Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1380 The conscripted soldier was officially promoted (4k)

The chief engineer said solemnly, "Comrade Zhendong, there are some things we have a bottom line on, and we will absolutely not use them."

After listening to him, Gao Zhendong pondered his words for a long time before he finally understood what he meant, and the words were somewhat cryptic.

Perhaps it was for Gao Zhendong's sake, fearing that if word got out, it would damage his personal image. Although there were only two people here, and it was a case of keeping things quiet, the chief engineer was still very careful when it was necessary.

Gao Zhendong couldn't help but laugh, which was also a way of thanking the chief engineer for his care.

"Boss, it's a misunderstanding, haha. I wasn't talking about those things. I only need to mention the most dangerous one." Gao Zhendong didn't specify which ones he was referring to.

The chief engineer was relieved upon hearing this and asked with some curiosity, "What are you talking about?"

Gao Zhendong pointed to his ear: "A sound!"

Actually, the sound emitted by the equipment he was referring to is inaudible to the human ear, but this description is quite vivid.

"Sound? Hmm, the noise is awful, it can really drive a person crazy. It doesn't sound very nice to say, hahaha." The chief engineer laughed. Only someone like Gao Zhendong could find such a tricky angle.

As we all know, noise can drive people crazy from a physiological point of view, and even cause death. Thinking about it this way, it really does fit what Gao Zhendong said: a low volume is non-lethal, while a high volume is lethal. It's just that this kind of thing is a bit unpleasant to talk about.

"Noise? That's really malicious. If word gets out, it'll cause some public opinion problems. We need to think about it carefully," the chief engineer said with a smile.

Comparatively speaking, comrades who came from the era of blood and fire are more inclined to believe in killing directly, and they do so in a much more honorable way.

Unexpectedly, Gao Zhendong shook his head: "No, it's infrasound."

"Infrasound? You mean sounds with frequencies below the range that the human ear can distinguish?"

Can't hear it? Not as noisy as it used to be? Then there's room for negotiation.

Gao Zhendong nodded: "Yes, and specifically refers to infrasound with a vibration frequency between 4 and 12 Hz." This frequency is quite significant.

The chief engineer was unfamiliar with this, or to put it another way, from the perspective of a weapon, there were very few people in the whole country who were familiar with this thing.

These bizarre and outlandish things are the result of the crazy and wild ideas of the major powers during the Cold War. During the Cold War, the major powers were frantically searching for every possible way to kill people, some violent, some bizarre, and many even a little shameless.

Infrasound weapons are precisely the more enigmatic type among them.

"Why this frequency?" Since Gao Zhendong has made it so specific, it means that this frequency must have something special about it.

Gao Zhendong said: "It's actually very simple. Modern medical research shows that the human body, like many objects, has an inherent resonant frequency, and this resonant frequency of the human body happens to be the 4~12Hz frequency band in the infrasound range."

Gao Zhendong didn't say that he did the research himself. After all, when it comes to researching the human body, apart from doctors, no one else can really say they're doing it well. Even in the West, doctors often conduct all sorts of outrageous and inhumane experiments when researching the human body.

Foreigners' movies often feature various conspiracy theories and seemingly idiotic behaviors such as distrusting doctors and professionals. This isn't just a formulaic approach to their work; there are real reasons behind it. As the saying goes, "You are not a fish, how can you know the fish's suffering?"

"How did you end up researching in this direction?" The chief engineer asked, somewhat puzzled. This was getting increasingly off track.

"My wife and I have published medical books together, so I know a little bit about it. Besides, I saw some research materials from my wife's side and combined them with my own experience." Gao Zhendong didn't mention that he was a specialist in this field, and simply pushed the matter onto his wife.

Okay, I forgot about that. His wife is also a promising doctor with considerable achievements. It's perfectly normal for her to study people. Moreover, Gao Zhendong himself is not ignorant in this area. His name is clearly listed as the author of the highly praised "Concise Handbook for Primary Care Physicians".

It's quite interesting, actually. The initial idea was that Gao Zhendong's wife's academic success would benefit his health. However, it turns out she's no ordinary person either. A personal physician is out of the question; such talent can't be wasted. It's not that personal physicians are inferior, but rather that her strengths lie elsewhere. The waste isn't in the person, but in their talent.

Once he understood the origin of Gao Zhendong's skills in this area, the chief engineer, being no fool, immediately realized the seriousness of the matter. After all, the legend of the Lanxi army collapsing the bridge in unison, whether true or false, was still widely circulated. Moreover, even setting aside the legend, as the chief engineer of the Defense Committee, he was well aware of how annoying or useful resonance was.

"A significant impact?"

Gao Zhendong nodded: "Yes, the impact is significant. Low energy can cause severe discomfort, while high energy can directly kill people, and..."

"And what?"

“Moreover, it is difficult to defend against, and the transmission distance is very long.” Gao Zhendong said, “That’s why I suggested developing some low-power ones, because they can actually be used to disperse enemies in specific situations and ignore general protection. This kind of weapon does not affect the ears at all, and it has a low frequency and long wavelength, making it very penetrating.”

Anyone who works with equipment knows that once the wavelength is long enough, the penetrating power is incomparable to what it used to be, such as with longwave radios.

"How far?" It's just a sound, how far can it be?

After all, sound is a physical phenomenon that is everywhere in life, which makes it very easy for people to misunderstand or underestimate it.

Gao Zhendong said: "I have estimated that, based on the current and near-future technological advancements, this distance can be measured in tens of kilometers, and at this range, it is deadly."

Although it hasn't happened yet, Gao Zhendong knows one thing—twenty years later, an infrasound leak will occur in a subsonic weapons laboratory in Lanxi, directly killing 30 people in a small town 16 kilometers away.

Just like the legend of the bridge collapsing due to an earthquake, this happened to the people of Lanxi.

Moreover, they were killed instantly by the shock, and by the time people sensed something was wrong, it was too late.

"Huh? So far? That's amazing?" The chief engineer felt that technology was really interesting, completely beyond people's conventional thinking.

Gao Zhendong nodded: "Yes, so I think this thing is quite useful for large-scale evacuation, since nobody wants to stay in an area where they feel dizzy and nauseous just by stepping in."

"Hmm, this thing is quite interesting, it has a rather unconventional feel to it. Okay, I'll get some colleagues in the relevant fields to study it, you don't need to follow along anymore," the chief engineer said to Gao Zhendong. As for why he didn't need to follow along anymore, the two of them knew the reason. Gao Zhendong himself didn't have this idea either. This thing wasn't very interesting to him, but he mainly considered that firstly, it was something he could do but not be without; secondly, it would give his colleagues in the relevant fields some work to do; and thirdly, this thing was indeed a bit tricky, and it could be combined with underwater low-frequency active and passive sonar research, which could be considered as promoting the development of acoustics from multiple aspects.

After all, although acoustics may not be highly valued by ordinary people, it is the most powerful weapon underwater.

Gao Zhendong remembers seeing an old advertisement when he was very young, which said, "Without sound, even the best show can't be performed." It's the same here; without sound, even the best weapon can't hit the target.

This can be considered a win-win situation, and it wasn't just a sudden whim of Gao Zhendong.
-
Kingdom, Laundry Village, White Hall.

The newly appointed Grand King of the Kingdom sat in the oval room, smug and self-satisfied.

After all this time, he can finally sit down in this office and won't have to worry about his chair being pulled out at any time for at least four years.

That's right, this new king is the same king who was temporarily drafted last year because of his predecessor's wild idea.

When he was a conscript, neither side of the power structure was his core group, nor was it built for him. Therefore, he was inevitably subject to various restrictions and interferences when he did things, which made his first year or so of leadership not so comfortable.

Even he himself, when dealing with matters, had a mindset of seeking no merit but avoiding mistakes, preferring to remain still rather than take action.

But things are different now. This time he has officially taken office, and all the forces have formed a new power structure and relationships to cooperate with him in this election. The people are probably still the same, but the way he does things feels very different from a year ago.

After all, he went through the entire election process and was elected, so his background is legitimate. Having an illegitimate background is a huge disadvantage in political activities, and he has finally made up for this shortcoming.

Although he has not yet been sworn in, he is still the previous commander, and he is in a great mood in the oval room.

However, while being selected is good news, the work that follows is not necessarily all good news.

"Sir, our losses in the Western Hills are continuing to escalate, and at a rate exceeding our initial expectations. Anti-war sentiment is also rising domestically, with some citizens believing that we have absolutely no reason to send our young men to their deaths for the sake of monkeys in the deep forests on the other side of the world." The administrative staff member held a report, looking somewhat worried.

The kingdom's leader took the report, glanced at it quickly, and didn't need to read it carefully. The information he wanted to know was already clearly stated on the previous page of the report.

"These monkeys, they're still restless even in winter!" the leader, whose mood had been dampened, couldn't help but complain.

“Sir, it’s the tropics there, so whether it’s winter or not doesn’t really make much of a difference,” the administrative staff member couldn’t help but remind him.

The leader glanced at him, which startled him.

I was careless. I was still using the same methods and attitudes as before, but I forgot that he had already been officially elected through the election process.

"However, their continued harassment of us in such hot conditions is indeed a bit too much." Every little bit helps; we can't just change our tune and say it's really cold there, then sit back down on our own excrement.

Sensing the change in his attitude, the commander nodded with satisfaction: "My campaign promises should not contain any specific conditional commitments regarding the war with the Western Mountain Kingdom, right?"

The aide nodded: "Yes, your promise is to continue what the previous leader didn't finish. But there's no clear statement about the war in Xishan Kingdom, since the war in Xishan Kingdom wasn't nearly as intense as it is now back then."

With the commander at ease, there were no more concerns. Although it was common for campaign promises to be ignored by successive kingdom commanders, it was always better to do it less often; after all, everyone has some sense of pride.

For example, his campaign promise to continue the path of the previous leader is just a promise that's good enough to get votes. If he were to actually continue the path of the previous leader, he might have to go through the final stretch of that path himself.

Anyone can come up with a creative idea.

"I want to expand the scale and intensity of the war again. What are your thoughts?" the commander asked his advisors, enunciating each word clearly.

In fact, in the original history, it was this very person who made the decision to formally and fully intervene in the war of Xishan Kingdom.

On this front, various reasons led to the kingdom's early and full-scale intervention, and what he planned to do on this front was to further expand the scale and investment of the war.

Path dependence is a factor, after all, the military-industrial complex actually has guns.

"But Mr. President, this goes against the growing anti-war sentiment in the country..."

His administrative staff had some reservations about his decision.

The leader waved his hand: "It takes time for an idea to develop, take shape, and finally explode. I think my successor will be able to handle the relevant matters well."

The kingdom's leader, whose campaign promises did not include a clause on war with the Western Mountain Kingdom, felt completely relieved.

Because he was granted a half-term leadership early due to a bug, the leader was pessimistic about his chances of being re-elected. After all, the last leader to be re-elected three times was a wheelchair-bound leader whom the entire kingdom was determined to prevent from ever happening again.

To be re-elected three times like a wheelchair-bound leader? That would probably mean he himself would end up in a wheelchair.

Therefore, despite having only four years of experience, he handled many things with remarkable ease, simply stating his belief in the wisdom of future generations.

At this point, he said to his administrative staff, "We can't give up doing the right thing just because an idea hasn't become mainstream yet, can we?"

As for why it's correct? Just look at the military staff standing by with their beaming faces. Expanding the war is one of the ways a commander can ensure he can serve his full four-year term.

After all, at this stage, anti-war people are just shouting slogans, while the military-industrial complex is truly full of martial spirit.

(End of this chapter)