The train driver in the courtyard

Officer Liu from the district's armed forces department has done a very solid job.

Upon receiving the notification, the district and street authorities acted swiftly and sealed off the area around Siyan Hutong.

"What are you doing?"

An elderly man carrying a tin bucket and a fishing rod rod rod roded by on his bicycle and asked the street office staff about it out of curiosity.

The street office official said sternly, "They're planning to use cannons to demolish this place. To prevent any accidents, you can't go in starting today. You'd better go back now."

"Really?" The old man rode his bicycle a long way around, then turned back, blinking his eyes. "If they're demolishing a house, there must be a lot of nails and steel pipes inside, right?"

"This is a restricted area. You are not allowed to enter. Hurry up and leave. Don't ask any more questions."

The street office staff felt that the old man's eyes were a bit strange, so they quickly waved him away.

"Forbidden zone? Never mind then." The old man turned and left again.

He hadn't gone far when he turned back again, staring wide-eyed at the neighborhood committee official: "Is that piece of paper in your hand scrap paper? How about I throw it away for you?"

Subdistrict Office Officer: "."

"Sigh, I found a great place to collect recyclables, but it turns out to be a restricted area. What am I going to do?" The old man sighed deeply all the way back to the courtyard house.

Just as I reached the courtyard gate, a figure darted out from behind me.

"Uncle, what's a good place?"

"It's Dongxu." The old man said as he walked, "They're going to demolish the old fortifications over at Siyan Well Alley. There's a lot of steel and wires inside."

"This is a really great place." Jia Dongxu's eyes lit up.

The third uncle, who had already entered the courtyard, turned back upon hearing this and instructed Jia Dongxu, "That area is now a restricted zone, so you absolutely must not go in."

"Okay, okay," Jia Dongxu waved his hand dismissively.

The restricted area? Does that mean no one will be able to take it from me?

With such a large construction site, if we could get our hands on the steel bars and electrical wires, it would definitely solve the immediate problem.

Jia Dongxu became more and more excited as he thought about it. After returning home, he rummaged through drawers and cabinets and found a tattered burlap sack.

Seeing him like this, Qin Huairu asked in confusion, "Where are you going?"

"Collecting scraps." Jia Dongxu said, and then darted out of the house.

Qin Huairu didn't understand where Jia Dongxu was going to collect recyclables.

However, I was very pleased to see that Jia Dongxu was finally getting down to business.

In the early morning, a soft golden light bathed the earth.

Li Aiguo ate five large steamed buns with pork cracklings and vermicelli, then rode his bicycle leisurely to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

"Comrade Aiguo, the venue is ready." Officer Liu from the Armed Forces Department had arrived early and was chatting with Regiment Commander Wang.

"Let's go then."

The Qianmen Locomotive Depot dispatched a GAZ truck, and Minister Niu from the Armed Forces Department also sent Zhou Ke and four or five officers to help.

Yan Jiecheng, seeing this, was envious and wanted to help as well.

These 240 were extremely heavy. Even though Li Aiguo used a modular transportation and assembly design, they still needed to be hoisted onto the truck by a crane and then unloaded manually once they arrived at their destination.

Considering that there is strength in numbers, and that this weapons test was not classified and that many people knew about it, Li Aiguo agreed.

The group arrived at Siyanjing Hutong, where the area had been cleared out, and many concrete bunkers could be seen.

Zhou Ke was worried that something might go wrong, so he asked Officer Liu to lead the street office staff to check again to prevent anyone from hiding inside.

"Notification: Weapon testing is about to take place here. Everyone, evacuate immediately."

The neighborhood committee started working, and Li Aiguo directed Zhou Ke and a few others to move the 240mm cannon down.

The cannon barrel was easy to handle; seven or eight people pulled and carried it to the ground.

The base was extremely heavy, so Li Aiguo asked Commander Wang and Zhou Mingming for help before they finally managed to get it in place.

The main purpose of this test was to examine the power of the 240mm gun. The gun barrel was installed at a distance of one kilometer, and then the angle was calibrated with a level.

"Angle 65 degrees, the building with the white flag in front of the target is the concrete pillbox built by the enemy back then." Zhou Mingming raised his finger to aim in the direction.

Li Aiguo ordered: "Load the ammunition."

The 240mm mortar is a heavy mortar, and loading it requires the cooperation of three gunners. Zhou Ke and Yan Jiecheng picked up the shells, Li Aiguo pushed the shells into the breech, and then closed the breech.

The mortar was originally supposed to be electrically fired, but in order to get it done as soon as possible, the relevant components had not been delivered, so Li Aiguo took a mechanical firing component from a cannon and installed it.

"Prepare to fire, everyone get back to a safe distance."

The others retreated to a distance, and Li Aiguo tied a rope to the firing mechanism, pulled himself along, and retreated as well.

This is the first time this thing has been tested, so safety should be the top priority.

At this moment, Zhou Mingming and several technicians from Harbin Military Engineering Institute raised their binoculars and took out their pens, ready to record data at any time.

"preparation."

"fire!"

Li Aiguo suddenly pulled the rope.

There was a loud "boom!"

Yan Jiecheng saw a shell fly out of the cannon barrel.

"This isn't the right direction," Yan Jiecheng said, scratching his head as he watched the shell fly into the sky.

Boom boom boom!

The next second, the shell traced an arc in the air and headed straight for the white flag.

The ground shook violently, the concrete building instantly crumbled, and the shockwave spread outwards, causing people in the distance to take two steps back.

The elderly woman from the neighborhood office, standing dozens of meters away, was so shocked that she felt dizzy.

The once incredibly sturdy concrete pillbox is now nothing but a pile of ruins. Keep in mind that this thing was made of real materials, and even an electric pickaxe couldn't break it.

hiss.
Everyone gasped in astonishment.

Even Zhou Mingming was shocked. Although he had participated in the entire design process, he had not expected the explosion to be so powerful.

Commander Wang was so shocked that his jaw dropped and he swallowed hard: "This is even more powerful than a cannon! If we could get a few of these, we could just fire a few shots at the enemy's fortifications during a landing operation and that would be perfect!"

Commander Wang's voice trembled with excitement.

"Pretty much. Mortar shells utilize their own gravity, making them more effective at breaching targets." Zhou Mingming clenched his fist tightly.

Nothing is more exciting than seeing your own designed weapon built.

Li Aiguo stroked his chin and said, "The angle is still a bit low. Although it hit the target accurately, the angle of the shell is wrong. Let's adjust it. Maybe we can get a better result."

"..." Commander Wang and Zhou Mingming exchanged a glance. With such great power, the train driver was still not satisfied?
"There's one more shell, shall we fire it too?" Yan Jiecheng had his eyes opened today; he had only ever seen such a large shell in movies.

"Release it. It contained steel balls, mainly for killing enemies. The firing angle should be lower."

"Let's check the results first," Commander Wang said, stopping Li Aiguo from loading shells right away.

Inspecting the results? Li Aiguo was stunned for a moment before realizing his oversight.

The 240mm cannon was originally a plan proposed for a major undertaking, and now that it has been successful, naturally the data needs to be presented in a very impressive way, and it needs to be widely publicized.

"You guys go ahead, I'll clean the cannon barrel."

Commander Wang and Zhou Mingming, along with Yan Jiecheng, Zhou Ke, and several technical experts from Harbin Military Engineering Institute, headed towards their target.

"That's incredibly powerful."

"Scary, so scary."

The once sturdy concrete pillbox has now crumbled, leaving craters in the ground. When Commander Wang saw that the craters were two or three hundred meters away from the target, his expression turned even more shocked.

Li Aiguo finished his preparations and was stunned when he heard the voice from the other side.

Others are one thing, but Commander Wang and Zhou Mingming, one a veteran of the battlefield and the other a military industrial worker, shouldn't be unfamiliar with such scenes.

He went over to see for himself and found out the reason: the shells were large and contained a lot of explosives.

It could even be said that the firepower has reached saturation.

"Luckily we cleared the area beforehand, otherwise, we would have scared the pants off a few people." Officer Liu from the district's armed forces department also ran over.

Zhou Mingming took out a ruler to measure the distance of the farthest shrapnel, and after making a record, he became excited: "Finally, we've seen results."

After the measurements were completed, preparations for the second firing began.

This time, the shells were loaded with steel balls and nails, mainly to kill the enemy, and the target was a small grove of trees not far away.

"Ready, fire!" As Zhou Mingming and the others retreated, Li Aiguo suddenly pulled on the rope.

boom!
The mortar shells shot out sparks, tracing a graceful arc as they crashed into the grove of trees.

Boom boom boom.
Thick black smoke billowed from the grove, and more than a dozen trees were blown away by the blast, leaving the scene in complete disarray.

This time the power wasn't as great, but the destructive force was still very strong; tree trunks in the distance were pierced by steel balls and nails.

Zhou Ke and Yan Jiecheng's expressions changed slightly. If they were within the blast radius, even if they weren't killed, they would have several holes in their bodies.

Zhou Mingming's gaze towards Li Aiguo immediately changed. How could these steel balls and nails be so powerful!
"Don't just stand there, hurry up and check the results."

Li Aiguo waved to the group, but before Commander Wang and Zhou Mingming could move, a series of painful howls came from afar.

"There's someone hiding here?" Li Aiguo's expression changed, and he shouted to Commander Wang, "Go and rescue them immediately!"

The normal weapons test was interrupted, and Commander Wang led several soldiers to run towards the sound.

A moment later, a roar came from the grove.

"Are you out of your mind?!"

Li Aiguo arrived at this moment, and when he looked into the crowd, his expression immediately turned strange.

A large tree was knocked down by the shockwave of the explosion, and a person was crushed beneath it.

The person's hair and clothes were completely blackened by the explosion, and now they are looking down, so their appearance is not clear.

He was clutching his buttocks and howling in pain when a nail had been driven straight into his anus.

There was a piece of shrapnel lying not far from this person, which clearly indicates that he was trying to pick up the shrapnel from the first explosion, which is why he accidentally wandered into this place.

"I never thought there were garbage collectors more dedicated than Yan Bugui in this world." Li Aiguo sighed and then planned to ask the comrades from the district armed forces department to take the man to the hospital.

"I'm just collecting scraps, why are you bombarding me?" The man suddenly raised his head and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Yan Jiecheng's eyes widened, and he gasped: "Jia Dongxu!"

Upon hearing this, Li Aiguo also looked closely. Although his face was covered in black soot, he could still make out that the man was Jia Dongxu.

"Jia Dongxu, what are you doing here?" Since they were neighbors in the same compound, Yan Jiecheng quickly ran over and helped him up.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! My butt! Yan Jiecheng, be gentle!"

As Jia Dongxu roared, his eyes darted around: "I... I accidentally wandered here. If you're going to fire, you should at least put up a warning line."

"Now that you've blown me up, what are you guys going to do about it?"

If this were in later generations, Jia Dongxu would surely have already amassed a fortune through extortion.

In this day and age, it's not a matter of who's being unreasonable or who's right.

Li Aiguo was from the weapons testing team and had little to do with this matter. He was about to go and measure the furthest distance when he saw Zhou Mingming squatting behind Jia Dongxu, his eyes fixed on the nail on Jia Dongxu's butt.

"Live test subjects, this is really a good thing."

Li Aiguo: "."

Jia Dongxu: "."

Everyone present: "."

In the end, it was only after Commander Wang mentioned the old dean's name that Zhou Mingming gave up the idea of ​​inspecting Jia Dongxu's buttocks.

At this point, Officer Liu from the Armed Forces Department was completely bewildered.

This weapons test was ordered from above, and both the capital city and the district attached great importance to it. How did it go wrong?
Seeing Jia Dongxu's whining and grumbling, Officer Liu was furious. He stepped forward and said, "Comrade, we set up a cordon here two days ago and sent people to guard various places. Where did you sneak in from?"

"What cordon? I didn't see it." Jia Dongxu was a little guilty and knew the consequences, but he still said with a stiff neck, "I just walked in by accident."

Seeing that he was being unreasonable, Officer Liu prepared to send someone to call the comrades on the perimeter to ask how this person had sneaked in.

Yan Jiecheng suddenly stroked his chin and said, "We're conducting a weapons test this time. Could this guy be Dieter, here to spy on us?"

bang.

A huge accusation was slapped on Jia Dongxu's head. Jia Dongxu's eyes widened, and he looked at Yan Jiecheng with anger: "You're talking nonsense. We're neighbors. You know my family's situation. How can you link me with Dieter?"

Yan Jiecheng pursed his lips and said, "That's hard to say. I heard you sold some clothes to Dieter a while ago. Maybe you've done something for Dieter this time."

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongxu stood there dumbfounded.

Li Aiguo almost applauded Yan Jiecheng.

Yan Jiecheng has made significant progress in the past two years.

"Take him away. Send him to the armed forces department first, find out the situation, and then make a decision."

Upon hearing that this person had helped Dieter in the past, Officer Liu no longer held back and immediately issued the order.

Jia Dongxu never expected that he would be bombed and then arrested, so he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Is there any justice in this world? I was just picking up trash, and I got bombed. Now I'm being arrested."

"Gag your mouth."

There was no need to be polite when dealing with the suspect, Dieter. Officer Liu had someone gag Jia Dongxu and throw him into the jeep.

After the jeep drove away, Officer Liu wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at Commander Wang: "Commander, I'm really sorry, I couldn't even handle this small matter properly, I've embarrassed you."

Commander Wang patted him on the shoulder: "This was just an accident. After all, even with the tightest defenses, it's hard to prevent people with ulterior motives from sneaking in."

As he spoke, Commander Wang looked at Li Aiguo.

Li Aiguo understood his intention to protect him and nodded with a smile: "It was indeed an accident, the district did a very good job."

Li Aiguo wasn't trying to shirk responsibility for Liu.

In fact, Li Aiguo had previously proposed that the 240mm cannon be transported to a small mountain valley for a clandestine experiment.

Furthermore, the personnel involved in the experiment must be strictly controlled.

People like Zhou Ke and those in the maintenance workshop all have to be eliminated, and the district armed forces department and local street offices can't get involved.

Li Aiguo's plan was submitted, but it was rejected by the old dean.

Instead, a weapons test that appeared to be riddled with flaws was conducted.

With so many residents in the capital, it was impossible to keep it a secret, let alone being able to overlook the entire test site from a distant tenement building.

"This weapons test may seem like a secret experiment, but it's actually for certain people to see."

After receiving the notification, Li Aiguo stroked his chin, feeling a sense of admiration for the old dean.

Some seemingly illogical things can only be understood by knowing their background, which explains why such a choice was made.

If we're going to put on a show, we need to get as many people involved as possible.

This is also the real reason why Li Aiguo had Yan Jiecheng, with his loudspeaker, come along.

When weapons tests are deliberately "leaked," oversights are inevitable.

Now that neither the steel mill nor Harbin Military Engineering Institute is pursuing the matter further, the incident can be classified as an accident, and Officer Liu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Afterwards, Li Aiguo and Zhou Mingming recorded the power of the explosion and returned to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot workshop together.

Section Chief Xing was already waiting inside the section and asked, "How did the experiment go?"

Zhou Mingming said excitedly, "It was a great success. We blew up a bunker, a forest, and a person."

"A person?" Section Chief Xing was stunned.

Zhou Mingming looked at Li Aiguo, somewhat aggrieved: "I knew it, nobody cares about the sturdy bunker and that large forest."

"Alright, don't you still have to report to the dean? Hurry up. I'll report the situation." Li Aiguo called out to Zhou Mingming when he saw that Zhou Mingming had relapsed into his old habits.

"That's right, Section Chief Xing, you're not my superior, what right do you have to ask?"

"."

Watching Zhou Mingming's retreating figure, Section Chief Xing glanced at Li Aiguo and felt a surge of relief. Thankfully, his subordinate was a normal person; otherwise, he would have been driven to despair and lost several years of his life. No way.

Section Chief Xing found out that the person who was bombed had sneaked in to retrieve spent shell casings, and he became angry.

"People like this are just causing trouble."

"Who says it isn't?"

Li Aiguo chatted with Section Chief Xing for a few minutes, then left, remembering that he still had to unload the blasting shells.

Back in the workshop, the crane unloaded the 240mm gun and covered it with a rainproof felt to prevent it from getting damp.

Li Aiguo took out the blueprints and made several more modifications.

The power of this cannon is undeniable, but its installation and operation are too complicated, making it inconvenient to deploy quickly.

At this moment, in a simple office at Harbin Military Engineering Institute.

The old dean, holding the phone, looked surprised: "You mean the experiment went smoothly?"

"It's a success! The experiment was a complete success! That single shot blasted the enemy's bunker to pieces! Teacher, our plan has succeeded!" Holding the red secure telephone, Zhou Mingming was visibly excited.

The old dean exclaimed, "Good, good, good! Originally, we proposed this plan simply to appease them!"

"Put up to what?" Zhou Mingming asked, seeing the old dean hesitate.

"It's nothing, Professor Zhou. You did a great job. You truly deserve to be called the most talented expert at Harbin Military Engineering Institute." The old dean changed the subject.

The plan has now succeeded by accident, so can the other things be made too? The old dean felt a little cocky.

“The credit is mainly due to Li Aiguo, teacher. I can’t steal his credit.” Zhou Mingming said in a deep voice, “Most of the blueprints were actually created by Li Aiguo.”

"Li Aiguo is truly an extraordinary person." The old dean had heard this name several times during meetings.

Otherwise, the former dean wouldn't have hesitated to use all available resources to provide strong support after receiving Zhou Mingming's request.

"By the way, we need to report this achievement. What should we call this cannon? We can't just call it the 240mm cannon, can we?"

While Li Aiguo was making the changes, Zhou Mingming rushed in and grabbed his arm, repeating what he had said on the phone.

"Name?" Li Aiguo asked blankly.

"Yes, the old dean said that this is a cannon we developed ourselves, so it needs to have a catchy name." Zhou Mingming explained the situation with gestures.

In fact, many countries have developed 240mm guns, which can easily lead to misunderstandings.

Thinking of the power of the 240mm cannon and its future uses, Li Aiguo pondered for a moment and said slowly, "The Martial Virtue-Enhancing Cannon!"

"Great name, I like it!" Zhou Mingming turned around and ran away in a flash.

Li Aiguo continued revising the drawings until it was time to leave work, when Chen Baiya knocked on the studio door and he stood up.

"How is the training going for those soldiers?"

Li Aiguo and Zhou Mingming have been busy with matters related to the Wude Chongpei Cannon lately.

Director Zhang and Chen Baiya were responsible for training the senior technicians at Harbin Military Engineering Institute.

"Almost there, they have fully mastered the assembly techniques. Also, the parts for the first hydraulic press are complete, and Commander Wang has asked us to transport them to a factory in the Northwest as soon as possible."

Li Aiguo nodded: "I'll discuss it with Lao Zhang tomorrow and come up with some rules."

After saying that, Li Aiguo walked out of the office, then stopped in his tracks.

"Disciple, would you be willing to take a trip to the Northwest?"

"Yes!" Chen Baiya nodded without hesitation.

"it is good!"

Li Aiguo didn't say much. He picked some vegetables in the greenhouse and then leisurely rode his bicycle back to the courtyard house.

As soon as I entered the compound, I heard Jia Dongxu's wailing coming from inside.

"It hurts, it hurts, Qin Huairu, go slower, are you trying to kill me with pain?"

Yan Jiecheng was standing in the front yard, telling the residents of the compound about what had happened that day.

"Didn't you see? The cannon that Brother Aiguo developed is incredibly powerful. It blew up the enemy's bunker with just one shot."

"How did Jia Dongxu get bombed?"

"He brought it on himself. He didn't know who he heard it from, but they said they were going to blow up those bunkers in Siyanjing Hutong."

He had a wicked idea; he sneaked in, intending to collect some steel bars and electrical wires.

"Sigh, this kid, even when he's collecting scraps, he's still not honest."

Li Aiguo turned his head and saw that the Third Uncle's face was a little ugly. He was a little puzzled. What did this have to do with the Third Uncle?
Just as he was about to speak, Yan Jiecheng walked over.

"Brother Aiguo, you're back."

"Jia Dongxu has been released? How is he doing?"

At this moment, Xu Damao, Zhang Gangzhu, and several other residents in the courtyard also gathered around.

Li Aiguo offered them a round of cigarettes, and even Aunt Wang from next door didn't miss out.

The old rule for distributing cigarettes is: better to miss a round than to miss a single person.

Yan Jiecheng took the cigarette and recounted the whole situation.

After the district armed forces department took Jia Dongxu back, they examined his injuries.

He was lucky; the tree blocked most of the steel balls and nails, and he only got injured in his buttocks.

After a simple bandage was applied, Jia Dongxu of the district's armed forces conducted an interrogation.

Jia Dongxu dared not deny it anymore and told them about collecting recyclables.

Considering that Jia Dongxu was only greedy and it wasn't a serious mistake, he was released.

"No compensation?"

"What compensation? I heard Jia Dongxu has to write a self-criticism and give it at the district meeting in a few days."

Li Aiguo nodded slowly.

This is the correct way to handle things.

Qin Huairu shook her head helplessly as she watched Jia Dongxu groan.

She thought Jia Dongxu had finally learned to do something serious, but unexpectedly he turned around and gave her a huge slap on the wrist.

Not only did I not find any scrap, but I also injured my butt.

Qin Huairu looked up at Li Aiguo, who was pushing his bicycle in from outside, and felt a pang of sadness.

This man is already capable of building cannons, but Jia Dongxu has gotten a nail in his butt.

Comparing the two, it is obvious which is superior.

Qin Huairu felt she regretted it.

****
night.

Quietly.

The lights in the capital city gradually went out.

The office, located in the lake, was brightly lit.

Excited voices filled the room after reading the materials submitted by Harbin Military Engineering Institute.

"The Martial Virtue-Rich Cannon! What a great name!"

"It turns out that it was Li Aiguo who brought it up. Comrade Farmer really has taken on a good student. No, now he's also Old Xu's Chen Baiya. What an interesting little fellow."

"Bring me the map."

The secretary took out a map and placed it on the table.

The pen drew several circles in the reconstructed coastal area.

"I heard that things are going well on Li Yunlong's side, and it will be over in a few years. Once that side is pacified, we can also make some moves along the coast."

The pen trembled again, this time drawing a large circle that encompassed the entire island.

The pen tip pierced the island heavily, leaving a large ink dot.

The ink droplet sparkled under the light.

"Have all departments cooperate actively to produce the first batch of Wude Chongpei cannons as soon as possible."

(End of this chapter)