The train driver in the courtyard

Early in the morning, Li Aiguo was awakened by a knock on the door.

He reached under the pillow and grabbed the gun handle, and shouted, "Who?"

When he heard the voice of Staff Officer Xiao outside, he realized that he had been a little too radical.

He put on his clothes, put the pistol in his waist, and opened the door.

"I have already contacted the First Machine Factory. Let's have breakfast in the guesthouse first." Staff Officer Xiao still spoke in such a slow tone.

"Breakfast? This guesthouse also provides breakfast?"

It was the first time for Li Aiguo to stay in such a military district guesthouse, and he didn't understand the rules, so he followed Staff Officer Xiao outside.

This is called a military guesthouse, but in fact it is just a large courtyard consisting of more than a dozen bungalows.

Staff Officer Xiao took Li Aiguo through many twists and turns in the yard and finally arrived at the back door.

After passing through the back door, Li Aiguo heard the sound of orderly footsteps and slogans.

Looking up again, I saw the camp not far away, and the soldiers were doing drill.

There was a kitchen in the corner of the camp, with a large iron pot at the door for steaming buns.

The early morning air was filled with the smell of coal smoke and the aroma of steamed buns. This modern flavor was intertwined with the soldiers' slogans, making people feel as if they had returned to the war years.

The guest house does not provide breakfast.

With the mess hall of the garrison next door, we had breakfast.

Staff Officer Xiao handed the note from the guesthouse to the squad leader of the kitchen squad and exchanged it for two white flour buns.

Two people squatted beside them, admiring the heroic posture of the soldiers while wolfing down the food.

After finishing the steamed buns, the squad leader of the kitchen team kindly brought a bowl of boiled water.

After eating and drinking, the jeep sent by the First Machine Factory had already stopped at the entrance of the guesthouse.

Seeing the familiar figure in the navy blue Zhongshan suit, Li Aiguo walked over with a smile: "Comrade Zhang Tan, we meet again."

"Welcome, Comrade Li Aiguo." Zhang Tan was obviously not that enthusiastic about Li Aiguo.

In fact, it is easy to understand that since the successful development of the Type 59 tank, the First Machine Factory has started plans to develop a new type of tank.

As a senior engineer at a machine factory, Zhang Tan should have devoted himself to the development of tanks. However, he now had to follow a train driver and tinker with the tracks of a trench excavator. Naturally, he was very depressed.

It’s just that the Qianmen Locomotive Depot gave too much, and the top leader of the Jinling Military Region personally contacted the First Machine Factory, so he had no choice but to obey the decision of the organization.

However, Zhang Tan still has a strong sense of professional ethics.

After getting on the train, as usual, I served as a free tour guide for the local train driver.

"Patriotic, this is a military industrial city."

Li Aiguo looked out through the window.

It was working hours, and a team of camels carrying steel pipes tied to saddles slowly crossed the unhardened military road, crossing with Jiefang trucks loaded with steel plates.

A slogan "Chase Eagles and Super Magnesium" was hung on the blue-gray cement exterior wall. The chimney on the roof spewed brown smoke day and night, rendering the entire sky coal gray.

Li Aiguo nodded in agreement: "This is a city that measures the wilderness with tracks and calibrates time with artillery fire!"

He was not deliberately agreeing with Zhang Tan, but Baotou was indeed qualified.

In 1954, there were only 8 people in Baotou.

But it has unique advantages: it is located inland, far away from the coast, and has natural barriers such as the Daqing Mountains and the Wula Mountains, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The surrounding area is rich in mineral resources, including iron, rare earth, niobium, titanium, manganese, gold, copper, etc., which makes it convenient to obtain local materials and reduce costs.

Therefore, Baotou was chosen as the tank production base.

To produce tanks, it is not enough to have a tank factory, various supporting factories are also needed.

As a result, several large factories such as Baotou Iron and Steel Company, the Second Machinery Plant, the First Thermal Power Plant, and the Second Thermal Power Plant were built.

It can be said that this is a city built specifically for manufacturing tanks.

The No. 211 Machine Factory is similar in nature to the Factory on the grassland and Gobi Desert.

It’s just that one is for conventional combat capability and the other is for nuclear deterrence.

The two chatted as the jeep drove along Binggong Road all the way to the gate of the First Machine Factory.

It was working hours. Workers in navy blue work clothes lined up in an orderly manner and entered the factory one after another after being checked by the security officer.

Seeing the jeep coming, Lu Baishan, the security chief of the First Machinery Factory's Security Department, ran over quickly and waved at the jeep.

The jeep screeched to a stop.

Zhang Tan got down from the back seat.

"Chief Lu, these two are comrades from the capital." Zhang Tan pointed at Li Aiguo and Staff Officer Xiao and briefly introduced their identities.

Of course, Li Aiguo’s current identity is special technician Comrade Li.

Lu Baishan walked up to the two men and saluted: "Welcome to the First Machinery Factory, but according to regulations, we still have to check it out."

Li Aiguo knew the rules of the military factory and took out the file bag from the canvas bag: "This document is confidential. Other than that, you can check it at will."

Lu Baishan took a look at the file bag and saw that it was impossible to contain explosives or something like that, so he asked the security officers to check the two people.

After a thorough inspection, Lu Baishan returned the two men's service guns and smiled apologetically: "I'm sorry for what happened just now. We are also following the rules."

"Understanding" Li Aiguo has a good impression of this very strict security chief.

After a brief chat, I found out that Section Chief Lu was actually from Beijing. When he was helping to build Baotou, he took the initiative to come here and settle down.

When he learned that Li Aiguo was from Beijing, Lu Baishan's expression also warmed up: "Old Cao from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot is the tall train driver. Do you know him?"

"Cao Wenzhi? My master." Li Aiguo puffed out his chest.

"Li Aiguo?" Hearing this, Lu Baishan was stunned at first, then he looked Li Aiguo up and down and said, "You, you are my father-in-law's good disciple, Li Aiguo."

Father-in-law? Li Aiguo then remembered that Cao Wenzhi had five daughters, and the eldest daughter did move to another place after getting married.

It seems that due to the special nature of his work, he has not been back to visit Cao Wenzhi for four or five years. He can only communicate through letters and phone calls, so Li Aiguo has never seen him.

After confirming Li Aiguo's identity, Lu Baishan seemed very excited and invited Li Aiguo to his home for a drink in the evening no matter what.

"Yuehua is a technician in the factory. Because of confidentiality, she cannot return to Beijing. Now our child is three years old and has not seen his grandfather yet. If Yuehua knew you were here, she would definitely be very happy."

As soon as Lu Baishan finished speaking, he suddenly realized that something was wrong.

"It's just that you are patriotic. You were a train driver, so why are you a technician now?" Lu Baishan's expression changed slightly.

Li Aiguo did not expect to meet someone who knew him this time. He turned around calmly and glanced at Staff Officer Xiao.

Staff Officer Xiao was very careful in his work. He took out the certificate he had prepared long ago and handed it over: "Comrade Lu Baishan, Comrade Li Aiguo is currently carrying out a confidential mission. I hope you can keep Comrade Li Aiguo's identity secret."

Seeing that the section chief of a certain factory's technical department had instantly become the chief of staff of the Jinling Military Region, Section Chief Xiao immediately understood what was going on.

As the only factory in the country that can independently produce tanks, the First Machine Factory also helps other factories produce equipment on a daily basis.

This kind of thing is not uncommon in the First Machinery Factory.

"Don't worry, Chief!" Lu Baishan saluted Staff Officer Xiao.

He just saw that the chief of staff treated Li Aiguo with great respect.

No matter what the current status of my father-in-law's apprentice is, he must be extraordinary to be valued so much by the Jinling Military Region.

At this time, the workers at the factory gate had dispersed. Li Aiguo chatted with Lu Baishan for a while, agreed to visit his home when he had time, and then got on the jeep.

Lu Baishan asked the security officer to open the factory gate, and the jeep roared into the factory.

A security officer came over, pointed at the jeep and whispered, "Section Chief, do you know those two leaders?"

"You recognized the wrong person." Lu Baishan shook his head, sent the security officer away, and then gathered them together and gave them a lecture.

"At present, our First Machinery Plant is working with Baotou Steel to develop a special steel. Recently, everyone has been on high alert to prevent someone from smuggling the special steel out of the factory."

"Yes!" the security officers said in unison.

The First Machine Factory is similar to a small town, divided into different areas according to the types of parts produced.

Track production area.

Inside the workshop, the steel cables of the gantry crane squeaked and swayed in the sound of gears driven by the steam engine. The workers shouted slogans in Mongolian and Northeastern dialect, immersed the red-hot tank track forgings into the cooling pool, and in an instant, white mist wrapped in the smell of sulfur rushed out of the air window.

"Patriotic comrades, how are you doing?" Zhang Tan pointed at the busy workers with pride.

It was the first time that Li Aiguo witnessed the production process of crawler tracks, and for a moment he was stunned by the shocking scene in front of him.

"That's shocking, Lao Zhang!" Li Aiguo came back to his senses and couldn't help but sigh: "It must have taken a lot of effort to make this track."

Zhang Tan smiled and nodded, "Of course not. Every process must be done carefully. From the selection of raw materials to forging, cooling, and subsequent polishing, all are achieved with the sweat of our workers. Our machine factory is the only one in China that can produce high-performance crawler tracks."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed to a place not far away, "Let's go and take a look at the wheel production area."

The wheel production area is also a scene of bustling activity.

The huge lathe rotates rapidly, cutting the metal blank, and the sparks are like stars in the summer night.

The layman looks at the excitement and the insider looks at the doorway.

Li Aiguo mainly focused his attention on production technology.

Although the equipment of the First Machine Factory is simple and it still uses old-fashioned processing equipment such as horizontal boring machines and vertical milling machines, the workers are all experienced masters selected from all over the country.

If there is not enough equipment, it is not difficult to make a trench digger with technology.

After the visit, Li Aiguo had a general idea in his mind and followed Zhang Tan into the office.

Zhang Tan had already gathered several technicians at this time.

"Comrade Aiguo, what kind of production process does your crawler track require? How should we manufacture it? We still need to plan carefully."

Li Aiguo tore open the file bag, took out a thick stack of drawings from it and handed it over.

"Lao Zhang, I have designed a new type of track wheel. Take a look at it first."

When Zhang Tan took the drawings, he was full of curiosity.

In his opinion, the biggest difference between this kind of high-load-bearing crawler and conventional crawler is the difference in material and size. The First Machine Factory received a request from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot to manufacture crawler tracks.

After calculations, Zhang Tan found that current domestic materials were simply unable to meet such a heavy load-bearing capacity, so he proposed that Li Aiguo come in person to solve the problem.

Unexpectedly, this guy actually came up with a new track.

Zhang Tan just took a look and frowned.

The manganese steel marked on the drawing is the steel used for the Type 59 tank tracks. The size of the track wheels is also quite standard. So how does it solve the load-bearing problem?
With doubts in mind, Zhang Tan focused his attention on the drawings.

Just one glance and his expression changed.

"This track actually uses a double-pin connection structure. How is this achieved?"

As a tank expert, Zhang Tan naturally understood that the double-pin connection structure could improve maintenance convenience and reduce the risk of breakage.

However, the double-pin connection structure itself is not stable and can easily break, so the Type 59 tank uses a single-pin structure.

Li Aiguo pointed to the blueprint and explained: "Look, this is the end connector. This is the middle connector. These two components can bear the load when the tank is moving, and they can be replaced at any time."

"This is absolutely amazing! This idea is absolutely amazing!" Zhang Tan couldn't help but patted the table and stood up.

You know, anyone can make excellent tracks if they have excellent materials.

However, using common materials and designing them to create excellent tracks is a real skill.

“In addition to the end and center connectors, I also use the track pin glue hanging technology here.

The rubber ring is bonded to the track pin and pressed together into the track pin ear. The tightness is required to be such that the rubber ring cannot rotate in the pin ear even if there is sufficient friction.

In an assembled hinge, the rubber should fill the entire space between the pin ears.”

Zhang Tan's eyes widened a little bit, and he couldn't help but say, "This can improve the meshing quality between the track and the driving wheel, increase the life of the track, and especially enhance the grip. The double-pin connection structure with rubber hanging is simply amazing."

Can it be endless?

Both the double-pin connection structure and the track pin rubber hanging technology are mature technologies used in the third-generation main tanks of later generations. When brought to this era, it is naturally a dimensionality reduction attack.

The old Russian T-54 and T-62 tanks all use single-pin tracks, while the updated T-64 and T-80 all use double-pin tracks.

When it comes to the T90, at the beginning, the Russians tried a trick and used the single-pin track again, but all subsequent models were replaced with double-pin tracks, which is enough to show that double-pin tracks are better than single-pin tracks.

Of course, the most important thing is that these two technologies do not require too high a production process.

The corners of Li Aiguo's mouth curled up slightly.

With the support of these two technologies, it is enough to give the tank a new pair of shoes.

At this time, an engineer made a new discovery and pointed to the blueprint and said, "Engineer Zhang, there is armor installed under the tracks!"

"What! Adding armor? This is nonsense." Zhang Tan looked at the blueprint and sighed in his heart. The train driver in front of him was indeed a genius in design, but he lacked practical experience.

In fact, tanks have been regarded as mobile fortresses since their birth.

The track wheels are the weakest point of this fortress.

Once the track wheels are pierced by the enemy, the tank can only stay where it is and become a sitting duck.

In order to solve this problem, some people proposed to install armor on the tracks. With the protection of armor, the track wheels can withstand more impact.

However, over the years, few tanks have adopted this design.

Why?

——The armor falls off easily.

Armor, as an external object, often falls off for various reasons when the tank is moving quickly.

Once the armor falls off, it can easily get tangled in the tracks.

So an embarrassing scene occurred. Before the enemy even fired, their own tanks suffered damage due to their track armor.

The gain outweighs the loss.

After Zhang Tan finished speaking, he immediately looked at Li Aiguo.

The meaning is very clear: Comrade, how do you solve this shortcoming?
Li Aiguo smiled at him, pointed to a drawing of a component, and explained, "Old Zhang, look, this thing is called an anti-spalling structure."

"Anti-scaling structure" Zhang Tan suddenly picked up the drawing and studied it for thirty minutes.

Looking at the complex structure on the drawing, he fell silent.

The so-called anti-stripping structure is actually a set of special elastic hooks and guide plates installed on the induction teeth.

The elastic hook can hook the armor tightly with its own elastic force when the armor shows signs of loosening, preventing it from falling off directly.

The guide plate is designed just right. Once the armor starts to shake, it can guide the armor to slide in a specific direction instead of moving in the direction of the track, thus fundamentally eliminating the risk of the armor being entangled in the track.

Zhang Tan looked at the densely packed markings and detailed design instructions on the drawings, the shock in his heart was like a surging tide that was difficult to calm down.

The anti-spalling structure is similar in nature to the two structures and technologies mentioned above. Although it does not require too advanced technology, it can solve big problems.

Being able to design this structure, the train driver in front of us has a knowledge of tracks that has surpassed most tank masters in China and even abroad.

The technicians around also noticed something at this time.

"This anti-spalling structure is truly a stroke of genius. With it, the safety performance of our tanks has been greatly improved!"

"Yes, yes. From now on, we don't have to worry about the damage caused by armor falling off."

Zhang Tan raised his head and looked at Li Aiguo with some admiration: "Comrade train driver, how did you come up with this idea?"

Li Aiguo scratched his head and said, "I don't have any other hobbies except reading various military books. I think I saw these structures in a book. I can't quite remember them."

Zhang Tan didn't believe what Li Aiguo said at all, but he also understood that since he was able to participate in military projects, this train driver was far from being as simple as he appeared.

"Comrade train driver, if you don't mind, I plan to report these three technologies to the factory."

Li Aiguo smiled and said, "Of course I don't mind. It is my honor to contribute to the development of domestic tanks."

Now with these technologies, there are no more technical difficulties with trench excavator tracks.

"Well, you guys stay in the factory guesthouse now. Once the factory approves the production plan, we will help you produce the tracks right away."

Zhang Tan was anxious to report the situation to his superiors, so he hired a technician and arranged for Li Aiguo and Staff Officer Xiao to stay in the guesthouse of the First Machine Factory.

Afterwards, Zhang Tan submitted the technology developed by Li Aiguo to the factory.

After research, engineers in the factory determined that these three technologies are very practical.

An engineer exclaimed: "I think these technologies can be fully applied to the design of our new tanks."

"Yes, with the protection of the tracks, the tank's defense can be greatly improved." Another engineer nodded.

Zhang Tan raised his hand and said, "I always feel that Comrade Li Aiguo is very knowledgeable about tank tracks. How about we ask him to help design the tracks for new tanks?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the venue suddenly became quiet.

The so-called new tank is the highly anticipated Type 69 main battle tank.

According to the requirements of the Armored Division, the Type 69 tank is a second-generation main battle tank that can be comparable to the Russian T-62, the American M60, and the British "Chieftain" of John Bull.

but.

As an improved model of the Type 69 tank, it is extremely difficult for the Type 59 tank to meet such requirements.

The new tank project has been under finalization for half a year, but the results achieved are not ideal.

The chief engineer hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded: "As long as the specific parameters of the tank are not disclosed, you can contact Comrade Li Aiguo."

After Zhang Tan handed the crawler drawings of the trench excavator to the production department, he wandered to the guesthouse and knocked on the door of Li Aiguo's room.

The waiter heard the noise and came over and said, "Mr. Zhang, you are looking for the two guests from the capital, right? They are out."

"Go out?" Zhang Tan was stunned.

Where did these two people go when they were unfamiliar with the place?
Where is Li Aiguo at this time?
I'm in the supply and marketing store inside the First Machine Factory.

As a large factory, the First Machine Factory has various facilities such as schools, hospitals, cinemas, and naturally a supply and marketing cooperative.

When Li Aiguo learned in the morning that Lu Baishan was Cao Wenzhi's son-in-law, he remembered to bring some gifts and went to visit his home.

As for Staff Officer Xiao, his task was to follow Li Aiguo throughout the process.

After buying the gifts, Li Aiguo strolled to the gate of the First Machinery Factory. At this time, Lu Baishan was just getting off work.

When he saw him coming and the net bag in his hand, Lu Baishan understood what he meant.

"Let's go home, let Yuehua cook two delicious dishes, and then we can have a good chat."

Lu Baishan lived in a tube-shaped building in the staff quarters of the First Machine Factory.

The First Machine Factory was about seven or eight miles away. Lu Baishan found a Type 62 motorcycle and went quite fast, so it took less than twenty minutes.

As soon as Lu Baishan and Li Aiguo entered the family compound, they attracted a lot of attention.

"Hey, Chief Lu, these two are your relatives."

"I'm my father-in-law's apprentice, and I came from the capital." Lu Baishan greeted the residents along the way, entered a moving tube-shaped building, and went up to the second floor.

The door was half-open. As soon as Lu Baishan entered, he shouted loudly, "Yuehua, Yuehua, come out quickly, come out quickly."

"Hey, here she comes." A voice came from the inner room, and a middle-aged woman walked out. She was wearing a gray Zhongshan suit, holding a pen in front of her chest, and had short hair. She looked like a technician.

Behind her was a little girl with short hair and an apple face. She bit her fingers, timidly grabbed the woman's clothes, and looked at Li Aiguo with a bit of curiosity.

"Aiguo, this is Yuehua, and this is my daughter, Xiaoju."

"Yuehua, this is our father's apprentice, Comrade Li Aiguo. He is on a business trip to our First Machinery Factory. I met him at the door today."

When Cao Yuehua heard this, she was very enthusiastic. After all, she hadn't been back to the capital for several years. Li Aiguo's appearance here was like his in-laws.

"Please take a seat, please take a seat. The last time I spoke to my father on the phone, he said that he had a good apprentice who became an excellent train driver in the country. It was the glory of his life.

At the time, I was wondering what my brother looked like. I never thought we would meet so soon. "

Li Aiguo is Cao Wenzhi's apprentice. Cao Yuehua is a few years older than him, so there is no problem for her to call him brother.

"Okay, sister."

(End of this chapter)