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

Old Tang wasn't sure if what Wang Yaotang said was right or wrong, but he understood one thing: as long as Wang Yaotang was willing to purchase the Y-5 transport aircraft, they could produce it, the factory would make money, and they wouldn't be unable to pay wages or benefits.

As for how the business actually works, he really didn't understand it; he was just a deputy factory director with a technical background.

Let alone him, even a factory director with an administrative background doesn't really understand market economics.

Then there's nothing more to say. Whatever Wang Yaotang wants to purchase, he'll produce that kind. The Y-5 has been in production for 20 years; they're already extremely skilled at it.

After visiting the factory, Tang Jun introduced Zhou Xianjun, a technician from the bomb production team, to Wang Yaotang, wanting to see how this eccentric tycoon planned to go about his business.

Zhou Xianjun didn't actually want to come, and Wang Yaotang had never purchased aerial bombs from their factory. However, the two factories had been cooperating for many years. Now, the digital factory wasn't saying it would stop production, but its output was really insufficient.

It's been 88 years. The war between the two countries can't go on. On July 20, 1987, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 598, demanding an immediate ceasefire from both sides. On July 22, the UK was the first to accept it.

This spring, the Little Tyrant launched the "Ramadan Offensive" and reclaimed the territory occupied by the Persians. Coupled with long-term sanctions and a sharp decline in oil exports leading to the depletion of Persian foreign exchange reserves, anti-war sentiment surged within the country.

Seeing that a ceasefire was imminent, the two families who had been queuing up in Shijiazhuang to buy tanks also left.

The good days are over...

After exchanging pleasantries over tea, Wang Yaotang got straight to the point, "I'd like to learn about our aerial bomb technology. Do you currently have any related technologies for infrared guidance and glide-extended-range weathervane guidance?"

Tang Jun had asked Digital Factory about this before, so Zhou Xianjun replied very simply, "No, that's not the direction of our technological development."

After thinking for a moment, he felt he couldn't let this Hong Konger look down on him, so he asked, "Where did Comrade Yaotang hear about these two technologies?"

"The American 'Gemstone Road' and the Russian 'KAB-500L' glider systems—the German HS-293 from World War II possessed this technology." Wang Yaotang had specifically asked someone to find this information before his trip.

"The information I obtained came from a local spies in the Philippines who contacted a mid-level officer at Clark Air Base through a bar outside the base. I ordered two sample missiles for $30,000, which will be delivered in a few days."

"Huh!?" Tang Jun's eyes widened.

"Impossible!" Zhou Xianjun blurted out.

Wang Yaotang didn't say anything, just smiled faintly, "It's not that I want to show off, it's all because you forced me to!"
Tang Jun had a lot of contact with Wang Yaotang and knew a bit about his influence in Southeast Asia, but, "Comrade Yaotang, this, this, this is too easy?"

Wang Yaotang simply smiled and said, "Is it easy?"

“Only $3? That’s too much…” Tang Jun looked conflicted.

“The US system is different from ours; it’s not as perfect or powerful as you imagine,” Wang Yaotang said with a smile. “In 1982, a ‘Vietnam Veterans Peace Rally’ was held in front of the Washington Monument, where about 20 Vietnam War veterans protested against delayed compensation and insufficient psychological medical resources. Since then, there have been multiple marches and petitions by disabled veterans across the country every year. They demanded a simplified disability assessment process. Simply put, the Vietnam War compensation from 75 years ago has still not been fully paid.”

"Huh?" The two stared at each other, their faces filled with disbelief.

For a long time, their hometown had been promoting the strength of the US military to raise everyone's vigilance and maintain long-term combat readiness. Hearing this suddenly, both of them felt like their worldviews were collapsing.

The pension has been delayed for 10 years, to the point that veterans have staged a protest. This is outrageous!

Of course, Wang Yaotang didn't say how much the compensation was over there.

Even if I explained it to them, they wouldn't understand. A protest would be a huge deal back home, but it's just an everyday occurrence there. It's a completely different background and culture, so they can't comprehend it.

“The discipline of US troops stationed overseas is relatively poor. There are a lot of bars, nightclubs, and gambling dens around the military bases, and a large number of prostitutes provide services to US troops.” Wang Yaotang continued to reveal, “Angelis City, which is next to Clark Air Base, and Oronapau, where Subic Bay Naval Base is located, are known as ‘Angel Cities’. They are one of the two largest red-light districts in Southeast Asia. Magsaysay Avenue in Oronapau is the most famous nightclub street.”

“These nightclubs are jointly operated by retired U.S. military personnel, local Philippine government officials and gangsters, and Chinese gangsters. The Chinese mainly provide management, material procurement and disposal of stolen goods.”

"Although it's not something to be proud of, the largest underground force in Southeast Asia happens to be under my control. The technology on the Jewel Road is from 65. This kind of military equipment with little secrecy value is the main product for middle and lower-ranking officers to make money."

This... Tang Jun and Zhou Xianjun are starting to lose their composure.

"Alright, that's not the main point." Wang Yaotang waved his hand. "If we have a product, can we just copy it?"

Zhou Xianjun composed himself, took a deep breath, and said, "I know the principle, and there are no technical difficulties, but we can't imitate it. Take the laser guide head as an example. We can't produce high-end optical glass lenses, we can't produce four-quadrant photodiode arrays, we can't produce the driving servo electric shocks, and we even have to import the transparent plexiglass cover and light shield for the head."

"We can't produce ground-based lasers either; it's still a problem with high-end optical glass."

"Is it that production is insufficient or that the precision is inadequate?" Wang Yaotang frowned. Are the old Chinese really that backward now?
"It's mass-produced, but it's done manually, in a laboratory setting. There are significant issues with diode array current consistency and response speed matching. The coating technology is also inadequate, so it doesn't meet industrial production standards."

"Can we simplify the existing version, make a 'beggar's version'? Let's solve the problem of whether there are any issues first, and then think about whether it's good or not. We can't possibly do it all at once," Wang Yaotang asked again.

“This…” Zhou Xianjun frowned and then relaxed. “It can be done. The servo electric shock can be modified into a mechanical lever and spring mechanism, or a compressed air cylinder can be used as the power source. But the accuracy would be too poor. The circular error would exceed 50 meters, possibly even higher. The purpose of laser guidance is precision bombing, with an error not exceeding 10 meters.”

"Increasing the power of aerial bombs is more practical than achieving this level of precision."

"50 meters?" Wang Yaotang's eyes lit up; this was a huge surprise.

In the current situation, when dropping bombs at high altitude and high speed, the error will exceed 500 meters. When the Y-5 was used to bully the Burmese before, it was because the Y-5 dropped bombs at low speed and low altitude, which was able to control the error. But even with only a few manually operated anti-aircraft guns, the Y-5 would be a target if its speed was below 1000 meters.

Seeing Wang Yaotang's expression, Zhou Xianjun had no choice but to say again, "Mine is over 50 meters, it might even reach 100 meters!"

"That's great!" Wang Yaotang laughed. "It's not like we're going to bomb a warship or a tank. It's only a hundred meters away. Bombing a military camp wouldn't be a problem at all. We never even thought about bombing a single point."

For local armed groups like Peng and Luo, high-altitude bombing is a bargaining chip in their negotiations with the government; what they want is the capability, not precision-guided bombing.

That was used by the US to target and eliminate high-ranking enemy officials; the existence of such a thing is actually harmful to local armed forces.

Ah... Zhou Xianjun was momentarily bewildered, as this was completely contrary to his long-held beliefs.

Wang Yaotang didn't explain much, and then asked about gliding range extension and weather vane guidance.

Zhou Xianjun picked up the glass and took two big gulps before explaining that he had never encountered this technology before. He could roughly tell from the name that it worked on the principle that airflow propels the weather vane to keep it pointing at the target. The weather vane, through a linkage and a tail servo, drives the linkage to pull the tail fin to correct the flight trajectory.

As for the gliding Zengcheng, it involves adding folding wings to both sides of the middle section of the missile body. If the missile body is not particularly heavy, hardwood can be used. For a more high-end version, aluminum alloy can be used. Before release, the wing surfaces are folded and attached to the missile body. After release, the wings automatically unfold by springs to increase the gliding distance, which can increase the original free fall distance of 1.5-5 kilometers to 10-15 kilometers.

This greatly increases the safety issues of bombing aircraft.

It is a completely mechanical device that does not require any electronic components, but it requires a lot of experimentation to develop, and it is best to have a reference object.

So, San Dezi is amazing. His technology is still going to shine on the battlefield after all these years.

"I can't say for sure what the hit rate of this kind of aerial bomb will be, but the accuracy will definitely not be very high. It is highly dependent on the weather conditions on the battlefield, and the accuracy will hardly be within 100 meters. It is likely to be as high as 200 meters," Zhou Xianjun added at the end.

"Could we combine these two technologies to further increase accuracy while increasing range, ensuring aircraft safety, and extending strike distance?" Wang Yaotang asked somewhat uninformedly.

"Impossible!" Zhou Xianjun said instinctively. "Completely different technical approaches, how can the warhead and guidance head be installed on the warhead at the same time?"

"Oh." Wang Yaotang nodded. Although he wasn't entirely satisfied with the answer, it was acceptable. He had commissioned the Shanghai factory to build a bankrupt, beggar-style aircraft carrier and the Red Star Factory to develop creeping carrier-based bombers. Now, what he lacked was long-range precision strike capability. Bankruptcy didn't matter; as he'd said before, the priority was to solve the problem of having it at all.

Electronic technology will develop faster and faster in the future. The current technology is not up to standard and the accuracy is not enough, but it will not be a problem at all in the 90s. I dare not say that the accuracy will break through 10 meters, but it will be no problem to be accurate to within 50 meters!

After finishing their business, they naturally had dinner and drinks. This time, Tang Jun didn't ask the factory to treat them. On the one hand, Wang Yaotang was not short of money, and on the other hand, the factory's conditions were indeed not good enough for him.

Wang Yaotang didn't pretend to share the joy with the people. If you can't enjoy life before you make money, and you can't enjoy life after you make money, then what the hell is the money you made for?

He brought a chef with him, and the warehouse also contained seasonings and tableware. There was definitely no shortage of ingredients locally. He just needed to borrow the kitchen of the restaurant. Once the money was spent, the restaurant would close down and specially accommodate his group.

Tang Jun and Zhou Xianjun got to experience what it's like to live the life of the rich. All I can say is that the sugar-coated bullets of capitalism are too damn extravagant.

resist!

We must boycott them next time!

Over the years, Wang Yaotang has purchased more than $2 million worth of military equipment. He is officially registered at Beijing Institute of Technology. When he came to Shijiazhuang, without his request, he was invited to visit several digital factories to see firsthand how bullets and shells are industrially produced, and how tanks, artillery, infantry fighting vehicles, and ballistic missiles are manufactured.

A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and the private plane that went back to pick up the goods returned, bringing not only the Paveway 1 bombs, but also a message asking if he wanted the Paveway 2.

The Baoshilu 2 was developed starting in 75, officially put into production in 77, and began small-scale trials in the later stages of the Vietnam War in 78.

This message made Wang Yaotang think that the mid-to-low-level officers in the Air Force had gone mad; this was the US military's main precision-guided missile from the 80s.

Even in the 2020s, the Paveway 2 Plus remains a standard munition for fighter jets like the F-16 due to its low cost and reliability with laser guidance!
What Wang Yaotang didn't know was that the situation for the US military in the Philippines was not good at the moment. With the rise of Aquino, the 11th president of the Philippines with Chinese descent and ancestral roots in Zhangzhou, an anti-American wave swept across the country. Filipinos were chanting "Get out, Americans!" and marching and demonstrating in the streets all day long, especially around the two major bases.

The US military, from top to bottom, felt the seriousness of the situation; the Philippines was serious!
Once the US military withdraws, the resettlement of these people will be a big problem. Before running away, everyone wants to make one last fortune. Besides, what does "main force" mean? Main force means a huge number. In addition, the station is located by the sea, where the sea breeze is humid and salty. Every year, the number of them scrapped for various reasons is very large. If three or five are missing, it is impossible to count them.

Once the serial number is erased, there's no way to check it. This isn't the future, where you can immediately find the production number and transportation route just by entering a serial number.

Wang Yaotang knew, of course, that the US military would withdraw, but he couldn't remember when.

However, in any case, if these American soldiers dare to sell, he dares to buy. It's just money, after all. He doesn't intend to use these bombs to bomb people. Dropping them on his home base for reverse purposes is unlikely to be exposed.

Seeing the real Gemway Type 1 and hearing that they could also get their hands on the Gemway Type 2, this was something that a single digital factory couldn't handle. The news quickly reached Beijing. After some discussion, the higher-ups decided that Wang Yaotang's safety was a concern and he couldn't be publicly praised, so they could only make a note of it. Experts from relevant fields rushed over in the name of the Guidance Digital Factory.

Inside a dedicated dismantling workshop, with video cameras recording the process, several of the most experienced bomb disposal experts carefully dismantled the bomb.

As everyone knows, bomb disposal is a delicate art. If you do it well, you'll get covered in dust; if you do it poorly, you'll be covered in dust everywhere. So Wang Yaotang could only watch on closed-circuit television. On the other hand, a few experts were really bold. They were afraid of damaging something during the dismantling process, so they insisted on giving instructions at close range, even though Wang Yaotang said that if something was lost, it could be replaced.

Of course, it's also because the bomb disposal experts had never dismantled this thing before, so having expert guidance made the work easier.

This is a true expert.

After the tedious disassembly was completed, Wang Yaotang finally arrived at the scene. Zhou Xianjun and the others were touching the parts with obvious fascination, their expressions chilling and somewhat perverse.

"LaoMei's technology is not just about laser guidance and servo motors changing direction; they've also added a weather vane device to the guidance head," Zhou Xianjun explained, taking the time to clarify who had contributed the money and effort.

"Huh, isn't it true that we can't install them all on the warheads?" Wang Yaotang asked subconsciously.

Zhou Xianjun blushed. He realized that his expertise lay in large-scale industrial production rather than the design and development of new technologies, and he had made an error based on empiricism.

“Xianjun’s words are not entirely wrong.” An elderly expert with half-gray hair next to him smiled and looked up to say, “The laser seeker must be aligned with the target to receive the laser signal better, but the weather vane is installed in the center of the head, which will occupy the position of the seeker and interfere with the signal reception. At the same time, the aerodynamic interference generated by the weather vane will also interfere with the signal.”

"LaoMei's technology is indeed impressive. They used a more advanced laser detector to overcome this interference, and at the same time used a weather vane to stabilize the seeker's line of sight, ensuring that the bomb's flight direction always points to the target, so that the laser detector is at the optimal receiving angle, improving accuracy and hit rate."

"It has overcome the defects to the greatest extent and increased the advantages, which is indeed impossible to achieve with our current technology."

"Let alone a weather vane and laser seeker, it's difficult to even add a glider to extend the range. A glider can indeed increase the flight distance of the missile, but it will also change the flight arc of the missile. Aerodynamics will interfere with the laser detector's pointing and signal reception."

Wang Yaotang nodded, he understood the gist of it. If the optical and electronic components were not technically sound, forcing a combination would be a lose-lose situation. The only options were semi-active laser guidance or wind vane mechanical guidance.

As for the choice between the two different types of aerial bombs, if someone can conduct laser illumination on the front line, then laser guidance will definitely be chosen; if it is a completely dark battlefield, then the choice will inevitably be the glider extended range weathervane.

"Now that we have something that can be reverse-engineered, will we choose to change our technological approach?" Wang Yaotang asked with a smile.

The old expert frowned, looked at the disassembled Gem Road Type 1, then at Wang Yaotang, and thought that this man was also going to get the Gem Road Type 2. Before coming here, the higher-ups had mentioned his achievements, so the level of secrecy should be sufficient. Finally, his gaze fell on Zhou Xianjun.

Zhou Xianjun was listening intently when he suddenly met the old expert's gaze and froze on the spot.

No?

What does this mean?
Is this a way of telling me to leave?

I can't listen?

No, why!

This is my factory, and I am the owner here!
Deceiving too much!

Zhou Xianjun's face flushed red, and he roared inwardly, "Fine, let's go!"

The old expert smiled and shook his head. "Actually, we obtained the wreckage of the Paveway 1 bomb on the Annam battlefield in 1977. We reverse-engineered the wind vane laser seeker and developed the Type 7712 laser-guided extended-range low-drag bomb. Three years ago, we completed a live-fire test on a H-5 bomber, increasing the bombing distance from 1.5-2 kilometers to 4-5 kilometers and greatly improving the accuracy."

Wang Yaotang silently said "Oh." If it were to be deployed on a large scale, Zhou Xianjun couldn't possibly be unaware of it, so it could only be a small-scale experimental deployment.

The reason is simply what the old experts said before: the technology is not up to standard. Although the precision has been improved, its practical effect is not significant. It is not as cost-effective as the current high-powered, ground-drilling technology.

I came here specifically for the Jewel Road Type 2...

It seems that I should stick to my original plan and develop the wind vane mechanics and laser guidance separately.

Actually, thinking about it, it's really similar to the Gem Road Type 1, so I really don't dare to sell it.

Besides, those illiterate people wouldn't know how to use it. Laser guidance is too advanced for them; the wind vane mechanism is already the limit.

It's not a bad thing, it's not a bad thing.

A few days later……

The US may be a bastard with no national credibility, but the middle ranks of the US military are quite trustworthy. They said they would sell Gemway 2, and they did. After receiving it, the old expert shook his head in astonishment, unable to understand it.

The US military? That's all? (End of Chapter)