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

Chapter 29 Industrial Liaison Bureau

Thorne was completely unaware of what was happening in Britain, after all, Egypt was thousands of kilometers away from Britain, and the reinforcements sent from Britain would have been at sea for at least a month or even two months.

(The image above shows two shipping routes used by Britain to reach Egypt during World War II. The red line is the more commonly used route. During this route, at the location circled in red, which is Durban, South Africa, transport ships would typically spend several weeks refueling and resupplying, thus the total voyage took 1.5 to 2 months. The blue line was a faster route, taking only 7 to 10 days, but it was rarely used because it involved crossing the German-Italian blockade, which was very dangerous.)

Given this relative information blockade, Thorne had little and no need to know what was happening in the UK.

He knew it was because of his superior, Major Scott.

Major Scott came from a fallen aristocratic family; his father had served in World War I, making them a military family.

This is also why Major Scott was able to become the director of the lucrative "Wartime Industrial Liaison Bureau" at such a young age.

Down-on-their-luck aristocrats like Scott typically looked down on emerging capitalists like Thorne.

The two are natural enemies:

Impoverished nobles invest in land hoping to have more farmers working on it, while capitalists like Thorne turn farmers into workers.

The result was that the "traditional aristocracy" became "impoverished aristocrats," while capitalists like Thorne went from "commoners" to "nouveau riche."

Therefore, Scott disliked Thorne the moment he became his subordinate.

Major Scott arranged Thorne to sit in the seat closest to the window, so that whenever it got light, the sunlight would hit Thorne first, even if the curtains were drawn.

"Two people have already passed out there," Scott muttered to himself, a sense of satisfaction creeping into his work as he wrote annotations on the documents.

"I hope he can hold on for a few more days."

"This guy gave the Germans a hard time; let's see if he can withstand the 'heat' from the desert!"

At that moment, Lieutenant Evans, who was in charge of the communications room, walked up to Scott: "Major, your telegram is from London."

Scott hummed in response; he knew it was from his father.

Indeed, that was the case. Scott took the telegram and unfolded it to read:

"I heard Thorne is working in your department as your subordinate? Great."

"First, I hope you can get me an autograph and send it to me as soon as possible, immediately."

"Secondly, I know what's going on in your head."

"Listen to me, my whole family is hiding in an air-raid shelter where there is no sunlight to avoid the German bombing. Many people here, including your mother and me, have seen Thorne as their hope."

"So, shut up your shameful act. If I ever hear anything about it in the future, I'll skin you alive!"

Finally, he added, "We keep our word, M and H."

"M" and "H" are abbreviations for the father, Maurice, and the mother, Helen, in the telegram.

Scott was stunned. Did this mean his mother was involved and agreed with the idea?

"My God, what are they doing?" Scott exclaimed, his face filled with disbelief. "How, how could this happen?"

Lieutenant Evans, who was also of noble birth, explained:

"Major, you don't know yet?"

"Domestic media outlets, both large and small, are reporting on Thorne's case."

"They (referring to the British government) are clearly using Thorne as a role model to boost morale, if we..."

At this point, he glanced at the spot prepared for Thorne, which was now exposed to the sun and its temperature was easy to imagine without even trying it.

Major Scott understood.

The entire nation is following Thorne's example. If I secretly make things difficult for Thorne, all Thorne needs to do is casually complain to a reporter, and then I...

No, perhaps the entire "Industrial Liaison Bureau" is finished.

The entire "Industrial Liaison Bureau" will be under pressure, not only facing disciplinary action and dismissal, but more frighteningly, being overwhelmed by criticism and even being labeled as a spy.

At the same time, all the shady deals hidden in the shadows will be exposed to the public...

Just then, Thorne walked into the command center. His eyes searched the office before heading straight to the desk with his name on it.

Scott quickly stood up to stop him: "Captain, your desk is over here."

Scott patted Evans's desk, which was closest to the basement entrance, almost devoid of sunlight, and where a cool breeze carried a hint of chill.

Thorne looked bewildered: "But Major, my name tag is over there..."

"Lieutenant Evans must have made a mistake." Scott turned his gaze to the side and glared fiercely at Evans.

Evans snapped out of his daze: "Yes, yes, Captain."

He quickly grabbed his name tag and exchanged it with Thorne: "I made a mistake, your seat is over there, Captain. I'm so sorry!"

Since that's the case, Thorne won't stand on ceremony.

However, when he sat down in his "own" seat, he found that the documents on the desk were about himself.

Evans panicked instantly, frantically gathering his documents with a sincere expression:

"I'm sorry, Captain. We're not investigating you, please don't misunderstand."

"As you know, our department's responsibilities include keeping a close eye on market dynamics in order to more accurately grasp business trends."

"Local media is one of our focuses, and you happen to be the focus of the media."

Thorne said "Oh," and then added, "So, these things are being reported locally too?"

"Yes, of course." Evans nodded repeatedly: "Domestic reports are even more numerous, more detailed, and more..."

He had intended to say "even more exaggerated," but suddenly realized that it might not be appropriate.

"Should I leave these documents with you?" Evans said. "You might want to take a look."

Thorne shook his head; he wasn't interested in any of that.

"However," he said, "I'm not very familiar with this place, Lieutenant, and I don't know the rules. I'd like to look up some company information, is that alright?"

"Of course," Lieutenant Evans replied affirmatively.

"That's exactly what we do, Captain, though mostly related to Egypt."

"We also have data on Libya."

"But you know..."

Evans let out a fawning laugh.

(Note: During World War II, western Libya was an Italian colony, while eastern Libya was a British colony. Evans's statement means that by this time, the German army had already occupied eastern Libya, and information about eastern Libya was no longer relevant.)

Thorne didn't smile. He nodded to Evans. "I'd like to know about the Egyptian barrel factory, thank you!"

Evans stepped forward: "I'd be happy to serve you, Captain!"

No sooner had Evans left than Major Scott returned with a notebook and pen: "Captain, could I have your autograph?"