Chapter 44: Chief, I believe Comrade Dingping!

Sun Yongguo asked with a deadpan expression, "No matter what it is, I will certainly fight for it with the Chief."

He naturally knew that for Su Dingping to bring this up to him privately, the difficulty would likely be quite high.

Of course, this matter was bound to be extremely important as well.

Su Dingping said, "I hope the Dean can speak to the Chief on my behalf. I need to use the two types of missiles on the 956E!"

"Two types of missiles? Both of them?"

Su Dingping nodded.

"Live rounds?"

Su Dingping nodded again.

At this, Sun Yongguo's brow furrowed slightly.

The missiles on the 956E belonged to two different categories from the missiles currently being matched with the Navy. One was purchased from abroad, and the other was domestically produced.

For the purchased missiles, every single one lost was irreplaceable, and each was worth over a million. Furthermore, there were no dummy rounds available for testing; they could only be used as live rounds.

The 9M38 shipborne anti-air missiles were not particularly advanced in terms of technology, so their price wasn't too exorbitant. However, the 'SS-N-22 Sunburn' anti-ship missiles were considered quite advanced internationally, and each one was extremely expensive.

Since the 956E arrived, quite a long time had passed, yet only four missiles of these two types had been used in total.

He was reluctant! He was truly reluctant to use them.

With this thought in mind, Sun Yongguo spoke bluntly.

"Alright, I will go and apply for this with the Chief! No matter how difficult it is, I will make sure it gets approved!"

Could the difficulty of this matter be greater than the difficulty of dismantling the 956E?

Even Chief Xu had approved the dismantling of the 956E; he believed this shouldn't be a major problem.

At the very least, it was no longer a major problem.

Su Dingping explained, "Then I'll have to trouble the Dean. Once the live rounds are approved, I will use them to teach everyone. That way, everyone will progress more quickly."

"Using live rounds for instruction?"

Sun Yongguo was stunned.

If they used live rounds for instruction, what if... an accident happened?

He never imagined Su Dingping would be so bold.

"Dingping, is this appropriate? Perhaps we should discuss it further?"

"It's fine, I have confidence," Su Dingping said calmly. "Just get the approval. I will arrange the subsequent instructional courses myself."

Sun Yongguo's head was buzzing.

Using live rounds for instruction shouldn't normally cause an accident.

But right now, they were still completely ignorant of the missiles on the 956E. If an accident occurred during the dismantling process, it wouldn't matter if he himself was caught in the crossfire, but if Su Dingping was injured, the loss would be catastrophic.

"Dean, trust me."

Sun Yongguo remained in a daze until Su Dingping left.

*Whew—*

Taking a deep breath, he had originally thought this wouldn't be a huge problem, but now it was hard to say.

He knew very well that the Chief cherished Su Dingping even more than he did.

***

On the other side, at the Northern Fleet Command Headquarters.

Xu Dongguo was busy preparing content for the meeting the day after tomorrow.

Since this trip to Beijing was for a meeting where the chiefs of the three major fleets would gather, he naturally had to prepare a lot of materials.

Just then, the telephone on his desk rang.

"Chief, a call from Dean Sun."

"Put him through."

As soon as the call connected, Xu Dongguo said, "Comrade Yongguo, it's me."

"Chief, I have something to discuss with you."

"Go ahead."

"That..."

After hesitating for a long time, Sun Yongguo simply didn't know how to start.

"It's fine, speak freely."

Once Sun Yongguo organized his thoughts, he said, "Chief, the 956E breakthrough project has entered its final stage. All technical aspects have been mastered, and the final assembly will officially begin tomorrow! At that time, we will possess a 956E that is free of any 'backdoor' left by the Russians!"

Hearing this, Xu Dongguo's mood improved significantly.

With this, he wouldn't have to feel intimidated by Qian Wenbing's aggressiveness during tomorrow's high-level meeting.

"Comrade Yongguo, this is good news! Why are you being so hesitant?"

Seeing that the groundwork was laid, Sun Yongguo continued, "Dingping wants to apply to use the live rounds from the 956E!"

"No problem! I approve!"

Xu Dongguo approved it without a second thought.

He assumed Su Dingping wanted to use live rounds to test the performance of the complete 956E; he didn't even consider other possibilities. In his view, testing it wouldn't cost more than a few missiles. When the time came to deal with Qian Wenbing, it would be a simple matter.

*I've had people improve your 956E and strip away all their tricks; using a few missiles shouldn't be an issue, right?*

"Let Dingping test away. It's fine to use a few extra missiles."

"Testing? Chief, Dingping intends to use the live rounds to conduct instructional lectures for us!"

"Dingping has already mastered the core technology of the 956E's shipborne missiles?"

Xu Dongguo was startled; this efficiency was far too fast.

Immediately after, he realized the implication, and his tone changed instantly.

"What did you say? Using live rounds for instruction? Comrade Sun Yongguo, how could you agree to this?"

"We are currently completely ignorant of the missiles on the 956E. If an accident is triggered during the dismantling process by some Russian 'backdoor' and causes major losses—it wouldn't matter if the base was blown up, but if Dingping gets injured, that would be disastrous!"

"No, no! Absolutely not!"

"Progress can be slower; we can wait, but Dingping's safety comes first!"

Having been scolded by Xu Dongguo, Sun Yongguo felt conflicted and could only press on.

"Chief, I've tried to advise Dingping as well, but he says it's fine and wants me to trust him! I have also considered it carefully; as long as we are careful, there shouldn't be any major problems."

"I believe the Russians might have simplified some components in the missiles, but they wouldn't dig such a massive pit for us! That would violate international principles."

Xu Dongguo did not reply immediately, but instead held the phone in silence for a long time.

One must give researchers sufficient trust, but one must also ensure their safety.

With the two currently in conflict, he was also having a headache.

"Chief, I trust Comrade Su Dingping! No matter what happens, we will ensure Comrade Su Dingping's safety!"

"Let me think about this matter."

After saying this, Xu Dongguo hung up, stood up, and began pacing back and forth in the room.

Although he also believed the Russians would only simplify the missiles rather than plant traps, when it came to Su Dingping's safety, he could not afford to be imprudent.

The Navy had just seen a glimmer of hope; it could not be allowed to flicker out.

***

Meanwhile, at the 408 Research Institute in Beijing, in Dean Lyu's office.

*Knock, knock—*

"Come in!"

"Dean." As soon as the Vice Dean entered, he said, "All the major components of the 051B have been successfully forged and are ready for immediate installation."

Upon hearing this news, Lyu Guangjun stood up abruptly.

"Are there no errors in any of the components?"

"Dean, we have performed precise calibrations, and there are no errors! All that remains is to install them onto the warship and conduct testing!"

"Good, good, good!" Lyu Guangjun said excitedly.

He had kept his promise to Xu Dongguo to achieve some results close to his heart. The Navy high-level meeting was the day after tomorrow; if he couldn't present any decent achievements by then, it would be embarrassing for Xu Dongguo as well.

"Quick, quick, quick! Let's depart immediately! I want to personally go to the site to supervise the installation!"

As he spoke, Lyu Guangjun grabbed a coat, threw it on, and hurried out the door.