A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

After finishing his call with Jiang Xia, Zhao Bin boarded the "big ship" that Jiang Xia had mentioned.

They started swaying left and right along with the naval bigwigs.

200 tons?

Should it be called a "ship"?

According to later tonnage classifications, this class should be called a "boat".

However, this thing has a short construction period (it can be completed in about a month) and a low cost (about one-third the cost of a regular ship). The naval leaders built two themselves, and the other one was borrowed!

Hey, right, this is the famous cement ship!

In the early 60s, these cement boats were all the rage on the Yangtze River; the saying "where there is water, there are cement boats" truly reflected this situation.

Besides their price advantage, these cement boats are also extremely durable. Even if there are some minor bumps or scratches, they can be easily repaired with cement. This perfectly aligns with the Chinese value system of "new for three years, old for three years, and patched up for another three years."

The downside is that its own weight results in a deep draft. The biggest danger for ships with a deep draft is encountering wind, waves, and reefs while sailing; therefore, this type of ship is the most common in the Yangtze River.

In the sea, well, you can only wander around in the Bohai Sea, this big bathtub.

However, the navy isn't expecting to immediately venture into the deep blue sea; securing its own Bohai Bay is enough for now. In that case, this cement ship seems quite suitable as a launch platform for the "Sea Leap" missile?

Bullshit!

Seeing Comrade Jin Guang and Zhao Bin vomiting and then hugging each other, it was clear that this kind of ship was really unsuitable for floundering in the sea. The two pointed-bottom ships built by the navy themselves were a little better, but this borrowed one was flat-bottomed—it was too shaky—its wave resistance was almost zero…

There was no other way; each of the two pointed-bottom boats was equipped with two large missiles, and the launchers already filled the small deck. Moreover, inheriting the traditional Russian skill of using small boats to carry large cannons, two field guns were also placed on the fore and stern of the boats. As a result, the land-based radar station could only be placed on the flat-bottomed boats.

After all, at this time, all the teams had the same problem: they were embarrassed to go out if they didn't have all their weapons fully equipped.

The dispersed deployment is just for testing; once the radar locks onto the target ship, the missile launcher will be notified via radio or flag signals. It won't take more than a few minutes...

Enough talk, let's get the test started. If this keeps up, those two ringleaders are about to vomit bile!

A target ship, not large, only about 10 tons, also a cement ship, but this cement ship was more severely damaged. There was a large hole in the bow, which the navy had haphazardly filled with some concrete. There was also a large polyhedral metal block placed in the middle of the hull.

Several gasoline drums were placed at the stern, since cement boats aren't afraid of burning.

Once the fire was lit, the entire ship resembled a torch on the sea, burning brightly.

"Report! Trumpeter in position! Requesting instructions!"

"Radar activated, target acquisition!" Comrade Jin Guang, despite his churning stomach, resolutely uttered these words.

"Yes!"

On the flat-bottomed cement boat, there were two small houses placed side by side, one of which was the control station for the ground radar of this land base.

On a ruggedly styled control panel, there was a circular screen, with a green line slowly tracing across it. Suddenly, a green dot lit up.

"Target detected, bearing and range, radar locked!"

"Request to launch!"

"One original copy, fire!"

The sailors at the bow signaled with flags, and instructions were simultaneously transmitted via walkie-talkie.

On a pointed-bottom ship, a soldier removed the protective cover from the launch button, counted down without hesitation, and pressed the red button hard.

On the simple, tilted tripod beside him, a round, bouncy object that looked like a small airplane suddenly flashed with fire.

"boom!"

The original replica of the projectile shot out while emitting black smoke.

Then, a series of related information started ringing out over the radio.

"Main engine ignition successful! Combustion appears incomplete!"

"Target acquired by altitude radar! Current altitude 210 meters, still climbing, flight direction normal!"

"We have made contact with the internal testing system of the missile, and the signal is currently normal!"

Yes, this copy of the missile didn't contain a warhead; instead, it was packed with data recorders. For both Factory 331 and the Navy's own research department, the data inside was invaluable.

After all, this is the first time China has launched a ship-to-ship missile. Each missile costs over 200,000 yuan, and firing just one will cause the navy considerable financial strain for a long time.

"Report! The missile is climbing abnormally, 300 meters! 400 meters!"

"Look~ this is the problem with the barometric altimeter; the copy didn't include a radio altimeter. Luckily, it didn't come with a warhead, so we can learn a lot from retrieving the missile!"

"The black smoke coming from the front is also a sign that the propulsion chamber hasn't been improved, which is why combustion is incomplete..."

"Hey! Engineer Jiang is really something. He could tell from the blueprints and data that the replica diaphragm barometer was unreliable..."

Zhao Bin, his face pale from vomiting, shakily pulled out his notebook and scribbled the problems onto the paper. A smile crept across his face as he wrote.

Compared to Zhao Bin's beaming face, Comrade Jin Guang's face darkened.

It was so black that even the paleness from vomiting couldn't hide it.

"Two hundred thousand! I could lay the keel for a small boat with that experience! Your experience is quite valuable!" Comrade Jin Guang suddenly regretted not upgrading those two as well. Alas, he shouldn't have...

I shouldn't have listened to other comrades who said that young people are unreliable.

No, we can't fire the last copy; we have to fire the upgraded version! This isn't firing a missile; it's like tearing flesh off his body!

"Report! The replica missile missed its target! Radar shows it has already flown over the target ship!"

"Report! Radar indicates the replica missile is descending and is about to enter the sea!"

"As expected. What's the range?"

"Estimated range: 40 kilometers! It deviated from the target ship by nearly 10 kilometers."

Zhao Bin turned to look at Comrade Jin Guang: "It's good news, too. Changing the fuel is still useful. At least it has a range of 10 kilometers longer than the original Styx missile."

"Hey, this is already beyond visual range. Any further and the radar won't be able to detect it!"

That's right. Due to the Earth's curvature, ground-based radar stations will have blind spots beyond a certain distance on the ocean surface. Therefore, in this day and age, such a short distance already constitutes beyond-visual-range attack.

your sister!

It has range, but what's the point if you can't hit anything? Are you going to use it to show off fireworks to the enemy?

My No. 1 ship's keel! Gone just like that?

A feeling of frustration weighed heavily on Comrade Jin Guang's chest, causing him to punch himself a few times. How did that unit guarantee the quality of the original copy missile?!

I even gave them an upgrade plan for the little guy. After so many modifications, the upgraded version of Factory 331 has been completed, and all they changed was the propulsion fuel?

"No more imitation rounds! We'll fire the upgraded versions!"

"That works too. The copy missile in the back is equipped with a warhead. It would be troublesome if it disappeared in a flash!"

Zhao Bin smiled like a fox stealing a chick.

Don't blame him for gloating; factions exist everywhere. The original project also had copy units. The sudden appearance of the project's chief engineer and the intervening Factory 331 made some of the older folks quite unhappy.

Whether you enjoy it or not is none of my business, as long as I'm happy! Zhao Bin looked at the upgraded version on another ship, which was completely different from this imitation, and laughed so hard that he forgot he was seasick.

Hmph! Trash!

Watch as Jiang Gong and I combine our swords to slay demons and monsters!

No more nonsense!

"HaiLiuZi-1, launch!"