The train driver in the courtyard

The tungsten filament bulbs on the ceiling crackled, and the dim light cut the angular outline of Lu Baishan into a battlefield of light and dark.

His knuckles, covered with calluses from gunshot wounds, tapped unconsciously on the mottled lacquered tabletop; the tapping sound was particularly harsh in the silent room.

"I wish I could put Zhao Shiqi on the interrogation chair right now!"

Lu Baishan stood up suddenly, his whole body tense like an arrow about to leave the bow.

But in a flash, his tense back relaxed and he fell heavily into the creaking rattan chair.

"Unfortunately there is no evidence."

As an old guard, Lu Baishan was filled with frustration at this moment.

There are always people outside who think that the Security Department can arrest anyone they suspect.

But the actual situation is far more cruel than imagined - arresting people without solid evidence and failing to obtain a confession will not only cause innocent people to be wrongly accused, but will also put the entire security system in a passive position.

What's more, Zhao Shiqi is a technical backbone supported by outsiders and plays a vital role in the First Machinery Factory. Any slight mistake could lead to a ripple effect.

"Brother Baishan, there's no need to be so anxious. To do security work, you need to be patient like a cat catching a mouse. If there's really something wrong with Zhao Shiqi, he'll reveal himself sooner or later."

Li Aiguo slowly put down his bowl and chopsticks, tapped out two cigarettes from the cigarette box on the table, handed one to Lu Baishan, and lit the other between his fingers.

Amid the flickering sparks, his tone was as steady as that of an experienced hunter.

Lu Baishan took a deep puff of cigarette, his brows knitted into a knot: "Aiguo, you think too simply. The situation of the First Machine Factory."

He paused, exhaled a smoke ring, and a trace of fatigue flashed across his eyes. "To be honest, the security department is now robbing Peter to pay Paul, and it's almost unbearable."

"What's going on?" Li Aiguo was particularly interested in security work and suddenly became interested.

Lu Baishan held a cigarette between his legs, the ash falling on his patched trouser legs: "The First Machine Factory is different from ordinary military factories. You should have noticed this."

"Not implementing a completely closed management?!" Li Aiguo's pupils suddenly shrank and he grasped the key in an instant.

Lu Baishan nodded: "Generally, military factories are fully closed and managed, and workers and technicians are normally unable to leave the factory.

It’s just that the First Machine Factory is too big, and there are too many technicians and workers.

We also need to frequently collaborate with Baosteel, power plants and other factories, so we can only conduct on- and off-duty inspections like other factories."

Li Aiguo could understand this model. The size of the First Machine Factory was very similar to that of the 211 Factory in the Gobi Desert. The 211 Factory did not adopt a fully enclosed system either. It was just that the 211 Factory had a special geographical location and was basically isolated from the outside world. Therefore, the pressure of security work was much smaller than that of the First Machine Factory.

Lu Baishan continued, "We have also formulated strict rules and regulations. For example, workers and technicians must be searched when entering and leaving the factory, but some guys hide their things in really weird places."

As he spoke, Lu Baishan glanced at Staff Officer Xiao who was still eating dumplings, then looked at Li Aiguo and asked, "Last year I caught a worker who smuggled a piece of metal out of the factory. Do you know where he hid the metal?"

Li Aiguo then asked: "In the Piyanzi?"

"Puff——" Staff Officer Xiao spat a mouthful of dumplings into the bowl and started coughing violently, his face turning red.

Lu Baishan's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief: "How did you know?!"

Li Aiguo smiled without saying anything, but he knew everything in his heart.

This secret hiding place is extremely difficult to inspect, but once it is exploited, it becomes an undefendable loophole.

He couldn't help but be amazed when he imagined that the security department had to check hundreds of people every day and guard against this special hiding method.

Li Aiguo had checked other people's skin before, and at that time he was thinking whether he could develop some kind of equipment that could check whether the other person had something hidden on his body without any contact.

In later generations, there was a kind of security inspection machine at subway entrances that used X-rays, which was difficult to make with the technology of that era.

However, if it is only used to detect metal, Li Aiguo thought of a good idea - security gate.

The principle of the security door is very simple - it relies on the principle of electromagnetic induction to achieve metal detection function.

The structure is not too complicated. The core component is the electromagnetic coil, which can be handled by any technician.

The only difficulty is the oscillation circuit in the circuit system.

Transistors are needed to build an oscillator to generate a stable electromagnetic field through a coil.

And our Li Aiguo is now the man in the world who is least short of transistors.

this project.

Voted!

After chatting with Lu Baishan until midnight, Li Aiguo and Staff Officer Xiao strolled back to the guesthouse.

As soon as he stepped into the room, Li Aiguo couldn't wait to pick up the old crank phone. The crackling sound of the electricity in the receiver seemed to reveal his urgency.

"Weather Station Supplies Department? I'm Li Aiguo." His voice was steady and powerful, but it was hard to hide the urgency in his words. "Immediately prepare transistors, electromagnetic coils, asphalt cloth... Yes, send them to Baotou as quickly as possible."

The officer on the other end of the phone straightened his back instantly after hearing Director Li's instructions, and said in a loud voice like a bell: "Guarantee to complete the task!"

After hanging up the phone, Li Aiguo leaned back on the bed, feeling relieved. The fatigue and excitement of the past few days intertwined and turned into a deep sleepiness that quickly engulfed him.

Three days later, a transport plane slowly landed on the runway of the Baotou Military Airport with a roar, and the airflow created by the propeller blew away the gravel on the side of the runway.

A comrade in a grey Zhongshan suit strode down the gangway carrying a large box covered with sealing strips.

Zhang Tan felt that Li Aiguo had been a little absent-minded recently.

While at work, he was not working on the design of the tracks, but was drawing the structural diagram of the tank with a pencil on a piece of draft paper.

Zhang Tan had to remind them: "Patriotic comrades, our goal is the tracks."

Li Aiguo put down his pencil and asked, "Lao Zhang, do you think that just by changing the tracks, the new tank can compete with those second-generation foreign tanks?"

After hearing this, Zhang Tan fell silent.

As a tank expert, Zhang Tan is very clear that there is still a big difference between the new tanks and the tanks already in service abroad, not to mention the several tanks that are being developed abroad.

"Aiguo, I understand how you feel, but we don't have a strong foundation and our technical level is not as good as theirs, so we can only take it slow."

"On the battlefield, when the two sides are fighting against each other, the enemy will definitely not show mercy to us just because we are younger." Li Aiguo gave an inappropriate analogy.

Zhang Tan scratched his head: "Do you have any ideas?"

Li Aiguo handed the drawings to Zhang Tan.

"There are two main indicators to measure the performance of a tank: firepower and protection."

"As for firepower, we can use a 125 smoothbore cannon to solve it."

"I have now thought of a good way to protect myself."

At this moment, a voice came from outside.

"Patriotic comrade, the delivery man from Beijing is here."

"I'll be right there." Li Aiguo didn't bother to explain. He handed the new design manuscript to Zhang Tan and left the office in a hurry.

Zhang Tan didn't believe that an outsider could come up with any new design, but the design on the manuscript had an inexplicable appeal. He hesitated for a moment and then sat down.

The manuscript contains a lot of content, ranging from tank tracks to tank turrets.

Most of the design is very similar to that of the Type 69 tank, but the turret has been redesigned. It is equipped with a 125mm smoothbore gun and an automatic loading fire control system to improve shooting accuracy and rate of fire.

In terms of auxiliary weapons, 30mm machine guns and anti-tank missile launchers are added to enhance the multi-level strike capability against fortifications and lightly armored targets.

In terms of stabilizer, a two-way gun stabilizer (horizontal/vertical) is used to improve shooting accuracy while moving.

What surprised Zhang Tan was that the new designs developed by Li Aiguo could be produced according to the current domestic technological level.

Take the bidirectional gun stabilizer for example. This is a technical difficulty that the artillery laboratory of the First Machine Factory has just overcome, but it has not yet been verified, so it is not standard equipment on the Type 69 tank.

“This guy is an expert.”

Zhang Tan couldn't help but become alert and looked at the tank's body structure.

The body structure remains the same, but a question mark is painted on the outside.

"What does this mean? A riddle?"

At this moment, Zhang Tan was enjoying reading a novel, but the author seemed to have stopped updating.

"Should we wait for Li Aiguo to come back, or should we talk to other engineers first?"

Finally, Zhang Tan couldn't suppress his excitement and knocked on the chief engineer's office door with the draft.

At this time, Li Aiguo had already taken the wooden box from the man in the gray Zhongshan suit and brought it to the security department of the First Machine Factory.

Lu Baishan looked up when he heard the voice, his eyes fixed on the crooked red lacquer seal "Confidential" on the box, his Adam's apple moved: "Aiguo, are there weapons in here?"

"Aiguo, what's in here, a weapon?"

"It's more valuable than weapons." Li Aiguo slammed the box heavily on the table, causing the tea leaves in the enamel pot to jump up.

He raised his chin to the security officer next to him and said, "Can you lend me the crowbar?"

The moment the lid of the box was opened, Lu Baishan's brows furrowed into knots. Copper wires, magnets, and circuit boards wrapped with tape were piled up full, like junk picked up from a scrap yard.

"That's all?" He picked up a tangled mass of coils and sneered, "It's not even as good as the parts of the radio transmitter I seized."

Li Aiguo did not respond, but glanced at the onlookers.

Lu Baishan immediately understood what he meant and slammed the table: "What are you all standing there for? Go on patrol!"

When there were only two people left in the office, he pulled over a chair. As soon as his butt touched the seat, he saw Li Aiguo squatting on the ground and busying himself.

A copper wire is wound around a magnet to form a closed loop.

Then, the closed loop is connected to the oscillation circuit.
Lu Baishan had been watching quietly at the side. When he saw Li Aiguo put two strange things on the table, he scratched his head and said, "This is still a pile of junk. No, it should be two piles of junk."

Li Aiguo smiled but still did not answer. He reached out from the desk and took out a pen.

The pen was waved in front of Lu Baishan and was put into two piles of junk by Li Aiguo.

At this moment, a rapid roar sounded.

Lu Baishan jumped up from his chair in shock, pointed at the two piles of junk and said, "Why is this thing making a sound?"

Li Aiguo took off the cap of the pen and flicked it with his fingers. The cap of the pen made a unique sound of metal collision.

"Metal detection!" Lu Baishan stared at the vibrating coil and took a breath.

After getting Li Aiguo's affirmative nod, he turned around twice, his military boots stomping on the floor loudly: "With this thing, those smuggled mice will have nowhere to hide!"

The excitement hadn't worn off yet, and he suddenly narrowed his eyes: "How's the sensitivity?"

"It can be adjusted. If the sensitivity is adjusted to the highest, even the faintest metal powder can be detected." Taking into account the particularity of the First Machine Factory, Li Aiguo specially optimized the security door.

"Okay, this is a great product. I'll have someone install it on the factory gate right away."

Lu Baishan rubbed his hands and was about to call for help, but was held back by Li Aiguo. "Don't make a sound yet."

Li Aiguo knocked on the coil, a cunning light flashed in his eyes, "Wait until those smugglers think they have concealed the truth..."

Lu Baishan was stunned at first, then he slapped his thigh fiercely: "Good of you, Li Aiguo! You set a trap without making a sound!"

The two looked at each other and laughed at the same time. Later, in order to prevent the security door from being known by outsiders, Lu Baishan personally brought two security officers with very high ideological awareness to complete the installation of the security door.

But now a new problem arises.

These days workers often have copper buttons on their coats and belts with copper buckles, which can easily cause false alarms.

The Security Department of the First Machine Factory specifically made a rule that when entering or leaving the gate, one must take off one's coat, hand over one's belt, and even put one's keys in a special box.

This rule seemed a bit strange, but it was the Security Department's job and there was no need to explain it to outsiders. The workers just talked about it for a while and then didn't take it seriously.

After all, they have no ghosts in their hearts and are not afraid of ghosts knocking on their doors in the middle of the night.

Besides, the First Machine Factory was a military factory, and the workers had a relatively high level of ideological awareness, so few of them dared to smuggle goods.

Therefore, no alarm was sounded after the security door was installed.

but.

Some people felt something unusual.

This person is Zhao Shiqi.

Early in the morning, when he passed the gate, he underwent inspection as required. However, he did not leave immediately. Instead, he took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to a security officer.

"Xiao Liu, what's going on? Did your security department change the rules again? Did they install some new equipment?"

"Oh, it's Greater China. Among the technicians in our factory, you, Mr. Zhao, are the most generous."

The security officer took the cigarette with both hands, but was reluctant to smoke it. He put it on his ear and said with a smile, "You're overthinking it. Our Chief Lu felt that the inspection was too slow before, so we have simplified the inspection procedures."

Hearing this, Zhao Shiqi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been planning for two years and had found a way to smuggle the alloy material out quietly.

Now as long as we can get access to the alloy materials, we can implement the plan.

But nothing unexpected can happen at this time.

After thanking the security officer, Zhao Shiqi walked slowly towards the department.

When passing by the section chief's office, Zhao Shiqi saw that Zhang Tan was not in the office. When passing by Li Aiguo's office, the office door was also closed.

Entering the big office, Zhao Shiqi pretended to be curious and asked, "Old Liu, where are the section chief and team leader Li? Aren't they at work?"

"It seems like he went to a meeting. I don't know the details." The old technician raised his head and answered, then lowered his head and continued to get busy.

"Old Liu, everyone in our department knows that you have the best relationship with the section chief. It's impossible that you don't know what happened, right?" Zhao Shiqi flattered him and was about to get some information out of the old technician.

At this time, Zhao Qing, who had been staring at Zhao Shiqi, said in a cold voice: "Zhao Shiqi, you care so much about the section chief, what are you planning to do?"

Zhao Qing's voice was very loud, attracting the attention of many technicians.

"Aiya, Zhao Qing, I was wrong to care about my leader. Look, your old problem has come back again. Forget it, forget it. I am a magnanimous person. I won't argue with you."

Zhao Shiqi's plan was ruined and he hated Zhao Qing in his heart, but he had to pretend that he didn't care. He walked back to the office and started a new day's work.

As he worked, he stared outside.

If for no other reason, he urgently needed an opportunity to get involved in the cutting of new tanks.

In order to gain trust these days, he worked day and night, and even gave up his date with Xiaomei, and finally got the job at hand done.

Once this project is handed in, perhaps I will be able to regain Zhang Tan's trust and get involved in cutting materials with higher confidentiality requirements.

"Zhang Tan, Zhang Tan, please don't let me down."

Until noon, Zhang Tan and Li Aiguo had not returned yet. Zhao Shiqi felt something was wrong and his mood became bad.

The ceiling fan on the cafeteria roof squeaked, stirring the stuffy air into a sticky vortex.

Zhao Shiqi stared at the grease condensed in the aluminum lunch box, his brows twisted into a knot, and he didn't even raise his eyes to the enamel pot that Wang Xiaomei carefully placed on the table.

"Brother Shiqi, is the food cold?" Wang Xiaomei twisted the corner of her clothes. The aroma of the braised pork in the lunch box mixed with the faint smell of soap on her body. "I'll ask the chef to heat it up."

"No need." Zhao Shiqi suddenly forced a smile, and the harsh sound of the porcelain spoon scraping across the lunch box stopped abruptly. "Xiaomei understands me the best. These are all my favorite foods."

He picked up a piece of trembling meat, and the oil dripped down the handle of the spoon onto the tablecloth. "You are like the poplar trees in the Gobi Desert, which make these boring days full of hope."

"You are like the stars in the sky, lighting up my bleak life."

With just a few words, Zhao Shiqi charmed Wang Xiaomei, the lovely and innocent girl.

Wang Xiaomei's ears instantly turned red. She picked up a piece of meat and put it into Zhao Shiqi's lunch box, whispering, "Brother Shiqi, is Zhao Qing bothering you again? Otherwise, let's get the marriage certificate. In that case, Zhao Qing will give up."

Her voice became smaller and smaller, and finally became the sound of a mosquito humming.

In this conservative era, one can imagine the courage a girl needs to take the initiative to propose marriage.

Zhao Shiqi looked at Wang Xiaomei and felt a little emotional. If he could stay in the First Machinery Factory, he might really marry this girl.

But, he can't!
He was destined to drink foreign coffee and enjoy Broadway shows.

He would definitely go crazy if he stayed in a place where he could only drink boiled water and eat steamed bread.

"Xiaomei, I also want to marry you soon, but my boss has been targeting me recently, so let's wait a little longer."

When Wang Xiaomei heard this, her vision suddenly became blurry and her nose felt a little sore.

She took a deep breath, suppressed her emotions, and forced a smile: "Brother Shiqi, you are so capable, you will definitely be appreciated by the leaders."

"Ability?" Zhao Shiqi suddenly sneered, knocking the porcelain spoon heavily on the edge of the bowl. "Here, seniority is more important than anything else. Those old stubborn people are holding on to the information, fearing that the young people will steal the limelight."

Wang Xiaomei saw Zhao Shiqi's dissatisfaction as a sign of being unappreciated, which made her feel very distressed.

Wang Xiaomei saw that her beloved was extremely depressed. She looked around and whispered, "Shiqi, my job content has been adjusted. I will help Chief Engineer Chen to cut materials. It won't be long before I can get promoted."

"Cutting materials." Zhao Shiqi's eyes widened instantly, "Xiaomei, can you enter the forging workshop?"

"Sure, I will be responsible for counting the materials used for forging every day." Wang Xiaomei nodded.

"So, you can get access to the 601 steel that is the latest developed by our factory and Baotou Steel?" Zhao Shiqi asked impatiently.

After hearing this, Wang Xiaomei, who was deeply in love, became a little wary.

"Shiqi, 601 steel is a secret of our factory. How did you know about it?"

"What are you doing"

"Ahem!" Zhao Shiqi gulped down a mouthful of water, choking and his face turned red. "It's too spicy!"

He grabbed the water bottle handed to him by the girl and brushed his fingertips across her slightly cold wrist. "This is a key project in the factory. I'm in charge of track design. How can I not pay attention to it?"

Wang Xiaomei breathed a sigh of relief, her ears burning: "I was too worried"

"Watch a movie on the weekend?" Zhao Shiqi suddenly held her hand.

"Okay." Wang Xiaomei smiled with narrowed eyes.

She felt that she was the happiest woman in the world.

She didn't notice that a sinister look appeared on Zhao Shiqi's face as he turned away.

Just when Zhao Shiqi found a way to get access to 601 steel, Zhang Tan also submitted the tank drawings redesigned by Li Aiguo to the factory.

The leaders and chief engineers studied it carefully and immediately became excited.

"The design of this new tank perfectly solves the shortcomings of the original design."

"If it is really manufactured according to this design, the new Type 69 will be able to compete with Big Brother's new tanks."

"But... what's the matter with this special armor? Why isn't it marked?"

Soon a leader noticed that all the parameters on the drawings were clearly marked.

Some accessories even have the manufacturing process thoughtfully indicated.

However, the most critical tank armor was replaced by the vague term "special armor".

The leaders and chief engineers all looked at Zhang Tan.

Zhang Tan explained with a bit of embarrassment: "Patriotic comrades feel that the confidentiality level of this special armor is too high."

"Hiss, the confidentiality level is too high? Are you kidding me?"

"This is the First Machine Factory, the only place in the country that can produce tanks."

"Yeah, isn't our confidentiality level high enough?"

Although the leaders and chief engineers were all relatively well-mannered and did not mention anyone directly, the implication of their words was: Who is Li Aiguo looking down on?

Compared with the indignation of those leaders and chief engineers, the factory director who knew some of Li Aiguo's situation seemed much calmer.

The factory director pressed his hands down, and after everyone quieted down, he said, "I will discuss the armor issue with Comrade Li Aiguo. You should discuss the new design first and see if there are any difficulties in production and manufacturing."

Afterwards, the factory director announced the adjournment of the meeting and asked Zhang Tan to invite Li Aiguo to his office.

The office door was tightly closed.

The factory director personally poured an enamel mug of tea for Li Aiguo and handed it to him.

"Comrade Aiguo, I have heard a lot about you when I was attending a meeting in Beijing before. I didn't expect that you have such in-depth research on tanks. We have reviewed the new drawings and there are generally no problems. Thank you very much."

"Director Guo, you're welcome." Li Aiguo had great respect for Director Guo.

Director Guo is an old comrade and joined the team in the 1930s.

Although he was not a general who could lead troops in battle, he showed remarkable ability in administrative management.

After liberation, he devoted himself to national defense construction and built Factory 617.

The factory manager smiled and said, "If I'm not mistaken, there should be a document in your canvas bag. The document is related to that special armor."

"Director Guo, nothing can be hidden from your eyes." Li Aiguo took the opportunity to take out a manuscript from his canvas bag and handed it over.

The factory manager took it and just took a look at it, his expression changed slightly.

He immediately closed the manuscript and looked up at Zhang Tan: "Chief Zhang, please step out for a moment."

Zhang Tan was still waiting to figure out what the special armor was, but after hearing this, he was a little confused.

Although his rank is not high, he is an expert in technology. No matter how confidential this special armor is, it is impossible to hide it from him.

"Section Chief Zhang?"

Hearing the factory director's shout again, Zhang Tan came to his senses, stood up and left the office.

After he closed the office door, he scratched his head.

"What on earth is this special armor that Aiguo has developed? Why is the confidentiality level so high?"

(End of this chapter)