Courtyard House: From Deputy Division Commander to Civilian, Progressing All the Way

three days later.

A green train, belching thick black smoke, let out a long whistle as it slowly pulled into Anshan Railway Station amidst a vast, snow-covered forest.

The car door had just opened.

A biting wind, more than twenty degrees below zero, was like countless sharp steel knives, piercing into the bones through the collar and cuffs.

Lin Yang, wearing a thick military cotton overcoat and a fleece hat, was the first to step off the platform.

Chen Feng, who was following behind him, was also wearing a thick cotton-padded coat, but he was still so cold by the Northeast that he shivered several times, and a layer of white frost instantly formed on his glasses.

Outside the platform, a jeep had been waiting for a long time.

There were no flowers, no welcoming ceremony. Lin Yang had given a strict order before departure: everything should be kept simple, and no one was allowed to engage in any of the usual welcoming or farewell rituals.

The jeep sped towards Anshan Iron and Steel Company, its wheels crushing the thick snow.

Outside the car window, a breathtaking scene unfolded.

For miles around, towering scaffolding, massive cranes, and mountains of steel were everywhere. Countless workers in tattered cotton-padded coats moved about the construction site like ants. Horse-drawn carts, oxcarts, handcarts, and even people pulling and carrying loads of sand and cement were transported to the site.

The roar of machines, the workers' neat chants, and the revolutionary songs playing from loudspeakers intertwined to create a rugged yet powerful industrial symphony.

This is Ansteel, the eldest son of New China's industry!

The jeep finally stopped in front of a cluster of low, red-brick bungalows. This was the temporary headquarters for the Anshan Iron and Steel Group's expansion project.

Lin Yang pushed open the door to the command center conference room.

A strong smell of dry tobacco mixed with the odor of cheap tea wafted over me.

There was no heating in the meeting room, only a tin stove in the center. The kettle on the stove was hissing.

A dozen or so people were sitting around the long table.

Upon seeing Lin Yang push the door open and enter, everyone immediately stubbed out their cigarettes and stood up in unison.

"Comrades, I am Lin Yang."

Without a word of politeness, Lin Yang walked directly to the head seat, took off his hat and threw it on the table, his sharp gaze sweeping across the entire room.

"From today onwards, the Central Committee officially appoints me as the First Commander-in-Chief of the Ansteel Construction Headquarters and on-site supervisor."

Lin Yang placed his hands on the table, leaning slightly forward. The oppressive aura of commanding thousands of troops on the battlefield instantly enveloped the entire conference room.

"Time is tight and the task is heavy. Let's get straight to the point."

Lin Yang pointed to an elderly man with gray hair and thick-rimmed glasses sitting on his left. On the train before they arrived, Chen Feng had already memorized the information of all the core personnel in the command center for him.

"Chief Engineer Shen, please go first. Report on the progress of the three major projects and the difficulties we are facing."

Shen Zhiyuan, chief engineer of Ansteel, is a top metallurgical expert who dedicated himself to steel research in old China and resolutely returned to serve the country after the founding of the People's Republic.

Shen Zhiyuan pushed up his glasses that had slipped down to the tip of his nose, opened the notebook in front of him, and his voice was very hoarse from staying up late for days.

"Commander-in-Chief Lin."

Shen Zhiyuan's expression was extremely solemn.

"Currently, Ansteel is focusing its efforts on three major projects: the large-scale steel rolling mill, the seamless steel pipe plant, and the No. 7 blast furnace."

"Large steel rolling mills are the skeleton of heavy infrastructure; seamless steel pipe plants are related to our country's defense industry and oil extraction; and blast furnace No. 7 is the source of all of this."

Shen Zhiyuan took a deep breath, his tone revealing deep anxiety.

"Although the Soviet expert team provided us with a complete set of blueprints and some core equipment, we are now facing three almost insurmountable difficulties!"

Shen Zhiyuan held up three fingers that were cracked from the cold.

"First, there's a severe shortage of highly skilled workers! Especially in the seamless steel pipe plant and Blast Furnace No. 7, there's a huge need for top-tier welders and riveters. Our current skilled workers can't even meet the precision requirements on the blueprints!"

"Secondly, the climate! The harsh winter in Northeast China is just around the corner. Once the temperature drops below minus thirty degrees Celsius, the steel will become brittle, the cement won't harden, and we won't be able to lay the foundation. According to conventional construction principles, we must stop work and resume next spring!"

"Third, and most fatal."

Shen Zhiyuan gritted his teeth, a hint of humiliation flashing in his eyes.

"Western countries have imposed the strictest embargo on steel and special alloys on us. Several core high-temperature valves for blast furnace No. 7 cannot be delivered from the Soviet Union due to production capacity issues. We also cannot manufacture that kind of special steel ourselves. Without the valves, the blast furnace will be a dead furnace, even if it's built!"

After listening to Shen Zhiyuan's report, the atmosphere in the conference room instantly plummeted to freezing point.

These three difficulties were like three mountains, pressing down on everyone's chests.

A tall, blond, blue-eyed Soviet man sitting opposite Shen Zhiyuan couldn't help but speak up.

He was Comrade Ivanov, the chief representative of the Soviet expert group.

"General Lin," Ivanov said through the translator beside him, his tone tinged with arrogance and incomprehension.

"I've heard of you in Moscow; you're a great commander. But industrial construction isn't war."

Ivanov spread his hands and shrugged.

"Given China's current industrial base and worker quality, completing the main construction of these three major projects before the ground freezes this year is scientifically impossible. I suggest that the plan be revised immediately and the construction period extended by eight months."

The translator nervously translated Ivanov's words into Chinese.

The meeting room was extremely quiet.

All eyes were focused on Lin Yang's face.

Lin Yang did not get angry, nor did he slam his fist on the table.

He simply straightened up slowly, took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his pocket, and lit one.

Pale blue smoke rose into the cold air.

Lin Yang walked up to Ivanov, his deep gaze like two drawn steel knives, staring intently into the eyes of the Soviet expert.

"Comrade Ivanov, thank you for providing the blueprints."

Lin Yang's voice wasn't loud, but every word was like a hammer striking an anvil, resounding and powerful.

"However, you just said something wrong."

"In China, construction is equivalent to fighting a war!"

Lin Yang suddenly turned around, facing all the Chinese cadres in the room, and his voice suddenly rose, like a thunderclap.

"An eight-month extension? We can afford to wait, but can the soldiers on the front lines wait? Can the nation's development wait?"

"The West's embargo against us is an attempt to cripple our industrial backbone! To condemn us forever to an agricultural nation capable only of farming!"

Lin Yang grabbed the engineering drawings on the table and held them high.

"No skilled workers? Then find them for me! Requisition every blacksmith, silversmith, and bicycle repairman within a 500-mile radius! I'll personally send telegrams to all the major military regions, ordering all the retired engineering soldiers to come to Anshan!"

"The cement's frozen and can't be poured? Then boil water! Boil the water and mix it with the cement! Cover the foundation with straw mats, light a stove! Even if you have to use your body heat, you have to warm this foundation up!"

"Can't make special steel? Then bring me the armor plates from American tanks captured on the battlefield and melt them down! A living person can't be killed by holding their pee!"