Hong Kong Island: From a small stall to a global supplier

After spending 200 million yuan on this patrol boat last time, Wang Yaotang has once again spent 100 million yuan. Research is really expensive, and this is only after he confirmed that Wen Chong has been saving money.

In theory, these studies should be kept secret!

However, since he was the big donor, right? At least some respect was due, so Wang Yaotang went to the research and development area.

Master Liu and Master Li were waiting at the entrance. After exchanging pleasantries, they led Wang Yaotang and the shipyard straight to the dock.

"We tried out the suggestion Wang Sheng made earlier, and the results were..." Master Liu sighed slightly.

"What? Unable to improve shooting accuracy?" Wang Yaotang frowned.

"It's improved, quite a bit, but not as good as I imagined." Master Liu said in a deep voice, "We tested it before. In sea state 3, which is 3.4-5.4, with wave height of about 1.25-2.0 meters, the result of testing with a thousand bullets was that the bullet dispersion radius was 20 meters at a shooting distance of 100 meters."

"Wait, 20 meters? How long is a boat anyway?" Wang Yaotang complained. "And now?"

"Currently, the radius of the distribution area within 100 meters is about 5 meters."

"It's a huge improvement." Wang Yaotang laughed. "Except for being almost useless, it's great. After all, the AK47's 100-meter walking radius in the 100-meter test is about 10 centimeters, so 50 times is excellent!"

"At least aiming at the waterline will allow you to hit the ship."

Liu and Li were speechless. "His was a completely fixed target, testing the dispersion of the gun itself. Our simulation of actual combat is completely different."

Factory Director Zhao explained, "Our factory's main focus is shipbuilding. We don't have any expertise in weapons, and we don't have enough personnel."

"Just kidding, you've made great progress, I know that," Wang Yaotang said with a smile. "Let's go see the actual situation."

As they spoke, the group arrived at the dock. Wang Yaotang saw that the fixed support on the top of his speedboat had changed drastically. It had been transformed from a crude 'A'-shaped gunstock into a triangular one, with a round support about the thickness of a forearm on top.

A middle-aged man with a receding hairline stood there waiting. Director Zhao introduced him, saying, "This is Engineer Qiu. He studies stability."

"Hello, Engineer Qiu." Wang Yaotang shook hands with the other party.

"Hello, Mr. Wang." Engineer Qiu was a little nervous, as the largest source of funding for the entire project was this young man in front of him.

Before this, they mostly studied the blueprints; building and testing were out of the question because they didn't have the money!

The main concern is that even if they are produced, it is uncertain whether they can compete with other major shipyards. Even if they break through the competition and gain the navy's approval, it is still unknown whether the navy will have the funds to purchase them, or how many they can purchase.

Given the dire situation, it was simply impossible for the factory to allocate funds for their research and development.

Of course, as China's first Western-style shipyard established by the British in 1845, and once an important military shipbuilding base in South China, it has developed strong scientific research capabilities over the years, but mainly lacks funding.

"Let me introduce it. This can no longer be considered a simple support structure; it should be considered a small platform. We used four sets of hydraulic dampers to absorb heave energy, which can reduce the heave amplitude from 1.2 meters to 0.4 meters. The better the sea conditions, the lower the heave amplitude. After testing, at a speed of 15 knots and in sea state 2, the heave amplitude can be reduced to as low as 10 centimeters."

"Without machine gunners or manual operation, the dispersion area within 100 meters can be controlled within a radius of 1 meter. If the machine gunner operates well, this dispersion radius can be even lower."

"Huh!" Wang Yaotang looked at the factory manager and the others with great surprise. "This is already quite useful for dealing with ordinary fishing boats or cargo ships. Why didn't you mention that earlier?"

Factory Director Zhao's expression stiffened, and he pulled Wang Yaotang aside, saying in a low, impatient voice, "What do you mean by dealing with ordinary fishing boats and cargo ships!"

"Cough cough cough..." Wang Yaotang subconsciously covered his mouth. Oh no, he'd been exposed!
“Let me tell you something… well.” Wang Yaotang’s face turned serious. “My company is going to take on some maritime security missions, mainly to deal with pirates. You know what pirates are, right? Their main mode of transportation is fishing boats, yes, and cargo ships. These ships travel at around 15 knots.”

Factory Director Zhao squinted at Wang Yaotang.

"I never even considered doing anything else!" Wang Yaotang shouted. "I swear!"

Factory Director Zhao hurriedly took a few steps back.

"What do you mean?" Wang Yaotang asked, speechless.

"I'm afraid of being struck by lightning."

"You don't believe me?" Wang Yaotang asked, looking aggrieved.

"I believe you, I believe you," Director Zhao said dismissively. "Our hypothetical enemy is other surface speedboats, and we will engage them at high speed."

“Yes, yes, yes.” Wang Yaotang grinned and nodded.

The scene became somewhat awkward, and no one spoke.

Wang Yaotang coughed lightly again, "What about the hull? Have there been any improvements to the hull?"

"Yes, for example, we could add a gyro stabilizer, but the cost is too high, and this type of boat is too small to install. However, we did redesign the hull shape to increase its resistance to wind and waves and its stability at the same speed," said Master Liu.

"Then we can build it bigger. A bigger one can also increase the weapons and equipment. We can replace the machine guns with machine guns and expand the patrol range."

"Replacing it with a machine gun is useless; the firepower overflow is too severe, and the ammunition capacity will be reduced significantly," Master Li said. "This kind of small patrol boat can only engage unarmored or lightly armored targets. If it encounters a small missile boat or assault boat, the 25mm naval gun can easily shred it into pieces."

“Your idea is wrong!” Wang Yaotang waved his hand.

"Huh? What's the problem?" Director Zhao and the others looked over; this was a consensus among everyone in their factory.

“This is a big problem. You’re looking at this from the military’s perspective, which is why you got this result. But you haven’t considered what situation the client is facing or whether they have other needs,” Wang Yaotang said in a deep voice.

"Our customer is the Navy!" Director Zhao emphasized.

"Am I not a customer?" Wang Yaotang's eyes widened. "You, you are not qualified to purchase military equipment domestically, especially military vessels like these," Factory Director Zhao said softly.

"The problem is, I'm the one who made the purchase!" Wang Yaotang shrugged.

“That was procured by your company on behalf of the Republic of Somalia,” Factory Director Zhao emphasized. “But this one is unarmed; this platform is for installing… installing…”

He couldn't continue making up the story.

"Install marine exploration equipment, meteorological exploration equipment, and communication equipment," Master Liu said, his eyes darting around.

"Ah, right!" Factory Director Zhao slapped his thigh.

Wang Yaotang was speechless. "It's none of your business how I use it. Whether it's for fighting sharks or not, it's civilian procurement anyway."

Factory Director Zhao said with a smile, "I definitely want to sell it to you, after all, you donated money for the research, but this is not a decision I can make, you understand?"

"You could say it's fine if you're concerned about personal safety with these speedboats, but the larger ones would not be permitted by the Hong Kong British government. They would protest. You are a Hong Kong resident, and once it's classified as military equipment, only the higher-ups can decide whether it can be sold abroad. And I can assure you that the higher-ups wouldn't take on any potential international condemnation for the sake of just one or two boats."

“My nationality has become an obstacle to my development!” Wang Yaotang scoffed. “Just a few days ago, some high-ranking officers in the police department even advised me, a native of this colony, to change to British nationality.”

"You agreed?" Factory Director Zhao frowned.

"I refused."

"Phew, you scared me."

“But if this keeps up, I’m thinking of just changing to American citizenship. Damn it, then there will be no restrictions, and all that’s left are benefits!” Wang Yaotang cursed under his breath.

Uh... it's not appropriate for Director Zhao to comment on this.

However, if it's an American company making the purchase, then it's really negotiable. In 82, exporting military weapons to an American company was considered an 'honor'.

Wang Yaotang waved his hand and said with a smile, "Forget it, let's not talk about that. It shouldn't be a big problem. I just bribed the higher-ups in the Royal Police Force, and I should be able to get the right to carry guns later, and the armed speedboat thing shouldn't be blocked either."

"Bribery..." Director Zhao opened his mouth, but no, could this be said so openly?
The right to bear arms?
Just kidding!

"You mean this is the armored vehicle you mentioned before?" Director Zhao asked, realizing what was happening.

“Hmm.” Wang Yaotang nodded. “Since the three engineers are here as well, I’ll let you know. I’ve had two Ford vans delivered over…”

The group left the shipyard and arrived at the parking lot at the factory gate. Wang Yaotang pointed to two vehicles and said, "Considering issues such as load capacity, I suggest dividing this vehicle into three parts: the driver's area, the safe, and the personnel escort area. These three areas are separated from each other. The side door will be removed and replaced with a rear door. The vehicle will be completely enclosed. First, there will be the personnel escort area, and then the safe door will be inside."

"Add a 5mm homogeneous steel plate to the driver's side door for bulletproof protection; it only needs to be able to withstand 9mm of bullets."

"The safe in the middle of the carriage was made of 3mm steel plate and supported by angle iron. Money can withstand a few bullets, so it's good enough to stop robbers from stealing it."

"Two people can sit facing each other in the rear escort area. One-meter-high, 5-millimeter-thick bulletproof steel plates are installed on both sides to withstand 7.62mm intermediate bullets. Two firing ports are opened in the upper part. The lower part of the split rear doors is also made of 5mm bulletproof steel plates with firing ports on the top."

"This way, less bulletproof steel plates are needed, which can save on modification costs. If a robber is encountered, the security personnel inside the carriage can use the firing ports to intercept the robber."

After speaking, Wang Yaotang looked at the three engineers and asked, "So, what do you think? Can it be modified?"

"There's definitely no technical problem. It's all handcrafted and welded, so it just requires skilled workers. Our shipyard has a lot of senior workers..." Master Liu said with a smile.

"Old Liu!" Factory Director Zhao waved to stop Old Liu, who was about to speak again. "The factory doesn't lack skilled technicians, but it also has production quotas. Modifying this is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it will require..."

“Alright, Director Zhao.” Wang Yaotang said with a wry smile, “It’s just money, how could your factory suffer a loss? Just tell me the price.”

Factory Director Zhao looked at Master Liu.

"The bulletproof steel plate weighs more than 300 kilograms."

The material cost is over 8000, and with labor costs, it will definitely be less than 10000. Factory Director Zhao did the mental calculation, coughed lightly, and held up two fingers.

"20?" Wang Yaotang looked surprised. "Isn't that a bit too expensive!"

"Pfft, cough cough cough..." Factory Director Zhao couldn't help but cough, and the others weren't much better off, looking at Wang Yaotang as if he were an idiot.

20 is enough to build a patrol boat, not counting the engine, of course.

"2!" Wang Yaotang realized that this was not America, but the mainland where everything was cheap.

Right now, Factory Director Zhao just wants to slap himself. This guy is a big tycoon! How could he ask for 2? Isn't that looking down on him?
“It’s 20,” Factory Director Zhao said stiffly. “Yes, Hong Kong dollars.”

Wang Yaotang raised an eyebrow. He was certain that the other party was not referring to Hong Kong dollars, but 2 Hong Kong dollars was only equivalent to RMB 7000, which was definitely not enough.

The official exchange rate is really terrible right now.

"$2 is the most. Don't go too far. That's more expensive than buying a new car."

"Alright then." Factory Director Zhao smacked his lips, then couldn't help but laugh.

I've earned more US dollars! (End of Chapter)