123: Chapter 123 Free Aid Is a Bit Unreasonable

After enjoying his Turkish barbecue, Li Yi contacted Major General Faye directly.

"Major General Faye, we will be delivering the first batch of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile and Sky Dragon Mark I UAV you purchased tonight. Can you receive them?" Li Yi explained his purpose.

"They're ready for delivery? No problem, we will arrange to receive them. Where should we receive them?" Major General Faye was very happy to hear that the UAVs and anti-aircraft missiles were ready for delivery.

"Do you have any air force bases by the sea? The number of UAVs in this delivery is quite large, and we will need a significant amount of parking space," Li Yi asked. The first batch would include 500 Sky Dragon Mark I UAVs, which would take up quite a bit of space.

"There is an air force base at Dammam Port," Major General Faye said, preparing to arrange the delivery at Dammam Port.

"We need you to evacuate all personnel from the air force base. You can proceed with the handover after we have completed the delivery," Li Yi requested.

"I see. We cannot evacuate the personnel from the air force base at Dammam Port," Major General Faye considered for a moment, "There is also an air force base in Qatif, north of Dammam Port. That base is only a backup, so we can evacuate the remaining personnel there."

"Fine. We will deliver it at Qatif Air Force Base," Li Yi decided, "Remember to evacuate all personnel inside."

"No problem." Major General Faye also wanted to see the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile and Sky Dragon Mark I UAV as soon as possible.

"Also, regarding the 5 million barrels of oil that were supposed to be paid in the first batch for the purchase of two fighter jets, two bombers, and one destroyer—we didn't find this 5 million barrels of oil when we received the last shipment. What happened?" Li Yi pressed.

"Sorry about that, the preparations were rushed last time, and we didn't mobilize the 5 million barrels of oil in time." Major General Faye had no intention of paying the 5 million barrels of oil immediately; he wanted to see the performance of the fighter jets and destroyers first, as they seemed a bit outdated based on the data.

"Then, when you make the next oil payment, remember to include these 5 million barrels," Li Yi had to say, "Also, the additional 394.25 million USD you were supposed to pay hasn't been paid either. What's going on with that?"

"We still need to prepare the funds. We will pay as soon as they are ready." Major General Faye intended to pay only after receiving the first batch of weapons and equipment.

"Don't forget," Li Yi reminded him.

He was not afraid of Saudi Arabia reneging on the debt; even if the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile and Sky Dragon Mark I UAV were delivered, if Saudi Arabia defaulted, he had ways to render them unusable.

"That won't happen," Major General Faye promised profusely.

Li Yi hung up on Major General Faye. He planned to deliver the first batch of weapons and equipment purchased by Syria and Saudi Arabia tonight.

...

Lieutenant Colonel Haidari soon saw the armored vehicle data that Li Yi had sent him.

Several models of the armored vehicles were far superior in combat performance compared to similar types, especially in terms of range, offering a larger operational area.

After finding Major General Rahim, Lieutenant Colonel Haidari said, "The arms dealer does indeed have six models of armored vehicles from three series for sale, including tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery. I reviewed the data, and many of them have advantages over what we currently have in service."

Major General Rahim, curious, flipped through the armored vehicle data. The Fierce Rhino Type III Tank, Fierce Tiger Type III Armored Vehicle, and Fierce Lion Type III Artillery were indeed comparable in performance to the armored vehicles currently used by the Glass House, and in some aspects, even superior.

Although Iran could produce armored vehicles, they were far less impressive than their light weapons equipment.

Moreover, the production quantity was not very high, and the number of armored vehicles allocated to the Glass House was insufficient.

Major General Rahim urgently needed a batch of armored vehicles to achieve the mechanization of his troops, but due to Iran's insufficient production capacity, he could only obtain a small number of armored vehicles after domestic needs were met.

Now that he saw the arms dealer was actually selling armored vehicles, Major General Rahim naturally wanted to purchase a batch to arm the Glass House's troops.

"Let me take a look first," Major General Rahim prepared to let Lieutenant Colonel Haidari leave. He wanted to contact Commander-in-Chief Qasim directly and persuade Iran to purchase a batch of armored vehicles, so that the Glass House could hitch a ride.

Lieutenant Colonel Haidari was quite covetous of the armored vehicles and asked, "Can we purchase a batch of armored vehicle equipment?"

"I want to purchase them too, but how much money can we in the Glass House scrape together for a purchase?" Major General Rahim said irritably.

After Lieutenant Colonel Haidari left, Major General Rahim contacted Commander-in-Chief Qasim directly.

"Commander-in-Chief, the arms dealer has several new models of armored vehicles for sale, including the Fierce Rhino series Tank, Fierce Tiger series Armored Vehicle, and Fierce Lion series Artillery. Is the Persian Lion State National Guard interested in learning more?" Major General Rahim said, getting straight to the point.

"Send me the data to look at first." Commander-in-Chief Qasim naturally understood the importance of armored vehicles, but Iran's research and production of armored vehicles were not satisfactory.

Commander-in-Chief Qasim soon saw the various models of armored vehicles and developed a strong interest in quite a few of them.

"Is the arms dealer sure they are all for sale? Are there any restrictions on the scale of the sale?" Commander-in-Chief Qasim asked.

"They should all be available for sale. The Syrian military has already purchased a batch of armored vehicles. I don't think they will limit the purchase quantity," Major General Rahim guessed.

"Alright. I will look at the data first. If we decide to purchase, I will contact you then to communicate with the arms dealer," Commander-in-Chief Qasim said.

"Can we in the Glass House also purchase a batch of armored vehicles?" Major General Rahim asked.

"We can allocate a batch of armored vehicles to the Glass House when the time comes." Commander-in-Chief Qasim did not specify the quantity to be allocated, only giving a verbal commitment to allocate some.

"Good." Major General Rahim was very happy to hear that there would be an allocation. He decided he would just strive to get more when the time came to purchase. "Oh, there's one more thing. General Faraj of the Syrian military is considering launching an attack against the USA, and now they need us to provide aid with a batch of light weapons."

"Aid Syria with light weapons? Sure. You can just provide the aid to them from the Glass House," Commander-in-Chief Qasim readily agreed.

"But the scale of aid they are requesting is a bit large, including 50,000 various rifles and machine guns, 200 million rounds of various ammunition, as well as a number of individual equipment such as helmets and bulletproof vests." Major General Rahim reported the quantity requested by Syria.

"This is indeed a bit much; free aid is a bit hard to justify," Commander-in-Chief Qasim considered for a moment and said, "Didn't Syria lease oil and natural gas from us? Let them pay with 5 million barrels of oil from the third year of the lease. If the Syrian military is willing, we can provide it to them."

5 million barrels of oil, worth about 350 million USD, would be used to purchase such a large amount of guns and ammunition. Although Iran wouldn't make much money, at least it wouldn't be free aid.

"Alright. I will communicate with the Syrian military." Major General Rahim knew that such a large-scale provision of weapons and equipment was not suitable for free aid.