Chapter 1288
Arms Delivered to Africa, Pangu Defense Gains Fame
Firopol Garrison's military supply depot.
It is one of the largest military supplies storage sites in the Odessa Military District.
The entire base is located within the military-controlled area of Simferopol, covering an area of over 300 acres.
Looking around, there are thousands of storage warehouses of all kinds, neatly arranged on the wasteland.
The reason the Russians built such a large-scale storage warehouse here was mainly due to the influence of the German blitzkrieg in the early stages of World War II. They deliberately chose this second-line area far from the border as a strategic rear, so as to avoid their weapons and equipment being wiped out as soon as the war started.
However, this warehouse was never actually tested by war after it was built.
By the early 1950s, with the shift of the Russian strategic focus to sugarcane farmers and monkey farmers, the situation changed.
Simferopol Reserve became an important part of the Far Eastern Military District's strategic reserve system.
At the same time, this place has also become a key transit point for GRU's export of weapons and equipment.
Every year in April, May, and October, large quantities of weapons, equipment, and military supplies are continuously transported via railway trunk lines and then transferred out in batches in an orderly manner.
In terms of security, the reserve depot is entirely the responsibility of the 88th Division.
To ensure absolute security and secrecy, the 88th Division specially assigned three companies of elite troops to garrison the area and implemented strict military control over the surrounding area.
According to regulations, it is strictly forbidden to build buildings exceeding six meters in height within one kilometer of the storage facility, and no unauthorized personnel or vehicles are allowed to remain on the outer ring road.
This heavily guarded military stronghold is now open to two "outsiders".
……
In order to finalize the first batch of arms deals as soon as possible, Division Commander Komarov personally called Colonel Nikolayevich, who was in charge of the stockpile.
After picking up Li Aiguo at the tavern, Andrei drove straight to the reserve warehouse.
It's about a 30-minute drive from the pub to the warehouse.
Li Aiguo sat calmly in the car.
He wasn't surprised; once a veteran like Komarov, who had been through life and death, made up his mind, his ability to act was truly astonishing.
It was already past nine in the morning when the car arrived at the perimeter of the storage depot.
A kilometer from the gate, Li Aiguo saw a grass-green jeep drive out from the sentry post and head towards them.
As the two vehicles approached, the Jeep on the other side stopped first.
An officer in disheveled uniform, wearing his cap askew, jumped out of the vehicle, a cigar dangling from his mouth.
He was Colonel Nikolayevich.
He shouted from a distance, "Andrei, you've finally arrived! I've been waiting for you for over half an hour!"
"You can't blame me for this. It's your fault for setting up your reserves in such a remote place."
Sitting in the car, Andrei laughed through the window, "But your appearance is really outrageous. You don't look like a soldier at all."
"I'm the boss here, who dares to check my uniform?"
Nikolayevich glanced at himself instinctively, then chuckled and cursed, turning to the driver and shouting, "Lead the way, I'm going back in Comrade Andrei's car."
Nikolayevich got into the back seat, and Andrei restarted the car, following closely behind the jeep in front.
"It seems like your jobs are pretty easy."
As Andrei drove, he introduced, "Hey, let me introduce you. This is my brother, Comrade Li Aiguo. You should have heard of him, right?"
Nikolayevich had actually noticed Li Aiguo long ago.
The assassination of Deputy Division Commander Alexei caused a great stir.
As a close associate of his mentor, he was well aware of the inside story and knew that the young man before him was no ordinary person.
He was not angry at all; on the contrary, he was very happy.
People like Alexei should have been dealt with long ago.
"I've heard of you, but this is the first time we've met."
Nikolayevich glanced at Li Aiguo in the passenger seat and smiled, "We're acquainted now. I'm a very straightforward person. When Andrei isn't around, Aiguo, feel free to come to me if you need anything. As long as it's within my power, no problem."
"Thank you in advance, Colonel," Li Aiguo replied politely.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Li Aiguo casually mentioned, "I have a friend who runs a Red Sea mining business in Africa. Mining there requires a lot of capital, and he was just asking me the other day if anyone was willing to invest."
Red Sea Mining?
Nikolayevich racked his brains but couldn't recall such a company in Africa.
This is normal, as the company currently only exists in Li Aiguo's plans.
But Nikolayevich immediately understood Li Aiguo's meaning: he was being offered a share of the company.
“It’s convenient, what’s inconvenient about it?” Nikolayevich’s tone instantly became more intimate.
"I wonder how much investment your friend is accepting? I just got my salary this month and I'm worried about where to put it..."
Nikolayevich was overjoyed and without hesitation took an envelope from his uniform pocket, saying, "Here, this is ten thousand rubles."
"Hey, what's going on? I can cover the share capital first, why are you in such a hurry?" Li Aiguo waved his hand, trying to throw the envelope back.
"How can I let you use this as a cover? I'm already very grateful that you've given me this much face. Hurry up and put it away, we'll be there soon, it wouldn't look good if someone saw it."
Nikolayevich stopped Li Aiguo's arm, which was holding the envelope, and said in a low voice.
Li Aiguo hadn't really intended to return the money, but after hearing what Nikolayevich said, he simply accepted it.
Having acquired the shares, Nikolayevich was in high spirits: "You're here to pick up AK47s, right? We'll go straight to Warehouse Number One later; it's full of brand-new stock that hasn't been unpacked yet."
"Thank you so much."
"Don't mention it, we're all family."
Andrei was driving in the front, listening to the transaction between the two people in the back seat, and he sighed inwardly.
He originally thought that he only needed to win over the division commander, but Li Aiguo insisted on thoroughly managing all the relationships within the 88th Division.
In retrospect, Li Aiguo's vision was indeed more far-sighted than his.
Li Aiguo didn't care about the money. As long as he could get things going, he could leverage the strength of the 88th Division to open up a bigger market in the future.
This arms deal was just a small test.
As they spoke, the guard post at the front gate of the storage depot came into view.
Through the car window.
Li Aiguo saw that the gate of the storage depot was a fully steel-structured hinged door, and a thick barrier bar stood outside the guard tower on the right.
In addition to a squad of heavily armed soldiers guarding the gate, there were also two heavy machine guns mounted inside a low fortified wall made of reinforced concrete.
Li Aiguo glanced at the heavy machine gun; the hanging ammunition belts exuded a chilling killing intent.
“What, Comrade Patriot, are you interested in this?” Nikolayevich noticed his gaze.
"It does look impressive. This thing could probably be used to take down tanks, right?"
“Hey, it can take down tanks without a problem,” Nikolayevich laughed.
"One bullet is enough to destroy a jeep like ours. If you're interested, you can try it out in a bit. Hey, turn right up ahead..."
Li Aiguo originally thought the warehouse was of limited size, but when the car actually drove through the gate, he realized that its scale far exceeded his expectations.
The jeep drove through the gate. Facing it was a long, paved road wide enough for four trucks to drive side-by-side, stretching as far as the eye could see. On both sides of the road were large warehouses, six or seven meters high.
Andrei drove his car, circling the spiderweb-like crisscrossing cement roads inside the storage depot.
Nikolayevich, sitting in the back seat, pointed in the direction and explained: "That's Section One, the clothing section. All forty warehouses are full; there's no room to move. That's Section Four, the ordnance section. Behind that is the armored warehouse, which hasn't been fully tidied up yet."
After driving around for six or seven minutes, the car stopped at the northernmost end of the storage depot.
“We’re here.” Nikolayevich patted Andrei on the shoulder. “The armory, numbers 110 to 135, a total of twenty-five warehouses. The goods you requested are all in warehouse number one.”
Li Aiguo got out of the car and glanced around.
The place is spacious enough, with an open-air shooting range to the north and a three-ring target standing on a mound a few hundred meters away.
Looking in the direction Nikolayevich pointed, from west to east, there were twelve warehouses with tanks neatly parked inside, three tanks in each warehouse.
The remaining warehouses were empty, and all the original tanks were driven out and left to be exposed to the wind and sun by the firing range, without even a tarpaulin to cover them.
Looking at these lumps of iron, Li Aiguo felt a strong urge to buy them, secretly thinking it was a pity.
I can't take it with me this time, I'll have to wait until next time.
The three entered Warehouse No. 1.
The 88th Division is a fully staffed division with about 8,000 men, but it has a total of 50,000 AK47s in active service and in reserve.
"This time I can provide you with 8,000 units," Nikolayevich revealed.
Li Aiguo knew what was going on.
Eight thousand units, recorded as training losses and scrap, all without anyone noticing. Even if the higher-ups investigate, they won't find anything wrong with it.
Only 5,000 were needed in Africa, and the remaining 3,000 were reserved for Red Star's mining and protection military use.
The AK47 is indeed suitable for use in Africa.
"Where are the bullets?" Li Aiguo took out a cigarette, and a quick-thinking staff officer next to him immediately took out a lighter and lit it for him.
Nikolayevich patted the ammunition box next to him: "750,000 rounds."
The elder brother has deep pockets; the 88th Division alone has 9.5 million rounds of ammunition in stock. This little bit of rain is nothing.
"How much will it cost?" Li Aiguo asked, exhaling a smoke ring.
"AK47, nineteen dollars apiece. Bullets, six cents a round," Nikolayevich announced.
Li Aiguo smiled.
This price is quite fair; an AK47 on the black market has long been selling for forty dollars.
"Deal." Li Aiguo held out his hand.
Their two hands were clasped tightly together.
The payment will be settled in two parts.
Part of the payment was made in foreign currency, and the other part was offset by canned goods and other daily necessities.
Nikolayevich smiled broadly.
He truly admired Li Aiguo.
Easterners are quick-witted, good at making money, and most importantly, good at interpersonal relationships.
Despite having a division commander backing him up, he was not arrogant at all, being polite to the colonel and generous to the soldiers below.
Working with this kind of person is comfortable.
Afterwards, Li Aiguo counted the items, and the boxes full of weapons were loaded onto the truck. "Did you all hear me?"
Nikolayevich turned and yelled at the soldiers carrying the boxes, "Give it your all! Comrade Li isn't one of those tightwads from the GRU; he won't treat you unfairly!"
"Yes, sir!" seven or eight soldiers shouted in unison.
"Kochmov!"
Nikolayevich beckoned to a soldier: "Go and get a few trucks, take a team of men, all armed with submachine guns, and go with our patriotic brothers. Remember, deliver the goods safely to the port. I'll inform the quartermaster later that we'll have an extra meal tonight—two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes!"
"Yes!" Kochamov said with a beaming smile.
Life is tough for the Russian grassroots troops these days. Military funds are tight, and pay is often delayed, let alone improving their meals.
These soldiers didn't know exactly what Li Aiguo did.
But they knew that this Easterner was a hundred times better than those arrogant officers in the GRU; at least he treated them like human beings and even gave them canned food.
With something to look forward to, the soldiers visibly quickened their pace of work.
Andrei was overjoyed.
He was originally worried about how to transport so much munitions to the port, but now with the help of the 88th Division's convoy and personnel, he has been saved a huge amount of trouble.
Seeing that the truck was almost full, Nikolayevich slapped his forehead and ordered the soldiers to move two more boxes and throw them onto the truck.
"These two boxes of grenades are about to expire, could you please help me throw them away?"
Li Aiguo marveled.
Do you get free gifts when you buy weapons?
But since they've given it to me, there's no reason not to accept it.
Li Aiguo smiled and thanked him, further strengthening their relationship.
The loading of the munitions was very fast; it was finished before noon.
To avoid any unforeseen complications, Li Aiguo hastily set off with a piece of black bread and a sausage.
The advantages of choosing the 88th Division as the target became apparent at this point.
It is less than a few hundred miles from the port of Odessa, and only takes four or five hours by truck.
Along the way, they encountered many checkpoints, but when those Russian soldiers leaned out of the trucks with submachine guns in hand, the patrolling guys were all so frightened that they took a few steps back.
Just kidding, they usually act all high and mighty, but when they encounter soldiers like these, they wouldn't dare to bare their teeth.
Hongxing Shipping's cargo ship was already waiting at the dock. Liu Tiehan wasn't surprised to see Li Aiguo jump off the truck, but when he saw the group of Russian soldiers helping to unload the munitions, his eyes almost popped out.
It's one thing to resell weapons, but to have regular troops help with the transport?
Only patriotic comrades could have accomplished that.
"Comrade Patriot, we need to leave immediately, goodbye!" Liu Tiehan saw that the munitions had been loaded onto the ship and did not linger.
There were inspectors at the harbor, but seeing this situation, they didn't dare to approach and simply signed their names on the forms before letting people pass.
The ship sounded its horn and slowly sailed away from the harbor.
Li Aiguo watched the ship disappear on the sea before turning back to look at the Russian soldiers.
"Comrades, I'm sorry to have kept you all from having lunch. Now I'd like to treat you all to a meal at the best restaurant in the harbor. How does that sound?"
"Hurrah!" The Russian soldiers, who were already prepared to go back, became excited upon hearing this.
Andrei watched from the side, nodding frequently. He finally understood that Li Aiguo was always very successful in getting things done, no matter where he went.
Just based on his character and conduct, there's nothing to criticize.
*****
More than half a month later, in Lagos, West Africa.
This jewel on the West African coastline is also the largest black market in all of Africa. The amount of arms, diamonds, and gold flowing out of here each year is staggering.
Since it's a black market, it's naturally a mixed bag, with all sorts of ruthless characters from all walks of life.
Whenever an unfamiliar ocean-going cargo ship docks, the local gangs and armed men with ill intentions near the dock swarm around like hyenas smelling blood, grabbing all sorts of weapons and preparing to pull off a "risk-free" heist at the dock.
But today, the situation is completely different.
When this group of desperate men arrived at the dock in a menacing manner, and looked up to see the flags flying on the masts of the ocean-going ships, the faces of everyone who had been fierce just a moment ago instantly froze.
Instead, there was a deep fear.
For no other reason than that it was the flag of the Red Star Mining Protection Army.
"Damn it, put the guns away! Everyone, disperse, don't mess with this guy!"
"Yes, the mine protection army is not to be trifled with. Last time, that reckless warlord in the south provoked them, and his entire camp was wiped out..."
"However, Red Star Pioneers brought such a large ship this time, with such a deep draft, what kind of great treasure is it transporting?"
"Who cares what it is? If you don't want to lose your head, get out of here!"
As the local thugs scurried away like birds and beasts, the dock was quickly emptied.
Before long, several heavy off-road vehicles covered in mud roared in from a distance, raising clouds of dust, and finally came to a steady stop in front of the dock.
The car door opened, and Chief Bubu of the Waka tribe stepped out, surrounded by a group of fully armed guards.
At this point, the cargo ship's gangway had already been lowered.
With a wave of his hand, Liu Tiehan ordered the soldiers guarding the mine behind him to begin carrying the green wooden crates down from the ship's hold.
"boom!"
The wooden crate was placed on the ground, and a crowbar was used to pry open the sealing nails.
Inside were brand-new AK47s and bullets.
Chief Bubu's eyes lit up. He stepped forward, picked up a gun, and skillfully pulled the bolt.
"Great guns! All brand new!" Chief Bubu praised in broken Chinese. "Comrade Liu, you really keep your word."
Liu Tiehan shook hands with Chief Bubu: "Chief Bubu, we have as much of this kind of goods as you need."
*****
A few days later, something of moderate importance happened on the African continent.
In the north, several gold mines belonging to a tribe called Zambala were suddenly seized.
This is not unusual, after all, it's a place where everyone is fighting over each other, and it's common for chiefs to fight each other.
However, this tribe has the backing of the Gallic family and uses only standard-issue weapons.
MAS-49 semi-automatic rifle, FM 29 light machine gun, and even MAT-49 submachine gun.
These weapons are synonymous with "dominating the world" in Africa.
However, the Zambala gold mine has now been raided, and the Zambala tribe organized another group to go there, but they were all wiped out.
Now, all the chiefs in Africa are focused on these two battles.
To everyone's surprise, the originally weak Waka tribe had acquired a large number of AK47 rifles!
This is the latest rifle from the Russians. Some people tried to buy it through the GRU, but they couldn't get their hands on it.
In Africa, arms are a symbol of power.
As a result, many chiefs began to inquire about who had sold the weapons to the Waka tribe.
Soon, a company called Pangu Defense came into the sights of these chiefs.
This is a newly established company headquartered in the port city. It has a wide range of businesses, but currently it mainly focuses on bodyguard and arms deals.
Most importantly, Pangu Defense accepts all imaginable payment methods.
Minerals, oil, non-ferrous metals, local specialties, agricultural products, and even tribal labor.
The chiefs immediately became interested and placed orders with Pangoal Defense.
Some chiefs even considered asking Pangoal Institution to take over the mining area and deal with their rivals.
However, all of them were rejected by Yang Jizong because they did not conform to the principles of Pangu Defense Company.
Pangu Defense Headquarters.
Yang Jizong and Butler Bai are checking the orders for the past few days.
"Young Master, actually, if those chieftains want mercenaries, we could send out the Red Star Mining Protection Army. I really don't understand why Comrade Patriot would object to direct intervention." Butler Bai was somewhat frustrated as he watched the fat duck that was about to be in his hands fly away.
Yang Jizong laughed and said, "Direct intervention can indeed make more money, but the drawbacks are too obvious. First, it is easy to attract the attention of the Mei family and the Gaul family, and second, it is easy to arouse the resentment of the locals."
"That's true. Comrade Patriot's vision is quite far-sighted." Butler Bai felt as if he had been taught a lesson.
In fact, Li Aiguo was also learning from the older generation of colonialists, those in the Western camp.
To obtain benefits indirectly.
It's a win-win situation – you can gain both benefits and a good reputation.
The Russians, on the other hand, are stubborn and love to seize territory. But what happened? They didn't gain anything and ended up with a lot of trouble.
"In just a few days, we've received seven or eight orders. This arms trade is really lucrative," Butler Bai said, clicking his tongue twice after calculating the profits.
Yang Jizong took the order, looked at it, and then crossed out two companies with his pen.
Both of these tribes have a poor relationship with Red Star Pioneers.
It is foreseeable that without new weapons and equipment, these two tribes will certainly have a hard time.
At this point, Butler Bai also realized the true power of the arms trade.
"Without firing a single shot, they can get the gold mine and manipulate the situation. How do patriots think like that?"
Even Butler Bai, who had served the old master of the Yang family for decades and had seen many grand occasions, was somewhat amazed at this moment.
"The statistics are now complete, and I'll notify Aiguo's brothers immediately." After calculating the orders, Yang Jizong picked up the secure phone and dialed the Qianmen Locomotive Depot's workshop.
The call was connected.
The person who answered the phone was not Li Aiguo, but Zong Xianfeng.
Where is Li Aiguo?
He was at the weather station at that moment, reporting the situation in Firopol to the farmer.
After listening, the farmer nodded repeatedly.
“You went to the elder brother’s house and actually managed to find a way through. This will be especially beneficial to our future work.”
The farmer was all too aware of the importance of the position of commander of the 88th Division.
In particular, this arms deal is not a one-off event; as the arms business expands, the channels for dealing with it also become more and more numerous.
(End of this chapter)