Chapter 94 Spanish Gold

Because of the intervention of Germany and Italy, Franco's army gained air superiority in most areas. It can be said that it was a victory. It soon controlled two-thirds of Spain's land and formed a siege on Madrid.

The Spanish government, which was steadily losing ground, signed secret agreements with France and the Soviet Union respectively, and shipped its gold reserves to Paris and the Soviet Union respectively. The agreement clearly stipulates that the two countries have no control over gold, and the gold still belongs to the Spanish government.

According to a report in the New York Times, before the outbreak of the civil war, Spain’s gold reserves ranked fourth in the world, with about 700 tons. At that time, most of the gold was hidden in the warehouse of the Central Bank of Spain in Madrid, and a very small amount was scattered in the central bank's branches in some provinces. After Franco captured these provinces, he naturally owned this small portion of gold.

The Spanish government first shipped 50 tons of gold to Paris, part of which was exchanged for francs to purchase arms needed by the government army. This part of the gold is called "Paris gold". The remaining 560 tons of gold were shipped to the Soviet Union, and this batch of gold was called "Moscow gold." After receiving the gold, Stalin said his famous words at the banquet. "The Spaniards will never see their gold again, just as a man never sees his own ears." The second half of the sentence is a Russian proverb.

After the Spanish Civil War, the French government handed over 50 tons of "Paris Gold" to the Franco government. This was the only small portion of Spain's vast gold reserves to return to Spanish hands. Franco sent a diplomatic delegation to the Soviet Union to negotiate for the return of "Moscow Gold", but to no avail. Moscow Radio and the Soviet Union's "Pravda" wrote articles that the "Moscow gold" had long been spent abroad by the Spanish government during the civil war.

Of course, Yannick would not let go of such a good opportunity and convened the backbone of the intelligence department overnight to discuss countermeasures. "Everyone, I have received accurate information. Everyone knows that Franco's army is in great shape now. The government troops are retreating steadily and will be completely defeated sooner or later. Therefore, the Spanish government is preparing to transport the gold in their treasury overseas. , approximately more than 600 tons. Fifty tons of this gold will be sent to France, and the other 560 tons of gold will be sent to the warehouse of the Central Bank of Spain in Madrid.”

Hearing Yannick's words, the people below couldn't help but widen their eyes. "560 tons?! Are the Spaniards crazy?! So much gold was given to the Soviet Union. Even if the government troops defeated Franco, the Soviet Union would not be able to spit it out, right?"

The head of the Army Intelligence Department immediately suggested. "Your Highness, we can send bombers to blow up the place. The Stuka's accuracy is enough to blow up the bank. Then we will bomb non-stop day and night, not giving them a chance to dig for gold, and then notify Franco to speed up at all costs." Occupy Madrid."

Seeing that everyone around him agreed with the feasibility of this plan, Yannick shook his head and rejected his proposal. "The idea is good, but when the time comes, the gold will still be Spanish gold. What does it have to do with us?"

Reinhard asked quietly. "Your Highness, do you mean to steal that batch of gold secretly? Without letting anyone discover it?"

The corners of Yannick's mouth curved slightly, revealing an evil smile. "That's right."

Only then did others suddenly realize. "That way we can't do anything in Spain." That's a full 560 tons. If a five-ton truck was used, it would require 112 vehicles. How could such a huge fleet not be discovered.

The person who spoke this time was the head of the Naval Intelligence Department. "How about attacking them at sea? We can pretend to be pirates and rob them."

Someone immediately objected. "The Soviets will definitely send warships to escort such an important thing, right? And we can't be sure that there won't be ships from other countries around by then."

Everyone put forward two or three plans, but unfortunately all of them were rejected without exception. In the end, the head of the Naval Intelligence Department sighed and said helplessly. "We might as well send a submarine force to sink them halfway. If we can't get the Soviet Union, we can't even think about it."

"..." Yannick thought this proposal was not bad. 560 tons of gold is not a small amount, and it can play a huge role in any country. The Soviet Union in the original time and space was able to win World War II, which had something to do with swallowing this batch of gold. During the entire war, the Soviet Union used a full 473 tons of gold.

Therefore, even if all this gold is thrown into the sea, it will not make the Soviets easier.

And as long as the sinking location is clearly recorded, the gold can still be recovered later. Later, a salvage company even salvaged dozens of tons of silver coins from a World War II sunken ship carrying about 100 tons of silver coins at a depth of more than 5,000 meters in the Atlantic Ocean.

But is there a better way? After all, salvage also requires costs, and there is no guarantee that the ship transporting gold will sink completely. If it is blown up, the gold will be scattered, which will make the salvage more difficult.

Standing in front of the huge world map, thinking about the transportation route of the original time and space, a bold plan gradually took shape in his mind. "Do you think we can rob this gold in the Soviet Union?"

"..." Everyone couldn't help but look at each other after hearing this. This plan was much crazier than robbing in Spain.

Yannick said to himself. "If the information I got is correct, the ship loaded with gold will be loaded from the port of Cartagena, then cross the Mediterranean Sea into the Black Sea to the port of Odessa to unload the cargo and load it onto the train and head straight to Moscow. Tsk tsk, the Soviet Union is indeed a large country with a vast land and a sparse population. There are three places where this railway passes through where there are no people or very few people within 100 kilometers. Maybe we can start from these places."

Reinhard asked in confusion. "Your Highness, even if we robbed the gold there, it is after all in the Soviet Union. We can't transport the gold out."

"What is this?" Yannick muttered in a low voice, picked up a magnifying glass and carefully observed the map. It turned out that there was a section of this railway that was accompanied by a river. The railway and the river were less than 30 meters apart.

The plan in his mind became more and more mature, so mature that he no longer needed others to give advice. "Today's meeting ends here. Once you leave this room, forget about the gold. Do you understand?"

"Hey, Hohenzollern! My honor is loyalty!" This plain sentence made the intelligence department bosses jump up from their chairs as if springs had grown on their buttocks. They dared not have the slightest intention of disobeying, first of all because of their loyalty, and secondly because they knew how cruel the young future emperor was in dealing with his enemies. Just thinking about it made people shudder.

Yannick nodded and motioned Reinhard to stay first. After everyone else left, he pointed to the map area he had just observed. "Reinhard, look at this section of the road. The curves here are very steep, and the speed of the train will inevitably drop when it passes. If you ambush on both sides of the railway in advance, it shouldn't be difficult to get on the train at this time, right?" In later life, he watched a lot of TV dramas about railway guerrillas robbing trains.

Reinhard observed for a while and nodded. "Judging from the curve of this road, the speed of the train passing through is probably no more than 30 kilometers per hour. Even an ordinary person with agility can easily climb up."

Yannick rowed forward along the curve. "After getting on the train, kill the guards on the train, and then stop the train here. And here we have dug a big pit in advance, throw the gold in and bury it." These places are still uninhabited areas in the future, and there is no development, and there is no worry that they will be dug out during construction.

Reinhard was stunned after hearing this. "You mean bury it on the spot? Not transport it out?"

Yannick shook his head. "As you said, it is in the Soviet Union. It is probably harder than climbing to the sky to transport the gold out. So I plan to bury it there first. As long as it is not discovered, we will naturally dig out the gold in the near future. Where does the railway we cooperated with the Soviet Union go?"

Reinhard is such a smart person that he immediately understood what Yannick meant. He searched on the map for a while and pointed to a place in Ukraine. "We should be here now. It's only a hundred kilometers away from the carjacking point you selected."

"Did the Soviet Union check our engineering team when they entered and left Ukraine?"

"No, they registered their names at the beginning, but later, as more people moved around, they were too lazy to ask. Now, as long as you wear the engineering team's armband, you can enter and leave as easily as your own home. We have sent several groups of agents through there into the heart of the Soviet Union."

Yannick snapped his fingers. "Very good, send a special forces company over immediately!"