50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 229 Boarding the Ship
Sun Zhiwei handed the phone to the captain. After taking the phone, the captain heard Mr. Huo's instructions on the other end, and his face showed a surprised expression. He even looked up at him.

Sun Zhiwei had no intention of answering the captain's questions; he simply watched quietly with a polite smile on his face.

After a while, the captain hung up the phone, and Sun Zhiwei stepped forward with a smile and said loudly:
"Captain, I see everyone has been working very hard these past few days. Now that we've finished our work and are just waiting to set off tomorrow, how about I treat everyone to a fun night at 'Oriental Paris' tonight!"

The crew members who heard Sun Zhiwei's words nearby all lit up. Bangkok's "Oriental Paris" was a famously good place, and each person couldn't afford to spend less than several thousand yuan a night.

Of course, they were referring to Hong Kong dollars. In reality, a few thousand dollars can only buy you drinks and karaoke; if you're really serious, it's impossible to get away with spending less than five figures.

The entire 'Lisa' only had 22 crew members. At HK$10,000 per person, it would cost less than £100,000. To make things easier for himself, he didn't mind spending an extra £100,000.

He spent £340 million to buy the grain, and he was going to get £350 million from selling it to Mr. Huo. This £10 came from that, so he just needed to break even.

He simply took out £10 in banknotes and threw them to the captain, then followed them off the ship.

Just as the crew was excitedly heading straight for downtown Bangkok, Sun Zhiwei began today's operation.

Meanwhile, he had an additional private account at HSBC, in which £350 million had been deposited.

Mr. Huo is an honest man. He confirmed that he had received all the items and would not actually wait until Hong Kong to pay.

After leaving the dock, Sun Zhiwei went straight to the empty warehouse, lifted the cover from the corner, and then went through the tunnel to the airport underground.

After these past few days, the number of B52s at the airport has not decreased. It's likely that there's only one group of pilots responsible for the special transport, and they're either transporting the planes back to China or on their way back.

American soldiers aren't treated very well, so don't expect them to be very dedicated.

A normal flight takes one or two days, and the time for the pilot to return and rest also needs to be taken into account. Being able to make a flight once every two weeks is considered diligent.

Furthermore, the pilot's return journey depends on what kind of plane they are on. If they can catch a transport plane bound for Thailand along the way, they can return even faster.

In fact, most planes now fly to the United States and very few return. Most likely, the pilots will have to return by warship, which would take a long time.

Don't expect them to return by commercial flight; the military won't pay for the tickets.

At the airport, the 16 B52s on the tarmac are still scattered in a corner of the tarmac.

Now that there are no combat missions, the entire airport is incredibly idle, practically like sheep being let graze freely.

Except for the occasional daytime flight returning to the United States, the runway is empty most of the time, and there is not even a single person on duty in the control tower at night.

Not to mention the aircraft maintenance workshop, there wasn't a soul in it.

In fact, no one has been coming into the repair shop for several days.

Because recently, the engineers in charge of maintenance have all gone back to the United States for Christmas, and they are estimated to return in mid-January next year.

Sun Zhiwei had already set his sights on two aircraft on the tarmac and two disassembled aircraft in the maintenance workshop.

He had already estimated that the B-52's empty weight was 83.25 tons, and the actual volume occupied by the fuselage material was at most less than 50 cubic meters.

With its current space volume of over 5000 cubic meters, it can easily accommodate hundreds of B-52s.

What he needs to worry about is how many planes a 10,000-ton cargo ship can carry. After all, planes are hollow and take up a lot of space, and the cargo ship's hold is not his space, and it can also transform.

In fact, a complete aircraft like the B-52 couldn't fit on a 10,000-ton cargo ship. The length was fine, but the width was insufficient. A 10,000-ton cargo ship is only about 20 meters wide, while the B-52 has a wingspan of 56.4 meters. Therefore, what he was preparing to transport on the ship this time were the two disassembled B-52s.

After the B-52 was dismantled, the largest components were the eight massive Pratt & Whitney YJ57-P-3 axial-flow turbojet engines.

Other components, such as the fuselage and wings, can also be divided into multiple sections.

Of the four B-52s currently parked in the maintenance workshop, two have been completely dismantled and will be loaded onto cargo ships for transport back to their home countries.

Here's a brief overview of the transportation process for this type of large aircraft, which generally involves three methods.

The first option is to fly away directly, which is the simplest but also the most expensive. Flying halfway around the world consumes an astonishing amount of fuel.

The second option is to transport them by aircraft carrier. Given the large footprint of the B-52, an aircraft carrier can only transport two or three at a time. The transportation cost is much less than flying them back directly, but it is still not cheap.

The third option is the cheapest: disassemble the items, pack them into containers, and ship them back by cargo ship. This option offers a drastically reduced shipping cost, but it is the most time-consuming.

Not only does it take time to disassemble, but it takes even longer to transport it back and reassemble it. Sun Zhiwei had his eye on this batch of already packed B52s.

After confirming that no one was around, Sun Zhiwei directly loaded the two B-52s that were already packed in the maintenance hangar into the space, and then rushed back to the port as quickly as possible.

While the crew was away, he first packed the rice from the top layer into the container, then placed the container carrying the B52 parts on top of the rice at the bottom, and then covered the container with rice to seal it tightly.

From the outside, it was impossible to tell that the rice underneath had been replaced with shipping containers.

The next morning, Sun Zhiwei arrived at the port and, after watching the 'Lisa' depart smoothly, he rushed to the airport.

He needed to go back and report to ensure that the goods would be received smoothly in China.

In the afternoon, after leaving Kai Tak Airport, Sun Zhiwei took a taxi straight to 387 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai.

After entering the newspaper office, he showed his identification directly to the security personnel and asked to see the person in charge.

After being informed, the guard quickly led him upstairs to meet the person in charge.

"Comrade Sun, is there anything we can help you with that you've come here for?"

"Yes, comrade, I have an emergency and need to contact the country, so I need to use your secure line."

"Okay, you come with me."

Sun Zhiwei was then taken to a windowless, sealed room containing only a table, a chair, and a telephone.

Once the door is closed, the place becomes completely sealed off, without even a vent, or perhaps there might be a vent, but he couldn't see it.

This was his own territory, but he still carefully checked his surroundings to make sure there were no other electronic devices besides a telephone before he started making long-distance calls.

First dial domestic numbers, then Beijing numbers, then Bureau 55 3831 (this is the ministry's main switchboard number), then transfer to Director Xu's extension number.

The transfer alone took more than 10 minutes, and that was without anyone using the line.

"Hello, who is this? This is Xu Yimin."

(End of this chapter)