In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 428 A $50 Billion Order to be Delivered in Two Years? Is Saddam Hussein Taking a Step Towards "Khalifa"?

According to the other party, 280 tons of gold were prepared, which means that Xie Wei would lose more than $7.28 million by 91!
The Qianwei air defense missile system sold to big clients, one Qianwei-2 system plus two Qianwei-1 systems, only costs $660 million!

Such a huge loss, in an era when the country had no plans to expand its gold reserves and foreign exchange was still precious, could seriously affect Xie Wei's future!
Xie Wei was helpless!

He can't even wait.

The reason is simple: after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 90, the Gulf War broke out in 91, and since then, Iraq has been sanctioned by the Western world.

At the end of 91, the Soviet Union collapsed, and the United States became the sole superpower on Earth, even using the dollar to continuously plunder the entire world.

Knowing what would happen in the decades to come, Xie Wei naturally wouldn't train people or provide weapons to Iraq while they were under sanctions, even if the contract was signed now and the delivery was delayed for several years.

The United States is not one to reason with people, and the key point is that its military strength is the toughest for the next few decades.

"General, international gold prices have been on a downward trend for the past few years... I think you should be aware of this."

"Thanks, could you go up a bit higher? We need a lot of equipment. Air defense missile systems, long-range rocket artillery, WZ-122G Dragon tanks..."

Dragon-type tank?

Xie Wei and the others looked at Yizak with puzzled expressions.

"Uh, the WZ-122G tank, doesn't sound imposing. Isn't your totem the dragon? That's why our president named this tank, which will become the main battle tank of the Republican Guard, the Dragon Main Battle Tank."

Abdullah explained.

Can you do this?

Xie Wei stared at the other person speechlessly.

How many tanks does your company need?

Xie Wei did not rush to discuss the price of gold.

The thought of gold prices falling in the next few years made him feel uneasy, so he naturally wanted to make up for it by increasing the price of equipment.

Suppressing gold prices?
It's unlikely. This thing is no different from cash, and it even holds its value better than cash.

"600 tanks! The previous price is definitely not enough. Moreover, as the investor in the tank development, we require you to transfer production technology. We don't require complete domestic production, but at least we need to have assembly capabilities and the ability to produce non-core components."

"Itzak said seriously."

Xie Wei instantly understood why Tikrit, the Minister of Military Industry, had proposed the cooperation of sending students abroad from the very beginning.

We learned it from Pakistan!
It requires not only manufacturing and maintenance capabilities, but also design and research and development capabilities.

Xie Wei quickly calculated in his mind that it would only take three years until Saddam Hussein's army invaded Kuwait in August 1990.

This means that even if preparations for expanding tank production capacity are completed within six months, there will only be two and a half to 30 months left.

"A production capacity of 20 vehicles per month is theoretically not a problem."

Xie Wei pondered for a moment and made a plan.

"Gentlemen, I personally think there's no problem with transferring production technology and helping to build assembly plants... We can send technical personnel to your country to help train skilled workers and build factories..."

Xie Wei looked at the other person with a sincere expression.

Later, the tone shifted: "If we're going to train international students like this, I don't think it's appropriate..."

Abdullah and Yitzhak exchanged a glance, both looking at Xie Wei with puzzlement.

Abdullah, in particular, confronted Xie Wei with a dark expression: "Don't you have such a cooperation agreement with Pakistan? Why can they do it, but we can't? According to our understanding, Pakistan hasn't placed any orders for another tank yet."

These words embarrassed Liu Debao, Ge Jianjun, and the others.

That's the truth!

There's no way to refute it.

Left with no other choice, he could only look to Xie Wei.

Let's see how Xie Wei tries to fool the other party; they believe that cooperation is possible with international students.

"General, it's not that we're favoring one side over the other. To date, only a very small number of Pakistani students have reached our graduation level... and this year, we will be terminating our student training program with Pakistan!"

Xie Wei said calmly.

The cooperation with Pakistan on talent development was halted because Pakistan had stopped placing tank orders and Pakistani students were demanding increasingly higher salaries. Xie Wei directly instructed Zhang Mingqiu and Liu Debao to submit a report to the higher authorities to terminate the talent development cooperation and also notified Pakistan.

In addition to the espionage case that occurred at the school last semester, even though it had nothing to do with Pakistani students, the higher-ups still believed that Harbin Institute of Technology was not suitable for recruiting international students—it was too much of a military research project.

As for the relationship between Pakistan and the United States, who knows if the CIA sent spies to schools through international students?
Starting this September, the school will no longer accept international students from Pakistan.

"Our international students are different from theirs!"

On the other side, Tikrit looked at Zhang Mingqiu and the others with a serious expression.

“Your Excellency, it’s not a matter of whether they are the same or not. If your country can persuade our Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we can still reach an agreement on cooperation in this regard.”

Zhang Mingqiu simply shifted the blame.

Anyway, Harbin Institute of Technology is a subordinate unit of the Ministry of Aerospace Industry.

Zhang Mingqiu did not understand why Xie Wei opposed this cooperation, even though Iraq was willing to pay a higher price for international students than Pakistan.

His only concern was that Shevy was worried the CIA might use this cooperation channel to send in spies.

It is very difficult for foreigners to spy in China and obtain classified information.

But what if foreigners drag some technical project leaders down with them?

Have to prevent!

Seeing the resolute look on Zhang Mingqiu's face, Tikrit took a deep breath. "You mean, talking to you is pointless?"

“Yes, Your Excellency Minister. You can submit your request to the relevant departments, and we will also apply to our superiors…”

Zhang Mingqiu looked serious.

As a result, the negotiations between the two sides regarding talent development could not proceed.

On the other hand, Xie Wei remained resolute after his explanation. Knowing Xie Wei's character, Yitzhak and Abdullah did not dwell on the matter.

Moreover, Xie Wei offered to send technicians to Iraq to help them build factories, train technicians, and even provide various production equipment.

"Five long-range rocket artillery battalions with a range of 300 kilometers, and five air defense missile battalions? Do they have enough money?"

That afternoon, several core school leaders sat together, and Zhang Mingqiu and others widened their eyes upon hearing the purchase amount from Iraq.

"Are they not planning to stay? Iraq's military has expanded several times over, hasn't it?"

Luo Yang was utterly shocked.

Five air defense missile battalions mean a total of five Counterattack-2 systems and ten Counterattack-1 systems are needed.

According to Xie Wei's quote, the Counterattack-2 air defense missile system alone would cost $22.5 billion, while the Counterattack-1 would cost $12 billion.

Each YH-300 long-range artillery battalion with a range of 300 kilometers costs $9600 million, for a total price of $4.8 million.

How can Iraq, which has been fighting Persia for almost seven years, afford to spend more than $50 billion on arms purchases?
Whether they pass or not is none of our business. Xie Wei, do you think there's something wrong with this?

Zhang Mingqiu looked at Xie Wei.

“Principal Zhang, the Iraqis are demanding that the delivery be completed within two years.”

Ge Jianjun said with a bitter face, "Even if we start expanding production now, it is basically impossible to complete such a large-scale delivery within two years."

The Iraqis' eagerness even exceeded Sheve's expectations. He was somewhat unsure whether Saddam Hussein already had the intention to attack Kuwait.

"We have to secure such a large sum of foreign exchange, even if it costs us our lives! It's not just about the amount of foreign exchange; it's about the future development of the school!"

Zhang Mingqiu was even more confused.

If we can find a way, we should be able to complete the delivery.

“这意味着，我们需要在6个月时间内完成扩产准备工作，18个月内生产600辆坦克、30套反击二号、60套反击一号、90套YH-300远程火箭炮以及数量更多的防空导弹、火箭弹……”

Xie Wei looked bitter.

If we wait another thirty years, this amount of orders won't even be enough to fill the gaps in the domestic production system.

But the problem is, it's 87 now!
Even in core military factories, production equipment is outdated, with very few efficient production equipment such as CNC machine tools.

To complete production, too many additional production equipment and production lines are needed.

Adding production equipment and production lines means needing more managers, experienced technicians, and so on.

"This……"

Zhang Mingqiu never expected things to turn out this way.

"If we didn't have orders from major clients, perhaps we could still try our best... The orders from these major clients have already tripled our production capacity... Once production is complete, the production lines will basically be idle..."

Liu Debao sighed.

"Are we just going to give up like this? If the higher-ups find out, they'll be heartbroken."

More than $50 billion!

Zhang Mingqiu looked at Xie Wei and asked, "We're not so arrogant as to give up hundreds of billions of dollars in funding, are we?"

Northern Building.

Tikrit sat down with Abdullah and the others again.

"I think a two-year delivery period is unlikely... These are the most advanced weapons and equipment, which China has just developed, and production capacity is not high..."

Yitzhak was very worried that the cooperation would not be achieved.

But he also knew that the president needed it urgently, as it concerned a series of plans for Iraq's future.

"If we were to purchase from the Soviet Union, it wouldn't be a problem to wait even a year, let alone two."

Tikrit frowned. "Could they be using this as an excuse to raise prices?"

"possible!"

Abdullah said, "We haven't discussed the price yet. They've just made an offer..."

"It's not that bad."

Yitzhak quickly stated that Shewe was not that kind of person.

"Yitzhak, you must understand that between nations, there are only eternal interests, not eternal friendships! This applies to every country! China doesn't impose any conditions because they simply don't possess the world's most advanced weaponry; they can't even buy it themselves..."

Tikrit reminded Yitzhak.

Because of his past relationship with Shewe, and the fact that he became a general in charge of the Republican Guard's most elite troops at a young age, Yitzhak was often influenced by his own subjective views.

"The price must be negotiated. Furthermore, the delivery date must be guaranteed! His Majesty has stipulated that next year, the Republican Guard will be expanded from the current 7 brigades to 6 divisions, totaling 28 brigades!"

Seeing that Yitzhak remained silent, Tikrit's face turned serious.

This is a troop expansion plan that President Saddam Hussein has clearly proposed to his confidants. The main reason is not only that the Chinese defense forces performed extremely poorly in the war with the Persians, but also that after being blocked from entering Persian territory at the beginning, they were driven back by the Persian army. The Persians even invaded Iraqi territory!

The earliest Republican Guards all came from Tikrit.

The people from Tikrit were unwaveringly loyal to Saddam Hussein, but their military skills were utterly incompetent.

As a result, the Republican Guard, which went to the battlefield at the beginning, was also defeated and suffered heavy losses.

Itzhak's Tikrit youth officer corps suffered heavy losses in its first battle for this very reason.

Later, Yitzhak thought about what Xie Wei had said during their conversation: to select the most experienced officers and soldiers from the entire army, equip them with the most advanced weapons and equipment, and form the most elite troops.

Therefore, the selection of officers and soldiers for the Tikrit Youth Officer Corps was no longer limited to Tikrit, but was instead led by officers from Tikrit with rich combat experience...

In the "Dawn-8" offensive launched by Persia with more than 9 troops at the beginning of last year, Iraq lost the Faw Peninsula. In the entire campaign, only the Tikrit Youth Officers Group achieved the most outstanding results.

This is why the Tikrit Youth Officers Corps was upgraded to the Tikrit Mixed Brigade.

It was then that Saddam Hussein truly witnessed the combat power of advanced weaponry from China.

This led to the large-scale weapons and equipment procurement plan.

Tikrit, Abdullah, and Yitzhak were all Saddam Hussein's confidants, and they all knew the details.

"Your Excellency Minister, would you mind having a private conversation with Xie Wei?"

Yitzhak spoke.

That evening, Yitzhak invited Xie Wei to dinner at the Northern Mansion, ostensibly to discuss "compensation" for Feng Ke.

According to Iraqi officials, Feng Ke is dead.

Xie Wei introduced Feng Ke to Yitzhak. Feng Ke made significant contributions to Iraq's defense development, but...

While Xie Wei was talking to Yitzhak, Li Rui once again barged into Long Yaohua's office.

"Orders exceeding $50 billion?"

Upon hearing this, Long Yaohua's eyebrows twitched repeatedly, and he felt as if his heart could hardly bear it.

Seeing Li Rui nod, Long Yaohua frowned and asked, "Since the deal is done, let's sign the contract and get it done! It's $50 billion! Although we've achieved great results in this area this year, it's not to the point where we can give up $50 billion in foreign exchange!"

"Payment is made in gold and crude oil!"

Li Rui reminded Long Yaohua.

This is not a foreign exchange payment at all.

"That shouldn't be a problem, right? Their products often have a profit margin of ten times! Although Xie Wei said that the R&D costs are very high, only they themselves know the R&D costs... We need these orders to upgrade the production capacity of our core military industrial units."

He didn't quite understand why Li Rui was looking for him.

There's absolutely no need to hesitate.

The country has already begun a massive reduction of one million troops, and military spending will be further cut.

Under such circumstances, the production capacity of the military factory can be easily imagined.

"Boss, Iraq is in a hurry. They require all deliveries to be completed within two years."

"So urgent?"

Long Yaohua immediately understood why Li Rui had come to find him.

“Yes. Xie Wei had previously suggested that payment in gold would be acceptable, as gold is more valuable than foreign exchange… Moreover, the university’s research on electronic products is consuming more and more gold… Currently, orders from major clients have not yet been delivered… This means that, in addition to tanks, the production capacity of air defense missile systems and long-range rocket artillery must be increased several times over…”

Li Rui's words silenced Long Yaohua as well.

(End of this chapter)