Chapter 43: The Dawn of Victory is Within Reach

At this moment, everyone looked at Su Dingping with complex gazes, deeply moved in their hearts.

They were all navy personnel, so they naturally knew how massive the impact of Su Dingping's appearance would be.

The grievances of all these years had been kept hidden in their hearts without a word, but at this moment, they almost failed to hold back.

Zhang Gongnong turned his head away, suppressing the emotions welling up in his chest, took several deep breaths, and then said, "Comrade Su Dingping, well done."

Shortly after, Sun Yongguo walked over to the box, took out the last envelope inside, and walked straight up to Su Dingping.

"President? There's more?"

Su Dingping was utterly dumbfounded.

He had already been awarded his military rank, and he had already been awarded the First-Class Merit medal. Was there still more?

He was starting to feel embarrassed.

"Didn't Chief Xu say at the time that he would reimburse all your expenses? Reimbursement plus the reward, a total of 200,000, it's all in here."

"200,000?"

Su Dingping's voice rose by several decibels.

In the year 2000, 200,000 yuan was by no means a small sum.

"President, it's too much. It didn't cost nearly that much!"

Su Dingping quickly refused, but Sun Yongguo shoved it directly into his hands.

"Take it! Spend it however you like."

"But it really didn't cost that much."

"This was approved by Chief Xu; could it possibly be returned? Besides, you're not that young anymore. Having some money on hand will come in handy when you're looking to get married and start a family later on. Just take it, take it!"

Zhang Zhaoxin, standing nearby, also chimed in, "Take it, Dingping. This is what you rightfully deserve."

"Indeed!" Li Mingrui picked up the thread. "When we achieved major technological breakthroughs in the past, there were rewards too! We all get them. If you don't accept it, what are we supposed to do?"

There was one thing he left unsaid: the rewards they received back then maxed out at thirty thousand yuan at most.

There was no help for it; the navy's budget was just that tight. Being able to award thirty thousand yuan already signified a major scientific research breakthrough.

Seeing that everyone put it this way, Su Dingping stopped standing on ceremony and quickly said, "Alright, I'll accept this money. Once everyone has mastered the core technology of the 956E, I'll treat everyone to a celebration banquet!"

"Good!"

Seeing Su Dingping accept it, smiles immediately bloomed on everyone's faces. A major weight had been lifted from their minds.

Zhang Zhaoxin exchanged brief farewells with Su Dingping, boarded a special plane, and departed in a hurry.

Upon returning to his room and packing away everything properly, Su Dingping entered the military industry catalog forging space.

In the northern area of the shipyard, Su Dingping's figure suddenly materialized.

After a brief observation, an "SS-N-22 Sunburn" anti-ship missile was successfully forged.

Su Dingping studied it for a moment, and upon confirming there were no errors, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.

At this moment, the "SS-N-22 Sunburn" anti-ship missile, adapted for the Moskit supersonic anti-ship missile system, had successfully crossed the stages of debugging, trial and error, and adjustment, entering the phase of official mass production.

This also meant that as long as the production line was established in the real world, a huge sum of expenses could be saved, allowing for direct mass production.

Presently, both the anti-ship and air-defense missiles on the 956E needed to be purchased from the Bear Country. There was no alternative; domestically developed missiles like the C-801 (Yingji) and HQ-61 (Haihongqi) fell far short in strike range, flight speed, and reaction time, making it pointless to equip them on the 956E.

It would be different from now on; this expenditure could be saved.

Having verified everything, Su Dingping returned to the deck of the 956E.

At present, the core technology of the 9M38 shipborne anti-air missile, adapted for the "SA-N-7 Gadfly air-defense missile system," had not yet been completely conquered.

Picking up a stack of documents, Su Dingping began to study them earnestly.

"Semi-active single-pulse radar guidance technology, utilizing a seeker head tuned to specific tracking signals to coordinate with the fire control system and signal transmission device..."

On the other side, after handling Su Dingping's matters, Sun Yongguo hurried to report the situation upward.

Upon receiving the news, Xu Dongguo finally breathed a complete sigh of relief.

Su Dingping's affair had also weighed heavily on his mind for a full month. Now that everything was settled, he also needed to prepare for the high-level navy meeting half a month later.

Early the next morning, before dawn had even broken, Su Dingping woke Sun Yongguo and the others up.

"Dingping, it's still early."

"President, it's not early. We must press on."

Su Dingping said, "Since I accepted so many benefits yesterday, if I don't get you started on the breakthroughs early today, my conscience won't let it rest!"

Sun Yongguo and Zhang Gongnong looked at each other in dismay.

As for this kind of repayment, they'd prefer to skip it next time.

Arriving at the temporary classroom, Su Dingping looked at the sleepy-eyed crowd and said.

"The relevant research on the two types of shipborne missiles for the 956E has already made some headway. It won't be long before I start designing a new curriculum."

"Therefore, everyone, we must pick up the pace!"

The crowd, who had been half-dozing with heavy eyes, instantly perked up.

Were they sleepy? Very sleepy!

Were they tired? Very tired!

But as long as they heard that technologies capable of bridging the navy's shortcomings were making new progress, each and every one of them became more alert than anyone else.

Seeing that everyone had regained their energy, Su Dingping immediately stated.

"Alright, class starts now!"

Time flew by, and a dozen days passed in a flash.

On the afternoon of the 15th, Su Dingping concluded the final lesson on the core technology breakthroughs of the 956E main destroyer.

Over the span of a month and a half, various professors focused intensively on their respective fields, and under Su Dingping's guidance, they achieved tremendous breakthroughs.

The core technologies of the 956E main destroyer had been largely mastered by Sun Yongguo and the others; the rest just required spending a little time consolidating on their own.

Inside the classroom, Su Dingping looked at the slightly exhausted faces of the crowd and said, "Everyone, you've all worked hard over this past period."

Smiles broke out on everyone's faces; the dawn of victory was right before their eyes.

Sun Yongguo said, "Dingping, we haven't worked hard; you've worked much harder than any of us."

The others nodded repeatedly.

They only needed to focus on the fields they specialized in, but Su Dingping was different. He had to teach every single field and also take responsibility for answering questions from professors across various disciplines.

They saw Su Dingping's grueling efforts with their own eyes.

Su Dingping smiled faintly. Although he had the system backing him up, in terms of sheer hard work, he was certainly no less exhausted than any professor present.

"Everyone, if we suffer a bit of hardship now, those who come after us won't have to endure it. Our hardship is worth it."

Changing the subject, he continued.

"Tomorrow's assembly of the 956E will be left for you all to complete yourselves. If you encounter any problems, feel free to ask me at any time. I hope that a complete 956E will be born from your own hands!"

Sun Yongguo quickly interjected, "Why is that, Dingping? You deserve the utmost credit for the 956E breakthroughs. How can we engage in such behavior as picking the ready fruit at the very last moment? That won't do!"

The others also voiced their objections in succession.

They hadn't even paid any 'tuition fees' to learn the technology, which already left them feeling guilty enough. To reap the credit for free at the very final moment? How could that be allowed!

Their principles and beliefs would not permit them to do such a thing.

"Everyone, this is an assessment for you! If you can't even pass this hurdle, then I will feel that you are wasting your time here! There will be no need to participate in the subsequent second phase of courses."

Hearing the latter half of the sentence, the expressions of the crowd immediately shifted.

"Dingping, could it be...?" Sun Yongguo pressed further.

Su Dingping nodded and said.

"President, starting the day after tomorrow, the Moskit supersonic anti-ship missile system, the 'SA-N-7 Gadfly air-defense missile system,' along with their matching 'SS-N-22 Sunburn' anti-ship missiles and 9M38 shipborne anti-air missiles, will be the subjects of our second phase of courses!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's minds churned with tumultuous emotions.

Just over ten days ago, he had only said there was a slight glimmer of progress, and throughout these past ten days, he had been busy teaching classes while simultaneously answering questions for professors across all fields.

Under such circumstances, he had actually conquered two major shipborne missile systems and their core missile technologies!

Faced with this kind of talent, Sun Yongguo and the others were shocked into speechlessness. This was no longer a matter of feeling inferior; it was being left so far behind they couldn't even see his dust.

"Rest assured, Dingping, you can safely leave the final assembly of the 956E to us. We will definitely not let you down."

In an instant, everyone was brimming with drive and absolute confidence.

After giving his instructions, Su Dingping pulled Sun Yongguo aside alone.

"President, there is something I need your help with to contact the Chief."