Chapter 192: Ha Gong Da helps the tank industry advance without hesitation

In the 1980s, Germany's industrial technology was indeed strong; they had this proud capital.

No need to mention tank engines; even for the civilian 396 diesel engine, the Germans absolutely would not sell production technology; after the customer purchases a certain number of units, the Germans would give a set of engine drawings, which counts as licensing production.

But, with only the drawings, what meaning could that have?

Take the East as an example; even without engine drawings, as long as we have the actual object, we can still survey and produce the drawings!

Having the drawings, can we then produce?

Of course not!

The drawings merely label the dimensions of various parts; they do not introduce production techniques at all. Having the drawings, you still cannot produce anything, so the so-called technology licensing becomes empty talk.

MTU Company has certainly done this before; their famous 396 engine, technology licensing is all over the world, but…… aside from Germany, the rest of the world only has Eastern people who, relying on their own ingenuity, successfully manufactured it.

The Germans are stingy; they know that giving drawings is useless, licensing production is useless; as long as they don't give the technology, no one can copy it!

Zhu Lao and the others' expressions darkened again; needless to say, even if they got the drawings but not the production technology, they were destined to be unable to produce; just speaking of purchasing this engine, three hundred units at six hundred thousand dollars each totals one hundred eighty million dollars!

The state definitely cannot come up with this money!

So…… this time we are destined to return empty-handed!

"What if we buy other engines? Could you send us the drawings of this engine?" At that moment, a voice sounded.

Qin Miao spoke again! After closing his eyes to rest for most of the day, he finally found an opportunity!

"What engine do you want to buy?" Schultz became excited again; this guy had been saying German products were no good and had even shoved aside those praising German products, but now…… how could he still propose a purchasing intention?

"The civilian MTU396 diesel engine, twelve-cylinder." Qin Miao said: "I've checked; your price for European customers is 100,000 marks per unit; your quote for us had better not be outrageous."

Actually, they also quoted high for tank engines; the procurement price for the German military is only 171,000 marks, but domestic use and export still differ; they added several ten thousand marks, which isn't much.

The civilian MTU396 diesel engine would be much cheaper, after all it doesn't need to squeeze out power, and production volume is high, with R&D costs already amortized.

Schultz smiled: "Of course no problem; we'll also quote you 100,000 marks per unit, but the minimum order is three hundred units! Once you place this order, we can hand over the drawings and licensing for both the MTU396 and the MTUMB873."

Everyone's gaze turned to Qin Miao; among them, a few knew the inside story—someone named Sha bought 35 Sky‑Leaping Monkeys; could the matching missile vehicles use three hundred engines? Even adding the domestic Giant Wave ashore project, the Second Artillery using them for itself couldn't need that many!

At most a hundred units!

Those who didn't know the inside story also realized that buying this many at once would be too hard for Ha Gong Da; Qin Miao must be in a tough spot now, right?

He originally didn't need to consider the 201 Institute, just the tank industry; he only needed to buy back a few units! Now……

"Good!" Qin Miao nodded: "We'll buy them!"

Qin Miao actually agreed!

Looking at everyone's eyes, Schultz curiously asked: "You…… didn't come together?"

"Of course not." Qin Miao said: "I represent Ha Gong Da Import‑Export Company; these leaders represent the Eastern Fifth Machinery Ministry; we are two departments."

"Then you…… " Schultz wanted to ask what the earlier disagreement was about, but he stopped himself in time; he shouldn't ask what he shouldn't, as the customer has their own secrets—MTU just needs to export engines.

Three hundred units—this is a big deal! He could also rely on this business's export to win a hefty year‑end bonus……

"What's wrong with us?"

"You must be hungry; come on, I'll take you to eat! After the meal, I'll take you to see the production factory!"

"Sure!"

Having reached an export intention is enough to excite the Germans; they know that Easterners looked at other companies' products but didn't spend a cent to purchase them!

Everyone walked together toward the restaurant; Zhu Lao had only one arm, so he couldn't walk fast or his balance would suffer; Qin Miao walked beside Zhu Lao, ready to support him at any moment; Chu Miaomiao saw Qin Miao lagging and followed behind as well.

"Comrade Qin Miao, you don't need to do this; you just need to handle Ha Gong Da's procurement project—there's no need to spend so much foreign exchange helping us, and making money isn't easy for you either."

"Zhu Lao, I, Qin Miao, although I've never worked or lived in the tank industry, I also want to contribute my strength to the tank industry; we are a great land nation and cannot lack modern tanks! Our tank industry lags far behind world advanced levels; we must seize the time to catch up! Ha Gong Da helping the military‑industry units is only right!"

Just that sentence made Zhu Lao's eyes redden; since Qin Miao talked back to the foreign exchange department people, many have been cursing him; as Ha Gong Da developed, quite a few jealous ones also cursed him, not considering the big picture, always scheming Ha Gong Da's own little tricks.

Those rumors, Zhu Lao never took to heart; now, looking again at Qin Miao, who only minds Ha Gong Da's petty gains, his gaze is also far‑sighted; those who curse him are merely people who can't get any meat from Ha Gong Da; from now on, whoever curses Ha Gong Da or Qin Miao, I'll curse them back!

"If our 201 Institute needs it, Ha Gong Da can still buy one more tank engine and bring it back for the 201 Institute to study."

"No need, no need; having the drawings is enough, and besides, the 396 and 873 don't differ much."

These two engines have largely the same basic structure; mainly the cylinder size differs: the 396's cylinder diameter is 165 mm and piston stroke 185 mm, while the 873's are respectively 170 mm and 175 mm.

From the data you can see that the 873's stroke is shorter, actually a change made for high RPM.

If you master one, you can roughly grasp the other; after all, both are products of the same era, sharing the same design concept.

Later, Eastern tank engineers also stuffed the 396 diesel into the tank's rear, turning it into a big‑butt tank.

While speaking, they had already arrived at the restaurant.

"Gentlemen, at noon we only have work meals; in the evening we'll hold a banquet to entertain you!" Schultz said warmly.

Potato cakes, black bread, sausages…… these work meals look like they can only be swallowed; to say they're tasty, it still has to be our Eastern food!