125: Chapter 125: Seeking an opportunity to secure more funds for the glass house.

Major General Rahim quickly contacted General Faraj and relayed the opinion of Commander-in-Chief Qasim to him.

"General Faraj, I have already contacted the Persian Lion State National Guard. There is no issue with providing light weapons to aid Syria, but Syria must pay a certain price." Major General Rahim delivered the good news, though it wasn't perfect.

General Faraj was initially pleased to hear that Iran was willing to provide light weapons to Syria, but he soon realized it wasn't free aid and asked, "What price does Syria need to pay?"

"Syria has leased oil and natural gas from Iran, so you will need to provide 5 million barrels of oil from the third year of the lease as payment for this large-scale supply of light weapons." Major General Rahim stated it straightforwardly.

At the current international oil price of around $70 per barrel, a 20% discount makes 5 million barrels of oil worth $280 million.

Syria hopes that Iran will provide aid including 50,000 various rifles and machine guns, 200 million rounds of various types of ammunition, as well as a quantity of individual equipment such as helmets and body armor.

Even at $700 per rifle, 45,000 rifles are worth $31.5 million; at $5,000 per machine gun, 5,000 machine guns are worth $25 million.

Calculating various rifle ammunition at $35 per 100 rounds, 150 million rounds are worth $52.5 million; machine gun ammunition at $150 per 100 rounds makes 50 million rounds worth $75 million.

Calculating body armor at $1,000 per set, 100,000 sets are worth $100 million; at $200 per helmet, 100,000 helmets are worth $20 million.

The value of these weapons and equipment alone reaches $300 million, and with other supporting individual equipment, the total value should be even higher.

General Faraj pondered for a moment and said, "We agree to use 5 million barrels of oil to purchase these light weapons and equipment, but we hope Iran can increase the quantity of aid. Specifically, at least 60,000 rifles, 6,000 machine guns, 180 million rounds of rifle ammunition, 70 million rounds of machine gun ammunition, 100,000 sets of body armor, 100,000 helmets, and other supporting individual equipment."

After listening, Major General Rahim saw that the increase wasn't particularly large, and since the light weapons and equipment produced by Iran weren't priced particularly high to begin with, he considered it and said, "Very well. We will provide aid to Syria on this scale."

General Faraj asked, "Then, when will these light weapons and equipment be delivered?"

"It will take at least a month. We need to assemble such a large quantity of light weapons and equipment," Major General Rahim gave a timeframe. The Glass House could assemble a batch of light weapons and equipment, but another portion needed to be transported from Iran, which would take time.

A month was acceptable to General Faraj; the armored vehicles provided by the arms dealer would take that long anyway, so they could just be deployed to the various Syrian forces together at that time.

"Very well. I will wait for the good news from Major General Rahim," General Faraj said. Afterward, he would arrange for Colonel Andrei to sign the relevant agreements with the Glass House and be responsible for receiving the light weapons and equipment delivered by the Glass House.

Seeing that the light weapons and equipment had been finalized, General Faraj breathed a sigh of relief. Now that the armored vehicles were settled, the drones ordered, the anti-aircraft missiles obtained, and the anti-tank missiles purchased, all weapons and equipment were ordered. He just had to wait for delivery to immediately deploy them to the various Syrian units, and once training was complete, launch an offensive against the USA.

Major General Rahim similarly entrusted these matters to Lieutenant Colonel Haidari. As for assembling the light weapons and equipment from Iran, he would coordinate well with Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad, and Lieutenant Colonel Haidari would be responsible for following up on the subsequent delivery matters.

At this moment, Colonel Suman called Major General Rahim.

"Major General Rahim, Commander-in-Chief Qasim intends to purchase a batch of armored vehicles. I wonder if you have received the news?" Colonel Suman asked.

"Commander-in-Chief Qasim made the decision so quickly?" Major General Rahim was surprised; he hadn't expected Commander-in-Chief Qasim to arrange for Colonel Suman to contact him about the armored vehicles so soon.

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief Qasim has arranged for me to go and conduct arms trade negotiations with the arms dealer," Colonel Suman confirmed.

"I wonder if Commander-in-Chief Qasim mentioned how many armored vehicles and drones would be allocated to our Glass House?" Major General Rahim was quite concerned about this issue.

"How many armored vehicles does the Glass House need?" Colonel Suman didn't answer but asked in return.

"500 Fierce Rhino Mark II tanks, 500 Fierce Rhino Mark III tanks, with 100,000 rounds of various supporting artillery shells; 500 Fierce Tiger Mark II armored vehicles, 500 Fierce Tiger Mark III armored vehicles, with 100,000 rounds of various supporting shells; 500 Fierce Lion Mark II artillery pieces, 500 Fierce Lion Mark III artillery pieces, with 100,000 rounds of various supporting shells; and 100 million rounds of machine gun ammunition for the armored vehicles." Major General Rahim made a greedy request and prepared to continue.

But Colonel Suman interrupted him, "Impossible, the quantity the Glass House wants is too high. 300 each of Fierce Rhino Mark II tanks, Fierce Tiger Mark II armored vehicles, and Fierce Lion Mark II artillery pieces; 200 each of Fierce Rhino Mark III tanks, Fierce Tiger Mark III armored vehicles, and Fierce Lion Mark III artillery pieces. 50,000 rounds of each type of supporting artillery shell, and 30 million rounds of machine gun ammunition."

Major General Rahim saw that the Persian Lion State National Guard still gave the Glass House 1,500 armored vehicles, and he felt quite satisfied. He said, "Then the Sky Dragon Mark I UAVs are also being purchased, right? Can you give the Glass House 300 sets?"

Colonel Suman didn't refuse this time and said, "Very well, 300 sets of Sky Dragon Mark I UAVs will be allocated to the Glass House, along with 3,000 supporting air-to-ground missiles and 15,000 bombs. Additionally, a batch of Sky Arrow series anti-tank missiles will be allocated to the Glass House."

As for the newly purchased Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile, Colonel Suman did not intend to allocate any more to the Glass House. The Glass House already had quite a few Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles, which were more than sufficient for air defense in Syria.

Major General Rahim was very happy to see there would be 300 drones. The Glass House had drones now, but the quantity wasn't high, only a few dozen, and their combat performance wasn't strong either; they were just barely sufficient.

"Thank you, Colonel Suman. Then when will you go to conduct arms trade negotiations with the arms dealer?" Major General Rahim asked, a bit anxiously.

"I haven't contacted the arms dealer yet, so the time hasn't been determined," Colonel Suman said.

"I'll go participate in the negotiations too, is that alright?" Major General Rahim asked.

If he participated in the negotiations, he could secure more benefits for the Glass House during the process. Who knew what other weapons and equipment Iran might purchase from the arms dealer? He would see if there was an opportunity to seize the chance to secure some more for the Glass House.

"If you want to participate, that's fine." Colonel Suman did not refuse.

"Tell me once the time and location for the negotiations are confirmed," Major General Rahim said quickly.

"Very well." Colonel Suman hung up the phone; he had already figured out the weapons and equipment requirements of the Glass House.