Two days later, in a warehouse on the outskirts of Liverpool, Thomas Shelby and his men saw the first batch of goods—a warehouse packed to the brim with piles of canned food and cigarettes.
In addition, there were also three hundred guns and ammunition.
These were extras that the Shelby family had specifically requested.
Don't think that just because they were the biggest gang in Britain, guns were easy to come by.
In fact, gun control in Britain had always been much stricter than in the United States.
And during wartime, before the arrival of American troops, the British Army had maintained tight military control on the home front, making weapons even harder to acquire.
The small number of firearms the Shelbys currently possessed were leftover stock from before the war, with very limited ammunition.
Without weapons, it would be impossible to properly protect the goods.
Josh, of course, didn't mind fulfilling this reasonable request. Conveniently, he did have some weapons stockpiled in his system warehouse, so selling a portion to Shelby was no problem.
Seeing the warehouse full of supplies, Shelby was filled with emotion. After four years, this was the first time he felt so wealthy!
These items might not have meant much to the family before the war, but now—they were life itself.
Still, no matter how tempting the goods were, Shelby never once considered double-crossing them.
No, it wasn't that he didn't want to—it was that he didn't dare!
Because outside the warehouse, a full platoon of U.S. soldiers was standing guard.
This U.S. platoon was a result of Josh making connections with some officers during the plane ride.
One of the officers, a First Lieutenant in the Army, had his unit stationed just ten kilometers away from this warehouse on the outskirts of Liverpool.
With just a few bottles of fine liquor, the lieutenant had arranged for a "training exercise" for an entire platoon!
Under these conditions, even if you gave Shelby ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare try anything.
In terms of soldier quality, American troops weren't necessarily exceptional, but when it came to firepower, the three years since America entered the war had made them world-famous.
A platoon may have only had a little over thirty men, but in addition to the standard issue Garands and Thompsons, they also had at least two light machine guns, one heavy machine gun, and three mortars.
This kind of setup—having a bunch of gangsters go up against it for a double-cross?
Shelby wasn't Captain America—he couldn't take on a hundred men.
And if even a small conflict broke out, and a few American soldiers got injured or killed, Birmingham might be occupied by the U.S. military the very next day…Josh may not have had that much influence, but the American military sure was known to protect its own!
"Mr. Shelby, these goods are now yours. I'll be waiting in London for your good news," Linden said haughtily after verifying the goods.
"Of course. The Shelby family highly values your friendship. We will do our utmost to gather the payment within a week!" Shelby nodded and shook Linden's hand, but his gaze subtly swept over Josh, who was standing not far behind Linden.
Although Linden Schneider's performance was flawless, Thomas Shelby still had a gut feeling that this young assistant's identity was not simple.
After handing over the goods to Shelby, Josh and his team withdrew with the U.S. soldiers.
One had to admit, in this era, roaming freely under the protection of the American military on Allied soil—it was truly exhilarating.
"Boss, I think he noticed," said Linden, swaying slightly in the jeep, speaking to Josh beside him.
"So what if he did? If he's even a little smart, he'll swallow it down and keep quiet," Josh replied with a light laugh, unconcerned.
Truth be told, if it weren't for wanting to continue doing business in the postwar period, Josh wouldn't have had many reservations in Britain.
In these times, as an American and a military supplier with decent relations with the armed forces, as long as he didn't go off the rails and target the royal family, even if he caused a huge mess in Britain, the worst he'd face would be an extradition request. What was there to be afraid of?
After settling the secondary distributor, the Razor Gang, Josh and his team departed for London the next day.
The goods for the Razor Gang were mostly low-end items.
After all, a gang's level was limited. But Britain, after plundering the world for centuries, had deep foundations. Even the average citizen had accumulated considerable wealth.
Throughout World War II, many British citizens weren't lacking in money—they were just lacking in supplies. During this period, any ship full of goods that arrived in Britain could be sold out within days at several times the price. It wasn't a matter of affordability—it was a matter of availability.
That's the downside of being an island nation. Once blockaded, outside goods can't get in, and even if you have money, there's nothing to eat.
But once the blockade ended, Britain's strong foundation meant recovery would come quickly. After World War II ended, Britain's economy was the fastest to recover in the world—except for the U.S.—because it had wealth at home and resources in the colonies.
Britain's true decline came in the 1950s, due to a wave of colonial independence movements and later deindustrialization.
All Josh was doing now was extracting a little pocket change early from these wealthy Brits.
Still, Josh's system warehouse held plenty of high-end goods—fine candies, chocolates, cigars, canned fruits, liquor, even fresh fruits and beef, lamb, and pork.
These weren't things the average British citizen could afford—only selling them to the London elite would maximize profits.
Just as Shelby had said earlier, this meant working with London's big trading companies. Josh couldn't just show up on their doorsteps to peddle goods himself—that would be humiliating.
Because they were delayed a few days, by the time Josh and his team arrived in London, the actresses from the film company were already busy participating in USO tours organized for the troops, performing at different camps daily, so they weren't at the hotel during the day and only returned at night.
But when the women returned that night, Josh immediately noticed something wrong.
"Where are Whitney and Angela?" Josh asked, frowning as he watched the actresses enter the hotel one by one. Linden Schneider's expression also darkened.
"Apologies, sir. Miss Whitney has been very close with Howard Stark since arriving in London. As for Angela, she's been spending a lot of time with a Colonel named Joseph Kennedy. It's not that we didn't try to intervene, but the two ladies went willingly—we had no way to stop them…" The two bodyguards looked at Josh and Linden somewhat awkwardly.
Mostly at Linden, because they knew Whitney's relationship with Josh was purely professional. Even if she was playing cards with Howard Stark, the one getting cheated on was her wealthy American boyfriend—not Josh.
But without a doubt, it was Linden who got a real green hat put on his head.
And honestly, there was nothing the bodyguards could do—Angela had gone willingly, and the man involved was a U.S. Army colonel. What could they possibly do?
Josh could only cast a sympathetic glance at Linden, whose face was pale and twisted.
Tsk tsk…these clinging vines were clearly not the faithful type.
But Joseph Kennedy…wasn't that the eldest of the Kennedy family who blew up in the sky over Britain?
"Kennedy" and "Monroe."
Now that was a hell of a cursed romance…
___________________________________________
To read 20 advanced chapters you can visit my Patreon:"https://patreon.com/Hiddenfanfics''