Chapter 40

An hour later, Ha Gong Da, Security Section.

Du Yongfei looked at Zhao Minggang, handcuffed to the chair, feeling helpless. 'You brat, picking a fight with anyone would be bad enough, but you had to provoke Qin Miao—can you even afford to? And you still want to kill Qin Miao; this lifetime of yours is really over!'

"Section Chief Du, Section Chief Du, I was just angry then, I was just trying to scare Qin Miao! I was wrong, I know I was wrong..."

"Sigh, your case is different from others; how to handle it, let's see what Elder Yuan says."

"Then please go inquire for me, so I can have some… mental preparation."

"Alright."

Du Yongfei sighed, thinking that even if he went himself, he'd probably get a scolding from Elder Yuan.

When he arrived in front of the big sign of the Truck Cannon project team, he saw two sentries guarding, with 56mm bayonets glinting coldly.

"I am the chief of the Security Section..."

"Come in!" a voice came from inside, and the sentry then let him through.

Du Yongfei walked in and saw Qin Miao standing before a design drawing, briefing Elder Yuan.

Squashing the troublemaking of a few petty thieves is nothing at all; Elder Yuan came in person, so we must hear something useful!

"Although it is a wheeled chassis, we absolutely cannot let the preparation work be too complicated, otherwise we would lose the meaning of a self-propelled gun." Qin Miao introduced: "Our truck cannon's biggest feature is the specially installed rear outrigger, which fully absorbs the gun's recoil; thus the vehicle body needs no hydraulic outriggers, greatly shortening deployment and recovery time."

The advantage of a wheeled chassis is high speed, allowing road mobility; its disadvantage is insufficient stability.

A tracked self-propelled gun can fire as soon as it stops, but a wheeled one needs four hydraulic outriggers to lift the body, raising the wheels off the ground; otherwise, firing would burst all the tires.

Not to mention self-propelled guns—any special work vehicles like cranes, excavators, concrete pump trucks, if they have a wheeled chassis, must be propped up to work.

The plan Qin Miao described is actually the later-generation impressive PCL-181 truck cannon, dubbed the world's first truck cannon; its design concept, when spoken, is absolutely powerful.

"Hmm, not bad! This is exactly what the troops urgently need!"

"This outrigger design looks a bit like squatting on the ground!"

"Yes, squatting fire gives world‑top accuracy!" Qin Miao said proudly. "This technique is our Eastern invention; all recoil is transferred to the ground, so the gun vibrates little and accuracy greatly improves."

"At the same time, to boost operating speed, the gun's elevation and traverse mechanisms will use hydraulic assistance, plus a semi‑automatic loader; within one minute it can fire, rapid fire for one minute allows quick recovery and swift displacement of position. In extreme conditions, a single gunner can operate it."

"One gunner can operate it!" Everyone widened their eyes.

Take the existing Type 66 152mm gun as an example: a gun crew numbers nine! Gun chief, first gunner, second gunner, loader, hauler, flag‑waver… now one person does it all!

"Good, good, our troops can't wait any longer!" Elder Yuan nodded satisfied.

"Comrades leaders, we currently lack truck chassis; today many automotive industry comrades came, but their vehicles can't meet our needs; later, comrades from Hongyan Factory recommended we use the Benz NG2026 truck."

"No problem, our troops have them; we'll coordinate two for you."

"Thank you, Elder Yuan!"

"Hmm, whoever has ability, we'll support them; the few bad apples from Institute 202, rest assured, our troops will pressure the relevant departments to punish them severely!"

"Forget it, Elder Yuan; if we come down too hard on them, we fear later retaliation. We at Ha Gong Da are just a university with little say in the military‑industrial system; even being given petty trouble would be hard to bear. Besides, there's that Zhao Minggang—he'd draw his sword and kill at the slightest disagreement..."

Du Yongfei felt wistful: the one who drew the blade wasn't Zhao Minggang but Qin Miao; that Zhao Minggang will probably spend the second half of his life in a labor reform team moving stones.

"No, we must punish severely, kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. Humph, those who can't do the work but play tricks—such people absolutely cannot stay in the military‑industrial ranks. Rest assured, I'll settle this neatly! From now on, let's see who dares come to Ha Gong Da to extort and blackmail!"

"Alright, that's it for today; I have to go back and handle this matter! By the way, I brought an infantry platoon; they'll stay here to guard the gate, so unrelated folks can't just wander in. You just need to find them a place to sleep."

Du Yongfei felt helpless—even the Ha Gong Da Security Section isn't trusted, so the military sent its own people.

"No need, Elder Yuan; how would that look? Alright, we'll leave it to Ha Gong Da; we'll arrange their livelihood."

Seeing Elder Yuan and company off, Qin Miao stretched; another day passed.

He picked up his lunchbox and went to the cafeteria for a meal!

Walking along, Qin Miao suddenly stopped, looked behind, and said, "Chu Miaomiao classmate, what's up?"

"Nothing, I'm going to the cafeteria for a meal."

"Oh, then let's go together."

"Sure." Chu Miaomiao beamed: "Qin Miao classmate, tomorrow is National Day—do you have any plans?"

National Day! Unbeknownst, a month has already passed since school started?

"I need to go home and check."

"Great, you're going home—do you first need to take a train to the Capital?"

"Yeah."

"I want to go see the Capital too; can we go together? It's not safe on the train."

"If you're alone, you'd better not go; even after getting off the train, wandering alone in the Capital isn't safe."

"A few of us from the dorm are going together…"

"Alright, you guys!" Qin Miao sighed helplessly; these past few years, social security has indeed been poor, which is why the 1983 crackdown happened—harsh punishment restored some stability.

I do need to go home; during this time I don't know how Qingshan Machinery Factory is—whether my father became factory director, whether anyone in the plant is dissatisfied…

"Qin Miao classmate, we'll handle the tickets; wait for us tomorrow morning at seven at the train station!"

"Sure. Here's the money…"

"No need!"

The next day, early morning, Qin Miao yawned, arrived at the station, and saw… Chu Miaomiao alone!

"How come it's just you?"

"They have other activities; let's go, Qin Miao classmate, let's board—the train's about to depart."

Wait, you're doing this on purpose, right? You've trapped so many old timers, never expecting to snag a female classmate in the pit?

"If you go to the Capital and tour alone, won't there be risk? Maybe you shouldn't go."

"No problem; someone will meet me in the Capital."

"Aren't you from Mountain City?"

"Sigh, I only just found out—I came to university not long ago, and my father was transferred to the Capital. Come on, I've brought plenty of food; let's eat and drink along the way. After we get off the train, someone at the station will meet me."