Chapter 34: Why are you getting so worked up!

Opening the door, Su Dingping walked out with a look of astonishment.

"Dean Sun, is it finished so soon?"

"Everyone worked together in synergy, so naturally, it went quickly," Sun Yongguo replied.

Walking out of the room and arriving at the shipyard, Su Dingping looked at the hollowed-out shell of the 956E before him, feeling quite shaken.

He had thought it would take two days, but to his surprise, the entire massive undertaking had been completed in just one day.

If this had been done for disassembly in a traditional shipyard, it would have been impossible to finish in less than five or six days.

He knew the People's Liberation Army had strong execution capabilities, but this exceeded even his expectations.

Zhou Qinglei approached quickly.

"Comrade Su Dingping, please inspect it!"

Behind him lay a large pile of core components disassembled from the 956E. Standing beside these core components were the professors responsible for the disassembly, along with naval officers and sailors.

Everyone looked toward Su Dingping with slightly nervous expressions.

If any component turned out to be problematic at this moment, the person in charge would lose significant face.

From the positioning of the crowd, Su Dingping could discern the underlying tension.

These people would all be participating in research with him here moving forward; it wouldn't be right to let them be humiliated now.

Having lived two lifetimes, Su Dingping understood the nuances of human relationships and social etiquette.

As if sensing Su Dingping's thoughts, Sun Yongguo spoke up.

"Dingping, take a look. If there are any discrepancies, everyone can make adjustments in time," Sun Yongguo said.

Zhou Qinglei spoke again.

"Comrade Su Dingping, please inspect it."

"Alright!"

With that, Su Dingping began his inspection, starting with the nearest group, including Lyu Guangjun.

Half an hour later, Su Dingping returned to his original position.

The hearts of everyone present jumped into their throats.

Finally, Su Dingping spoke.

"You all did an excellent job. Your efficiency and results have truly impressed me!"

"Thank you for your hard work. You've all done well."

As soon as these words were uttered, the professors breathed a sigh of relief, while the naval officers and sailors erupted into collective cheers.

This was their validation and recognition.

Even Zhou Qinglei, who had maintained a stern face throughout, allowed a smile to appear.

Being able to participate in such a classified project was a sign of trust, and they had not failed to live up to Su Dingping's trust.

With the task complete, Zhou Qinglei directed the naval personnel to move all the equipment aside to clear the area. They then pushed over all the equipment and materials Su Dingping required.

Su Dingping turned to the twenty-one professors before him.

"Everyone, the task for the naval personnel is over. Now, it is our turn."

"Time is tight and the task is heavy. I won't waste any more words—let the class begin!"

...

On the other side, at the Northern Sea Area Military Base Command Headquarters.

After a day of contemplation on how to confer rank upon Su Dingping, Xu Dongguo had finally formed a plan.

Just then, news arrived from Zhou Qinglei's side.

After listening to the report, a smile spread across his face.

Previously, he had indeed worried that the disassembly of the 956E might trigger a chain reaction; the Russian Federation's reputation for reverse engineering was no joke.

Fortunately, the 956E had been successfully disassembled without any unexpected repercussions. This was a good sign; it meant their side already had solutions for the reverse engineering the Russians had attempted on the 956E's internal structure.

Once the research breakthrough here was successful, all the "backdoor" measures hidden in the other 956E could be resolved.

In the future, the Russians would no longer be able to use the backdoors on the 956E to manipulate them.

This was of immense significance to the Navy.

Thinking of Su Dingping's words, he felt a sense of gratification.

"Su Dingping truly is a treasure to our Navy."

"He has fired the first shot in the counterattack against Western technological blockades. A beautiful shot indeed!"

Suddenly, he thought of the incident involving Lyu Guangjun last night.

If Su Dingping could truly solve the series of problems regarding shipborne missiles, the Navy could breathe a massive sigh of relief in dealing with the current situation.

Transitioning missiles from land-based to sea-based was extremely difficult. It wasn't just a matter of changing the missile's scale; there were countless difficulties regarding compatibility with the various internal systems of a warship.

After all these years, through the efforts of many military industry experts, the YJ anti-ship missiles and HH air defense missiles had been updated to the eighth generation.

Yet, despite the constant rushing, there was still a significant gap in reaction time, strike distance, and strike precision compared to the anti-ship and air defense missiles on modern warships.

If Su Dingping were to trigger a second revolution in shipborne missiles, it would be like adding wings to a tiger for the Navy.

Thinking of this, Xu Dongguo chuckled to himself.

He felt he was being a bit too greedy.

The breakthrough on the 956E hadn't even been finalized yet, and he was already thinking about other things.

Just then, the dedicated telephone on his desk suddenly rang.

"It's me, Xu Dongguo."

As soon as Xu Dongguo finished speaking, an extremely dissatisfied voice came through the phone.

"Old Xu, what's going on? It's been several days. What happened to the promised 956E?"

As soon as he heard Chief Qian's voice, Xu Dongguo knew trouble was brewing.

Sure enough, the other party was coming to demand the warship.

Currently, the warship was disassembled into pieces; there was clearly no way to account for it.

After a moment's thought, he said, "Old Qian, don't worry. I said if I didn't want the 956E, I definitely wouldn't want it!"

"Then why have several days passed and I haven't even seen a shadow of the 956E? From your Northern Sea Area to my Southern Sea Area, even if you just pushed it, you could have gotten it here by now."

Xu Dongguo cleared his throat to ease the awkwardness.

"It's like this—you know, Zhou Qinglei and the others have grown attached to the 956E after spending so much time with it, so they wanted to run a few more drills."

"Then why don't you just send me the 956E and the entire crew of the First Fleet?"

"Hey, you old Qian, you're even trying to snatch my people? Don't worry, if I say I'll give it to you, I will! It's just a matter of a few days!"

Having said that, he hung up the phone directly.

After a while, when the phone didn't ring again, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"This Old Qian... it's one thing to want the warship, but he even wants the people!"

Training a batch of qualified naval personnel was no easy task; of course, he was loath to part with them.

Time flew by, and three days passed in a flash.

On this day, Chief Qian called again to demand the warship.

"What did you say? The 956E?"

"Oh, oh, oh, the 956E has developed some faults. I've already sent people to repair it."

"Don't worry, it'll just be a few more days."

Three more days passed.

Xu Dongguo leaned back in his chair with an air of composure, holding the receiver of the landline.

"Old Qian, the repair difficulty for this 956E is quite high. You might have to wait a few more days."

"What? You think I'm reluctant to give up the 956E? How is that possible! I wouldn't even want it if you gave it to the Northern Navy!"

"Don't worry, I will definitely hand it over to you by the end of the year!"

Several times in a row, Xu Dongguo had managed to brush Chief Qian off.

In any case, he had decided he wouldn't take the 956E. Once the core technology breakthrough was successful, they could build the 956E themselves. At that point, why would they need to fight over them like this?

Lately, good news had been constantly coming from Su Dingping's side; the progress on the 956E breakthrough was exceptionally smooth.

He was becoming increasingly expectant of the results.

As the end of the year approached, Chief Qian's call came through once again.

"Three days and another three days—how many 'three days' has it been now? Xu Dongguo, if you don't want to give me the 956E, just say so! I don't care for it!"

"Old Qian, don't be like that."

"Wait for the high-level meeting next month!"

Listening to the busy signal on the phone, Xu Dongguo said helplessly.

Why was he getting so worked up?

(End of Chapter)