61: A rocket with a range longer than a missile?

May 1st.

A grand motorcade drove into the Changhe Armaments Industry General Factory in the early morning.

Marshal Xu Yong'an was the first to alight from a military vehicle.

Following him, several men, dressed in ankle-length white robes, black open-fronted formal wear embroidered with gold thread, and red and white checkered headscarves, stepped out of the vehicles behind.

These men generally had full beards and prominent noses, typical features of Arabs.

From their attire, Peng Lin immediately deduced that they were all members of a certain Arab country's royal family.

"Comrade Peng Lin, this is Prince Khalid, the younger brother of the King of Shat, who serves as Shat's Minister of Defense."

"Your Royal Highness Prince Khalid, this is Comrade Peng Lin, the chief engineer of our Changhe Armaments Industry General Factory."

Marshal Xu introduced the two to each other.

"Your Royal Highness, hello!"

Peng Lin's eyes lit up as he shook hands and greeted him.

Whether in the future or the present, Shat was one of the top spenders globally.

For example, Shat was currently the world's largest oil exporter.

Leveraging its control of over 25% of global oil exports and a daily production capacity of 12 million barrels of crude oil, Shat's GDP reached an astonishing 111.86 billion US dollars in 1978.

This GDP figure was roughly two-thirds of Longguo's.

It's important to note that Longguo has a land area of 9.6 million square kilometers and a population of nearly 1 billion.

Shat, on the other hand, is much smaller and has a population of less than 9 million.

At that time, riding the golden age of the international oil economy, Shat was one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

After concluding discussions with the representatives of the Shat royal family, Peng Lin led the visiting delegation on a tour of the Changhe Armaments Industry General Factory.

With the recent acquisition of a large number of international military trade orders and the introduction of new equipment, the Changhe General Factory had already established several specialized armaments industry research and development laboratories.

These laboratories covered various types, including vehicle engines, rocket propellants, rocket engines, gunnery engineering, fuses, and explosives.

It is no exaggeration to say that these R&D laboratories were now comparable to some of those in Pretty Country and the Hairy Bear.

After leading the Shat royal family delegation and introducing the general layout of the Changhe Armaments Industry General Factory, Peng Lin handed over the detailed explanation work to Feng Zhenhua, who had been promoted to chief engineer of the sub-factory.

Then, he quietly walked to the side of the team, walking shoulder to shoulder with Marshal Xu.

"Is the Shat royal family visiting our country to purchase weapons and equipment?"

Peng Lin asked Marshal Xu.

"No, they want to buy nuclear weapons!"

"Currently, the Hairy Bear Empire is preparing to invade Afghanistan, extending its influence into the Middle East."

"And with the constant arms buildup in Yileke and Yilang, Shat, the wealthiest country in the Middle East, feels very insecure."

"Although they have a good relationship with Pretty Country, Pretty Country, due to its alliance with Yishelie, cannot possibly sell restricted weapons to Shat."

"So they have turned their attention to our country."

Marshal Xu lowered his voice and told Peng Lin.

"Nuclear weapons?"

Peng Lin secretly clicked his tongue.

Having earned a fortune from oil trade, the Shat royal family probably had no interest in the territory of other countries.

Their primary goal in purchasing weapons and building an army was likely self-defense.

And when it comes to self-protection, what could be more sufficiently deterrent than nuclear weapons?

"That's unlikely to be sold, right?"

Peng Lin shook his head and said.

"Nuclear weapons cannot be sold; we refused at the time."

"Then we strongly recommended the Valiant Combined Arms Brigade to Prince Khalid, but unexpectedly, they also refused."

"Because, according to Shat's defense strategy, what they need is not a mobile force at all."

"What they need is deterrent equipment that can directly strike neighboring capitals from their own national borders!"

"Although the Shat royal family took a step back, they once again wanted to purchase Dongfeng-3 missiles from us."

"However, due to the 'International Missile Control Treaty,' the Dongfeng-3 missile is also difficult to sell."

Marshal Xu said with considerable regret.

According to the 'International Missile Control Treaty,' missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons or with a range exceeding 300 kilometers are prohibited from being directly sold or technically transferred to other countries.

"The Dongfeng-3 missile is also difficult to sell?"

Peng Lin was quite surprised.

If his memory served him correctly, he remembered that Longguo had once sold 35 Dongfeng-3 missiles to Shat for 3.5 billion US dollars.

And an additional one was given as a bonus.

But then, after carefully considering the whole sequence of events, he recalled that this was in 1987.

At that time, the Middle East was already in chaos, and Shat had repeatedly requested to buy missiles from Pretty Country without success, leading to retaliatory oil production cuts.

However, considering the existence of its ally, Yishelie, Pretty Country still did not agree to sell missiles to Shat.

But to accommodate Shat's feelings, it guided them towards Longguo.

Because Longguo and Pretty Country were in their historical "honeymoon period" at the time, Pretty Country selectively ignored this transaction.

But now, not to mention that the relationship between Longguo and Pretty Country is not strong enough for the latter to ignore the 'International Missile Control Treaty'.

Even the existence of the Hairy Bear Empire would not allow Longguo to sell Dongfeng-3 missiles.

Once this transaction was leaked or concluded, the Hairy Bear Empire, which had just suffered a loss on the Indochina Peninsula, would probably immediately seize the opportunity to cause trouble for Longguo.

Considering all these factors, the Longguo military could currently only refuse the Shat royal family's deal.

"Then why is Prince Khalid visiting the Changhe Factory this time?"

Peng Lin asked, somewhat puzzled.

Since the Shat royal family was not interested in the Valiant Combined Arms Brigade's equipment, why would they still come to visit?

"You're not very clear about the Shat royal family's diplomatic strategy."

"Their royal family rarely offends any country internationally, and whenever they visit a country, they give plenty of benefits to the other party."

"Although the negotiations for nuclear weapons and Dongfeng missiles failed this time, I estimate they will still symbolically purchase some weapons from our Longguo as a gesture."

"And the only ordinary weapons in our Longguo that can be seen as valuable by the other party are those from your Changhe Factory."

Marshal Xu Yong'an explained with a smile.

Because the Shat royal family's foreign policy closely resembled that of Longguo's businessmen.

Perhaps this was also the reason why this country had always been able to expand its oil trade and navigate international relations skillfully.

But as Peng Lin listened to Marshal Xu's words, his mind was constantly pondering another matter.

Although the UN's 'International Missile Control Treaty' stipulated that missiles with a range exceeding 300 kilometers could not be sold to other countries.

However, it did not stipulate that rockets with a range exceeding 300 kilometers could not be sold externally!

He remembered that in later generations, Longguo's Weishi rocket artillery successfully bypassed the restrictions of the 'International Missile Control Treaty' by exploiting this loophole.

It achieved very good sales in the international arms market.

Moreover, the special extended-range rockets of the Weishi could achieve a range of at least 400 kilometers.

That was much further than the range of some short-range tactical missiles!

Therefore, after learning that the Dongfeng-3 could not be sold to the major client, the Shat royal family, Peng Lin began to consider the feasibility of selling the Weishi rocket artillery.

And while Peng Lin and Marshal Xu Yong'an were conversing, the Shat royal family delegation also finished touring the series of R&D laboratories at the Changhe General Factory.

Overall, they were quite impressed by Longguo's advanced military industry R&D equipment and system.

"Minister Xu, our Shat royal family is very impressed by Longguo's achievements in military industrial development."

"Although we regret that the previous transaction could not be concluded."

"However, after our recent discussion, we hope to purchase 50 Zhi-8 helicopters and 1000 Valiant Protected Assault Vehicles from Longguo."

"We hope that we can reach this military trade contract worth 500 million US dollars."

Prince Khalid looked at Marshal Xu Yong'an and said to him.

"That is certainly possible, and we also look forward to achieving more cooperation in the future!"

Marshal Xu actively shook hands with the other party and said.

He naturally could not refuse such an indirect act of sending money and orders.

And seeing that the Shat royal family delegation was already preparing to conclude this visit and tour, Peng Lin couldn't help but speak up.

"Your Royal Highness, our Changhe Weapons Manufacturing Sub-factory has an upcoming test of new weapon equipment."

"Perhaps everyone would like to come and observe!"

Peng Lin looked at Prince Khalid and said.