Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 477 The Americans had to beg us to help transport crude oil.

Across the ocean, the White House.

“This Northwestern Polytechnical University has grown into a behemoth in just a few years, and it has even affected every aspect of our American military industry. We could tolerate it before when we were partners, but now that they have done such a shameless thing, we...we absolutely cannot tolerate it!” Weinberg gritted his teeth.

“Yes, what they did this time was really too much. If it weren’t for our cooperative relationship… we should have punished them!” Hague was also furious.

"How's the replication of the equipment we brought back after the last incident going?" Ronald suddenly asked.

Weinberg shook his head: "No, with our technology, we simply cannot complete the mapping and replication of that kind of electronic equipment. The East has already surpassed us in the field of microelectronics."

After he said that, everyone was shocked again.

It's a widely accepted consensus that American technology is the best in the world. Now, the emergence of Eastern technology that is even more advanced than American technology is bound to leave them feeling... disappointed.

beep, beep...

William Casey walked in.

"Everyone, Northwestern Polytechnical University has replied."

"How to say?"

"Their purchase of oil tankers is a prelude to building supercarriers!"

Some people felt relieved, while others' eyelids twitched even more violently.

"Supercarriers? What would they need those for? Hundreds of them?"

"It is said to have been made for Colonel Li Tuo."

The conference room fell silent instantly.

Li Tuo!

The colonel's duplicity is obvious to all.

Back then, after the colonel overthrew the Littor regime, his first act was to sever ties with the West, close the US military base, expel more than 6,000 US soldiers from Littor, abolish many agreements with the United States, and nationalize a large number of Western assets.

As a result, he offended the United States, Britain, and France. In particular, the colonel's ambition to become the king of Africa meant he was competing with France for interests.

Fortunately, there was the Soviet Union.

The colonel and Mr. Bo were on very good terms, so good that he could go to Mr. Bo whenever he wanted. When he arrived at the airport, he found that Mr. Bo had not come to greet him in person. After shouting a few times, he boarded a plane and went back!

After Brezhnev's death, the colonel's relationship with the Soviet Union began to cool and was no longer as warm as before.

However, business is business. Northwestern Polytechnical University, as an open industrial alliance trust, will not care about political influence. After all, no matter how much the camel jumps around, it is still far away from the East.

and so……

"The colonel is asking for it! We'll launch an attack soon and teach him a lesson!" Ronald clenched his fists, clearly enraged.

“Let’s get back to the present,” William Casey said. “Right now, we need to persuade Northwestern Polytechnical University to put these tankers into operation.”

"why?"

"We've done the math, and with our current transportation capacity, we simply can't achieve our goals!"

The original plan was to use the Suez Canal, but now that the Suez Canal is blocked, the only option is to detour around the Cape of Good Hope. This significantly increases the voyage distance, and to maintain capacity, more ships will be needed.

Now, it's not that Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) is deliberately sabotaging the Suez Canal to make money; rather, NPU wants the aircraft carrier, and the US is trying to persuade NPU to cooperate and put these oil tankers back into service!

If crude oil is produced but cannot be transported out, then international crude oil prices cannot fall, and may even...

"Without these hundreds of supertankers, we've calculated that international oil prices would have risen."

rise!

This is something Americans absolutely cannot accept!

"Well, then let's go persuade the Easterners to abandon their cooperation with the Colonel and put all these tankers into operation! They've really hit the jackpot this time!"

At this moment, countless ship owners around the world are crying!
Supertankers don't make money when they're in their hands; they even have to be leased out as floating oil depots!

So, seeing that the price offered by Northwestern Polytechnical University was reasonable, they sold it.

Just after delivery was completed, the Suez Canal became blocked, increasing the demand for crude oil transportation!
Unbelievable wealth fell into the lap of Northwestern Polytechnical University!

Shipping by sea can be incredibly lucrative! If the Suez Canal were blocked for six months, the shipping costs would be enough to offset the purchase price, and there might even be a profit!
They could only watch helplessly!

Ordering a new tanker now would take five years to receive. What will happen then? Nobody knows, and nobody dares to gamble!
Northwestern Polytechnical University, new campus.

Yang Duo'er sat on the sofa with a smile: "Brother Liangzi, your office is really spacious!"

"Duoduo, this will all belong to Dad from now on. I'm just temporarily taking his place here."

"Our dad? When our dad comes over, you'll probably be the principal, right?"

"How could that be! I've never even considered becoming a principal."

"Many times, you can't just quit being the principal. Let's get down to business, Liangzi. We've bought over a hundred ships, all of which are going to be converted into aircraft carriers. The shipping costs are skyrocketing, and we..."

"No rush, we need to make the Americans beg us to help with the transportation."

Ring ring... The phone rang again.

"Hey, another American diplomat is coming? Okay, let him in!"

"Brother Liangzi, should I use the avoidance option?"

"No need, they've come to beg us!"

When Heng Anshi walked into the office and saw Yang Duo'er, he was first stunned, and then he became excited.

"Ms. Yang, it's great to see you here! Could your Pacific Trading Company's tankers be involved in crude oil transportation?"

Yang Duo'er shook her head: "No way!"

He said no, but he was secretly overjoyed. Brother Liangzi was right! This batch of oil tankers is going to make a fortune!

Fortunately, Pacific Trading Company is run by him alone, and the others have absolute confidence in him, or rather, in Brother Liangzi. Otherwise, simply purchasing so many oil tankers during a market downturn would have been enough to cause a huge uproar among the board members.

The money came from Mr. Sha, but we'll have to pay them back later. Now that we're investing in commercial operations, we can recoup our investment in just a few months!

"No? Why? The market is doing well right now. Those oil tankers can make a lot of money once they start operating."

"I heard you came here to cause trouble for Brother Liangzi, saying we colluded with the Soviets to cheat you," Yang Duo'er said calmly. "If we actually start operating, wouldn't that be admitting that we were involved in a scheme with the Soviets? No way, absolutely not!"

Heng Anshi was taken aback.

“Right now, there are a lot of people in the United States who are hostile to us. If we start operations, they will definitely use it against us! Anyway, our tankers have buyers, so we won’t get involved in the crude oil shipping business. Besides, if we really start operations, we will have to compensate our customers a lot of money!”

Heng Anshi pondered for a moment.

"Here's what we'll do: I can contact the White House and have them guarantee that your concerns won't come true, and that no one will dare to say anything about this... As for compensation... once you start operating, you'll quickly break even and make a good profit."

"No, that would ruin our reputation."

Heng Anshi gritted his teeth: "If nothing unexpected happens, Colonel Li Tuo is about to have an accident. The victim will be gone, and you can completely disregard the contract."

"Well... I still can't make the decision. Let's leave it to Brother Liangzi."

After putting on a show, Yang Duo'er was in a very good mood.

The rest is up to Brother Liangzi. He should be the one to do the good deed; I'm not involved.

Heng Anshi looked at Qin Liang with expectant eyes.

"Principal Qin, this concerns the direction of global crude oil prices. You all need to lend a hand."

"Alright, since you're so sincere in inviting me, I'll lend you a hand, but... I have to remind you."

"You say."

"Even if our tankers join in, it might not work. On the contrary, there might be other problems. Since the Russians have already resorted to underhanded tactics, I always feel they have a backup plan."

"What back-up plan?"

"The Russians and the Russians are only separated by the Caspian Sea!"

The Soviet Union was a vast empire. Their conquest of Afghanistan was merely an attempt to open up a route to the Indian Ocean. As a result, part of the Soviet Union's borders were already adjacent to Langtu.

The Caspian Sea, in particular, makes transporting goods very convenient.

Heng Anshi's eyes widened instantly: "What did you say? Lang Tuo is going to side with the Soviet Union? How is that possible? They've always called the Soviet Union 'Little Satan.'" "It's not that they're side with the Soviet Union, it's that the Soviet Union is eager to curry favor with Lang Tuo and provide them with weapons. I must state first that apart from the C801, Northwestern Polytechnical University has never exported any other anti-ship missiles."

Heng Anshi was shocked: "Okay, I understand. This is an emergency. I will report it to the White House as soon as possible."

The White House.

Everyone looked very unwell.

"It turns out that Northwestern Polytechnical University did nothing wrong, and we wronged them. Next, we need to keep an eye on Congress and make sure those stupid members of Congress don't cause trouble for Northwestern Polytechnical University just to gain attention!"

"Yes, those are minor matters. The key issue is Langtuo. If Langtuo really gets the advanced anti-ship missiles provided by the Soviet Union, then we..."

beep, beep...

William Casey always arrives late, and this time was no exception!
As he approached, everyone had a bad feeling. Dude, when are you going to bring us some good news? Don't always bring us bad news!

"William, what's going on?"

"Our reconnaissance satellites have captured images of the port of Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz, showing several missile boats."

Missile boat!
The Russians previously claimed it was a shore-to-ship missile, but they were actually concealing the fact that the Sunburn missile has never been released in a shore-to-ship version; they directly launched it as a missile boat!

"Is it a Wasp-class?" Weinberg asked.

In the mid-to-late 1950s, after the Soviets developed the advanced Styx missile, they converted their P6 torpedo boats into the world's first missile boats.

It is 26.8 meters long, 6.1 meters wide, and has a displacement of only 75 tons. After NATO discovered it, they nicknamed it "Mosquito".

Don't underestimate its size; during the Third Arab-Israeli War, this missile boat, weighing less than 100 tons, successfully sank the 2,500-ton Eilat destroyer of the British Navy!

The Russians went even further and developed a second version.

With a length of approximately 39 meters, a width of 7.8 meters, and a displacement of 200 tons, this missile boat has seen widespread adoption globally, and it was the starting point for missile boat development in the East. NATO gave it the codename Wasp-class, which at least makes it slightly larger than a mosquito.

Following these two models was the Spider-class, developed in the late 1970s. Its displacement was increased to 500 tons. In addition to anti-ship missiles, it was also equipped with a quadruple anti-aircraft missile launcher, an AK-176M naval gun, and two AK-630 naval guns.

In addition to anti-ship capabilities, air defense has also been greatly improved!

It can be said that the Spider-class is currently the most advanced missile boat in the hands of the Russians, and the Sunburn anti-ship missiles carried on it are unparalleled in their sophistication.

Such advanced technology probably won't be exported, right?

“See for yourselves,” William Casey said, placing the photographs on the table.

Weinberg picked it up, glanced at it, and his expression changed.

Looking at the picture, the large spheres stuck on the superstructure are particularly eye-catching. There are naval guns on the bow and anti-ship missile launchers on both sides. That's a damn venomous spider!
"How could this be? How could this be? How could the Russians entrust such a state-of-the-art missile boat to Lang Tuo?"

This is unscientific!
Everyone's eyes widened in surprise...

what does this mean?
"The situation inside the Persian Gulf is complex. Our warships need to withdraw immediately!"

There are definitely no aircraft carriers inside, but there are still frigates and the like. These warships would not survive an attack by Sunburn missiles!

"Our warships have withdrawn, but what about the oil tankers inside?"

This question has once again made everyone ponder deeply.

Currently, in order to produce crude oil in large quantities and lower oil prices, several oil-producing countries along the Persian Gulf are also continuously increasing production, resulting in an increase in the number of oil tankers transporting oil.

They were all Suezmax tankers, numbering well over a hundred!

Now, these oil tankers have all been shut down, and they're being prepared to be culled!

Bahrain, port.

"Captain Dyson, have you heard? Langtuo has acquired a more advanced missile boat, carrying supersonic missiles!"

"I just heard about it, and I was really worried about it. Before, it was just some sea mines, but now..."

"This is a huge problem!" Captain Dyson said, his face full of worry.

"With US military protection, we should be fine, right?" one of the crew members asked.

"What do you mean 'nothing'? Did you see the warships docked in the harbor?"

"Yes, it's quite strange. What... is going on?"

"Last night, they received the news and all ran away in advance, leaving us here!"

Ran!

Captain Dyson's face grew even uglier. His Seven-Colored Light oil tanker was about to be filled with crude oil. Should he... should he leave this dangerous sea area?

If we don't leave...

"Ladies and gentlemen, Lang Tuo just made a stern statement! None of the oil tankers are allowed to leave the country!"

what?
Several countries along the Persian Gulf were dumbfounded.

Lang Tuo has made another harsh statement!
This time, they are not even afraid of the US Navy. As long as the US Navy dares to go there, they dare to open fire. They haven't gotten revenge for last time!

Sha, the capital.

Laughter filled the palace.

"Great, great, excellent! This is absolutely the best of both worlds!"

"Hmph, those guys didn't follow OPEC's orders and increased crude oil production. Now, it's no use increasing production; they can't transport it out!"

"Yes, all of our Sha family's oil wells are running at maximum capacity, which will make up for our losses over the past few years!"

"Your Majesty, representatives from Bahrain and Qatar have arrived!"

"Invite them in!" King Fahd waved his hand.

"Your Majesty, please help us!"

"We are all Arab brothers!"

The two representatives came in and began to complain.

"Now, the Persian Gulf is completely blocked by Langtuo, and our oil tankers can't get out at all! Currently, many of our domestic oil wells have been shut down!"

Fortunately, it was a high-yield, self-flowing crude oil well, so we could just shut off the gate. If it were another oil well, shutting it off and then reopening it would take a long time.

Even so, they were not resigned to it.

Those oil wells used to generate a steady stream of profits. Now that the oil wells have stopped, their country will have no income!
Moreover, with the passage blocked, their daily necessities couldn't get in either, and they were on the verge of a crisis!

How to do?
"Didn't the US military promise to ensure the safety of sea lanes? Alas, we've also suffered great losses," King Fahd began to complain.

Sha's territory is bordered by the sea on both sides, and there is also a port on the east side. Now, this situation is equivalent to blocking off their eastern side as well.

"The US military is trying to find a solution, but we also need to find one ourselves," the representative said. "We've heard that Mr. Sha has a good relationship with Easterners?"

That cannot be denied. They've already purchased weapons and invested in research and development. How can you say their relationship is bad?
"so what?"

"Please help coordinate so that the oil tankers purchased by Dongfang Northwestern Polytechnical University can come in and help us with transportation."

What a joke! Those oil tankers all belong to us, Sha! We're planning to transport our own crude oil!
We've already increased production, but we still can't get through the Suez Canal, and we don't have enough tankers!

Of course, these words shouldn't be said, as they would hurt feelings.

“Sure, no problem, but… Langtuo has blocked the sea route, will their ships be able to get in?”

"Of course, Langtuo would not attack the Eastern fleet. After all, Langtuo has purchased a lot of equipment from the East, and they have to give the Easterners face."

This was clearly analyzed long ago!

Lang Tuo cannot offend the East!

In this way, ships from the East can easily pass through the Strait of Hormuz!

"Why don't you just fly your oil tankers under Eastern flags?"

"No, the Easterners all have supertankers, while we all have Suez-type tankers, which don't have enough displacement and are easy to spot."

“I see. I can ask for you, but... the Easterners might not agree. After all, they already have enough crude oil from other safe areas to transport, so there's no need for them to take the risk.”

(End of this chapter)