At exactly eleven o'clock in the morning, the door of the No. 1 Secure Conference Room of the General Staff Department was finally pushed open from the outside.
Before this moment, the completely enclosed conference room had been steeped in silence.
The ashtray was piled high with cigarette butts, and the thick smell of smoke nearly solidified, clinging to the skin.
None of the leaders present spoke; all eyes were fixed intently on the conference room door, their gaze betraying an uncontainable anxiety.
From the moment the assembly order was issued at six in the morning until now, spanning nearly the entire Dragon Nation, the urgent dispatch had finally reached its conclusion at this moment.
Zhou Huaichang stubbed out the cigarette butt that had burned to its end in his hand, his fingertips slightly numb from the heat, yet he seemed completely unaware.
A sleepless night had left his eyes webbed with red veins, and his shirt collar wrinkled from long hours of sitting, but as he stood, his posture remained impeccably straight, the sharpness of a soldier undiminished.
"Please, let the experts in." His voice was hoarse from the sleepless night, yet it still carried weight.
The staff officer at the door stood at attention and saluted, stepping aside to clear the way.
The first to enter was an elderly man with graying hair.
He wore a deep gray Zhongshan suit, faded from washing, with frayed cuffs, clutching a canvas bag worn at the corners, emblazoned with the words "National Industrial Study Daqing" from over a decade ago.
The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes gathered together, and perched on his nose was a pair of old reading glasses with one broken arm, held together with tape, yet his eyes were astonishingly bright, as if they held two lifelong flames.
Lu Bingwen, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Shuimu University, a pioneer in the field of CNC technology in New Dragon Nation, and the core designer of the nation's first independently developed CNC milling machine.
Lu Bingwen's gaze fell on the people entering behind him, and the canvas bag in his hand thudded onto the table, unnoticed by him.
Following him was Professor Zhang Jingshan from Jingshi University of Technology, an absolute authority in the field of servo drive in the country, his hair neatly combed, but his face full of unconcealed astonishment.
Next was Li Congnian, the Chief Engineer of Institute 625 of the Ministry of Aviation, a leader in the field of precision machining for aviation in the country.
Li Maolin, the Chief Engineer of Institute 715 of the Shipbuilding Industry, the core person responsible for nuclear submarine propeller processing technology.
Wang Hongbin, the Chief Engineer of the Shenyang Machine Tool Research Institute, the foremost figure in the design of complete machine tools in the country, stood with the straight posture typical of Northeasterners, yet the shock in his eyes was impossible to hide.
And the Chief Engineer of the First Research Institute of the Ministry of Nuclear Industry, the mechanical titan from Xi'an Jiaotong University, the CNC algorithm expert from Shanghai Jiao Tong University...
One after another, all were towering figures in the domestic fields of machinery, CNC, and military processing.
These individuals, even at a national industry summit, would be a rare gathering if half of them could be assembled.
Yet today, on this ordinary morning, they had all gathered in the secure conference room of the General Staff Department, each wearing the fatigue of travel and the same bewilderment and shock. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
Lu Bingwen adjusted the reading glasses slipping down his nose, his bony fingers gripping the strap of his canvas bag, turning to look at Wang Hongbin beside him, "Old Wang? Why are you here too? I thought... they only called a few of us from Jingshi."
Wang Hongbin's expression was a mix of surprise and doubt, leaning in to whisper to Lu Bingwen, "I still don't know what's going on. The soldier who picked me up only said it was a national top-secret mission, not a word more. Old Lu, what on earth is happening? What could have pulled all of us old folks from across the country?"
"How would I know?" Lu Bingwen shook his head, his gaze sweeping across the room, his heart pounding faster, "This is no small matter, it's definitely something critical to the military industry."
The surrounding experts had also gathered their wits, clustering in small groups, exchanging whispers filled with shock and confusion.
They had spent their lives dealing with machine tools and blueprints, never having encountered such a scene... escorted under full guard, with no explanation, no communication allowed, not even a chance to speak to their families.
What alarmed them even more was the power and significance behind being able to gather all the top experts in this field from across the nation to the General Staff Department in Jingshi within five hours, far beyond their imagination.
Zhou Huaichang looked at this group of gray-haired experts, the backbone of Dragon Nation's advanced manufacturing, and felt a slight heaviness in his heart.
He raised his hand and gave a standard military salute to everyone present.
With a rustle, the conference room fell silent, all eyes focused on Zhou Huaichang.
"Experts, thank you for your hard work." Zhou Huaichang lowered his hand, his expression solemn, "The reason for urgently gathering everyone from across the country today is due to a top-secret mission concerning the lifeline of our national military industry.
I must first clarify three rules: First, everything seen and heard here today is to remain confidential for life, not a word is to be disclosed to anyone, including your family, colleagues, and students.
Second, all verification work must be completed within this conference room, no paper or pen is to be taken out, no information is to be copied or retained privately.
Third, the verification results are only to be known by those present and the leaders here, not to be disseminated externally."
As his words fell, the conference room was silent.
Lu Bingwen stepped forward, adjusting his reading glasses to look at Zhou Huaichang, and was the first to speak, "Vice Minister Zhou, we've spent our lives in technology, we understand confidentiality protocols. Just tell us, what mission requires all of us old folks to come running?"
Zhou Huaichang's gaze swept across the room, speaking each word with weight, "We have obtained, through special channels, a complete set of technical data for a 5-axis Linkage CNC Machine Tool. We have invited you experts here today to verify the authenticity of this data with the highest professional standards."
What!?
The statement was like a bomb exploding in the sealed conference room.
In an instant, the previously quiet room erupted in an uncontrollable commotion.
Lu Bingwen stood frozen, his canvas bag slipping from his right hand, spilling drawing pens and slide rules across the floor.
He seemed not to notice, his lips trembling, taking two more steps forward, eyes wide, his voice shaking uncontrollably, "Vice Minister Zhou, what did you say? 5-axis Linkage? Complete technical data?!"
"Yes." Zhou Huaichang nodded, looking at the group of flustered old experts, his heart a mix of emotions.
He knew too well how shocking this was for those who had dedicated their lives to technology! Get faster updates on g.com.
"Impossible!" Wang Hongbin blurted out, his loud Northeastern voice nearly lifting the roof, realizing his outburst, he quickly lowered his voice, but the disbelief on his face remained unchanged,
"Vice Minister Zhou, CoCom guards 5-axis machine tools more tightly than nuclear bombs back in the day. Not to mention a complete set of blueprints, even a single component drawing couldn't possibly make its way into Dragon Nation! We've been at it for over a decade, haven't even touched the threshold, how could we... obtain a complete set of data?"
"Whether it's real or not, we'll rely on you to verify." Zhou Huaichang gestured to the staff officer behind him.
Two staff officers immediately approached with a stack of thick photocopied materials, distributing them according to the six pre-divided modules to each expert.
Blueprints, algorithm codes, process documents, assembly specifications, debugging plans, quality inspection standards... a thick stack spread across the table like a small mountain.
Lu Bingwen crouched on the floor, hastily gathering his canvas bag, forgetting even the slide rule on the ground, lunging to the table, his fingers trembling as he opened the topmost complete machine design blueprint.
With just one glance, his breath caught.
The surrounding experts crowded around, craning their necks to see the lines, annotations, and tolerance fits on the blueprints, gasping in astonishment.
"My God... it's the structural blueprint for the Dual-Swivel Milling Head... even the heat treatment process is clearly marked..."
"This is the source code for the 5-axis Linkage Real-Time Interpolation Algorithm! It's industrial-grade implementation code! Not a theoretical model from a lab!"
"And there's the machining plan for aerospace blades! Even the tool path is fully marked!"
Decades of suppressed longing surged forth like a flood breaking through a dam!
These gray-haired old experts, like children seeing a rare treasure, their eyes shone with light, crowding around the table, eagerly examining the blueprints, muttering to themselves, their breathing becoming rapid.
Zhou Huaichang watched this scene, speaking in a steady voice, "Experts, we have divided into six verification groups based on professional fields: CNC System Algorithm Group, Complete Machine Mechanical Design Group, Servo Drive Technology Group, Core Component Processing Technology Group, Aerospace Application Plan Group, and Shipbuilding Military Processing Specification Group.
You may form groups according to your professional fields and complete the full verification within this conference room. We have prepared slide rules, scratch paper, and any other needs can be addressed to the staff outside."
As his words fell, the experts immediately sprang into action.
"Algorithm experts, come over here!" Lu Bingwen called out, and the algorithm experts from Shuimu, Xi'an Jiaotong, and Shanghai Jiao Tong Universities quickly gathered in the left corner of the conference room with their corresponding materials.
"Servo drive experts, come to me!" Zhang Jingshan also called out, leading a group from Beijing University of Technology to occupy the right side of the table.
"Aviation experts, follow me!"
"Shipbuilding experts, over here!"
The initially bewildered experts quickly found their places, efficiently forming groups, clutching their thick stacks of materials, eager to begin verification.