Chapter 5: None of the Above, I Suggest 7.62

Zhao Zhiyuan looked at Li Mingyuan with suspicion and took the blueprints. At first, he only gave them a casual glance, but soon he became fully absorbed. His brows furrowed tighter and tighter, his fingers tapped incessantly on the paper, and occasionally he let out whispers like "Hmm," or "This..."

One minute later, Zhao Zhiyuan raised his head, his eyes flashing with a strange light. "Comrade Li Mingyuan, did you design all of these?"

"Yes, Minister." Li Mingyuan straightened his back and answered calmly.

"What was your major in Polar Bear?"

"Mechanical engineering, but I have always been very interested in military industry and have read quite a lot of weapon design materials."

Zhao Zhiyuan narrowed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and suddenly slapped the table as he stood up. "Group Leader Liu, cancel all of Comrade Li's arrangements for today and come with me to the laboratory!"

……

The three of them rode in a dilapidated jeep, traveling through the dusty roads on the outskirts of Jingcheng, and arrived at a compound with towering walls.

After entering the compound, Zhao Zhiyuan led them straight to a gray building. He pushed open the heavy iron door, and what came into view was a spacious laboratory where over a dozen people in white coats were arguing fiercely around a large table.

"I'm telling you, Lao Chen, your plan is simply impractical! The 7.92mm caliber is too large, the recoil is too strong, and ordinary soldiers can't handle it!" A tall, thin man wearing glasses pounded the table.

"But this is the most mature technical route; we have completely mastered the production process for the Mauser rifle!" the middle-aged man called Lao Chen retorted.

"Mastered my foot! The precision standards are a complete mess, and what is the barrel life anyway?" another man with a Shanyanghu interjected.

"Then what about using the 7.62×54R from Polar Bear? We have all the technical data for the Mosin-Nagant." A young man with a square face suggested.

"Do you think that thing is easy to build? The barrel processing requirements for spiral rifling are high; our factory can't do it!" the tall, thin man opposed again.

The sound of arguing rose and fell; the laboratory was filled with the smell of gunpowder. Several people were arguing until their faces were red, and none of them noticed that Zhao Zhiyuan was already standing at the door.

"Ahem!" Zhao Zhiyuan cleared his throat.

The laboratory instantly went quiet. Everyone turned their heads abruptly, saw Zhao Zhiyuan, and stood up straight one after another.

"Good day, Minister!" everyone greeted in unison.

"Everyone, let me introduce a new comrade, Li Mingyuan, a student who just returned from Polar Bear." Zhao Zhiyuan patted Li Mingyuan on the shoulder. "He has brought some interesting design plans that you might be interested in."

The experts in the laboratory nodded one after another, their eyes filled with scrutiny and curiosity, but no one took this young man in his early twenties seriously.

"You've come at just the right time!" Yanjingnan suddenly grabbed Li Mingyuan's arm as if he had found a life-saving straw. "Since you've returned from studying in Polar Bear, you must have researched firearms. Come and settle this argument!"

Before Li Mingyuan could react, he was pulled into the core circle of the debate. Lao Chen immediately leaned in, hands on his hips: "Young man, I ask you, do you think the 7.92mm caliber is better, or the 7.62r?"

"Don't listen to Lao Chen; he only has that Hans stuff in his head." Shanyanghu rushed to speak. "I think the 6.5mm caliber from Sakura is good; it's light and has low recoil. What do you say?"

A bald old man pushed Shanyanghu aside: "What 6.5? It's too small, not enough power! The. 30-06 from Star-Spangled Country is the way to go!"

"Stop arguing, all of you!" Yanjingnan slapped the table. "Let Xiao Li speak. What caliber is popular over in Polar Bear right now?"

Li Mingyuan was surrounded; the scene was even more chaotic than he had imagined.

The barrage of questions caught him off guard. Zhao Zhiyuan stood to the side, his gaze smiling, seemingly waiting for his reaction.

"Well, as for that..." Li Mingyuan cleared his throat, and the laboratory immediately went quiet; everyone pricked up their ears.

"First of all, I believe the starting point for all the experts here is the same: to unify the firearms and ammunition standards for our military. This direction is absolutely correct."

Hearing this, the experts present nodded one after another, and Lao Chen even clapped his hands: "As expected of someone who studied abroad, he saw the core of the problem at a glance!"

"That's right, the troops are currently using seven or eight types of guns and over a dozen calibers; logistics and supply are simply a nightmare." Yanjingnan echoed, "Standardization is imperative!"

The atmosphere suddenly became harmonious, and Li Mingyuan took the opportunity to interject: "However, regarding which caliber to choose..."

Everyone became tense again, staring at Li Mingyuan with burning gazes; the air seemed to have frozen.

Li Mingyuan looked around the circle and took a deep breath: "I believe that none of these existing calibers are suitable for us."

"What?" Lao Chen was the first to jump up. "What do you mean by that?"

"7.92, 6.5,. 30-06... none of them are suitable?" Yanjingnan adjusted his glasses in disbelief.

"Young man, are you questioning our research results from the past few months?" Shanyanghu's voice rose sharply.

Li Mingyuan raised his hand to signal everyone to calm down: "What I mean is, rather than choosing a compromise from the existing plans, it would be better to design a brand-new caliber and weapon system based on our country's national conditions."

The laboratory exploded instantly.

"Absurd!"

"Armchair strategy!"

"Naive!"

"Arrogant!"

Lao Chen was so angry his face turned purple: "Young man, do you know how difficult it is to design a brand-new weapon system? Just the ballistic research for the bullet alone would take several years! Process development, production line modification, Reliability Testing... Heh, talk is cheap!"

"Exactly!" Yanjingnan's expression also changed. "I think you've read too many books and your head is full of unrealistic fantasies! Reality is not as simple as you imagine!"

"Besides," the bald old man sneered, "you Polar Bear students think you're so smart after reading a few books? Dogmatism is no good, young man!"

Facing everyone's questioning, Li Mingyuan only smiled slightly and did not rush to defend himself. He looked at Zhao Zhiyuan, his eyes filled with inquiry.

Zhao Zhiyuan understood his hint and coughed lightly: "Ahem!"

The arguing in the laboratory stopped abruptly.

"Comrade Li Mingyuan is not speaking without evidence." Zhao Zhiyuan said unhurriedly, pulling several folded blueprints from his briefcase. "He already has a complete design plan."

"What?" Lao Chen's eyes widened.

"Impossible, right?" Yanjingnan was half-doubting.

Zhao Zhiyuan unfolded the blueprints and laid them flat on the laboratory table: "Everyone, please take a look."

The thick blueprints slowly unfolded, with dense engineering lines and data leaping off the paper.

At this moment, the laboratory was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Lao Chen was the first to lean in. He put on his reading glasses, his fingers trembling slightly as he stroked the blueprints, and his lips began to quiver: "This... this..."

Shanyanghu squeezed to Lao Chen's side. At first, he still carried a bit of disdain, but after looking for a few moments, his expression froze. His eyes opened wider and wider, and finally, he was so shocked that even his beard was trembling: "Good heavens... this design... this is simply..."

Yanjingnan's reaction was the most exaggerated. He took off his glasses and wiped them again and again, as if he couldn't believe his eyes. When he put his glasses back on and stared at the blueprints for a full ten seconds, he suddenly sat down on the floor: "... How was this done..."

Other experts also crowded around. At first, they maintained the reserve of scholars, but as their gazes wandered over the blueprints, their expressions became more and more spectacular.

Some gasped, some clicked their tongues in wonder, some were so excited their faces turned bright red, and some even couldn't help but pound the table.

"This bolt mechanism... genius!"

"The ballistic design... perfectly balances power and recoil!"

"Part interchangeability... this line of thinking is too advanced!"

"This shell ejection mechanism alone solves so many problems..."

Lao Chen's reaction was the most dramatic; this stubborn old expert stared at the blueprints for a full two minutes, then suddenly looked up, his gaze like a torch as he looked at Li Mingyuan: "Young man, where did you get these blueprints?"

Li Mingyuan replied calmly: "I designed them myself."

"Impossible!" Lao Chen slapped the table, "Even the old academicians at the Academy of Engineering couldn't design such a complete system in such a short time! Tell me the truth, did you steal this from the Polar Bear..."

"Teacher Chen!" Zhao Zhiyuan interrupted him, "Watch your words. This design is Comrade Li Mingyuan's original work; I have already verified it."

Lao Chen wanted to say something else, but Shanyanghu held him back: "Lao Chen, look at these details; this is clearly designed for our country's national conditions. The Polar Bear side couldn't possibly have such considerations."

Yanjingnan climbed up from the floor and pointed excitedly at a certain part on the blueprint: "Look at this copper-clad steel shell casing design; it is practically tailor-made for our country's lack of copper resources!"

Once these words were spoken, the entire laboratory once again fell into a shocked Silence.