Traveling through the sword to engage in military industry.

While the World Computer Conference was being successfully held, Li Yunlong followed the fleet to the Mediterranean.

After more than a month's long voyage, Li Yunlong no longer felt the same novelty as before.

According to the fleet visit plan, it will first cross Southeast Asia, then head west to visit Sri Lanka, Karachi and Muscat ports, then head south along Black Africa, circumnavigate the entire Black Africa and enter the Mediterranean, preparing to visit Athens and Rome, Marseille and Barcelona.

Athens has the largest fleet in Europe, most of which are third-generation Hope-class and Journey-class roll-on/roll-off cargo ships, and the other part is bulk carriers. Here, Hope-class cargo ships basically run business in the Mediterranean and Caspian Sea, while Journey-class cargo ships run long-distance routes in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Due to its excellent quality, reasonable price and good operation, Athens is very interested in Dongda's shipbuilding industry.

Now, the Athens Navy is preparing to take a look at the Jianghai-class destroyers. According to their plan, they will improve the combat effectiveness of the destroyers based on the current navy.

Although they now have a small aircraft carrier with a standard displacement of 2 tons, they still rely on the G-class destroyers of that year for destroyer escort due to lack of budget, which is very mismatched with the aircraft carrier.

But after spending nearly £500 million (US$1400 million) to equip the King of Macedonia aircraft carrier, the Athens Navy is strapped for cash and it is difficult to spend big bucks to buy new destroyers.

Their budget for purchasing destroyers and frigates is no more than 2000 million US dollars, which means that the quoted price is now around 700 million US dollars. They can buy 2 to 3 second-hand Fletcher destroyers, but the Fletcher destroyer has almost no anti-submarine capability. Therefore, for an aircraft carrier formation, they must consider buying two or more newer anti-submarine frigates. However, now even a 2000-ton anti-submarine frigate costs more than 300 million US dollars, which means that to have anti-submarine capability, at least another 2 or 2 million US dollars are needed. With this calculation, they can buy a maximum of second-hand Fletcher destroyers, and then they have to be thrifty to get the money for anti-submarine frigates.

As for the latest missile destroyers and frigates of the great powers, basically the cost of each ship is over 1000 million US dollars, which is unaffordable. After all, they don't like the worse destroyers, and it is impossible to buy only one of the better ones; so the Athens Navy was very tempted by the relatively moderately priced Dongda Jianghai-class destroyers after inquiring about the price. The intended price of million US dollars reported by Dongda basically killed the price range of the second-hand Fletcher destroyer. At the same time, in terms of combat effectiveness, the Dongda Jianghai-class destroyer is obviously much superior to the Fletcher destroyer in all aspects.

The only problem is that the Dongda fleet's Jianghai-class ships have no combat experience, so even after the Dongda fleet's actual visit, the Athens Navy was still somewhat skeptical about the Jianghai-class ships.

The negotiations have been intermittent.

Li Yunlong’s first stop in the Mediterranean was Athens.

As soon as they arrived at the port, fleet commander Wang Peng went to discuss matters with Li Yunlong.

"Chief, the Athens Navy will be led by Vice Admiral Constantine Kallias tomorrow. They will focus on visiting our Haidao amphibious assault ship and Jincheng Luhai-class destroyer. According to the instructions of the Equipment Department, we will allow them to enter all the cabins of these two types of warships, except for the nuclear power parts, which have been open to them in the past." Wang Peng said.

"In this regard, it has been confirmed that the reception will be led by the chief minister, including the meeting arrangements and talks between the two sides. On our side, the chief minister will take the lead."

Although Wang Peng is now the commander of the fleet, his rank is still colonel, which is one step away from general. This level of reception is obviously unreasonable. Lao Li happens to be equal to the other party, so the higher-ups agreed to Li Yunlong coming out. On the one hand, this guy has strong intentions, and on the other hand, it is also to send a general, who can be used at certain times. Although his major is not quite suitable, there is no need to emphasize this at this time. As long as he is a general, it's fine.

"Then what is the bottom line of our communication with the other party this time? Has the higher-ups given an explanation?" Li Yunlong didn't care. He had seen a lot of things and had dealt with many powers in Sakura Country, so there was naturally no problem with foreign exchanges.

"The higher-ups hope to promote our intention to cooperate with Athens as much as possible. It would be best if we could issue a joint statement. The other party will consider purchasing Jianghai-class destroyers, which will facilitate our further business negotiations. As for the price, the bottom line of 1000 million US dollars will not be lowered. We are now almost % off the current price of similar warships, and it cannot be cheaper. But we can compensate appropriately for other things." Wang Peng said.

Li Yunlong nodded. He knew that it cost 10 million dollars to buy the Fletcher destroyer. Compared with the destroyers at that time, the cost performance was very high. After all, it was a top-level destroyer at that time. However, after so many years of development, Dongda has iteratively optimized three types of destroyers, from the Jianghai class, which was originally larger than the Fletcher destroyer, to the Luhai class, which was twice as large, and then to the most recent Luyang class. Dongda no longer looks down on the Fletcher destroyer, which is a thing of the past.

Li Yunlong took the naval situation information of various countries in the Mediterranean that Wang Peng had collected, and returned to the cabin to start studying it without saying anything.

the next day.

Kalias arrived as scheduled with dozens of naval professionals. After visiting and learning about the Jincheng-class destroyer, it was obvious that they were full of desire for this big destroyer.

It’s just that this is the new destroyer of the University of Tokyo, and it is not for sale yet. You can look at it, but you can’t think about it.

Not only the Jincheng of the Luyang class, but also the Jincheng of the Luhai class, Kaliyas was very shocked after seeing it. Anti-ship, anti-submarine and air defense are all available. After being equipped with the current Z-5 helicopter, the anti-submarine reconnaissance and detection capabilities are far beyond the Athens Navy by an era!
Such a destroyer is what Kalias dreams of.

Unfortunately, after looking at his own budget, he found that the starting price of the Lukhai-class submarine was 3000 million US dollars, not to mention the Lukhai-class submarine. He might not be able to afford it even if he sold the entire fleet of the Athens Navy.

As they walked and looked around, Li Yunlong basically didn't say anything to the Athenian Navy Vice Admiral. All the professional questions were answered by Wang Peng, which made Kalias look down on Li Yunlong a little.

When both parties sat down in the confidential meeting room of the Sea Island, Kalias spoke first.

"Welcome General Li and Colonel Wang of Dongda University to beautiful Athens. On behalf of the Athens Navy, I personally invite you to visit our naval headquarters. I hope you will have a pleasant memory in Athens."

"Thank you for the invitation from General Kalias. We are deeply honored. I wonder if General Kalias has any advice for today's visit?" Li Yunlong said lightly. Now there were only the confidential translator and the other party, so naturally he talked about business first.

"General Li, frankly speaking, after seeing the Luhai-class destroyers, we are very satisfied. Your fleet has traveled tens of thousands of miles and still managed to keep the ships in such good condition. We have nothing to worry about in terms of quality. The Jianghai-class destroyers have also been in service in your army for many years, so we naturally trust them." Kalias did not avoid the question.

As for the so-called practical experience, now the Jincheng has traveled through the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean to Athens, a journey of tens of thousands of miles, and has experienced almost all kinds of sailing conditions in the meantime, and the verification of its seaworthiness has been very sufficient.

The Jianghai-class destroyer was originally defined as a near-shore destroyer. The Mediterranean environment is no more complicated than the South China Sea. Therefore, the smooth arrival of the Haidao mixed fleet in Athens has verified that the capabilities of the Dongda warships are very good in all aspects. From the visit on the ship, there are no flaws due to long-term sailing. You must know that this fleet only arrived at the port yesterday, and now we see that the paint of the ships is not damaged much. The hull maintenance rate is quite outstanding.

You know, even the ships of this leading country, the Rogue Hawk, may be rusty. "The biggest problem now is that our budget is not enough. Even if we buy your Jianghai-class destroyers, we can only buy two at most. Now our budget cannot support it." Kalias said distressedly.

“Unless your country can significantly reduce prices.”

"It's impossible to lower the price any further." Li Yunlong shook his head and rolled his eyes. "But I have an idea that can give your navy the best of both worlds."

"I have a superficial understanding of the navies of the countries along the Mediterranean coast. Frankly speaking, our Jianghai-class destroyers are already the most elite among the navies of the countries along the Mediterranean coast. Apart from the Italian and Gallic, no other main destroyers can compete with them. Do you agree with me, General Kalias?"

Li Yunlong paused and asked.

General Kalias was stunned for a moment, then blinked, "Yes, General Li, your country's Jianghai-class destroyer is indeed one of the best destroyers today."

"If a Luhai-class destroyer plus two Jianghai-class destroyers form a mixed formation with your King of Macedonia, what level does General Kalias think of such a fleet on the Mediterranean coast?" Li Yunlong continued to ask.

Luhai-class destroyers plus Jianghai-class destroyers, plus aircraft carriers? In addition to the Italian navy, I can sweep the entire Mediterranean. Even the fleet left by Gaul in the Mediterranean cannot compare to it. General Kalias just saw the combat effectiveness of the Luhai-class destroyers. Their air defense and anti-ship capabilities are formidable. They can even fight against Italian battleships, not to mention other ships.

The Italian Navy fleet has become the largest naval fleet among Mediterranean countries because of its huge size, including 3 battleships, 19 cruisers, 59 destroyers, 67 torpedo boats and 116 submarines. However, most of these ships are legacies of World War II. The real missile destroyers are still good now, but they are far inferior to the Dongda Luhai-class. At most, they are at the level of the Dongda Jianghai-class destroyers.

According to the range of Dongda's anti-ship missiles, which is more than 100 kilometers away, there are more than a dozen different tactics that can be used to use Dongda's missile destroyers to attack the Italian battleship Kalias, not to mention facing the fateful opponent Tuji.

With this scale, he could easily trap the Turkish fleet in the port and prevent them from coming out.

But this dream is too idealistic and I dare not pursue it.

"If that's the case, our naval formation is undoubtedly the strongest squadron in the Mediterranean! It won't be outdated even in ten years." Kalias replied after being stunned for a moment.

Although he didn't know what Li Yunlong wanted to say, Kalias still answered very honestly.

Li Yunlong smiled and said, "I knew it. I studied the intelligence for a whole night just to put together the strongest squadron for you." For the navies of countries along the Mediterranean coast, the Jianghai-class destroyer can fight two at a time, and the Luhai-class destroyer has stronger firepower, fighting three at a time and four at a time. Moreover, they now have air defense and anti-submarine capabilities, and the Luhai-class destroyer can also carry a helicopter for anti-submarine operations, making it more comprehensive.

With the support of King Macedonia and 36 carrier-based aircraft, this squadron is really invincible in the Mediterranean. Even if the opponent is replaced by pasta, it will be defeated.

It can be said that with this squadron, the Athenian Navy is no longer afraid of anyone in the Mediterranean.

"If that's the case, why don't you purchase two Jianghai-class destroyers and one Luhai-class destroyer all at once?" Li Yunlong said with a smile.

"As for the budget, it's up to us. We can change our mindset," Li Yunlong continued. "The best price we can offer for two Jianghai-class destroyers and one Luhai-class destroyer is 2 million US dollars. You can't afford it right away. It's okay. We can collect a 1% down payment first, and the remaining 5000 million US dollars can be paid in installments over 40 years. This way, you will have less budget pressure. 3000 million US dollars a year is not a big problem for you. I can apply for a reduction in the interest on delayed payment for you."

As soon as Li Yunlong finished speaking, Kalias fell into deep thought.

Installment payments for purchasing large quantities of weapons are not new. In the Qing Dynasty, installment payments were proposed to purchase a Delaware battleship. Li Yunlong spent almost all of the Athens Navy's ten-year purchase budget in one go. The total amount seems large, but he will soon have the strongest squadron in the Mediterranean, so this budget can be considered to be spent wisely.

Not to mention the Jianghai-class destroyer, we have sent people to see it several times. The Fletcher destroyer is already considered an elite warship in the Mediterranean coastal countries, but the Jianghai-class destroyer is stronger than it. It can be said that from radar to anti-ship weapons, they are all at the same level!

As for the Luhai-class, it is a cruiser-level ship located along the Mediterranean coast and can fight against battleships without losing the upper hand.

So Li Yunlong's suggestion really struck Kaliyas' soul.

And it completely solves the budget problem. If we tighten other procurement expenses, we can save 300 million US dollars a year.

"General Lee, I will take your suggestion back. I have to say, it is a great suggestion," said Kalias.

The interest on the installment of 3000 million US dollars is not low according to the current interest rate, at least less than million.

But you have to see how to calculate it. Since Dongda's shipbuilding cost is all independent technology, the cost price of one ship is basically calculated in local currency. That is, a Jianghai-class destroyer that sells for 1 million US dollars actually costs 1 million local currency.

According to the current exchange rate of 3 to 1 between the local currency and the US dollar, the gross profit margin is about 66%. In other words, the down payment of 2000 million US dollars can recover the cost and have a slight surplus, and the rest is all profit!
That’s why Li Yunlong dared to take the initiative to waive the installment interest.

Because this is a business where you can make little profit and no loss.

Are you kidding? When has a profiteer like Li Yunlong ever lost money in business? (End of this chapter)