any cannons on the ship?"

In this era, nearly all ocean-going ships were equipped with a certain number of cannons. Because it was a time when pirates roamed freely. Although there were laws and order on land, the vast sea was still a dark forest. Even ordinary merchant ships, when encountering obviously weaker ships, would sometimes play pirates just for fun.

So any cargo ship sailing on the open sea had to carry several cannons to protect themselves.

"We don't need cannons on our ship. And we can't install them even if we wanted to. After we set sail shortly, you'll understand," Captain Deken replied.

"Can I go see how the ship operates later?" Vebitzki asked.

"You can. You can go to the deck now. But if we pass through the Strait of Gibraltar, you'd better not go up to the deck casually," Captain Deken warned.

"Then, please show me the way."

...

That afternoon, the "Flying" ship left the dock and headed out to sea. Vebitzki stood on the deck and looked at the countless seagulls flying over his head.

He had brought Joseph to Toulon last year and left a bit early, so this was the first time he had boarded a ship. And it was still a smuggling ship at that. Vebitzki stood there watching the flying seagulls, and the other sailors were at a loss, as they had never seen a person entranced by seagulls in this way.

This ship, from its name to its sailors, was all very strange. Captain Deken was just the beginning. He could barely speak French, and the way he laughed was even stranger. Vebitzki had never met such a character before.

And the ship was no ordinary cargo ship, it was actually called the "Flying" ship.

Vebitzki then saw Captain Deken and a few other sailors carrying large bags of wine to the deck. Then they broke the bottles of wine and sprinkled the wine on the deck.

As the wine was poured, Vebitzki saw the clear sky become darker and darker.

"Is it going to rain?" Vebitzki asked. It was all wine on the deck now, and it looked like the dark clouds that announced the arrival of rain.

"No, Mr. Vebitzki," Captain Deken said with a chuckle. "It's just that we're soon going to pass through the Strait of Gibraltar. And after the passage, there will be no seagulls. So we invite the seagulls to stay with us for a little longer. Let them accompany us on this short journey. This wine is a gift from us to them."

Looking at the now dark and somewhat confused sky, Vebitzki had a premonition.

As he watched the dark clouds receding, Vebitzki had a more intense feeling.

This was the first time he had ever heard of people sprinkling wine on a ship's deck to say goodbye to seagulls.

"Sir, have you decided?" Captain Deken turned to Vebitzki, still chuckling.

Vebitzki sighed as he thought of the place he had come from, and then of Joseph, Napoleon, the preparations for this voyage, and finally, the soldiers. Then he said to Captain Deken, "I've decided, Captain. I'll accompany the black pearls on the trip to Denmark."

This voyage was the first voyage for both Joseph's "Bonaparte Institute" and Vebitzki. A new force had appeared in the world's arms trade, which would shake the world later.