Jiang Hao looked at everyone and said, "You must know that you must learn to judge the situation at any time. I can tell you clearly that I am not optimistic about Italy, Mussolini, or even the mythical German head of state."

"If they fail, what will happen to Italy and Germany, I think you will imagine that by that time, the Lira and Mark will become waste paper, and all our previous efforts will be useless."

"If it weren't for the gold control, I would rather exchange them all for gold. All the gold jewelry I got from Tunisia were given to the Germans and the Italian navy. Can't you see this? They don't like paper money either."

After a while, Jiang Hao led Fabio, Casani and others to travel all over Palermo's banks and tried to convert the lira into US dollars and pounds. However, Palermo was still a little smaller, and they ran to the inland again, in Naples, and then they exchanged all the cash.

The money organized was about 8 million lira, and finally exchanged 500,000 US dollars. Jiang Hao’s private ten million lira was exchanged for more than 600,000 US dollars. This is the current exchange rate. There is no way. It seems to be a lot, but in fact, there is really not much exchange.

As for the German Mark, absolutely not.

There is a story in later generations. After Germany was defeated, an American journalist said that Germany was carrying out an interview mission and went to the bank to exchange marks and took out 5 dollars. The bank staff said embarrassedly, "Sorry, the bank's money is not enough to exchange for this currency."

"How much can I exchange for?"

"Only exchangeable for three dollars."

The money of a bank can only be exchanged for three dollars. You can imagine the value of the German Mark at that time. Now the German Mark is called the Golden Mark, and the exchange ratio between the US dollar is 2.5 marks to 1 dollar.

Time never stops, and it is late summer of 1942.

The smoke of gunpowder is still everywhere, the world war is in full swing, the Germans and the British are fighting in North Africa, and Rommel and Montgomery have made their reputation here.

Jiang Hao knew that in one or two months, the famous Battle of Alahman would take place. This battle was also known as the turning point on the North African battlefield. It started on October 23 and lasted 12 days. The German army was defeated and expelled from Egypt and retreated to Tunisia.

I'm afraid that by that time, his smuggling business would be difficult to do. He summoned a group of his subordinates to a meeting and demanded that in the near future, he would be able to tighten his tobacco stocks, and at least he would not be able to prepare enough goods before the defeat in Germany was revealed.

At this time, Jiang Hao's organization had a full membership of 1,000, and the number of peripheral personnel reached more than 3,000.

During this period, Jiang Hao also obtained a large amount of weapons and ammunition through the German and Italian troops. In addition to the necessary equipment, all the others were stored, including rifles, machine guns, and grenades, as well as some heavy weapons, such as mortars, high-purity explosives, etc.

The pace of history was surprisingly consistent, or it was simply the original period of history. The Battle of Alamein broke out and the German army was defeated. The German head of state saw the crisis and immediately ordered the army to go to Sicily. At this moment, a large number of German troops poured into Sicily.

On this day, when Jiang Hao was reading a book in the study, Basali came over to report, "Boss, the Germans said they wanted to see you."

"German, do you know why you want to see me?" Jiang Hao asked with a downward book.

"It should be for the cigarette."

"The Germans were preparing to hold a cocktail party and invited big merchants from all over Sicily. I think they probably wanted to attack the merchants and let us deliver supplies to them obediently." Basali said.

The German army's current environment is becoming increasingly bad, and the supply is gradually unable to keep up. The German army's solution is to try to replenish supplies locally. The army cannot do without cigarettes. He is the owner of the largest cigarette factory in the local area, so he naturally came up with his ideas.

Jiang Hao thought about it and said lightly: "I understand, come pick me up tomorrow evening."

The cocktail party was held in the best hotel in Palermo. After Jiang Hao walked in, he found that many people had gathered. In addition to German and Italian officers, they were merchants in suits. The officers all had smiles on their faces, but these merchants were not that happy.

A German major general walked up to the stage, raised his wine glass and said, "Everyone, in order to defeat the damn British and Americans, and to protect Sicily, we came here, hesitating to march in a hurry, the army did not keep up with the supply, and according to the laws of wartime, the army has the right to draw any supplies. Of course, the army will pay."

The merchants in the audience immediately started to talk about the military, but they only bought it at the price specified by the state. At such a price, they could not even buy raw materials on the market. The price was more than ten times the price of the black market. The merchants lost as much as they sold. Who would be willing to do such a business?

The German major general had a little unhappy face and thought to himself that these businessmen were too ungrateful. Are they really going to be tough?

In the eyes of soldiers, merchants are just a group of fattening lambs. They will slaughter when they need it. They will never be lenient.

Just then, a voice sounded, and Jiang Hao stood up and said, "God General, I am Bernano from the Sicily Cigarette Factory. I am willing to supply all the cigarettes from the army."

The German major general immediately showed joy on his face, walked to Jiang Hao, reached out to shake him, "A businessman like you is a truly sensible businessman."

Some people started out and knew the current affairs and agreed to provide supplies to the army, but some people still refused. They would not do business at a loss.

However, Jiang Hao knew that these guys would not have good results. Sometimes they should not love money too much. Losing is much better than losing their lives.

Back at the manor, Jiang Hao said to Basali: "Take the cigarettes to the army, since you want to do it, you have to do it perfectly."

Basali said with a bitter face, "Boss, if this is the case, we will probably have to pay 100,000 lira a day."

"It doesn't matter if you lose money. There will always be a day when you will get your money back. Remember to remember to remember the address of each army and the number of cigarettes provided, and give me a detailed record afterwards." Jiang Hao said with a smile.

"What's the use of that thing?" Basharli asked curiously.

"Haha, it's very useful."

Another month passed, and Luca came back. The news brought back was that the situation in Tunisia became increasingly tense, and the Allied offensive was very fierce. The Italian Navy blocked the Tunisian Strait. The naval contact warned Luca that the smuggling ship must stop.

Then stop.

Before, the inventory was stepped up, and the tobacco line was enough for the cigarette factory to use it for a few months.

Time flies Christmas again. This year, Jiang Hao and Malena didn’t go anywhere, just spent their time in the manor.

Very warm,

It's also very romantic.

"Woooooooooooooo~"
Chapter completed!