Courtyard House: I Rely on Time-Space Trade to Build a Nation

"One hundred and fifty meters..." Zhao Ping'an looked at Xu Yuanshan, "Old Xu, what do you think?"

Xu Yuanshan stared at the map, his brows furrowed:

"Digging from 150 meters away is a huge project that will take a long time. How will it be concealed? How will the excavated soil be disposed of? How will the noise be controlled?"

These are all problems. And even if you dig down to the vault, how do you silently break through 1.5 meters of reinforced concrete? Explosives definitely won't work.

"These problems can be solved using some specialized equipment provided by the 'channel'."

Zhao Ping'an had already prepared his answer. He couldn't explicitly mention the system, but he could attribute it to the omnipotent "overseas channels."

"What we need is an absolutely concealed operating environment, a stable power supply, and... an external environment that can distract the bank's guards."

Teacher Zhong astutely grasped the key point: "Comrade Zhao, are you saying we should lure the tiger away from the mountain?"

"It's not just about luring them away from their prey; it's about making them 'distracted from one thing' or even 'unable to focus on anything else'."

Zhao Ping'an's finger moved from the bank on the map to the street next to it.

"We need a large enough, eye-catching enough chaos that will put the military and police on high alert...

A student demonstration took place in front of a bank, or at least right next block away.

A moment of silence fell over the room. Teacher Zhong and Lao Jin exchanged a glance, their eyes showing not much surprise, but rather a sense of understanding.

Having fought in Shanghai for a long time, they were all too aware of the power of the student movement and the fear of the authorities.

"Time?" Teacher Zhong asked.

"The march must take place when our underground tunnels are about to be completed, and we are ready to finally break through the vault floor."

Zhao Pingan said firmly, "It needs to serve two purposes:

First, attract and restrain the bank and its surrounding armed forces, and ideally, divert some of the guards to weaken internal security.

Secondly, the noise generated by the march will provide excellent background noise cover for our final underground work.

"The plan is very bold," Teacher Zhong said slowly.

"But it's feasible. We have the foundation in terms of students. With prices soaring recently, the gold yuan has become practically worthless, and students and citizens are very resentful. All we need is a suitable opportunity and guidance."

We can plan a march with the theme of "anti-hunger, anti-civil war, and anti-persecution," with the route set in the Nanjing Road-Bund area, which will inevitably pass by the area in front of the banks.

The scale... can be increased to over a thousand people.

"Organizing a protest takes time and requires caution to avoid premature exposure, which could lead to widespread suppression and increase banks' vigilance," Xu Yuanshan expressed his concerns.

"Therefore, we're operating on two parallel lines, with strict secrecy," Zhao Ping'an concluded.

"The 'Dawn' team is responsible for planning and organizing the march, and the timing must be precise. Our action team is responsible for solving the problem of the underground passage."

Old Jin, please find out the situation of warehouse number 32 in Dexing Lane immediately and make sure we can secretly move in.

"Professor Zhong, we need to finalize the exact date of the march three days in advance, depending on the progress of the underground construction."

"Okay." Teacher Zhong and Lao Jin nodded at the same time.

"As for the specific technology and equipment for the underground project," Zhao Ping'an asked Xu Yuanshan.

"Old Xu, you and I will take charge. 'Channel' will provide a small, low-noise tunnel excavation equipment, as well as tools for handling excavated soil, ventilation, and final wall breaking."

We need to select a few absolutely reliable comrades who know a bit about mechanics.

The general outline of the plan was sketched out in the damp basement.

After the meeting, Zhao Ping'an stayed at the table alone, reviewing the maps and intelligence once again.

"System," he murmured to himself.

Exchange List:

1. High-precision ground-penetrating radar (portable);

2. Small electric tunnel boring machine (1.5 meters in diameter, low noise, remote control operation);

3. Equipped with a waste soil conveying and real-time compaction system;

4. Powerful ventilation and lighting equipment;

5. Hydraulic diamond chainsaw cutting machine (low noise model);

6. Rapid-setting high-strength filled foam material (large quantity).

7. Diesel generator set

All equipment has an aged appearance, and the user interface includes a simple Chinese instruction manual.

[Transaction list confirmed. Required system currency: 12,800,000 points. Pay now?]

"Payment".

[Redeem successful. Device has been added to system space. Note: Some devices are large and heavy; please ensure you have adequate storage and operating space.]

The goods were transported in batches over the next few days via an extremely secretive route to warehouse number 32 in Dexingli.

Old Jin played a crucial role; by leveraging his complex social connections, he not only obtained the key to the warehouse,

They also arranged for several "absolutely mute" porters to carry heavy wooden crates into the warehouse's spacious basement late at night.

The warehouse basement was larger than I had imagined; it was damp and cold, but secluded enough.

The core members of the action team—Zhao Ping'an, Wang Dashan, Liu Dazhu, and two key personnel selected from the Sixth Brigade's engineering company—settled down here.

He disguised himself as a colleague of a bankrupt businessman who had come to Shanghai from the north in search of work.

The first step in the project was precise surveying.

Zhao Ping'an took out the futuristic "ground radar," and it took Wang Dashan and the others half a day to barely learn how to operate it, following the simplified instruction manual.

After the machine is started, the screen gradually displays an underground cross-sectional image extending from the warehouse basement towards the bank.

"Brigadier... this thing is amazing!" Liu Dazhu stared in disbelief at the clear layers of soil, rocks, and even the blurry shadows of pipes on the screen.

"This is so much better than when we were fighting wars and digging fortifications, relying on intuition and experience!"

"Stop talking nonsense, record the data," Zhao Ping'an said in a low voice, his eyes fixed on the screen.

"Focus on whether there are large obstacles, underground rivers, and the depth and structure of the bank's foundation."

The survey results are encouraging: the geological structure beneath the warehouse and the bank vault is relatively uniform, consisting mainly of clay and sand, with no large rock formations or known municipal trunk pipelines.

The bank's foundation is about eight meters underground, and the vault floor is thickened on top of that.

A feasible, slightly downward-sloping tunnel route was marked.

"Next up is the big guy." Zhao Ping'an looked at the huge outline covered by tarpaulin in the center of the basement.

Lifting the tarpaulin, a cylindrical machine that looks somewhat bulky but has a compact structure comes into view—a small electric tunnel boring machine. At the front is a rotating cutterhead, and at the rear are a conveyor belt and a complex compaction device.

According to the instruction manual, it can be remotely controlled to excavate forward with relatively low noise, and the excavated soil is sent to the rear via a conveyor belt, where it is compacted into hard bricks on the spot by a compactor.

"This thing... can eat dirt?" Wang Dashan circled the machine, his face full of disbelief.

"It's not about eating, it's about digging and pressing." Zhao Ping'an handed a simple remote control to two key engineering soldiers.

"You two, your task is to learn how to operate it. We have limited time, and we must clear this 150-meter section as soon as possible."

They rest during the day and work from 9 pm to 4 am. Ventilation equipment is turned on simultaneously to ensure air circulation.

The compacted mud bricks were temporarily piled up in the "passing hole" reserved in the tunnel side wall.

The arduous excavation project began.