Chapter 47: A Great Celebration for the Navy

The deputy director, who had been silently waiting for the results, said with unconcealed excitement, "Director, we've succeeded!"

"Yes, we've finally succeeded!"

Lü Guangjun was equally overwhelmed with emotion.

The secondary upgrade of the 051B had succeeded, and its combat capabilities had officially stepped into the modern era!

This meant that the Huaxia Navy now possessed the independent capability to manufacture modern warships! Although they had only just crossed the threshold of modernization, the hardest part was always crossing this very threshold!

Now that the threshold had been crossed, subsequent naval warships would usher in a massive transformation.

The evolution into a modern fleet was not far away!

"The second shot fired against the technological blockade of the Western nations has successfully rung out from our 408 Research Institute!"

Lü Guangjun's emotions surged violently.

From now on, they would finally no longer need to spend money purchasing Sovremenny-class destroyers from the Bear Country.

Song Haidong asked in a murmur, "Director Lü, is this truly independently developed by us?"

"Captain Song, absolutely!"

Lü Guangjun affirmed with certainty.

"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful."

Song Haidong's heart pounded furiously, and a fierce surge of bittersweet emotion threatened to burst forth from deep within his chest.

As the captain of a warship, he had been aboard the fleet back when they faced the aircraft carrier battle group of the Beautiful Country.

At that time, he had deeply felt the vast gap between their own warships and those of the adversary.

Faced with the arrogant claims propagated by the West—such as "a single guided-missile destroyer can effortlessly take on multiple guided-missile destroyers of the opposing navy without sustaining a scratch"—Song Haidong had felt a stinging bitterness in his heart, yet he was utterly powerless.

One had to remember that the navy back then only possessed a handful of guided-missile destroyers; combined, they couldn't even scratch a single destroyer of the enemy. The gap was simply too immense.

In the past, they refused to believe it. Later, when the 956E arrived, they believed it, realizing that the adversary was telling the truth.

At this moment, the corners of Song Haidong's mouth could barely contain his smile. Amidst his excitement, his eyes were slightly reddened.

During those three years, the navy had practically vanished from sight, with the outside world seeing virtually no movement, and everyone harboring a pent-up breath of determination.

Now, things were finally looking up. Their own country could finally build its own modern warships.

The practice of mounting land-based artillery onto warships had now thoroughly become a thing of the past.

All past grievances and frustrations instantly dissipated into thin air at this very moment.

It was still too early to hold their heads high in total triumph, but at least their spines could finally straighten!

"The secondary upgrade of the 051B is a success. Once submitted for the superiors' confirmation, it will henceforth be designated as the 051C!" Lü Guangjun continued, "However, compared to the 956E, there is still quite a gap. We still have a long way to go."

"I am already more than satisfied. After all, this is our own independently developed modern warship. As the old saying goes, 'Having things from your own mother and father is far better than relying on others!'" Song Haidong was in exceptionally high spirits.

Originally, he and a group of naval officers and soldiers had been commanding the 051B.

Now, things were different. The 051B had transformed overnight into the modernized 051C, and he was set to become its very first captain. More importantly, the 051C was independently developed, which held monumental significance for the naval personnel.

What an immense glory that was.

Just thinking about it was enough to make him too joyful to sleep at night.

"Although the 956E entered service back in '81, our technological gap with the Bear Country exceeded twenty years!"

Changing the tone of his voice, Lü Guangjun said with absolute confidence, "Now that the most critical bottleneck has been crossed, I believe we will gradually catch up!"

Having been stuck at the threshold of modernization for so many years, the various hardships and bitter struggles were too profound to recount to outsiders. Now that they had finally crossed it entirely, everything was worth it.

Thinking of what Su Dingping, Sun Yongguo, and the others were currently working on, Lü Guangjun felt even more confident deep down.

Although he didn't know where Lü Guangjun derived such boundless confidence, Song Haidong was more than willing to believe him.

"Director Lü, when can the 051B enter mass production?"

"That will depend on the attitude of the superiors. As you know, this year's military budget allocation hasn't been finalized yet. If things move quickly, we can iron out the complete production line for both the warships and missiles in two months."

Song Haidong muttered to himself, "After all, this is our very first independently developed modern warship; the superiors will definitely handle this as a special priority case!"

At this moment, he could already visualize his navy patrolling the maritime territories aboard a brand-new 051C fleet.

When that time came, if those jackals from the surrounding regions wanted to come over for some live-fire exercise, Song Haidong reckoned they could surely break a few of the enemy's legs.

"Captain Song, get ready to head back. I also need to organize the materials to report to the superiors."

Lü Guangjun instructed, "By the way, Captain Song, this matter must be kept strictly confidential."

"Rest assured, I know the rules!" Song Haidong said with a beaming smile.

Shortly after, the 051B rapidly headed toward the port.

Lü Guangjun and the two deputy directors walked up to the deck, looking out at the boundless ocean, filled with a myriad of deep emotions.

"If we hadn't gone to Comrade Su Dingping's place to study for a while last time, we'd still be standing around scratching our heads in bewilderment right now," the two deputy directors remarked.

"Indeed. I wonder how things are going over at Comrade Su Dingping's and Comrade Sun Yongguo's ends."

"More than half a month has passed; their progress must surely be even greater than ours!"

Nodding, Lü Guangjun said, "Once the researchers who participated in the secondary upgrade of the 051B thoroughly master the related technologies, we must also find time to make another trip. We need to learn more and strive to carry out a third upgrade on the 051B as early as possible."

"The current 051B still has a significant gap compared to the 956E. We must press on."

...

Beijing, inside the internal airport of the Naval Military Region.

A group of people had been waiting inside the airport for quite some time.

Abruptly, a massive roaring sound echoed from afar, and an armed helicopter was rapidly approaching.

After the helicopter landed, the welcoming personnel hurriedly ran over.

"Greetings, Superior."

Xu Dongguo nodded at them and strode toward the conference hall, flanked by his guards.

Just halfway there, another guard hurried up to catch up with him.

"Superior, Director Lü has sent an urgent encrypted telegram."

Lü Guangjun?

Xu Dongguo halted his steps.

The day before yesterday, the other party had mentioned that the secondary upgrade of the 051B was complete and they were preparing to begin assembly. Could it be...

Thinking of this, Xu Dongguo quickly took the encrypted telegram and began flipping through it.

The telegram recorded all the test results of the 051B.

Upon reading the data, Xu Dongguo was overjoyed, a trace of a smile involuntarily blooming on his face.

The relevant data exceeded his expectations.

This was not a minor improvement, but a massive upgrade.

Once the 051B entered mass production and service, it would significantly boost the overall strength of the navy. Faced with the Eastern Ocean's Eight-Eight Fleet, even if they encountered them on the open sea without the coordination of the ground forces, they would finally have the backbone to put up a fight.

The guard asked softly, "Superior, what has made you so happy?"

"Good news, a tremendous piece of good news for our navy! Our navy is about to usher in its greatest development in twenty years!"

Carefully putting away the encrypted telegram, Xu Dongguo exclaimed with emotion.

"Comrade Dingping's contribution is truly monumental!"

Lü Guangjun and the others had only studied at Su Dingping's place for half a month and had already reaped such massive rewards. He was now beginning to look forward to what kind of surprises Sun Yongguo and the others would bring him next.

By then, they might just be able to go toe-to-toe with the Eight-Eight Fleet.

Given enough time, in the future, the navy could face the Eastern Ocean's Eight-Eight Fleet without a shred of fear! Even going head-to-head with the battle group of the Beautiful Country would not be entirely impossible.

In this regard, Xu Dongguo possessed absolute confidence.

Time! Our navy needed more time to narrow the gap with the enemy!

Pulling his thoughts back, Xu Dongguo said,

"Let's go. We mustn't keep them waiting too long."