The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master.

Two days later.

Just when NASA Director Michael Griffin, who was forced to be hospitalized due to high blood pressure, finally woke up.

China, Qiong Province.

Chang Haonan was sitting in a command vehicle of the Second Artillery Corps, looking out the window at a lush field of weeds.

Although he had studied agricultural knowledge for a while while tinkering with the experimental field, he really couldn't tell what kind of plants these were.

In short, thanks to the good tropical climate, the growth can be said to be extremely vigorous.

Not to mention reconnaissance planes or reconnaissance satellites, even if he was sitting in a car, he could hardly tell that there was a very high-standard concrete road hidden underneath.

It is even enough to pass the HY4330 semi-trailer which has almost no off-road capability and not even very strong maneuverability.

"Hey, Commander Yang, your disguise is really good..."

He smacked his lips with some emotion and said to the brigade commander Yang Guang who was sitting next to him.

"There's nothing we can do... Since our missiles have limited performance, we can only work hard on our subjective initiative..."

Neither the DF-31 nor the DF-31A, or even the DF-21, possess the independent launch capability that is the hallmark of the new generation of ballistic missiles.

The Kuaizhou-31, which was directly modified from the Dongfeng , naturally does not have these features either.

That is to say, although it has the ability to maneuver, it still needs to move to a pre-prepared launch position before launching.

Of course, this kind of position no longer needs to prepare large equipment like launch towers that cannot be hidden at all, so the flexibility of setting is still far superior to the older equipment of the previous generation.

Chang Haonan knew very well that this was the place he was heading to.

Inevitably, this launch will reveal some long-prepared secrets.

But on the other hand, the benefits after success are so great that it is completely worth paying some costs.

On the other hand, if missiles launched from China want to reach North America, the shortest route is to cross the Arctic rather than across the Pacific Ocean, so the missile launch positions deployed south of the Yangtze River have limited practical significance.

Not a loss anyway.

A military laptop was fixed in the middle of the command vehicle, but it did not display the attack targets given by superiors as in past training.

Instead, it plays TV images broadcast from satellite like an ordinary home computer.

"Dear audience, after the decision-making leaders made the final instructions, the Navy landing ship forces, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation and the National Space Administration responded as quickly as possible and have already dispatched a newly manufactured new solid-fuel carrier rocket to the most suitable launch location..."

The female host stood in the wind and shouted hoarsely into the microphone:

"Although this type of carrier rocket has not yet been launched, and even the modular satellite that will be used for the mission is the first time, this mission is of great significance. As a major country, China has an obligation to do so..."

"..."

Behind her, a HY4330 launch vehicle painted all white was being escorted by a series of guide vehicles onto the Kunlun Mountain dock landing ship, which had just been put into service.

Of course, this was a scene that had been shot in advance yesterday morning and was not a real live broadcast.

But because the details are handled well, although there are not completely no flaws, at least they are unlikely to be noticed in a short period of time.

The convoy drove on the cobblestone road for about an hour and finally stopped by the side of a relatively flat plateau.

Only the missile (rocket) launcher vehicle in third place bypassed the vehicle in front and continued forward, arriving at a concrete platform that had obviously just been cleared.

Compared with traditional liquid rockets that require hundreds or thousands of people to serve before launch, the advantages of solid fuel are fully demonstrated at this moment.

Although the preparations beforehand are equally cumbersome, the launch mission itself requires very few support resources to complete.

Around this somewhat crude launch site, a series of media vehicles have already been deployed, waiting for the final protagonist to enter.

Other images can be produced in advance and pieced together, but the actual launch must be broadcast live no matter what.

Zhou Pingjian jumped down from another command vehicle slightly further back in the convoy and trotted over to Chang Haonan with an agility that was totally inconsistent with his age:

"Academician Chang, the officers and soldiers of the Second Artillery are conducting the final data verification before the launch. What do you think of the signal relay transmission work after entering orbit..."

Because it was indeed the first time that a pure solid rocket was launched on such an occasion, under normal circumstances the missile brigade commander would definitely command the entire process.

But today this is both a media live broadcast and a news release. Although anyone with a discerning eye can see what the so-called "Kuaizhou-1" is, it is not possible to not act at all.

Therefore, Zhou Pingjian, the chief designer of the manned space program and deputy commander of the space fishing boat project, had to be responsible for this launch mission.

Of course, the person who actually issues the specific orders will still be Brigade Commander Yang Guang.

"Do not worry……"

Chang Haonan closed the car door with his backhand and headed towards the temporary command post on the other side of the high ground:

"Before we set off today, the Qingluan-50 constellation had already completed its attitude adjustment, ensuring that it could provide a stable video relay signal with a duration of no less than 480 minutes and a clarity of no less than P."

The Qingluan-2004 constellation, which was launched three years ago, ran out of fuel and stopped working in late due to too frequent attitude adjustments.

Fortunately, the low-orbit relay center satellite has proved its value, so the larger and more powerful Qingluan-2005 constellation was launched into orbit in the second half of 2006 and early .

Just in time for this mission.

Zhou Pingjian quickly followed and continued to ask:

"In addition, after the launch is confirmed to have entered orbit and before the onboard camera signal is connected, we need to insert an interview with the project manager. Please take a look at this..."

Chang Haonan paused for a moment, but soon resumed his movements:

"After all, my public identity is the chief planner of the Aviation Power Group. It is better not to be on the show about matters related to aerospace..."

"hiss……"

Zhou Pingjian was stunned when he heard this answer, then he smiled bitterly and shook his head:

"I really... forgot about this matter..."

Chang Haonan's main work in the past one or two years has been related to missiles and rockets. He usually deals with people from the aerospace industry. It's no wonder that Old Zhou didn't think it through...

……

As the planned launch time drew closer, the Second Artillery Corps officers and soldiers and CASIC technicians who had been busy around the launch vehicle also evacuated their positions one after another.

Only a few launch operators, including the missile gunner, remained in the control cabin.

At this moment, the world is silent.

"Attention, all combat positions... unlock equipment... erect rockets!"

Yang Guang had practiced missile launching all his life, and he almost blurted it out out of habit. Fortunately, he changed his words in time at the last moment.

The command was transmitted to the control cabin via radio. The operator turned two keys at the same time, and after three green lights came on, he suddenly pressed the "upright" button in front of him.

Accompanied by the buzzing sound produced by the operation of the hydraulic valve, the slender missile launch tube was slowly raised with the support of the hydraulic arms on both sides, like a rising dragon, ready to launch an attack into the sky.

After 30 seconds, the launch tube was erected to 90 degrees, and then the barrel slowly sank with a "creaking" sound, and the four bottom support legs rested on the concrete floor of the launch position.

In the control cabin, the fourth green light came on, indicating that launch preparations were complete.

"The erection is complete!"

The operator's clear commands echoed in the empty command post with wind blowing in from all sides.

Kuaizhou-1 directly refers to the missile launch process, so everything is based on quick response and there are no other overly lengthy steps.

After confirming that the preparations were complete, Yang Guang started the countdown:

"10, 9, 8..."

Including Chang Haonan, everyone at the scene and those watching the live broadcast on the TV screen almost held their breath at this moment.

In fact, if they didn’t want to create enough tension for the media, they wouldn’t even shout out the countdown process…

"3, 2, 1..."

At this time, even Yang Guang's own voice trembled slightly.

Fortunately, his instructions were still clear and precise:

"emission!"

The next half second seemed almost longer than half an hour.

Some people even began to think that the launch had failed.

"Boom-"

A dull sound broke the silence at the launch site.

The cover of the missile launch tube was thrown forward and landed in the weeds more than ten meters away.

Only the black hole of the launch tube was left piercing the sky, like the gate of hell with its bloody mouth agape.

But this time, it carries expectations and hopes.

"boom--"

Immediately afterwards, accompanied by a burst of black and gray smoke, the white cylindrical projectile was ejected along the launch tube, accompanied by several explosions of gunpowder gas in the middle.

That's the sound the retaining ring makes when it comes off.

After the entire rocket left the launch tube, a dazzling flash instantly lit up from the tail, and slowly climbed upwards under the direct or indirect gaze of tens of millions of people, and slowly disappeared into the sky...

"Ignition successful!"