Chapter 83 - 83 Nie Zhenbang Arrested 1
Chapter 83 Nie Zhenbang’s Arrest
At this moment, Lao Sa completely displayed the outstanding talent of a politician, speaking with great passion. Looking at Nie Zhenbang, he said, “My friend, on behalf of the whole of Iraq, on behalf of the entire world’s kind-hearted Arab people, I extend my sincere gratitude to you and your family. You will always be my most sincere friends.”
Immediately after, Lao Sa changed the subject, and asked Nie Zhenbang, “My young friend, may I ask what kind of preparedness you have now?”
Nie Zhenbang had come to gauge this very route. Hearing Lao Sa’s inquiry, he already had a well-thought-out answer in mind. He immediately chuckled and said, “In total, fifty thousand AK-47 assault rifles. These are genuine products produced by the original factory in the Soviet Union, and absolutely cannot be compared to those counterfeit products. They’re all fully automatic.
Additionally, each rifle comes with ten thousand bullets. Besides these, we have also prepared an extra five million bullets just for you. For other weapons, we have RPG-7V140MM rocket launchers as well as RPG-18 64MM rocket launchers. A total of three thousand sets. And the corresponding rocket rounds.
I believe that with these, Iran’s tanks will be reduced to scrap metal.”
At this point, Lao Sa also became somewhat excited: “Rocket launchers. Those damn Soviets. My army has lost numerous tanks because of these. The American’s individual anti-tank weapons are simply too weak.”
With this, Lao Sa addressed Nie Zhenbang, “My friend.”
Lao Sa is also that kind of shrewd figure who won’t put his hawk-like attention to someone without seeing a clear benefit. Originally, Nie Zhenbang was just a ‘young friend’. But at this moment, after seeing so many weapons and ammunition, Lao Sa instantly promoted him to a ‘friend’ status.
At this moment, after evaluating the approximate value of these weapons in his mind, Lao Sa continued, “I will take all these weapons. They are enough for me to equip an army. The rifles, based on the current prices here, are calculated at forty US dollars each. That’s a total of two million US dollars. As for the rocket launchers, the cost price of each is around eight hundred US dollars. Let’s say two thousand US dollars according to the current price. For the extra ammunition, I’ll account for nine million US dollars. Add everything together, and it comes to seventeen million. Is that acceptable?”
Upon hearing this number, Nie Zhenbang of course agreed. He had only spent one million US dollars to procure these goods. That’s a profit margin of seventeen times. No wonder weapons dealers around the world are willing to risk running around battlefields.
However, Nie Zhenbang was also aware that Lao Sa’s price was considerably higher than the current market rate. Even though the conflict was severe here, the war was drawing to a close. For instance, the black market price for AK-47s in Iraq was only around twenty-five US dollars. Forty US dollars for a factory product was a high price indeed.
Indeed, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Consequently, after discussing the price, Lao Sa spoke up again, “My friend, when exactly can these weapons reach the Persian Gulf at the latest?”
Nie Zhenbang, prior to his visit, had already made preparations. By pulling strings, this line of weapons had already set sail from a port via the Huaxia Arms Trading Company route.
At the moment, hearing Lao Sa’s inquiry, Nie Zhenbang cheerfully responded: “Mr. President, I can confidently say to you that, if there are no mishaps, at this moment, this batch of goods should have already crossed the Malacca
Strait and entered the Indian Ocean.”
“Oh, God Allah. Nie, your family is quite exceptional, already setting sail before things were confirmed. I’m impressed by your foresight. You can rest assured. Once the arms arrive, I’ll immediately pay you. But I hope that next time, you can provide some advanced tanks, airplanes, or missiles. That would be even better.” Lao Sa, at this moment, was seeing Nie Zhenbang as a major arms dealer.
However, Nie Zhenbang would no longer want such ordinary goods from now on. In the future, aside from some advanced weapons which Nie Zhenbang would bring back to his country for research by the military, what Nie Zhenbang wanted most likely were some industrial equipment and technical data.
However, Nie Zhenbang would obviously not directly tell Lao Sa this. At this point, he simply smiled and said: “Of course. Mr. President, you are our number one customer, and we will do our best to meet the needs of our customers.”
After staying in Baghdad for more than ten days, Nie Zhenbang finally awaited the arrival of the cargo ship. Lao Sa immediately dispatched troops to receive the goods at the military port. To his credit, Lao Sa maintained his promise and swiftly transferred seventeen million US dollars into Nie Zhenbang’s Swiss bank account. At the same time, he arranged for Nie Zhenbang’s return flight back to his home country.
Baghdad Airport
This time was far more grandiose than when they arrived, and the motorcade much more robust. With the arrival of Lao Sa, the entire Baghdad Airport was temporarily regulated, and all departing flights were delayed.
After Lao Sa personally saw Nie Zhenbang onto the plane, the whole Baghdad Airport returned to its usual routine as the plane took off.
The journey back was much quicker than the outbound trip. Nie Zhenbang drifted off to sleep until Long nudged him. Upon waking, Nie Zhenbang realized that their plane was already taxiing on the runway.
At that moment, Jingcheng City Airport was swarming with police vehicles patrolling back and forth. Inside the apron, rows of police officers had cordoned off the surroundings.
Passersby, oblivious to the situation, had begun to crane their necks and gawk towards their direction. Witnessing this spectacle, Nie Zhenbang also started to feel perplexed.
Upon the plane’s stopping, the boarding stairs were being pushed toward the cabin door, and the flight attendant’s voice echoed within the cabin, “Dear passengers, we have a notification. According to the Jingcheng police department’s instruction, please remain seated for now, and all cabin crew, please assist.”
That announcement caused Nie Zhenbang to start, and at that moment, a stewardess from the first-class cabin approached and stated with a smile, “Gentlemen, at the request of the local Jingcheng police, we kindly ask for your cooperation. We won’t take up too much of your time. Please be patient and wait.”
Following this, the cabin door opened, allowing four or five officers to walk in. One of them took a photo out of his bag and showed it to the chief steward, asking “This person, which cabin is he in?”
As soon as the chief steward saw the photo, he froze. Could this man, who was personally received by the president, be a fugitive from Huaxia?
However, before the steward could finish his thought, a group of officers rushed in.
At this moment, Nie Zhenbang was talking to Long at his side when the officers strode in from the outside. Their cold gaze swept over the cabin, and when the lead officer noticed Nie Zhenbang, he walked straight up to him and said, “Nie Zhenbang, do you know why we’re here to arrest you?”
At this moment, Long leapt up and charged at them at lightning speed, causing the officers to tumble to the ground.
To Long, as long as it affected Nie Zhenbang, it didn’t matter who the opponent was. Moreover, given Nie Zhenbang’s background, Long’s plan was simple: to hold off until Elder Nie arrived.
But just as this was happening, Nie Zhenbang stood up and said, “Long, stop. You leave first. Go to the Yang’s house to find Elder Yang.”
The reason he asked Long to seek the Yang family lied in their residence’s location outside the red wall. Although Long was with Nie Zhenbang, without the required pass or a personally approved notice from Elder Yang, Long wouldn’t be granted access, even if Nie Zhenbang acted as a warrantor. Now, the only option left was for Long to find Elder Yang.
Seeing the police trying to stop Long, Nie Zhenbang said in a sombre tone, “He’s a three-time Soldier King from the Northeast Military Region. If any of you intend to become martyrs, feel free to obstruct him..”