Fluid dynamics, stress distribution, and related engineering considerations have long had extensive practical applications. The engineers of the Aircraft Design Bureau, working in cooperation with engineering mathematics experts and the calculation experts of the Computing Center, finally produced results after 230 hours of calculation.

Wang Donglu scanned the four long data tables. The other three were sent in batches from three other computing centers. Wang Donglu's team was exhausted; their work was not easy. After each batch of data arrived, everyone had to analyze and discuss it. Now, waiting for the final batch, the team members finally relaxed. Judging from the data already received, the theoretical results calculated by the four computing centers were identical. Now they only waited for the final batch to arrive. After completing the comparison, this calculation task would be finished.

At this moment, everyone even had time to discuss which domestic metallurgical teams had the capability to complete such precision machining. No matter how precise the theoretical data, it needed to be turned into reality. The Aircraft Design Bureau's job was design, not manufacturing. No matter how good the prototype was, that was the work of other teams.

Wang Donglu thought he should be happy, but surprisingly, he couldn't cheer up. His thoughts uncontrollably drifted back to the internal mess within the Design Bureau team. The few people Wang Donglu was most dissatisfied with relied most heavily on their background. In Wang Donglu's view, that so-called background, in a sense, had actually become a hindrance for them.

If these people could disregard their various connections and focus their attention on the work itself, they would likely achieve far more than they had now. But unfortunately, their motives were impure; they pursued results rather than the work itself, presenting an appearance Wang Donglu found very disagreeable. These people had a demoniac rejection of "failure." To prove they hadn't failed, they would gloss over mistakes, shirk responsibility, and find other excuses to prove they hadn't failed.

If these people only did this within their own teams, Wang Donglu would have held his nose and accepted it. But to prove themselves, this bunch naturally wanted to elevate their own teams by stepping on Wang Donglu's team. Wang Donglu absolutely could not tolerate this. On what grounds?!

Just as he was thinking, the door was pushed open. A clerk from the team brought in the latest parameters. The team members, who were chatting, immediately stood up and gathered around. They put the parameter lists together, and the various members split up to discuss them. Work immediately began in tense earnest.

Not long after, the door was pushed open again. This time, someone brought a telegram. Wang Donglu took it and saw that it stated the other teams had completed their data calculations and were preparing to return to the Design Bureau. The Chief Engineer asked when Wang Donglu would return.

Wang Donglu did not reply and continued to throw himself into work. Before long, divergences appeared in the content of several parameters. Moreover, there were problems with the content of the parameters. After the team discussed it for a while, they felt that the calculation methods proposed by the other computing centers might have some issues. Wang Donglu immediately said, "Have them send the calculation methods over."

After giving the order, Wang Donglu began drafting a telegram: "We have encountered a problem with the final parameter. We will return to the Manufacturing Bureau immediately after resolving it. The specific time is uncertain; we will send a telegram every day."

In anxious waiting, the information finally arrived. Upon comparison, everyone discovered that a fluid dynamics calculation method proposed by a mathematical engineer at the Sixth Computing Center differed from that of the other computing centers. This was the cause of the problem.

"Send a telegram. Ask that person to explain," Wang Donglu ordered.

Wang Donglu's team didn't send the parameters back. According to custom, the meeting had to be postponed. Director Liu of the Design Bureau could only pick up the phone and call Zheng Silang, the Minister of the General Logistics Department. Zheng Silang was currently in Guiyang; the reason for his visit was to inspect the work of the local military industrial enterprises. But since Zheng Silang was paying attention to this matter, Director Liu had to inform him first.

Zheng Silang was very silent on the phone. After listening, he only said "I know," and hung up. Director Liu had no choice but to continue waiting.

Sitting across from Zheng Silang was the Secretary of the Design Bureau. Seeing Zheng Silang hang up the phone, he asked somewhat uneasily, "Commander Zheng, is there no result yet?"

Zheng Silang glanced at the Secretary. "I heard from Old Li that there's a prickly character in the Design Bureau. This prickly character's family were officials in the former Qing Dynasty, and they still always consider themselves Beiyang."

The Secretary knew that the infighting within the Design Bureau had been stabbed up to the top. Since Zheng Silang had intervened, the Secretary didn't want to speak. If he expressed support for either side at this moment, it would prove that the "unity" part of his work hadn't been completed. Moreover, since the matter had been blown up, the attitude of the "mountain tops" was very important.

Seeing the Secretary remain silent, Zheng Silang laughed. "Heh, what's there to be afraid of saying?"

Hearing this, the Secretary dared not speak even more. Unity work was important. The appearance of such divergence within the Design Bureau proved the Secretary's management work wasn't up to par.

"Speak quickly, so I can make a decision," Zheng Silang urged.

The Secretary could only answer, "He's not really a prickly character, just some work contradictions."

"Work contradictions have turned into personnel struggles. I say, you really have some skill as a Secretary!" Zheng Silang's expression had already turned into that of a smiling tiger.

The Secretary wanted to admit his mistake, but he had worked under Zheng Silang before and knew Zheng Silang wasn't someone who liked to muddy the waters. And since this matter had been stabbed up to Zheng Silang's level, there certainly had to be a result. The Secretary steeled his heart. "Commander, I feel I can't manage this matter either."

Zheng Silang put away his smiling tiger look, but his face became even less kind. "Is it that you don't want to manage it, or that you can't manage it?"

The Secretary felt he was probably going to be sacked, or at least held responsible. He steeled his heart again and answered, "If following the regulations, I couldn't manage it at the time. Now, although I could manage it, I don't know if it's still my turn to manage it."

"Heh, I ask you, if I let you handle it, how do you plan to handle it?" Zheng Silang asked.

The Secretary felt he seemed to still have a chance and couldn't help swallowing. "Commander, right now I'm not afraid of offending people either. At worst, I'll just disband a few teams."

"Oho, you really dare?" Zheng Silang's tone finally softened a bit.

"The Design Bureau is for doing design, not for managing ideology and politics. If it goes on like this, wouldn't it be better to just let those people run the Design Bureau!" The Secretary had also endured a lot of pressure and had long been very disgusted with some people in the military. But those people cared about their own children; this was human nature, and also the reason the Secretary had wanted to fudge things. Now that the Secretary had to bear the responsibility, the fish would die and the net would break.

Zheng Silang hadn't expected the Secretary to have this much backbone; he felt he hadn't misjudged the man before. This incident was too messy, but not yet enough to make Zheng Silang step in personally. The real reason lay in the fact that the General Logistics Department was also currently undergoing structural adjustment. The direction of the adjustment was "whoever is capable goes up." This sounded logical, but it meant elimination. It meant that future evaluation standards would go fully professional. Many people from before would be dropped in this round of elimination.

And among the current batch of people, many had been arranged when there was a shortage of personnel. In Chinese tradition, within the government system, one can go up but cannot go down. If sacked, it would be considered a demotion. This formed a huge resistance.

After all, there is competition within the organization, but one must also talk about unity. Evaluating purely on ability would be considered "not enough meaning" and would lose people's hearts.

Zheng Silang could only take charge of some relatively sensitive departments. Not that these departments were so extraordinary, but the personnel involved in these departments were all big shots. So only a bigger shot could hold the line. Because the person pushing this plan was He Rui, Zheng Silang had to come whether he wanted to or not.

"I ask you, is there a problem with the people, or a problem with the teams?" Zheng Silang still wanted the Secretary, who knew the situation better, to carry it. It wasn't that Zheng Silang was afraid, but he wanted to save face for the comrades above.

The Secretary hurriedly answered, "Commander, you know too, as long as there's competition, everyone wants to win. To say there's a problem with the people, it hasn't gone that far."

"Then there is a problem with the people," Zheng Silang gave his evaluation. At this point, Zheng Silang also made up his mind. A bunch of little brats competing—Zheng Silang wouldn't care if they messed around blindly. If they messed around a few times and got spanked, they'd behave. But it was inappropriate for the little brats to find their parents. Even more inappropriate was that those parents actually stepped into the ring and talked smack. Zheng Silang looked down on this very much and was also very wary.

Zheng Silang felt the guys involved in this had really opened his eyes. Originally on the battlefield, these people really weren't afraid of death. How was it that while they weren't afraid of dying themselves, when it involved their family members, these guys acted like they had lost their minds and actually dared to mix themselves into this!

Although in operas, there were plenty of stories about unruly royal relatives and unruly Grand Tutors. But those were negative examples. And these generals in the army had received education. How could they be like the villains in the operas, not knowing where the limits of their authority lay!

If these parents played a role after stepping in, then who the hell had the final say in this Design Bureau? Did these people have no organizational discipline at all?

Characterizing these people as "confused for a moment" would be considered very polite! If characterized as "exceeding authority to interfere," these people were without organization or discipline and could be retired directly!

Hearing Zheng Silang speak so bluntly, how could the Secretary dare to object? He immediately said, "Commander, I know what to do!"

"Go!" Zheng Silang ordered.

Just after sending the Secretary away, Zheng Silang prepared to look at the objective of his trip. The mess at the Design Bureau was just something he handled in passing. Zheng Silang's goal was to inspect the construction progress of the Southwest Railway. The Southwest Railway was a bidding project. French and American enterprises had participated in the bidding, and eventually, a French company won the main bid. Subsequently, the winning French company formed the Southwest Railway Development Company as the main contractor and began to preside over the matter.

Because Britain had implemented the Imperial Preference system, it effectively restricted foreign bidding on British projects. So when British enterprises came to bid, they were treated reciprocally, and British enterprises were brushed off with various reasons.

Zheng Silang hadn't expected that Britain seemed unwilling to give up. When British enterprises failed to win the bid, the British government, citing that the Southwest Railway threatened Britain's security, had the British Foreign Office step forward to demand an explanation from the Chinese side. Originally, Zheng Silang also felt the British were just asking for a beating. China building a railway on its own territory—what qualification did the British have to gossip? When Britain built railways on the border, China hadn't said anything.

But after receiving training from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zheng Silang understood. This was so-called diplomacy. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was a functional department of the government. As a functional department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to take responsibility for national security and other contents.

In terms of reason, China's Southwest Railway greatly enhanced the transportation level of the Southwest. Its branch lines also extended into the Upper Burma and Assam regions, which were currently independent but under Chinese administration. From the British standpoint, China could transport troops and supplies via the Southwest Railway, greatly increasing the military threat.

When a country faced such a sudden increase in military pressure, it would either dispatch troops to solve it through military threats or direct war, or it would have to solve it through diplomatic channels. This is the reason why countries establish specialized diplomatic departments.

The biggest reason Zheng Silang was asked to come and look at this matter was that he was the Minister of the General Logistics Department. The Southwest Railway would fall under state management during wartime, so Zheng Silang was responsible for this. Another reason was that the Central Government already had a decision: since Britain felt threatened, China could accept Britain taking a share, allowing British companies to bid for later operations.

To put it more bluntly, it was allowing British companies to participate in railway operation management. As for whether the British would pass information obtained during operations to the British government, that was a matter of opinion.

Such a matter required a military big shot to come and understand it. The most suitable candidate was none other than Zheng Silang.

Although Zheng Silang knew the reason, he was still very unhappy. But the logic was plain to see, and the British concerns were not superfluous. Zheng Silang believed that once the railway was completed, the Chinese military would inevitably transport troops and supplies through this railway when needed. Anyway, political matters were just that strange. But politics was sometimes really useful; at least everyone muddled through some things in a relatively peaceful state.

Muddle through, then. At least the current China really had no intention of fighting a war.

While he was considering how he should work, a phone call came in. The caller was Zheng Silang's Chief of Staff from the Northeast and Japan campaigns. The old Chief of Staff's voice sounded like he was there to be a peacemaker. "Commander, I heard you arrived in Guizhou. The Aircraft Design Bureau in Guizhou is quite important. Did the Commander go see it?"

"Cut the crap, speak directly." Zheng Silang wasn't polite to his old comrade-in-arms.

"Commander, if it were wartime, I'd have to whip those bastards! How about, when we have time, we call them over and let the Commander have his fill?"

"Get lost! You trying to harm me? Do you need to do it this way?" Zheng Silang laughed and cursed.

Hearing this, the old Chief of Staff on the other end felt there was hope and hurriedly said, "Commander, if a mistake is made, acknowledge the punishment. I've already scolded the people, only stopped short of hitting them. Commander, give me a clear word, so I can let those guys die knowing why."

Since the principals had all chickened out, Zheng Silang didn't intend to kill them all off. Unity was very important. Zheng Silang felt that if he really arranged for those people to retire, He Rui wouldn't say anything, but in his heart, he probably wouldn't agree very much.

Zheng Silang answered, "How about this. If they can manage to know nothing, that would be best. If they insist on knowing some things, then we can only let them know!"

The electric current in the phone buzzed, but one could still hear the sense of relief in the old Chief of Staff's voice. "Commander, is it enough if they just know nothing?"

"Correct. It's best if they know nothing. You tell them, if they know anything in the future, then I'll consider that they knew it before too!"

"Rest assured! Rest assured! Commander, if they dare to let out another fart, you won't need to do it, I'll deal with them!" The old Chief of Staff hurriedly guaranteed.

"Mm. Don't drag yourself into it," Zheng Silang couldn't help but advise.

The other side clearly paused, and after a long while asked carefully, "Is it really that serious?"

"If you know nothing, then it's not serious. If you know, then you know!" Zheng Silang didn't hide it.

"Okay, I know... Oh, I know nothing." The old Chief of Staff finished speaking and hung up.

Zheng Silang put down the phone, truly hoping in his heart that everyone could stop looking for trouble. As the saying goes, "If you're not deaf or blind, you can't run a household." When Zheng Silang was young, he thought this was bullshit. Now he discovered that the old sayings handed down were really not spoken blindly.

These bastards, even after becoming generals, still thought they had no problems. They insisted on pretending to be sharp-eared and clear-eyed. Now that they were about to hit an iron plate, they knew fear! But fortunately, they still knew fear. If they didn't even know fear, then they would really be ghosts who didn't know they were dead; everyone couldn't save them even if they wanted to.

At this time, in a cell at the SS concentration camp in Berlin, two reliable SS soldiers in black uniforms appeared in the corridor leading to the solitary cell. Around 6 PM, Dachau concentration camp commandant Theodor Eicke and SS squad leader Michael Lippert entered Röhm's cell in Stadelheim Prison. They had the prison administrator put the latest edition of the *Völkischer Beobachter* on the prisoner's table. The newspaper reported the events that had occurred in large format. Wrapped inside the newspaper was a pistol with only one bullet. Then these SS members left the cell.

Röhm ignored this blatant request for suicide. Röhm wanted to speak at the time, but the SS officer forbade him from speaking. So Röhm stood straight—he had taken off his upper garment—revealing a face full of contempt. The gun did not fire. Those SS members—carefully this time, because they expected their victim to commit a desperate act—had the cell door opened again. Eicke and Lippert slowly raised their guns and aimed at Röhm, who had struck a pose. "Don't panic," Eicke whispered to his trembling deputy. Two bullets ended Ernst Röhm's life. He died like this, the violence of his death no less than his conduct in life. Towards that friend whom he had expended great effort to help reach a high status that no other German had ever achieved, there was only a share of contempt.

With Röhm's death as the opening, the Night of the Long Knives began.