50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 464 West Point Major
Sun Zhiwei's deposit of $3 million into Cathay Bank in New York was a secret, known only to Cheng Damin and Huang Mingyu.

When he drove the truck to deliver the banknotes, he was fully disguised and did not get out of the truck at all.

After moving all the money, he drove off in his truck without even asking for the bank statement. This was both for the sake of secrecy and because of his trust in Cheng Damin.

The money came from a Mexican drug lord, who had no way of proving its legal origin, but he believed that Chen Damin would not, and dared not, embezzle his money.

Even if something unexpected happens, he has a way to turn the tables. Because he has room for maneuver as his trump card, he doesn't mind giving absolute trust on the surface.

After finishing his business in New York, it was already December, and the first year of the 12s was about to end. He decided to begin this year's industry tour.

This year has been a fruitful one for him as James, with the exception of his Maryland farm, which performed terribly, all other businesses have seen steady growth.

He himself became a billionaire through speculation during the first gold bull market.

After touring New York, Washington, Maryland, and California, he returned to Saipan at the end of December.

After seven months of construction, Anatahan Island is now mostly complete.

The dock has been completed, and the power plant and desalination plant have also begun operation, providing water and electricity services to the construction teams.

Only three major projects remain under construction: the island ring road, the tourist town, and the airport.

Thanks to the designer's effective planning, the power plant and water plant were completed ahead of schedule, providing local hydropower directly for subsequent construction.

This saved nearly a million dollars in transportation costs for water and electricity, and also shortened the construction period by a month. Sun Zhiwei was very satisfied upon hearing this and gave the engineer a large bonus.

He estimated that Anatahan Island would be open to tourism by the time he returned from celebrating the Spring Festival in China.

With Saipan Mayor Quincy Stephens leading the construction, Sun Zhiwei didn't linger any longer and prepared to head directly to Borneo.

Because there are no direct flights to Borneo, he used to transfer through other places.

Transportation in Borneo is indeed inconvenient, and he is already preparing to buy a private jet.

A private pilot's license issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is recognized in most countries, making it easier for him to fly there directly in the future.

This time there is a shortcut: take a military transport plane belonging to the M Army.

There are US military air bases in Borneo and Saipan. If you have connections, you can hitch a ride on a US military transport plane to get there.

Isn't this perfect? ​​Among the group of shareholders of the Saipan mayor is Major Langdon Heywood, the air force commander of Saipan base.

Through Langdon Heywood's connection, Sun Zhiwei was finally able to travel directly from Saipan to Borneo.

On New Year's Day in 81, Sun Zhiwei once again set foot on the land of Borneo. He disembarked at the M Army's military base on Balabac Island.

He regretted it after arriving here, because although it was indeed Borneo, it was located at the northernmost tip of Borneo, more than 1000 kilometers away from his iron mine in Pontianak.

If he had known this base was so remote, he would have preferred to fly directly to Singapore, which is at least closer.

But since he was already there, he could only accept reality and now he had to figure out how to get to the mine.

In the end, he decided to solve the problem the way the wealthy do. He went directly to Major Grand Page, the Air Force commander at Barabark Air Force Base, who was a classmate of Haywood's at West Point.

The prestigious West Point Military Academy is no ordinary place; graduating from there is far more impressive than graduating from Harvard or Oxford.

West Point Military Academy was founded in 1802 by Benjamin Franklin, the man who drafted the Declaration of Independence.

Its campus is located in New York State, where land is extremely valuable, but it covers an area of ​​1.6 acres, which is equivalent to 40 times the size of Tsinghua University.

It is the oldest military academy in the United States, and has produced two presidents and four five-star generals. It is hailed as the pinnacle of military academies.

就以1915年为例，西点军校共毕业了164名学生，有59人后来成为将军，其中有2名五星上将、2名四星上将、7名三星中将、24名二星少将、24名一星准将。

Although it is a military academy, it trains more than just soldiers. From its inception, it was not designed to train ordinary soldiers, but to cultivate true leaders.

Since World War II, West Point has produced more than 1000 chairmen of well-known companies and more than 5000 senior corporate managers.

Listen to some of the famous people who graduated from here: Eisenhower, Patton, MacArthur, Grant, Pershing.

Of course, getting into West Point is no easy feat; it requires letters of recommendation from officials at the level of mayor or governor or higher, and also involves meeting many other stringent requirements.

For example, one must be at least 1.68 meters tall, have an average or above-average academic performance, and be in perfect physical health.

It only admits 1400 students each year, with an acceptance rate of less than 10%. Even among those admitted, 30% still fail to graduate.

Langdon Heywood and Grand Page, who graduated from West Point in the same year, naturally had a very good relationship and got along well.

Major Haywood of Saipan is so greedy for money, so Major Page of Barabács must be no exception. He simply went directly to him, hoping to get help, of course, for a fee.

Because it was an introduction from an acquaintance, Major Page knew that Sun Zhiwei was wealthy, so he didn't mince words and directly quoted a price.

He offered two options: one was to take a C2 transport plane, which could take you directly to Pontianak Airport in two hours for only $5.

Another option is to take a Black Hawk helicopter, which takes 3 hours to reach the mine, but this is more expensive at $6.

Since obtaining his pilot's license, Sun Zhiwei has learned a lot about American aircraft. For example, the C2's flight cost alone is $1 per hour, and the Black Hawk is even more expensive. This should be considered a friendly price.

However, he has a solution that suits him better.

"Major Page, I have a better plan. Take a look and see if it suits your needs."

"Tell me about it." Although Major Page was meeting Sun Zhiwei for the first time, one good thing about ordinary people in the United States is that they respect the US dollar.

“I’ll be staying in Borneo for about a week and will be traveling around, but as you know, the transportation here is really terrible.”

"I'd like to rent a Black Hawk for a week, and I'll cover all the expenses. I'll also give you a $10 thank-you fee. What do you think?"

"What about the cost of the pilots?" Hiring pilots was obviously out of the question. Huang Hongxuan's brother-in-law was probably training his troops at the mine. If the M Army pilots saw him, he wouldn't be able to explain it.

(End of this chapter)