Chapter 386: Bring back the pilot too
Regarding the strategy plan for Kachin and Wenbeng, Chen Chen has actually been preparing for a long time.
This is not a whim of revenge, nor is it simply "doing things for others", but a strategic decision made after careful consideration.
If the Dongfeng Corps wants to gain a foothold in Pubei, it must have a relatively stable external environment.
And this stable external environment, of course, does not refer to "unification of all Pubei", but "a rich competitive environment that is consistent in the general direction."
In a word, you can have warlords here, you can have separatist regimes, you can fight life and death, and you can even occupy land and become king.
However, no force can attempt to block the "general trend" of development or oppose the macro-strategy.
Obviously, among the many warlords and ethnic and local armed forces here, only the Kachin has the conditions and motivation to fight against the general trend.
Therefore, Chen Chen must get rid of it.
Even if we don't defeat them directly like Zhao Jialiang, we still have to remove the nails inside and eliminate most of the pro-American forces in Kachin.
The specific action strategy is actually very simple and is divided into 3 parts.
The first part is to carry out high-intensity and high-frequency beheading operations to kill most of the senior officials and influential figures who are pro-American.
The second part is to eliminate the Kachin strongholds and bases scattered across Pubei and cut off their economic sources.
This part will inevitably involve Wen Bang and the CIA, and it is also the part that will directly hit them the hardest.
The third part is to organize a "big battle" to knock out their main force and eliminate their ability to resist.
These three parts all require certain preliminary preparations. In the first part, the Dongfeng Corps can actually do it, but again, a fragmented attack cannot form an effective and thorough attack.
Therefore, Chen Chen never took action, but waited until the conditions for the latter two parts were mature before making the decision to go to war.
It is clear that in the current environment, conditions are fully ripe.
After the trip to Indonesia, the Dongfeng Corps has received a considerable degree of support, and it will be much easier to obtain subsequent equipment and political resources.
At the same time, due to several previous wars, the Kokang, Wa State, and northern and southern Shan States have basically formed a stable alliance of interests. The northward route from Tachileik to Bhamo is unimpeded. The Dongfeng Corps has gained broad strategic depth and also gained Relatively safe supply lines.
Finally, the preparation of equipment and troops has also been perfected, and the Dongfeng Corps no longer has to rely on a dozen or twenty people to conquer the world as it did before.
The current Dongfeng Corps has thousands of "outsourced forces" wearing body armor. Its core strength also has tanks, heavy artillery, rockets and helicopters.
With such firepower, wouldn’t it be possible to defeat a Kachin?
Unless the Burmese army takes action in person.
Unfortunately, after the Burmese army suffered consecutive setbacks, they have learned their lesson.
They know that even if some things are not good for them in the long run, as long as they can get by in the short term, they can just muddle along.
Therefore, all the mobilization pieces of the Kachin Raiders have been assembled, and action against them can be said to be imperative.
Chen Chen revealed the news to Jackal without any hesitation.
This is his final test.
If Jackal can stand firm in this operation, then he will truly become the Dongfeng Corps and Chen Chen's "ally".
No matter what, Chen Chen still has confidence in him.
After sending Jackal away, Chen Chen convened a meeting with core members of the Dongfeng Group and the Allied Forces without stopping to understand the current situation and inform the next stage of the plan.
He told everyone that within the next three months, everyone’s main goal is one:
Mobilize all resources and capture Kachin!
In this regard, He Bupa and He Bangxiong, who were originally soldiers, were particularly excited, and besides them, the eyes of others also shone with expectation.
"Great unification"?
No, it's still too early to mention such words.
However, there is indeed a trend, isn't it?
When a meeting ends, everyone immediately takes action.
Peng Xucheng and Xu You found Chen Chen alone and reported to him the current equipment preparation status of the Dongfeng Corps.
Sitting in Chen Chen's office, Peng Xucheng said:
"Currently we have a total of eight armored vehicles on hand, six of which have arrived and two are expected to arrive next week."
"You have seen two VT-1A tanks and two 63A tanks. They are all foreign trade models from Tanzania. They are very clean in all aspects."
"The various weapons and ammunition equipped with the tank have also arrived. If they are not enough, you can continue to ask for more."
"At the same time, Tanzania has provided us with a digital upgrade plan, but to be honest, we probably don't dare to ask for it, so I didn't talk about it."
After hearing what Peng Xucheng said, Chen Chen nodded slightly to express his appreciation.
He knows what Peng Xucheng’s digital upgrade plan is.
In fact, it is a set of transitional expansion modules for the old VT-1A tank, which is part of the VT-2 front-end solution. In other words, it is a by-product of a battlefield test, and the purpose is to provide data for subsequent foreign trade models of tanks. .
The characteristics of this thing are very obvious, including fire control radar, new photoelectric sights, and even some high-end models are equipped with a commander's omnidirectional observation tower, which is essentially different from the country-beating VT-1A.
And it was precisely because of its "obvious characteristics" that Chen Chen couldn't use it.
Because once this latest experimental tank appears in Pubei, many things will become unclear.
It must be said that Peng Xucheng's political sense is quite keen.
Thinking of this, Chen Chen said:
"No problem, we don't need this either."
"Where's the reactive armor? How many sets are there?"
"There are currently 8 sets of FY-4 reactive armor with an equivalent penetration resistance of 180mm, which should be enough for use in Pubei."
That is indeed enough.
The penetration resistance is equivalent to 180mm, which is almost the same as when a 125mm caliber armor-piercing bullet is fired, the penetration depth can be reduced by about 40% to about 50%. Coupled with the tank's own armor, the risk of penetration can basically be completely avoided.
Unless they initiate attacks, no one can really do anything to these tanks.
——
However, Kachin does have helicopters.
So, Chen Chen continued to ask:
"There is no need to introduce the tank in too much detail. I am familiar with the parameters."
"What are the other four armored vehicles?"
"Two PLZ-45s and two SM-4s. The SM-4s came from Algeria and have not arrived yet."
155-meter howitzer plus 81-meter howitzer, the firepower is full, and the weapon is full.
So now, what the Dongfeng Corps lacks is no longer "heavy firepower", but "middle firepower" like the previous F150, as well as anti-aircraft firepower.
After thinking for a moment, Chen Chen said:
"Import two more WZ05 twin 57mm self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to deal with Kachin helicopters."
"In addition, add a batch of wheeled light armored combat vehicles, either Predators or Warriors."
"Do you still have enough money to spend?"
Hearing this, Peng Xucheng nodded first, and then slowly shook his head.
"Currently, we still have 90 million US dollars in cash on our books, which is completely enough to purchase equipment. However, after completing the equipment purchase, our funds should only be around 60 million US dollars, which has dropped below the safety line."
"Laozhu has begun a large-scale recruitment expansion, and the number of personnel trained at the Mengka base has reached 50."
"The cost of personnel and equipment loss, equipment depreciation, and material consumption can reach more than 1.5 million U.S. dollars every month. Coupled with other operating costs, it is completely impossible to maintain balance of payments by relying solely on scattered mercenary missions."
"In addition, gold mining requires a lot of capital. It is still in the net outflow stage, consuming at least two million US dollars per month."
"Preliminary estimates show that with the current amount of funds, we can support it for eight months."
"It's definitely enough for ordinary commercial companies, but we are special in nature. When we get involved, money will be spent like water."
"Just for an emergency equipment purchase, you don't know how much excess cost will be consumed."
"Whether these 60 million can last for two months and until the benefits of the Kachin campaign are realized is actually unknown."
"In short, we need to expand into new markets to inject stable blood into us."
"Understood."
Chen Chen nodded slightly, pondered for a moment and then said:
"First we will go to Indonesia to sell a batch of body armor. We have reached cooperation with the local police. The batch purchase is expected to be more than 10,000 sets, but the price needs to be brought down to less than 3,000 US dollars."
"Go and talk to the manufacturer, lower the purchase price as much as possible and increase profits."
"I understand, but it's not enough."
Peng Xucheng replied without hesitation:
"We need at least another $40 million to bring funds back to safety."
"The bulletproof vest business seems very profitable, but we are just a middleman. The scale is too small and it is not very interesting."
"Is there any other business I can do?"
"There really isn't one at the moment, at least not in Pubei."
Chen Chen slowly shook his head.
Contrary to what many people think, the arms trade cannot be sold just by having the goods in hand, the demand in the market, and the background.
In fact, one of the most important issues is the contradiction between "market saturation" and "capital preservation baseline".
Chen Chen plans to launch arms trade in Indonesia, but the problem is that the arms officially purchased by Indonesia are generally "national-level" and have extremely high requirements for advanced levels.
For some small orders, the hidden costs you need to pay far exceed the profit of one order.
You said that if I don’t make money on my first order, I should open up a market first. But what happens after the market is opened?
Do you think you can have a steady stream of business coming to your door?
The depreciation and consumption rate of weapons and ammunition is limited. If it is not a war zone, where can there be so much demand for weapons?
For example, Indonesia can absorb a large amount of weapons and equipment. In addition to JD elements, it is the armed organizations in West Papua. Is it possible that Chen Chen wants to sell arms to them?
Once this order is completed, the future of the Dongfeng Corps is basically gone.
To solve this contradiction, it is not enough to rely on relationships and methods. What is most needed is steady and steady operation to reduce costs to the greatest extent, expand categories, and gradually penetrate the market.
Pulling a batch of arms worth several hundred million from the arsenal and selling them in seconds is something that only happens in fairy tales.
A more common situation is that the customer tells you, "I want 50,000 rounds of bullets, 500 sets of body armor, and 20 radios. You can help me get them together, ship them as soon as possible, and pay in installments."
In general, arms transactions require a relatively long preparation time, but the Dongfeng Corps does not have that much time now.
Chen Chen couldn't help but frown, but after thinking for a moment, his eyes suddenly lit up.
Then, he said:
"You still have to open your mind."
"The police need not only body armor, but also various anti-terrorism and anti-riot equipment."
"In January this year, the Indonesian police just passed a counter-terrorism strengthening plan, and it is expected to invest US$240 million to strengthen the equipment of the counter-terrorism police force."
"Body armor procurement is only part of it. In addition, they also need various detection equipment, various vehicles and non-lethal weapons."
"There are plenty of them in the north."
"You go to Indonesia and negotiate this deal."
"Okay - but how to talk about it?"
Peng Xucheng's eyes were a little confused.
He could understand what Chen Chen said, but the problem was that he had no idea what he was selling.
Looking at his expression, Chen Chen smiled slightly and replied:
“Indonesia’s counter-terrorism work has moved away from the category of ‘elitism’, and grassroots counter-terrorism forces have received more attention.”
"So what these police forces need is not really sophisticated equipment, but equipment that is sufficient, plentiful and cheap enough."
"The idea is very simple."
"Task Force 88 has Humvees, and local police stations can use armored pickup trucks; Task Force 88 has wall-penetrating detectors, and local police stations can use remote-controlled unmanned vehicles; Task Force 88 has head-mounted night vision devices, and local police The Bureau can use a 5,000 lumen flashlight."
"We focus on consumption downgrades and replacements!"
"Understood! Lao Xu, let's work together on this matter. You are responsible for the supply of goods, and I am responsible for the customers!"
"no problem!"
Xu You answered immediately, while Chen Chen nodded with satisfaction.
That's the good thing about being a boss.
There are many things that you don’t need to think too much about in detail. As long as you give a simple direction, your capable subordinates will naturally implement it.
Thinking of this, he said:
"If we can go down this road, stable cash flow will basically be maintained."
"What I have to consider is mainly the specific battle issues."
"Boss Peng, when you go to Indonesia this time, help me with one more thing."
"What's up?"
Peng Xucheng asked.
Chen Chen coughed and replied:
"In Indonesia, we had established an air team and when I came back, three seaplanes had passed acceptance."
"Originally, these three aircraft were intended to be used to cooperate in combat operations, and the modification direction was also adapted to actual combat modifications."
"But now, for some reason, the high-intensity conflict in Indonesia ended early, and these three aircraft will be semi-idle for a long time."
"I think we can put them to use."
"Find a way to transport it back to Pubei."
"By the way, bring the pilot back too!"