In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 255: Winning Hearts Through Tactics - Iraqis Demand Forced Purchase of 150 Long-Range Rocket Launchers

"Lieutenant Colonel, you..."

Xie Wei's face darkened, and the amiable demeanor he always maintained in front of foreign clients vanished completely.

"Is this your long-range rocket artillery test convoy?"

Seeing the reactions of Shevchenko and the others, Yitzhak was not worried at all; on the contrary, he became even more certain.

Especially the special vehicle in the middle of the convoy, judging from the length of its cargo bed, which is about ten meters long, is clearly not an ordinary truck.

To avoid further evasion, he asked Xie Wei the question in Chinese.

"Huh? Lieutenant Colonel, you actually understand Chinese?"

Xie Wei's face immediately showed astonishment.

This wasn't entirely an act; he knew the other team had a translator who understood Chinese, but he didn't expect it to be a core member of the team.

Seeing Xie Wei's astonished expression, Yitzhak became even more certain that the convoy in front of them was exactly what they needed!
"Thank you, I heard what you said... If it's just rocket artillery, I think both sides can definitely cooperate. It's not a strategic weapon, and the sale won't affect your national defense... You don't need to lie to us anymore. If we can't reach an agreement, the cooperation we've already agreed on won't be affected, but as for subsequent cooperation..."

Threat!

Damn it, the customer is threatening to force the seller to make a sale!

However, Xie Wei still liked it.

"Lieutenant Colonel, it's not that we're unwilling to cooperate. The long-range rocket artillery in front of us is the longest-range, most technologically advanced, and most powerful in our country. It's currently in the experimental stage and is highly classified."

Xie Wei looked somewhat reluctant.

What we need is "long range, advanced technology, and great power"!
Yzak roared inwardly.

His face turned serious: "I don't think you have any sincerity at all! You said before that you were willing to cooperate with anything... The general specifically instructed that if you are unwilling to sell us good things, it will make it difficult for the general to complete the task given to him by His Majesty the King."

king!

Was it an oversight on the other party's part to refer to Saddam in such a way in front of foreigners?

No.

To show Xie Wei that they were the president's confidants!
"This……"

Xie Wei became troubled.

"Lieutenant Colonel, it's getting late. How about we talk again tomorrow?"

Seeing that the situation had reached a stalemate, Zhang Mingqiu knew that Xie Wei was keeping the other party in suspense, but he was also afraid that Xie Wei would keep them in suspense too much and affect the cooperation, so he directly tried to smooth things over.

"Let's visit this rocket launcher tomorrow!"

Yitzhak pointed to the launch vehicle in the middle of the convoy next to him and said in an unyielding manner. Then, without waiting for Principal Zhang and the others' reactions, he turned around and got into the car.

"How is this going?"

Looking haggard, Fang Pengju got out of the car when the convoy was stopped. Seeing that they were foreigners, Xie Wei was negotiating, but he didn't say anything.

After the foreigners left, I could no longer suppress my doubts.

"The big spender who's giving us money, we'll be negotiating the contract to sell the long-range rocket tomorrow. As long as there are no problems, the funding for the long-range rocket project will be more than enough in the future."

Xie Wei grinned and explained to Fang Pengju.

The unexpected good news immediately dispelled Professor Fang's fatigue, and he was about to speak.

A figure rushed towards Xie Wei: "Brother, are you here to pick me up?"

Looking at Xie Rou's thin face, Xie Wei felt a pang of heartache for no reason. He patted her back and said, "You've worked hard. I'll treat you to something delicious tomorrow."

"What's good to eat?"

Hearing about food, Xie Rou forgot her exhaustion and her eyes lit up. She then complained, "During the testing period, we mostly ate canned food, and it was hard to even get leafy greens..."

Xie Wei looked at Fang Pengju, who looked embarrassed. "To maintain secrecy, our routes avoid populated areas, so resupplying isn't very convenient..."

Fang Pengju's words encapsulated the hard work the testing team had put in for nearly a year.

"The cafeteria has prepared food for everyone, so please go and eat something. The bathhouse is also open tonight; we've specially borrowed a few bath attendants from other bathhouses..."

Upon hearing this, everyone cheered, regardless of the fact that the convoy of cars was still parked at the school gate.

For nearly a year, the route they took was mostly through uninhabited areas. Unless there was a military supply depot or it was near a city, the entire team sometimes couldn't even guarantee drinking water, let alone taking a shower.

"Brother, I haven't showered in almost a month... I'm going to take a shower now..."

Xie Rou didn't care about anything else. She let go of Xie Wei and turned to run towards the bathhouse.

Xie Wei was heartbroken to see this: You have to understand, it's August! The temperature is high, and there's no air conditioning to cool it down. The indoor fans in the school are blowing hot air.

Back home, in this kind of weather, Xie Rou would take two or three showers a day...

I haven't showered in almost a month!
In the past, this would have been unimaginable.

Alas, growing up always comes at a price.

"Sigh, they've had a tough time..."

Zhang Mingqiu sighed.

"Professor Fang, leave the convoy to us. You go wash up first, and we'll chat over drinks later."

Xie Wei was directing the convoy toward the workshop next to the wind tunnel laboratory when he was about to get into the car, but Xie Wei stopped him.

Fang Pengju didn't stand on ceremony and simply said "okay," then picked up his bag and turned to head towards the bathhouse.

"How about it?"

Back at the Northern Building, General Abdullah, who had been waiting for news, eagerly asked Yitzhak.

"They do have a long-range rocket launcher, but they wouldn't mention it no matter how much we asked... We followed them out and happened to run into a convoy returning from a test run. The launch container at the back was at least 10 meters long..."

Yitzhak reported the situation to General Abdullah and also mentioned his threats.

"Good! Yizak, you did a great job! No matter how much they ask for, as long as the range is long enough and the power is great enough, we must take them down! I will personally report to His Majesty on your behalf when we get back!"

Abdullah was overjoyed after hearing this.

Being able to procure weapons with a range of over 100 kilometers, whether missiles or rocket artillery, would be a great achievement.

As for the range not exceeding 100 kilometers?

If the range wasn't long enough, would the Chinese need to keep it so secret?

While China may lag behind in other fields, in rocket-related areas, even if it cannot compare to the Soviet Union and the United States, it is no worse than other Western countries.

The shaman standing nearby listened with envy, secretly regretting why he hadn't chosen to learn Chinese back then, but the difficulty of learning Chinese was simply too great.

I can't envy you.

Are we just going to give up all our credit like this?
He was unwilling to give up. "General, I think perhaps we could also purchase tanks from Harbin Institute of Technology..."

"Purchasing tanks? There's absolutely no need for that. Minister Kamal personally went to the Soviet Union to negotiate the purchase of T-72 tanks."

Abdullah shook his head at the shaman's suggestion.

Kamal is the head of the Kamal family, a prominent clan in Tikrit, the president's hometown. In order to win over the prominent families in his hometown, the president directly appointed the head of the Kamal family as Minister of Defense after taking office.

There are even rumors that the president is preparing to arrange a marriage with the Kamal family.

"General, the fundamental reason we helped the Soviets procure rocket launcher technology is that in the Graveyard of Empires, guerrillas used these rocket launchers to destroy a large number of Soviet T-72s. Those were their own versions... The T-72s they sold to us would definitely have their performance weakened... It's undeniable that Chinese tanks aren't advanced enough, but at least they won't be blown up by a single shot from their own armor-piercing rocket launchers..."

For the sake of credit, Fei Shaman didn't mind saying good things about the tank that Harbin Institute of Technology was developing.

In his view, only by persuading the general to agree to order a batch of Chinese tanks could he gain merit.

The Chinese description of the tank's performance is significantly better than that of the T-72.

Its only drawback is its weak power, which is negligible in the face of fierce firepower and heavy armor.

"They described the tank's performance as far superior to the T-72. His Majesty is procuring tanks to equip the most elite troops of the Tikrit Division, whose commanders and soldiers are all our fellow countrymen... Now, Minister Kamal's negotiations with the Soviets have been suspended. If we can find a tank that is more advanced and cheaper than the T-72, it will not only demonstrate His Majesty's abilities as General, but also protect our fellow countrymen..."

As he listened to the shaman's words, Abdullah's mind began to race.

Even among the president's close confidants, the competition was fierce.

To gain more power, one must naturally perform more deeds that the president will remember.

Seeing the general lost in thought, the shaman, who knew his character well, did not continue speaking.

Saying more will only have the opposite effect.

The general's subordinates must not overstep their authority, much less interfere with the general's decisions.

······
A state-run restaurant next to Harbin Institute of Technology.

Normally, by this time, the head chef of the canteen and the arrogant state-run restaurant chefs would have already gone home and closed up shop.

However, after the state-run canteen was taken over by the school-enterprise office and used to entertain clients, the school allowed staff to work overtime occasionally. With generous bonuses and time off in lieu of work, no one objected.

At this moment, several tables in the restaurant were laden with sumptuous dishes.

Most of them are Northeastern dishes with local characteristics.

"Don't just eat vegetables, eat more meat! Look how skinny you are, if Mom finds out she'll beat me with a rolling pin!"

Xie Wei felt heartbroken watching Xie Rou stuffing vegetables into her mouth.

"For the past six months, whenever I see green grass, I wish I could turn into a cow or sheep and go up and nibble on it... I haven't been able to poop for days... Bro, I always thought meat was delicious, I never imagined that vegetables could taste so good..."

Xie Rou swallowed a mouthful of vegetables, said this, and then quickly finished the vegetables on her plate again.

Hearing this, Xie Wei felt a chill run down his spine: This girl was talking about pooping while eating...

Is it appropriate?

“There are fewer leafy green vegetables in the north during winter than in the south. Most of the places we go are uninhabited areas, so we have to consider supplies that can be stored for a long time…; and in hot weather, vegetables are even harder to preserve…”

Fang Pengju, standing to the side, offered a bitter explanation.

Xie Wei sighed inwardly.

The testing of various advanced weapons and equipment, especially high-powered ones, is often conducted in uninhabited areas such as deserts and the Gobi Desert.

Adding to the differences in diet between the North and South, in the eyes of Northerners, eggplant, radish, green beans, etc. can all be called green vegetables; in the South, only green leafy vegetables with green stems and leaves can be called green vegetables, and even Chinese cabbage does not count; of course, in the Southwest, green vegetables, which were originally used to make sauerkraut or salted vegetables, are also called green leafy vegetables when eaten...

What were the results of this experiment?

Xie Wei sighed. He knew that the conditions for testing weapons and equipment in the field were harsh, but he didn't expect them to be this harsh.

So we changed the subject.

"The maximum range can reach 160 kilometers, the impact dispersion range exceeds 200 meters, while the kill radius of the warhead is only 120 meters..."

Fang Pengju's face grew even more worried when he mentioned this.

The impact dispersion of the rockets in the live-fire test was much larger than expected.

Seeing that Xie Wei showed no concern, he added, "A lot of live-fire tests are needed to further improve the situation; data simulation alone cannot provide the necessary improvements."

Ultimately, more funding is needed.

"Let's conduct live-fire tests; there's no need to worry about funding. The current performance data is sufficient for export. Rocket artillery isn't a missile; it's not for precision strikes, but rather for saturation attacks that create an effect through firepower coverage."

The warhead has low power?
Just send a few more rounds to cover the area.

Insufficient precision?

With the entire area under fire, is accuracy really that important?
"Are we really going to sell it? What about the military...?"

Fang Pengju was somewhat unwilling.

He exhausted all his knowledge, wanting to make a greater contribution to national defense. The advanced weapons he developed were not used by his own troops, but were sold to foreigners first.

How can I accept this?
"The military has made it clear that they won't equip it. This range is somewhat redundant for our troops, and the cost is too high. If we don't sell it, where will the funding come from to continue research? Improvements require funding, research into longer ranges and higher accuracy requires funding, and even more powerful warheads require funding..."

Xie Wei could understand Fang Pengju's thoughts.

It's not just Fang Pengju; these days, all defense science and technology workers are working for the sake of a strong nation, so that it will no longer be invaded by foreign enemies. Naturally, they don't want to sell the advanced weapons they develop.

They didn't even use it in their own troops!
“Each launch system costs only 80, which is much more expensive than heavy artillery, but its range is beyond what heavy artillery can achieve; while a single rocket currently costs only a little over 2, and with mass production, the price will drop significantly…”

Fang Pengju murmured.

Compared to its power, the cost is really nothing.

"With an 800,000 yuan launcher, the troops can be equipped with more than 20 122mm howitzers! For just over 20,000 yuan, a 122mm howitzer can be equipped with more than 40 rounds... with a range of over 100 kilometers. Our troops would prefer to advance further to the range of heavy artillery..."

It's all because of poverty!
If you are poor, you can use tactics to intersperse, if you are rich, you can cover it with firepower.

The PLA is so poor that it has to tighten its belt to make ends meet. How can it afford to spend more than the procurement cost of a battalion of heavy artillery to equip a rocket artillery launch system with a range of just over 100 kilometers?

How extravagant must it be?
Of course, half a century later, the PLA itself had become the kind of people it hated, and still felt its firepower was insufficient. That was because the economy had improved, people had more money in their pockets, and they had more confidence.

"Director Fang, we sold these to fund the development of better ones for the troops! If we don't have the money, let alone better ones, even with the current ones, if the troops really wanted to purchase them, the accuracy is so poor. Relying on firepower coverage, a battalion would need 18 of these. Not to mention the price of the launch system, can the troops afford just one battalion-level salvo?"

"..."

Fang Pengju quickly did some mental calculations, then his eyes widened.

Each 150mm rocket launcher set consists of 2 x 4 rockets, or 8 rockets, totaling 18 launchers. A single salvo fires 144 rockets. Each rocket costs over 2 yuan, which is still the cost price. A single battalion-level salvo would cost over 300 million yuan.

Moreover, the military also needs to leave room for profit in procurement; a battalion-level salvo would require at least 400 million!
How much is the total annual military expenditure of the armed forces?
All the funding combined wouldn't be enough to withstand a few battalion-level salvos!

(End of this chapter)