"Alright, Mr. Mavi," the Saudi Prince said as he left the tank depot with Mavi, heading towards the helipad at the army base.
There, a "Mi-26 helicopter," which had been waiting for a long time, was parked. It's the largest armed helicopter in the world, measuring 40 meters long – even bigger than a Boeing 737 business jet. It can carry over 60 people.
Mavi led the Saudi Prince into the helicopter cockpit, while the rest of the entourage waited inside the cabin for the aircraft to take off.
Five minutes later, the massive rotor blades of the Mi-26 helicopter slowly started spinning above them. Soon after, the view before their eyes changed from the army base to the clear blue sky.
"Your Highness, that cluster of buildings ahead is the main area for this missile exercise. In about five more minutes, the TOS-1 'flame tanks' you saw earlier will launch a concentrated fire strike on those buildings from 60 kilometers away," Mavi said, pointing towards a distant uninhabited area.
The Saudi Prince beside him followed Mavi's finger and couldn't help but look at the buildings below. Looking at their scale, they were much larger than a medium-sized village! Calling it a small town wouldn't be an exaggeration.
"Mr. Mavi, there are no people living down there, right?" Looking at the size of the settlement, there must have been at least tens of thousands of people. If there were any living people there, it would be a massacre...
"Don't worry, Your Highness, this area is completely uninhabited. It's a makeshift town our Russian Ground Forces specially built to test the power of the flame tanks. Before this, we also specifically sent a small team to conduct a carpet search to ensure no one was living there," Mavi said with a smile.
Rather than saying the Russian Ground Forces built it, it would be more accurate to say he spent millions of dollars building this uninhabited town in an uninhabited area just to witness the explosion firsthand. All for the sake of seeing how it would be destroyed later...
To be honest, this was the first time the Saudi Prince had seen a military exercise like this. After all, not everyone is as "extravagant" as Mavi.
However, just as the Saudi Prince was about to say something else, suddenly! A flash of fire erupted from the hillside 60 kilometers away! This was immediately followed by a cloud of white smoke that instantly enveloped the entire hillside.
Before the Saudi Prince could even react, a large group of warheads spraying reddish-orange flames suddenly appeared in the clear blue sky. And they were streaking towards the distant uninhabited town at an incredibly high speed!
Sitting in the cockpit, the Saudi Prince watched the terrifying rockets in the sky, looking like a thousand arrows unleashed at once, with astonishment in his eyes. Looking at the scale of this concentrated barrage, there were at least a hundred rockets. At this rate, it would definitely blast this small uninhabited town into ruins...
Over a hundred 300mm caliber rockets, propelled by fuel, roared through the sky. And at a terrifying speed of 1 kilometer per second (almost Mach 3), they flew towards the uninhabited town below!
At this point, the Saudi Prince couldn't even think anymore. He was now instinctively watching the screaming cluster of rockets in the distance, invincible in the air, rapidly approaching the target area.
Almost in the time it took for everyone to take a breath, the roaring cluster of rockets accelerated into a dive! And instantly plummeted into the distant uninhabited town!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Astonishing explosions rang out one after another, their ear-splitting sound seemingly capable of piercing the sky and reaching beyond the clouds!
The terrifying explosions turned the distant uninhabited town into a sea of fire. The carpet bombing-like density of the explosions made the scene look like several volcanoes erupting simultaneously! The sight was so shocking it made you think it was the end of the world...
As the sound of the explosions gradually faded, the once peaceful town was instantly turned into a pile of rubble. Flames continued to rise, and thick black smoke permeated the ruins. Even from a great distance, it felt like you were looking not at the human world, but at hell...
"Your Highness, our Russian Ground Forces' TOS-1 'flame tank' has an accuracy of less than 30 meters within a 60-kilometer range. If an attack is launched against enemy troops, the area within three kilometers will definitely be turned into ruins," Mavi said, smiling at the Saudi Prince.
Honestly, even he was shocked by the hellish scene just now. However, Mavi had experienced quite a bit, so he quickly calmed down and continued with his business. Unlike the Saudi Prince beside him, who still seemed mentally adrift and hadn't recovered...
"Your Highness?" Mavi asked again, feeling helpless. It was exactly like the situation in his previous life; regardless of whether they were royal family members or commoners, Saudi Arabians would be completely stunned when they saw a scene of war. The fear of death ingrained in their bones wouldn't turn into bravery based on status or wealth...
"Ah? Oh! This tank, the flame tank! 60 of them, right? Can I make a phone call first?" the Saudi Prince stammered, asking Mavi.
What he meant by making a phone call was asking his father, the King of Saudi Arabia, for more US dollars to buy these 60 Russian TOS-1 "flame tanks" plus the accompanying 300mm rockets.
"Of course, Your Highness, feel free," Mavi said, seeing the situation and immediately understanding that the other party was about to ask his dad for money. So, Mavi signaled for the helicopter to return to the base, giving the Saudi Prince ample time to communicate and discuss with his father.
"Hello, Father, I'm at the Russian army base. Their self-propelled rocket artillery system is incredibly powerful! I just saw that only about 5 systems could destroy a town within a 3-kilometer radius! If our army is equipped with this, it will definitely be like adding wings to a tiger!" the Saudi Prince said excitedly on the phone.
Meanwhile, the Saudi King on the other end of the line, after hearing his son's description, didn't give it much thought. He immediately made the decision and simply said one word, "Then buy them all."
"Okay, Father!" the Saudi Prince replied joyfully.
This was the fundamental reason Mavi spent money building the town and spent money firing the rockets. Only the most direct and shocking scene could stimulate humanity's primal desires.
"Mr. Mavi, I've decided! We, Saudi Arabia, will take all 60 of these flame tanks! And the corresponding rockets too, let's get 1000 rounds... oh, no! Make it 3000 rounds!" The shocking explosion scene had made the Saudi Prince stop hesitating. After asking his father for the money, he decided to buy them right away.
After all, Russia's TOS-1 "flame tank" system has indeed rarely been sold abroad. Plus, with such fierce firepower, he believed equipping the Arab army with it would definitely deter neighboring countries like Iraq, Iran, Yemen, and others.
3000 rounds of self-propelled rocket artillery cost $360 million US dollars. The Saudi Prince didn't even ask for a discount on this money; he paid the full amount upfront for both the rockets and the flame tanks together! Absolutely impressive...
(End of this chapter)