Courtyard Houses: The Great Masters of a Nation Hidden Within

Gao Jianguo counted on his fingers, explaining each item to General Guan.

"It's passable against shaped charge rounds, but much worse against armor-piercing rounds. We'll have to think about how to achieve both armor penetration and armor protection."

"Infantrymen following alongside tanks are easily injured by shrapnel from the explosion."

"It's impossible to hang it on something as thin as an armored vehicle; it only works on a heavy metal object like a tank."

"It was ruined after one use. After the explosion, there was a large area where the protective shield was disabled, so we need to remove it and replace it with a new one as soon as possible."

Gao Jianguo concluded: "Looking at it this way, using spaced composite armor as the main armor is not cost-effective. It's more suitable for upgrading old tanks, or attaching it to the outside of the main armor of new tanks, like homogeneous steel armor or composite armor, to add another layer of protection."

General Manager Guan had long since put those shortcomings behind him. The two things, "upgrading the protection of old tanks" and "further improving protection," alone were enough to get him going all out.

Moreover, the system that Gao Jianguo presented was complete in terms of structure, materials, and technology. The grassland tractor factory could simply copy it, conduct a few trials, and produce a working product.

He spread out paper and pen and asked Gao Jianguo for advice point by point. The two of them talked for a long time.

Finally, Gao Jianguo explained the armored vehicle topic clearly, and General Guan, having learned a great deal, finally straightened his back from the table.

To his surprise, Gao Jianguo then threw in another remark that made his head spin: "I also have some ideas about artillery."

Comrade Jianguo, are you never going to stop?

General Guan steadied himself and said, "Jianguo, wait a minute. The three main components of a tank are firepower, protection, and mobility. Are you trying to cover both firepower and protection? Don't rush. Let me go back and invite the chief engineer in charge of artillery over for you so we can talk in person."

Gao Jianguo was a little confused, thinking: The grassland tractor factory is not close to Beijing, how can you just make a trip like that? "I'll just tell you directly, you can go back and relay the message, why bother coming all this way?"

General Guan explained, "I'm not in the firepower department. First, what you just said is very detailed, very feasible, and very advanced; it crosses professional boundaries, so we have to be careful about confidentiality. Second, I'm not a firepower specialist, and I'm afraid I might miss important details or misunderstand things when relaying them, which would be a real shame."

Gao Jianguo listened without saying anything more, and nodded. He understood that keeping secrets was no small matter.

Seeing that it was getting late, he and Boss Guan got up, pushed open the door and went out to greet the people outside, while also thinking about how to fill their stomachs.

The two men stepped out of the courtyard and were immediately stunned—Director Yang and Director Chen were both there, and Staff Officer Lin and several soldiers were also scattered around Gao Jianguo's house, keeping watch.

They had assumed that Director Yang and the others had already returned, but they were surprised to find that they were still waiting outside.

Seeing the two appear, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Factory Director Yang said with a smile, "You two have worked hard. Come on, come on, I've arranged dinner. Let's go grab a bite to eat first."

The two agreed, and Gao Jianguo was about to walk out of the courtyard when Director Yang stopped him with a smile: "This way, this way. I had Chef He from the canteen get the materials from the factory and cook them at his place."

Gao Jianguo mentally gave Director Yang a thumbs up, thinking to himself: Look at him, he's such a thorough leader.

As Guan followed them toward Sha Zhu's house, he instructed the factory workers and Staff Officer Lin who had come with him: "No alcohol tonight. We'll head back to the factory first thing tomorrow morning."

Staff Officer Lin's eyes narrowed, and he roughly understood what General Guan meant. He turned to the soldiers who had followed him and instructed them: "Remember, on the way back, General Guan's safety is the top priority."

Several soldiers responded crisply and forcefully, "Yes, sir!"

At Sha Zhu's house, he sat guarding a table full of dishes, while He Yushui watched from the side, swallowing hard. However, the two of them had already eaten, as Gao Jianguo and Boss Guan had been talking for far too long.

Seeing a group of people come in, with Gao Jianguo among them, Sha Zhu guessed that he must have done something amazing again, otherwise Director Yang and Director Chen would never have been starving and waiting for him and another person in this courtyard.

Thinking of this, Sha Zhu felt a surge of pride and joy.

Factory Director Yang warmly invited everyone to sit down, but General Manager Guan firmly rejected the suggestion of having a couple of drinks. Judging from his attitude, Factory Director Yang and Director Chen exchanged a glance, guessing what was going on, and sighed inwardly: Gao Jianguo is quite something, even a last-minute exchange has made General Manager Guan and the others take it so seriously.

After everyone finished eating, He Yuzhu happily cleaned up the leftovers, and Gao Jianguo escorted the group to the courtyard gate.

As they were parting, General Guan couldn't resist and picked up a hoe, asking, "Jianguo, how about coming to work for us?"

Before Gao Jianguo could speak, Factory Director Yang chimed in: "Jianguo is an eighth-level engineer in our factory and the head of the research group." He didn't explicitly refuse, but his words carried weight.

This Mr. Guan is really unscrupulous. He just helped you solve a problem, and now he's poaching people.

When Gao Jianguo's colleagues at the Grassland Tractor Factory looked at his age, they were all a little surprised by his title of Level 8 Engineer. But after thinking about the glorious deeds they had heard about at the Third Steel Rolling Mill, they felt that it made perfect sense.

Seeing how fiercely Director Yang guarded his food, General Manager Guan realized that he couldn't sway Gao Jianguo, the big fish. But, with his eagerness to catch something, he decided to try and catch a few smaller fish instead.

"Jianguo, are there any students graduating from your school next year? Could you recommend a few? If your school's metallurgy program can produce someone like you, the other students must be just as good."

Gao Jianguo looked completely bewildered: "Huh? Metallurgy?"

"Mr. Guan, I studied automation."

Mr. Guan was stunned. What? Automation?

With his head full of "automation shock," General Guan said goodbye to Gao Jianguo in a daze.

Decades later, when interviewed about the development of domestically produced tanks, General Guan mentioned that trip to Beijing: "That trip to Beijing solved the material problem and yielded design schemes for two advanced armors. We were overjoyed. When I learned that Comrade Gao Jianguo majored in automation, I was completely dumbfounded and couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time. His talent and ability in materials made me never imagine that his original field was automation. At that time, I thought that he had really gone astray by studying automation. If he had started with materials, who knows how much more he would have achieved."

The reporter was astonished, and General Manager Guan added, "Later, it turned out I was completely wrong. Only after a bunch of classified files were declassified did we hear about the astonishing achievements Comrade Gao Jianguo made in his field and several other areas. All I can say is that a genius who is willing to work hard can reach heights that ordinary people can't even imagine."