Chapter 245

Old Qin walked in, smiling as he spoke.

"I heard you returned to the Capital; I originally wanted to see you that same day, but you were busy with other things, so I didn't disturb you. Yesterday the formal contract with Benz Company was already signed, so I planned to call you over today. I didn't expect to search for half a day before finding out you were here—anyway, it's not far, so I came over to take a look."

Old Qin's matter is what's truly important; this is the second-half exercise!

When Qin Miao first returned, he anxiously arranged various R&D projects, but… later he went astray, starting to fuss over the cooperation project with Benz!

Now, after Old Qin said that, Qin Miao really felt a bit embarrassed.

"At the door, I just heard your words—you're young, yet you see things clearly. On the other hand, some people in our military have squinted eyes, always wanting to use Western advanced equipment, not realizing what price that would entail!"

"Old Qin, bread will come, everything will come—Western advanced weapons we will have too, and even those the West doesn't have, we will still have them!"

"Well, with Ha Gong Da's involvement, I believe all key projects will proceed swiftly. Next… let's talk about our matters?"

"Say it here?"

"Well, everyone here works on third-generation tanks; they're qualified to hear these plans."

"Alright, let's start with the satellite navigation system—the navigation satellites will launch within half a month; when they do, the changes they bring will be absolutely revolutionary, and our tanks will also need to be fitted with digital terminals…"

Just as Qin Miao was saying these things, a discussion was also taking place at the Princess Tomb.

"Currently, the old Maozi is still pressing hard; our military equipment is too poor. If we receive American equipment, we can immediately go from bird guns to cannons! F-14, F-16… once these equipments are in our Air Force's hands, we'll no longer fear the old Maozi's incendiary bombers!"

"Exactly, and with AWACS, the technological gap between us and the West will finally be eliminated!"

"Everyone, think about it—would the Americans so kindly give us equipment for free?" Lao Lin's voice rang out: "There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world!"

"Yeah, these weapons are somewhat excessive, but… the Americans are doing this only hoping we can counter the old Maozi and share their burden; we also need to counter the old Maozi—isn't that a win-win outcome?"

"No, we lack advanced equipment, so the old Maozi doesn't even regard us. Once we have this equipment, the old Maozi will see us as the number one threat! Getting this batch of equipment will turn into a hot potato!"

Old Lin looked at everyone: "I think this is the Americans' scheme of diverting water eastward to cause harm; we can't accept it! If we now covet this equipment, we may later have to pay a bloody price. We're not afraid of fighting, but we want to avoid fighting for others as much as possible!"

Capital Hotel, inside a guest room.

William Perry stood before the mirror, skillfully tying his tie.

"Easterners, any reaction?"

"A few days ago, after we announced the news of giving Eastern equipment to let ninety percent of their troops re-equip, it already caused a great stir in the East; from top to bottom, everyone is discussing it, and most people think this is a rare opportunity that must be seized."

"Yeah, that's right—this is a big cake; Easterners won't be able to resist this temptation. Now… we should move on to the second step of the plan!"

"Yes."

The assistant helped him pick up his briefcase; after leaving the room, he met with people from several other rooms, and together they walked toward the hotel's main entrance, where several high-end Red Flag sedans were already waiting.

Ten or so minutes later, Zhongnanhai, conference room.

"Everyone, we Americans come with sincerity to help the Eastern military boost its combat power, so we can better deal with the northern threat—how have your considerations been these past few days?"

"Mr. Perry, we're still discussing it, but we're very interested in your proposal. We're willing to cooperate with you; besides providing equipment, we also hope you can provide production lines so we can mass-produce the equipment ourselves, and the price would be even lower…"

William Perry secretly laughed, thinking you're dreaming—still wanting to produce yourselves?

"Yeah, we should also deepen cooperation, especially in defense—we need to share weal and woe…"

Opposite, Old Wang frowned slightly: "How to share weal and woe?"

"Relying solely on you Easterners, you still couldn't block the Soviet massive armored torrent at critical moments; therefore, you need to join our NATO system. Then, not only you, but also the armies of South Bangzi, island nations, etc., will fight side by side with you, all launching counterattacks under the command of our Pacific Theater Command. We believe this is the only way to defeat the Soviet Union."

"In other words, if we take your weapons, we'd have to follow your command?" Old Lin spoke, his tone tinged with contempt.

We already knew these guys harbored ill intentions!

Back then, the Soviets had the same idea—to drag us into the Warsaw Pact camp, to build long-wave radio stations, to build a joint fleet; in reality, it was just to command our Eastern military!

What was the result? We'd rather turn against the big brother than be manipulated by him!

Now the Americans actually harbor this mindset? How are they thinking? If they knew even a little of this history, they shouldn't say such things!

"Yes." William Perry nodded.

Smack! Old Lin slapped the table: "Our military has for years only taken orders from the Party—do others think they can command the People's Army? Dream on!"

"Old Lin!" Old Wang said: "Don't get worked up, mind the impact!"

"What impact? …These guys are clearly up to no good! I, Old Lin, have put my words out today: as long as I'm still in the Air Force for a day, the Air Force will never take orders from anyone else!"

Having said that, Old Lin stood up and strode out with big steps.

Old Wang was speechless; these military folks are always straight‑liners, they don't know how to be circuitous— in such diplomatic occasions, one ought to speak smoothly.

Following that, another person stood up: "Hmph, we'd rather keep using the old Type 59 than take orders from anyone else!"

One after another, the senior generals in the military all left!

William Perry was stunned—these people were clearly interested in American equipment, yet now they just want joint command; how did they all flip faces? Where did I go wrong in my considerations?

Seeing many seats empty in the conference room, Old Wang smiled slightly: "Mr. Perry, we appreciate your goodwill, but we cannot accept it; you should know our foreign policy has always been non‑aligned, and we cannot violate the principle we set when the nation was founded."

Although dissatisfied inwardly, we still have to keep up appearances.

"Please forgive my frankness: relying on your own backward weapons, you simply cannot face the Soviet military threat; now the Soviets are pressing hard, they could launch an attack at any moment…" William Perry still wanted to press on with the Soviet threat narrative.

Old Wang pondered a moment: "Yeah, the Soviets are indeed pressing hard, but we're not completely unprepared either; we're also striving to modernize our military—for example, we're already building our own satellite navigation system, which will greatly promote our military's modernization."