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Chapter 1589: Heading for the Moon (Second update, please subscribe)

Star City!

It is located about 30 kilometers east of Moscow. It is a secret military facility that cannot be found on public maps.

The location of Star City is a military secret. The city has a small number of birch trees hidden in a pine forest.

Only astronauts live in a city. On the one hand, it is detached from the mundane world, but on the other hand, it is filled with a large number of training facilities and staff. The public is prohibited from entering here under any circumstances.

To a certain extent, people in it are in a large prison.

Of course, Korolev and other staff members never thought so.

When the first winter snow fell, Star City became more lively. The astronauts were training for the final operation, and Korolev, as the chief engineer, would always look at the reports from time to time.

"We need to speed up a bit more!"

Once again Korolev was talking to himself in his office.

"Even if it's a few days in advance, it's good."

In fact, Korolev certainly hoped to launch a rocket as a tribute to the Revolution Day.

This would certainly make the Kremlin very excited, and would also help him win Brezhnev's support.

After all, for Brezhnev, who just came to power at the end of last year, he needed such great achievements.

However, Korolev gave up this plan because he knew that if he called for a tribute to the Revolution Day, the engineers and workers would take the initiative to work overtime. In addition to the voluntary labor on Saturday, they would definitely take the initiative to work overtime on Sunday.

All for honor. All for the collective. All for the Soviet Union.

But this also means increased risks. After all, overtime sometimes leads to carelessness, and there must be no problems without Rockets.

So Korolev flatly gave up the idea.

"Hurry is not enough."

As he said this, Korolev picked up the report next to him, which was provided by the KGB.

Two days ago, President Johnson inspected NASA. During the inspection, in addition to asking about the progress of the Apollo program, he also asked von Braun a question - when will the United States be able to complete the Apollo program.

Put a man on the moon!

"It will come sooner than we think, maybe it's a Christmas gift, maybe it's a New Year's gift."

Von Braun's response was that the world knew nothing about it, but the KGB obtained the information and handed it to him as soon as possible.

"Christmas or New Year..."

Korolev felt nervous as he thought about these two dates.

Just like when they launched the astronauts, they were only a few minutes late, but those few minutes made them lose the title of the world's first astronaut. However, for the whole world, Gagarin is still a hero.

But... that's it.

After all, for the world, the first astronaut is Wang Baoxian.

In fact, they had a chance to compete for first place at that time.

Whenever Korolev thought of all this, he felt regretful in his heart!

They had a chance to win first place.

"We must not let the Americans surpass us this time."

Korolev picked up the aluminum teacup on the table that he had brought from the Siberian labor camp, took a sip of tea, and then talked to himself.

"Okay! It's a competition, and we have to win this competition no matter what."

After making this decision, Korolev picked up another report and now he needed to make one final decision: selecting the team of astronauts to go to the moon.

Who should we choose to go to the moon?
Looking through the photos in front of me, the astronauts in the photos are all the best astronauts in the Soviet Union.

Without exception, they had all been to space, which was a prerequisite for selection into the lunar crew—they had to have experience flying into space.

"Logically speaking, using the Komarov team is the best choice."

Looking at Komarov's photos, Komarov's team performed extremely well in the lunar flight experiment a few months ago, and they completed the mission perfectly.

But ... after thinking about it, Korolev finally picked up another photo.

Looking at the young man with a bright smile in the photo, Korolev said to himself:

"Well, as he said, there is no one better suited to represent the Soviet Union than you."

The "he" Korolev refers to is the person who has been banished and disappeared from the eyes of the world. Perhaps that person's era has ended, but for Korolev, it was with the full support of that person that he started his journey of space exploration.

Even though that man's era is over now, Korolev can still commemorate him in another way.

Or another way to remember him.

"Okay, it's you!"

That day in Star City, Korolev made two decisions in succession.

His decision was soon approved by the Kremlin. After all, the chief engineer responsibility system had always been implemented in the Soviet Union. As long as the decision was made by the chief engineer, no one else would overturn him.

At the same time, an American reconnaissance satellite flew over the Baikonur Cosmodrome and took a picture of the entire space launch site.

When the reconnaissance satellite flew over the Soviet Union, entered the Pacific Ocean, and passed through the waters of Hawaii, a film chamber was ejected.

After the film magazine was recovered, it was immediately sent to the National Image Analysis Laboratory. A group of photo analysts in the laboratory analyzed the photos for a long time and came to a conclusion while looking at the empty launch pad.

"The Soviets are not ready to launch yet."

A few days later, Brezhnev reviewed the Revolution Day parade for the first time standing on the tomb of his mentor on Red Square in Moscow.

Although this was not his first time in this position, it was his first time as a central figure.

While reviewing the army, Brezhnev waved at the ICBM convoy passing by on Red Square, and then said to his colleagues around him:

"What a pity! We could have given the world a better gift, but now, we only have these ICBMs."

Sherev, who was standing next to Brezhnev, said:
"There is no need to rush. It only takes a few days. In a few days, the whole world will witness the greatness of the Soviet Union."

No one knew what they were talking about. On that day, the whole world was paying attention to the MiG-25 fighter jet flying over the Red Square. According to the Soviet Union, it was the world's first super fighter with a Mach speed and a ceiling of meters.

The appearance of the MiG-25 fighter certainly shocked the world, but because of the shock of the "Guardian", the shock felt by various countries was limited. Military attachés from various countries just looked up at the MiG-25 flying in the sky, and then used high-magnification cameras produced by Yongning Zeiss to take pictures of this fighter that appeared before the world for the first time.

Compared to fighter jets, the real finale was the intercontinental missile. Of course, when the Soviet Union demonstrated their new intercontinental missile, the sound of camera shutters rang out one after another, and I don't know how many rolls of film were killed.

This is exactly the effect that the Soviet Union hoped to achieve, which was to use its strength to tell the world - I am awesome.

……

On November 11, when the whole world was still immersed in the impact of the Soviet Union's powerful military force, no one noticed that at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a giant rocket lying on a transport vehicle was slowly moving towards the launch tower along a seamless track.

The speed of the transport vehicle was as slow as a turtle.
Although the distance from the assembly center to the launch pad is only a few kilometers, it takes several hours to walk these kilometers.

This transporter is not just a transporter. In addition to transporting rockets, it also serves as an erector. After the rocket is transported to the bottom of the launch pad, the long erection process begins.

During the entire process, all staff members were very cautious, fearing that any major movement would bring irreversible damage to the rocket.

Korolev, the chief engineer, also came to the scene. His expression looked somewhat solemn as he watched the giant rocket being erected bit by bit.

"We still have three days."

In the next three days, they need to complete the inspection of the rocket. After completing the final inspection of the rocket, they will start refueling. It will take one and a half days to add all the fuel.

The next step is to wait for the launch window.

As long as the launch window appears, they can launch the rocket as scheduled.

Finally realize the most core step of the lunar program - sending people to the moon!

"Comrade Chief Engineer, we are far ahead of the Americans. According to our intelligence, the Americans are still using airplanes to transport rocket parts. Even if they discover our rocket now, they will not have enough time to complete the assembly of the rocket."

Standing next to him was an officer from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who was actually sent by the KGB. His duty was to supervise the scene and prevent saboteurs from destroying rockets or carrying out other sabotage activities.

Of course, he also received some latest intelligence from Lubyanka, that the Americans were not yet ready to launch.

"That is to say, this time we will definitely be able to leave the Americans behind us."

Ivanov from the Ministry of Internal Affairs seemed a little excited. When looking at the giant rocket, he couldn't help but say:

"Soon we will make the whole world cheer for him. The whole world will witness this miracle and the greatness of the Soviet Union!"

Looking at Colonel Ivanov who was excited beside him, Korolev just smiled and didn't say anything. At this time, his attention was all on this rocket. He just looked at the N1 rocket and watched it slowly stand up.

When the rocket was completed, the giant rocket flashed some mysterious light under the moonlight and lights.

Looking at the rocket, Korolev said:
"We will soon realize the dream of mankind..."

This rocket does not only belong to the Soviet Union, it belongs to all mankind. What it witnesses is not the greatness of the Soviet Union, but the greatness of mankind. It is the first time that mankind has truly left the earth and headed for another planet!
Of course, Korolev would never say such words. The cold wind of Siberia had made him develop the habit of silence.

As he stared at the rocket, a smile slowly flashed across his face. It seemed that at this moment, Korolev once again thought of the dream he had that year - he had once had a dream in a labor camp in Siberia. He dreamed of rockets, space, and the moon!
Now he is about to turn this dream into reality!
(End of this chapter)