Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 452 Saying nice things on the surface, but actually doing more harm than good
These are days that fill me with endless nostalgia every time I recall them.

On the night of August 20, 1944, a B-29 bomber of the U.S. Fourteenth Air Force in the East was returning to base after bombing the island nation when it suddenly suffered a mechanical failure.

Of the 12 crew members on board, one died on the spot, six jumped into the sea, and the parachutes of the other five landed in Jianyang County, on the edge of the northern Jiangsu base area.

Immediately after the crash, Mr. Zhang deduced that the plane belonged to the United States and that the Japanese would try to seize it after discovering it. Therefore, he immediately dispatched a unit to extinguish the fire on the plane and dismantle usable parts to prevent the Japanese from taking a single component!
Sure enough, the islanders came to seize the plane, and a battle ensued for more than four hours. The islanders were finally driven back, but at the time, no one was found on the plane.

Therefore, Zhang Lao concluded that the crew had parachuted to safety and ordered all departments in the base to focus on searching for and rescuing the American pilots.

As a result, the five crew members who landed at the base, including Lieutenant Colonel Savoie as captain, Lieutenant Lutz as co-pilot, Captain Obries as navigator, Lieutenant Telmark as mechanic, and Sergeant Brundic as gunner, were all found and sent to the base hospital for treatment.

At that time, Elder Zhang personally held a welcoming ceremony for them and hosted them at the division headquarters for seven days to recuperate before sending them back.

Neither side expected that they would meet again 84 years later.

The man who was once middle-aged is now very old, his eyes filled with tears.

In that special era, it was a blessing to be able to survive, and the person who saved you was definitely your savior!

Inside the Pentagon's senior officers' mess hall.

"Come, let us raise a glass together to our benefactors. Without you, we would have been captured by the islanders, and then..."

And then they died! In that war, none of the American pilots who parachuted into the hands of the islanders met a good end!
Savoie held up his glass, surrounded by four companions whose eyes were filled with gratitude.

"Of course! Back then, you were warriors fighting against the island nation. You were our friends from the East. Come, let's raise a toast to our reunion!"

At this moment, Mr. Zhang was also very excited.

Beside him, Weinberg smiled; this was the moment he had been waiting for!

After his benefactors and friends had finished drinking, he raised his glass: "Gentlemen, since we are friends, shouldn't we be more frank? Mr. Qin, regarding the Soviet Union's plan to deal with Star Wars..."

“Mr. Weinberg, are we really friends? I sense that some of you still harbor hostility in your eyes. Mr. Alward doesn’t seem to have any friendliness towards us at all!”

Weinberg was furious. This Alward was so clueless about the occasion and the time; he was utterly stupid!

Alward shuddered. He... hadn't even started saying anything harsh yet! He had prepared a whole bunch of questions, but he hadn't even said them! Before he could finish, Qin Liang launched into a tirade of abuse.

I'm the one who's feeling wronged!

"Alward, apologize to our friends from the East!"

“Mr. Weinberger, I…”

"I apologize if you don't want to take off your uniform!"

Alward took a deep breath: "Everyone, I'm sorry, my attitude wasn't good just now..."

"Is it just an attitude?"

"What I said was inappropriate, and I sincerely apologize!"

Qin Liang rolled his eyes at the other party: "Hmph, actually, it's not because of any of that! Lockheed's stealth fighter project was a collaboration with us! It was definitely your best choice, but what happened? I heard Mr. Ben Richie come to me crying, saying that some of you are hostile to us in the East, so anyone who collaborates with us in the East is deliberately targeted by you, and that's why they lost their bids, isn't that right?"

If Ben Richie were there at that moment, he would definitely have collapsed to the ground, his legs giving way.

This isn't helping them; it's clearly harming them!
These guys are all vindictive and hold grudges. Now, Qin Liang is targeting them and has even revealed the reason: he's standing up for Lockheed, which will make Lockheed even more vulnerable to being ostracized by these high-ranking officials.

From now on, they can forget about getting any more contracts from the U.S. military!
In interpersonal relationships, the most important thing is definitely not making friends with people you like, but how to deal with people you don't like!
Once Qin Liang dug this huge pit, Lockheed Corporation was completely finished!
"What, you're not saying anything now? Let me tell you, Lockheed doesn't have to go out of business without your orders. Northwestern Polytechnical University, together with MIT, will collaborate with Lockheed to jointly develop a fighter jet targeting markets outside of the U.S. Air Force, including Europe and even developing countries, so that they can use affordable and effective fourth-generation fighters!"

Finished!

Lockheed's attempt to expand into overseas markets was also doomed to failure. Just look at the attitude of Alward and others at the scene. On the surface, they still wore flattering smiles, but in reality... they absolutely hated Lockheed!

You can kill someone without a knife!
At this moment, Steiner was extremely anxious.

Boeing and Northwestern Polytechnical University have a collaboration... It seems that Boeing will be targeted by these people in the future. Fortunately, Boeing mainly focuses on commercial airliners and rarely gets involved in fighter jets. At worst, they can just stop doing it in the future!
Qin Liang continued his rambling: "Our Northwestern Polytechnical University has advanced technology. If you give up cooperating with us, that would be a huge loss. Grumman knows that... cough cough, let's not talk about that. Let's talk about Northrop Corporation. Their aircraft have major design flaws!"

Grumman? So they've partnered with you Easterners too. This Grumman project has to be excluded! Northrop… wait, what did you say? Northrop's aircraft have defects? How do you know?
Was it Lockheed or Grumman that leaked it? Once the Easterner leaves, we'll go after those two companies and find out who leaked the secret. We must dig deep!

The air force officers present all had grim expressions.

Weinberg took a deep breath: "Mr. Qin, what are the shortcomings of Northrop's project?"

"Well... there are too many!" Qin Liang said, "For example, the aircraft designed by Northrop is too technically difficult, and the development costs would be huge. You might not be able to afford it. Once you're on that pirate ship, you won't be able to get off. I still suggest you choose Lockheed's products. Their development costs are less than one-tenth of Northrop's..."

Qin Liang didn't know if he would make things worse, but since things had come to this point, he had to praise one and put down the other! In the future, when he sees Ben Richie, he can hold his head high and say, "Dude, I've done everything I could to help you. Hey, Ben Richie, why are you rolling up your sleeves? Why are you clenching your fist?"

After listening to Qin Liang's long-winded explanation, Weinberg gradually relaxed. Thankfully, no specific technical details were revealed; it was likely just speculation. If the Easterners knew the actual technology…

and many more!

As the banquet was about to end, Weinberg suddenly remembered that we had used the veterans' friendship to ease the tension between us in order to bring up the topic of the Soviet Union's Star Wars. You've been talking about it for so long, but it was just to avoid Star Wars.

"Mr. Qin, about Star Wars..."

“Star Wars? Speaking of Star Wars, I do have a concept for a space carrier. There are space stations operating in space orbit, with spaceplanes parked on them. If needed, astronauts would pilot the spaceplanes to fight outside the atmosphere, or even inside the atmosphere… Mr. Weinberg, have you heard of it?”

Weinberg's eyes lit up. It seemed the Russians really did have such a plan!

"It's a pity I've never seen these things before and have no impression of them. If I could visit your aircraft carrier, I might be able to find some inspiration."

After all that trouble, was it just to see an aircraft carrier?

Weinberg nodded: "Of course, no problem. I'll take you to see the aircraft carrier tomorrow!"

In 1980, Mr. Liu visited the United States and had already seen the American aircraft carrier, so it's not a big deal for Easterners to see it again now.

Just take a look. What can you possibly see by just looking?

Old Zhang's eyes lit up. The itinerary for his visit did not include a tour of the American aircraft carrier. Now that Qin Liang had arranged it, he naturally had to go and see it.

He understood Qin Liang's intentions.

The East is a traditional land power, and its military, influenced by Russia in its early years, followed the path of a continental army, which is now the largest in the world. This year's military parade will announce a massive reduction of one million troops, all of which will be cut from the army. While streamlining the army, the navy and air force will be expanded, and aircraft carriers, such behemoths, will definitely be a must-have for the navy in the future!

Currently, there are still many dissenting voices in China, arguing that aircraft carriers are offensive weapons, while the East follows a defensive path, making them unsuitable, and so on.

This change in mindset cannot happen immediately; it must be done gradually. Qin Liang took everyone to see the aircraft carrier, undoubtedly to push everyone's thinking forward!
After the banquet ended and everyone checked into their hotel, Qin Liang had just taken a shower when there was a knock on the door.

"Who?"

“It’s someone from Boeing,” the bodyguard who shared the room with him replied.

"Yes, please invite them in."

Steiner had been holding back all day, and now that both sides were leaving, he consulted with people at the Pentagon before coming over.

"Mr. Steiner, welcome, welcome. Didn't you finish talking during the day and want to come and have a late-night chat with me?"

"Mr. Qin, I really didn't expect that you would actually bring the Super Cruiser passenger plane here!"

Qin Liang smiled and said, "I didn't expect this either. This plane was still undergoing test flights when Old Zhang somehow found out and insisted on flying on this plane."

It has nothing to do with me; it's all Professor Zhang's decision! Northwestern Polytechnical University has no right to refute Professor Zhang's decision; we can only cooperate!
"Sigh...you guys are putting Boeing in a very passive position by doing this."

"Passive what?"

Looking into Qin Liang's innocent big eyes, Steiner said helplessly, "Qin, you should know that Boeing hasn't announced this passenger plane to the outside world yet."

"It's fine if we announce it ourselves, since we're collaborating on this aircraft anyway. By the way... did Boeing win the bid for that fourth-generation fighter jet?"

Steiner gave a wry smile: "Sigh, we also developed a prototype, but... the Air Force still chose Grumman's Tomcat facelift. It's a fourth-generation fighter, yet they still chose the variable-sweep wing technology of a second-generation fighter. I really don't know what they were thinking."

Boeing's design is more futuristic, even more so than Northrop's. The U.S. Air Force, which is usually very conservative, is already quite good at choosing the advanced Northrop design; the rest must be more stable and reliable.

Therefore, it was predictable that Boeing's project would fail.

"Oh, if only you had cooperated with us back then, our solution would definitely have defeated Grumman Corporation."

Cooperate with you? Wouldn't that mean we'd be the first to be eliminated? Just today, after Qin Liang mentioned Grumman a few times, I reckon Grumman's project will also fall through, and Northrop will probably be the one laughing last.

Steiner couldn't say these words aloud, and could only continue to smile bitterly.

"Mr. Qin, let's talk about commercial airliners. Now that the supersonic cruiser has been developed, do you... have any new ideas?"

Of course! We can change our passenger planes to a conventional layout to further reduce fuel consumption!

However... of course, I can't say that.

"Currently, we have two passenger aircraft, which is sufficient. Next... at most, we will upgrade the C919 from a four-engine to a twin-engine aircraft to further reduce fuel consumption and improve economic efficiency."

Although they are already developing a new 10-ton-class engine for the Y-10, the four-engine layout will eventually be phased out, and a twin-engine layout will be necessary in the future.

Of course, this doesn't mean the developed engines will be wasted. They can be used in smaller twin-engine regional jets. These are things for later. For now, let's focus on modifying the standard version of the C929.

Steiner breathed a sigh of relief.

Qin Liang's eyes darted around. Since this guy was here, he might as well continue to fool him.

"Stinener, my good friend, Boeing, you can't be only looking at the passenger plane business, can you?"

"Qin, my friend, please tell me, what other projects are suitable for us?"

"Didn't you glean any useful information from today's meeting?"

Seeing Qin Liang's somewhat dissatisfied look, Steiner's brain raced, and soon, a word appeared in his mind.

"A spaceplane?"

“That’s right, it’s a spaceplane! Today in the conference room, a group of people led by Alward were really despicable. I heard they were trying to make things difficult for us, so we can’t say everything. But, I can secretly reveal some information to you, my old friend.”

"Yes, Qin, tell me quickly!"

"Actually, before you proposed the Star Wars program, the Russians were already developing advanced equipment. Have you heard of the Spiral Project? The Mikoyan Design Bureau set up a special department to undertake the development of the spaceplane, codenamed MiG-105."

Steiner's eyes widened; he genuinely had no idea.

In fact, the MiG-105 was developed earlier, and the CIA had been paying attention to it. After the Soviets terminated the Spiral project, they still developed the new BOR series of unmanned aerial vehicles. In 1982, the brand-new BOR-4 completed its first full flight and splashed down in the Indian Ocean with a deviation of up to 200 kilometers, ending up alongside the Australians.

The Australians dared not interfere with the Russians' salvage operation, but they could take photos. The intelligence obtained eventually reached the CIA, and the new unidentified object was named Cosmos 1374.
However, at present, this intelligence has only reached NASA; Boeing is not yet in a position to know about it.

"What...what kind of plane is this?"

"Its shape is similar to the Space Shuttle, but there are some differences. For example, it's very small, with a total design weight of only ten tons, and it only carries one person. The project was originally planned to use a supersonic transport aircraft as a mothership to launch this aircraft into space. However, since the supersonic aircraft was not successfully developed, it ultimately became a rocket launch to reach the space station and wait for deployment..."

"You mean, Boeing is also going to develop a similar spaceplane?"

"That's right!" Qin Liang nodded. "Being confined to the interior of the atmosphere is too boring. Our future is the stars and the sea!"

Boeing is a huge company, and it's currently dominated by engineers, so they're eager to research new technologies. Qin Liang provided them with a new track, but... it's the wrong track.

Spaceplanes have long been proven to be unreliable. The American Space Shuttle and the Russian Buran both failed to materialize. In later generations, human exploration of space returned to the conventional route of spacecraft.

Therefore, Boeing's current plans to develop a spaceplane are absolutely misguided; the further they go, the more useless it will become...

Steiner's eyes lit up: "Okay, I understand. I'll talk to the NASA people when I get back!"

"Then I'll wait for your good news! We can also use the cooperation method of the Sonic Cruiser!"

Steiner's body trembled inexplicably. He wanted to say, "Mr. Qin, we're not making an appointment!"
However, he dared not say that he couldn't afford to offend Qin Liang right now, as they might need their help in the future. So, he could only manage a smile and say, "I also hope that we can continue to cooperate in the future."

Anyone who partners with you will be in trouble. Boeing doesn't want to be blacklisted by the Air Force. This kind of spaceplane is clearly meant for military use!

(End of this chapter)