Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1423 Trinity (5k)

The comrade from the Air Force Equipment Bureau chuckled awkwardly. He wasn't unaware of the principle, but the temptation was too great, and he simply couldn't resist.

The chief engineer of the National Defense Industry Committee was also amused. "Comrades in the army, that's just how it is. I understand."

However, bombers with an intercontinental combat radius, or even bombers with a combat radius of more than 6000 kilometers, are indeed not very meaningful. Gao Zhendong is right. To be meaningful, it would have to be more than 10000 kilometers. That would be too costly and simply impossible to achieve.

The key issue is that the core of stealth aircraft is stealth, but Gao Zhendong has solved this core problem very well. Needless to say, the stealth coating is amazing. Chief Engineer Wei dares to say that if you apply this coating to the aircraft of the Southwest Institute, anyone will be confused.

Using this to test the officers of the troops was a sure way to hit their weak point.

As for the shape, he at least has a plan for stealth, and he also has quite comprehensive resources prepared for whether this stealth plan can be combined with the flying wing to make it fly.

These resources are prepared by himself, such as some basic elements of flying wing configuration, fly-by-wire control system, rich control methods, and upgraded design tools, etc.

There are also some things that the whole society prepares for, such as wind tunnels. This alone can increase the success rate of flying wings by many percentage points.

Comrade Zhendong's meticulous planning is evident. He not only worked hard himself, but also made the most of the entire environment.

"Let's go back and discuss this matter carefully. Also, there are some disciplinary regulations that I think everyone here is aware of without me having to repeat them." When he said the last part, the chief engineer's expression became somewhat serious.

This place deserves all the attention it deserves.

"understand!"

"understand!"

"..."

The comrades all looked serious; this was no time for jokes. There was this three-view drawing, those seemingly simple numbers on it, the incomplete test report we'd just seen, and that discarded sample…

Any one of these items, if leaked out, would be enough to cause a stir in the field of military equipment. This is especially true the further outward it is distributed.

After saying that, Chief Engineer Wei smiled and joked with Gao Zhendong: "Come on, come on, let's freeload and have lunch in your canteen today. I must say, I'm really craving Chef He's cooking."

Sha Zhu was quite well-known in the systems where he had frequent dealings with Gao Zhendong; in fact, one could say he was more famous than Gao Zhendong.

Speaking of Chief Engineer Gao of the Third Rolling Mill, those whose confidentiality level is not high and those whose confidentiality level is high but whose work is not related to him are probably not familiar with him. However, when it comes to Master He of the Third Rolling Mill, he is very famous. After all, Gao Zhendong is someone who cannot be discussed for reasons other than work, but Master He's skills are something that can be boasted about whenever there is nothing to do.

Those who knew him well often invited Sha Zhu to cook at weddings and funerals, which further enhanced his reputation. Putting aside everything else, by the 80s, if Sha Zhu had opened even a small, unassuming restaurant, he wouldn't have had to put up with the awful attitude of Yan Laoda and his wife.

The comrades at Chongqing Aircraft Factory didn't know much about it, but the comrades at the Aircraft Equipment Bureau knew it all too well.

"Yes, yes, now that you mention it, Chief Engineer, I'm actually starting to feel a bit hungry."

Gao Zhendong laughed: "Yes, it's been prepared for a long time. Let's go..."

In these days, being able to treat the comrades who come here to a good meal is a simple yet beautiful thing, so Gao Zhendong usually asks the small canteen to make preparations whenever he has guests.

They paid for it themselves, no meal tickets were required, and there was plenty of meat and alcohol; the main goal was to ensure everyone had a good time. As for the source of the money, the publishing houses of the various ministries knew perfectly well—it was clean and aboveboard.

As they walked along the road, a security guard led the Chongqing Aircraft Factory comrades ahead, and Gao Zhendong couldn't help but smile as he looked at the Aircraft Equipment Bureau comrades.

The comrades from the Air Force Equipment Bureau were in a very peculiar state at this moment. Most of them were excited, naturally because of the stealth bomber, but there was also a little bit of resentment mixed in.

This sense of discontent naturally stems from the intercontinental bomber.

I know it's impossible to do it now, but I still feel it's a real shame, since we have such great penetration techniques at our disposal...

Seeing their condition, Gao Zhendong couldn't bear it. This was an illness that needed treatment. While a complete cure was impossible, Gao Zhendong did have some ways to alleviate the symptoms.

Gao Zhendong tugged at the sleeve of the chief engineer, called out to the comrades from the Aircraft Equipment Bureau, and waved to the comrades from the Heavy Aircraft Plant ahead, signaling them to continue forward.

Upon seeing the hand signal, the comrades from Chongqing Aircraft Industry Group quickened their pace, walking as fast as they could, as if afraid of lingering there for even half a second longer. Judging from their posture, the people behind them clearly had something to discuss.

"Comrade Zhendong, this is..." Does this mean we need to prepare special meals for each other? This is not Comrade Zhendong's style. Everyone eats the same food, whatever is served.

He guessed half right; it was special tutoring, but this special tutoring was not the same as the other kind.

Seeing the puzzled looks on his comrades' faces, Gao Zhendong smiled and said, "I know you're all a bit concerned about the flight path. How about I give you an idea that will at least allow you to extend your reach a little further?"

"What idea?" The comrade from the Air Force Equipment Bureau looked delighted. Comrade Zhendong had a trap up his sleeve? Thinking of this, he immediately remembered something: "Could it be the refueling aircraft that's currently under development?"

With the help of refueling aircraft, bombers could indeed advance another 1000 to 2000 kilometers. This is roughly the same concept as what Comrade Gao Zhendong said about "extending a little," since Comrade Gao Zhendong's "little bit" is somewhat different from other people's "little bit."

Gao Zhendong shook his head: "Relying on tankers is not a skill. What I mean is that, regardless of the combat radius, we can extend the strike range of bombers by about 800 to 1500 kilometers."

"Submarine," Gao Zhendong reached out.

He also reached out for land-based missiles.

Why not just combine land, sea, and air travel and try it all?

Cruise missiles, activate! It's not like we weren't prepared. 1500 might be a problem, but 800 should be fine, right?
Huh? This remark not only struck the comrades at the Air Force Equipment Bureau, but even the chief engineer of the committee was full of energy, completely forgetting the delicious treat that was about to be enjoyed.

"Extended this much? Could it be some new weapon?" There was no other explanation but a weapon. But what kind of weapon it was, the comrades couldn't help but wonder.

What can hit that far? Anti-ship missiles are considered long-range, right? Right now, they're only starting to move towards 100 kilometers, and that's only after Gao Zhendong found the way to over-the-horizon radar.

Even if the missile were a little bigger and twice as heavy, its range would only be 200 to 300 kilometers. Any heavier and it would be impossible; aircraft simply couldn't carry it.

Gao Zhendong nodded: "Yes, I've considered a new type of weapon that has a relatively reliable way to achieve this range, although the accuracy might be just average. It might not be able to accurately strike point targets, but if it were used for nuclear weapons..."

That's right, Gao Zhendong was thinking about air-launched cruise missiles.

If designed properly, this bomber, modeled after the B-21, has the potential to have a bomb bay with a length of more than 6 meters. This is another reason why Gao Zhendong chose the B-21: the bomb bay is long enough to hold enough bombs.

When conditions are right decades from now, and people are desperate, this thing might just be able to be mounted on a 6-meter-long utility pole and become an assassin, hunting down enemy early warning aircraft.

However, the 6-meter-long missile bay means something else—it can hold Tomahawk-class missiles without compromising its stealth shape, which is really interesting.

Gao Zhendong's words instantly excited both groups of comrades.

If Gao Zhendong says it's reliable, then it's highly likely to be reliable!

The key point is that Gao Zhendong said the weapon has a range of 800-1500 kilometers, which means that it can be used not only by stealth bombers, but also by ordinary bombers.

This gives us a lot more flexibility.

Moreover, the comrades in the Air Force Bureau thought even further. If a stealth bomber can achieve a strike radius of 3500 kilometers while carrying 3 tons of bombs, then what does it mean when combined with the at least 1000 to 2000 kilometers brought by aerial refueling tankers, and the weapon's 800 to 1500 kilometers range?
This means that the entire European continent, the Gulf of Mexico, Southeast Asia, and even Australia, as well as the Arctic region of the United States, are covered by this system's strike range! Some missions requiring flexible deterrence don't even need ballistic missiles, since they are expensive, scarce, and their peacetime deterrent power is less than that of bombers in the air. Under this system, even the Tu-16 and its copy, with a strike radius of approximately 2200-2500 kilometers, seem quite insignificant. After all, deterrence requires visibility, and in this case, the Tu-16 is actually more effective than a stealth bomber; at worst, only one missile can be carried, and the range can be increased slightly.

As for the accuracy not being very good, that's not a big problem. At this range, we should definitely prioritize the fat man and the little boy.

Moreover, Gao Zhendong's words were quite flexible: "Precision strikes on point targets are unlikely"... For some targets, even if you just drop a conventional bomb 200 meters away from them, it can still be effective.

"Is this a general-purpose weapon?" No, I need to confirm!
Gao Zhendong nodded: "Yes!"

Now the comrades weren't hungry at all. What was food? They didn't know!
"Be specific."

Gao Zhendong shook his head: "Now is not the right time." After saying that, he looked around.

It's not that he's trying to keep you in suspense, but this is really not the right thing to say here. It's okay to start a conversation, but it's not appropriate to go into details because it involves too many entities and too many details.

The chief engineer and the comrades from the Air Force Equipment Bureau looked around and realized that this was not something that could be discussed in detail in this environment. Moreover, the people here today were not right. This weapon was most likely a missile, and apart from Gao Zhendong himself, there was no one here who worked on missiles.

"Understood, understood... We'll organize some manpower later." The chief engineer suppressed his intense curiosity and said to Gao Zhendong and the comrades from the Air Force Equipment Bureau whose eyes were full of expectation.

There's no way around it; I really have to keep this curiosity going for now.

"Let's go, let's eat, hahaha." Seeing how eager the two of them were, Gao Zhendong couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction at having pulled off a prank.

"Fine, fine, I'm going to drink all your wine today!"

"That's great, as long as you have the ability..."

The voices of the group faded into the distance.
-
"Hey, where did you get all these mushrooms? Even pig burr mushrooms are mixed in, the smell is pungent."

Sha Zhu chuckled as he picked through the basket.

This is the second-to-last Sunday before the Lunar New Year. The last Sunday will be the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Everyone is preparing for the New Year, and Gao Zhendong is no exception.

What Sha Zhu was tidying up was a small token of appreciation from the comrades in Qianshan.

This bag of mushrooms probably comes from a coal-mining special economic zone, which is close to Yunnan Province and where people also have a habit of eating mushrooms.

However, Gao Zhendong was afraid that eating it rashly would reveal the little person inside, so he entrusted the task to the chef, Sha Zhu. But he was overthinking it; none of the dishes he handled contained the little person.

Sha Zhu, as expected of a Sichuan chef, knows quite a lot about things from the southwest. He can even recognize something like pig mushroom and know its local name.

Black truffle, also known as pig truffle, is a type of fungus that is quite valuable in Europe but has never been considered a delicacy in our region. It is distributed in Yunnan and Guizhou.

We don't really like it here, probably because the smell is a bit strong. A smart person would say it smells a bit like photinia flowers. As for a less smart person's opinion, well, just search for the smart person's opinion and you'll understand.

However, pigs love to eat this stuff, and they can even smell it – a little-known fact, pigs have a better sense of smell than dogs. Once they smell it, they'll dig it out of the ground to eat it, hence the very down-to-earth name. In fact, even in Europe, pigs are often used as guides when foraging in the wild.

Gao Zhendong knew about this thing, but had never seen a whole one before. He was incredibly impressed that Sha Zhu could recognize it: "You know about something so obscure?" For a native northern chef, it was indeed quite remarkable that he could recognize this thing.

"This stuff has a strong smell, so we definitely have to recognize it, otherwise this bag of mushrooms would be considered spoiled food." Sha Zhu said as he threw the pig-root mushrooms out.

This thing is dark and wrinkled, it's really ugly, and it smells pungent, no wonder we don't like to eat it, only those people in Western Europe...

Thinking of this, Gao Zhendong suddenly had a jolt! He rushed forward and picked up the pig-root mushroom that Sha Zhu had thrown on the ground.

We don't like to eat it, but those people to the west do. It's widely distributed in our impoverished mountainous areas!
Isn't this some kind of innate, divine body that can even provide targeted poverty alleviation?!
Gao Zhendong probably knew that decades later, more than half of the world's black truffles would come from these two provinces in our country. Although the consumption habits of black truffles meant that they could only be defined as low- to mid-range in the Western food system, the question was whether they could be sold for money.

For a moment, Gao Zhendong felt that this dark, wrinkled thing was actually a treasure.

"What are you doing? You scared me! This stuff doesn't taste good, stop struggling."

Sha Zhu was very dissatisfied with Gao Zhendong's doubt about his professional competence. "I am a master chef of Sichuan cuisine. I know a little about the affairs of Qianshan Caiyun."

Gao Zhendong shook his head with a chuckle: "I'm not eating it myself."

"Then why did you pick it up?"

"Never mind that, you keep tidying up, I'm going to make a call." Gao Zhendong walked happily towards his south room. He had to act on his idea; this thing was so small and obscure that Gao Zhendong wouldn't normally have thought of it, but now that the opportunity had presented itself, he might as well get to it.

The head of the Foreign Trade Department put down the phone with a strange expression. There was no other way; Gao Zhendong knew him best, so the call came directly to him.

"Export mushrooms? Or a special variety? Interesting... Comrade Zhendong's knowledge is truly profound." But it might also be related to his love of food? Gao Zhendong's love of food is almost an open secret among his acquaintances.

It's so delicious! It's so easy to find products with export potential, and it can even help solve the income problem for people in impoverished areas. We should have more of this kind of delicious food.

He picked up the phone and called his communications officer.

"Someone will be delivering something to me soon. Remember to notify me immediately, and then..." The leader of the Foreign Trade Department gave the communications officer these instructions.

Three hours later, the communications officer walked in with a beaming smile.

"Boss, you guessed right! The Gauls' eyes lit up the moment they saw this, and they kept thanking us for our generosity..."

While finding people from other Western countries might be difficult, this place is easy to find, especially with the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For them, black truffles are like gifts of cigarettes or taffy for us over the decades – a respectable and presentable present. Ordinary Gallic workers would be overjoyed to see them.

"Really? What's their attitude towards importing this stuff from us?"

"His attitude was excellent. If he can make money, how could his attitude be bad? He said he wanted as much as he could get, and he offered this price!" The communications officer gestured.

"This price? Large or small?"

"Big!" The two men's conversation had a bit of the jargon used by the Ministry of Foreign Trade, but both understood what the other meant.

"Hiss~~~~~~ Tsk tsk tsk, Comrade Zhendong's eye for talent... is amazing!" You have to admire him. They provide high-tech export products, but they have to rely on others to discover even these local specialties. The leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Trade even felt a little ashamed for a moment.

What? That's one of my comrades? Then it's alright. I united my comrades through my own abilities, and they discovered the treasure through their own abilities. Why should I feel ashamed?

"In that case, have your colleagues in the office draft a document in the name of the ministry and send it to Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, asking them to organize the excavation and collection of this fungus and to consider researching artificial cultivation methods."

As expected of the Chinese, their first thought was that to sell this product well, they had to grow it! However, cultivating this product is indeed quite difficult. Fortunately, even relying on natural production, it can generate considerable profits, considering that the combined area of ​​the two mountainous provinces is larger than Gaul itself. Although it can't compare to bulk commodities, a small percentage of the export value translates into a significant income for the people in the producing areas of the two mountainous provinces.
-
Five days later, Gao Zhendong looked at the large package that his colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Trade had delivered to him, and he was both amused and exasperated.

Meanwhile, Sha Zhu was laughing maniacally: "Hahahaha, you actually went and got a whole bag of this stuff, hahahaha!!!!"

(End of this chapter)