I work as a mercenary in northern Myanmar.

Chapter 596 Selling Spears and Shields

The flight from Damascus to Tunisia actually did not have too many twists and turns, because this was within the range of Xia Xing's capabilities. Whether it was boarding or landing, even visas, everything was done at once.

However, flying from Tunisia to Pakistan is different.

They must go through a complete process with the identity they have obtained in advance. Even if it can be accelerated through certain means, they must stay in Tunisia for at least two days.

Just as Chen Chen said, this was another vacation-style business trip.

Stay in the best hotels, eat the most expensive food, and buy the most expensive luxury goods.

Chen Chen did not deliberately control the slightly high-profile shopping behavior of other team members, because as a group of mercenaries, they were really a rare breed among the rarefied.

Not gambling, not prostitution, not taking drugs, not bullying, not being arrogant, just these few points, there are not many regular soldiers in the world who can do it.
Sitting in the French restaurant of the hotel, Li Bang swallowed a pitifully small piece of foie gras in one gulp, shook his head and said to Chen Chen:

"The best thing in this meal is the fried chicken that was just served."

"Snail, lobster, etc. When we retire, we can open a Chinese restaurant in Tunisia. I think we can make a lot of money."

".Aren't snails delicious?"

Chen Chenyan said insincerely.

"Big, slimy apple snails, what's so delicious about them?"

".What about foie gras?"

"Finely ground egg yolk mixed with red wine and caramel?"

"Lobster, lobster is okay, right?"

"It's better to have the prawns in sauce you made for us in Mengka. The kitchen there was blown up, and the tableware we bought was still inside. What a pity."

".Your train of thought is too long. It happened so long ago, and you're just now feeling sad when you think about it?"

Chen Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry, while Li Bang said solemnly:

"Those things were expensive - especially compared to the money we had back then."

"When we first arrived in Mengka, we couldn't even scrape together 10,000 yuan. Now, based on the exchange rate, this meal would cost more than 10,000 yuan."

“It’s like a dream.”

"Fortunately, we are still here."

"It's a pity for the white dog."

"It's not just the white dog, it's a pity for the others as well."

Chen Chen corrected him and continued:

"But that's how war works. As soon as gunfire sounds, people will die. You can't expect only the enemy to die while we don't."

"That does not conform to objective laws and is completely unrealistic."

"yes."

Li Bang nodded and turned to look at Lin He and others standing aside.

"Where are you going after dinner? Tunisia seems pretty safe, why don't you go out for a walk?"

"I don't know. I won't go. I don't speak Arabic and I only know a few words in French."

Lin He shook his head, but Ping Chuan on the side said:

"I'll take you there. Since we're already here, it would be a shame if we didn't go."

"Tunisia is the only country among all the places you have visited that can be considered a serious tourist destination. The internal and external environment is also quite good. It's no big deal to have some fun there."

"Don't fight like a machine. Go to the lake, take some pictures, and bring them back to show your family."

"Especially Li Bang, your sister is still young, so you should pay more attention to her when you have time."

"For children of this age, character building is very important. Don't become someone like Bao Xiaomei in the future. Otherwise, you will know you are wrong."

A familiar yet unfamiliar name entered Chen Chen's ears. He scratched his head subconsciously and said:

"There's nothing wrong with her being like that."

"Then your daughter will become Bao Xiaomei in the future."

"Your daughter has become Bao Xiaomei!"

Chen Chen glared at Pingchuan angrily, and the latter laughed and said:
"I'm just kidding. If you really have a daughter, no one can turn into Bao Xiaomei. There are rules to control her."

"Forget it, forget it. Let's not talk about this. What exactly are you going to buy in Peshawar? Can you tell me now?"

Chen Chen was too lazy to respond to Pingchuan's words, but after drinking a few sips of water, he looked up and looked at Pingchuan's face, which was obviously much older than when he first met him in Pubei. He finally softened his heart.

Forget it, he’s an old man already, there’s no point in fussing about his irresponsible words.

So he opened his mouth and replied:

"There's nothing to keep secret. It's just a machine tool. A high-precision, high-matching gun processing machine tool."

"I know it's a gun processing machine, but the problem is that the gun manufacturing technology in Peshawar is basically small workshop-style, and the most they can produce and imitate is a few models in the AK series."

"Technically speaking, there are such machine tools in Pubei. There is no need to go to Peshawar to find them, right?"

"Although there are many types of weapons there, they are generally quite backward."

"You want high-precision and high-quality machine tools, but you can't find them there."

Pingchuan showed a puzzled look on his face. In fact, he suspected that this decision was a misjudgment of Chen Chen, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that he would not make such a low-level mistake.

"It's not that Peshawar doesn't have high-precision machine tools, but the reputation of handmade guns there is so famous that many people ignore the real gun-making industry there."

"And let me correct you, Peshawar is not only capable of making AKs, they can also make AR series rifles."

"Even earlier this year, there was news that they had begun to copy the HK416."

"This is the crux of the matter - think about it, is a gun like the HK416 that easy to make?"

“It’s really hard to make.”

Pingchuan frowned and shook his head, while the others were completely confused.

You say you understand guns, and everyone knows a little bit about it.

But making guns?

Except for Pingchuan who could say a few words, the others really knew nothing.

After a brief pause and thinking for a moment, Pingchuan continued:

"The barrel of the HK416 is made of special steel that is cold hammer forged and hard chrome plated. At present, the cold forging process is difficult to solve, and the chrome plating process is bound to strong industrial capacity, which is almost impossible for a small country to achieve."

"In addition, in terms of parts processing equipment, you must at least have deep hole drilling machines, deep hole boring machines, wire cutting machines, and so on."

"This is just the core part. Specialized equipment is needed for other woodworking, plastic parts, and alloy parts manufacturing."

"I believe you when you say they tried to copy it, but I don't believe you when you say they can really make it."

After Pingchuan finished speaking, Chen Chen nodded slowly.

"Yes, before that, even if all the forces of Peshawar were gathered, it would be impossible to build an HK416."

“But now it’s different.”

"Now, Peshawar does have a set of equipment capable of manufacturing high-precision firearms, and these equipment are in the hands of a single company."

".Which one?"

"ORSIS. A small workshop from Russia."

"never heard of that."

Pingchuan shook his head.

It was normal that he had never heard of it. In fact, this Mao company, which had a great reputation in the previous life, had only been established for less than a year.

According to the route of the previous life, the company's first factory should have been located in the suburbs of Moscow, but Chen Chen didn't know which wind blew them when he flapped his wings, so that ORSIS placed the factory in Peshawar.

Their business philosophy is completely different from the traditional and rough philosophy of the Russians. In many cases, they completely abandon the use of relatively mature but not advanced casting technology, and instead spend a lot of money to pursue high-precision cutting technology.

This philosophy enabled them to quickly obtain large investments and establish their own brand reputation in a very short period of time.

What Chen Chen had to do was to grab this opportunity before they could really gain a foothold and grow stronger. Yes, he wanted a machine tool.

But the machine tool he wanted was not lying in a factory in Peshawar waiting for him to take it away.

This is just an expectation, an expectation that ORSIS can handle the machine tool.

In their previous life, they could even import special steel directly from the United States and other NATO countries. In this life, their relationship should be able to play the same role.

Chen Chen briefly introduced the situation of ORSIS to Pingchuan, and the latter suddenly understood.

".What you said before was misleading."

“You’re not actually buying a machine tool, you’re buying a company, right?”

"No, what I want are the machine tools and production lines. I don't care whether the company is mine or not."

"That makes sense."

Pingchuan nodded thoughtfully, then asked:

"Now the most important question is, what do you want to build?"

"Build the arsenal in Tachileik with great fanfare and upgrade it, and then what?"

"You're not going to really copy the HK416, are you? To be honest, whether this gun can make money is actually unknown."

Chen Chen did not answer this question immediately, but asked back:
"What kind of gun do you think we need right now?"

"Li Bang, you speak first."

"Large caliber, high penetration, high firepower sustainability, high accuracy, light, and can be equipped with sights."

".You want everything, just tell me the most important thing!"

".Large caliber, high penetration."

Li Bang spread his hands helplessly, and then said:

"If you force me to choose, I can only choose these two."

"Our current enemies are too well-protected. Attacks to the torso are almost completely ineffective. Hitting the legs is more effective than hitting the body."

"If we can have a gun with high penetration performance, perhaps our combat effectiveness can be improved a little bit."

After Li Bang finished speaking, Chen Chen nodded slightly and turned to look at the poplar tree on the side.

"What about you?"

"I don't really have any requirements. The guns I use can basically penetrate everything."

"But as a secondary weapon, I don't have such high requirements for damage."

"I pay more attention to the continuity and suppression of firepower. It is enough for me to transfer safely."

"clear."

Yang Shu's requirement is completely a standard requirement for a sniper. For them, as long as they use a secondary weapon, there is basically only one situation:
Need to move.

It is very difficult to cause casualties during the transfer process. It is better to fire a few more shots and run a few more steps.

"Lin He?"

"It's best to be gentle. If you can't be gentle, do the same as Brother Li and have high penetration."

"Jackal?"

"Same, high penetration."

“So that’s it.”

Chen Chen spread his hands and continued:
"In the actual battlefield, all of us have the same requirements for guns."

"Apart from all other factors, penetration performance is definitely one of the core factors that determine victory or defeat in high-intensity, high-level confrontations."

"The reason is simple: bulletproof vests have developed too fast."

"So, we have to build a gun that can penetrate the fourth-level bulletproof vests commonly used at this stage."

After he finished speaking, Pingchuan sighed subconsciously.

"It's a good idea, but gun design is not that simple."

"Who in our entire group has the ability to design a gun from start to finish?"

“Even if we can design it, we may not be able to build it.”

"It's a very simple question. To achieve high penetration, you must have high chamber pressure, and high chamber pressure places very high demands on the receiver design and gunshot materials."

"Objectively speaking, I think it's difficult."

“I know it’s hard.”

Chen Chen did not refute, but explained calmly:

"But if we have a roughly correct direction and then introduce support from other forces, things will become much simpler."

"As it happens, I now do have a roughly correct direction to refer to."

".You still understand this??"

Everyone was stunned.

Chen Chen chuckled and replied:
"Understood."
-
In fact, he knows nothing.

He just happened to have read some reports on the XM7 design concept in his previous life and understood some of the relatively key technical nodes.

All he can do is to make suggestions like a sponsor. As for the implementation of the specific project, it still depends on the project manager.

"You said you understand, then I have no problem."

"But it will certainly be a long job - what about the gun? Didn't you say you wanted to build another one?"

"Yes."

Chen Chen nodded immediately and replied:

“But this is the other direction.”

"Do you remember the homemade cannon modified with depleted uranium shells that we sent to Xia Xing?"

"Remember, the depleted uranium muzzleloader - you want to copy this?"

"Yes. That's a good idea."

“Where does the depleted uranium material come from?”

“We don’t produce warheads.”

Chen Chen replied decisively:
"We only make launchers, and we only make launchers that match the ammunition that certain armed groups can get."

".Business genius. Will anyone buy this thing??"

Pingchuan asked in disbelief.

"Don't worry, given the current situation in the Middle East, we definitely have a lot of customers."

"They buy gas cylinders and seamless steel pipes. If we just make what they need and give it to them, how could they not buy it?"

"This business is more profitable than selling bulletproof vests. The profit margin of bulletproof vests is too thin and it won't last for more than a few years. We also have to plan for the long term."

After the words were spoken, Pingchuan exclaimed in admiration.

"We sell bulletproof vests and armor-piercing equipment, and maybe we can sell high-penetration rifles in the future."

"Our group's business has come to an end."

"you do not say."

Chen Chen nodded happily and said:

"So I finally decided to let Peng Xucheng go as well."

"This time, we will not only purchase goods, but also investigate the local market."

(End of this chapter)