After confirming that he wanted to buy 8 cars, Xia Yu called someone to place an order, but it would take at least a month for them to arrive at the port.
It should be close to the official opening of the museum. After those guys get their hands on it, they can operate it for about ten days. Then they'll head to Mali.
Before leaving Jiban, Xia Yu contacted the people of Faguo.
The jihadists in the desert have given them a hard time, and they hope the concentrated fire defense can get through as soon as possible.
Xia Yu had it all figured out. He wasn't in a hurry; the most important thing right now was for his museum to open smoothly.
As for business, we can wait and take it on later.
He now goes to the museum every day; the interior decoration of the exhibition hall is in its final stages.
The development of modern military equipment is closely linked to industry, and given that it is also a World War II-themed museum, the interior design follows an industrial style.
High ceilings and open spaces, minimal or no obstructions within the apartment layout, and artistic decorations—this is Xia Yu's understanding of industrial style.
The main building is a tall two-story structure, with the first floor reaching a height of 7.8 meters, which is taller than the two floors of a typical office building.
The second floor, designed to house and exhibit fighter jets, is 10.5 meters high, large enough to fit even a Junkers fighter jet.
The wings had to be removed before the elevator could be used for transport; the wingspan of 29.25 meters was simply too long.
Stepping into the still-empty museum, workers were using machines to mix cement-based binders, fine aggregates, fillers, and additives.
This is the preparation of cement-based self-leveling compound. Xia Yu carefully selected and compared different materials before choosing this one for floor hard decoration because its wear resistance is superior to that of hardened concrete and C40 vacuum concrete.
Airplane landing gear with rubber tires is fine, but tracked vehicles are covered entirely in rubber. However, machines are bound to get bumped and knocked, so wear resistance is very important.
In addition, its A-grade fire resistance and extremely low shrinkage rate have led many museums to choose this material, and Xia Yu followed suit.
The self-leveling compound on the second floor is finished. The basement isn't so delicate; cement will do. Now only the first floor is left.
It will take another 24 hours for everything to dry completely. In a couple of days, Xia Yu will officially begin setting up the venue.
All four vehicles in the parking lot were brought over, along with a batch temporarily stored in the port warehouse, totaling more than thirty vehicles of various sizes.
Those who remained at the cave branch base were the cream of the crop.
Xia Yu spent over a million US dollars just on the initial purchase of the vehicle body.
If these items are restored to an average condition of 60-70% new, and are still able to start and drive, their value in the private military equipment collection circle can double to tens of millions.
This is almost equivalent to Xia Yu working hard on the battlefield for a whole year.
It seems more profitable to go directly into this industry, but without the support of Jihuo Defense, his museum wouldn't be able to open.
Many industries have entry barriers, but Afica's requirements aren't as strict. However, without military support, that's a fatal flaw.
A few more days passed, and Lao Ke and the entire second group escorted the convoy to the port.
Xia Yu and Duomi drove the company's two remaining Renault heavy trucks to help haul the goods.
Unload the large vehicles, combat ships, ambulances, and other supplies from the ship.
The convoy began traveling back and forth between the port and Bogo village, but one trip was simply not enough to cover the entire load.
There's no need to touch the light weapons and equipment of those 600 men from the Yunslav region; there's plenty of space in the warehouses at Xiayu's ports, so we can just leave them there.
But he has to haul the display vehicles back to the warehouse. With five vehicles and two trailers, he can only haul about ten vehicles on one round trip.
"Boss, that's a generous offer! Knowing you have the Lightning Speedster, why would I even bother buying a G500!"
"I'll put a VW82 barrel truck on a trailer," Hans joked.
More than 50,000 of these "World War II Beetles" were produced by Volkswagen, and they were the most common cars on the European battlefield.
The air-cooled engine doesn't even need coolant, making it one of the easier models to drive among classic cars.
"Not to mention this is a North Africa-exclusive modified barrel truck with added protection circuitry, extra cooling equipment, and a large air filter!"
Hans continued.
He knew his stuff; he could tell at a glance that this barrel truck wasn't an ordinary model. He just hadn't expected the boss to have gotten his hands on such a high-quality item.
Hans didn't even glance at the Willys cars waiting to be loaded behind him.
More than 600,000 of these classic magnesium jeeps were produced. The regular models can be bought for a few thousand dollars at auction, but none are as precious as this special barrel-shaped jeep with a starting price of 500,000.
Of course, not all of them are that expensive.
The VW166 amphibious tanker next to it, which looks smaller, is cheaper because there are more of them (500+), and you can buy it for around ten thousand US dollars.
"Here's what I think: fully tracked vehicles are too monotonous. But these vintage World War II cars are fine for museum work, but for daily commuting, they're really exhausting."
Xia Yu, anyway, was not interested in opening a business; he was only interested in collecting and making a profit.
"Okay, I was just saying, but this car is really rare. Enthusiasts would be very happy to see it, and they would be even happier to be able to spend money to take it for a spin."
Tracked vehicles can only travel near the museum, while these wheeled vehicles can drive around town and to the seaside.
If you are a VIP customer, it's not impossible to drive there to pick someone up from the airport.
Once a certain number of vehicles are consumed, it can even be specified that only a little over 1,000 officer-model VW92 barrel wagons were produced, with only a handful still existing.
No matter how good the car is, it will still make money for Xia Yu.
This trip to haul back ten vehicles took three more trips before the convoy finally managed to haul all the exhibition vehicles from the warehouse.
Over the next few days, all the staff of Jihuo Defense came to help, working together with the new employees at the museum to arrange the cars.
The middle and senior management responsible for the museum's operation and management are collecting information on these exhibition vehicles, writing brief introductions for them in multiple languages, and printing and producing explanatory plaques, or exhibition labels.
It is primarily equipped with Chinese, English, and French languages, in addition to the native language of the equipment.
The German language class was the most competitive, and Hans and Liv were both brought in to help.
In addition, the two of them could speak Russian, and with the help of the troubled Paul, they also solved the problem of the former Soviet Union's equipment.
Xia Yu wasn't idle either; although he didn't write the documentation, he was responsible for reviewing the Chinese versions of all the equipment descriptions.
After he finished all that, the mole car crew, having completed their teaching tasks, returned to the fruit plant.
They hadn't returned since going to Tu'ao, and were quite surprised to see the museum's rapid progress.
Even with prior mental preparation, the museum exhibits were still awe-inspiring when I saw such a rich collection of World War II equipment in person.
"Sergeant, the boss is really something, isn't he? I have a feeling that our company's profits will be surpassed by the museum soon."
Hans remarked with emotion.
If Xia Yu didn't have the system, and given Ji Huo Defense's normal profit level, that's really how things would be.
But he made his fortune through the system!
Jihuo Defense's actual profits are so high that they can't be released. Apart from the portion converted into gold, the extra US dollars have to be laundered through museum channels.
"It's impressive, but the boss only has enough money to build this one museum, and maybe buy a few more cars."
Kuhn understood perfectly that after deducting the small amount, the rest came entirely from funds brought in by the boss, and that was the most impressive part.
Borrowing a hen to lay eggs is a classic business tactic, but not many people can actually borrow a hen, which is how Xia Yu demonstrated his strength.
The truth is that he doesn't need to borrow money, at least not for the first phase of the project.
I can manage the second phase, but even if I can afford the third phase, I'll have to borrow money.
The investment scale for the harmless conversion of the toxic aircraft carrier, the construction of restaurants and hotels, and the catapult-launched carrier-based aircraft is truly substantial.
It would cost at least tens of millions, if not a hundred million.
Whether it's the Tianjin Qifu-class destroyers still in operation or the Minsk-class destroyers that have closed down, the investment in them back then was not small.
And so, it was just a ship hull, so it naturally wasn't very competitive, and tickets could only be sold for a little over two hundred yuan each.
Meanwhile, Xia Yu's St. Paul will restore its power and some combat capabilities to improve profitability.
The two hundred-plus dollars is the entrance fee to board the ship. If you want to eat, stay, or fly, that's all fine, but you'll have to pay extra.
With the popularity built up by Phase 1 and Phase 2, Xia Yu believes that the completion of Phase 3 will bring a huge boom, ultimately benefiting the entire theme park.
As for how to market the first phase of the tank museum, he plans to do so through the internet, and that is the only way.
But it's still early. If someone sees this, they might just fly over right away, since they haven't even opened for business yet!
Take your time, Xia Yu is going on a long trip anyway.
He had to take on the role of consultant for the biennial Philippine Aerospace and Defense Exhibition and the Paris Military and Police Defense Exhibition, which were held only a few months apart.
The previous contract, after being approved within the army, was submitted to Busa and has been approved by the National Assembly.
The order involves the SH-1 truck-mounted howitzer, the PLZ-45 self-propelled howitzer, and the SR-5 multiple rocket launcher system, with a total price of 110 million and delivery to be completed by June next year.
With these advanced weapons, Busa can suppress unruly former local armed groups by land and deter Luwangda from trying to encroach on the disputed territory.
Killing two birds with one stone, this money was well spent.
The army has new gear, what about the air force?
Upon arriving in Busa, Xia Yu, who had just disembarked from the plane, saw Meng Qiao and a group of air force generals.
In more than 200 countries and regions around the world, the highest rank in the military is only major general.
Afica and Southeast Asian local warlords may call themselves generals, but regular armies have to maintain some semblance of dignity; their highest rank is major general, even though they have hundreds or thousands of men. Meanwhile, the Persian Cat Army, with hundreds of thousands of men, only has the rank of major general.
The self-proclaimed regional power has four levels of military strength: standard, minor, medium, and upper. After all, it needs to grant official titles and promises to the local armed forces under its control. Without a major general, it simply cannot be considered presentable.
Just like in the previous version of China, the military also has job-based ranks and civil service ranks.
The brigade commanders in those local brigades only held the rank of major general, which was far less prestigious than Meng Qiao's major general rank.
I switched to the Air Force, but there's no local air force.
That's terrible. Not to mention the well-equipped Fengtian clique, the Anhui and Zhili cliques each have at least a dozen aircraft!
Even though Busa's air force has only a little over 4,000 personnel, it has four levels of general officers, half of whom are former pilots and are quite knowledgeable in the field.
Upon seeing Xia Yu arrive, Meng Qiao introduced them to each other.
Many of them were familiar faces to him, after all, the F-4Ks were deployed at other people's airports, and he had to deal with both civil aviation and air force.
After a brief introduction, Xia Yu inquired about the Busa Air Force Fighter Squadron.
That Frogfoot Squadron, which only had four Su-25s, had half of them broken down before Sasu's rebellion due to the passage of time and the aging of the aircraft.
Of the remaining two, one was hit in the rear by an anti-aircraft missile. The hired pilot managed to get the fighter back to the airport, but it would be a long time before it could regain its combat capability.
Xia Yu had been so focused on preparing the Mi-8 and Mi-24 aircraft of their Army Aviation Corps that he hadn't paid much attention to the Su-25s of the Air Force, which is why he brought this up now.
"Right now, it's just sitting in the hangar. We can only deploy one Su-25!"
General Akali stepped forward and spoke on behalf of everyone.
It was embarrassing, but that's why Busa was determined to allocate the money.
"I can get my hands on Su-25 salvage parts. If you still want to salvage the Frogfoot Squadron, I can help take a look."
Xia Yu's sales pitch was very smooth, after all, he was just making a few million on the side.
As a Soviet-made alternative to the A-10 warthog, the former Soviet Su-25 was exported for around $4 million in the 1980s.
The newly produced ones after the dismantling are divided into two versions: Big Mao and Seven Mao (Gerujiya), with prices generally ranging from over ten million to twenty million.
It's nothing to wealthy people in the east like Kenniya, but it's still very expensive for Guo.
Repairing and patching it up is definitely better than buying a new one; the money saved can be used to buy other planes.
It just so happens that the next batch of fighter jets delivered by Alexei to Xia Yu will mainly consist of Sukhoi aircraft, including two Su-25s.
There's definitely no need to demolish it, but that's just an excuse, and business people are best at finding excuses for their clients.
A good condition one costs 1 million, while the one with the damaged rear end, which had more parts replaced, would cost at least 2 million.
The only one that can fly will also get a major overhaul, with everything that needs replacing replaced. The total cost will be under 4.5 million, which can be done entirely.
Upon hearing this, the generals immediately felt it was a good deal. Even a second-hand Su-25 would cost around 4 million yuan, but Xia Yu could repair four of them.
Xia Yu was actually happy to sell, but fighter jets are one thing to keep for personal collection, but selling them is another matter entirely, and they are definitely more sensitive than infantry fighting vehicles.
The only difference between repairing and selling is that he earns a little less, and he saves himself the trouble of sourcing the goods.
"You're the best at business. We haven't even gone abroad yet, and we've already landed an order."
C130-H waited on the side, watching the Air Force personnel whispering to each other not far away. Meng Qiao gave Xia Yu a thumbs up.
"I'm just doing a good deed; there's not much profit to be made in this business."
Xia Yu quickly waved his hand.
What he meant by not making money was actually 100% profit.
After all, preparing four Su-25s doesn't require much technical expertise; it can be completed in at most a hundred man-hours.
This is also why 70% of the Russian supply chain was able to continue "manufacturing" the Su-25, while Russia was able to set up a new production line based solely on blueprints.
However, the old A-10 is truly no longer in production; it's retired, and its farting has become a thing of the past.
"Mr. Sherlock, it's a pleasure doing business with you."
"It's a pleasure doing business with you!"
Xia Yu and Akala clasped hands.
I caught a cold from staying up late all night and the temperature dropping, so it's late again. It feels like every month is a cycle.
I'll try to adjust things tomorrow, but it might be a little later.
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