Siheyuan: I, Shazhu, started out as an army and became a general.

1964, spring.

On this day, a page was forcibly torn from the textbook of world naval history.

Huludao Shipyard.

There was none of the usual boisterous fanfare; the scene was eerily quiet, even somewhat menacing. From every vantage point, snipers coldly pointed their guns outwards, and even a passing seagull that dared to squawk would likely be shot down.

The huge lock gate on the slipway, which had been closed for three years, opened.

The sunlight, like a spotlight that knows how to assess the situation, shone fiercely on that long-dormant steel behemoth.

Hull number: 101. Ship name: Nanchang.

But when the "Nanchang" ship appeared, everyone on the reviewing stand gasped.

It's so strange, and so beautiful.

It lacked the haphazard antennas that resembled illegal structures on warships of that era, and there were no cannons protruding everywhere. The entire hull was as smooth as a faceted black gemstone, possessing a violent aesthetic that seemed out of place in this age.

Especially in the midsection of the ship, there are 112 square "chocolate blocks"—vertical launch cells. The covers are tightly closed, yet they seem to hide 112 smiles of death.

A 10,000-ton destroyer! The first ship launched!

On the viewing platform, Marshal Nie gripped the railing tightly, his knuckles white. Beside him, Commander Xiao took off his glasses, rubbing them repeatedly, as if afraid his presbyopia was causing him to misread the image.

"This is...our entire arsenal?" Commander Xiao's voice trembled. "Rain Column, this thing looks so different from American warships!"

"That must be different."

He Yuzhu, dressed in a crisp general's uniform, stood beside the bigwigs, his tone calm: "The Americans' 'Ticonderoga' is still just a pipe dream. Ours? It's only half a century ahead of them. This is called 'stealth design.' On radar, it looks like a small fishing boat of at most thirty tons."

"A small fishing boat?"

Marshal Nie laughed in exasperation, slamming his hand on the railing: "What a fishing boat! If all fishing boats looked like this, would we even need coastal defense? We could just go fishing across the ocean without fear!"

"Sir, you've broadened your perspective." He Yuzhu took a bottle of specially supplied Moutai from his adjutant, grinned, and said, "According to the rules, this 'bottle-throwing ceremony' should be performed by you to consecrate it."

Nie Shuai tried to refuse, but He Yuzhu simply shoved the bottle into the old man's hand.

"This ship was saved up by the entire nation through sheer hard work and sacrifice. Smashing this bottle of liquor is like infusing it with its soul. Smash it!"

Marshal Nie took a deep breath and swung his arm in a wide arc.

"Bang!"

The Maotai shattered, releasing its rich aroma in an instant. Accompanied by a long, resounding blast of the ship's horn, this futuristic steel behemoth crashed into the sea via the slide!

"Boom—!"

The massive 10,000-ton vessel crashed into the sea, sending up waves several stories high. But just seconds later, it floated steadily on the surface, like a moving black mountain, arrogantly surveying the area.

At that moment, the dockworkers went mad. Hats and gloves were thrown into the air, and only one scream echoed through the sky:

"Long live the People's Navy!"

……

Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away, at the U.S. Pacific Command.

The intelligence officer, clutching photos just transmitted from the satellite, nearly tripped over the threshold and fell flat on his face when he rushed into the office.

"Sir! Something terrible has happened! That coordinate... God, the Chinese have created a monster!"

"What's the panic! The sky isn't going to fall!"

The commander impatiently snatched the photo. After just one glance, the coffee cup in his hand fell to the ground with a "crash" and shattered.

Although the photo is in black and white, the futuristic geometric cuts, the terrifying main gun caliber, and the densely packed, honeycomb-like missile silos are like a slap in the face to the face of the US military's proud technological hegemony.

"What the hell is this thing? A cruiser? A battleship? Or a space fortress?"

The commander pointed at the radar array in the photo, his fingers trembling: "Is this the radar that locked onto our deadly 'keyhole' satellite last time? This is a ship? What kind of ship has this kind of strategic radar installed?"

"Sir..." The intelligence officer swallowed hard, his face ashen. "The CIA's assessment report just arrived. They said... based on its appearance, this could be... a new type of large ocean-going fisheries patrol vessel."

"A fisheries patrol vessel?!"

The commander was so enraged he nearly had a stroke, tearing the report to shreds: "Your fisheries patrol vessel has 112 missile craters? Are they going to bomb fish or bomb the White House?! F**k! Are those idiots in the CIA's brains filled with mush?!"

"So... will the Seventh Fleet still proceed with its planned 'freedom of navigation' operation?"

"Sailing my ass!" The commander slumped into his chair, feeling a chill run down his spine. "Pass on my order: the Seventh Fleet must immediately retreat 500 nautical miles! No, 800 nautical miles! Until we figure out the capabilities of this monster, anyone who dares to mess with it will be court-martialed!"

……

Huludao, the pier.

The cheers gradually subsided.

He Yuzhu stood in the sea breeze, lit a cigarette, and looked at the majestic 055 on the sea. There was not much excitement in his eyes, only a kind of "basic operation" indifference.

"Mr. He, is everything settled now?" Zhang Xiaowu's face was flushed with excitement. "The 055 has been launched, can we finally take a break? Everyone's exhausted after this year."

"Have a holiday?"

He Yuzhu exhaled a smoke ring, which was quickly dispersed by the sea breeze. He turned around and gazed at the deeper, darker seabed.

"Xiao Wu, have you ever seen a duck that can only splash around on the surface of the water, but never a deep-sea crocodile that's always underwater?"

He patted his inner pocket, where he found a USB drive that was incredibly valuable in those days—a detailed explanation of pump-jet propulsion and seven-bladed large skew propeller technology.

"We've got the face we need, now it's time to get down to business. We've regained our footing on the surface, and it's time to teach those 'nuclear bastards' hiding underwater a lesson."

He Yuzhu stubbed out his cigarette, his eyes instantly turning sharp as knives.

"Get the car ready! Heading to the nuclear submarine base! Old Huang is still waiting there for my 'silent heart'!"

P.S.: Here are the location names, first come, first served. The naming rights are in everyone's hands (destroyer, aircraft carrier). We can't wait in the real world, so let's have some fun here first...