Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1269 The Bear That Walks on One Leg (4k words, due to work, there are still 5k words left)

Although the comrades didn't know what a good furnace looked like, they knew what a bad furnace looked like.

Yes, in the minds of our comrades now, the original No. 1 furnace was considered a rather subpar furnace. Our comrades still have that much courage, or perhaps it's a kind of fickleness, a basic quality of those in technical fields.

Quantitative results are naturally not yet available, but qualitative results can reveal some clues.

The results of the 300 heats inspected so far indicate that this converter is still in the middle or even early stage of its service life. In other words, the current service life of this No. 2 converter is far from the final result.

You did very well on the midterm exam!
The comrades on site couldn't help but get excited. From the current point of view, without saying much, it has reached at least the world's mainstream level of more than 600 furnaces without any problem. Finally, we have caught up with the world in a major basic technology. As for how many furnaces it is, the comrades can't guess and dare not guess.

"Section Chief Fang, thank you for your support." Factory Director Fan looked at Fang Yinghong and the others from the Third Rolling Mill in the crowd and said very solemnly.

Fang Yinghong was also full of excitement, mainly pride. Chief Engineer Gao's work was truly exceptional, but she spoke very modestly: "Not at all, we haven't even had a chance to put in the effort yet, so we dare not take credit for it."

She wasn't being modest. Automation upgrades are a process. Unlike furnace lining improvements that directly use the formula and process provided by Gao Zhendong to fire refractory bricks, she has only just begun to lead her colleagues to complete the overall design of the automation system. The actual upgrades haven't even been completed for Furnace No. 1 yet, and for Furnace No. 2, the upgrades mainly only include the furnace lining and some process modifications. The performance of Furnace No. 2 so far has not been very much related to them.

Factory Director Fan laughed: "Hey, Section Chief Fang, don't be modest. Everyone has contributed, everyone has contributed."

The main reason was that Gao Zhendong wasn't present, so the only way to express gratitude was to have Section Chief Fang and other comrades from the Third Rolling Mill temporarily convey it.

"Preliminary estimates suggest that the furnace lining wear rate is below 4.5 kg/ton of steel." A technician from Beijing Steel Plant announced this indicator with great enthusiasm after compiling all the test results.

This indicator is the most direct representation of furnace lining durability. It is an indicator that can clearly quantify the situation at a glance. Although it is impossible to obtain all the specific data by shutting down the furnace because it is still in use, and can only obtain it temporarily through estimation, it still puts everyone's minds at ease.

Factory Director Fan and the chief engineer of Jinggang Steel Plant exchanged a glance. The chief engineer announced with great joy, "Our No. 2 furnace's research on extending furnace life has achieved initial success under the careful guidance of experts from the Ministry. It has significantly increased the furnace life while meeting its main indicators..."

Upon hearing his words, the comrades cheered. Every step of success was worth celebrating.

"Our next task is to continue our efforts, stay true to our original aspirations, guard against arrogance and impetuosity, and on this solid foundation, devote ourselves to research, implement measures diligently, and thoroughly meet the people's high demands for the service life of converters!"

Now that we've made such a good start, things seem to be going smoothly from here on out. It's not time to celebrate yet, since the lifespan of this furnace is still uncertain, and we haven't exhausted all our options. Jinggang Steel Plant's goal is to extend the lifespan of Furnace No. 2 as much as possible and strive to complete this test with the best possible results.

At this moment, the comrades at Beijing Steel Plant had a strong desire to make a name for themselves and give the ministry leaders a big scare.

"We guarantee to complete the mission!" The comrades at Jinggang Steel Plant happily pledged their commitment.

"Next, comrades, we must make use of all favorable conditions and try every means to complete the spraying test of the furnace protection material as soon as possible. We must prepare all the conditions for spraying before the spraying period arrives!"

The current 300 furnaces are not yet at the point where they need to be repaired, which is also great news. Once the repair technology is put into use, the furnace life can be further extended based on the theoretically analyzed furnace life under the current 300 furnace conditions.

This is absolutely fantastic news for this converter.

Moreover, this is great news for all steel mills, as it is a fundamental technology with promotional value. These measures can be used wherever converters are used in the future.

In other words, from this day forward, even though we only have two converters in the country, we can already declare that our converter lifespan index has caught up with the world's advanced level in one step! As for how much we have caught up, it is hard to say now, but optimistically speaking, surpassing the world's most advanced level is not a dream.

The team members in charge of the spray patching technology straightened their chests and said, "Don't worry, watch us now!"

Factory Director Fan laughed heartily and, full of vigor, ordered, "Comrades, prepare for the next batch!"

This furnace can't stop; it still needs to produce steel. Before it reaches its service life limit, its task is still very heavy. Each furnace produces 30 tons of steel, and each batch takes about 40 minutes. Don't underestimate this experimental furnace; it's also a production furnace! In a day, this converter can produce hundreds of tons of high-quality steel!
"Yes!" Amidst the rumbling noise, the comrades' resounding answers echoed in the workshop, which was still glowing red.
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Gao Zhendong was unaware that the improvement of converter furnace lifespan was already showing initial signs; he was currently attending a brief meeting at the National Defense Industry Committee.

The origin of the meeting is actually quite interesting. After Lubyanka's "mole" sent back intelligence about our cooperation with Gaul on passenger planes, he was more or less expected to give something in return. Whether it was for personal gain or for the needs of covert operations, such intelligence exchanges are quite normal.

The type of intelligence that is suitable for this kind of "exchange" is very important.

First, it can't always be painless and indifferent; second, it can't always be wrong, as this is very disadvantageous for an undercover agent.

Having VT fuse technology, a type of intelligence that is reliable but poses no direct threat, is an extremely suitable bargaining chip. In fact, for the Langley Center, this intelligence might even cause a little bit of unpleasantness between us and the White Bear, making it a win-win situation.

For the White Bear, this wasn't a big deal, but it was still a minor but welcome development. The Southern comrades had acquired reliable VT fuse technology? And they were using it right under their noses?

There are quite a few White Bear personnel in North Vietnam, but VT fuses are really well hidden, and unless you tell them, they are not very easy to spot.

Most remarkably, according to the intelligence obtained by Lubyanka, the VT fuse used by the Southern comrades possesses extremely high reliability and strong anti-jamming capabilities. Just kidding, Gao Zhendong taught the comrades working on radio proximity fuses all the anti-jamming techniques for radio proximity fuses from decades in the future. Although, based on factors such as usage conditions, technical difficulty, and cost, the comrades only selected a small portion for deployment, this decades-long leap in technology is still somewhat difficult for current jamming equipment to withstand.

Although intercepted intelligence indicated that the Citibank believed this fuse was closely related to technical support from the White Bear, the people on the White Bear side knew their own situation and that this was simply not true!

Because their own radio proximity fuses simply didn't have that capability, how could they possibly support their comrades in the South? For a moment, they didn't know whether they should thank the Citizens for overestimating them.

But after a moment of awkwardness, the polar bear realized the significance of the matter.

If our comrades in the South have it, doesn't that mean we have it too? Radio proximity fuses are classified in S2, but they're not considered overly advanced technology in this era. Judging from the communication habits between our comrades in the South and our side, it's possible that we acquired this technology!
For the polar bear, although the emergence of missiles has completely overturned and changed the situation of air defense operations, missiles have a "small" problem, which is that they are too expensive!
It's important to understand that the number of troops under the White Bear is an extremely large number. Add to that the needs of the countries receiving the Economic Assistance Council (EAC), the military needs of the EAC countries themselves, and the White Bear's need for military aid abroad, and the total demand for air defense is an enormous figure.

Moreover, the use of missiles has certain technical barriers, and for some of the countries they are aiding, anti-aircraft guns are more suitable, at least they can fire.

Simply put, missiles alone are unaffordable, and even with the prevailing belief in the "magic bullet," the White Bear has realized that missiles cannot solve all problems, especially given that missile technology has not yet reached a certain level of sophistication.

Therefore, radio proximity fuses for anti-aircraft artillery are a necessary but not insignificant requirement for them.

What a coincidence! The Southern comrades are holding a high-tech exhibition, and at the end of this exhibition, there is a closed-door exhibition for military attachés from various countries, with the theme of armaments! Given the current technological capabilities of the Southern comrades, even the White Bear would have to participate seriously, because the Southern comrades always manage to come up with some new tricks.

In the previous exhibition, they exhibited their products together with civilian products, and the number of exhibits was not large. However, both the White Bear and Gaul bought some of them. Moreover, subsequent developments proved that their products were very unique, which made it impossible for the White Bear to ignore them.

Now, while his comrades were still there and the relevant work was about to begin, almost immediately, White Bear assigned the matter of radio proximity fuses to the military attaché at the White Bear Embassy in Beijing.

The meeting that Gao Zhendong attended was the last preparatory meeting before the opening of this small-scale attached arms exhibition, and the issue of radio proximity fuses was an extra topic that was inserted into the discussion.

To be honest, when the comrades from the National Defense Industry Committee brought up this matter, many of the attendees were puzzled.

"Our comrades in the north asked us to acquire radio proximity fuse technology? We don't even have that ourselves, do we?" The military industry is highly segmented, and the secrecy requirements are extremely high. Comrades who are not personally involved would have no idea that such a thing exists.

Upon hearing this, the leaders of the National Defense Industry Committee laughed and said, "That's ancient history. We not only have it now, but it's also very useful!"

Speaking of this, he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

The Americans do not currently possess long-range precision-guided munitions, and the only way to drop iron bombs is through either high-altitude horizontal bombing or dive bombing.

The former had a limited hit rate, while the latter was exactly where the radio proximity fuse was!
After careful consideration, our anti-aircraft artillery units were pleasantly surprised to find that the losses of the anti-aircraft artillery units stationed in Vietnam, whether in terms of personnel or equipment, were far less than expected! Compared to the situation on the peninsula, the reduction in losses far exceeded expectations.

Compared to the Korean Peninsula war, our anti-aircraft artillery equipment at this time had seen significant improvements, not only in radar but also in the use of radio proximity fuses.

Furthermore, with the air defense missiles provided by its northern big brother to Jiaozhi, its air defense efficiency can be described as very high.

Comrade Zhendong, you're absolutely right! These are the exact words of the relevant leaders when they were discussing this matter.

Now even the big brother from the north wants to learn from him. Although this kind of thing has become more and more common in recent years, it still makes him feel proud.

After listening to the leader's words, the comrades realized that we had secretly made another breakthrough.

"That explains it. But shouldn't our comrades in the north also have the technology for radio proximity fuses? Why are they asking us for it? We only just made a breakthrough because our foundation is weak and our base is thin. This shouldn't be a problem for them. This is technology from the S2 era."

This comrade's question represents the sentiments of most comrades. This thing should be a piece of cake for comrades in the north, right? This kind of thinking is normal. Project 156 and the large amount of imported technology have left a deep ideological imprint on the minds of comrades.

Upon hearing this, the leader laughed even more heartily: "Well, I can't really explain it either. Come, Comrade Zhendong, why don't you analyze it for us?"

Upon hearing this, the comrades all turned their attention to Gao Zhendong, and at the same time, they had a guess in their hearts that this breakthrough in radio proximity fuses was probably related to this comrade.

Gao Zhendong hadn't expected this to happen so suddenly. He closed his notebook: "I guess there are two reasons, but actually, all things considered, there's only one. The older brother's electronics technology has encountered a problem in its circuitry..."

There was a problem with the route? This assessment is extremely harsh, both technically and politically.

"...For various reasons, they chose vacuum tube technology as the foundation of electronic technology and relentlessly pursued it. Of course, I'm not saying that vacuum tubes were entirely useless, but objectively, the shortcomings of vacuum tube technology were extremely obvious and irreparable. At this point, other technologies were needed to compensate for them, and taking multiple approaches was the most appropriate. However, the comrades in the north happened to be taking only one approach..."

(End of this chapter)