Chapter 36: Russia is Stunned: What on Earth Are They Doing?

Is Lü Guangjun leaving?

Sun Yongguo and Engineer Zhang looked at each other in bewilderment; they truly had no idea about this.

"Director Lü, you're doing so well here, why the sudden departure?"

"Indeed, there are still major projects waiting for us following the 956E."

Su Dingping also looked toward Lü Guangjun.

Lü Guangjun explained, "I have been here for quite some time now. The three people capable of leading at the 408 Institute are all here, and it feels a bit like I'm abandoning my post. Furthermore, my institute bears primary responsibility for the failure of the 051B modification. Now that we have achieved some breakthroughs, I naturally must return to shoulder that burden."

"Comrade Dingping led us here to fire the first shot in our counterattack against the Western technological blockade. I must return to lead the researchers of the 408 Institute to fire the second shot!"

Seeing that Sun Yongguo was still trying to persuade him to stay, he added with a smile, "I can't let your 335 Research Institute take all the credit, can I? Old Sun, you have to give me a chance to prove my worth as well."

Seeing that Lü Guangjun's mind was made up, the two men stopped trying to block him.

Su Dingping said, "Director Lü, please wait a moment."

With that, Su Dingping walked quickly toward the barracks.

Watching Su Dingping's retreating figure, the five men looked at one another, wondering what he was up to.

Soon, Su Dingping returned, carrying a thick stack of documents.

"Comrade Dingping, what is this?"

"Director Lü, I don't know when we will meet again. These are the research result reports I have summarized recently; perhaps they will be of some help to your 051B modification."

Hearing this, Lü Guangjun took the materials with a solemn expression.

After a quick glance, he said excitedly, "Comrade Dingping, these materials are extremely important to me!"

"Words cannot express my gratitude. Just wait for the good news from my 408 Institute!"

Subsequently, after the three completed the security clearance procedures at the base, they boarded a special plane bound directly for Beijing.

Not long after they left, Sun Yongguo contacted Xu Dongguo.

After reporting the research progress of the past few days to Xu Dongguo over the phone, he also mentioned the news of Lü Guangjun's departure.

Having learned from the previous experience, Sun Yongguo was naturally meticulous regarding the movement of personnel with security clearances.

Upon learning the situation, Xu Dongguo's emotions fluctuated.

He increasingly felt that keeping Su Dingping in the Navy was an extremely correct decision.

With a genius present, a whole group of experts could be driven to make great strides forward.

Su Dingping had successfully ignited the competitive spirit within the experts; currently, everyone was holding their breath, determined to outmaneuver the West's technological blockade.

This was a good sign.

He hadn't heard those pessimistic remarks for quite some time.

"The West has its schemes, but China has its ways to overcome them. The future of the Navy is promising!"

After a pause, he said into the phone, "Comrade Yongguo, I plan to visit Comrade Su Dingping at the base in a few days. I hope it won't interfere with your research progress?"

"Chief, you are welcome anytime!"

After hanging up the phone, Xu Dongguo received a coded telegram.

The process for Su Dingping's rank and title assessment was nearing completion.

...

Two hours had passed since Lü Guangjun's departure. Inside the Military Industry Atlas Forging Space.

Su Dingping was holding a notebook, recording relevant data in front of an instrument.

Just then, an alarm suddenly blared from the northern part of the shipyard.

Su Dingping lifted his foot, and in the next second, he appeared at the northern end of the shipyard.

As he watched the data flashing continuously on the instrument, just as he was about to record it, a violent explosion occurred.

A few kilometers away, Su Dingping's figure appeared.

He frowned slightly as he watched the towering flames in the distance.

"The forging of the integrated sub-combustion ramjet engine failed. Was the instrument's load pressure too high, causing a chain reaction?"

After thinking for a while, he waved his hand, and the site of the explosion returned to its original state.

Immediately, he returned to the northern shipyard area.

This was precisely the location where the integrated sub-combustion ramjet engine was being forged.

*Beep—*

The alarm sounded again, but this time he was prepared.

With a single thought, everything seemed to freeze in time.

With another wave of his hand, the half-forged ramjet engine was instantly detached from the instrument and separated into countless parts.

Moving through the components, he continuously recorded the damage sustained by the parts during the forging process.

Several hours passed, and a massive missile was placed before Su Dingping.

It was the 'SS-N-22 Sunburn' supersonic shipborne anti-ship cruise missile—the one compatible with the Bai Ling supersonic anti-ship missile system.

Because the core technology analysis for many parts of the 052D required too much time, he had focused more of his energy on analyzing shipborne missiles during this period.

The core technologies of the two shipborne missile systems compatible with the 956E far exceeded the eighth batch of YJ and HH missiles currently used by the Navy, so Su Dingping had listed them as primary targets for research.

He had already successfully analyzed the core technology of the Bai Ling supersonic anti-ship missile system and could now operate the relevant launch systems on the 956E for testing.

As for the SA-N-7 Hurricane air defense missile system, it was still under analysis.

A moment later, Su Dingping appeared in the main control room of the 956E.

Seeing 【Missile Loading Complete】 displayed on the dashboard, Su Dingping knew that the 'SS-N-22 Sunburn' had been loaded.

The next step was to test its combat performance.

The test subject was the 052D, located dozens of kilometers away.

Taking a deep breath, he pressed the missile launch button on the main console.

【Target Locked!】 【Combat Command Issued: Bai Ling!】 【Countdown: 8 seconds!】 【Ignition Successful!】

As a series of messages flashed out, a roar erupted from the anti-ship missile launcher on the deck.

In the next second, Su Dingping saw a missile soaring into the sky, trailing a long tongue of flame.

However, shortly after, a violent explosion echoed from mid-air.

"Failed."

With a wave of his hand, everything returned to the state before the launch.

With a beckoning gesture, the 'SS-N-22 Sunburn' appeared before him and disassembled.

"The launch system is fine. The problem might lie with the directional gyro. During the missile's flight, the unstable oscillation of the gyro caused a certain coupling phenomenon."

"Or perhaps, information interference occurred during the transmission of the warhead's active radar data..."

After pondering for a while, Su Dingping began his first round of debugging.

All through the night, he engaged in debugging, testing, researching, and re-debugging.

The workload that would have required a whole team in the real world, he handled alone. Furthermore, he saved the hundreds of millions in costs required for the entire process.

He worked until dawn in the real world. After the 21st round of debugging, the 'SS-N-22 Sunburn' anti-ship missile successfully hit the 052D.

Appearing on the deck of the 052D, Su Dingping looked at the massive crater on the warship and the surrounding flames, a smile spreading across his face.

"The Bai Ling supersonic anti-ship missile system, along with the 'SS-N-22 Sunburn' anti-ship missile, has been successfully developed!"

With a large wave of his hand, the 052D returned to its original state.

Checking the time, Su Dingping stepped out of the Military Industry Atlas Forging Space in high spirits.

Arriving beside the 956E, Sun Yongguo and the others were already waiting there.

Seeing Su Dingping walking toward them with a beaming smile, everyone was confused.

*He just took a nap, why is he so happy?*

Su Dingping offered no explanation and said directly, "Everyone, let us begin."

Meanwhile, in Beijing.

Wang De's seventh negotiation with Turgenev had collapsed again due to Xu Dongguo's intervention.

This time, Turgenev and his team were completely stunned.

The plan was to give the other side the cold shoulder for a while, making them realize that the Navy could not move an inch without the 956E, so they would obediently accept their terms.

As it turned out, more than half a month had passed, and Wang De and his group still refused to budge!

"Where did the process go wrong?"

(End of Chapter)