Siheyuan (traditional courtyard house): Starting with the Korean War, returning home to take charge

As the twelve-ship Chinese fleet passed through the Tsushima Strait, the sea was moonless. He Yuzhu stood in the main control room of the defense platform, watching the gray ship shadows disperse according to the predetermined formation, forming an unfolding arc on the radar screen. He Nianhua sat at the telemetry and control console, reporting the parameters: "In the Sea of ​​Japan direction, twenty-three Japanese main warships are distributed in two areas: the open sea and the near shore. Targets have been arranged by tonnage, with priority given to large destroyers and helicopter carriers. Electromagnetic pulses will be used to destroy their radar and fire control systems, followed by lasers to destroy their propulsion control units. The hulls will remain intact."

He Yuzhu nodded. "Begin."

The first wave of electromagnetic pulse strikes arrived simultaneously three minutes later. The radar signals of eleven ships went out on the screen at almost the same pace, like a row of lights being switched off one after another. He Nianhua did not look up. "Fire control system failure, radar signal lost, switching to lasers." His voice was flat, his fingers continuing to move across the keyboard.

He Yuzhu turned away from the main control panel and walked to the observation window. On the sea, the hit ships floated on the water in different positions. The stern of a destroyer was slowly turning, being carried southeast by the ocean current. The deck lights of the helicopter carrier next to it were still on, but there was no activity around it. He Nianhua said from behind the control panel, "All targets have been confirmed to be incapacitated," his tone still calm, as if he were reading a bill that had already been confirmed. He Yuzhu did not reply; he continued to look at the sea.

The voice came from an open frequency band, without a call sign or identification, as if it were coming from a drifting ship. The voice was deep, like sandpaper rubbing against a dry iron pipe: "You don't sink our ships, but you make them unable to move. That's more humiliating than sinking them."

He Yuzhu's fingers rose from the windowsill, hovering in mid-air, not falling. He listened to the sentence, but didn't turn around or reply. He stood there, the silence left by the voice after it had traveled through the frequency range still hanging in the air, like a feather that hadn't yet settled. He Nianhua didn't look up, but his fingers paused on the keyboard for a moment.

"Lock onto the launchers. Mark all. Send back to command center and await further instructions." After saying this, he cut off the communication link and turned to He Yuzhu, "The Japanese land-based anti-ship missile sites have begun to move. The launchers are retreating towards the city. Satellite imagery shows that one group has already entered the outskirts of residential areas and is moving towards denser housing. They are trying to use civilians as cover to avoid being targeted by our precision strikes."

He Yuzhu turned around and returned to the control console. He glanced at the moving launcher markers on the screen. "Cease all fire preparations against the land-based positions. Maintain surveillance to ensure all launchers remain within control. If they turn towards the sea, initiate interception."

He Nianhua's voice came from the control station, still steady. "Once these launch vehicles fully enter residential areas, we will be unable to strike them without causing collateral damage. Furthermore, if the Japanese change their tactical intentions and use the launch vehicles to launch surprise attacks on surface ships, we will lose sufficient lead time for interception."

He Yuzhu didn't answer. He stood in front of the control console, watching the slowly moving markers infiltrate the residential area at a uniform pace, forming a slowly expanding fan on the screen. He muttered something in a low voice, almost to himself: "They know we can see them." After a moment, he turned to Yang Xiaobing, "If the launch vehicle completely enters the city, there's only one interception plan left: wait for them to leave, or wait for them to launch." He Yuzhu didn't add anything after saying this.

He Nianhua's fingers returned to the keyboard. He moved all the launch vehicle markers from the "Attackable" category to the "Continuous Monitoring" category without pausing or hesitating, as if he had already completed the task in his mind; his fingers were merely resting on the paper. The moving markers on the screen changed to a new color—from dark red to light red, indicating that they would not be attacked for the time being and would instead be continuously monitored. He glanced at the slowly moving launch vehicle markers, then closed the window without looking at them again.

Yang Xiaobing stood by the window, the map in his hand folded repeatedly, the edges of the paper turning white from the creases. His gaze remained fixed on his reflection in the window, without turning his head. "If they enter the city, there's not much we can do. Unless we're willing to accept collateral damage, we can only wait for them to complete their deployment or relocate."

He Yuzhu stood there, silent, like a stone worn smooth by time. Outside the window, the disabled ships remained adrift on the sea, neither moving away nor approaching. He turned and walked back to the control panel. A crease marked the edge of the map, left by repeated folding; the paper was slightly white, as if something was slowly being consumed, its edges worn down with each fold. He Yuzhu closed the map, placed it back on the table, and didn't look at it again. The drifting ships remained in their positions, like a group of objects untied from their mooring lines, having forgotten how to drift on their own, awaiting some unissued command. That command might never come, or it might have already come, but no one had noticed it yet. The ships wouldn't leave on their own, and He Yuzhu wouldn't look at the sea again. He stood by the window, his back to the ships.