Chapter 123 The Origin of Phantom (Two Chapters Integration)

Every Christmas Eve, Western families teach each other whether they are poor or wealthy or rich, or they share a delicious Christmas dinner together, and they share family joy, or hold banquets and dances in their own luxury villas or expensive hotels, and invite relatives, friends, partners and colleagues to celebrate all night long until Christmas comes.

Christmas Eve in 1945 was the first Christmas Eve that Lynn had come to this era with confusion and longing. When night was about to fall, he wore the French Dragoon officer's gown from the Napoleon era, sat on the newly purchased Buick sedan of the "Caiser Defense Company" with Dinah, a traditional lady costume, and passed by the city coolly, heading to the Phillipo family's luxurious estate outside Basel to attend the masquerade party held by the Swiss industrial giants at this time of year.

In terms of industry achievements, the halo of 1945 was the Filippo family that migrated from France in the early years. This prominent family, closely related to the Roman Catholic Church, opened more than 20 companies in Switzerland in just over 40 years, involved in mining, metallurgy, military manufacturing, railway transportation and emerging air transportation industries. It is one of the wealthiest families in Switzerland of this era. In the past six years, they have carefully reduced the scale of external investment, just like the Swiss government.

Adhere to a neutral attitude. Despite this, the family's industry and business still had an indescribable relationship with the warring camps. Before the outbreak of the World War in 1939, artillery ammunition made by this family continued to be transported into France through railway lines, but they did not help the Gaul Legion win the war. In the early summer of 1940, most of them became German trophy, and some artillery were still used by the German army to resist the attacks of the Eastern and Western Allies until the end of the war.

The more black and white enterprises are, the more profitable they can keep. In just half a year after the end of the European War, the Filippo family rebounded rapidly. They took full advantage of major projects such as machinery manufacturing, transportation and arms, and won many reconstruction projects and arms orders in the French Republic and the Italian Republic, which certainly did not make them the focus of industry attention. The romantic and unruly character of the French people was also reflected in this family. Long before Christmas, news spread, saying that not only the industry, but also the bankers, industrialists, important officials and foreign envoys of the Swiss government, had received gold-plated invitations from the family to attend the most grand and luxurious Swiss industrial masquerade balls that have been said to have been around.

It is still a long way from the Filippo family manor. There are already many luxury cars on the road. Among the various prominent car logos, there are also unique choices for traveling by horse-drawn carriages. As the saying goes, a little green in the flowers looks particularly eye-catching.

As the sky became darker, the grand and unique Victorian building had appeared in front of it. The dazzling lights reflected the entire manor and the sky in golden yellow like a searchlight from the war era.

Looking at this scene, Lynn couldn't help but sigh: "The real rich Swiss people have always been low-key. The French gang is so arrogant that they are not far from the days of their prosperity and decline."

Dinah was just looking at the luxurious residence that looked like a royal palace, and she asked curiously: "How do you know they will go downhill?"

"Because our Caesar will rise strongly to replace their position in many areas."

Lynn's words are half a joke, half a hope. Of course, he cannot tell how the future of the tycoons who belong to Bill Gates, Buffett, Arnault, etc., who are still unknown or even not born, become famous figures in the second half of the century. In Switzerland, the wealthy people decades later will also be mainly concentrated in retail, investment, and biopharmaceutical industries. Even if the Filippo family exists, the relative weakness of its influence will be a fact that it is difficult to change.

Dinah listened to Lynn's words very seriously, and then asked seriously: "You said that when your empire rises again, you will choose to retire successfully. Are you planning to turn to the business world and become a successful entrepreneur?"

Wolfrum acted as the driver and there was no one else on the car. Lin Neng said with confidence: "I have some small plans in this regard. When the situation really stabilizes, we will go to Denmark to open a company! We will run ship manufacturing, real estate or machinery, and it only takes one or two days a week to manage the business. The rest will be with our family and travel around the world."

When Lynn said this, Dinah kept looking at him with a very devoted look and tilted her head slightly.

"real?"

"Of course it's true." Lynn replied frankly. A normal-minded person cannot always indulge in war and killing. He will eventually be tired. Instead of spending the lunar New Year alone, it is better to enjoy the warmth and happiness of the family when his limbs are healthy, and perhaps he can return to his dream hometown in the right way to take a look.

Dinah held Lynn's arm tightly: "I hope that such a day will come soon!"

In Lynn's mind, even if the Nordic economic and industrial circles can really operate as smoothly as he imagined, if the empire cannot return to the European continent within five to ten years, the gap will continue to be widened by mainstream powers in terms of technology and military strength, and it will not even be as good as the declining Britain and France. In that case, the rise of the empire and the stability of the current situation will be impossible. A happy and peaceful life can only be a luxury.

Almost a quarter of an hour later, the car arrived at the Filippo Manor. Dozens of cars were parked in front of the two large lawns in front of the main building. It seems that the organizer does not mind spending some manpower and material resources to retouch the turf after the dance. As a newcomer in the industry, Lynn, an investor from Norway, attracted some attention because of "Caiser's Defense", but as one of the four shareholders of the company, his fame and influence are far from comparable to those of the real upper class around him - the richest of them are rich enough to rival the country, and the most legendary of them can write their experiences into an inspirational biography. Many of them can call the wind and rain in the industry and capital worlds. Every frown and smile, every word and action is full of keen and cunning.

After getting off the car, Lynn put on his clothes. The Dragoon officer uniform was specially customized for this masquerade party. Although it fits very well and is beautiful in color, he can't find the feeling of wearing an imperial uniform from his previous life. Seeing the nobles passing by, he straightened his waist, raised his head slightly, and his beautiful wife's shoulders were tied in his arms, which were worth more than 2,000 Swiss francs. A long skirt inlaid with crystal gems shows grace and luxury. Although it is bulky, it is a must-have outfit for Victorian ladies to attend formal occasions.

Walking on the marble steps into the hall, you can see the extremely gorgeous banquet hall at a glance. Its spatial structure is magnificent, its mural top paintings are beautiful, its decoration and carving are simple and elegant. It is not a classical palace but is better than most palaces. It is enough to make the kings and nobles of many small and medium-sized countries far beyond the reach of the imperial parties curled up in the cold northern part of Europe full of envy and jealousy. On this planet, the only one who can win in terms of temperament and connotation is perhaps the magnificent palace of the British royal family, the historical heritage left by Tsarist Russia to the Red Soviets, and the palace of the Habsburg royal family in Austria full of artistic temperament.

Under the dazzling crystal chandeliers, a pair of men and women in gorgeous clothes danced with the sound of light and familiar music. In such a masquerade party with no restrictions on clothing, most people chose typical clothing from the Victorian era—that is, the 18th and 19th centuries. Men either wore gold buckles, decorated with many tops and monochrome leggings, pointed shoes, or wearing military dresses from various countries of that era. The British Guards and French Dragoons were obviously better than Austria, Poland, and Prussia.

The army is more representative, and there are at least four or five people who wear the same clothes as Lynn. No wonder the tailor who came to the door to measure his clothes well reminded him to change his outfit. The ladies wore beautiful and complex hairstyles, wore dazzling long skirts and dresses with tucked waists and chests. Hair trays, ears, necks and wrists were all wearing shiny jewelry, like peacocks fighting for beauty. Countless white wigs, dressed like European court attendants, shuttled through the crowd with silver pedals, and politely provided wine and snacks to the guests.

Wow, it's such a big show!

Lynn couldn't help but sigh in his heart that it was probably the dream of ordinary people. With the passport and certificate provided by Spain, Courtland is now one of the two Spanish shareholders of "Caiser Defense". He also received an invitation to attend with his wife tonight. Alfred Schar will also come with his female companion. Although it was introduced as a German intelligence officer, the look between the two made Lynn feel that their relationship should not be just a simple superior or subordinate, but it does not involve management systems and ethics, so he did not ask more. Andri and his wife still chose to be absent because of their silly faces. Rudolph Deckfield and Bertold Zenaman stayed in their new residence together because of their identity arrangements.

It was called the masquerade, but not many guests were actually wearing masks. It seems that the "makeup" here is mainly reflected in the outfit. With the help of the waiter with diligent and elegant manners, Dinah took off her fur candle and walked into the hall with Lynn gracefully. After more than two months in Switzerland, Dinah has mastered various social etiquettes very skilled. She always speaks very well and knows how to speak very well. She always responds just right in the face of the banter of gentlemen, and rarely feels pretentious. In this regard, Lynn is inferior to herself.

After entering the hall, Lynn did not take Dinah directly into the dancing area, but turned to a relatively secluded place. More than two hundred guests made the faces in front of him confused. Lynn looked for a while but couldn't find a few familiar faces. Instead, Dinah whispered: "Here, isn't that Mr. Morten and his wife?"

Demiris Morten is an industrialist who lives in Basel and has several factories under his name. Morten Automobile Company, "Caiser Defense", recently acquired the factory in the South District. The factory in the North District, which is a street away from it, was acquired from another local industrialist Ellison Contra's textile factory. The two factories cover an area of ​​twenty-two acres in one piece, and each built a freight railway branch line. The train can directly enter the factory to load and unload materials, and the transportation conditions are very ideal.

Standing empty, there was no chance to contact more people and learn more about it. Seeing that there were two other couples next to the Morten couple, who were a little older, but not yet at the point of retirement to the mountains and forests to enjoy their youth, Lin En adjusted his emotions a little and said to Dinah with a smile: "Let's go and say hello!"

The same smile is so elegant and charming on Dinah's face. She may remind many people of Princess Sissi at the age of 16 - to conquer the picky Austrians, what kind of amazing beauty and temperament should she have!

"Mr. Morten, Mrs. Morten!"

Accompanied by Lin Neng's polite greeting, the three couples standing and talking turned their heads, and their eyes were attracted by Dinah beside Lin Neng's side.

On today's occasion, wearing the dress made by the best tailor in Basel, which is tailored with the most expensive fabric. The white and plump skin is lined with clean and flawless diamond decorations. The young and beautiful Dinah exudes a more elegant temperament than most noble women. She doesn't look like the wife of an officer, but like a princess born in the royal family. Even though the accessories chosen by Lynn were French Dragoons, the two of them still felt that the aura of women was higher when they stood together in the mirror.

Two weeks ago, as a gift for her 20th birthday, Lynn gave her a diamond necklace worth 15,000 Swiss francs, or nearly 1,000 pounds - not only was he given to Dinah, but also the most expensive gift he ever gave. With all his early salary plus extra money earned from the United States, he still did not need to worry about living expenses like he used to be in college. As a private agreement between Andri and Courtland, he used the capital injection of Pifiel, purchased technical equipment, and managed the relationships of all parties.

As well as the opportunity to frequently use funds for investment in the establishment of Caesar Defense, Dickfield and Schar helped to intercept some of the funds in secret and professional ways as special operations funds for various purposes that they thought were necessary but difficult to explain on the table, such as jewelry and luxury goods purchased to cover up the identity of wealthy businessmen. Compared with the current funds used less than 10 million pounds, the proportion of this special operations funds is only three thousandths, but despite this, it was still a very purchasing power fund in 1945.

Compared with the nouveau riche who lacked true aristocratic upbringing, the Morten and the other two couples beside them were obviously well-cultivated. Although they were attracted by Dinah's outstanding beauty and temperament, they were only limited to just a moment. They quickly turned their eyes to Lynn and expressed their respect to the young, handsome and equally elegant guest with their eyes.

"Everyone, this is Mr. Knatsky, whom I mentioned, one of the founders of Caesar's Defense Company. This is his wife, a little fairy born in a classical noble family."

This polite and humorous introduction inspired the atmosphere very well. Both couples next to them laughed, and the impression would naturally be deeper than usual.

"This is Mr. Fremont and his wife. Fremont is one of the largest engine manufacturers in France. Although the business has been affected during the war, it is currently regrouping and preparing to show its glory in the past." The first couple introduced by Mr. Morten is a fat man with a clear double chin without bowing his head and gray hair. If he wears a pair of black-framed glasses, it will be very similar to the "KFC Colonel" in Lynn's impression. His wife is a middle-aged woman with a beautiful smile and a good temperament. Her charm for the opposite sex exceeds the constraints of her actual age.

"Mr. Fremont, Madam, I'm glad to see you!" Lynn said in smooth English greetings.

"You speak very well in English!" Mrs. Fremont exclaimed with a smile. She would never have thought that Lynn was a representative of English at a key high school back then and a science student with a CET-6 certificate when she graduated from university.

"Thank you for your compliment!"

Lin En then said to Mr. Fremont: "I hope to have the opportunity to cooperate in the future, and I will ask you for more advice."

Mr. Fremont, who seemed kind because of his fatness, greeted: "Can your defense company... be understood as a military-industrial enterprise focusing on defense projects?"

Defense companies were not popular at this time. In Lynn's concept, it was just a military manufacturing and trade under the gimmick of defense. He devoted himself to what he was good at and what the market needed. But in front of outsiders, he still replied modestly: "It's basically the case!"

"It's very interesting!" Mr. Fremont commented vaguely.

Mr. Morten then introduced another couple to Lynn: "This is Mr. Bloch and Mrs.."

The man is in his early fifties, with a round face and a slightly fat man. The woman looks much younger than him, looks very thin, and has clear wrinkles when she smiles, but she is very friendly.

Only after hearing the introduction, Lynn did not think of this man as an amazing person. For Lynn's English greetings, the other party just smiled slightly and greeted him in simple English.

"Mr. Bloch was a famous young talent in the French aviation industry back then. His original airline received a large order from the French side during the last war. If the war ended a few months later, Mr. Bloch would definitely be the most successful of us!" Mr. Morten said this to Lynn and Dinah in German, and then changed to French to say something to Bloch. He smiled bitterly and shook his head, mixed with English and French. Lynn roughly understood the meaning: "That happened a long time ago."

"Mr. Knatsky is engaged in the military production industry. Perhaps he knows that the mb150 fighter and mb175 bombers equipped by the French team before the war were the effective products of Marcel's airline. However, after the defeat of France in 1940, the Germans tried to force Mr. Bloch to cooperate with them. Of course, our Marcel refused to do so, and was locked up in the German concentration camp until the end of the war." Speaking of this, Mr. Fremont seemed very moved. He turned around and called a waiter, took champagne to everyone from his pallet, and advocated: "Let us toast to the indomitable Marcel Bloch!"

"For the unyielding Marcel!"

Although there was no such thing as overthrowing fascism and long live France, Lynn still felt it was very ironic. On the other hand, if the Third Reich had implemented a more gentle occupation policy from the beginning, the course and result of the war would probably be another.

After clinking the glass, Morten continued to talk about the topic just now with the two French men. The ladies turned to talk to Dinah in English, which was not too fluent. In addition to Danish and German, Dinah could also speak simple English and Norwegian, and the language still made Lynn feel inferior. In this case, out of etiquette and curiosity, Lynn did not pull Dinah away, but stood with the men and tried hard to understand what they were saying, but unfortunately he knew nothing about French and entered his ears.

All of them are all weird and awkward syllables. As a local entrepreneur, Motten is the host of this small-scale conversation. After a while, when Lynn didn't say a word, he guessed it and said to him in German: "We are just talking about Mr. Bloch's new factory - this is still a preliminary plan, the funds, personnel, and technology are all in the raising stage, but we feel that with Mr. Bloch's experience and talent, this aircraft factory will definitely be able to surpass Breguet and become the first in France."

Lynn knows little about the French aviation industry, but he has heard of Brege's reputation. During World War I and World War II, Brege produced a number of military aircraft for the French team, including fighter jets, bombers and seaplanes, but it seemed to disappear after the war. The world-renowned Phantom and Rafale all came from another French aviation company, Dassault Aircraft Manufacturing Company.

After a conversation and laughing dryly, Morten turned to Lynn and said, "Mr. Bloch's new factory was initially located near Toulouse in southern France. Mr. Fremont decided to invest in part. Maybe you are interested?"

Lynn is "not short of money" in his pocket now. He asked Mr. Morten: "Whether the new factory is going to develop fighter jets or bombers?"

"Comprehensive." Morten replied casually. He asked Bloch in French. After receiving the reply, he told Lynn: "In the early stage, he was preparing to restore and accumulate technology through transport aircraft and train aircraft, and he still hoped to make achievements in fighter aircraft in the future."

"Aerial interception is also included in the concept of defense. If possible, I would like to hear Mr. Bloch's specific ideas, but unfortunately..." Lin Neng leaned his hands around his ears, "I don't understand French and didn't bring a translator today. It's a pity!"

Morten did not promise that he could translate the entire process, because in such an occasion, everyone would not be a regular person to talk to, but would be relatively fluid. He said to Lynn: "It doesn't matter, Mr. Bloch can understand English. Although it is difficult to express, Mr. Fremont and I can help!"

"Okay!" Lynn nodded reluctantly. He had a very ordinary impression of Bloch, who was not good at his appearance and was stammering. He didn't know that this guy would change his name to Marcel Dassault in a few months and change it to Marcel Dassault, the "Dassault" of Dassault Aircraft Manufacturing Company in a few months.
Chapter completed!