The journey starts from the Titanic

"By the way, Leo, can I hire you? I have a shipping company, and I often run Southeast Asian routes, but the pirates in Malacca are too powerful. They often attack our captains. I want to arm the merchant ship so I can meet pirates. There is no need to fight back.

There is a shortage of experienced people like you now, would you like it?It's easy to say what the salary is."

"Sir, how did you think of this? Don't you think it's a bit sloppy? After all, we are not familiar, and even my identity may cause trouble."

Leo said softly.He didn't care, but he was a little surprised why Situ Nan made such a request.

"Sloppy? No, you are a soldier. After sharing your story, I think our communication can be very straightforward, and there is no need to be ambiguous."

Situ Nan shook his head and said, "Your identity has no trouble with words. I just think that you are born to belong to the sea. You are an adventurer. Your experience makes you competent for this job. I think you are the most suitable one. Candidates. You don’t have to make a choice right away. You can also stay on the William, or disembark, or even send you to Cuba!"

Not to mention Cuba, even in Germany, Situ Nan is able to send Leo and the others back to Germany safely, but Situ Nan would not do it for reasons other than relatives.

Not long ago, he had just sent a small team on a Bethlehem company ship to France, in order to "save" his wayward brother-in-law "Paul".

After all, Andrew was not at ease, for fear of his son's loss on the battlefield.Knowing this, Situ Nan volunteered to take it without the pillow wind blowing.

This is a rare opportunity to please Andrew, and Situ Nan also thinks he should do it.

"It doesn't have to be so troublesome, Mr. William. It is not a big problem if we go back in Cuba. I will send a telegram to the kind captain later.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, I also want to go shopping.As for whether to join an armed merchant ship, I have to think about it before I can answer you."

Leo replied.There was an impulse in his heart, even if he was driving a merchant ship, as long as he saw the past Pzi flag, he wanted to sink it.

...

"Lucas, where have you been?" Leo said dissatisfied when he saw Lucas walk into the room.

He just couldn't find Lucas.The boat is too big for him to go around.

"I went to visit the engine room on the ship. It was the first time I saw a steam turbine installed on a cruise ship, using three fuel oil units, with a total installed power of 10.6 MW, which is equivalent to our destroyer.

I asked the mechanics on the ship, and they said that if they were running at full speed, the speed would exceed 30 knots.Good deed, what do you think this cruise ship is doing so fast? The owner of this ship is really burning money!"

Lucas said excitedly.As he said, in this era when most merchant ships are powered by coal-fired steam engines, the power plant of the Wilhelm is even more advanced than that of the German Navy, which shocked Lucas, who has always been obsessed with ship technology. Refined.

He is a technical man who is obsessed with machines. If it weren't for the war, he would have become an engineer in a shipyard.

Today Lucas stayed in the engine room of the William, constantly asking questions and answers, very curious.The crew member who was instructed by Situ Nan didn't embarrass him, but patiently introduced Lucas to the situation of the William.

"Is it so powerful?" Leo was a little moved.

"Yes, very advanced. The William does not burn coal at all. It is much stronger than traditional steam engines in terms of power and range.

I didn't expect that the Americans had already surpassed us in this respect. Such advanced power was already installed on a warship, and I did not expect it to be used on a cruise ship."

Lucas said with emotion.

I thought, if all of the Spey fleet's warships were equipped with these engines, there would be no black smoke from burning coal, it is estimated that the British fleet would not find them so easily.

Moreover, the calorific value of gasoline is higher than that of coal, and the output power is more powerful, even if the British fleet finds the Spey fleet, it will not catch up.Maybe the Spey fleet will be able to return to Germany.

"The British are not so lavish! Only wealthy American upstarts will do this!"

Leo said stiffly, looking at Lucas's "worshiping foreigners".He knew that Europe was short of oil and Germany was blocked again. He could not import oil from Baku at all. He could only use the abundant coal in the Ruhr area.

The two fell into silence, silently thinking about their own thoughts.

Leo was worried about the situation in Germany. In the past two years, he saw that all the ships of the Allied Powers were running at sea. Britain, France, the United States and other countries could use the resources of the world to fight against Germany. How reliable is the Austro-Hungarian ally against the world.

Lucas is fascinated by the new technology on the William. He has a hunch that the future ocean will be a world where fuel-powered steam turbines are popular, and those dark steam power will be introduced to the historical stage.

"I've decided!" Lucas said, clapping his thigh hard.

"What did you decide?" Leo asked.

"I'm going to the United States to learn to study this advanced ship power!" Lucas said firmly.

"Oh!" Leo answered lightly.

Originally, he wanted to discuss with Lucas whether to accept Situ Nan's kindness and become the captain of an armed merchant ship, but now it seems unnecessary, Lucas already has his own arrangements.

Leo secretly cheered for Lucas in his heart. He himself still liked the feeling of sailing on the sea, being free and riding the wind and waves.

In order to convince Lucas, under Situ Nan's intention to show off, the William really raised the speed to the highest speed and ran towards Panama at a speed of 31 knots.

Unfortunately, there was a delay of two days in Havana. Situ Nan did not catch up with the Panamanian Petroleum Company. Just the day before, under the leadership of Guadas, Pratt’s oil exploration team had already rushed to Venezuela’s Ma Open the lake.

Lake Maracaibo is located in the northwestern part of Venezuela. The longest point is 212 kilometers and the widest point is 92 kilometers. The total area is 14,300 square kilometers. It is the largest lake in Venezuela and South America and the only lagoon connected to the sea.

Maracaibo Lake is wide and endless, with an average depth of more than 20 meters.The south part is filled with more than 150 inland rivers of different sizes, which are fresh water; the sea mouth of Hubei is nearly 10 kilometers wide and the water surface is connected with the Caribbean Sea, and the water is very salty.

Except for the dry climate along the coast of the Gulf of Venezuela in the north, the annual precipitation is less than 500 mm, most of the lake area is hot and rainy, with an average annual temperature of 28 ℃ and annual precipitation of more than 1,500 mm, making it one of the hottest and humid regions in South America.

Gedasi recalled the information about Lake Maracaibo, feeling a little excited.This is Occidental Petroleum's first major overseas operation, and how many hopes it has placed on it!So there is absolutely nothing to lose.

The ship gradually sailed into Maracaibo Port, and this peaceful port caused a sensation.

Because the port of Maracaibo was too small, the Lakers from Gudasi and the others were 5,000 tons, and they stumbled before squeezing in.

A well-dressed man with a slightly wretched expression was about to wave his hand to the shore, wanting to announce his coming, but when his hand reached mid-air, he suddenly gave himself a cheek. With a "pop!" he hit himself. Slap!

Release the palm, the center of the hand is a little red, it turns out to be a mosquito!It was so greedy, it didn't know how greedy and vicious the man who killed him was!

Damn it!Is there oil in this place?Mosquitoes are almost the same!It just gave me a good start!

Chapter 172

Venezuela was originally inhabited by the Arawa and Caribbean Indians.Columbus discovered Venezuela on his voyage to find the New World.Later, Spanish explorer Alonso Ouheda called the country Venezuela, which means "Little Venice".

Venezuela has always been a colony of the Spanish. It was not until later under the leadership of the liberator of South America Simon Bolivar that it completely got rid of Spanish colonial rule in June 1821 and formed the Republic of Colombia with Colombia, Ecuador and Panama.

Unfortunately, within a few years, Simon Bolivar, the father of the five countries of Washington, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, passed away, and the Republic of Colombia he worked so hard to manage was also disintegrated.

Venezuela is now in power by the great warlord Juan Gomez, a strongman who came to power by a coup.At the same time, he is also the largest rich man in Venezuela, because he is the most powerful market maker in South America!

Maracaibo City is located at the northwest corner of Lake Maracaibo. If Lake Maracaibo is compared to a bottle, Maracaibo City is the bottleneck, tightly locking the throat that stretches from the lake to the Caribbean Sea.

Because it was not fully developed, it was deserted.Especially the marshes on the east coast are overgrown with weeds such as reeds and many mosquitoes.

An expedition ship emerged from the dense reeds, Gudas pulled off the gauze net wrapped around his head, and with a slight shake, a mosquito body fell off.

"Damn place! Pratt! I don't think I should come with you for a terrain survey. I should sit in a hotel in the city and drink with local officials. You shouldn't encourage me to come over."

Gudas complained.

"Hey! This is the task assigned by the boss, I think you should go to the field to test and wipe Lake Maracaibo!