I started with a ship full of max-level veterans, and I'm just a complete noob.

When Chen Zhiyuan handed the telegram to the on-duty communications soldier, his fingertips were still covered with black ash from the pencil lead.

The communications soldier clutched the note and rushed out the door. The cold wind outside rushed into the communications room through the crack in the door, blowing a corner of the topographic map on the wall. The dotted area of ​​the abandoned camel trail swayed twice under the light.

Lu Qinghe stood by the long table, her hand pressed against the edge of the blueprint, her gaze never leaving the old road.

Old Zhou examined it closely for a long time, the cigarette box being crushed in his palm: "I passed through this place when I was young, with the army, when we were clearing out bandits. It's a maze of bends, and the earthen walls of several old post stations are still in half. If you really wanted to hide the radio transmitter inside, you couldn't find it even with binoculars from the outside."

Lu Qinghe smoothed out the blueprints again, and before speaking, she drew a circle along the outer edge of the camel trail: "We can't go. We only have technical reconnaissance results right now. The Security Bureau hasn't given any orders. Whoever goes in will be exposing the listening line to the enemy."

Chen Zhiyuan turned away from the telegraph machine and pressed the copy into the ledger: "Comrade Lu is right. The communications group is only responsible for listening and recording. We can't touch the line of arrest."

Old Zhou stuffed the unlit cigarette back into the pack and muttered under his breath, "How are we going to lock down this area?"

"Locking data".

Lu Qinghe pulled a blank page from the notebook and drew a duty timeline: "From now on, the North Point and West Point will be on continuous duty. Every time a pulse occurs, the azimuth and intensity must be entered into the file. The recording format must be uniform, with the azimuth accurate to the degree, the intensity classified as strong, medium, and weak, and the time accurate to the second."

She pushed the paper in front of Lao Zhou and added a shift schedule: "Each shift is four hours. When changing shifts, hand over the logbook. No verbal handover is allowed."

After reviewing the shift schedule, Lao Zhou tapped his finger on the south point: "Where's the south point?"

"Discontinue use".

Lu Qinghe crossed out the south point with a pencil: "The signal is weak over there, and it's greatly affected by the reflection from the ridge. Continuing to use it will only pollute the data. You take the north point, I'll take the west point, and Chen Zhiyuan will guard the receiver."

Chen Zhiyuan did not argue.

The receiver side really can't do without people. Tube A01 has been running continuously in the clutter region for more than 30 hours. Although the transmission current is still stable at around 271 microamps, the tube temperature curve is climbing upwards.

Old Zhou flipped to the second half of the ledger: "How much longer can Unit 01 hold out?"

Chen Zhiyuan pressed the recording ruler next to the data column: "275 when it was manufactured, 273 when it arrived for retesting, and 271 in the clutter zone. The attenuation is acceptable, but the tube temperature is 0.3 degrees higher than the previous recording segment."

"How is Beijing's contingency plan written?"

Chen Zhiyuan turned to the last page of the plan. Jiang Ming's handwriting was neatly arranged on the paper, with numbers listed from beginning to end: "Continuous operation at full power shall not exceed forty-eight hours. If it exceeds this, reduce the power by twenty percent, operate at low load for six hours, and then decide whether to continue."

After doing the mental calculations, Lao Zhou closed his notebook: "There are about eighteen hours left in Jia Lingyi."

"Enough."

Lu Qinghe picked up the canvas bag and stuffed in a compass and a spare pencil: "Within eighteen hours, as long as we get a few more complete pulse sequences, the evidence of the locked area can be handed over to the confidential department."

Chen Zhiyuan looked up: "It's windy at West Point. Have the communications soldier bring you hot water before your shift changes."

Lu Qinghe had already reached the door, her hand on the latch: "The hot water can be served later, but Jia Lingyi cannot be served later."

The door was pushed open, and a layer of fine sand was swept in by the cold wind. Lu Qinghe's figure quickly disappeared into the night outside.

At the same time, at the Third Electronic Components Factory in the suburbs of Beijing, next to a bench outside the confidential office, Jiang Ming copied the number of the incoming call onto a piece of scrap paper and then checked the last two digits again with a pencil.

Director Wang emerged from the confidential office, holding the newly translated telegram in his hand, his expression more tense than usual.

"Look at this."

He handed over the telegram.

Jiang Ming took it, first scanned the time of dispatch, and then read the text.

The three corrected azimuth lines all pointed to the same abandoned camel trail for the first time, prompting a request for further instructions.

Jiang Ming returned the telegram, rubbing a bit of lead dust off the edge of the scrap paper with his finger, without speaking immediately.

Director Wang looked at him: "Not happy?"

"Happy."

Jiang Ming put the pencil back in his breast pocket: "But the handling after the location is confirmed is not under the jurisdiction of the Third Electronics Factory. We can only guarantee how to use the pipes, not decide for the front line how to arrest people."

Director Wang put the telegram into the folder, making a soft click as the clip closed: "I'll write this sentence in the notes exactly as it is. Now you know which line you can touch and which line you can't."

Just as he was about to leave, he switched the folder to his other hand: "There's something else. It wasn't explicitly stated upfront, but the implication is clear. A01 has been running for over thirty hours, and A02 has also been running for extended periods. According to your protection time limit, both tubes will soon have to reduce their power."

Jiang Ming looked up: "They're going to Class A03."

"Locking recording must continue, and the receiver performance cannot be compromised. If both main receivers reduce their power simultaneously, the resolution in cluttered areas will drop significantly."

Director Wang stopped under the corridor light: "Give me a straight answer, can the third one be used?"

Jiang Ming did not agree immediately.

The data for tube A03 were laid out in his mind: it saved 30% on material, had a seven-degree self-locking edge, the thinnest coating, and a factory emission current of 268 microamps. The values ​​were not superior, but the fluctuations were minimal.

It is suitable for use as a low-noise receiving front-end, but not for long-term high-load operation.

A thin coating means a small heat capacity. Once the temperature exceeds the limit, the cathode emission layer may not slowly decay, and may even become unusable.

Director Wang didn't urge him; he simply cleared the way for the entrance to the confidential office.

Jiang Ming glanced at his watch: "Give me an hour."

In the dormitory, the enamel mug beside the iron bunk bed had gone cold. Jiang Ming spread the factory verification data of Jia Ling San on his lap, closed his eyes, and immersed himself in the Tongtian Record.

In his fourth psychic encounter, he asked the female pioneer of precision instruments and vacuum systems: "When ultra-thin coated tubes are used under high loads in cluttered regions, how much shorter is the safe time compared to standard coated tubes?"

The other party didn't beat around the bush: "With a 30% reduction in coating thickness, the heat capacity decreases accordingly, but the heat dissipation area remains the same. A standard coating can withstand an hour of load, while an ultra-thin coating can only withstand it for thirty-five to forty minutes."

Jiang Ming pressed further, "What if we limit each run to within twenty minutes?"

"Can."

The other party specified the following limits: "Pressure increase should not exceed three minutes, steady-state operation should last fifteen minutes, and pressure reduction should not exceed two minutes. If the pipe temperature rises continuously during this period, the machine should be shut down immediately."

In his fifth psychic encounter, he switched places with the hot-tempered pioneer of vacuum tubes: "After the thin coating overheats, will the emission current gradually decrease, or will it collapse completely?"

The other party first insulted him, then dropped the bombshell: "The thin coating offers no buffer; once the critical point is crossed, the lattice will break down in a very short time. Don't expect to see it slowly from the dial; by the time you see the emission current drop, the tube is already ruined."

Jiang Ming opened his eyes. The scrap paper beside the bed was covered with numbers, with only one circled window remaining.

twenty minutes.

This is not a suggestion, it's a red line.

When Jiang Ming rushed back to the confidential room, Director Wang was still standing in the corridor waiting for him. He hadn't lit his cigarette, and the cigarette between his fingers was damp from the wind.

"The conclusion?" Director Wang asked.

Jiang Ming handed over the reply: "Type A03 can be used, but only for short-term capture; it cannot work continuous shifts. If the pressure rises within three minutes, stabilizes within fifteen minutes, or depressurizes within two minutes, and the pipe temperature curve becomes abnormal, shut down."

Director Wang looked down at the manuscript: "So short?"

"If it's any longer, it's not using pipes anymore, it's just bottling up the pipes."

Jiang Ming handed over the data page for A03 along with the other data: "It has a clean noise floor, making it suitable for capturing critical pulses, but it's neither A01 nor A02. If the front end wants to use it to extend the time period, that tube might not even have a chance to call for help."

The confidential staff member was already seated at the telegraph key, waiting for the final draft.

Director Wang glanced at Jiang Ming, then stopped deleting words and simply compressed the long sentence into telegram format.

The sound of the key fob quickly rang out, short and frequent.

Only eight words remained on the telegram.

"Number 3 is allowed, but only for 20 minutes."