Chapter 60: The Arrival of 052!

Aside from Su Dingping, Zhao Haikou had not seen Engineer Zhang Zongnong for nearly two months.

Facing such a situation right now, Zhao Haikou was genuinely anxious.

He had no idea what confidential project Su Dingping was involved in, but at this moment, he desperately hoped that things were progressing smoothly on Su Dingping's end.

Halfway back, his steps suddenly faltered. Instead of returning directly to the laboratory, he headed outside the campus.

After watching Zhao Haikou leave, Wang Xin pulled Guo Xueyun aside and asked,

"Xueyun, did Junior Brother Su mention to you when he'll be back?"

"I have no idea."

Guo Xueyun looked helpless.

Although she had taken Su Dingping around Qingdao on New Year's Day, she had refrained from asking any questions that shouldn't be asked.

The fact that Su Dingping had appeared alongside Zhang Zongnong—whether they were genuinely out for leisure or attending to other matters—inherently suggested that the situation was extraordinary.

Having grown up in a military compound, she knew very well what was appropriate to ask and what was not.

Wang Xin continued, "What about your man? Didn't he say anything?"

"My dad isn't in their system. Besides, my dad told me not to pry into Navy affairs."

"Sigh," Wang Xin sighed. "I wonder what Haikou ran into. Why is he suddenly even more anxious about Junior Brother Su's whereabouts than you are?"

"Senior Sister, what are you talking about?"

Guo Xueyun stomped her foot, turned around, and marched back into the laboratory.

"Hah, the little girl gets embarrassed when people point it out."

...

Upon stepping out of the school grounds, Zhao Haikou headed straight for an internet cafe.

If one wanted to understand recent military developments, Tiexue Net was always far more authentic than television broadcasts.

Logging onto Tiexue Net, the very first thing that caught his eye was a pinned post.

After a quick scan, he knew he had come to the right place; there were true masters on Tiexue Net!

《Core Technologies of Japan's Fourth Kongō-class Guided-Missile Destroyer Fully Exposed: Performance Upgraded Once Again, The Navy May Spend a Sleepless Night Tonight!》

『According to reports, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has increased its investment, with the construction cost of the fourth Kongō-class ship exceeding 7 billion RMB... Once commissioned this year, Japan will possess four complete Eight-Eight fleets, consisting entirely of modern warships along with two light aircraft carriers... The JMSDF is terrifyingly strong!』

『The fourth Kongō-class has a full load displacement of 9,400 tons, benchmarking the US Navy's Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers. It is equipped with a 5-inch 54-caliber automatic naval gun with a range of 16 km against surface targets... superior to the Burke-class's MK45 naval gun! Quadruple Harpoon anti-ship missiles, octuple MK-4 anti-aircraft missile systems, Aegis combat systems, passive phased array radar...』

『Although our side has procured two Sovremenny-class 956E destroyers from the Bear Country, facing the JMSDF—hailed as the neighborhood bully of the East Asian seas—the outcome remains unpredictable!』

『Purchasing additional 956E destroyers right now might be the last resort! But regardless, the Navy is bound to have a sleepless night tonight! The 956E will inevitably reach its limits. Finding a breakthrough is difficult! Difficult! Difficult indeed!』

After reading the data in the post, Zhao Haikou's heart instantly sank.

Television broadcasts had only touched upon the matter briefly, but the online post laid everything out in meticulous detail.

Unless one were a complete novice completely ignorant of military affairs, anyone could perceive the formidable strength of the fourth Kongō-class destroyer.

Countless comments flooded the bottom of the post, military enthusiasts feeling just as heavy-hearted as Zhao Haikou.

When the news broke in early December that the Navy had purchased two 956E destroyers, military buffs had been ecstatic.

Even though the 956Es weren't built domestically, they were modern warships nonetheless, and the enhancement of naval power was a cause for celebration.

Yet, turning around, they realized that even the 956E fell short when pitted against the Kongō-class. Furthermore, there were only two of them! The JMSDF was already up to its fourth Kongō-class, not to mention the fact that their fleet consisted entirely of modern warships!

"Damn it, what is the JMSDF playing at? Why make them so advanced? The pressure is suddenly dumped right onto our Navy!"

"Sigh, if such advanced warships belonged to our Navy, how magnificent that would be! It's such a pity they ended up in the hands of the Japanese—a pearl covered in dust!"

"Aside from the 956E, the most powerful 052 guided-missile destroyers in active service with our Navy still have a very long way to go before achieving true modernization!"

Many military enthusiasts slumped in despair, feeling as though the future held no hope.

Even so, quite a few buffs still held strong expectations for the future of the Navy.

"Sooner or later, we will break into the ranks of modern naval powers! When that day comes, we'll sail our advanced warships right past them and tick them off!"

"I dreamed last night that we had an incredibly powerful warship whose ship-borne missiles could strike from afar, easily a hundred kilometers or so..."

"What a coincidence, I dreamed last time that a dozen years from now, our Navy would have nuclear-powered aircraft carriers carrying dozens of various combat aircraft... By that time, our Navy's warships will definitely occupy more pages in *Naval and Merchant Ships*!"

Scouring through those comments, Zhao Haikou felt a pang in his chest.

As a military magazine, *Naval and Merchant Ships* predominantly featured warships from third-party nations, while warships belonging to their own Navy could be counted on one hand.

Reading *Naval and Merchant Ships* often felt more like watching others flex their muscles.

If they could ever claim more pages in *Naval and Merchant Ships*, it would mean the Navy had undergone earth-shattering changes.

For some inexplicable reason, Zhao Haikou thought of Su Dingping, thinking that Su Dingping might be working on something earth-shattering. He immediately typed out a single line of text and hit send.

"I believe this day will definitely arrive!"

Stepping out of the internet cafe, he felt a renewed surge of drive.

Looking up at the bright moon hanging in the sky, he silently pumped himself up.

"Junior brother is working hard in a place I know nothing about. I must work hard too."

...

Meanwhile, at the temporary classroom of the Northern Theater Naval Military Base:

Over the past two days, the lectures on the core technologies of the 9M38 air defense missile had concluded.

As for missile forging, testing, and other subsequent stages, Su Dingping had no intention of intervening throughout the entire process, as those steps were simply too time-consuming.

Today, the lectures on the SA-N-7 Buk air defense missile system had also come to a close.

Glancing at the sky outside, Su Dingping said, "Everyone, it's getting late. We'll continue tomorrow."

Lü Guangjun quickly interjected, "Dingping, you go back and rest first. We want to discuss this a bit further."

Lü Guangjun and the other two were frantically catching up on the latter half of the first module's content as well as the beginning of the second module.

After every teaching session, he would pull Sun Yong国 and the others aside for extra tutoring.

Su Dingping was well aware of these efforts.

"Alright, if you have any questions, ask me tomorrow."

With that, he stood up and walked out of the classroom.

Just then, Zhou Qinglei hurried over.

"Dingping, do you have a moment?"

"What is it, Captain Zhou?"

Zhou Qinglei looked somewhat embarrassed as he said,

"The 052 is about to arrive. I'd like to invite you and the professors to come aboard and take a look."

"The 052 has arrived?"

"Yes, it will be here in a few moments."

Hearing this, Su Dingping instantly perked up.

He was currently tackling the core technologies of the 052D, so naturally, he wanted to see what the first warship of the 052 series was like.

Sun Yongguo and the others had initially thought it was some major matter, but upon hearing it was the 052, they lost much of their enthusiasm.

Back in the day, the three major core research institutes had all participated in the research and development of the 052, so they were already quite familiar with its core technologies.

"Dingping, are you going to take a look?" Sun Yongguo asked.

"I am!"

"Then I'll go take a look too."

Seeing that Su Dingping was going, Sun Yongguo, who had initially planned to pass, decided to tag along for the excitement.

Ultimately, Lü Guangjun and Zhang Zongnong were also roped in by Sun Yongguo, while Li Mingrui and the other professors stayed behind to provide extra tutoring to the two vice presidents of the 408 Research Institute.

Not long after the group stepped outside, Su Dingping noticed that Zhou Qinglei's expression seemed somewhat off.

The arrival of the 052 should have been a joyous occasion, yet the man seemed to be carrying a heavy burden on his mind.

"Captain Zhou, is something troubling you?"