Chapter 822: The Squeeze Begins!

On May 14, London’s renowned newspapers, The Times and The Oxford Gazette, simultaneously published a report as their front-page headlines!

The headline was incredibly eye-catching: “The Lies Behind the Victory: Is the British Empire’s Army Really Invincible?”

According to the information revealed in the report, several days earlier, the Sheffield, one of the Navy’s most important vessels, had already been sunk by the Arab forces.

Furthermore, during previous combat operations, Helicopter No. 3, which took off from the county-class destroyer “Anshun,” and Wessex Helicopter No. 5, which took off from the “Chaoquan,” were shot down by the Afghan military, resulting in the deaths of all personnel on board—a devastating loss.

More importantly, although various media outlets are currently reporting that British forces are fighting bravely and driving the Afghan army into retreat, in reality, the troops have only captured the small island of South Georgia, with no other progress to speak of.

This report casts doubt on the British military’s achievements from start to finish, alleging that they are exaggerating their victories and deceiving the public.

The influence of The Times and The Oxford Gazette in the British Isles is equivalent to that of the People’s Daily and Global Times in China.

With both newspapers covering the story simultaneously, it naturally garnered significant public attention.

That very day, large crowds took to the streets, demanding that the government provide an explanation.

As a result, the steady decline in London’s stock and futures markets came to an abrupt halt, followed by a slight uptick.

On the morning of the 15th, the Iron Lady, the female Prime Minister, gave a media interview at her official residence at 10 Downing Street, directly addressing the questions raised by The Times and the Oxford Gazette.

In her response, the Iron Lady stated that the Sheffield missile destroyer had indeed been struck by an Indian missile and caught fire; the reason this had not been made public earlier was primarily because the warship had not sunk and was still worth salvaging and repairing.

However, she also noted that the fire had now been extinguished, the ship was aground, and it was no longer worth salvaging.

The implication of her remarks confirmed the fact that the Sheffield had sunk…

When addressing the downing of the helicopter, the Iron Lady explicitly stated that the aircraft was not shot down, but crashed on the glacier due to dense fog.

As for the claim that the military had not captured any valuable targets on the Falkland Islands, the Iron Lady explained that the troops’ most important task at present was to counter the Argentine counterattack, and she frankly stated that as long as the Argentine counterattack was repelled, capturing the Falkland Islands would be a piece of cake…

Overall, the Iron Lady’s response was very candid, but the public simply wasn’t buying it.

She explained the reasons, but the public heard only the results: the guided-missile destroyer sank, the helicopter crashed, and the islands were not captured!

To many people, this was tantamount to the military falsifying battle results and the government deceiving the public.

In an instant, the people across the British Isles were enraged, taking to the streets to protest against the government and demand answers.

Chaos reigned across the island…

As a result, defense stocks and commodities like metals in the stock and futures markets reversed their previous downtrend and skyrocketed!

On May 15, the price of steel officially broke through the £300 per ton mark, while copper reached £1,819 per ton and aluminum hit £1,315 per ton.

Just one day later, steel prices rose another £10, while copper and aluminum prices also saw slight increases.

Meanwhile, the delivery date for the first batch of steel in the contracts acquired by Li Yunbao and his team was fast approaching.

Li Yi knew the time had come to make his move!

……….

Monday, May 24!

At 8:00 a.m., accompanied by Li Yunbao, Zhou Xinghua, Zhang Qiusheng, Pang Feiyan, Liang He, and others, Li Yi walked through the gates of the London Metal Exchange for the first time.

Their arrival startled Dolsons and his associates, but otherwise went unnoticed by others.

Upon arriving at the VIP lounge they had reserved in advance, Li Yi immediately sent someone out to scout the situation while also having several copies of major newspapers brought in.

When Li Yi saw the news reports in the papers about public protests, the government struggling to cope, and the nation in an uproar, he couldn’t help but let the corners of his mouth turn up slightly.

Indeed, the skeptical reports in the papers were all planted by him, and he had personally written that particular article, which Yunbao had translated.

To ensure this report spread across the British Isles as quickly as possible, Li Yi had spent a full one million pounds bribing newspapers, magazines, and media figures.

As for the content of the newspaper reports—specifically regarding the sinking of the Sheffield missile destroyer—the actual events did indeed unfold much as the Iron Lady had described.

However, it cannot be denied that the military did intentionally withhold certain information.

The missile destroyer was attacked on May 4 and sank in international waters on May 10 while being towed by the HMS Yarmouth, becoming a grave marker.

Yet they failed to report it in a timely manner; even when the Iron Lady responded, she did not mention sinking but referred to it as running aground—a distinction that inevitably gives rise to all sorts of speculation.

In the past, the government faced widespread public skepticism precisely because of this incident.

However, since they delayed the announcement until June—by which time the war had already ended and Argentina had been defeated—the matter eventually fizzled out after a brief uproar.

Now, Li Yi has simply brought this matter to light ahead of schedule. Given the perfect timing, it’s unlikely that the female prime minister will be able to sweep this under the rug as easily as she did in the past.

As for those two helicopters, it was indeed true, as the female prime minister explained, that they crashed due to heavy fog—it was Li Yi who deliberately claimed they had been shot down.

It was also true that the British had failed to capture the Falkland Islands, and the reason was exactly as the Iron Lady had stated: it was related to the operational plans of the frontline troops.

But who cares about any of that? What the public wants to see—or rather, what they’re seeing right now—is that warships were sunk, yet the government chose to cover it up; helicopters crashed, yet the government didn’t inform the public!

So they feel they’ve been duped, and they’re furious!

Just then, a bell suddenly rang outside—the signal that the market was opening.

Hearing the bell, Li Yi immediately put down the newspaper he was holding.

Just a few minutes later, Zhang Qiusheng and Zhou Xinghua returned with the latest news.

As soon as they entered, Zhang Qiusheng reported: “Mr. Li, the opening price for steel has reached 7,900 pounds per lot, which works out to 316 pounds per lot!”

“Copper is at 46,000 pounds per lot, which works out to 1,840 pounds per ton; aluminum is at 34,500 pounds per lot, which works out to 1,380 pounds per ton!”

Zhou Xinghua chimed in, “The price of steel has also risen sharply, reaching 324 pounds per ton. If we were to sell off all our steel holdings right now, we could make a direct profit of 1.4 billion pounds!”

“We can’t sell!”

Li Yi then ordered directly, “Feiyan, Lianghe, split up immediately and start selling off all our copper and aluminum contracts. But remember, you must sell in small batches—don’t cause panic in the market!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Manager Zhang, immediately tally up how many of our futures contracts are about to expire. Once you’ve confirmed the quantity, apply to the exchange for physical delivery!” Li Yi ordered again.

“Yes!”

After everyone had received their orders and left, Zhou Xinghua looked at Li Yi and asked, “Mr. Li, what should we do here?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Nothing. Just wait!”

“Wait… wait for what?”

“We’ll wait for those steel companies to come knocking, then demand exorbitant prices and really squeeze them!”

Li Yi knew full well that the short squeeze battle had already begun. While this round might not necessarily bring Sheffield Steel down, it would certainly inflict heavy losses on them.

However, this was only the first round. Even if they successfully weathered this round of short-squeezing, the second batch of contracts would soon reach their expiration date, followed by a third round.

Given Sheffield Steel’s current state, there was no way they could hold out. There was only one outcome awaiting them—bankruptcy!