World War II: Starting with the defeat of the Desert Fox

Chapter 38 We are professionals

Alexandria.

An old-fashioned cruise ship slowly entered the harbor. Its hull was mottled and worn, and its smokestacks emitted thick and thin black smoke as it slowly cut through the rippling seawater.

(The image above shows the location of Alexandria, a crucial supply port for the British army during the Battle of El Alamein, and also a strategic node connecting the army, navy, and air force. Alexander the Great's second command post was located here. (Note: Alexandria shares the same name as Alexander the Great; this is clearly meant to make things difficult for the author.)

About nine kilometers west of the port, on the outskirts, stands a medium-sized factory.

Apart from a few factory buildings and warehouses, there is only a four-story workers' dormitory building in the factory area. The surrounding area is a desolate Gobi Desert. The whole factory exudes a lonely and oppressive atmosphere, like a heavily guarded prison for serious offenders.

This is the Alexander Copper Mill that Wells just bought.

As the setting sun bathed the factory's massive, towering chimneys, Kavanagh finally straightened up and stretched his weary back.

Kavanagh, over fifty years old, comes from Birmingham and is a long-time butler who has served the Wells family for many years. He has been rooted in the family since Wells was ten years old and has never left.

Kavanagh will never forget that when he was starving to death in the slums, it was old Wells who sponsored his schooling and provided him with living expenses.

This is why Kavanagh didn't leave even when Wells was in such dire straits that he couldn't even pay his salary.

Just as Kavanagh was exhausted and about to return to his dormitory to rest, a convoy of military vehicles suddenly drove up outside the factory.

They stopped at the factory gate, and a large number of soldiers disembarked in formation at the sound of commands and whistles, their footsteps making a commotion that drew the attention of the workers.

Kavanagh was terrified. He thought something had gone wrong with the barrel factory he had just taken over, and he hurriedly went to greet them with his assistant.

"Sir," he stopped the captain who was striding into the factory, "is there anything I can help you with? If you're going to conduct a search, I'd like you to have a search warrant..."

"Please, Kavanagh," Thorne said, "Are you serious? Pretending not to know me?"

Kavanagh stared intently, then froze instantly: "Young...Young Master?!"

Kavanagh could hardly believe his eyes. He had never seen his young master in military uniform before. Apart from the same appearance, his demeanor was completely different from before, so he didn't recognize him at all.

He felt relieved; this was certainly not a threatening search.

Then he remembered.

Yes, people are talking about the young master's meritorious service; he joined the army.

Kavanagh looked Thorne up and down in surprise: "Young Master, you, you're already a captain!"

His eyes were full of comfort, with tears welling up in them.

Kavanagh witnessed the young master's outrageous past and covered for him many times, even using his meager savings to cover up the young master's losses.

Now, he finally sees his young master grow up...

Thorne didn't answer; he glanced into the factory and asked, "Is Father in?"

"No, he's not here." Kavanagh secretly pinched his slightly sore nose. "He's busy contacting raw material suppliers. If all goes well, the barrel factory should start production in the next couple of days."

Thorne said "Oh," and then added, "Then I won't go in."

As Thorne turned to leave the factory, he glanced back at Kavanagh with gratitude.

"I won't say thank you, Kavanagh."

"You know why."

"You are family to us, always have been!"

One sentence instantly shattered Kavanagh's psychological defenses, and as he responded with a smile, tears uncontrollably streamed down his face.

At that moment, he felt that all his efforts had been worthwhile.

Not wanting to lose his composure in front of the young master, Kavanagh quickly bowed and tried to keep his voice steady: "It's my honor, young master!"

Thorne nodded and strode out of the factory, nodding at Shepherd who was waiting outside: "Your mission is to make this factory disappear before dawn tomorrow. Can you do it?"

Shepherd took a few steps back, looked around, and after a quick mental assessment, replied, "No problem, Captain!"

Kavanagh, who followed them out, was terrified by these words.

disappear?

Raze the factory to the ground?

Nobody told me about this!

"Young Master..." he said, looking confused.

"Relax, Kavanagh," Thorne explained. "I'm just going to hide it, not actually make it 'disappear'."

"Yes, young master!" Kavanagh breathed a sigh of relief.

There were too many "surprises" today, and he couldn't handle it all.

But the next second his heart, which had been at ease, jumped again.

Why "hide" it?

Could it be...?

Kavanagh looked up at the sky in horror, but there was nothing there except a few seagulls.

He turned his gaze back to Thorne.

"Don't worry," Thorne replied.

"Nothing will happen, there's no need to create unnecessary panic."

"Just do what you're supposed to do, and pretend we don't exist, understand?"

"Understood, young master." Kavanagh nodded with difficulty.

"Captain!" Shepherd said to Thorne, "May I ask you a question?"

"Haven't you been asking all along?" Thorne had been nearly drowned out by this guy's endless stream of questions on the way here.

Shepherd chuckled, "Then I won't stand on ceremony. You didn't choose the right address, did you?"

"What?" Thorne was bewildered by his nonsensical question.

Shepherd explained:

"Please, Captain, I'm not an idiot!"

"If we want to eliminate this factory, we must create it elsewhere. Otherwise, the German reconnaissance planes won't give up until they find the target."

"So that's why you brought two engineering companies, am I right?"

He was right; that was indeed Thorne's idea.

"What suggestions do you have?" Thorne asked. "I mean, the location of the new factory."

"Two kilometers to the west," Shepherd said. "I observed it on the way here; the terrain is very similar."

Thorne hesitated. Was two kilometers too close?

A single bomber misfires and can hit a real factory.

Shepherd seemed to see through Thorne's thoughts: "Captain, please trust the Stuka's accuracy; I've witnessed it with my own eyes!"

"Okay!" Thorne replied, "You're an expert in this area."

However, when Thorne saw the huge chimney billowing thick smoke, he frowned again: "What about the chimney? We can't stop production!"

The towering chimneys billowing black smoke were undoubtedly sending a signal to the Germans: I'm here, come and bomb me!

This is also one of the reasons why Thorne believed that fake factories should not be too close.

Shepherd had already begun assigning tasks to the engineers, and he took a moment to reply to Thorne:

"Don't worry, Captain, we can handle it."

"Just like you said, we're professionals in this area!"

As he spoke, he directed his men to lift bundles of tan canvas from under the car.

They were going to use this thing to cover the buildings. From the air, the German pilots saw only a patch of uneven hills and sand.