Development of productivity started in 1981

Chapter 159 Persia Prepares to Purchase 155mm Artillery
"Hashimi, two days have passed. The eight artillery groups you brought have all learned how to use this Thor cannon, so can we sign a formal handover agreement?"

"Zhang, of course. I'll take you to see General Suleiman later. Can you talk to him first and then sign?"

"Okay, please lead the way."

Ever since they destroyed a heavy artillery brigade of Babylon with a one-minute rapid fire the day before yesterday, the Persians have called this kind of cannon "Thor", and Zhang Zhong followed their name and called this 1 artillery "Thor".

In fact, this artillery has an official name within the Nanjiezhen, called P-58-45, which means it is 58 times the caliber and has a range of up to 45 kilometers.

Under the guidance of Hashimi, Zhang Zhong took four team members to meet General Suleiman, leaving the deputy captain and other members to continue to instruct the Persian artillery crew on the use of artillery and radar.

When Zhang Zhong arrived at Suleiman's headquarters, he was standing on a hill, looking at the Babylonian territory in the distance.

Suleiman, the legendary general of Persia, stood on the land full of smoke and war, like a towering mountain. He was tall and straight, like a pine tree that has experienced wind and rain but still stands tall.

His resolute face seemed to be made of steel, and every line told of the years of hardship and the baptism of war. His deep eyes, like the endless night sky, revealed the light of wisdom and courage, as if he could see through all the conspiracies and tricks in the world.

The most eye-catching thing is his full beard. The thick beard is like a black flame, spreading freely on his cheeks and chin, adding a bit of majesty and heroism to him. Each beard seems to have its own story. They have accompanied Suleiman through countless battles and decisions, and witnessed his glory and brilliance.

When he was in deep thought, his beard trembled slightly, as if telling of his innermost strategy and thoughts. And when he ordered a charge, his beard seemed to dance in the wind, burning with his passion and courage, inspiring every soldier around him to move forward courageously.

He was wearing a neat military uniform, with medals on his shoulder straps shining, a symbol of his great military exploits. He had a sharp sword on his waist, and the pattern on the scabbard was like an ancient totem, telling the history and glory of Persia.

On the battlefield, Suleiman was like a ferocious lion. His decisive and powerful command frightened the enemy. His beard looked even more majestic in the flames of war, as if it was a sign of his invincibility. He led the Persian warriors to fight bravely for the dignity and honor of the country, and wrote a legendary chapter belonging to Persia on the land of the Middle East.

"General, Zhang, the representative of the Southern Liberation Front, has arrived." Hashimi and Zhang Zhong waited at the foot of the hill for a while before speaking to interrupt General Suleiman's thoughts.

Suleiman turned his head, looked down at the crowd from the hill, and then slowly walked towards them from the hill.

"Zhang, thank you for your hard work. The artillery you brought is really good, and the vehicle-mounted artillery radar you brought is also very good. I have decided to send a delegation to you to sign a long-term purchase agreement." As he spoke, he led them to a large tent.
"General Suleiman, I'm very glad that these two weapons can help you. Unfortunately, I only brought four guns and 4 rounds of artillery shells this time, and now they are all gone. Otherwise, I believe Babylon will not be able to stop your progress."

“So I hope that a long-term supply agreement can be signed and you can no longer sell these two weapons to each other.”

Arriving at this tent which should be used for rest, General Suleiman said slowly.

"Of course we won't sell to both sides at the same time. General Suleiman, when will the delegation leave? And how will we pay for the weapons we brought?"

"The delegation is ready and will fly to Naypyidaw tomorrow. As for the samples, I hope you will give me a fair price."

"General, the price of vehicle-mounted artillery radar cannot be reduced. Many of its components are specially made and the production volume is very low. However, the artillery and a basic number of artillery shells can be discounted by 9%. This is the maximum authority I have." Zhang Zhong said sincerely.

"Only 9% off? We want to buy in bulk."

"General Suleiman, please talk to our domestic representatives for subsequent large-scale purchases. This batch of samples can only be discounted by 9%. However, if you don't like them because they have been used, we can also ship them back first, and the subsequent supply will be brand new."

"No, Zhang, these artillery pieces will stay here. Is your supply of artillery shells sufficient? You can see that a battle will require at least tens of thousands of shells."

"General, please rest assured that our production capacity can definitely meet your needs."

"That's good. Hashimi, take my warrant and go pay Zhang for this batch of weapons." He picked up the pen on the table and quickly wrote a note. Then he stamped it with the seal he carried with him and handed it to Hashimi who was waiting on the side.

"Okay, General." He took the note respectfully and motioned Zhang Zhong to follow him.

"Hashimi, what do you mean? Aren't we going to sign an agreement with your General Suleiman before getting the payment?"

"Zhang, I am now signing the agreement with you on behalf of General Suleiman. Do you want cash or a check?"

"Of course checks are easier to carry, but you have to make sure the checks can be cashed!"

"Of course. Didn't we use checks to buy the individual air defense missiles and rockets from you before? We will be purchasing them for a long time in the future, and we will definitely not cheat on the payment."

Hashimi took Zhang Zhong in a Hummer to a house in a border town, where the two signed the first purchase agreement on behalf of their respective forces. Then Hashimi asked someone to bring the check to Zhang Zhong.

"Zhang, it's from a Swiss bank. Take a look. If you have no problem, please keep it."

Zhang Zhong took the check and looked at the number on it, 1560 million US dollars, the amount was correct. Then he rubbed it carefully with his hands and looked at it from different angles to confirm that this check was the same as the previous one, and then put it away carefully.

"That's right, Hasimi. It's a pleasure working with you. By the way, now that the payment has been made and the artillery and radar have been taught, our people will be evacuated."

"No problem, Zhang, how are you going to leave?"

"I plan to fly directly to Naypyidaw with your delegation, while other personnel will leave by cargo ship from Bandar Abbas."

"Okay, I'll notify the convoy to send them to Abbas. Zhang, you come with me. We'll take a helicopter to the nearest airport and then meet up with the delegation in our capital."

"Is it far to drive? It doesn't seem very safe for you to take a helicopter."

"Zhang, I'm not afraid, so why should you be afraid? Don't worry, Babylon has been driven away very far, there won't be any danger."

"I'm afraid of the enemy's planes. There were some on the road before. If the helicopter encounters one, wouldn't it be dangerous?"

Hashemi was stunned by what Zhang Zhong said. Before that, he had been immersed in the high spirits of the Babylonians being driven out of their territory and had forgotten that his own air force was very weak.

"Okay, Zhang, let's go by car. Taking a helicopter is indeed a bit unsafe." Hashimi was obviously afraid of encountering an accident, so he decided to go by car.

The two men, each with a few followers, got on four Hummers and drove north.

After driving for more than three hours, the convoy arrived at a field airport of the Persian Air Force.

At this moment, there is a small transport plane parked at the airport. Judging from the paint job, it looks like a US military plane, but the icon on it has been changed to that of the Persian Air Force.

In addition to this transport plane, there were four fighter jets and two dilapidated fighter jets that seemed to have had an accident parked on the apron in the distance.

Zhang Zhong didn't know much about airplanes, but seeing that there were only a few planes parked at such a large airport, and there were still damaged planes that had not been dealt with, he could roughly understand how weak the Persian Air Force was now.

When he set out from northern Myanmar before, he read some information and learned that the Persian Air Force used to be mainly equipped with American-made aircraft, among which the main fighter jets were F14s. It seemed that there were more than 120 of them before the conflict with the United States. After two years of fighting and the lack of spare parts and necessary maintenance, there must not be many left, otherwise the Babylonian Air Force would not be allowed to fly freely in its own airspace.

When following Hashimi onto the plane, Zhang Zhong carefully looked at the interior of the fuselage and found that there were many damages that had not been repaired, and some cables could be seen directly.

Generally speaking, this type of US military VIP transport plane should not be damaged so quickly. Now that the interior has become like this, there must be something going on.

“Hashmi, is this plane safe?”

"Zhang, it's okay. Those damaged parts won't affect flight safety. Don't worry. This plane was used to transport important personnel. It was just that the interior was messed up because some wounded had to be transported urgently. But it was repaired later. These unrepaired parts won't have any impact. Come, sit in the front with me. You'll have a better view."

After hearing what he said, Zhang Zhong had no choice but to bite the bullet and sit in the front.

It must be said that the quality of the Persian pilot was quite good. He piloted this small US military transport plane and took off smoothly without feeling any turbulence.

The plane flew north, crossed the Zagros Mountains, and stopped briefly in Qom. According to the pilot's communication with the front, there should be temporary air control in Tehran, the capital of the north.

However, they didn't stay for long. After having lunch at the airport, everyone boarded the plane and flew to Tehran.

Arriving at the military airport in Tehran, Zhang Zhong saw the F14 fighter jets introduced in the information, which were parked in a hangar in the distance. He had good eyesight and counted that there were about 60 of them.

"Zhang, are you looking at fighter jets? Do you have any advanced aircraft?"

"Hashimi, we don't have planes like yours that can fly at supersonic speeds, but we will have them soon, and we will build them ourselves in the future."

"Really? Make it ourselves? Aircraft manufacturing is a huge industrial chain. Even among the top ten industrial powers like us, we currently don't have the ability to manufacture it." Hashimi obviously didn't believe it.

"Haha, I meant in the future. But we have advanced laser-guided bombs and long-range air-to-air missiles. Although our current aircraft are a bit slow, they are enough for defense."

"Laser-guided bombs, long-range air-to-air missiles? Zhang, how did you develop them? They are very difficult to manufacture. Can you sell these two weapons to us as well?"

"Well, I'm not sure about that. I was only ordered to come here to promote artillery and artillery radars. I only know that laser-guided bombs and long-range air-to-air missiles exist, but I don't know if they can be sold."

"Zhang, I'll have to trouble you to help us talk to them. We also want to buy laser-guided bombs and long-range air-to-air missiles."

"Okay, I'll help tell you when I get there, but I'm not sure what the outcome will be."

While waiting on the plane, the two chatted about the Air Force and the corresponding air-launched weapons. Zhang Zhong was of course authorized, otherwise he would not dare to reveal these secrets.

Although Hashemi was not from the Air Force, he had access to high-level secrets and knew that Persia was in great need of these high-tech weapons and equipment. In particular, the Air Force, without the help of the United States, could only dismantle some aircraft to protect others, and laser-guided bombs and long-range air-to-air missiles were even more out of stock.

Although they can manufacture projectiles and propellants domestically, they cannot manufacture engines and front-end guidance heads. Although scientists have been organized to conduct research, no one can say when there will be results.

Now that the United States and Western countries are imposing a full-scale blockade, many scientific research instruments and precision processing equipment are difficult to purchase, so research progress is extremely slow.

That night, the two men and their entourage rested in a lounge near the airport. In the early morning of the next day, Zhang Zhongcai met with representatives of the Persian side.

"Hello, Zhang. I am the negotiating representative this time, Miner, the logistics commissioner of the Persian Ministry of Defense." A middle-aged Persian man with a fair complexion, a clean-shaven beard and gold-rimmed glasses stretched out his hand to shake hands with Zhang Zhong.

"Hello, Commissioner Miner, welcome to the Southern Liberation Front for inspection. I believe you will return with a full load this time."

"I hope so. By the way, this time we are on a secret trip, so our identities are kept secret and we are using other identities. So when we arrive in Naypyidaw, please cooperate."

"Of course, once you get there and pass through the customs, our people will definitely be able to send you to the Southern Jiezhen as quickly and safely as possible."

Judging from the negotiation representatives sent by Persia this time, it is obvious that they attach great importance to it. When purchasing individual missiles and rockets before, they did not send anyone at all. They just placed the order after looking at the samples and testing them. For subsequent large orders, they did not send anyone to the South, but went to Hong Kong to sign the purchase agreement.

In fact, Zhang Zhong, the top leaders of the Nanjiezhen, and Wang Jiankun did not realize what this 155mm artillery represented.

The number of countries in the world that can independently manufacture this kind of artillery can be counted on one hand. Although Persia is considered one of the top ten industrial countries in the world, it is still far behind in heavy industry and some basic industries.

Being able to independently manufacture this kind of ultra-long-range artillery means that this country's heavy industry has entered the forefront of the world. It must have advanced metallurgical industry and large-scale forging equipment, and the lathes must also be very advanced.

A country or force with these basic industrial manufacturing capabilities can definitely manufacture more than just one type of artillery, but can also manufacture most of the heavy industrial products.

For example, the main beams of large aircraft, aircraft landing gear, main shafts of ships, crankshafts and cylinders of large diesel engines, etc., as long as there is demand, manufacturing is not a problem.

In addition to signing the purchase contract for artillery and artillery radar, Minet and his team also wanted to see the actual processing capabilities of the South Liberation Army. If the artillery was indeed independently manufactured, they would consider purchasing other equipment from it or entrusting the processing of some large parts.

(End of this chapter)