Upon hearing the voice of the military-dressed elder, the kindly-looking round-faced man named Mr. Zhou Jinlie nodded and said:
"Yes, Mr. Wei, your guess is correct. It's done by Wang Ye."
"This morning, Liang Jinsong, the director of the Defense Office in Luqi Province, called me. He said that Wang Ye, that kid, has really done something big this time. He thinks that this new product is very useful for our army, so he asked for samples and hopes to send them to Yanjing for testing."
"I just finished listening to the introduction, and I probably had the same expression as you. Who designs individual weapons with a 40-millimeter caliber for single soldiers? According to our standards, this is already artillery!"
"I thought it was a joke, but he solemnly assured me that he had already seen the tests at the Hongxing Factory, and the results were quite good!"
"So I let him send them over, and I only called you this afternoon to have your base coordinate and receive the goods."
Mr. Wei nodded, then carefully examined the goods in the crates. He then reached out and picked up the revolver grenade launcher, weighing it in his hands and contemplating:
"It weighs about four kilograms, not heavy but not light either. I can see that they've considered weight reduction in the structure."
"So this is not a gun but a standalone grenade launcher? Not reliant on a rifle for firing? And it's not single-shot; I see they're all multiple-shot grenade launchers?"
"So these grenade launchers are specifically designed to enhance the firepower support and output capabilities of squad and platoon-level combat units!"
"That Wang Ye, indeed, has some ideas!"
Grenades, when combined with "launchers," become hand grenades. Hand grenades have been around for a long time, but they have one drawback: their range is very limited. Even a strong man can only throw them about seventy to eighty meters at most. For an ordinary soldier, it's thirty to fifty meters at best.
In this case, rifle grenades naturally came into existence. The original rifle grenades were similar in appearance to small-caliber mortar shells, inserted into the muzzle of a rifle and fired using the kinetic energy of blank cartridges, which gave them a longer range than thrown hand grenades.
Currently, the main equipment domestically is still this type.
But Mr. Wei knows that nowadays, the United States and the Soviet Union have begun developing standalone rifle-mounted and single-shot rifle grenades, meaning they don't use blank cartridges. Instead, they make the grenades look like large bullets, making firing more convenient and faster.
However, there are currently no similar products domestically.
"Interesting! Very interesting!"
"How did Wang Ye come up with this? His mind is truly extraordinary! No wonder Sun Canghai praises him every three sentences!"
Under the watchful gaze of Mr. Zhou Jinlie, the military-dressed elder tried out various poses with the grenade launcher, such as aiming and bracing the weapon. He even tried folding the somewhat rudimentary stock. Finally, a smile gradually appeared on his face, and he couldn't help but sigh with satisfaction, as if a child had just received a new toy.
"And the grenades? Where are they?"
"Open them up!"
With the military-dressed elder's command, several guards nearby immediately got busy. In a matter of minutes, they had opened several crates on the scene. Among the crates were the specialty products brought by Wang Ye for Director Liang, including three of each type of grenade launcher and a total of two hundred grenades.
Finally, when the crates containing the grenades were opened, there was a small commotion at the scene. When everyone saw the bright orange grenades resembling carrots, they couldn't help but gasp in amazement!
"Haha, to be honest, although this revolver one should be the most practical..."
"But I'm actually most looking forward to this grenade machine gun. If it serves as a firepower point, it will be virtually impregnable! In terms of obstructing the enemy and offensive efficiency, it's unmatched by heavy machine guns!"
The military-dressed elder led the applause, and the guards at the scene also joined in enthusiastically. After witnessing the entire testing process, they had no more doubts about the power of the grenade launchers.
"Good stuff! Indeed good stuff! Haha!"
"Wang Ye, this kid, is truly a genius! He's got what it takes!"
"And according to our information, I don't recall any similar weapons internationally, do you? Ha? Could this grenade launcher be considered the first new weapon invented by our Huaxia? Exciting! So exciting!"
Standing on the observation platform, the military-dressed elder appeared very excited. Even unable to resist cursing, he said to himself, seemingly overwhelmed by excitement. In the end, he even waved his arms vigorously, and the others at the scene also nodded, indicating that they indeed had not heard of any similar weapons internationally.
As for Mr. Zhou Jinlie, he was even more ecstatic!
Back then, when Wang Ye volunteered, there were actually more people opposed to it than those who agreed. Although Wang Ye's professional skills were unquestionable, he had just graduated with a master's degree and knew nothing about management!
In the end, it was Mr. Zhou Jinlie who went against the tide and signed for Wang Ye. Now that Wang Ye had achieved results, he was delighted!
"Mr. Wei, you're right. Although we don't have money, we can't skimp on some things!"
"We're not completely at peace yet, and I think this kind of weapon is just right for us!"
"So, I'll propose in my name. Old Zhou, you coordinate and purchase two hundred revolvers, fifty sniper rifles, fifty machine guns, and ten thousand grenades. Get them sent to the south as soon as possible!"
"Money? We don't have money, but we'll give them materials, with an additional thirty percent!"
Upon hearing the military-dressed elder's words, there was certainly no objection from Zhou Jinlie, the kindly-faced man. The military-dressed elder, Wei Qingshan, simply called over a staff member, signed a piece of paper, and finally added his own name.
Once this order was confirmed, Wei Qingshan let out a sigh of relief and then chuckled, saying:
"So, Wang Ye is planning to deceive people by selling inferior goods."
"He's treating this thing like some kind of firefighting equipment, selling it to our African friends?"
In response to Wei Qingshan's remarks, Zhou Jinlie nodded and said:
"That's right. And recently, they've struck it rich again!"
"They completely fooled Tanzania's Kikwete! They came up with some kind of win-win cooperation plan."
"They directly purchased six million dollars' worth of gas cylinders and steel pipe rockets!"
"I saw a copy of the telegram. My legs were shaking!"
"Steel pipe rockets, Wei, you know what those are, right? They're similar in caliber to our 122mm rockets. I don't think they cost even fifty yuan to make, but he's selling them for a thousand dollars, and Kikwete is buying them!"
"Who can argue with that?"
Zhou Jinlie shook his head in a mix of laughter and exasperation. Hearing this news for the first time, Wei Qingshan's eyes widened, and he sucked in a breath of air, saying:
"You mean that thing that caused a stir a few days ago? The agricultural rain-enhancement bombs?"
"A thousand dollars? Why isn't he going into robbery?"
The next second, Wei Qingshan wore a wry smile and said:
"I think he should go back to the ministry."
"This is like a god of wealth! Let him manage finances and foreign trade, and I bet it won't be long before our military industry system starts making money!"
Agreeing with Wei Qingshan's sentiment, Zhou Jinlie sighed and said:
"That's true. With Wang Ye's intelligence, if he gets the right position..."
"How could he possibly leave?"
After that, the two lost interest in the conversation. After a while, they each lit a cigarette, and in the dim light of the setting sun, Zhou Jinlie cleared his throat and said:
"In a few days, I'm going to start my inspection tour. The first stop will be the Hongxing Machinery Factory."
"Do you want to come with me? Let's go take a look!"
To this proposal, Wei Qingshan, dressed in military attire, nodded without hesitation, smiling as he said:
"Sure, I'm curious as well!"
"I want to see what kind of person this kid Wang Ye really is!"
After a while, the convoy set off again, heading back towards the city center of Yanjing in the fading light of the evening.
In the following days,
Wang Ye was busy at the machinery factory.
Mainly focusing on the engines, the semi-skilled engineers trained in night school couldn't handle it. Wang Ye had to participate in many of the engine testing tasks.
In addition, the production of rotary-wing aircraft was also in full swing.
"Phew! I'm thirsty!"
Another weekend, early in the morning, Wang Ye was busy with a group of people in the workshop for half a day. It wasn't until ten o'clock that he returned to his office, sat down, and drank a whole pot of cold tea that had been left to cool, ready to take a break.
He casually picked up the newspaper that had been placed on his desk and glanced at it. Suddenly, his eyes lit up!
The headline on the front page of the newspaper, written in bold letters, read:
"The Autumn Canton Fair will be held on July 20th!"
"With participation from over a hundred countries and regions, it will be the first time that foreign-invested enterprises will participate!"
Seeing this, Wang Ye couldn't help but smile with joy, his face full of excitement. He even chuckled to himself a few times, as this news was like a pillow sent when he was about to fall asleep!
The so-called Canton Fair, formally known as the China Import and Export Fair, was held in Guangzhou, so it was called the Canton Fair.
Since its establishment in 1957, the Canton Fair has been the largest import and export commodity fair in China. It is held in the spring and autumn, and customers from all over the world come to participate, either selling goods to China or purchasing goods from China.
Even in the future decades, the Canton Fair remained the largest trade fair for China's import and export trade. And the Zhuhai Air Show held in Zhuhai, a city adjacent to Guangzhou, was, in a sense, the largest arms trade fair in China!
For Wang Ye, the key to the Canton Fair was that there would be many foreigners!
Thinking of this, Wang Ye immediately picked up the phone and dialed the number of the Development Office of the Industrial Bureau. After a while, Mr. Li, who was busy in the office, answered the phone and casually cleared his throat:
"Yuntai Industrial Bureau, this is Li Gang."
In the office, Mr. Li lowered his head to look at the documents, holding a pen in one hand and the phone in the other, when he heard a familiar and joyful voice from the other end:
"Mr. Li? It's Wang Ye!"
"The Autumn Canton Fair is going to start on the 20th. Why haven't you informed us?"
"Our Red Star Machinery Factory is going to participate in the Canton Fair!"
With this statement, Wang Ye left Mr. Li, who was distracted by the documents, completely stunned!