Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1264 Swift and Long-Term Peace (4k, 5k to go)

The general's brow furrowed deeply: "How did you determine that?"

Sometimes, the clearer things are, the worse the bad news may be. If you understand things so clearly but still can't solve them, then the problem may be quite serious.

"Based on our estimation, if the Easterners' VT fuze technology originated from the White Bear, then we are very clear about its advantages and disadvantages, because the White Bear's VT fuze comes from our first-generation VT fuze. If we must point out a difference, it might lie in the radio frequency band used..."

"You mean, theoretically, we can counter the VT fuses used by Easterners by going back to our early VT fuse technology?"

"Yes, that was our initial assessment. Fortunately, we had previously obtained intelligence on the polar bear's fuse, which matched our prediction, only on a different frequency band. Using this information, we added VT fuse jammers to our combat aircraft via pods, theoretically allowing us to detonate the VT fuses prematurely. However…"

"But we failed?"

"Yes, General, we have failed. Intelligence from multiple air raids indicates that our jamming aircraft have been completely ineffective."

"So, you believe that Easterners have their own VT fuse technology?"

The staff officer nodded: "Yes, General. We even believe their VT fuze technology is more advanced than the White Bear's. Because, as far as we know, the White Bear's current VT fuze doesn't have any real practical capability, and its anti-jamming capability is even less likely. Even..."

"Even more advanced than ours?"

"Yes, General, I hate to say this, but I have to admit it, they are better than us. At least in terms of anti-jamming capabilities, and their fuses are very small."

If this were to be made public, the staff officer would absolutely never admit it, but since this was a private internal report, he naturally said whatever came to mind.

"...Not surprising. The semiconductor technology of the East has developed very rapidly. In this respect, they are fundamentally different from the polar bears. This is really bad news for us!"

The difference between having a radio proximity fuse and not having one is enormous. In S2 mode, the anti-aircraft gun's protection efficiency against the target is almost orders of magnitude higher in both modes.

For the Citizens, in Gao Zhendong's previous life, even without radio proximity fuses, we still inflicted significant damage on Citizen aircraft and completed our air defense mission, only at a greater cost.

Now that we have this thing, along with a decent radar, it is undoubtedly a huge blow to Citizen aircraft.

"General, we need to do something, or the losses will be too great!"

The general thought for a long time and shook his head: "There's nothing we can do. We only have two choices—to brave the artillery fire or to bypass the airspace defended by the Easterners. After all, they can't possibly be everywhere in Jiaozhi. We still have a lot of options."

“However, the Easterners are defending almost all of the most important strategic locations. If we bypass them, the overall effectiveness of our ground strikes will be very limited. It’s practically a bottomless pit; we’re just futilely pouring planes and men into this black hole. If we can’t do anything about it technically for the time being, can’t we do something about it politically?” The staff officer’s tone was tinged with resentment.

"No. We don't even have a channel of communication with them..." It was the same old problem, impossible to solve. The general even considered asking the logistics team to prepare more body bags, but then thought it inappropriate and ultimately didn't say it.
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Back to our side, Gao Zhendong had no idea what exactly was exchanged with the Russians in the end, as he absolutely couldn't attend such negotiations. Although he missed out on many opportunities to show off, compared to his comrades in the desert, Gao Zhendong felt he was already free enough.

Moreover, this matter won't happen that quickly; it will probably all happen after the exhibition ends.

He was looking at a temporarily delivered exhibit, marveling at it.

He was amazed; he never expected his comrades to be so fast. In front of him was a small and cute car, and he could even smell the paint that hadn't dried yet.

This is the smallest of the car series that Jiu'an Machinery Factory has been researching recently after learning from him; it's based on the Lark of Qianshan.

"You guys got it done already?" he asked in astonishment, looking at the comrades from Jiu'an Machinery Factory. The speed was nothing short of miraculous.

However, the comrades from Jiu'an Machinery Factory were very honest, shaking their heads and laughing, "No, no, Chief Engineer Gao, we might boast a bit in front of others, but to be honest with you, we haven't finished it yet. This thing is more like a model than a car. We mainly brought it here to leave an impression on our customers, so that it will be easier to promote it later when it's actually finished. Of course, it would be even better if we could get some tentative orders."

After they finished speaking, they explained to Gao Zhendong that the car was just a shell. Even the seats were borrowed from colleagues at the Beijing Automotive Factory. As for the car body, they found a group of young people and experienced craftsmen, combining the new and the old. The young people were responsible for understanding and explaining Gao Zhendong's design, while the experienced craftsmen were responsible for the specific implementation. They painstakingly hand-carved it out bit by bit, so it could only look like a model.

I must say, these old folks are really skilled; you can't tell they were hand-hammered at all. I guess they just applied a thick layer of putty.

Gao Zhendong chuckled. This kind of operation was perfectly normal, even decades from now. It was a concept car, after all; he was familiar with it.

"That's good, but don't forget, the actual finished car and this concept car can't be too different, otherwise, if it happens too often, it will leave a bad impression on users."

He had seen far too many cars in his past life that were "conceptual flowers but mass-produced cow dung," so when he talked about this now, it carried a hint of sarcasm.

"Don't worry, we will definitely try our best to follow the path of this display car, at least the appearance will not change much." In this day and age, there is no concept of concept cars, but that does not stop our comrades from doing things in the style of concept cars.

Gao Zhendong looked at the car in front of him and smiled thoughtfully, "Well... it's not that bad. Sometimes it's necessary to make some compromises for the sake of craftsmanship, performance, and functionality. You still have a lot to make later."

This thing was built exactly according to Gao Zhendong's design sketches. Gao Zhendong would never believe that it wasn't modified later: "There's a problem with your model. It's very difficult to modify the appearance after it's been made."

The comrades from Jiu'an Machinery Factory nodded repeatedly: "Yes, we are also quite troubled by this matter. For the time being, we may have to trouble the experienced workers in the factory."

Their factory, backed by a military industry background, fully leveraged its advantage of having a large workforce. Gao Zhendong shook his head: "Hmm, we still need to think of a way. Actually, models mainly rely on their appearance; the internal structure can be completely different. I have an idea for you guys: you all played with mud when you were kids, right?"

"You've played with it... Chief Engineer Gao, do you mean to make models with clay?" The comrades from Jiu'an Machinery Factory understood immediately.

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean! But this clay can't be ordinary clay; let's use oil clay."

Clay modeling is a common method in car design. The principle is roughly the same as a kid playing with mud, only the materials are different.

Gao Zhendong didn't know if oil sludge was used abroad, and he wasn't interested in tracing the origins of such a small thing. But he was certain that Jiu'an Machinery Factory didn't use it, nor did other domestic automobile factories.

"Oil sludge?"

"Well, this stuff is used like a kid playing with mud, except it's oily. Compared to mud, it's a bit oily, so it's called oil mud. We used it before when designing the mechanical parts of automated systems..." Gao Zhendong made it up casually, but whether he had used it or not didn't matter. The key was that this stuff was actually useful for people who design cars.

Ordinary clay, and even plaster used in art, have the problem of natural cracking after drying, making them difficult to modify once shaped. However, the clay used in automotive design, in addition to its basic plasticity, can be reshaped after being heated.

As Gao Zhendong spoke, he casually wrote down the formula for the clay. As a car enthusiast, he knew the general proportions.

"Please note that this is only for our use. Although it can be used by you, you may need to adjust the proportions. You will need to figure out these details yourselves."

Gao Zhendong's words made not only the Jiu'an Machinery Factory workers, but also the comrades from the Eleventh Ministry of Machine Building who came to report on their work very happy. They had learned something new! Although this thing sounded simple and the inspiration for it was very down-to-earth, it worked.

"Talc, Vaseline, paraffin wax, is that all you need to make it?" Oil clay is like a thin veil; once you understand it, it's actually quite simple. Gao Zhendong's formula might not be the best or most suitable, but at least it works.

However, even something as simple as this was something we only started importing from abroad in the 70s, which shows how weak our domestic technology was back then.

"It'll definitely work. Chief Engineer Gao is a materials expert; he wouldn't lie to you." When it comes to materials, the comrades have complete trust in Gao Zhendong.

"You know what, this thing is much more convenient than our model, and it's also much more flexible."

"Didn't you hear what Chief Engineer Gao said? We can even paint it directly, making it look exactly like the real car. This way, those of us who do exterior design won't have to rely so much on just thinking." Although industrial design software already exists, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the expressiveness of industrial design software these days, and no matter how good the expressiveness is, it can't compare to a real model.

Gao Zhendong laughed and said, "You can also use this model to blow wind tunnels directly, which can provide a lot of convenience for the aerodynamic design of cars."

His words were too much for his comrades to bear. Wind tunnel?

"Chief Engineer Gao, wind tunnels are only used for airplanes and such. Why would we use that for a car?" A colleague from Jiu'an Machinery Factory asked, not understanding the situation.

"Aerodynamics is also very important for cars. The development direction of automobiles is ultimately towards faster speeds, better fuel economy, and greater stability and safety, especially for small cars. In this regard, aerodynamics is indispensable." Gao Zhendong planted a seed in the hearts of his comrades.

Gao Zhendong has a direct experience with this. In his previous life, after his family added a roof box to their car, the fuel consumption on the highway increased by 15%.

Although fuel consumption might not seem so important at this moment, Gao Zhendong knew that it would become crucial once the oil crisis hit. That's why Japanese cars were able to rise in popularity at Citibank!
The comrades didn't expect Gao Zhendong to think so far ahead. They kept repeating "faster, more fuel-efficient, more stable and safer," feeling that Chief Engineer Gao's words had covered all the core requirements of a car, except for comfort and functionality.

The comrades at Jiu'an Machinery Factory wrote these words heavily in their notebooks, and they became the core concept of Jiu'an Factory's car manufacturing. However, decades later, "more fuel-efficient" became "more energy-saving", but the core concept remained unchanged.

When the comrades obtained permission from the experts at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation to deliver the model of the car to the car showroom, the car showroom was already bustling with people and the atmosphere was lively.

The people here are mainly from the polar bear region. The main issue is that cars are still quite expensive; many people in various countries with quotas can't afford them, even with our promise to handle the transportation.

What I lack isn't the shipping fee, but the money to buy a car! This probably reflects the mindset of most people.

But the Russians are different; many of them come here specifically for this thing.

Although the youngest member of our automotive product line hasn't arrived yet, its older siblings are already on site, showing off their style and attracting a lot of attention.

"What did I see? Cars?? Cars that can be bought freely!" This was the first reaction of some people who did not have access to information about the exhibited products before the exhibition.

Those who have the means to find out about the exhibition in advance will have a feeling that "seeing is believing," since the small black and white photos in the exhibition materials are nowhere near as impactful as the actual cars on site, which are shiny and full of life.

Compared to the long queues for cars in their own country, these few big, stylish cars are undoubtedly tempting to all Russians.

The most popular one was undoubtedly the Beijing 315, that is, the imitation Lada Niva that Gao Zhendong had smuggled from Bai Xiong ten years later. For Bai Xiong, this could be considered a kind of export-to-domestic resale, but no one knew it.

The reason for its popularity is not hard to understand—it's good enough, but not too expensive.

Don't let the fact that this vehicle is less than 4 meters long fool you—the counterintuitive truth is that polar bears these days aren't particularly tall on average, but they have a lot of space!

(End of this chapter)