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

Lin Yang sat there, holding a teacup in his hand, his fingers slightly clenched, his knuckles turning bluish-white. He was a ruthless leader, a decisive and ruthless minister.

But at the same time, he is also a father.

How could he not feel heartbroken to send his fourteen or fifteen-year-old son to the harshest frontier, to the front lines where armored warfare could break out at any moment?

But he had no choice. In this turbulent era, the Lin family members, enjoying unparalleled power and glory, had to bear responsibilities and suffering unimaginable to ordinary people. This was tempering, and also destiny.

"He didn't disgrace this military uniform," Lin Yang said calmly, downing the wine in his teacup in one gulp.

As the alcohol took effect, the four men began to talk non-stop.

Li Yunlong chewed on luncheon meat and grumbled as he recounted his frustrations on the front lines in Fujian.

"I'm stuck on the southeast coast, staring at the sea every day, so bored I'm practically rusting. Ever since we got our nuclear weapons and missiles, the American Seventh Fleet has been keeping its distance. And those guys in Taiwan, needless to say, they wouldn't dare to launch a counterattack against the mainland even if they had the guts."

Li Yunlong scratched his beard in frustration: "What infuriates me the most is all this internal strife! Last year, a bunch of rebels, out of their minds, actually came to the military region gate to cause trouble, insisting that there were capitalist roaders hiding in my logistics warehouse and that they wanted to storm in and search it!"

"I was furious. I immediately ordered a heavy machine gun to be set up at the main gate, loaded with bullets. I moved a grand chair next to the machine gun, brewed a pot of tea, and told them, 'Anyone who dares to cross that white line, I'll turn them into a sieve!'"

Li Yunlong sneered, "And what happened? Those bastards who usually swagger around in the streets, the moment they saw the real thing, they all wet their pants and ran away. A bunch of useless cowards who only know how to bully their own kind!"

After listening, Ding Wei sighed deeply.

"Old Li, Yangzi. We're drinking and chatting here underground, but the situation outside has reached its most dangerous point."

Ding Wei, leaning on his cane, struggled to his feet and walked to the metal cabinet. He ripped off a tattered piece of canvas hanging on the wall, revealing a huge and detailed hand-drawn military map of the Sino-Soviet border that covered the entire wall.

This map was drawn by Ding Wei himself over the past four years, based on the border intelligence that Kong Jie had intermittently sent in. It is densely marked with the Soviet Red Army's troop deployments, armored division garrisons, supply lines, and strategic offensive routes.

Li Yunlong and Kong Jie, who were still slightly tipsy, sobered up considerably upon seeing the map. A chilling military instinct compelled them to stand up immediately and gather around it.

Lin Yang also stood up, his eyes fixed intently on the red arrows on the map.

"Yangzi, Lao Kong. Look." Ding Wei pointed with his cane at the Mongolian Plateau and Zhenbao Island in Northeast China, his eyes turning cold and professional.

"The Soviets have amassed a million troops on the border this time. This is not a bluff. Based on their recent mobilization frequency, they have amassed more than 20,000 tanks, a large number of armored personnel carriers, and attack helicopters."

Ding Wei drew a deadly arc on the map with his cane: "If war really breaks out, they will never engage in a protracted war of attrition along the border. Their tactical concept is deep armored assault. They will use their mechanized advantage to launch a direct armored blitzkrieg from the high ground of the Mongolian Plateau, attempting to sever our connection with North China and Northeast China in a short period of time, and even directly threaten Beijing!"

Kong Jie gasped, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"Old Ding, you're right. The commotion on the other side is getting louder and louder; sometimes the sound of tank tracks crushing the ground can even reach our outpost in the middle of the night. If ten thousand tanks really come charging in, our lines of defense probably won't hold out for long."

"We have to hold on, even if we can't!" Li Yunlong slammed his fist on the table, his eyes flashing with a beastly ferocity. "Are those Russians made of iron? Tank tracks are made of flesh and blood too! At worst, I'll form another suicide squad, armed with explosives, to blow up their tracks! I'll bring all the troops from Fujian up here and fight them to the death on the North China Plain!"

"Nonsense!" Ding Wei shouted angrily. "Old Li, do you think this is some kind of flimsy tank used to fight the Japanese devils? You'd be carrying a bomb and before you even get close, their anti-aircraft machine guns would have turned you into mincemeat!"

"Then what do you suggest we do! We can't just wait to die!" Li Yunlong roared defiantly.

Ding Wei ignored Li Yunlong's irritability and turned to look at Lin Yang.

"Yangzi. If we're going to fight this war, we can't bridge the industrial gap with human lives alone. We must implement a deep defense strategy, using our vast strategic depth to stretch their armored formations and cut off their supply lines. Tanks without diesel fuel are just a pile of scrap metal."

Ding Wei took a deep breath, his eyes burning: "But the premise is that we are on the front lines, and we must have weapons that can delay their attack and even destroy them head-on! That depends on your Ministry of Heavy Industry."

All eyes were on Lin Yang.

Lin Yang looked at the red arrows representing destruction on the map, reached into his pocket, pulled out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes, and lit one.

A wisp of bluish-gray smoke rose in front of the map, blurring Lin Yang's cold and aloof face.

"My three old commanders, you are risking your lives on the front lines, and I, Lin Yang, am here in the rear. Naturally, I will not let my brothers go to their deaths empty-handed."

Lin Yang turned around, his voice low and deep, yet it exuded an absolute confidence and domineering aura as if he controlled the lifeline of the nation.

"A year ago, I had my elder brother Lin Fan integrate the top metallurgical experts and military technicians at the Southwest Third Front base. The new tungsten alloy armor-piercing projectile has broken through the mass production bottleneck. Now, every production line is running in three shifts around the clock. The first batch of 100,000 armor-piercing projectiles has been loaded onto a concealed military train and is being transported to the strategic reserve depots of the Northeast and Northwest Military Regions."

Lin Yang walked to the map and pointed his finger heavily at several key defense nodes.

"In addition, we copied and improved a new type of man-portable anti-tank rocket launcher based on the armor characteristics of the Soviet T-62. This rocket launcher uses an armor-piercing warhead, is lightweight, and can be mass-produced for infantry squads. Just one shot within 200 meters can destroy one of their tanks."

Lin Yang glanced at Kong Jie: "Old Kong, I will prioritize allocating 30,000 of these anti-tank rocket launchers to the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. You must ensure that every agricultural reclamation soldier and every infantryman learns how to use them to smash the Russians' turtle shell as quickly as possible."

Kong Jie was thrilled and slapped his thigh: "Great! With these tough weapons, our soldiers won't have to use their flesh and blood to carry steel anymore! Yangzi, you've provided a timely help!"