NOVEL NEXT Chapter 104: Talent Harvester
Who would refuse such a great opportunity delivered right to their door?
Talent!
It was indispensable for the development of North Borneo. What was the shortcut to rapid development in North Borneo?
It was to take advantage of Germany's defeat to bring in a large number of German talents and technologies.
With German expertise and technology, combined with the diligence and perseverance of the local people, Borneo's rise was only a matter of time.
At this time, Pierre had no idea that Hitler's secretary, Martin Bormann—the third most powerful figure in the Nazi Party—had realized, from the moment the Allies landed at Normandy, that the Nazis were doomed to lose. Bormann convened a secret meeting at the Red Palace Hotel in Strasbourg, gathering leaders from the Armaments Ministry and the SS. Also present were representatives from industrial giants like Krupp, Thyssen, and Siemens, as well as executives from Volkswagen, Messerschmitt, and others. Bormann himself did not attend, but issued instructions in Hitler's name regarding the meeting's agenda: to devise plans for sheltering Nazi elites in the event of defeat, and to research specific methods for rapidly transferring vast sums of wealth to neutral countries, in preparation for the Nazis' postwar resurgence.
Berlin and his associates were the executors of this plan, while Pierre's side was just a small part of it. North Borneo was merely one option, not even included in Bormann's main plan.
But for Berlin and those behind him, they chose North Borneo. Bormann wasn't the only one who saw defeat coming—others did too.
"Berlin, do you know?" Pierre lit a cigarette, took a drag, and looked at Berlin. "To be honest, I don't really care about the Nazi thing. What I care about is people! I mean German scientists and technical experts. Like you said, I need a lot of that kind of talent. If you want to come, you're welcome—but you must help me find those scientists, locate them, and help them leave Germany…"
How many German technical experts did the U.S. take away with Operation Paperclip after the war?
1,600.
And how did they get those 1,600 experts?
It was a list!
The legendary "Osenberg List." This list was actually part of the Nazi revival plan—Germany intended to evacuate its best scientists and senior technical personnel overseas.
During the Allied advance, scraps of this list—meant to be destroyed—were found in a toilet at the University of Bonn. American intelligence pieced the fragments together and discovered it was a vital document: a summary guide to German research projects, with the names and home addresses of more than 1,500 scientists and senior technical experts.
This information was extremely valuable and later became known to the Americans as the "Osenberg List." It was this list that gave the U.S. a huge advantage in finding these scientists before the Soviets could.
Pierre didn't know exactly where to find this list, but he was sure that with Berlin's help, he had a real chance of getting a copy.
Even if he couldn't bring all 1,600 top scientists and experts to Borneo, just a third of them would be enough to make Borneo a "technological powerhouse" overnight.
No, it should be a "technological powerhouse company."
"Of course, you'll get your due rewards. There will be positions for you in the company, such as in the intelligence department…" Pierre smiled at Berlin.
In Berlin's eyes, Pierre's smile seemed rather sly—one could even say it was scheming.
"You want to establish your own intelligence agency?"
Pierre, however, looked at Berlin with sincere eyes and said earnestly:
"That's right. But I don't have any professionals at hand. Talented people are hard to come by. Come work for me!"
"The Third Reich hasn't fallen yet, you know."
Berlin sighed and said,
"I was just supposed to be an intermediary, but now you want me to help you set up an intelligence agency. That's not something you can rush, and I can't do it alone. We'd have to start by training personnel. If the people aren't properly trained, the work will be sloppy…"
After thinking for a moment, Berlin added,
"When there's a chance in the future, I'll help you find some experts—specialists in training spies. Most of the Third Reich's spies came out of their schools."
Spy schools?
The Germans really did have a wealth of talent.
Pierre's mouth twitched involuntarily, and he said,
"Alright, we'll do as you say."
Berlin then looked at Pierre and said,
"By the way, do you want to make money?"
"Make money?"
Pierre looked at Berlin in surprise, the corners of his mouth lifting in a smile as he replied,
"I'm a businessman."
A businessman, of course, wants to make money! Wasn't that question a bit of an insult?
"There's a business deal. Do you dare to take it?"
There was something intriguing in Berlin's words—the word "dare" implied danger.
Danger is different from risk.
Danger can cost you your life.
But as the saying goes, the secret to making money is all written in the criminal code. Faced with a chance to profit, how could Pierre not be interested?
"Let's hear it."
"Tungsten ore."
"What?"
"Tungsten ore," Berlin repeated, emphasizing,
"You should know that before the war, China exported a large amount of tungsten ore—tens of thousands of tons every year. Now, it's only a few thousand tons annually, all flown out by aircraft. The Hump Route has plenty of transport capacity now; it could easily carry out more tungsten ore. In China, tungsten ore is only worth $1,500 per ton."
Tungsten ore is an extremely important strategic resource. German mechanical industries use high-strength tungsten carbide tools and drill bits, while the Americans can only use inferior molybdenum alloys. This is largely because Krupp's patented technology monopolized tungsten carbide production. Tungsten alloys are also used in armor-piercing shells, so Germany's demand for tungsten ore was enormous. During the war, all of Germany's tungsten came from Portugal and Spain.
To weaken Germany's war potential, Britain and the US jointly bought up all the tungsten produced in Portugal and Spain. Due to the Allies' massive purchases, the price of tungsten ore soared to 275 times its pre-war value, reaching $16,800 per ton, with the Allies acquiring nearly half of the supply.
Although the Allies drove up tungsten prices, they had other cheap sources—namely, China. In fact, the London tungsten price wasn't the international standard; it was a high price limited to Europe, while prices elsewhere remained low.
Even if Germany was willing to pay top dollar, it still couldn't buy enough tungsten ore. Without sufficient tungsten, not only would the frontlines lose high-performance armor-piercing shells, but even military production would be affected.
That's why Berlin set his sights on Pierre. Having worked in China, he knew that before the war, China was the world's largest producer of tungsten ore.
Looking at Pierre, Berlin said slowly,
"But if you can get the tungsten ore out and ship it to Europe, we're willing to buy it at $17,000 per ton."
Whoa!
That's ten times the profit!
Before Pierre could recover from the thought of such astronomical profit, Berlin added,
"And we're willing to pay in gold!"