Chapter 32: Keeping Su Dingping in the Navy in Broad Daylight

The warm afternoon sun streamed in, falling perfectly upon Su Dingping. Combined with the steady and fervent gazes of the naval officers and sailors, Su Dingping shone brilliantly at this moment.

Sun Yongguo and the others stared blankly at the scene before them.

They had assumed Su Dingping would lead everyone through a simple oath before commencing the 956E disassembly project.

Little did they know that Su Dingping's performance would exceed their wildest imaginations.

The single sentence, "Fire the first shot in the counterattack against Western technological blockades," completely eclipsed any standard oath.

What immense spirit!

The crowd looked at one another, their faces filled with disbelief.

*Didn't they say he wouldn't do it?*

*Didn't they say Dean Sun should be the one to speak?*

*So, all that encouragement and all that worrying was for nothing?*

Sun Yongguo sighed inwardly: *Thank goodness I didn't go up there, otherwise, it wouldn't have had this effect.*

The emotions of the naval personnel were completely ignited by Su Dingping. Every one of them felt an urge to immediately step upon the "corpse" of the 956E and gaze toward the future that belonged to the Navy.

For a moment, everyone's emotions were quite complex.

Was this the kind of ambition a 19-year-old youth should possess?

Perhaps, precisely because he was young, he possessed a madness they could not match!

Or perhaps, precisely because he was young, he possessed that unstoppable momentum—the "Who says we can't? I'll show them that we can!" attitude.

In a daze, Sun Yongguo and the others recalled a moment in Engineer Zhang Gongnong's laboratory. When Xu Dongguo had asked Su Dingping what reward he wanted, Su Dingping had replied, "If Westerners can do it, we Chinese people don't lack brains; we can do it just as well!"

In this setting, everything seemed to be developing in that very direction.

"The decision to let Comrade Dingping go up and motivate everyone was the right one," Lyu Guangjun whispered.

"Indeed. If it were me, it might have just been another set of official platitudes, but Dingping is different. He has that drive we lack! It's as if nothing can stand in his way!" Sun Yongguo remarked with emotion.

"To be honest," Lyu Guangjun glanced at Sun Yongguo, "if you had gone up to say those things, I might have suspected you were talking nonsense! But hearing those words from Comrade Dingping, for some reason, I feel that we can definitely do it!"

Sun Yongguo was not offended by the teasing.

Different levels of competence naturally brought different levels of persuasiveness to one's words. He admitted he did not yet possess that kind of authority. Everyone could see Su Dingping's caliber, so they naturally placed absolute trust in his words.

"Heroes emerge from the youth; the Chief is right!" Zhang Gongnong remarked with deep emotion.

His student, in just half a year, had gone from silence to a stunning breakthrough.

"Dean Sun, Dean Lyu, I leave the upcoming tasks to you," Su Dingping said, returning a respectful salute to the naval officers and sailors before turning to Sun Yongguo and the others.

The crowd snapped out of their shock.

"Don't worry, we won't hold you back!"

Immediately following Su Dingping's command, the massive 956E disassembly project commenced with great momentum.

"Follow me, we are responsible for cutting the ship's guns."

"This way, we are in charge of the anti-aircraft guns."

"We are responsible for the external structure of the ship's radar; everyone be careful and follow the steps I outline..."

The professors worked in pairs, leading dozens of naval personnel to tackle their respective task points.

Meanwhile, Su Dingping returned to the barracks.

The massive sound of cutting echoed everywhere, but to Su Dingping, it was nothing to be distracted by.

After flipping through the blueprints on his desk, he quickly entered the Military Industry Illustration Forging Space.

The shipyard, which had previously been filled with machine tools and other instruments, now had a large portion cleared out. New design blueprints covered the surrounding area.

He picked up a piece of documentation at random; it was titled *Discussion on Several Issues Regarding the General Technology of Shipborne Guided Rockets*.

These were classified documents that Lyu Guangjun had sent someone to bring from the 408 Research Institute. To secure two study positions, Lyu had stopped worrying about whether these were classified. In fact, Lyu had already written the formal request for responsibility, waiting for a moment to submit it to Xu Dongguo.

Su Dingping was unaware of Lyu Guangjun's plans.

"...After the rocket leaves the rail, the disturbances received during uncontrolled flight will also affect launch accuracy. The eccentricity of the engine's thrust is affected by multiple complex additional torques..."

"The oscillation of the directional instrument will produce a certain coupling phenomenon..."

"How to minimize the probability of the coupling phenomenon? Perhaps the Spudatsky fluid mechanics conjecture inferred by Dean Lyu and the others is not the right path..."

As he read, Su Dingping took out paper and a pen and began calculating according to the formulas mentioned.

***

That evening, in Xu Dongguo's office.

Watching the video before him, Xu Dongguo couldn't help but say, "Good!"

The video was exactly of Su Dingping's declaration in front of the 956E that afternoon.

Closing his laptop, Xu Dongguo remarked with emotion, "If every young person in our China were like this, why would I worry about the success of our Great China Rejuvenation plan?"

He shook his head with a smile. He knew he was being too greedy. If everyone were like Su Dingping, challenging the top powers of Blue Star would merely be a matter of time.

But currently, let alone the top powers, even the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, known as the little overlord of the Asian waters, was enough to give the Navy headaches.

Pulling his thoughts back, Xu Dongguo asked, "How is the 956E disassembly project progressing?"

Sun Yongguo replied, "Reporting to the Chief, under the coordination of the professors and numerous naval personnel, everything is proceeding smoothly!"

"That's good. I am at ease leaving this matter to you, especially with Comrade Su Dingping overseeing it."

"Comrade Dingping returned to the barracks later; I didn't see him before I arrived."

"He is still young; it pains me to see such a heavy burden placed on his shoulders all at once." After a thought, Xu Dongguo added, "Let him have a good rest tonight."

Nodding, Sun Yongguo continued, "Chief, this is the military fund application for this project. What do you think?"

Xu Dongguo took it and glanced at it.

A total of over 35 million.

Just for disassembly?

As he scanned further down, his brow twitched. This included subsequent costs for consumables, repairs, and more. Compared to the 1.5 billion, this amount was vastly different.

"Will it be enough? Should you apply for more? At this critical juncture, just ask for the funds; if it's not enough, I will find a way!"

"Chief, it is enough! Comrade Dingping provided a detailed breakdown of the expenses; this amount is completely sufficient. With Comrade Dingping overseeing it, many unnecessary consumptions can be saved. He has saved us a huge amount of military funds!"

Hearing this, Xu Dongguo signed the application.

The smooth approval of this fund application actually surprised Sun Yongguo. It was the end of the year, and he knew the Navy's budget was running low. He wondered where another 30 million would be squeezed from.

Taking back the signed application, Sun Yongguo tucked it away carefully.

"Chief, this is the report I drafted. Please take a look."

As he spoke, Sun Yongguo handed over the explanatory report regarding the recommendation for Su Dingping's commissioning.

Upon flipping through it, Xu Dongguo's eyes lit up.

Commissioning Su Dingping!

*Why didn't I think of that before!*

Now, they could officially and legitimately keep Su Dingping in the Navy.

"Comrade Yongguo, you have done well on this!"