In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 287 Going to help Iraq develop long-range missiles? Comrade, your idea is dangerous.

"Xie Wei, the candidate has been chosen. I plan to have Feng Ke in charge of the technology. What do you think?"

Fang Pengju approached Xie Wei and proposed that Feng Ke lead the technical team responsible for training Iraqi operators and logistics maintenance personnel.

"Feng Ke? Wouldn't that be inappropriate? Didn't you already supervise three graduate students before Feng Ke?"

Logically speaking, Feng Ke is the least suitable candidate.

Xie Wei also did not want Feng Ke to go to Iraq at the moment.

It wasn't because of the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War that Feng Ke would be in danger.

Feng Ke is currently in a period of rapid growth. With sufficient funding, Fang Pengju's team is not only improving the current long-range rocket artillery, but also preparing to develop a new generation of rocket artillery with a range of 300 kilometers.

What kind of training is available for operators and logistics personnel in Iraq?

"Don't even mention it! Compared to Feng Ke, those three are simply..."

Director Fang groaned at the mention of his graduate students, “Their learning progress isn’t as fast as Feng Ke’s. You don’t need to worry about Feng Ke affecting the progress after he goes abroad; he has already mastered the basic design principles. Training the logistics and maintenance personnel and operators in Iraq will make him more familiar with this rocket launcher, and besides, there will be very few live-fire tests in China…”

"Then I'll ask him."

Xie Wei thought about it. Fang Pengju was really focusing on cultivating Feng Ke, but going abroad was ultimately not the same as going to China.

During the journey to Iraq and while there, it was difficult to find anyone to answer any questions, and even the basic research conditions were lacking.

"You have to tell Xie Rou that she can't go."

Fang Pengju was not surprised that Xie Wei wanted to ask about Feng Ke's attitude.

Xie Wei and Feng Ke had a good relationship to begin with; Feng Ke had become Fang Pengju's student through Xie Wei.

"She wants to go to Iraq?"

Xie Wei was surprised.

What is it about Iraq that attracts Xie Rou?

Seeing Fang Pengju nod seriously, Xie Wei realized just how strong Xie Rou's desire to go to Iraq was.

"Isn't Iraq and Iran about to go to war? Only through actual combat can we better test the performance of our rocket artillery, and I can get first-hand data immediately..."

Faced with her angry brother who came knocking on her door, Xie Rou's big eyes blinked, avoiding Xie Wei's gaze, and she explained with her head down.

"Tell the truth! Do you think I don't know you? If you want firsthand data, we can send it back from there! It won't take long via air transport."

Xie Rou doesn't have much time to lie.

The characteristics are too obvious.

"real……"

Xie Rou forced herself to remain calm, then suddenly raised her head, stiffening her neck to meet Xie Wei's gaze.

The moment their eyes met, he was defeated.

Immediately, she changed tactics, jumped to Xie Wei's side, and shook his arm, pleading, "Brother, I want to go abroad and see the world. Didn't you say before that the world is so big and you wanted to see it too? I heard that Iraq's customs and lifestyle are not used to ours, and their roasted camel is especially delicious. They say that the camel's belly is stuffed with a sheep, the sheep's belly has a chicken, the chicken's belly has a pigeon, and the pigeon's belly has an egg..."

As she spoke, Xie Rou's mouth watered.

For a food-loving girl, just thinking about a delicious food that she has never eaten before, which others describe with great enthusiasm, can make her saliva secrete faster.

"Haha~"

Xie Wei turned to look at Xie Rou and chuckled at her with amusement.

He would have believed Xie Rou in the past, but not now.

They don't believe a single punctuation mark.

"real!"

Xie Rou became anxious.

She knew very well that without her brother's approval, even if she persuaded Fang Pengju, the school leaders, or even the bigwigs of the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry, she would not be able to go.

"To be honest, you have no chance of going; if you don't tell the truth, there's absolutely no chance!"

Xie Wei shook off Xie Rou's arm that was around him. Last time, Xie Rou followed Fang Pengju's team from the Northeast to the Northwest of China, a journey of more than 10000 kilometers. Even so, his mother didn't know how many times she cried.

After all, Liu Mei was different from Xie Jianguo. She felt that Xie Rou was a girl and shouldn't have to suffer like this. She believed that if Xie Rou studied hard and then returned to Chengdu to work, she would be contributing to the country.

"I……"

Xie Rou looked at her brother's serious expression and her heart pounded.

Under Xie Weina's gaze, which seemed to see right through her, she whispered, "I want to go over there and help them build missiles... Your suggestion of combining three missiles into two, doubling the range, seems very feasible to me..."

"Nonsense!"

Xie Wei was furious.

Damn it, when did that son of a bitch get in touch with Xie Rou?
Previously, Yitzhak stayed at the school and spent most of his time with Fang Pengju, so he probably already knew about Xie Rou's situation.

"I'm not kidding! Our country is short of funds, and schools don't have enough either. We can use Iraqi funds to demonstrate our idea..."

In order to secure a chance to go to Iraq, Xie Rou suppressed her fear of her brother, gritted her teeth, and stared wide-eyed, trying her best to make herself look Xie Wei in the eye.

Opportunities are earned.

I'm almost 16 years old, can't I still make my own decisions?

"The school will provide ample funding for any project you undertake! But forget about going abroad in your lifetime."

Xie Wei's face was terribly gloomy at this moment.

The tone of his voice even frightened Xie Rou.

"Why should I?! I'm all grown up now, even my parents don't discipline me like this, so why should you?!"

“I’m your brother! It’s not that Mom and Dad don’t care, it’s that they can’t control you! But I can control you. As long as I’m alive, you can forget about going abroad, not even for tourism! China is so big, isn’t that enough for you to see?”

After saying that, Xie Wei turned and left.

Xie Rou never expected that her brother, who always doted on her, would be so dictatorial in this matter, not even giving her a chance to discuss it.

"Warlord! You are a dictatorial warlord!"

Watching Xie Wei's departing figure, Xie Rou directly cursed her brother in the harshest way in Sichuan dialect.

In Sichuan, the term "warlord" is not a flattering one. During the civil war, several major warlords in Sichuan levied exorbitant taxes, conscripted men, forcibly took women as concubines, and even extended their tax burdens to a century later...

Hearing Xie Rou scold him like that, Xie Wei just rolled his eyes.

You can't hit your own sister, and you can't scold her.

"Squad leader, although there might be fighting in Iraq, we're only responsible for training their personnel..."

Hearing the commotion outside, Feng Ke dared not go in. Xie Wei came out and quietly persuaded her.

In his view, even if Iraq were to go to war with Iran, it would not have a significant impact on its rear.

"A fight has already broken out."

"what?"

Feng Ke looked surprised, then became excited, "So, it's possible that we can train Iraqi rocket artillery operators and logistics personnel..."

"Don't even think about it! Even if we were to go, we could only train their personnel. Our people are not allowed to participate in any military missions!"

Xie Wei glared at Feng Ke with annoyance.

He really didn't expect that Feng Ke, who usually seemed honest and unassuming, was actually a warmonger.

"No! Only real-world testing can truly reflect the various aspects of our rocket artillery. I want to go there to learn more details..."

Feng Ke panicked.

"You really want to go?"

“Yes! My advisor originally didn’t want me to go, and I had to go through a lot of trouble to convince him to let me go…” Feng Ke said firmly, “Don’t worry, I won’t take Xie Rou with me.”

Xie Wei only glanced at Feng Ke, which made Feng Ke suddenly feel a chill, as if she were being stared at by a wild beast.

"Xie Rou can't go."

Xie Wei emphasized this point, then said very seriously to Feng Ke, "Once you go abroad, you will represent the country! Our weapons sales are just trade relations. If you, as the personnel in charge of training, get involved, it will send the wrong signal to the outside world, making people think that the country is on the side of the war. Can you bear the consequences?"

"what?"

Feng Ke's eyes widened. "Is it that complicated? I was thinking that their officers and soldiers had never been exposed to it before. Even if they studied how to operate it every day on the returning cargo ship, it would be difficult for them to master it in such a short time... The first batch of rocket launchers were all experimental products and had not undergone complete modification..."

Clearly, Feng Ke was worried that Iraqi artillerymen who were not familiar with the operation would affect the performance of the 150mm long-range rocket launcher.

"At that time, the higher-ups will definitely send someone to oversee security. Feng Ke, we are researchers, and it's understandable that we want to obtain more accurate data for future improvements, but when we're abroad, we represent the country's position..."

Xie Wei warned Feng Ke.

There are several people in the dormitory, and although they all behaved quite normally when we first met, they were all very well-behaved.

None of the educated youth who were able to take the college entrance examination and be admitted to university after the resumption of the college entrance examination were easy to deal with.

"That's not right. If that's the case, we're safer, we can't even get close to the battlefield... So why didn't you let Xie Ermei go? If she went..."

"You accepted bribes from Yitzhak?"

Xie Wei stared sharply at Feng Ke.

"How could that be! Squad leader, you have to believe that I am a principled Party member!"

"Xie Rou told me that she wanted to help Iraq with its 'three bombs combined with two bombs' project."

Xie Wei spoke softly, his eyes fixed on Feng Ke.

A flicker of panic crossed Feng Ke's eyes, which quickly vanished before she regained her composure.

"no!"

Feng Ke remained steadfast in her lie.

Xie Wei did not expose his lie.

"A powerful Middle Eastern country is not in the West's interest. The OPEC-induced oil crisis happened only a few years ago... Saddam Hussein cannot win this Iran-Iraq war..."

"Really? After Khomeini came to power, she purged a large number of officers from the Pahlavi dynasty, and many noble officers even fled with her... Even if they have advanced fighter jets, they don't have enough pilots..."

Feng Ke's words further confirmed Xie Wei's suspicion that Yizak and Feng Ke had had in-depth exchanges.

"No matter what, Lao Feng, if you can't guarantee you won't disgrace the country or harm its interests, then don't go. I have other things to do..."

Feng Ke was clearly swayed by Yizak and went crazy.

Xie Wei didn't want to persuade the other party either.

If Feng Ke is to help the Iraqis modify missiles, he absolutely must not let the outside world know.

Iraq has few military industrial talents and a poor industrial base. The fact that they were able to develop the Hussein missile with a range of over 600 kilometers and the Abbas missile with a range of 800 to 1000 kilometers was only possible with the participation of experts from the Soviet Union, France, and Egypt.

"..."

Feng Ke sensed the class monitor's distance from Xie Wei's tone; she hadn't done anything!
"Squad leader, is this why you won't let Xie Rou go out?"

"Do not."

Xie Wei shook his head. "Old Feng, you must remember, science knows no borders, but scientists do. Abroad, spies are virtually everywhere. Once they discover a rising genius, and can't bring them into their own country, the only solution is to make that genius disappear… Back then, when Qian Xuesen returned to China, he didn't even disembark from the ship. What do you think was the reason? He was worried that if he were assassinated, he wouldn't be able to contribute to the country. You can imagine, if Qian Xuesen and his generation of older generation of defense scientists hadn't returned, our national defense…"

Xie Wei stopped talking at the end.

"So, Xie Rou really can't go abroad!"

Feng Ke had always studied with Xie Rou and was very clear about Xie Rou's situation.

Xie Rou has now demonstrated her talent, able to construct ballistic models in her mind, perform mental calculus, and learn all sorts of difficult knowledge with ease, even applying it to other areas. If foreign intelligence agencies were to find out, the consequences would be unbearable for her.

Actually, I don't want you to go out either.

After saying this, Xie Wei left Feng Ke, who was deep in thought.

Watching Xie Wei's departing figure, Feng Ke gave a bitter smile: "Compared to you siblings, I'm just an ordinary person... There's not enough funding in the country. Even if the university allocates funds to rocket artillery, it can't support too much research..."

Feng Ke shook his head.

My determination to go to Iraq will never waver.

"Squad Leader Xie, what brings you here?"

Wang Yuting was happy during this period. When the project achieved phased results and she was not as busy as before, Xie Rou would not force her to do more auxiliary work.

I feel much more energetic than before.

My personality has also become more cheerful.

"Senior, could you please keep an eye on Xie Rou for the next while and make sure she doesn't have any more contact with Yizak? I'll communicate with the school, and you should all stay on campus during this time..."

"why?"

Wang Yuting was puzzled.

Xie Rou usually doesn't leave the school.

“If you don’t want to go to the Iraq war with her, do as I say.”

"To the Iraqi battlefield?"

Wang Yuting's eyes widened instantly.

She didn't even want to go through the test route from Northeast to Northwest again; those days were simply unbearable. Why would she want to go to the desert in the Middle East?

Xie Wei didn't explain, but after giving some more instructions, he turned around and went to find Liu Debao.

"Request permission from higher authorities to send a military observer group?"

Liu Debao looked at Xie Wei with a puzzled expression.

"Yes. When the Iran-Iraq War broke out, we sold a large number of weapons to Iraq. According to international practice, we can send an observation team composed of non-military personnel to assess the combat effectiveness of the weapons and equipment."

Xie Wei said calmly.

He hadn't planned to bring this up before.

There was no other way; Feng Ke and Xie Rou had both been persuaded by Yizak. If they went there and actually did something extraordinary, it wouldn't be a good thing.

In particular, Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons multiple times during the Iran-Iraq War!

If a missile with a range of thousands of kilometers were to be equipped with a chemical weapon warhead, it could have a very negative impact on the country.

"How about we change the candidate? Let's not let Feng Ke go. Every student in the experimental class is a pillar of society!"

After listening to Xie Wei, Liu Debao felt that Xie Wei was still too young.

"No, let him go. Only by experiencing it firsthand can we design better rocket launchers."

Xie Wei shook his head and said.

Liu Debao did not object.

In his view, as long as Xie Wei and Xie Rou were not in danger, that was fine.

I have no idea how the Xie family had their children.

"Xie Rou has been at the school for over a year and hasn't gone back. Why don't you take her back?"

"No, I'll send a telegram back and ask my mother to come here. Knowing Xie Rou's personality, unless I keep an eye on her every day, she'll probably sneak out..."

Although in this era where you need receipts to eat out and letters of introduction to stay in hotels and buy train tickets, the possibility of Xie Rou sneaking out is not high, Xie Wei still needs to be on the safe side.

“Okay, anyway, Du Guowang’s house is empty.”

Upon hearing this, Xie Wei, who was turning to leave, stumbled. When did Liu Debao start to turn towards Li Rui?
They don't feel any guilt at all about being so generous with other people's money!
(End of this chapter)