In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 436 Lots of gold, but the Y-8's transport capacity is too poor? Then let's fly it one more time!
"It takes the entire battalion to be deployed to achieve its full potential... That's not flexible enough on the battlefield!"

Xie Wei seemed oblivious to everyone's reactions and continued speaking to himself.

"..."

Everyone remained silent as they looked at Xie Wei.

The long-range rocket artillery they developed meets the design specifications in terms of both power and accuracy, and has been successfully developed.

As a result, Xie Wei's words revealed that there were many areas that needed improvement.

What else can I say?

Just honestly make improvements.

"Well, Xie Wei, improving in these directions is fine, but what about funding and supporting infrastructure..."

Fang Pengju looked at Xie Wei, his voice full of bitterness.

He knew that getting things roughly done didn't mean he was successful.

However, improvements in other areas would require a significant amount of human and material resources.

"Don't worry about funding. The university will allocate 3 million yuan in special funds for the long-distance rocket project. As for personnel, many organizations will come to us to help us with supporting tasks in a while... As for who to cooperate with and what to cooperate on, that's up to your team."

Three hundred million!

Special funds!

This means that once sufficient funding is available for long-range rocket artillery, various technologies that are not currently considered advanced can be further improved.

Xie Wei is gone.

The discussion room remained silent.

"Director, what do you think?"

Feng Ke was the first to break the silence.

"Just do as Xie Wei said. You form your own team to add a simple guidance system to the missile, and the original team continues to improve it... If you don't have enough manpower, just set up the framework first."

Disagreement?

nonexistent.

The disagreements were all due to insufficient funding and manpower.
With money and manpower available, the disagreements simply disappeared.

As for whether Xie Wei's words are credible or not, no one doubts them at all; at least, those familiar with Xie Wei have no doubts whatsoever.

"Have you spoken with all the research teams these past few days?"

Liu Debao and Zhang Mingqiu had just returned when they heard a report that Xie Wei had been running around with various project teams for the past few days, making promises everywhere.

"Yes, since we're going to have a large-scale collaboration, we naturally need to make sure all the teams are prepared... We can't just work with whoever comes to us, can we? The budget is limited."

Xie Wei raised an eyebrow, not seeing any problem at all.

"I heard that the funding you promised has already exceeded 40 billion?"

Zhang Mingqiu's lips twitched as he suppressed his anger and asked Xie Wei.

"To be precise, it's 44 billion."

Xie Wei didn't deny it at all.

"..."

Xie Wei's honesty rendered Zhang Mingqiu's prepared explanation useless, and Zhang Mingqiu's face turned red with embarrassment.

"Sigh. Xie Wei, regarding your plan to use 80 tons of gold to create the school emblem, the ministry has stated that it doesn't object in principle; the military says the school isn't under their jurisdiction and it's none of their business..."

Seeing that Zhang Mingqiu was feeling uncomfortable because of Xie Wei, Liu Debao decisively changed the subject.

"Oh?"

Xie Wei was taken aback. No wonder the two of them sought him out for a private talk as soon as they returned.

"Do you think we should reconsider this matter?"

Liu Debao was surprised that Xie Wei showed no emotional fluctuation whatsoever.

Could it be that this kid anticipated this attitude from the very beginning?

"They only want results, they don't want to take any responsibility!"

Xie Wei curled his lip, a look of disdain on his face.

"You have the nerve to say that! As of now, we and a few higher-level leaders are the only ones who know about it. If this gets out, those people carrying their bedding and demanding projects and funding at the leaders' offices will probably block our school!"

Liu Debao looked at Xie Wei with annoyance.

He cursed Xie Wei the whole way.

He even planned out how he would curse Xie Wei to vent his anger.

But when he saw Xie Wei, the curses he had prepared wouldn't come out: he was a leader, a leader with manners, and he couldn't curse.

"So what if there's a traffic jam? What does it have to do with us if they want to sleep on the streets? If they want to stay in a guesthouse, they have to pay! They have to pay for their meals too!"

Xie Wei raised an eyebrow, not taking it seriously at all. "In fact, the Harbin municipal government should thank us for promoting consumption and economic development in Harbin."

"..."

The two exchanged a silent glance.

Xie Wei's shamelessness is unmatched by any other.

"Is there really no turning back now? Don't flaunt your wealth..."

"If you want the school to develop faster, then don't even think about this issue. It's two different things for us to come to them and for them to come to us begging for cooperation."

Xie Wei said calmly.

“If you don’t want us to have a good retirement, just say so. There’s no need for this.”

The two men gritted their teeth and stared at Xie Wei.

"No, not really."

Xie Wei shook his head, "It's not as serious as you think. The areas of cooperation are all related to supporting components and specific technologies. Even units within our own system know our stance; we can't force them to do anything unless they go to their superiors..."

"What if that batch of gold doesn't arrive?"

Liu Debao asked Xie Wei what he was most worried about: "We don't have any large-tonnage ocean-going warships to escort us, and neither does Iraq... If they get the news, neither the Soviet Navy nor the US Navy would probably mind playing the role of pirates."

"Air transport won't work either. We don't have large transport aircraft; the Y-8 can only carry a maximum of 20 tons at a time. Even more critical is how to arrange flight routes. As for Pakistan, we just stopped accepting international students..."

Zhang Mingqiu sighed silently and raised his question.

Iraq sent 280 tons of gold?
If the news leaks out, this will be a real problem; out of 280 tons of gold, probably not even a single gram will reach China.

"So, what are you worried about? Principal Li isn't with you?"

Xie Wei grinned.

The two were stunned.

Did this kid plan this all along?

The question is, what safe way can it be transported back?
Li Rui did indeed come to Harbin with the two of them.

Xie Wei met with Li Rui alone at the guesthouse and they talked for several hours. Only the two of them know what they talked about.

The next morning, Li Rui left in a hurry.

As a result, Li Rui returned to Harbin just two days later, but this time he brought several people from Iraq with him.

"We'll handle the transport of the gold ourselves? No problem, but there will be additional shipping costs."

Xie Wei said calmly.

"no problem!"

Tikrit was very curious about how Xie Wei planned to transport such a large amount of gold back to China.

"Use warships? Your warships are not capable of long-distance ocean voyages."

Abdullah looked worried.

Xie Wei disagreed with the idea that once the gold was delivered in Iraq, it would be no longer their concern.

"Since you know that our warships are not capable of long-distance ocean voyages, this is naturally impossible... Moreover, it does not conform to our national defense strategy... If we send warships to your country while it is at war with the Persians, the consequences would be..."

Xie Wei raised an eyebrow. Were these two idiots?
The navy is not without warships suitable for long-distance ocean voyages. Although the Type 051 steam-powered destroyer has a small displacement, its range of over 3000 nautical miles is sufficient to sail from China to the Persian Gulf when cruising at low speeds.

But that's impossible.

Even with the Taicang-class replenishment ships, which entered service in 81, and could circumnavigate the globe in conjunction with destroyers, it's still impossible. Why would a nation pursuing a strategic defense policy, aiming only to make small profits, suddenly send two warships to the already sensitive Persian Gulf?

Xie Wei hadn't even considered it.

"Using a nuclear submarine?"

Abdullah became excited.

China's nuclear submarines are shrouded in mystery!
Xie Wei rolled his eyes speechlessly; this guy was dreaming.

How could a national strategic trump card be used to transport gold?

"Gentlemen, please prepare the gold. We will handle the transportation ourselves. Also, we hope you will maintain confidentiality..."

Xie Wei remained mysterious, revealing absolutely nothing about his plan.

"We hope to deliver all 280 tons of gold at once."

Upon hearing this, Li Rui immediately became anxious.

Xie Wei's plan was explained to him, but he hadn't mentioned this much beforehand, thinking it would only be a little over 100 tons.

Before Li Rui could speak, Xie Wei preemptively answered:
"no problem."

"Are you crazy? That's 280 tons of gold! To bring it back in one go, you'd need at least 14 Y-8 transport aircraft, and the Air Force only has 17 so far! And you still have to bring people back..."

After they got off, Li Rui pulled Xie Wei aside and questioned him with a dark face about what he was thinking.

Xie Wei had previously proposed leasing Y-8 transport aircraft, which the Air Force typically keeps stationed at airports most of the time. His reason was to evacuate the logistics personnel who had provided technical guidance from Iraq.

To transport people, the Y-8 can only carry a maximum of about 15 tons of gold at a time.

Keep going in Pakistan.

In this way, just eight Y-8 transport aircraft can bring back more than 100 tons of gold.

280 tons. According to Xie Wei's previous plan, at least 19 aircraft would be needed!
All of the Air Force's Y-8 transport aircraft are not enough to go around!
"Leaving aside whether there are enough planes, just the sheer scale of this transport plane deployment... do you think the Persians will believe your story?"

Li Rui's face was extremely gloomy.

Xie Wei oversimplified the matter.

"They won't believe it, nor do they need to believe it. Because it's in their interest to withdraw our logistics personnel. Besides, aren't they planning to purchase a batch of J-7 fighter jets and also inquiring about tactical missiles?"

Xie Wei said calmly.

It's not that he didn't consider it.

In the absence of large military transport aircraft, the Y-8 is the only option.

"Actually, using the civil aviation TU-154 would be the most suitable, but unfortunately, this thing carries too many people and its cargo capacity is not very good."

Xie Wei did not refuse to rent a plane.

Renting a plane can really be easy for news to leak out.

The shortest route from China to Iraq is through the Graveyard of Empires, then through Persia, and into Iraq.

The Soviet army is still in the graveyard of empires.

If the Soviet Union had collapsed, we could have simply rented two An-124s from the Russians and transported them back in one go.

Don't even think about it now.

"Our reason is to evacuate personnel. What do you think would happen if we were accused of transporting weapons and equipment to the other side? Could we afford to suffer such losses if we were detained?"

Li Rui asked Xie Wei with a dark expression.

"How about you send me six Tu-154s?"

Xie Wei's expression remained unchanged in the face of Li Rui's questioning.

Li Rui was stunned.

He immediately flew into a rage, "Kid, are you even human? You were after those six Tu-154s from the very beginning, weren't you? You son of a bitch, you're not even human!"

Li Rui was completely broken down at this moment.

He didn't expect that Xie Wei had been playing tricks on him from the very beginning.

With the continuous economic growth following the reform and opening up, in order to fill the gap in the civil aviation market, the civil aviation industry imported 30 Tu-154 civil airliners from the Soviet Union.

In July 1985, the first batch of six aircraft was delivered by the Soviet Union.

To date, these six Tu-154s have been put into operation in the civil aviation market.

It's not that Xie Wei didn't want to.

There is already a large shortage of domestic civil aviation passenger aircraft, and the withdrawal of Tu-154s will have a significant impact on civil aviation passenger aircraft.

"The same old rule applies: $100 million per flight."

"No need for the Tu-154, I'll coordinate a Y-8 for you!"

Li Rui gritted his teeth and stared at Xie Wei, trying his best to suppress the urge to beat him up.

I kept telling myself: I chose this person, I personally chose him, I can't hit him, I can't hit him...

"Are you serious?"

Xie Wei asked, "The transport capacity of the Y-8 is similar to that of the Tu-154. Although we later improved the airtight compartment structure, the first dozen or so aircraft all had non-airtight compartment structures, with only the escort compartment able to carry a small number of people..."

"you……"

Li Rui gritted his teeth and looked at Xie Wei.

At this moment, he realized that he didn't know Xie Wei's true thoughts.

"Actually, as I said from the beginning, this is an opportunity for both the Y-8 and the transport troops to accumulate experience... Before this, the troops had not carried out large-scale airlift missions. In addition, it can also be considered as publicity. There are quite a few countries around the world that need transport aircraft like the Y-8."

"The question is, how can security be guaranteed?"

Li Rui gritted his teeth and asked Xie Wei.

This is 280 tons of gold!
"That's your problem. If we don't have the Y-8, I can find another way."

"what way?"

Li Rui asked eagerly.

"Lease a commercial airliner from the international market; it shouldn't cost more than $100 million per trip..."

"you……"

Li Rui gritted his teeth and looked at Xie Wei, "How can we keep this a secret?"

“It looks like a lot, but a ton of gold is only about the size of a regular suitcase. Of course, we can't just carry the whole block of gold up like that… The Y-8 cargo hold is 13.5 meters long and 3 to 3.5 meters wide. Even at 3 meters wide, the cargo hold area is 40.5 square meters. 15 tons of gold would only have a volume of 0.7785 cubic meters… This means that we only need to lay a layer less than 2 centimeters thick under the cargo deck…”

"..."

really!

Xie Wei had his eye on the Y-8 from the very beginning.

Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to just blurt out such data.

"It's impossible to send them all out."

"We don't plan to send them all out. Sending 12 at a time will suffice... On one hand, our transport planes need large-scale long-range training, and on the other hand, we have quite a few logistics and technical personnel in Iraq... As for not using civilian airliners? Leasing them from abroad would require foreign exchange, which is our most valuable asset... As for mobilizing domestic civilian airliners? We already have a shortage domestically..."

Xie Wei had already come up with a reason.

If there are fewer planes, just fly one more time.

It's perfectly fine to lease transport planes from the Air Force that don't get enough funding for regular training.

"You really don't have any other ideas? You're not planning to ship anything from China over there?"

Li Rui didn't believe Xie Wei could be so honest.

"If the Persians are willing to buy M7 tactical missiles, that would be best; we could just ship the missiles over directly..."

Xie Wei said calmly.

If the Y-8 transports M7 ballistic missiles to Persia, unloads them, flies to Iraq, loads gold and evacuated personnel from Iraq, and then returns, it wouldn't be a problem.

How did you persuade Pakistan?

"Super-7 fighter jet project!"

Xie Wei's words made Li Rui's gaze towards him complicated once again.

Damn it!
(End of this chapter)