Chapter 153 Crisis Approaches, the Eighteen Arhats Unite!

The entire venue fell silent instantly.

Chief Engineer Zhou let go of the young man's hand, and the Shenyang Plant Director rolled down his sleeves.

It was a combat readiness instinct carved into their bones.

Everyone smelled danger in an instant.

"News just came in."

Zhang Zhengguo gritted his teeth, every word seemingly forced out from between them.

"The COCOM Committee has revised the embargo list against China."

"Effective immediately, for a period of three months."

"Three new core controls have been added: High-performance water-based synthetic cutting fluid, Carbide PVD coating materials, and High-purity spindle-specific grease."

The audience was in a daze. Many vice directors in administrative roles hadn't reacted yet.

But the Chief Engineers and technical backbones present turned pale instantly.

"This is bad..."

"This is aimed at killing us..."

Zhao Qiang stood below the stage, his fists clenched so hard they creaked.

"This is to cut our blood supply and pull out our tendons."

"Engineer Zhao, is it really that serious?"

Updating is not easy, remember to share 101 Reading Website.

Someone nearby whispered.

"Serious?" Zhao Qiang said.

"Why can the red star - mainstay achieve micron-level precision?"

"Besides the structure, it relies on cutting fluid to carry away the heat!"

"Without special cutting fluid..."

"Processing a lead screw, the thermal deformation could be over a dozen threads."

"Precision drops directly from microns to millimeters!"

"Without the coating, our tools are like weaklings."

"Cutting carbide, the edge will chip and need a tool change in five minutes!"

"As for the grease..."

Zhao Qiang pointed to the ceiling.

"That is the lifeblood of the hydrostatic spindle!"

"Use ordinary grease? Turning the spindle would be suicide; it would seize up and be scrapped in a minute!"

Boom—!

This explanation was like a depth charge exploding in the auditorium.

The plant directors, who had been arguing until they were red-faced just to snatch people, now quieted down one by one.

Several vice directors frowned.

"This is trouble..."

"It doesn't have much impact on ordinary manual machine tools."

"But for CNC machine tools, especially ultra-precision CNC machine tools, the impact is too great."

"The imported equipment we bought with foreign exchange, and the M1 production line we just finished modifying."

"In less than two months, they'll all be paralyzed."

"Production efficiency will be more than halved."

This wasn't just an embargo; this was a plan to wipe us out completely!

Amidst the panic, Lin Xi closed his eyes.

He seemed to be in deep thought, but in reality, his consciousness had dived into that boiling livestream room.

"Family, emergency help needed!"

Lin Xi's thoughts flashed rapidly.

Lin Xi's thoughts flashed rapidly, going straight to the point:

"Coordinates: 1981. COCOM is strangling us; all high-end chemical materials are cut off."

"I need an alternative solution with simple raw materials, no high-end equipment, and something that can be started with local methods!"

"Requesting the experts to solve this!"

The bullet chat exploded instantly, dense text scrolling like a waterfall.

[Holy crap! These foreigners can't afford to lose!]

[Streamer, don't panic! Material science dog here!]

[CAS Errand Boy: Cutting fluid, right? Currently, foreign countries use synthetic esters, which we can't get. But we can replace them with a borate system! It's definitely enough for this era! I'll put the formula on the public screen: Boric acid + triethanolamine + polyether polyol, reacted in a 3:5:2 ratio!]

[Daqing Oilfield Old Drill Bit: I have experience with grease! Our domestic lithium-based grease isn't actually bad; it just has many impurities. Use some zinc dialkyldithiophosphate as an anti-wear agent, add some antioxidants, and purify it. It can definitely withstand the high temperature of the spindle!]

[Material Science PhD: Coating is currently dominated by Physical Vapor Deposition abroad. Since we don't have high-end equipment, let's go with "Multi-Arc Ion Plating"! Although the resulting color is ugly and the surface is rough, the hardness is sufficient!]

[Big Picture: Arrange them all! Streamer, tell them, let them blockade us. Blockade us for a year or half a year, and we'll have everything!]

Just fifteen minutes later.

A set of "local alternative solutions" based on China's industrial foundation in 1981.

Although rustic and rough, they were definitely effective and were now fully imprinted in Lin Xi's mind.

Lin Xi opened his eyes.

There was no trace of panic in those eyes, only calmness.

He straightened his collar, walked onto the rostrum step by step, and took the microphone from Zhang Zhengguo's hand.

"I have a way."

Four words, not loud, but they instantly silenced the noisy auditorium.

"But I need everyone to bring out their hidden trump cards."

Lin Xi's gaze swept across the Eighteen Arhats below the stage.

"Cutting fluid, coating, grease."

"I have the alternative formulas for these three things."

"But to turn formulas into products, Red Star Technology alone cannot do it."

"I need your laboratories."

"I need your special equipment."

"I need your technical parameters hidden in the archives that are never shown to outsiders."

Silence.

A long and awkward silence.

Since the 1950s, these eighteen major plants, although all state-owned,

had competed for orders from ministries, for advanced red flags, and for that meager funding.

They had guarded against each other like thieves for nearly 30 years.

Technical barriers were like a thick wall standing between people's hearts.

At this moment, for a solution that hadn't even materialized yet,

to tear down their own walls and show their family secrets to competitors?

This was not just a matter of interest; it was a challenge to human instinct.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Snap!

A crisp sound broke the dead silence.

The vice director of Quancheng No. 1 Machine Tool Plant stood up abruptly, slammed the half-stub of his cigarette onto the ground, sparks flying.

"To hell with the barriers!"

This man from Shandong Province had bloodshot eyes and veins bulging on his neck:

"Without Manager Lin, the Quancheng plant would still be eating steamed corn buns."

"Still begging and pleading with everyone for a few broken lathes!"

"The foreigners' knives are at our throats; are we still going to hold onto those bits of junk as coffin money?"

He looked around and roared:

"I'll take a stand!"

"All technical archives and physical/chemical laboratories of Quancheng No. 1 Machine Tool Plant are unconditionally open to Red Star Technology!"

"If you need people, we'll give people; if you need equipment, we'll give equipment!"

This shout was like a fire lighting dry wood.

"Modu Machine Tool Factory follows!"

The vice director of the Modu plant stood up, leaning against the table.

The usually shrewd Shanghai man now had slightly red eyes:

"We've been bullied by foreigners for a hundred years. We've finally straightened our backs; we can never kneel down again!"

"The electroplating workshop of the Modu plant is on standby 24 hours a day!"

"Quancheng Second Machinery Plant follows!"

"Fengtian No. 1 Machine Tool Plant follows!"

"Fengtian Second Machinery Plant follows!"

"Fengtian No. 3 Machine Tool Plant follows!"

"Qicheng No. 1 Machine Tool Plant follows!"

"Qicheng Second Machinery Plant follows!"

"Beijing No. 1 Machine Tool Plant follows!"

"Beijing Second Machinery Plant follows!"

"Tianjin No. 1 Machine Tool Plant follows!"

"Chongqing Machine Tool Plant follows!"

"Nanjing Machine Tool Plant follows!"

"Wuxi Machine Tool Plant follows!"

"Kunming Machine Tool Plant follows!"

"Changsha Machine Tool Plant follows!"

"Dalian Machine Tool Plant follows!"

"Wuhan Machine Tool Plant follows!"

Eighteen plant directors stood up one after another.

The sound of chairs moving, tables being slapped, and roars converged into a torrent.

They had different dialects, heights, and builds, and had even been undermining each other a moment ago.

But at this moment, the determination that erupted from being pushed to a dead end in their eyes,

that ruthlessness to poke a hole in the sky, was exactly the same.

In the livestream room, countless future souls were moved to tears at this moment.

[Everyone stand up!]

[These are the true Eighteen Arhats!]

[This is our father's generation! This is the industrial backbone of China! No one can bend it!]