242: Chapter 240: Such Cheap Munitions 242: Chapter 240: Such Cheap Munitions Five hundred AK74s plus two million 5.45mm caliber bullets only cost seven hundred thousand US dollars, and for AK47 bullets, Gao Yang and his group initially wanted ten million rounds, but Uriyangko didn’t have nearly that many.
He gathered Russian, Huaxia, and Eastern European ones and barely managed to scrape together four million rounds.
The total cost for four million 7.62mm caliber bullets was also just three hundred thousand US dollars.
These bullets produced during the Cold War era are now outdated for those major powers, but they still have a huge surplus, and military surplus ammunition is that cheap.
Two hundred RPG launchers plus ten thousand various types of rockets needed six hundred thousand US dollars, one-time use RPG-26s cost three hundred thousand for a thousand units, ten ’63 model 107mm rocket launchers along with rockets exactly one million US dollars, and forty thousand hand grenades two hundred thousand US dollars.
One hundred PKM general-purpose machine guns, plus twenty of Russia’s latest adopted “Curtain” 12.7mm caliber heavy machine guns, only cost four hundred thousand US dollars when adding in bullets and spare barrels.
Uriyangko had bought a lot of weapons in Libya at a super low price, and although Gao Yang didn’t want the second-hand guns he acquired, just the bullets and rockets were enough for Uriyangko to make a fortune, especially hand grenades.
Uriyangko bought forty thousand of them from Libya at the price of one US dollar each and turned around to sell them at five dollars each to the Skull Gang.
Because Uriyangko had a large batch of hand grenades, Gao Yang and his team didn’t purchase the planned amount.
Even though Uriyangko could make a five-fold profit, a price of five US dollars per hand grenade was still very low for them; after all, buying from an arms dealer isn’t the same as the prices during military aid from a major country, where such items are often given for free.
Uriyangko needed to make temporary purchases for sniper rifles and bullets, so the cost was not low.
A decent M21 with a scope priced at three thousand dollars, an M40A1 with a scope at three thousand seven hundred, and since sniper rifle ammunition is hard to come by and once fired is gone, he acquired extra—each rifle with ten thousand rounds of bullets—and the total price amounted to three hundred thousand US dollars.
In the beginning, Gao was worried they wouldn’t have enough money, but he quickly realized it wasn’t that they didn’t have enough—it was too much.
Maide had over twenty-one million US dollars on hand, even after deducting the three million already taken by Gao and his group, there was still over eighteen million US dollars left.
The weapons they were now buying only required three million eight hundred thousand US dollars.
This was far less than Gao and his team had anticipated; it wasn’t that they spent too much, but rather too little.
If they used the remaining roughly fifteen million to purchase only food and medicine, it likely would spoil before the five thousand people could consume it all, equating to about thirty thousand US dollars per person.
How long could one person take to eat through thirty thousand dollars’ worth of grain?
Because there was so much money left over, Gao and his team found new ways to spend it, such as on communication equipment and electronic devices.
They made sure communication equipment could be distributed down to squads, and in addition to a small quantity of night vision devices, they bought several generators and solar panels among other items, but all these together only totaled six hundred thousand US dollars.
After calculating the cost for weapons, everyone was at a loss, especially Abu, who looked at Gao with a puzzled face and said, “Your friend is really generous.
The prices he quoted are so low I couldn’t even imagine them.
We buy bullets for one US dollar each, but he sells them to us—ten or more rounds for one US dollar.
I knew buying from you would be cheaper than us buying in Somalia, but this difference is just unbelievable.”
Gao was also quite astonished.
He smiled and said, “This hasn’t even included the shipping costs.
You know it’s quite difficult to transport arms to Somalia, there are great risks involved, so the shipping costs will be high.
My friend mentioned that just the shipping might need two million US dollars.”
Abu still nodded repeatedly, saying, “It’s a good deal, even with the shipping costs included.”
Gao Yang smiled, “If you think it’s a good deal, then you should keep buying from him in the future.
You can have a long-term cooperation.”
Maide nodded seriously, “Your friend is a good businessman.
We will buy from him in the future, but what should we do with the rest of the money?
We can’t spend it all on food and medicine; we wouldn’t be able to use all of it.”
Gao Yang said seriously, “I’ve asked around, the international price for wheat is currently three hundred and twenty US Dollars per ton.
Even if you buy a thousand tons, that’s only three hundred and twenty thousand US Dollars.
My friend will surely want a higher profit to buy food for you, and with shipping costs, just one million US Dollars will be enough for the purchase of a thousand tons.
As for the medicine, I don’t know much about it, but let’s budget one million US Dollars for the medicine and miscellaneous items.
So, you don’t need ten million US Dollars to settle everything.”
Abu laughed heartily, his mouth wide open, “What a bargain, such a bargain!
I really didn’t know these things were so cheap outside of Somalia.
Alright, I think we can use the remaining money to buy ships, new ships that are big and fast and won’t break down at sea.”
Gao Yang shrugged, “You can buy ships, but I think it’s better to keep some money in reserve.
It’s always better to have money on hand than to find out you’ve spent it all when you need it.
Anyway, as long as you have money and a way to buy, you can get anything.”
Maide smiled, “Alright, I think we can add some more items.
A thousand sets of military uniforms and helmets as well, and of course, combat boots.
Now I feel everything is so cheap, I just want to make a big purchase.”
Gao Yang shrugged, “One set of military uniforms per person is okay, but there must be distinctions.
Alright, separate the Instruction Platoon from the ordinary soldiers, give officers and soldiers in the Instruction Platoon a set of dress uniforms, and ordinary soldiers can just have combat uniforms.
I’ll have my friend buy them.”
Maide clapped his hands and said, “Done.
Now we can ask your friend when he can deliver the goods, and where he can send them to.
Our base is located one hundred and ten kilometers east of Bosaso.
The key point is we don’t have a port.
If it’s by ship, we can only transfer goods to the shore via fishing boats and speedboats.”
Gao Yang and his group were still in Pirate Village, but this village was to be abandoned, and everyone would move to the Skull Gang’s base.
However, Maide and his group didn’t have GPS, so they couldn’t provide the coordinates of the Skull Gang’s base.
On the other hand, Gao Yang’s group did have GPS, so Gao Yang would wait until they reached the Skull Gang’s base to give Uriyangko an accurate location.
But for now, Gao Yang could at least tell Uriyangko that the deal had been made.
After getting through on the phone, Gao Yang smiled, “Good news, they’re very satisfied with your quote.
I’ll tell you the delivery location tonight, but how do you plan on collecting the payment?”
Uriyangko said excitedly, “First, collect three million as a down payment, and the rest after the goods are delivered to the designated location.
Once you tell me the trade location, I will personally make a trip there.” (To be continued.
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