Chapter 46: Successfully Firing the Second Shot!

Song Haidong said solemnly, "Dean Lv, we are all prepared!"

"Captain Song, come aboard with me!"

Lv Guangjun was in high spirits, and his hand holding the data record book trembled slightly.

Walking beside him, Song Haidong felt doubtful and couldn't help asking out of curiosity, "Dean Lv, how did the second-phase modification go?"

"Very successful!"

Song Haidong was momentarily stunned.

How long had it been since the last failure? Just over a month!

Instinctively, he found it hard to believe.

Because there had never been such a precedent before!

Although he was not a researcher, as a captain who had commanded multiple warships, he naturally understood the immense difficulty involved.

"Dean Lv, considering how recently we ran the shipboard test, isn't this a bit too fast?"

"Fast? I even think it's too slow! You have no idea, compared to Ding... anyway, we've already fallen behind by several steps."

Right in the middle of his sentence, Lv Guangjun abruptly swallowed his words.

Su Dingping's affairs were currently under strict confidentiality, and anyone not assigned to the same military base had no authorization to know.

Even a full colonel like Song Haidong was no exception.

"In short, rest assured. As long as there are no problems with this test, our navy will officially step into the ranks of modernization!"

Pausing for a moment, Lv Guangjun added, "A modernized warship forged by our own hands!"

Before even stepping onto the deck, turbulent waves were already churning in Song Haidong's heart.

He knew that the 051B was originally designed to benchmark international modernized warships, but with the arrival of the 956E, the researchers realized they had previously underestimated what a truly modern warship entailed.

There was no alternative; without prior benchmarks, they could only deduce everything based on the sparse information disclosed by third-party countries.

The dismal expressions of the two deputy directors after the last failed test were still vivid in Song Haidong's memory.

"Dean Lv, it's only been a little over a month. Have we really conquered so many technical bottlenecks?"

As his boots landed on the deck, Lv Guangjun nodded heavily, his tone firm.

"Conquered!"

Hoo—

Song Haidong's breathing grew audibly heavier. "When did this happen? How come I didn't catch wind of it at all?"

"For a while now."

"How was it done?"

"The 956E!"

"The 956E? I heard previously that the 956E breakthrough efforts had failed and the authorities were preparing to suspend the project. What does this have to do with the 956E?"

Song Haidong's mind was buzzing right now.

How could a research project that had been officially suspended suddenly bring major technological breakthroughs to Lv Guangjun and his team?

If it genuinely had such an effect, the project would never have been suspended.

As a captain, he was well aware of the news regarding the additional procurement of two 956E destroyers.

Lv Guangjun let out a light sigh. "This matter... is a long story."

"Dean Lv, then please make it a short story."

Lv Guangjun glanced at the anxious Song Haidong and uttered a remark that almost made the captain spit blood.

"I'm sorry, Captain Song, your security clearance is not high enough."

What?

My clearance isn't high enough?

What on earth?

I am a seasoned navy colonel in active command, yet my clearance isn't high enough? I even knew about the suspension of the 956E development plan, and my clearance still isn't high enough?

Song Haidong's mind went completely numb.

Lv Guangjun refused to budge. "That's right, your clearance is insufficient! It's a top-secret project personally designated by the high command."

The more Lv said this, the more anxious Song Haidong became.

"Dean Lv, just drop a slight hint for me. You know what I'm like—I understand protocol and procedure. If not, let's step aside and talk in private."

Guiding Song Haidong toward the main control room, Lv Guangjun pondered for a long moment before finally revealing a tiny fraction of the truth.

"We learned a thing or two from the 956E, which played a significant role in promoting our improvements to the 051B."

The moment he heard these words, Song Haidong's heart gave a violent tremor.

Could it be that the 956E development bottleneck had actually been broken?

Was the so-called suspension just a smokescreen?

Right now, his head was filled with questions.

He stared at Lv Guangjun with a sharp gaze, trying to read something from the other man's face.

"Dean Lv, was the second purchase of the 956E just a decoy?"

"Cough, cough—"

Lv Guangjun's expression turned slightly unnatural.

The other party had struck a raw nerve, making him somewhat awkward.

"That's not important. Anyway... you'll find out in due time."

Amidst their conversation, the group arrived at the main control room.

"Captain Song, get underway and prepare for testing!"

"All hands, prepare to get underway!"

Accompanied by a thunderous roar, the 051B slowly steered out of the port.

When the edge of the sea began to glow with the pale light of dawn, the 051B had already reached the waters dozens of kilometers away from the port.

Inside the main control room, Lv Guangjun spoke.

"It's about time. We can begin."

Song Haidong did not hesitate either.

"Deploy the target!"

A moments later, the communications officer reported, "Report, Captain, the target is 65 kilometers from our ship. Please give your instructions!"

"Continue forward!"

"Report, Captain, the target is 55 kilometers from our ship. The radar has locked onto the target. Shall we open fire?"

55 kilometers?

Song Haidong's brows twitched violently.

During the last test, the maximum active locking range of the 051B was only 40 kilometers, and the strike range of the matching C-801 missiles hadn't quite reached that far.

This time, the radar's active locking range had instantly jumped to 55 kilometers. What were they supposed to do with the equipped C-801 missiles?

Lv Guangjun nodded with a solemn expression.

Taking a deep breath, Song Haidong ordered, "Open fire!"

A few seconds later, accompanied by two piercing shrieks tearing through the air, two anti-ship missiles soared into the sky and vanished from everyone's sight shortly after.

Song Haidong hurriedly shifted his gaze to the radar display.

On the screen, a small red dot representing the target was bobbing in the waters 55 kilometers away, while two small green dots representing the anti-ship missiles were closing in rapidly.

Within moments, the small red dot vanished, and the small green dots disappeared as well, immediately followed by the sound of explosions rolling in from afar.

Song Haidong immediately commanded, "Observation deck!"

"Report, Captain, two hits out of two! The explosion coordinates are..."

"Report, Captain, the maximum strike range of the anti-ship missiles is 55.4 kilometers..."

Hearing the report, Song Haidong was stunned for a moment.

It was one thing for the radar's active detection range to increase, but the strike range of the anti-ship missiles had also been extended.

He clearly remembered that the strike range of the C-801 anti-ship missile was traditionally 8 to 35 kilometers. Now, it could directly strike targets at 55 kilometers, boosting the maximum strike range by a full 20 kilometers!

For a warship, the significance of this was monumental.

After all, the universal anti-ship missile strike standard for modern warships starts at 50 kilometers.

This meant that in the realm of shipborne anti-ship missiles, the weaponry equipped on the 051B had officially stepped into the modern era! Although it had only just crossed the baseline, it was already an extraordinary achievement.

"Dean Lv, this is—?"

"The newly modified C-801A," Lv Guangjun replied calmly. "Captain Song, please proceed!"

"Deploy the tri-foil target! Test the twin-barrel 100mm fully automatic naval gun!"

"Understood, Captain!"

...

"Deploy the tri-foil target! Test the HQ-61 air defense missile!"

"Understood, Captain!"

...

After nearly two hours of back-and-forth busyness, with the sun leaping above the horizon, the thunderous gunfire aboard the 051B finally gradually subsided.

All tests had concluded.

Inside the main control room, Song Haidong stood frozen in place, his face filled with sheer shock.

Right now, only a single thought echoed in his mind—this is a modernized warship built by our own hands!