The Life of a Son-in-Law in a Courtyard House

When Yang Dalin returned, he saw that Wang Xiaohai was still packing up the things. The wild rabbits and pheasants that Yang Dalin had brought in his tricycle were alright, as they had all been cleaned.

However, the sea fish we brought needs to be thawed in warm water first, otherwise they will be frozen solid and difficult to handle.

Yang Dalin cleaned up the dozen or so fish he had just caught, leaning against the fire.

These were just caught and haven't frozen solid yet, so they're relatively easy to handle.

Yang Dalin cleaned it up quickly, scaling and gutting it, and he even brought a small knife, which was very useful.

Yang Dalin didn't dare use the jet-black dagger he had acquired a few days ago, not knowing what it was made of.

Then Yang Dalin used a shovel to move the fire aside.

Dig up the soil that has been softened by the fire, and prepare it for later use.

Then Yang Dalin took out a steamer he had prepared.

Rinse the cleaned pheasant thoroughly, throw it into a pot, and marinate it briefly.

The rabbit was tied up with a sharpened wooden stick, and there were many small cuts made on the rabbit meat.

It will be easier to bake later, and also easier to apply salt water and seasonings.

Once all preparations are complete.

Use a shovel to shovel some of the embers from the fire into the long, narrow stove you just built.

They stuck the branches in the ground, and then each boy guarded a fish and a rabbit, circling around them.

Don't just bake one side and burn it.

The seasonings and oil are all prepared; let them apply them later.

Then wrap the pheasants in lotus leaves and cover them with mud.

Throw it into the pit you just created, and then cover the surface with some more soil.

The fire is still burning up there.

Those kids who were fishing earlier have all come back with several fish each.

Yang Dalin then instructed Liu Haiyang to take a long wooden stick and stick it into the spot where they had been fishing.

Liu Haiyang asked him, "Boss, why did you do that?"

Yang Dalin told him, "The water over there might freeze in a while. There's a stick stuck there in case someone falls in if it doesn't freeze solid."

"Got it? Go now."

Liu Haiyang then took the handsaw and went into the woods to find a long stick.

However, the lake here isn't very deep; a few meters long stick will suffice.

Taihu Lake is big, right? But its average depth is only 1.9 meters. Can you believe it?

When Yang Dalin worked in Suzhou in his previous life, he even went into the water to catch crabs and thought it was quite deep.

When I checked later, I found that the average depth was only 1.9 meters, which I couldn't believe.

The fish and rabbit got more and more fragrant as they were roasted, and a bunch of boys were practically drooling as they looked at the delicious food in front of them.

Yang Dalin also had to find topics to change the subject from time to time.

Otherwise, they'd all be asking if it's ready yet, or if it's time to eat.

Yang Dalin was extremely annoyed.

These charcoal fires aren't burning well, and they're not store-bought charcoal; they're mostly just ashes from burning. We have to add more every now and then.

Besides, they're all big fish and wild rabbits; they won't be cooked that quickly.

You need patience to bake this thing slowly.

Yang Dalin would chat aimlessly with Liu Haiyang and Zhao Yumin when he had nothing to do.

As we chatted, we talked about what they wanted to do in the future.

Most of them said they would join the army in the future.

Yang Dalin then asked them what kind of soldiers they wanted to be in the future.

Some said they wanted to be air force pilots, some said they wanted to be navy ship pilots, and some wanted to be submariners.

Zhao Yumin said that if he wanted to be a reconnaissance soldier, he had to be the best in the entire army and the most elite soldier.

Yang Dalin knew that he probably wanted to join the special forces, but it seemed that the concept of special forces did not exist in China at the moment.

In its early days, the Red Army had pistol squads and special service regiments, and later, guerrilla units behind enemy lines emerged; these were all precursors to special forces.

To encourage him, Yang Dalin described what special forces would look like in the future: "That's good. Equip them with helicopters, and they can launch low-altitude assaults, penetrate deep behind enemy lines, decapitate enemy leaders, locate enemy artillery positions, report coordinates, guide artillery strikes, and even rescue hostages, among other things."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yumin asked excitedly, "Boss, you're quite knowledgeable. Yes, that's exactly the kind of soldier I want to be."

However, Zhao Yushu quickly lowered his voice and said, "Boss, our country hasn't been equipped with helicopters yet."

Yang Dalin knew that the navy and air force were both very weak at the moment.

The navy mainly consists of a few destroyers and some gunboats weighing tens or hundreds of tons.

The later Type 62 gunboats had a displacement of 110 tons.

Compared to naval powers, this is practically a tiny Karami.

The Air Force is alright; it still has some J-5 fighters, which are a bit stronger than the Navy.

However, it is also limited.

Yang Dalin couldn't help but sigh at the difficulty of developing naval and air force equipment.

The country was facing difficulties, lacked funds and research capabilities, and had strained relations with Russia, making it arguably the most challenging time of its existence.

Not to mention the Russian army pressing in from behind, a thought suddenly popped into Yang Dalin's mind.

If there are no helicopters, there are still gyroplanes, which are the three-wheeled vehicles that were widely used in later generations.

It seems that helicopters are not currently in service with any military. Even the original Z-5 helicopter was not officially produced and equipped by the troops until 64.

I have researched information on aerial tricycles, and they were developed as early as 1923.

However, I don't know why the tech tree didn't develop towards gyroplanes; instead, they all went into researching helicopters.

However, in later centuries, three-wheeled vehicles were still widely deployed in the air.

That means the three-wheeled motorcycles in the air have combat capability and an advantage.

However, the new-era aerial tricycles can be equipped with anti-tank missiles, and one person can carry a man-portable air defense missile.

It's definitely different now.

However, this thing is cheap enough, simple enough, and can be equipped in large quantities.

It is said that a motorcycle engine can power it, and it only needs to burn gasoline, not aviation kerosene.

It can also perform low-altitude attacks, with a minimum flight altitude of just over one meter, and carry several hundred kilograms of supplies. For the current People's Liberation Army, it could be considered a very good weapon.

Although this thing has a short range and its weapons aren't that powerful, it's cost-effective.

Although this thing cannot take off and land vertically, cannot hover in the air, and requires a short runway.

But this thing is cheap enough that the cost of one Jeep could probably make many of these.

For the current People's Liberation Army, cheap and easy to use, close-combat defense is sufficient.

Why think so much?

We'll equip ourselves with more helicopters when we have more money in the future.

The price of 20 million for the later WZ-10 attack helicopter is nothing compared to the fact that this thing only costs 70,000 to 100,000 RMB to manufacture. That tells you how cheap it is.

In the next decade or so, the prevailing sentiment in China is that everyone is a soldier.

It can be said that they won without advanced weapons, relying solely on sheer numbers.

Yang Dalin was thinking about how to bring up this matter and ask Zhao Yumin and Liu Haiyang to mention it to their families.

It couldn't be suspected, after all, Yang Dalin was just a poor boy from the countryside who had never been in contact with military equipment, so how would he know about rotorcraft?

Therefore, Yang Dalin still needs to pay attention to safety.

Yang Dalin thought for a moment and said to Zhao Yumin, "Yumin, do you know if there are any small helicopter-like aircraft that can take off with a very short runway?"

Look, many propeller planes during World War II could actually take off from the ground, on simple grass, without needing a special runway.

Is there an aircraft, similar to a helicopter, that can also take off like this?

Of course, its carrying capacity and range might be limited, but it could still be useful for simple penetration, carrying a few hundred kilograms of supplies to deliver some provisions to islands or harsh border regions, right?

Yang Dalin knew that a gyroplane couldn't take off in a Force 5 gale, but this simple contraption still held great value for the People's Liberation Army.

This thing can take off from a short runway of only 30 to 50 meters or from a grassy or sandy beach.

If China were to equip itself with tens of thousands of these things, each carrying some bombs, do you think the Russians' tens of thousands of tanks would dare to come?

Just put an anti-tank bomb on each one, and it'll fly right over your head and blow you up.

So what if you have tens of thousands of tanks? You'll roast them all like turtles.

It can also penetrate enemy forward positions such as helicopter airfields, air force bases, supply depots, artillery positions, logistics support sites, railway stations, and cities.

This thing flies at low altitudes, making it difficult for radar to detect.

Even if the casualties are higher, the domestic authorities should be willing to use it.