Reborn Brazil as a Plutocrat

Chapter 428 Intention to order new destroyers

Fang Lang's skill in changing the subject was not clever at all, but General Leta also understood what the other party meant and did not want to talk too much about the military contracting company's business.

Fortunately, General Leta was just curious about Fang Lang's military contract. Now that he knew a general situation, there was no need to inquire further.

Smiling, he followed Fang Lang into the conference room. The staff of Fangyuan Shipyard had already arranged the venue and even placed name tags, drinking water and fruits on the conference table.

Seeing this situation, General Leta smiled and patted Fang Lang on the arm and said:

"Then let us take a look at your company's products."

Then he pointed to the situation in the conference room and said with a smile:

"We are all our own people, there is no need to engage in these formalities."

Hearing this, Fang Lang smiled and said:

"I know we are our own people, but this is a business matter. I definitely can't embarrass you. Following the formal procedures can save you a lot of trouble, right?"

As he said that, Fang Lang also pointed at the logistics officers who came with General Letta.

Knowing that Fang Lang was thinking about him, he didn't say anything more. After all, his position was too sensitive, and many people wanted to sit in this lucrative position.

Therefore, he cannot guarantee how many of his men will truly be completely loyal to him.

"Okay! I heard that you participated in the design of this product?"

"What? You don't trust my level?"

Fang Lang asked jokingly.

General Leta waved his hands repeatedly and said:

"Of course not, what I mean is, you are our admiral, and as long as you participate in the design of the product, we don't need to inspect it at all.

After all, you are our authority!"

Hearing this, Fang Lang laughed heartily, and while sitting side by side with General Leta on the conference table, he said with a smile:

"That won't work. A program is a program. Although, I think these two products are very suitable for us. But the actual user is not me. It still needs to be confirmed by professionals like you in the logistics department who are responsible for equipment procurement."

As the two of them talked, the logistics department staff who came in with them and the staff of Fangyuan Shipyard all took their seats respectively.

Seeing this scene, General Leta shrugged and said:

"Okay! I listen to you, let's get started!"

Fang Lang nodded and winked at Osman Aragon, the general manager of the shipyard, who nodded knowingly.

Soon a professional technician stood up and hung a rendering of a 500-ton inland river patrol boat on the wall. He began to explain, and everyone's attention was quickly attracted by the shape of the patrol boat on the painting.

Lived.

They all listened carefully to the technician's explanation. When he heard that the autonomy rate of this inland river patrol boat reached 90%, General Leta could no longer sit still. He turned to Fang Lang beside him and lowered his voice.

The voice asked:

“Is the 90 percent autonomy rate serious?”

Hearing this, Fang Lang nodded with a smile and whispered:

"Except for the radar, most of the other parts are produced in our own factories in Brazil. Even the machine tools and equipment used to process these parts come from our own factories in Brazil."

General Letta, who received a positive reply, looked at Fang Lang in surprise. For a moment, he was speechless. According to this situation, the process of independence of the Brazilian military industry will be greatly accelerated!

In the future, maybe all weapons will be completely domestically produced in Brazil. As far as General Letta knows, artillery and firearms can already be produced locally.

In addition, the Air Force and Naval Aviation have entrusted Fangyuan Group's aircraft manufacturing company to start developing independent training aircraft. Once successful, it is believed that this Air Force equipment will also have independent production capabilities.

From the current situation, it seems that the Fangyuan Group Shipyard is fully capable of manufacturing naval ships!

This forced him to look at Fang Lang differently, because he knew very well that these industries were under the control of the other party. It could be said that Fang Lang was the actual Minister of Equipment of the Brazilian Ministry of Defense.

The quality of the Brazilian military's equipment is completely in the hands of the other party. In fact, given the other party's relationship with the Minister of Defense and the President, it is not difficult at all to push a product into the National Defense Force's procurement list.

But if someone wants to replace the other party's position, it is not that easy. First of all, the other party itself is the real power of the navy and controls more than half of the navy's military power.

Coupled with the close relationship between the other party and the United States, no one can easily influence the other party. And if the other party's position in Brazil is shaken in the capital market, it will be even more unlikely.

As far as General Letta knows, the influence of the three major joint venture car brands and supporting industries in Brazil cannot be easily shaken, not to mention the fact that Nice has actually controlled the entire production and sales process of Brazilian farmers and herdsmen.

company.

As well as some companies that export goods abroad through the United States Global Import and Export Corporation, and through the support of the Brazilian Development Bank, they have slowly developed and grown. With the integration of Fangyuan Asset Management Company, these companies have become a major player in the Brazilian capital market.

A force that cannot be ignored.

Just these industries that General Letta said he knew about have made the Fang family a consortium as big as Brazil. It is almost impossible to shake their position in Brazil.

It was only at this moment that General Letta realized that the young man sitting next to him was already a being that he could only look up to.

The explanation in the conference room was still going on, but General Keletta's mind was no longer on the specific information of those products. He was thinking a lot in his mind. He didn't know how long it had been, but he only heard enthusiastic shouts from everyone in the conference room.

Applause, he suddenly woke up.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were focused on him, obviously waiting for him to speak, he coughed twice to drive away the messy thoughts in his mind, and said in a brisk tone:

"Very good, let me just say that Fangyuan Group's products will not disappoint us!"

After saying that, he turned to look at Fang Lang beside him and asked:

"I heard that the product has been produced. I wonder if you can show us the real thing!"

Hearing this, Fang Lang glanced at the expectant eyes of everyone in the conference room, nodded with a smile and said:

"Of course, yes, the ship can already sail normally except that the radar has not been installed yet. It is currently undergoing navigation tests. It is just fine. Let's check it out for everyone."

Upon hearing this, General Leta stood up directly and said:

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go see the real thing together."

Everyone left the company's conference room in a mighty manner and arrived at the pier. They saw two patrol boats, one large and one small, parked on the pier. Without any instructions, Osman Aragon, the general manager of the shipyard, had already begun to take the patrol boats with him.

Personnel from the military logistics department began to visit.

General Leta was completely relieved after seeing the two warships on the pier. He did not board the ship to take a closer look. Instead, he stood by the pier with Fang Lang, waiting for the report from his men.

After turning his head and looking at Fang Lang, who was calm and calm, General Leta asked softly:

"Fang, I wonder if your shipyard has any ideas about building a larger first-class warship!"

Fang Lang on the side heard this, his eyes moved, he looked at General Leta with a smile and said:

"Of course, General Letta, the reason why he established this shipyard in the first place was because he was entrusted by Marshal Moraes, hoping that one day he could build his own warships for the Brazilian army.

The current two inland river patrol boats can only be regarded as a small test, and they can be regarded as initially meeting Marshal Moraes's expectations.

Our next step is to develop our own Brazilian destroyer with reference to our current US military Fletcher-class destroyers and the latest development direction of military equipment."

As the Minister of Logistics, General Leta was obviously very interested in this project and quickly asked:

"Oh! I don't know what the development direction of military equipment you are talking about is?"

This question actually stopped Fang Lang. When it came to producing destroyers, Fang Lang certainly didn't want to continue producing the current traditional destroyers equipped with artillery.

What he wants to produce is a destroyer equipped with new anti-ship missiles, but Brazil's missile development has not yet started, and it is impossible to launch a real guided missile destroyer so quickly.

Even the United States and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union have not yet begun research on this kind of project. If he takes the lead in opening up a historical precedent, he may attract the attention of the world. This is not what he wants to see.

However, he could not prevaricate the inquiry from the Logistics Minister of the Brazilian National Defense Force. He could only say after careful consideration:

"I wonder if General Letta has ever heard of the HS-292 anti-ship missile invented by the Germans at the end of World War II?"

This question obviously touched on the knowledge blind spot of General Letta, the Minister of Logistics. After all, the other party was not a professional naval officer. He had heard of missiles, but he had really never heard of anti-ship missiles.

Therefore, he shook his head in embarrassment and said:

"I have heard of the V-2 missile, but I have not heard of this HS-292 anti-ship missile. But what does this have to do with the destroyer you want to build?"

Obviously, General Letta does not know much about missiles. After all, as a general who did not participate in World War II and is in a logistics position, in his opinion, maybe all missiles should be launched on land like the V-2.

Out.

It seems that it will take some time for the other party to fully understand missiles, let alone directly build guided missile destroyers. This makes Fang Lang hesitate. After all, no one has yet determined the future development direction of warships.

Even the United States had to wait until 1950 to start the development of the first-generation guided missile destroyer. It seems that it cannot sell too fast! Otherwise, everyone will think that it is a madman.

So, he thought about it again and then slowly said:

"Uh! How should I put it? This is just my personal opinion! At the end of World War II, the Germans used HS-292 anti-ship missiles and destroyed many Allied transport ships.

This is a completely new way of fighting, completely different from the current attack method where you can only rely on luck after launching artillery and torpedoes. I feel that this may be the future naval battle mode.

Think about it, if these anti-ship missiles are mounted on a warship, after the missile is launched, it can complete its own steering under the guidance of radio or radar and lock on the attack target.

Even if the enemy warship evades, the missile can lock the enemy ship by adjusting its flight attitude. Then the enemy will be unable to avoid it. As long as it is locked, it will be destroyed.

Under such circumstances, our current warships will be quickly eliminated, and warships capable of launching missiles will become the future.

So, my idea is that we need to be able to build this kind of guided missile destroyer in the future."

As soon as he said this, Fang Lang regretted it. Wasn't this ruining his business?

If General Leta really listened to his advice and waited until the related technology of guided missile destroyers matured before agreeing to build guided missile destroyers, wouldn't his own shipyard lose a large chunk of orders?

However, in fact, Fang Lang was obviously over-worrying. General Leta didn't know whether it was because he was older or because his term was about to end, so he didn't want to think about issues that were too far away.

After listening to Fang Lang's thoughts about the future, he just looked at Fang Lang seriously for a while, and then slowly said:

"Fang, how long do you expect these technologies to mature?"

Fang Lang was stunned when he heard this, but he still thought about it in his mind before saying:

"If we proceed steadily, it should be fully realized in about ten years."

General Leta's expression was a bit intriguing. He looked at Fang Lang and said seriously:

"Then how many years do you think I can stay as the logistics minister?"

Fang Lang didn't know how to answer this kind of question. After all, the position of the other party was too full, and too many people wanted to take its place, so it was really hard to say how long the other party could stay.

However, as soon as the other party said this and combined with the previous questions, Fang Lang understood what the other party meant. It seems that the other party wanted to take advantage of his last term to make another fortune!

Since this is the case, Fang Lang will certainly not refuse.

General Leta, who had been staring at Fang Lang, noticed the change in the expression on Fang Lang's face. He understood that the other party already knew what he was thinking, and a smile appeared on his face again:

"Since Marshal Moraes originally supported you in building a shipyard, it was to build our own warships for the navy. Now that you have the strength to build warships, shouldn't you take action!

We must know that our Brazilian Navy currently has a huge shortage of warships. Are we still required to purchase warships from abroad?"

In fact, although Brazil has a long coastline, the environment in South America is relatively safe. Except for Argentina and Chile, which have considerable naval strength, Brazil does not have many competitors and does not have much naval pressure.

But as the owner of a shipyard, Fang Lang certainly hopes that the Navy can order more warships. Only in this way can his shipyard have more business!

More importantly, if the shipyard has the ability to build warships, as long as the warships it produces can keep up with the times, it will be able to sell its own warship products around the world in the future.

This is really big business for Fang Lang.

Since Mr. Logistics Minister wants to make more money during his tenure, he will of course need to purchase more equipment. With his good cooperative relationship with Fang Lang, he must now want to start with warships.

The other party had already handed the words to him, and Fang Lang would certainly not refuse such a kindness.

Therefore, he said without hesitation:

"General Letta, I understand! As long as it is needed for national defense, our shipyard is duty-bound.

We immediately started organizing researchers to start the development of our own destroyer."

Hearing this, General Leta nodded with satisfaction, tapped Fang Lang with his finger and said:

"Haha. Fang, your steps are still too small. Our Brazilian Navy needs not only destroyers, but also higher-level cruisers and even aircraft carriers. There are also submarines. These are all urgently needed by our navy.

.”

Fang Lang did not expect General Letta's appetite to be so big. The current Fangyuan Shipyard certainly does not have such strength. According to Fang Lang's idea, the first step to build must be destroyers and submarines.

As for cruisers and aircraft carriers, they will definitely be built in the future, but now Fang Lang doesn't have much interest in this project, especially since the aircraft carriers built during this period are not actually the very professional aircraft carriers of later generations.

And it will be eliminated soon, so there is no need to waste resources.

In Fang Lang's heart, he does not feel that now is a good time for the Brazilian Navy to expand. Whether it is considering the quality of personnel or the economic environment, Brazil does not have the strength to own another aircraft carrier.

Therefore, he said truthfully:

"The Brazilian Navy does need to expand its strength, but I don't think we should be anxious about this. In the era of sailing battleships, there was a saying that was called ten years of army and one hundred years of navy.

I think it still makes sense to a certain extent, especially when I was leading this aircraft carrier formation, I discovered that the gap in personnel quality was really serious.

So far, my aircraft carrier formation has not really formed a combat capability, it is still just an existing fleet.

If blindly expanding the size of the navy at this time is really not a wise move, I think we can start with the construction of destroyers and submarines and slowly move towards aircraft carriers."

General Leta obviously did not expect that Fang Lang would look at this matter so rationally. He had no idea of ​​making money when he had money. He couldn't help but look at Fang Lang with a strange look in his eyes and said:

"Then how many destroyers and submarines do you think we should expand?"

Now Fang Lang is a little confused about General Letta's thoughts. Originally, according to his idea, he would first produce inland river patrol boats to gain experience in manufacturing military ships, and then start building destroyers, gradually allowing Fangyuan Shipyard to grow.

.

But now General Leta's words made Fang Lang feel that the other party had acted too hastily. Could it be that the other party's position was about to change? Or had the other party's appetite increased?

For a moment, Fang Lang didn't think clearly about the reason.

He looked up and looked around and found that no one was paying attention to the conversation between the two. He lowered his voice and asked:

"General Leta, did something special happen?"

Looking at Fang Lang who was looking at him with a searching look on his face, General Leta smiled and said:

"Planning for the new year's fiscal budget will begin soon. As far as I know, this time the Secretary of the Navy has submitted a naval expansion plan, hoping to further expand the strength of several other naval bases.

This is an opportunity, isn't it?"

Fang Lang was stunned when he heard this, and said hesitantly:

“Will this pass?

There is only so much military expenditure. If the navy's military expenditure increases, the capabilities of the army and air force will be squeezed. Can the strong army agree to this?"

(End of chapter)