The train driver in the courtyard

The second seminar started on time at 8:30 a.m.

After conveying the support from higher authorities, the leader said, "We have already contacted several major research institutes and military industrial units in China, and those units have all responded to the call for Project 116."

The leader paused for a moment, looked at Li Aiguo, and said, "But as for the specifics of how to plan, Comrade Aiguo, you should come up with a plan as soon as possible."

"Leader, I suggest implementing a large-scale collaborative strategy of 'one factory, one corner; one factory, one piece; one factory, one line'." Li Aiguo took out the plan he had prepared beforehand and handed it over.

In this day and age, there was no experience in building armed helicopters, we had never done it before, and we had no information.

You can't build an airplane out of thin air; there's no lineage, no technological reserves.

What to do?
Each factory and research institute involved in the research and development established a "Project 116" workshop or group.

At the same time, military industry groups were established in various regions to coordinate and command, with representatives from the Aviation Industry Bureau serving as group leaders.

The engine development was mainly undertaken by Workshop 116 of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, with Li Aiguo and Professor Qi in charge of the technology.

"Socialist cooperation creates a productive force, which is conducive to developing the strengths of each factory, promoting production specialization, and improving labor productivity. This is indeed a good method." After reading the entire report, the leader of the Aviation Industry Bureau nodded in approval.

The secretary nodded in support: "More importantly, in the process of socialist cooperative labor, the working masses of workers and peasants constantly temper the will of proletarian collectivism and strengthen the socialist industrial army."

Most leaders favor the large-scale collaboration strategy, believing that it not only solves technical problems but also enhances team cohesion.

Some leaders also raised concerns: "How should the security arrangements be made? Armed helicopters are different from previous equipment and require a high degree of secrecy."

"We can coordinate with the weather station and have them take charge."

In fact, Li Aiguo had already come up with a plan.

The weather station recently trained another batch of meteorologists, so it's a good opportunity to take them out for some practice.

Only through practical experience can these meteorologists grow more quickly.

"Very good, it's decided then. We must start doing things and not just stay in the theory."

The section leader gave the approval, which meant that Project 116 officially began.

After returning to his office, Li Aiguo submitted the first batch of selected research institutes and factories.

This batch includes 52 factories scattered across 6 industrial systems nationwide, 5 military research institutes, and 52 factories.

Military research institutes are responsible for designing the transmission system, shell, and aerodynamics of armed helicopters.

Of the 52 factories, the General Machinery Plant was responsible for the accessory transmission box, while the Boiler Plant and the Compressor Plant were responsible for the combustion chamber body and the exhaust fork pipe.

Machine tool factories are responsible for manufacturing internal speed reducers, shock absorber factories are responsible for various shock absorber components, and power machinery factories are responsible for compressors and turbine rectifier rings, etc.

The textile system is responsible for polishing the compressor rectifier blade profiles, and units with the necessary resources participate in manufacturing some simple tooling.

In later generations, the story of "a textile worker building a helicopter" became a popular tale.

Like all large-scale projects, Project 116 also had a set timeframe.

The project command proposed to work hard for 100 days to complete the engine bench test.

The Industrial Bureau quickly notified the research institutes and factories on the list that they were to cooperate in manufacturing highly classified military equipment, and those research institutes and factories responded positively.

Of course, some researchers did not understand the decision made by their superiors.

For example, Chief Engineer Liu of the 70th Research Institute.

The team he led had just received a design project for a new type of light tank, but now the research institute was going to stop the project and transfer them to Workshop 116 to help research armed helicopters.

Chief Engineer Liu really couldn't understand it.

After receiving the assignment, he went to the institute's leadership.

"Boss, our tank design project has just started, why do we have to stop it all?" Chief Engineer Liu stormed into the boss's office and slammed his fist on the table.

Knowing Chief Engineer Liu's temperament, the leader advised, "It's not a halt, just a postponement. As long as we complete Project 116, the tank project can be restarted."

"Sigh, Director Zhou, after all these years, you still haven't learned how to fool people. We've invested a lot of money in Project 116 this time. Even if the project is completed, we can't restart the tank project, can we?"

Chief Engineer Liu spoke with some urgency: "The light tank is highly anticipated. If successful, it will change our situation of lacking mobile heavy firepower in the southeastern water network area."

Knowing that Chief Engineer Liu was determined to build a light tank, the leader could hardly change his mind, so he could only put on a stern face and say, "Old Liu, there must be a reason why the higher-ups have made this arrangement."

We must obey the organization's decisions. If we understand them, we must execute them; if we don't understand them, we must execute them even more.

Upon hearing this, Chief Engineer Liu remained silent for a moment, then nodded with difficulty: "I will obey the decision of my superiors."

"Old Liu, the parts you're in charge of are extremely important, so please don't get emotional." The leader was worried that Chief Engineer Liu would be slacking off.

Chief Engineer Liu felt insulted and waved his hand, saying, "I, Old Liu, am a member of the organization. I can't tell what's important and what's not. Director Zhou, just wait for the victory celebration!"

After saying that, Chief Engineer Liu strode out of the office; he needed to figure out the blueprints issued for Project 116 as soon as possible.

After learning about this from the security officer, Li Aiguo secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Chief Engineer Liu is a bit emotional right now, it's still better than spending more than ten years and countless funds to develop a tank that can't be mass-produced.

As for whether Chief Engineer Liu can work actively, Li Aiguo is not worried about that.

The level of awareness and understanding among military industrial designers of that era is unimaginable to many.

"Aiguo, Zhou Gaoyuan is about to leave for Wuxi Sanhe. Shouldn't you go see him off?" Zong Xianfeng knocked on the door, interrupting Li Aiguo's thoughts. "Let's go, let's see Xiao Zhou off." Li Aiguo stood up.

According to the plan of Project 116, it is necessary to dispatch special personnel to combine local professional and technical personnel, military industry personnel and the 116 general workshop to carry out this task, which is called "three-way combination".

Zhou Gaoyuan volunteered to participate in the three-in-one program and, after passing the review, was assigned to Wuxi 267 Factory.

The farewell ceremony was simple. Li Aiguo gave Zhou Gaoyuan several boxes of instant noodles and then saluted him with a glass of wine.

"Team leader, I guarantee I will complete the mission within 100 days!" Zhou Gaoyuan held the cup in both hands, drank it all in one gulp, turned around, and strode onto the train.

The train sounded its horn twice and slowly pulled away, stirring up fallen leaves on both sides of the tracks and taking with it the group of "three-in-one" members.

Workshop 116 of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, as the main force in developing turboshaft engines, also began its work.

After Zhou Gaoyuan left, Li Aiguo did not assign any replacements. Instead, Professor Qi and the aircraft factory technicians worked together to produce engine parts.

Zong Xianfeng, along with a group of untrained automotive experts and other technicians, continued working on manufacturing excavators.

Recently, after Xiao Mei's family launched a series of operations in Bei Houzi's area, they achieved some results, and everyone has started to pay attention to the situation in Southeast Asia.

Tuesday afternoon.

After reviewing the latest internal report, Li Aiguo locked it in the safe.

Each of these has a unique number, and they will be collected later; not a single one can be missing.

It was almost time to get off work, and Li Aiguo went into the greenhouse to pick some vegetables to take home and make noodles.

"Aiguo, you've arrived! I was just about to look for you." Professor Wu from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences was sorting corn seeds in a nearby warehouse with several professors and students.

"How was the harvest?" Li Aiguo asked, scattering cigarettes around the room.

Professor Wu took the cigarette but didn't bother to smoke it. He tucked it behind his ear, pulled Li Aiguo to a table, and took out his notebook.

"The yield is 1200 jin per mu, which is dozens of jin higher than before. These are good seeds! Good seeds!"

The record contains a dense amount of data, including the daily growth of Patriot No. 1 corn.

The last part is the yield per mu (unit of land area), with the highest reaching 1310 jin and the lowest being 1120 jin.

Li Aiguo was also surprised by the result.

But upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that the corn in the greenhouse is being carefully tended.

The soil fertility is also unmatched by Weizhuang Commune, so it's quite normal for them to set a high-yield record.

"We have already harvested tens of thousands of kilograms of seeds, enough for several thousand acres of land. Although it will still be some time before the planting season, shouldn't we start preparing early?" Professor Wu raised the question he was most concerned about.

“That’s only right. I’ll go talk to the relevant ministries about unified sowing tomorrow,” Li Aiguo nodded.

"Alright, alright, go ahead and get busy. We still need to process the seeds." Professor Wu immediately turned around and got to work, without any intention of continuing the pleasantries.

Li Aiguo was both amused and exasperated. These agricultural professors were all like silent gourds, with only their work on their minds.

Li Aiguo picked some vegetables, got on his motorcycle, and was about to leave when he was stopped by the security officer as soon as he reached the gate.

"Patriotism, answer the phone."

Wow, so busy today?!
Li Aiguo muttered something under his breath, but a question arose in his mind.

The only places that can make a direct call to the gatekeepers, besides the railway police station, are the weather stations.

Li Aiguo answered the phone, and sure enough, Lao Mao's voice came through.

"Patriotism, urgent mission. You wait here, I'll send someone to pick you up."

"Yes."

Li Aiguo's heart skipped a beat, and his face instantly turned serious. He parked his motorcycle next to the gate and saw Yan Jiecheng riding his bicycle over. He asked Yan Jiecheng to take the vegetables back with him.

Tell your sister-in-law not to cook my dinner tonight.

"Going to work overtime again?" Yan Jiecheng knew that Li Aiguo had been quite busy lately, so he didn't ask any more questions and rode off on his bicycle.

Li Aiguo offered cigarettes to the two security officers, and they chatted idly while smoking.

After a while.

A common GAZ jeep drove up from a distance and stopped by the roadside.

The weather station also purchased a batch of large off-road vehicles, but those things are too conspicuous, so for general operations, they still use GAZ jeeps.

"Let's go!" Li Aiguo greeted the two security officers, then walked slowly over with a cigarette in his mouth and opened the car door.

Old Cat was driving, and in the passenger seat sat a middle-aged man wearing a Zhongshan suit and glasses.

The man was thin, and when Li Aiguo got into the car, his eyes scanned him up and down, looking very wary.

"Don't worry, Lao Wu, Comrade Aiguo has been providing us with technical support for many years. He's a trustworthy comrade." Lao Mao seemed to know the middle-aged man well and smiled at him.

Upon hearing this, Li Aiguo's eyes narrowed slightly.

The old cat didn't directly introduce himself, yet he brought a middle-aged man to find him. What exactly is this middle-aged man's identity?
(There will be another chapter tonight, ^_^) (End of this chapter)