Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

Director Zhu's expertise was in artillery. His arm was lost while defusing an unexploded shell. With his strong support, those below began to seriously consider the idea.

Tanks, the kings of land warfare, firepower first!

"But the shells are too heavy. They need to be separated for loading, and we need an automatic loader. We don't have the technical foundation for that!" Someone raised a concern.

The larger the caliber of the gun, the larger and heavier the shell. Western standard 120mm tank shells weigh nearly twenty kilograms, heavier than a jug of water. It's exhausting to hug these shells inside a bumpy tank and load them into the breech.

The Americans solve this with Black soldiers manually loading, but that won't work in the East. Easterners are smaller and don't have that much strength! Especially if we're going for a 125mm tank gun, the shells will be even heavier. We'd have to separate the cartridge and the projectile, requiring two loading steps for each shot, which is too slow. We need an automatic loader.

We don't have the relevant technology domestically.

"We don't, but the Soviets do! We can get a T-72 and reverse engineer the automatic loader, right?" Qin Yang said casually.

Although the Soviets are physically strong, their tanks are low-profile. The tank crews they recruit are short East Asians. They can't lift the heavy shells either. So, after the T-64 tank appeared, carrying a 125mm tank gun, it was equipped with an automatic loader.

However, the T-64's automatic loader was unreliable, causing the Soviets much grief. Later, they had the Nizhny Tagil tank factory create a simplified version of the T-64. The audacious designer Kartsev actually scrapped the original and created a completely new T-72 tank. Fortunately, the final result was a win-win.

Qin Yang is not only a military industry expert but also the general manager of Fangbei Industrial Corporation, a top-notch foreign trade operator. However, everyone is still skeptical.

The T-72, the Soviet Union's main battle tank, is only exported to the most reliable allies, and even they treat it like a treasure. How could we get one?

Qin Yang smiled: "No, we'll get it from Romania."

"Romania?" Everyone present was stunned: "They have T-72 tanks?"

"If Iraq can have them, why can't Romania?" Qin Yang said, "Your information is too outdated, isn't it? Back in 1978, Romania purchased thirty T-72s from the Soviets. In 1979, they were equipped by the troops. Those are all brand new T-72 M1s!"

"Even if they have them, can we get one?" Director Fang asked.

"That's right. It's their trump card tank, isn't it?" Liu Jingye chimed in.

"They wouldn't make good use of such good tanks anyway," Qin Yang said. "Romania is in the rear of the Warsaw Pact, with little defense pressure. So, they don't value the development of armored forces that much. Besides, their country has a good industrial base, so they'd rather produce them in their own factories. They bought this batch of T-72 tanks just to reverse engineer them, not to actually equip them in large numbers."

Qin Yang certainly knew the story of Romania's T-72 tanks. He also knew that when they were developing the third-generation tank, they referenced Romania's T-72. Therefore, he was 100% confident. This is the advantage of a time-traveler!

"General Manager Qin, can you really get a T-72 tank back?" Old Zhu's voice was filled with excitement.

"Since the higher-ups appointed me as the head of Fangbei Industrial Corporation, I have to play my role," Qin Yang said. "If you all think this plan is feasible, then I'll take a trip and use my silver tongue to convince Romania to sell us one, or exchange it for our domestic equipment."

They won't let me go to the South. If I can go abroad again and experience the exotic scenery, a publicly funded trip, life would be so good.

Just as Old Zhu was about to nod, Director Fang thought of something: "Engineer Qin, getting a T-72 tank is very important to us, but other work is also important, such as the research and development of small-caliber bullets, which is related to the major event of our army's re-equipment. You always want to run around, you owe us too much. Pay off your debts first."

I just went south to fight monkeys, didn't I? Do you have to make things so difficult for me? Qin Yang glanced at Director Fang sitting above: "Alright, please ask the higher-ups to quickly approve the process. Before the overseas project is finalized, I'll get the small-caliber bullets developed for the troops. Is that okay?"

"It only takes a few days for us to go through the process, at most a week. Can you develop the small-caliber bullets so quickly?" Director Fang rolled his eyes at him.

Qin Yang scratched his head: "Well, it's a bit tight, but for the country, for the army, I'll do my best and guarantee to complete the task on time!"

The people present, listening to Qin Yang's words, had an indescribable feeling.

The problem that domestic ammunition experts haven't solved for many years, Engineer Qin can solve in a few days? Who would believe that? But this Engineer Qin is very strange, he really does create miracles often!

Director Fang glanced at Qin Yang: "Engineer Qin, you've launched quite a few satellites for us. Let's continue this time. We'll give you a week, and we'll see what you can do with small-caliber bullets!"

The meeting ended. After dinner, Qin Yang and Lin Heping returned to the Capital Agricultural Tool Factory together.

"Brother Lin, can you check for me, are they waiting for me over there at the entrance?" As they approached the factory gate, Qin Yang stopped and asked worriedly.

Anyone who meets him will probably scold him. He hates listening to these people's nagging the most.

"Okay."

A few minutes later, Lin Heping returned: "That's right, there's a large group of people at the factory gate!"

"Alas, Brother Lin, tell them that I still have work at Fangbei Industrial Corporation, so I won't be going back. Tell them not to wait," Qin Yang said. "And don't come to the company to find me, pay attention to maintaining confidentiality."

Qin Yang is not only the section chief of the Capital Agricultural Tool Factory but also the head of the foreign trade company! Moreover, the foreign trade company has a higher rank. So, he simply used this excuse.

"Yangzi, it's so cold, they're all waiting for you eagerly at the factory gate. They're worried about you! Even if they say a few words to you, can't you just listen?" Lin Heping felt that Qin Yang was a bit unfeeling.

"Brother Lin, I know, I really have something to do!" After Qin Yang finished speaking, he turned and headed towards the landlord's mansion in Xiaowang Village.

Although in this world, he's only eighteen years old, his soul is that of an old military industrialist. How could he endure those people nagging endlessly? Qin Yang just wanted to ditch them.

Qin Yang quickly arrived at the mansion. The courtyard door was already bolted from the inside. Qin Yang pushed it but it didn't budge, so he skillfully climbed over the wall.

This three-courtyard mansion is very large. Qin Yang directly climbed into the middle courtyard and then walked outwards. He remembered very clearly that the main house in the outer courtyard was the classroom, the east house was the office, and the west house was a temporary resting place.

Director Dong is a workaholic and often forgets the time. If he works too late, he will stay in the company and sleep.

I'll just make do with Director Dong for one night tonight, and head straight to the bullet production workshop tomorrow!

With this plan in mind, Qin Yang arrived at the front courtyard. The light in the west house was on. The 15-watt light bulb was a bit dim. The door was ajar, and you could hear the rustling sound from the coal bin in the corner. It seemed Director Dong had gone to get coal.

Qin Yang pushed open the door, strode in, and then… slipped into bed.

This bed is really warm!

Just to show off, this T-72 model was given to Potato Chips by a reader. Ignore the two auxiliary fuel tanks, they were damaged during transportation.