105: Chapter 105 There'll be nowhere to cry then.

Major General Zaha immediately returned to Damascus to report to General Faraj on the details of the procurement negotiations.

"General Faraj, the 50 million barrels of oil and 15 billion cubic meters of natural gas we leased from Iran for the first year, with a total value of 9.0338 billion USD, have all been used to purchase the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile from the arms dealer."

Major General Zaha detailed the procurement plan to General Faraj and continued, "The arms dealer has newly released two types of anti-aircraft missiles, the Tianlei Type VII Anti-Aircraft Missile and the Tianlei Type VIII Anti-Aircraft Missile, and I have purchased 10 sets of each."

General Faraj finished reviewing the procurement plan. Basically, every model of anti-aircraft missile had been purchased, with the largest quantities being man-portable air-defense systems and short-to-medium-range anti-aircraft missiles.

This basically aligns with Syria's current actual air defense needs and is more than enough to cope with the airstrikes from the USA.

"When can the arms dealer complete the delivery of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile?"

"The arms dealer will deliver in two batches. After we pay 15 million barrels of oil and 2 billion cubic meters of gas, the arms dealer will deliver the first batch of anti-aircraft missiles. After we pay 20 million barrels of oil and 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas, the arms dealer will deliver all the remaining second batch of anti-aircraft missiles. The delivery will be completed within three months."

Three months—that is not a very long time. General Faraj thought for a moment and said.

"You must keep an eye on Iran to ensure they pay the leased oil and natural gas as soon as possible, and closely follow the progress of the arms dealer's delivery of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile. The USA's airstrikes have not stopped yet, and we don't know when they will. Our air defense combat mission remains very heavy."

"Yes, General. I will follow up promptly." Major General Zaha responded quickly.

"Anything else? If not, you need to return to Zarzur to handle the air defense deployment." General Faraj wanted to urge Major General Zaha to get back to work.

"There is one more thing. The arms dealer has newly released three types of weapons and equipment: the Sky Arrow Type I Anti-Tank Missile, the Sky Arrow Type II Anti-Tank Missile, and the Sky Dragon Mark I UAV. I have reviewed the combat performance of these anti-tank missiles and UAVs, and they are indeed quite good weapons."

Major General Zaha handed the information on these three weapons to General Faraj and expressed his opinion.

General Faraj took the information and flipped through it with confusion. The anti-tank missiles and UAVs did indeed meet Syria's current combat needs and could be considered quite excellent among products of the same type.

"Why didn't you purchase these anti-tank missiles and UAVs in this procurement?" General Faraj looked up at Major General Zaha.

"These were only brought out after the arms dealer's negotiations concluded. I didn't know beforehand that the arms dealer would be selling new weapons and equipment." Major General Zaha whispered in his own defense.

"Then can't we amend the arms trade contract to purchase some anti-tank missiles and UAVs?"

"I spoke with the arms dealer, but they do not agree to changing the arms trade contract. If we want to purchase anti-tank missiles and UAVs, we can only place separate purchase orders."

General Faraj looked at Major General Zaha speechlessly; Major General Zaha had clearly been swindled by the arms dealer.

But the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile was indeed what Syria urgently needed right now, so it didn't matter that the arms trade contract couldn't be changed.

However, the Sky Arrow series anti-tank missiles and Tianlong Series UAV were also weapons and equipment that Syria would need to purchase for its future counter-offensive against the territory controlled by the USA and the Opposition Armed Forces it supported.

If they were to be purchased, the required funds would not be a small amount. Yet, the oil and natural gas leased from Iran for the first year had already been spent.

Did they have to wait until the second year's leased oil and natural gas arrived before continuing to place orders with the arms dealer?

If so, it would drag on for a very long time.

Syria still lacked sufficient energy and mineral resources, and it didn't have enough funds either!

General Faraj complained, then had no choice but to say, "Let's not rush to purchase the anti-tank missiles and UAVs for now. You go back to Zarzur first and do a good job with the air defense deployment; let's survive this round of airstrikes from the USA first."

"Yes, General." Major General Zaha replied.

"Also, you need to be prepared. Syria may also propose a plan to lease oil and natural gas from Russia, and you will need to go and participate in those negotiations when the time comes."

After thinking about it, General Faraj felt that the possibility of continuing to negotiate the lease of oil and natural gas from Iran was gone, but negotiating with Russia for oil and natural gas was still possible.

If they could lease oil and natural gas from Russia, then they would have the funds to purchase the Sky Arrow series anti-tank missiles and the Tianlong Series UAV.

By then, Syria could launch a counter-offensive against the USA. It wouldn't be as passive as it was now, just taking a beating from the USA without any ability to fight back.

"Understood. I will await your orders." Having had the experience of the previous negotiation, Major General Zaha was not opposed to going to Russia for negotiations.

General Faraj waved his hand to let Major General Zaha leave; he also needed to report the matter of this procurement of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile to other high-ranking military officials.

After returning to Zarzur, Major General Zaha quickly gathered his subordinates to understand whether the military bases he controlled had been subjected to airstrikes by the USA and what the extent of the losses was.

The situation was much better than Major General Zaha had expected.

Because Major General Zaha had intercepted a significant number of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles from the previous purchase and deployed them to various military bases.

The USA had not launched large-scale bombing campaigns against the military bases he controlled; only a few military training grounds, military roads, and barracks had been destroyed.

The losses were still within control, and Major General Zaha's strength had not been significantly affected.

It seemed that the disastrous defeat at Raqqa Military Base had left a significant shadow on the USA; after discovering the presence of Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile positions, they had chosen not to recklessly assault these military bases.

Major General Zaha was quite pleased about this. He decided that after the arms dealer delivered the next batch of Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles, he would continue to intercept even more of them.

After all, the area where Major General Zaha was stationed was directly facing the US troops stationed in Syria. If he requested the allocation of more Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles, there wouldn't be much objection within the Syrian military.

If anyone dared to object, who knew when they might be assigned to places like Zarzur, where they would frequently clash with the USA and other supported Opposition Armed Forces.

There would be nowhere left to cry by then.

Major General Zaha would not let any opportunity to secure more weapons and equipment slip by. Only with more weapons and equipment could he feel more secure.