Courtyard House: A Major Power's Heavy Industry, Hand-Crafted Nuclear Fusion

Winter of 1986, at an armored vehicle testing ground in North China.

The cold wind whipped up sand and gravel, stinging people's faces.

On a high viewing platform, several generals with stars on their shoulders were looking solemnly at the distant firing range through binoculars.

"Old Zhang, is this the last time this batch of Type 59 tanks will be used for target practice?"

A lieutenant general put down his binoculars and sighed. "It's been in service for almost thirty years. Compared to the T-72s that appeared over there in the Gulf (referring to the Iran-Iraq War), it's practically a tractor. I heard that the Russian T-72s are already equipped with automatic loaders and laser rangefinders, but our Type 59... still has to rely on that 'panoramic scope' to aim, and it all depends on the shooter's feel."

"yes."

The major general, known as Old Zhang, shook his head. "Although we are also developing the more advanced Type 80, that's still a long way off. Right now, we have several thousand Type 59 tanks. It would be a waste to throw them away, but if we use them... they'll just be sitting ducks on the battlefield."

This is not only an anxiety for the generals, but also a pain for the entire army.

In the 1980s, a time of rapid advancements in armored technology worldwide, the mainstay of the Chinese army was still the Type 59, a copy of the Soviet T-54A. It suffered from outdated fire control, weak protection, and insufficient power. To Western military observers, it was simply a pile of "moving scrap metal."

"Who said it's scrap metal?"

A young and confident voice came from behind.

The generals turned around.

Su Zheng was wearing a thick camouflage training uniform, followed by Ye Xinyi and several technicians carrying black boxes.

"Minister Su?"

The lieutenant general paused for a moment, then said, "Weren't you supposed to be working on that 'information superhighway'? What brings you here to eat sand?"

"The information superhighway is the lifeblood of a nation, and what I'm going to bring you today is..."

Su Zheng pointed to an old Type 59 tank in the audience, whose exterior was still mottled and even had some paint chips.

"It is the nation's 'fist.' Moreover, it is a fist equipped with a brain."

……

Half an hour later, at the firing range.

The tank, numbered "59-modified", started.

The engine was still that same diesel engine belching black smoke, and the tracks were still that same old, creaking tracks. From the outside, apart from an inconspicuous little box (crosswind sensor) on the side of the turret, there was no difference.

Inside the cockpit, ace shooter Lao Li was staring blankly at the screen in front of him...?

Yes, the screen.

Next to the originally complex mechanical sights, there is now a palm-sized green display screen.

Various data are displayed on the screen:

Distance: 1250 meters

Wind speed: 5 m/s (left crosswind)

Target speed: 35 km/h

Lead time calculation: Correction complete

"What is this thing?" Old Li muttered. He had been firing cannons for twenty years and was used to using his thumb to measure distance and his experience to adjust wind drift.

"Never mind what it is."

Su Zheng's voice came through the earpiece, "Old Li, you only need to do one thing: loop the cross in the center of the screen around the target. Then, when the red 'lock' light comes on, pull the trigger."

"It's that simple?"

"It's that simple."

"Target spotted! 1200 meters directly ahead! Moving target!"

The command tower issued an order.

On a distant hillside, a target vehicle shaped like a T-72 suddenly sped out at an extremely high speed.

Based on past experience, the hit rate of the Type 59 tank in this "moving-to-moving" (tank moves, target also moves) firing mode is basically zero. Because there is no fire control computer, the gunner simply cannot calculate such a complex lead.

The tank was bumping along.

Old Li's palms were sweating.

He instinctively tried to turn the elevation mechanism to correct it, but he discovered that the gun barrel seemed to have its own "consciousness".

No matter how much the vehicle jolted, the muzzle of the 100mm rifled cannon remained firmly pointed at the target, unmoving.

Two-way stabilizer!

Moreover, it is stabilized by a high-precision electro-hydraulic servo system that is corrected a thousand times per second by the "Red Star Fire Control Computer"!

"drop--!"

The red light on the screen came on.

That was a "fire permission" signal from the fire control computer.

In that instant, the chip hidden inside the turret, codenamed "Loongson-Fire Control Edition," had completed thousands of ballistic calculations. It took into account air temperature, propellant temperature, barrel wear, the Coriolis effect of Earth's rotation, and so on.

Without further hesitation, Old Li slammed down the firing pedal.

boom!

A huge fireball spewed from the cannon muzzle.

The entire car body jolted violently.

A tungsten-core armor-piercing projectile roared out, tearing through the air.

1.5 seconds later.

The mobile target vehicle in the distance looked like a watermelon struck by a heavy hammer, exploding instantly!

"First shot hits!"

The observer's voice changed drastically, "Straight to the turret ring! Damage assessment: Level A!"

"You guessed, didn't you?"

The lieutenant general on the platform couldn't believe his eyes. "A direct hit from the start? And a 59? Even the American M1 might not be able to guarantee that!"

"Was it a fluke? Let's try again."

Su Zheng smiled faintly.

Second shot.

boom!

hit!

The third shot.

boom!

hit!

Five shots were fired in succession, and all of them hit the moving target a kilometer away, even under conditions of high-speed tank maneuvering and extremely poor road conditions!

This is no longer archery.

This is a massacre.

When the tank came to a stop and Lao Li crawled out of the turret, his legs were weak.

"This is a ghost..."

He looked at Su Zheng, "Minister Su, that cannon... it was functional! My hand just trembled a little, and it fixed itself!"

"It is certainly alive."

Su Zheng patted the cold armor plate, "Because it contains a 'Chinese chip' in its brain."

……

The atmosphere in the conference room was so heated it felt like it was about to burst into flames.

Several generals surrounded the dismantled "Red Star Fire Control Computer" as if they were surrounding a treasure trove.

"Just this little box?"

The major general touched the black box, which was no bigger than a shoebox, in disbelief. "It can turn Wu Jiu into a sharpshooter?"

"That's the power of computing."

Su Zheng opened the PowerPoint presentation (of course, it was a paper version). "In the past, our tanks relied on 'hard' strength: how thick the armor was and how powerful the gun barrel was. But in the future, war will rely on 'soft' strength: how fast you can calculate and how far you can see."

"At the core of this system is a 32-bit Loongson processor."

"It can automatically collect data such as wind speed, temperature, and distance, and calculate the optimal firing parameters within 0.01 seconds. The shooter no longer needs to be a mathematician; he just needs to be a... worker who presses a button."

"What about the cost?" This was the question the lieutenant general was most concerned about. "If it's like the Americans, a set costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, we can't afford it."

"If it were made in the US, it would indeed cost hundreds of thousands."

Su Zheng held up one finger, "But we made..."

"Ten thousand RMB."

"puff!"

The major general, who was drinking water, spat it out. "How much?! Ten thousand? Are you selling scrap metal?"

"That's ten thousand."

Su Zheng laughed, "The chips are our own, the algorithms are written by ourselves, and the sensors are produced by our own 001 base. Excluding R&D costs, this is dirt cheap."

"and……"

Su Zheng pointed to the rows of old Type 59 tanks outside the window.

"We don't need to build new tanks. We just need to put this box in, modify the gun control system, and in a month, I can transform an armored division."

"To get the fire control performance of a third-generation Western main battle tank for one-tenth of the price."

"Will the leaders go through with this deal?"

"Do it! We must do it!"

The lieutenant general slammed his fist on the table. "Take as many as you can! Get my division reworked first! Let's see who dares to call us 'tin tractors' again!"

……

That night, Su Zheng did not stay at the base for dinner.

He was driving back to Beijing in a Jeep with Ye Xinyi in tow.

The night sky was clear and bright, dotted with countless stars.

"What are you thinking about?" Ye Xinyi asked, looking at the silent Su Zheng.

"I'm thinking... this is just the beginning."

Su Zheng looked out at the wilderness. "Giving tanks brains is just the first step. Next, we need to give airplanes eyes and missiles wings."

"You mean...?"

"Digitalization Camp".

A glint of light flashed in Su Zheng's eyes. "Right now, tanks are still fighting alone. What if... I connected them to the internet?"

"Connected to the internet?" Ye Xinyi was taken aback.

"right."

Su Zheng gestured dramatically, "What if every tank was a 'node'? What if the targets spotted by drones in the sky could be directly transmitted to the tanks' screens? What if the commander, thousands of miles away, could direct every vehicle like in Red Alert..."

"Then it wouldn't be called war."

Ye Xinyi gasped, "That's called... God's-eye view."

"That's right."

Su gripped the steering wheel tightly. "The situation in the Gulf is getting increasingly tense. I heard Saddam bought a lot of our stuff."

"In the next chapter, it's time to send our 'digital individual soldier system' to that desert... to test it out."

"in addition……"

He turned to Ye Xinyi and asked, "Isn't it time to tape out the radar data processing chip for the early warning aircraft?"

"It's already on its way," Ye Xinyi smiled. "Code name: 'Chang Kong No. 1'."

A winter night in 1986.

Inside that bumpy jeep.

The information-based transformation of the Chinese military has quietly begun.

Those steel torrents that were once considered outdated are now being infused with a soul called "digital".

When they awaken again, the world will tremble.

……