50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 233 Going deep into the tiger’s den
Sun Zhiwei would drool over these things, let alone Annam, a small country with a small population, how could he not feel inflated?

After all, you could tell from their words that they had already proclaimed themselves the world's third-strongest military power.

The report he obtained from the General Logistics Department was dozens of pages long, and in order not to alert the enemy, he decided not to take the original document with him.

Instead, they retrieved a Leica 3G camera from the logistics warehouse, photographed the documents, and then returned them to their original location.

This Leica 3G camera is the latest model, and it should have been left behind by a US military officer. Sun Zhiwei likes it very much.

After he finished taking photos, he naturally accepted the Leica 3G.

Under the pretext of needing to gather intelligence later, he also took several boxes of colored test papers from the other party's warehouse.

Once the report was received, the mission objective would have been considered complete.

But he still felt it wasn't enough. A few sheets of paper weren't enough. Many veterans didn't even know what these pieces of equipment were, so naturally they weren't moved.

Therefore, he decided to continue south to Cam Ranh Bay, where the captured equipment was concentrated, to photograph the actual artifacts.

Cam Ranh Bay is located at the southeasternmost tip of Annam and was the main base for the US military in Annam during the South Vietnamese period.

Most of the U.S. Air Force aircraft and Navy ships are located here, which also has a complete aircraft maintenance system, ship repair docks and shipyards.

Although Annan has received the equipment, with their current number of pilots and sailors, they are completely unable to make use of such a large quantity of advanced equipment.

Therefore, those heavy equipment must still be in place. His goal is to go there, photograph that massive amount of equipment, and then bring it back home to show his family.

It's over 1000 kilometers from Hanoi to Cam Ranh Bay, and he had no intention of walking there; there are flights between the two places.

Sun Zhiwei spent an hour finding several similar letters of introduction, and then, following the pattern, used the General Logistics Department's paper and official seal to create a 'genuine' letter of introduction.

He then changed into an Annamese officer's uniform and boarded a military plane in a very open and aboveboard manner.

A few hours later, Sun Zhiwei made a military landing directly at Cam Ranh Bay Airport.

After disembarking from the military aircraft, Sun Zhiwei glanced back at the Tu-134 he was on, the latest model of passenger plane from the Russians.

Because China and Russia have long since fallen out, this model is not available in China, but it is available in Annam.

They must think they've found a powerful ally, given the current East-West confrontation where Russia holds a clear advantage.

Therefore, in Annan's view, abandoning China and following the Soviet Union was a smart move.

Unfortunately, things are unpredictable, and even the strongest support can crumble. The Russian bear was not as reliable as they had imagined.

With a forged work permit and letter of introduction, Sun Zhiwei went directly to the logistics manager of Jinlan Bay.
His letter of introduction clearly stated that he was a special envoy sent by the Hanoi General Logistics Department to verify the captured weapons and equipment.

After reading his letter of introduction, Sun Zhiwei received a warm welcome, which he accepted without hesitation, eating and drinking as he pleased.

After he had eaten and drunk his fill, he asked the other party to show him the equipment that had been prepared.

This was exactly what was supposed to be expected. They wrote the report on the captured equipment, and once the higher-ups received the report, they would definitely send someone down to take a look at it in person.

In the following days, Sun Zhiwei followed the personnel sent by the local logistics department and traveled all over the nearby airport, naval port and armory.

He took many photos, which provided a fairly complete record of most of the weapons and equipment captured by Annan.

Meanwhile, in the helicopter hangar, some engineers were installing heavy machine guns on a UH-1 Huey helicopter. This modification greatly enhanced the helicopter's firepower, significantly improving the UH-1's ground fire support capabilities.

'Click!' Sun Zhiwei captured this moment on camera.

However, it is still clear that there is a severe shortage of logistics personnel responsible for equipment maintenance.

Many planes and tanks have accumulated a layer of dust that no one has cleaned, and he plans to include these in his report.

Annam now has the equipment, but there are very few people who know how to operate and drive it. They still have a long way to go before this equipment can form a complete combat force.

After spending three days in Cam Ranh Bay and getting a clear understanding of all the weapons and equipment there, Sun Zhiwei once again returned to Hanoi Airport in a Tu-134.

After leaving the airport, he did not return to the city center, but went directly to the train station to take the nearest train back to Liangshan.

Two days later, Sun Zhiwei crossed the jungle back into the country. He then changed back into his military uniform and, travel-worn, arrived at the border military airfield where he had disembarked last time.

The guards had seen him approaching long ago, but seeing his military uniform, they didn't stop him from a distance. Sun Zhiwei showed the guards his letter of introduction and work permit before being allowed to enter.

That night, Sun Zhiwei returned to Beijing. Since it was already late, he did not go home but instead stayed overnight at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs guesthouse.

The next day, Sun Zhiwei changed into a clean military uniform and walked into Xu Yimin's office.

Upon seeing him, Xu Yimin immediately stood up to greet him, then eagerly asked, "Well, have you found out anything?"

“I found out everything, and I even saw the equipment with my own eyes and took a lot of photos.” As he spoke, Sun Zhiwei handed over the camera hanging around his neck and a small bag of film.

"You have photos? Great." Xu Yimin immediately called someone to come and get the negatives for developing.

The intelligence department has a technical section that is responsible for providing various technical support, including processing classified photographs.

Seeing the talented people in the technical department, Sun Zhiwei thought, "This department seems to have R&D capabilities." So he quickly asked Xu Yimin, "Boss, can our technical department develop special equipment?"

What equipment are you referring to?

"For example, miniature cameras, eavesdropping devices, cyanide, etc."

Xu Yimin thought for a moment and said, "Other units have seized some miniature cameras before. We have a few, and we can allocate one to you."

“We have plenty of listening devices. As for cyanide, you mean poison, right? We can apply for that if needed.”

Hearing that it was true, he immediately became happy. With this special equipment, he wouldn't have to expose his cheat codes when carrying out many missions in the future.

"The photos won't be ready until at least tomorrow. Can you tell me roughly what they are, how many there are, and how you got the data?"

"Yes, leader."

“This time I went directly to their general logistics department in Hanoi and found a report on the captured equipment, which clearly stated the types and quantities of US military equipment they had obtained.”

"Because I was worried that these figures were inaccurate, I went to Cam Ranh Bay and saw the planes, tanks, ships, and weapons with my own eyes. The numbers were astonishing."

"Among them are nearly a thousand aircraft, over a thousand armored vehicles such as tanks, more than a thousand ships, tens of thousands of artillery pieces, and millions of individual weapons."

(End of this chapter)