Chapter 25: You Have Your Strategy, I Have My Countermove!

"Is there something wrong with the 956E?" Sun Yongguo was somewhat puzzled.

When the 956E first arrived, he, Zhang Gongnong, and the others had all boarded it to inspect the vessel, and every piece of equipment had seemed fully operational. Furthermore, if there had been any genuine issues, it was unlikely that seven months of continuous study would have failed to uncover them. However, since Su Dingping had raised the point, he couldn't be entirely sure.

"Comrade Gongnong?" He glanced at Zhang Gongnong. "Did you all perform any adjustments on it later?"

"Dean, every operational procedure was recorded, and we followed the standard steps exactly."

Since even Zhang Gongnong replied this way, it meant that no one had tampered with the 956E's equipment. He looked at Su Dingping again, only to see him staring deeply at the 956E with a furrowed brow, as if he had encountered some difficult problem. Could it be that Dingping had truly spotted a flaw? Sun Yongguo was filled with suspicion, yet he felt it inappropriate to disturb Su Dingping’s deep contemplation.

"Dean, let me take another look." With that, Su Dingping stood up and began to walk around the 956E.

Half an hour later, Su Dingping finished his second tour. Through this inspection, he discovered a discrepancy between the actual 956E ship and the 956E within his military technology forging space. While the overall structure was correct, the data and information on the instrument panels did not match. Since his system could not be wrong, it meant there was a problem with the 956E right in front of him.

He sighed inwardly, his suspicion confirmed. Just like in his past life, this 956E was a "lite" version!

Seeing Su Dingping’s solemn expression, Sun Yongguo asked, "Dingping, what’s going on? Did you find a problem?"

"Dean Sun, the technical parameters of this 956E differ from the parameters I derived."

The moment these words were spoken, Sun Yongguo’s brow furrowed sharply. A discrepancy in parameters? Which version was more advanced? That was the crux of the matter. He instinctively felt that the core technology of the 956E, which Su Dingping had derived from pictures and related technical specs, should be inferior to the actual ship. After all, one was the painstaking work of numerous military experts from the Soviet Union, while the other was merely the product of five months of hard work by Su Dingping! How could one person outperform a group? Especially in such a short time—a gap was only natural.

Thinking this through, Sun Yongguo comforted him. "Dingping, I didn't expect such an unexpected harvest from bringing you here today."

"It is indeed an unexpected harvest," Su Dingping nodded.

"Dingping, don't be discouraged. Although the 956E entered service in 1981, it is, after all, one of the representative works of the Soviet Navy! Our level is twenty years behind theirs. Take a look and see if you can learn something; perhaps it will be of some help to you."

No sooner had Sun Yongguo finished speaking than he noticed Su Dingping’s expression turn rather strange. Su Dingping realized that they had been talking at cross-purposes.

"I thought you knew, but it turns out you didn't."

Upon hearing this, Sun Yongguo and Zhang Gongnong exchanged glances, filled with confusion.

Su Dingping said, "Dean Sun, its technical specifications have been downgraded!"

Sun Yongguo’s expression changed abruptly. "What did you say? The technology was downgraded? Impossible!"

"Dingping, you shouldn't say such things," Zhang Gongnong added from the side. "We spent 440 million US dollars on this ship! When the contract was signed, both parties clearly stipulated that the related technology must not be compromised! It’s written in black and white!"

Su Dingping did not waver. He called out to the captain of the 956E, "Captain Zhou, are there records of the training parameters?"

Captain Zhou looked at Sun Yongguo, feeling caught in a dilemma. Records of training parameters were classified and could not be leaked. Sun Yongguo hesitated as well.

Su Dingping said, "I trust my judgment." With the complete version of the 956E resting safely in his military technology forging space, he was naturally full of confidence. Seeing Su Dingping’s certainty, even Sun Yongguo couldn't help but waver. Could it be that Dingping was right?

"Captain Zhou, go get them. If the superiors blame anyone, I will take responsibility!"

"Dean Sun, I can take that responsibility myself. I also want to know if we have been cheated by the Soviets." With that, Captain Zhou hurried to the main control room and returned with a file, which he handed to Su Dingping.

After flipping through a few pages, Su Dingping was even more certain. "Dean Sun, take a look." He pointed to the records in the file. "Dean Sun, on the first day of class, I mentioned that the 'Mineral' maritime situation awareness radar can locate targets at a range of 80 kilometers in active detection mode, and in passive mode it can..."

"But look at these parameters here: the average of multiple field tests in active mode is only 70 kilometers!"

"And here, the twin PK-2 decoy launcher under field testing..."

"Including the four KBG-4 steam boilers—through calculations, they should provide a maximum of 120,000 shaft horsepower, reaching a top speed of 35 knots. But here, it is only 100,000, and the top speed is only 32 knots..."

Beyond the basic hull parameters, everything else was more or less mismatched. A little less here, a little less there—it might seem like a mere ten percent reduction in the grand scheme, but for the overall combat effectiveness of the warship, it was a decline of over thirty percent!

By the time Su Dingping finished speaking, Sun Yongguo was still in shock.

Captain Zhou was puzzled. "But these are consistent with the parameters the Soviets publicized."

"Are the publicized parameters of our 052 consistent with its actual parameters?" Facing Su Dingping's counter-question, the three men were left speechless. Indeed, who would expose the true parameters of their own warships? Everyone holds something back!

"Were we cheated by the Soviets?" Captain Zhou asked, looking bewildered.

"You can't exactly say that," Zhang Gongnong said helplessly. "The ship they gave us is indeed the same as the publicized parameters! Even if we took these parameters to confront them, it would be useless. The data is exactly what's in the contract! We only have ourselves to blame for not being more careful at the time!"

"This is a lesson for us," Sun Yongguo said in a deep voice. "Our technology is inferior, and we have to swallow this bitter pill no matter what!"

Sun Yongguo looked at the file in his hand and then at Su Dingping, hesitating to speak. He had thought that bringing Su Dingping to see the warship would be a productive experience, and while it was, it was a realization he found hard to stomach. Yet, he also felt a sense of relief; if he hadn't brought Su Dingping today, and they had discovered this later, they would have been filled with regret.

"Should we inform the superiors?"

"This..." The scene fell into silence. The topic was too heavy, and none of them knew what to say.

"Tell the superiors," Su Dingping began, but before he could finish, Captain Zhou spoke up, "I'll go."

"I'll go!" Sun Yongguo stopped Captain Zhou. "This is my failure as the Dean."

Seeing Zhang Gongnong about to join in, Su Dingping quickly said, "The three of you, it's not that serious."

Not that serious? A disaster of this magnitude? As this thought crossed Zhang Gongnong's mind, his eyes went wide at Su Dingping's next words.

"Tell the superiors that for the coming period, I plan to move the lecture location here! When the time comes, I will lead you all to adjust it and set it right!"

"The Soviets have their plans, but we have our own solutions!"