So in the next two years, he will start making plans, such as opening an aircraft graveyard in the Marien desert to receive old passenger planes from Europe.
Xia Yu thought of the business model of the Americans, whose retired military aircraft are parked in the desert, and whose decommissioned or temporarily unused civilian airliners are also parked in the desert.
Of course, they also target the global market, with many major Chinese airlines among their clients. After all, their desert environment is quite unique, with sandstorms occurring much less frequently than in the Sahara Desert.
It's just a simple dismantling graveyard, so sandstorms every few days won't bother us, since these passenger planes won't be flying anymore anyway.
Xia Yu thought about the piece of land he had allocated near Kedar. Several hundred hectares seemed enough. If not, he could allocate a little more.
In fact, Afica also has a small aircraft graveyard, located in Keniyah, East Philippines.
Because of very limited budgets, most airlines in the African continent source second-hand, broken regional jets from all over the world and bring them to Keniya to see if they can be repaired.
If they can be repaired, it's a huge profit; if they can't be repaired, they can still dismantle parts. As a result, several airports have accumulated a lot of old planes. But there's some profit to be made in Xia Yu, so they don't even bother with them.
His aircraft dismantling facility only needs retired Boeing and Airbus passenger planes, along with some more durable military transport aircraft, to provide ample logistical support for his AC-130 and AC-160 aircraft.
These are all things that are out in the open. The real money is made by selling system-printed parts privately. But without an open industry, it's hard to explain your source of goods.
Xia Yu has built his business to its current size with considerable caution, preferring to forgo profits and prioritizing stability above all else.
"This is the legendary Beihai. It is frozen from January to May. The ice layer is so thick that you can drive a tank on the lake."
A 40-foot yacht carried a family of three along the course of Lake Baikal. Xia Yu talked to his wife while tidying up his fishing gear.
He enjoys fishing, but he's always too busy, so he often uses hand grenades to solve problems.
Now that we've come to Oslo, I've completely relaxed. I'm fishing for some whitefish and sturgeon to treat my wife and to give my teething son some extra nutrition.
"You still love tanks so much. We'll probably buy a lot of tanks on our way to Oslo, won't we?"
Liv saw right through her husband's little scheme, but as long as the family could be together, she was happy to go along with whatever he wanted to buy.
Xia Yu was alone on her last trip to Kazakhstan, unlike this time when her whole family was with her.
"We'll be visiting several places, but we have plenty of time. We could easily spend a week exploring Lake Baikal first."
With a gentle breeze blowing at 17 or 18 degrees Celsius, Xia Yu said quite contentedly.
One reason is that the scenery here is worth staying for so long, and another is that he has to wait for his friend.
Alexei is not in the country and will be able to join them in a week.
One member of the family was a newborn who couldn't speak yet, another didn't know any Russian, and only Liv learned some everyday phrases from her grandmother when she was little, but she was still a complete stranger in Siberia.
For ordinary tourists, language barriers are not a problem; hiring a translator can solve the issue. However, the key issue is that they need to purchase a lot of local specialties on this trip, so they must have a friend who knows the area well to guide them.
Alexei, an old friend, is the best choice. He is as familiar with the Russian armories and equipment depots as if they were his home, and with him around, there is no chance of making a mistake.
Before his arrival, the family of three had been enjoying a family trip.
That evening at dinner time, the babbling little Yuzu praised the whitefish her father had caught and the fish balls her mother had made.
Just one word: fish and lamb—fresh!
Over the next few days, the yacht continued to explore the depths of the North Sea until Xia Yu, with his keen eyes, spotted a group of Lake Baikal seals.
"What adorable little creatures! They're like little sprites in the lake."
The world's smallest seal has an inherently adorable and goofy charm; if you could keep one as a pet…
Okay, this guy can't catch mice, he doesn't do any work and just eats fish, so he can just stay here and look at it. There's no need to keep him.
There are no idle people or animals in the Xia family. Everyone who comes has to work. Just being cute is far from enough.
The family of three was having a great time when Alexei, who was on a business trip to Southeast Pass, boarded an empty An-12 returning home.
This is also his current private jet. As an arms dealer, the type of helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft he travels by depends on the equipment he has on hand.
Just like those used car dealers who change cars every day, they would never spend money to buy a new car for transportation.
Xia Yu also has this characteristic, but he has the ability to turn decay into magic and make the old new. How exciting it is to drive a new car at the price of a used car!
The transport plane landed in Ulyanovsk, Alexei's base of operations. After going home, taking a shower, and resting for the night, he set off again for the Far East.
He was really busy during this period, but no matter how busy he was, it seemed like he couldn't make money as fast as Xia Yu.
He used to be richer than the other party, but who knew that the other party had a money-printing machine like an aircraft carrier museum, and now he has been left behind.
It's true that comparisons are odious, but the other side still can't avoid Alexei if they want to purchase cheap Soviet weapons.
Our background isn't as powerful as Yevgeny's, who has direct access to the highest levels of government, but as long as it's not sensitive equipment, he can get as much as we need, and he'll have all the legal paperwork.
This is due to connections and the arrogance inherited from the former Su Lian era.
Er Mao inherited very little; the bulk of the equipment is with them!
The Minister of Defense is currently busy developing new cars, and all the old inventory can be sold as long as the price is right; discounts can even be offered for large quantities.
Xia Yu's trip to Oslo this time was clearly for a large-scale purchase; otherwise, it would have been much faster to just make a phone call like before.
The plane landed at Irkutsk Airport, and for the third leg, Alexei was taken by helicopter to the northernmost part of Lake Baikal, where he successfully met up with Xia Yu and his family.
It's not easy. The last time he came here was when he was young. Now he's almost forty.
"Sherlock, it's been so long! I can't believe how big the little guy has grown."
Alexei pinched Xiaoyouzi's cheek and said with a smile.
More than half a year has passed since we parted on New Year's Day. I still vaguely remember the days when they went on a shopping spree in Central Asia. That trip made him break into the ten-figure range, but the guy in front of me is already heading towards the eleven-figure range.
In Oslo, only tycoons who monopolize a certain industry can have such astonishing wealth. Someone like him, who just deals in second-hand equipment, will never reach that level in his lifetime.
"Children grow up fast, but they can't talk yet. We'll officially set off tomorrow."
Without much small talk, Xia Yu confirmed the itinerary with the other party.
Their first stop was Siberia, and their first destination was naturally in the Far East.
"Yes, I've arranged everything. We can go directly there tomorrow."
Alexei doesn't come to the tourist area often, but he frequently visits the equipment depots in Primorsky Krai.
That night, the two downed a bottle of vodka, which did not affect their journey to Arseniev the next day at all.
The scenery of this small county town, which was established as a city in 1952, is not particularly special, but the 1295th Central Tank Repair and Storage Base located here is very attractive to Xiayu.
Russia's tank graveyards are not just one or two; the former steel torrents are scattered and sleeping across the vast land. This largest graveyard in the Far East houses more than 1,000 tanks from different periods.
Specific models include T-34, IS-3, T-54/55, T-62M, and T-80BV, covering all generations from the old to the new, and even some rare old artifacts like the ISU-152 heavy assault gun.
Xia Yu's target this time is definitely the T-80BV. The main difference between this model and the T-80U is that it has 7 fewer shells.
As for the inability to fire mango shells back then, this problem has long been solved by improved versions, such as the T-80BVM.
However, the T-80BVM upgraded by Jihuo Defense uses a diesel engine, the explosive reactive armor has been changed from Fossil to Sharp Blade, and the fire control system is also an off-the-shelf product, with its main selling point being its low price.
Back then, the base model T-80UD that Ermao sold to Barbadian Sheep cost over $2 million per vehicle, but now the T-80BVM from Jihuo Defense only costs $2.5 million.
Nearly 20 years have passed, and the value of the green paper has depreciated by who knows how much, but the T-80BV platform has also become much cheaper. Xia Yu's profits after the modifications are at most 500,000.
In fact, 1.5 million is a conservative estimate, because this piece of junk isn't even worth 500,000.
The preservation conditions in the border regions were too poor. Of the hundreds of T-80BVs, less than 20 were still operational. The other half became organ donors, and all the parts that could be disassembled were removed.
A dozen or so functional vehicles would cost close to a million, but Xia Yu's client doesn't understand gas turbines, so he only needs a vehicle shell without an engine.
"If I wanted all 100 of these vehicles, what price would you offer?"
Xia Yu pointed to 100 T-80BV tanks that were in relatively good condition but could not be started and were not combat-ready, and asked.
Museum visitors are tired of seeing T-72s being shot at all the time, from the ground to the air, so he's going to give these customers a change of pace.
The same applies to opening T-80BV and T-64B targets. Fixed targets that cannot move are cheaper, while targets that can move and fire, which are closer to actual combat, are also available for customization.
"I can offer 300,000, but these cars are all defective. Are you sure you really want them?"
Alexei held up three fingers.
"Of course, I don't need the nice cars anymore. I can accept 300,000, but how about giving away 20 of the corpse cars next to it as a bonus?"
Xia Yu negotiated a lower price to cash out.
The turrets and hulls of the organ donors were stored separately, and the rusty gun barrels were scattered all over the ground.
Unless the system intervenes, even if the Ash Saint Body were to come, it wouldn't be able to save him.
These cars were brought back to serve as free public targets. Xia Yu directly assembled the systems, removed the rust, and then applied a classic paint job, and that was it. Each car took less than 0.1 man-hours to complete the entire process.
"Can!"
Alexei readily agreed.
They made a fortune selling those 120 beat-up cars for $30 million; the only problem was transportation.
"As for the other vehicles, the price you get from buying in bulk from me is definitely cheaper than buying individual goods from other channels. We can transport them together then."
Seeing Xia Yu's generous order, he seized the opportunity to promote his product.
The old T-34s are now true antiques. None of the more than 40 old T-34s at the 1295th Central Tank Repair and Storage Base are worth saving. This is why Russia recently wanted to exchange its T-72s for T-34s.
Although there are still dozens of T-34s in good condition in China, they are scattered among different wealthy individuals and museums, making it difficult to gather them together for a military parade.
It would be a worthwhile deal for the government to exchange its surplus T-72s for a batch of T-34s in similar condition, while the batch in the Far East wouldn't even be used for parts.
“I’ll take all of these T-34s. I only have four in my museum. I’ll take them back and use them as targets, and dismantle the parts that can be taken apart.”
Xia Yu took them all with a wave of his hand.
The Tiger tank was a good match for the M4 Sherman, and even better against the T-34. It's a pity that this tank wasn't luxurious enough to be used as a target.
But he was really lucky on this trip to Oslo, buying more than 40 vehicles.
Similarly, it's better to be destroyed by an old rival than to let it rot slowly in a graveyard.
Since museums and parade grounds have plenty of space, then burning oneself in the flames to guard that collapsing alliance is perhaps the best destiny!
As for the T-54/55 and T-64M tanks that had been destroyed in the tens of thousands, Xia Yu showed little interest and in the end only asked for two IS-3 heavy tanks and two ISU-152 heavy assault guns.
Both of these models are available in the tank museum; he bought them only as backups.
“Alexei, my friend, let’s talk about the T-64 now. Not many countries can afford the T-80 series, but the T-64 series is much cheaper, which is what they need.”
Xia Yu put his arm around Alexei's shoulder and said.
Originally, only Tungsten was selling T-64s, but when the war started, they stopped selling them. However, Oslo still has more than 2,000 of them in storage!
The main reason not to use it is that Russia's old and new tanks are sufficient. Secondly, this tank is a product of the Kharkiv Tank Plant, and apart from the poor suspension, the original 5td diesel engine is also unreliable.
Converting a gas turbine to a diesel engine is easy, but converting a diesel engine to a gas turbine is extremely difficult. Since they couldn't figure it out or didn't want to invest resources in researching and developing the TD series diesel engine, Russia simply didn't use a single T-64 and just mothballed them all.
But if someone is willing to take over, they are still willing to sell.
Xia Yu's small stature meant he couldn't handle 2,000 vehicles; he could only take over 100 good B-type vehicles and 100 A-type target vehicles at most.
Jihuo Defense will not use this platform in the future, but Busa has ordered 50 T-64B1Ms.
Since they didn't think much of the T-72 and couldn't afford new cars costing four or five million, they were destined to further develop the T-64B platform.
If Er Mao won't sell, we can only turn to Da Mao, but Da Mao can't handle the car's power system, so we'll have to rely on Ji Huo Defense again.
Tungsten and kerosene have stopped exporting cars, but car manufacturers still need to make a living, so engines are still being exported.
Xia Yu can solve this problem by buying some and printing the rest himself.
"Two hundred vehicles? Are you trying to wipe out the entire Afica?"
Upon hearing the quantity his old buddy wanted, Alexei exclaimed in shock.
"What a joke! We are a legitimate PMC company. Backward warlords must be overthrown."
Xia Yu said with a pout.
This guy's thinking is a bit outdated, much like the mercenary founding novel from many years ago. If he wanted to be king, the timeline would be more like it if we pushed it back 50 years. Right now, all he can do is be an uncrowned king.
"I'm going to modify this car before selling it, so just tell me if you can sell it or not!"
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