Meeting Winters, a future world-renowned WWII hero, on the plane was a pleasant surprise. Josh had a great time chatting with him along the way.
At least throughout the flight, chatting with these officers and listening to their bragging kept things from getting too boring.
After more than twenty hours of flying, the Boeing 314 roared as it landed on the sea surface outside the Port of Liverpool—a seaplane, whether taking off or landing, could only do so at a port.
Soon, several small boats from the port came out and ferried Josh and the other passengers ashore.
Although it had once suffered heavily from bombing, with the U.S. officially entering the war and the support of the Allies, this most important port on the Atlantic route quickly regained vitality.
All kinds of civilian and military supplies from the U.S. were unloaded here and then transported by train or truck throughout the U.K.
"A very pleasant journey. It was our honor to meet Mr. Kane," said Aldo and Winters, along with the rest of the officers, as they reluctantly bid farewell to the girls and came over one by one to thank Josh and say goodbye. A few officers even guaranteed that if Josh ran into any trouble in Britain, they would be there to help.
They weren't exactly boasting.
Although Britain had never formally fallen, with the massive influx of American soldiers, the British homeland wasn't much different from being occupied by U.S. forces.
During WWII, Germany caused Britain the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives.
But the U.S. military was even more devastating—bringing 1.8 million lives to Britain.
Except, while the Germans used weapons, the American soldiers used dollars, stockings, canned food, chocolate, coffee, tea—or even just a few pieces of bread.
For example, London's Piccadilly Circus, in the 21st century, is an entertainment hub.
But right now, it was a beauty pageant venue for American GIs. At night, they would strike a match and pick out their target for the evening.
There were even unimaginable scenes like this: British pilots flying suicide missions over Germany, while in the rear, U.S. airmen were using trucks to ferry British girls into military camps.
If Josh remembered correctly, the ones responsible for this feat were likely the Eighth Air Force...
That famous barbecue master LeMay was probably with the Eighth Air Force at this time.
Not long after the officers were picked up by jeeps driven by their comrades, the vehicle to pick up Josh and his group also arrived...Two jeeps and a truck.
Josh, Lindon, and Whitney could ride in the jeeps, while the girls would have to squeeze into the truck.
But they wouldn't have to endure it for long. As an important port, the USO had a dedicated base in the city to receive people like them, and the environment was quite nice—it had originally been a high-end local hotel.
According to the normal plan, Josh's group would stay here for one night and then take a train to London, where, under the USO's arrangements, they would tour various U.S. military units for performances.
But Josh wasn't really here for morale-boosting...
So after arriving at the base, he left two bodyguards with the girls and handed them over to the relevant USO personnel.
Unlike the local British girls, these hometown girls were U.S. citizens and not so easily bullied, so Josh didn't need to worry about their safety.
As for Josh himself, he took Lindon and the other four bodyguards, including Vito and Brooke, to the U.S. military logistics department in Liverpool.
In just half an hour, Josh used a case of pre-prepared "grape juice" and a small amount of U.S. dollars to obtain a special pass issued by the logistics department and "rented" two iconic Willys jeeps of the U.S. Army.
At the time, many American businessmen who dared to venture to Britain for profits did this kind of thing.
The military usually turned a blind eye because these businessmen often brought small gifts that were especially popular in Britain.
As for whether this kind of activity would cause trouble—come on, as long as they weren't messing with their own people, who cared?
Allies? So what if they were allies? Without our support, you Brits would be done for—what's a little humiliation?
So not only did the U.S. military look the other way, but even the British high command could only pretend not to see.
Joking aside, with 2.8 million Allied troops in Britain, more than half of whom were Americans, would the British dare say no?
So even without wearing military uniforms, Josh's group could move about unhindered in this land, thanks to their U.S. Army jeeps and special passes.
And their first destination was Birmingham, just 160 kilometers from Liverpool.
SCREECH—a few hours later, the two jeeps stopped in front of an inconspicuous tavern on the outskirts of Birmingham.
"Boss, this is the place!" Lindon Schneider said, pointing at the tavern.
Since Josh's group had come to Britain for business, they naturally needed a partner.
In theory, the best partner should have been the U.S. military but the U.S. military was too dominant.
Spending money to have them as a protective umbrella was fine, but doing real business with them? Josh would only get scraps.
So using the U.S. military as a cover and partnering with the local mafia was the best choice.
And if they were going to pick a local mafia as a partner, they might as well pick the biggest one.
Britain's largest and most powerful gang was in Birmingham.
Why not London?
Simple—too many nobles in London.
So London had many small gangs but no big ones.
Do you think the royal family is a pushover?
That's why Britain's biggest gang was never in London—it was in Birmingham.
Many foreigners might associate Birmingham only with that Championship-level football team, making its reputation less than cities like Manchester or Liverpool.
But in fact, Birmingham was Britain's second-largest metropolis.
The gang they were looking for was called the Peaky Blinders!
Josh and his crew didn't know much about British gangs, but Lindon, having once been involved in smuggling across Europe and America, knew about this Peaky Blinders base that even many Birmingham locals were unaware of.
"Americans? What are you doing here?" The appearance of two U.S. military jeeps obviously didn't go unnoticed. Soon a few people came out of the tavern, looking warily at Josh's group and asking.
"We're businessmen from the United States. We have a deal we'd like to discuss with Mr. Thomas Shelby," Lindon straightened his coat and stepped forward to reply.
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