A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Chapter 800: The first time the silly kid gets thwarted.

"Hehehe, old commander." Jiang Xia leaned closer, lowering his voice mysteriously, "Do you want something that can let your soldiers fly around? You know, the kind that... um... can be completely silent..."

"No!" Comrade Lantian's resolute reply choked back Jiang Xia's subsequent attempt to say something like "low-altitude infiltration."

Jiang Xia stared wide-eyed, stunned, as if she couldn't understand those two words.

Old comrade, why are you acting unpredictably? This reaction is wrong!

Comrade Lantian, seeing Jiang Xia's face flushed red, chuckled and reached out to close his wide-open mouth, like putting a safety on a gun, not forgetting to give him a couple of light pats: "You little rascal, you've dug too many traps. I've inquired around, heard a whole bunch of things I should and shouldn't have. Anyway, I'm not falling for your tricks!"

He patted his knees and plopped down on a small stool: "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush! I'm only focusing on these few hens that can lay eggs right now; nothing else matters!"

Jiang Xia blushed and argued, "Equipment iteration can't be considered a trap... it's forward-looking!... How can something that involves researchers be considered a trap?"

Then came a string of incomprehensible phrases, such as "technical reserves" and "path exploration," which made Comrade Lantian point at him and wave his fingers in the air, laughing even harder.

After all that fuss, no matter how eloquent the young man was, he couldn't influence the old comrade.

No matter what you say, I, Old Zhao, am determined to stick to my guns!

Comrade Lantian acted as if there was a buzzing mosquito next to him, remaining as still as a mountain, and took out his notebook to write and draw.

"Low-Altitude Coordinated Training Outline (Revised Draft, Third Edition)". Even the words "Third Edition" were circled in red pen, with an upward arrow drawn next to them, as if they felt the revisions weren't fast enough.

"Take a look, these are the points I've been working on these past few days." Seeing Jiang Xia staring at the notebook, Lan Tian stopped hiding it and gently handed it over, holding the edge of the paper between her fingers. "I don't know as much about equipment as you, I'm just figuring out the tricks of the trade in actual combat."

Jiang Xia took it and opened it. He was still unwilling to give up and wanted to continue writing, but when he looked at the key points recorded by the old comrade, he was surprised.

"The window of opportunity for the Il-28A to coordinate with the Cat Car: After the rocket hits the target, the Cat Car must reach the hovering point within 30 seconds. If it exceeds this time, it is vulnerable to counterattacks from the remaining enemy light weapons!"

"Paratrooper jump interval: Initially set to be synchronized, adjusted to 3 seconds after actual combat. Due to the 150-meter flyby altitude, the parachute lines are prone to tangling after opening the parachute; the 3-second interval can avoid this..."

However, this line was crossed out several times in red, with the final note stating that it still needs to be verified in the training field.

"Il-28 modified cover range: Hovering 500 meters away from the cat-car hovering point is required to avoid wake turbulence interference. This point was raised by some soldiers during combat debriefing. The landing point shifts after being affected by airflow interference. This requires special attention!"

……

There are many more, but the only thing they have in common is that each one is followed by a red pen annotation, some saying "needs further verification" and others saying "corrected".

Old comrade, you're putting so much effort into equipment that's not even finalized yet?

“Comrade Lantian, it’s not a good idea for you to stay here all the time. Structural improvements to the Il-28 will take time; wind tunnel testing and materials technology are not things that can be accomplished overnight.” Jiang Xia repeated his old tune.

"What we lack is time!" Comrade Lantian shook his head, his brows furrowing again. "The enemy won't wait for us to be ready before they come."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and gestured—north, west, south, sweeping his hand around the area, but notably omitting the east. In truth, it didn't matter whether he pointed or not; Jiang Xia knew perfectly well: enemies on all sides!

Lan Tian took a deep breath, laid the notebook on his lap, and lowered his voice so that only Jiang Xia could hear him:

"To the north, Big Brother has reinforced his troops again. We estimate their tank formations can reach Shanhaiguan in three days; to the west, across the plateau, they've recently added a mountain division, with their artillery pointed directly at our territory; to the south, the US carrier battle group has begun putting pressure on Vietnam, and they've even sent reconnaissance planes flying close to our territorial waters..."

"To the east..." He paused, then smiled wryly, "The east is the sea, but the sea isn't safe either. Don't be fooled by the fact that our navy gave the bald eagle a beating last time. But underwater, where we can't see from the outside, their submarines are just strolling around our coastline like they're on a leisurely stroll."

He closed his notebook, his eyes burning: "Wolves are all around us, yet we don't even have a strong enough stick! What are paratroopers? They are the blade on the tip of that stick! If something happens, we must strike with our strongest fist in the place the enemy least expects, in the shortest amount of time!"

“But look at our current possessions…” Comrade Lantian counted on his fingers, “The Il-12 has more patches on it than my underwear… The C-46 needs two cans of spare oil for each flight… I flew it a couple of days ago, and the left wheel was bent after we landed…”

The old commander sighed, as if he were being crushed by a thousand-pound burden. "I'm anxious! I'm not anxious about the lack of new equipment, but I'm afraid that if something happens, my soldiers won't be able to jump down, land accurately, or fight! At that time, how can I face my superiors and the people?"

“Just waiting like this isn’t going to work,” Jiang Xia chimed in. “How about… you listen to my idea for a single-soldier powered hang glider?”

Comrade Lantian initially intended to bluntly refuse again, saying "I'm not interested," but then he heard Jiang Xia continue, "The matter of attack aircraft depends on Teacher Shunshou and his team overcoming the technical difficulties; it can't be rushed. If we insist on using them, and something goes wrong, our soldiers might lose their lives due to equipment issues—that would be a huge loss. But improving the combat effectiveness of our airborne brothers doesn't necessarily mean we have to wait for the big guys."

Seeing that Lantian did not immediately object, Jiang Xia perked up and began to guide her.

"Sometimes, small gadgets can accomplish big things."

Gadget?

Doesn't that mean it doesn't cost much?

Thinking of this, Comrade Lantian swallowed back the refusal that was on the tip of his tongue. He raised an eyebrow, signaling Jiang Xia to continue.

Seeing a breakthrough, Jiang Xia immediately perked up. He picked up Comrade Lantian's notebook and turned to the page with the tactical diagrams: "Commander, look, the group we fought a couple of days ago, who claimed to be armed mining tyrants, were actually just a bunch of chickens and dogs with almost no decent anti-aircraft firepower. So our Il-28s could dive and straf, and our 'cat cars' could hover and rappel down from a height of 150 meters, as if they were in an empty field."

"If the enemy has decent air defenses, will our Il-28A be able to fly over and lick the ground as freely as we have this time? They'd probably be shot down before they even reach the target!"

Jiang Xia's gestures seemed to be of some use this time. Comrade Lantian's expression changed, and he began to think according to Jiang Xia's instructions.

Jiang Xia then pointed to the "Flying Cat Cart" in the corner of the hangar: "Speaking of this, don't be fooled by its ability to airdrop soldiers at an altitude of 150 meters and its high mobility. As you wrote, this cat car is too obvious a target! Luckily, it encountered a group of bandits; if it were a regular army, it would be a sitting duck!"

Finally, Jiang Xia, seeing Lan Tian's increasingly serious expression, continued, "So you see, the tactical experience you've summarized here based on existing equipment will likely be largely useless in a real battle."

As Comrade Lantian followed Jiang Xia's train of thought, his expression gradually changed.

He glanced down at the densely packed tactical plans in his notebook, then looked up at the aircraft in the hangar, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper. Indeed, if the enemy possessed stronger air defenses, the tactics he was painstakingly devising would be far less effective.

"So you mean..." Comrade Lantian's gaze refocused on Jiang Xia, this time with genuine inquiry.

"So, Commander, we need to plan ahead!" Jiang Xia finally revealed his true colors. "That single-soldier powered glider, although it may seem insignificant, is quiet, small in size, and highly maneuverable, perfectly compensating for the shortcomings of our current equipment! We can't put all our eggs in one basket with these big machines!"