Rebirth: Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Part 160：Northwest Base

The meeting lasted for over six hours. After explaining his design principles to the senior experts in the field of aerospace, Jiang Fan's design for the thousand-ton rocket engine gained considerable recognition. Based on his explanations, they now believed that the design had at least a 50% feasibility.

As evening fell, Liu Tianhang suggested taking a break and continuing the discussion the following day. After dinner, Jiang Fan was arranged to rest in the guest room at the Aerospace Bureau's headquarters, while the bureau's director, Zhang Kesong, along with the senior experts, continued their in-depth discussions.

In the end, they all agreed to proceed with Jiang Fan's thousand-ton rocket engine design. Liu Tianhang, the commander of the Northwest Base, was particularly excited and said, "Director Zhang, we must conduct research on Jiang Fan's thousand-ton engine at our base!"

Zhang Kesong, the Director of the Aerospace Bureau, nodded approvingly. "No problem! But don't let me down this time."

"Rest assured, Director. I won't disappoint you," Liu Tianhang assured him.

The Northwest Aerospace Base, with a history of seventy years, was the first aerospace research facility in the Dragon Kingdom. It played a crucial role in the country's rise in the aerospace field. However, in recent years, the Southwest Aerospace Base and the Kyoto Rocket Engine Base had been established, both achieving remarkable results, especially the Kyoto Rocket Engine Base, which had developed a 500-ton rocket engine, making significant progress for the country.

In contrast, the Northwest Base had been relatively quiet, with no major technological breakthroughs in recent years. After finalizing Jiang Fan's design, the senior experts finally felt a sense of relief, their mood significantly lighter. They returned to their guest rooms to rest, knowing that they would need to come up with a detailed implementation plan to start the development of Jiang Fan's thousand-ton engine the next day.

At the residence of Director Zhang Kesong, he brewed a pot of Da Hong Pao tea and poured a cup for Liu Tianhang. Liu Tianhang drank it in one gulp, feeling thirsty from all the talking he had done earlier.

"Xiao Liu, how long has it been since we last shared a cup of tea together?" Zhang Kesong asked.

Liu Tianhang thought for a moment and replied, "Probably seven or eight years."

"Seven or eight years! Time flies, doesn't it?" Zhang Kesong sighed.

"Remember when you were the commander of the Western Aerospace Base and I was the chief engineer? Those were the days, weren't they?" Liu Tianhang said with pride, his face lighting up with nostalgia.

"Yes, even though we were the second generation to take over the Northwest Base, we didn't let down the expectations of the first generation. In just twenty years, under our leadership, the Northwest Aerospace Base made over a hundred major breakthroughs in aerospace technology. Every year, the national honors we received were displayed on the wall of fame..." Both of them looked back on those glorious days with pride in their eyes. It was a shared honor, the pinnacle of the Northwest Base's achievements.

Back then, with over 500 research personnel and 50,000 aerospace technicians, as soon as Zhang Kesong gave the order, everyone worked with enthusiasm. No matter how difficult the challenge, they never saw anything as insurmountable.

But somewhere along the way, the base began to decline. In recent years, there had been almost no major breakthroughs. The realization of this fact made both of them's gaze dim, and they fell into a reflective silence.

It wasn't until the alarm on Liu Tianhang's phone rang at midnight that the silence was broken.

"Xiao Liu, I know you've been under a lot of pressure lately. I shouldn't add to it. But our Northwest Base has been in a state of dormancy for too long. I hope that with Jiang Fan's design, we can revive our base!" Zhang Kesong said earnestly.

"I will make it happen!" Liu Tianhang responded.

The next day, the Aerospace Bureau headquarters developed a detailed implementation plan for Jiang Fan's thousand-ton rocket engine design. However, they encountered difficulty with assigning a lead engineer for the project.

Since the design was Jiang Fan's idea, it was only natural that he should be the project's chief engineer. However, the Northwest Aerospace Base already had a chief engineer for the rocket engine development, and this engineer's team had successfully developed the 300-ton rocket engine. Having two chief engineers could cause friction.

Moreover, Jiang Fan was only temporarily assigned to lead the development at the Northwest Base, and after the project was completed, he would likely leave. If Jiang Fan were to take the position of chief engineer, the current engineer, Ge Zhicheng, would certainly have objections. Liu Tianhang knew Ge's stubborn and rigid personality very well.

In the end, no one was able to come up with a satisfactory solution. Liu Tianhang finally proposed to take Jiang Fan to the Northwest Base and have a conversation with the current chief engineer, Ge Zhicheng.