Chapter 1: The Pack Tactic Is Wrong!

“Look at all of you—none of you even measure up to an undergraduate. Aren’t you ashamed?”

In the office of Professor Zhang at the School of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering of Harbin Institute of Technology, the professor was furiously berating his graduate students.

Each master’s student hung their head low, hardly daring to breathe.

Knock knock—

“Professor Zhang, are you looking for me?”

At that moment, a handsome young man wearing glasses appeared at the door.

Glancing inside, he saw his senior brothers all wearing grim expressions, and Professor Zhang’s face was far from pleasant.

His heart skipped a beat. Terrible timing.

“Dingping’s here, come in quickly.”

Upon seeing Su Dingping, Professor Zhang immediately put on a smile.

Su Dingping entered somewhat apprehensively.

“Dingping, once again you took first place in the Radar Engineering competition among seven top universities! How many times have you taken first now?”

As he spoke, Professor Zhang handed Su Dingping a certificate and an award.

He truly admired Su Dingping from the bottom of his heart.

Self-taught across disciplines for more than half a year, surpassing outstanding undergraduates and masters from prestigious universities to claim first place—that was remarkable indeed.

Moreover, in May’s missile research and analysis engineering competition among the five major universities, Su Dingping also took first place, again through self-study across fields.

In just one year, five consecutive championships.

His competitors were all exceptional undergraduates and masters from the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jinling University, and Huaqing University.

Professor Zhang had witnessed Su Dingping’s excellence firsthand. A 19-year-old senior at Harbin Institute of Technology—such achievements at this age were unprecedented in nearly a decade.

“It’s your teaching, Professor,” Su Dingping said modestly.

“You’ve been with me less than a year. Ultimately, it’s your own effort and talent!”

The other graduate students buried their heads even lower, murmuring softly, “They’re family, why argue?”

“Family or not, behind closed doors you are comrades, but once out there, you compete fiercely. Each of you must shine! You carry the future of our navy on your shoulders!”

Professor Zhang glared at them before changing his tone.

“The maritime situation is growing ever more severe. The future path of our navy... sigh, even we old-timers are struggling to find a way forward.”

Su Dingping stood silently by the side.

Having traveled from 2023 back to 1999, he understood the navy’s predicament all too well. Three years ago, to counter the American carrier fleet, even land artillery was mounted on ships.

The decade around 1999 was the navy’s toughest period, surrounded by wolves and tigers. Military funding was pitifully low, and with Western technology blockades, naval development was incredibly difficult.

Thus, the pressure on Professor Zhang and the other military-industrial experts was immense.

“You’re all here just in time. There’s a question I want to teach you properly. Some misconceptions must be corrected.”

“Facing the formidable Eastern Eighty-Eight Fleet, how should our navy respond? What have you answered? Uniformly, ‘Wolf Pack Tactics.’”

“Professor, there’s nothing wrong with ‘Wolf Pack Tactics.’”

“Professor, three years ago when the Free Country’s carrier fleet arrived, military intelligence experts proposed exactly that tactic. Many experts agreed.”

The Eighty-Eight Fleet?

Wolf Pack Tactics?

Su Dingping realized.

The Eighty-Eight Fleet had long posed immense pressure on the Chinese navy. Besides a full lineup of modern warships, it also had the formidable King Kong-class guided missile destroyers, second only to the American Arleigh Burke-class Aegis ships. Meanwhile, the Chinese navy’s fleet was entirely non-modern warships.

As for the wolf pack tactic, it was a widely accepted strategy proposed by military experts when the American carrier fleet came—a plan to sacrifice numerous ships to get close enough to strike the carriers.

But Su Dingping knew that plan was unfeasible.

Just like when the F-22 first flew, many military experts proposed exchanging eight old fighters for one F-22 as feasible. Yet when their own J-20 was tested and scored 17:0, the mistake was glaringly obvious.

Professor Zhang continued.

“Dingping, what’s your answer?”

Su Dingping spoke up.

“Wolf pack tactics are unfeasible.”

At this, the other students immediately looked indignant, about to retort, but Professor Zhang asked,

“Why?”

“Naval warfare is different from land warfare. Engagements occur at distances of tens, even hundreds of kilometers. If you can’t hit the enemy, you’ll just be hit; if you can’t defend, the ship is lost and the crew perishes... The technological gap in warships is far greater than imagined!”

“So?”

“So we must break through Western blockades at all costs and build our own modern warships!”

Those senior students were stunned by Su Dingping’s words.

Professor Zhang’s expression was complex—one student saw through the issue so clearly, while many military experts still treated naval combat like land combat.

“If this were two months ago, this would be debatable. But now, I can tell you with absolute certainty: wolf pack tactics are impossible!”

Their faces changed.

None had expected Su Dingping’s conclusion to be correct; it was vastly different from their prior beliefs.

“Professor, how can this be?” one senior asked hoarsely.

“Because of this!”

Professor Zhang pulled out a photograph.

Su Dingping looked carefully and recognized it.

“The Russian Modern-class guided missile destroyer—956E—has arrived.”

The 956E.

Su Dingping recalled.

It was the ‘lucky charm’ that would open the door to naval modernization, hailed as one of the navy’s Four Pillars—immensely significant.

The students brightened.

“956E! I heard it’s very expensive!”

“Professor, we haven’t seen you at school in the past two months; is it because of this?”

Professor Zhang nodded.

“Yes, very expensive. But there’s no choice—no matter how costly, we have to pay. When our technology lags, every penny is necessary.”

Su Dingping was silent.

Two ships cost nearly 900 million US dollars—equivalent to 7 billion Chinese yuan. Last year, the navy’s total budget was roughly that amount. This loss was something the navy had to grudgingly accept.

Professor Zhang continued.

“I inspected them personally and felt the gap starkly. So internally, we reached consensus—the wolf pack tactic won’t work.”

One thing he didn’t say: after nearly two months of study, nine military-industrial experts who boarded the ship had no clue how to proceed.

Russia’s prowess in anti-reverse engineering was outstanding, and the nine experts found no breakthrough—utterly disheartening.

“I’m not trying to be harsh on you, but this is a path we must forge!”

“Break men, break money, break time—at all costs!”

Professor Zhang’s words hit hard, stirring the students’ hearts. Yet Su Dingping saw exhaustion and helplessness in the professor’s face.

He knew reverse engineering would be far from smooth. Russia dared to sell these ships because they were confident their core technologies wouldn’t be fully grasped by Chinese military experts.

After a pause, Professor Zhang went on.

“You’ll be graduating in just over half a year. This year’s master’s thesis is different: you must design a warship for the future of our navy. Dingping, you’ll participate too!”

Clearly, he fully regarded Su Dingping as a third-year graduate student.

“Here are some reference materials.”

As he spoke, he handed out documents and also distributed the photo of the 956E for all to examine.

Glancing at the materials, Su Dingping saw parameters of already decommissioned ships.

When he took the photo of the 956E from a senior, just as his hand touched it, a virtual panel appeared in his mind.

“Would you like to conduct a technical analysis of the ‘956E Modern-class guided missile destroyer’?”

“Gain access to core technologies of modern warships...”

A system?

Realizing this, Su Dingping inwardly rejoiced. The core technologies of modern warships were exactly what the navy desperately needed!