Traveling Back to the 1960s: The Entire Internet Teaches Me How to Build Missiles

The Dongfeng-20 missile, spewing blue-white flames and puffs of white smoke, slowly rose from the launch pad.

The violent thrust defied gravity, creating a visible circular shockwave across the Gobi Desert, whipping up nearby sand and gravel and sending yellow sand flying everywhere.

The missile then transformed into a ball of flame in the telescope and soared upwards!

Zhou Yunxiao even felt the ground beneath his feet trembling violently.

Soon, Dongfeng-1 executed its programmed turn, changing direction and flying northeast towards the Anxi landing area.

The intense light of the tail flames became increasingly blurred in the field of vision, eventually leaving only a straight, sharp trail of white smoke in the sky.

Everyone stood still, gazing longingly in the direction the missile had flown.

Even Director Chen, Deputy Chief of Staff Ping, Ye Ling, and others rushed out of the underground command post carrying binoculars.

At this moment, in the live stream room of 2026, the barrage of comments also experienced a period of several tens of seconds of 'clearing'.

Millions of online viewers momentarily forgot to send any text.

The silence was broken only when the first comment appeared.

[Awesome!]

[It's taking off! It's really taking off!]

The reach of truth begins to be measured from this moment, here and now!

[My scalp is tingling, I'm typing with both hands to prove my innocence, and tears are streaming down my face. What's going on?]

[As it turns out, even without Butcher Zhang, we still wouldn't eat pork with hair on!]

Dongfeng-1 soared into the sky and disappeared from everyone's sight.

Director Chen and Dean Qian shook hands excitedly, then rushed to the phone, eagerly awaiting news from Anxi.

The success of the ignition and launch phase does not mean that the mission is accomplished.

A missile must not only be able to fly, but it must also be able to hit its target!

What follows is the long flight phase.

Zhou Yunxiao and his colleagues in the technical team were also eagerly awaiting the announcement over the loudspeaker.

"Missile flight is normal!"

"Missile program turns normally!"

"Report to command: Target acquired at the first survey station! Optical, telemetry, and lateral calibration tracking are normal!"

"The second measurement station's relay tracking is normal..."

Time passed second by second.

These were probably the most agonizing few minutes of Zhou Yunxiao's life.

All the comrades held their breath, afraid to even breathe, as if they were afraid that a single breath would steer the missile off course.

【T+00:07:13】

Seven minutes and thirteen seconds after the missile ignited.

An excited shout came over the loudspeaker: "Target successfully spotted in Anxi area!"

Meanwhile, 1 kilometers away in Anxi, inside an underground bunker, signals on high-altitude radar screens were plummeting rapidly in a parabolic shape.

Director Huang of the Measurement and Control Department first saw a dazzling light through the periscope.

Immediately following was the Dongfeng-1 missile body, which was burning hot from intense friction in the atmosphere.

At that moment, it was like a thoroughly heated steel nail, plunging into the earth at a speed exceeding Mach 2.

The missile tore through the clouds and shattered the void, its massive sonic boom causing the heavens and earth to tremble, like a thunderclap in spring.

boom--

buzzing-

The Dongfeng-1 warhead, along with the projectile body and the terrifying kinetic energy from its terminal velocity, exploded into a towering burst of fire the moment it made contact with the target at the firing range!

Immediately following, a series of shockwaves surged outwards in all directions from the point of impact.

A large number of wooden figures, wooden cars, wooden houses, as well as trenches and fortresses that were intended as targets, collapsed in an instant.

Tons of gravel and sand were crushed and thrown into the air, turning the area within a radius of several kilometers into a boiling 'water surface'.

The strange light terrified Director Huang, as if he had seen a demon from hell.

At this very moment, the Anxi region is filled with wondrous lights and colors, as if the Holy Spirit were manifesting His power.

Only a thousand suns could rival its brilliance.

It is the god of death, and also the guardian deity of the East.

After standing there in a daze for a long time, Director Huang quickly grabbed the phone on the table and called the command center.

Soon, Zhou Yunxiao and his companions heard good news on the radio—

"Target captured in Anzai area!"

"Missile successfully shut down."

"Anxi Measurement Station reports: Impact point is 5 kilometers off from the preset target center; successful detonation!"

Ye Ling was the first to stand up and loudly announce:

"Flight test a success!"

Director Chen and Deputy Chief of Staff He Ping also stood up and applauded with beaming smiles, "Comrades, we've succeeded!"

With the leaders taking the lead, all the comrades who had been hiding behind the bunkers all came out, excitedly waving their arms and throwing their hats high into the air.

"Dongfeng-1 has been launched successfully!"

"It really worked!"

"We have our own missiles now!"

The members of the cultural troupe beat drums and gongs, singing and dancing amidst the cheering crowd.

Before long, the launch team, technical team, service company, guard company, headquarters unit, and range unit were all indistinguishable from one another. In short, people who knew each other and those who didn't were excitedly embracing each other, and everyone's face was filled with proud and honored smiles.

When the good news of Anxi's victory was reported, accompanied by cheers from all over the mountains, the netizens' emotions soared.

[Success!!! The Great Nation's Longsword, the First Dragon's Roar!]

[It's so beautiful! This towering display of light is a million times more beautiful than any fireworks I've ever seen!]

Seeing Ye Ling stand up and shout "Success!", this six-foot-tall man of mine was sobbing like an idiot in the office...

It's been so tough! Who would have thought that these people, wearing patched clothes and digging up tree bark to eat wild vegetables, would be the ones who hold our backs so high!

[After waiting so long, we've finally achieved our goal! Today, all the viewers in the live stream are celebrating with our predecessors from the Dongfeng Base!]

How fortunate we are to have witnessed such a resolute chapter in history. This pride is something we can boast about for a lifetime!

Viewers traveled back more than 60 years through the live stream and witnessed this unforgettable scene, exclaiming how exhilarating it was.

Meanwhile, Xiao Su hugged a few of her girlfriends in the crowd. When she saw Zhou Yunxiao, she instinctively opened her arms, then blushed and changed to shaking hands, saying with a joyful smile:

"Comrade Zhou, thank you! The liquid oxygen you produced really did send a missile into orbit!"

Zhou Yunxiao held that warm and smooth little hand and smiled, "It's not just my achievement. If we really want to thank someone, we should thank all the workers, officers, soldiers and scientists who worked hard to replicate and test the Dongfeng-1 missile."

"We also need to thank the herders who have lived here for generations. If they hadn't willingly given up their land to facilitate the construction of the firing range, there wouldn't be the 2800-square-kilometer Dongfeng Base!"

At this moment, Ye Ling walked over with Dean Qian, all smiles.

Zhou Yunxiao immediately stood at attention and saluted.

Dean Qian patted his arm and said, "I've heard about your performance lately from Ye Ling. He really cherishes you now and doesn't want to let you go. What are your plans for the future? Will you stay here at the base, or will you be transferred back to the Fifth Academy?"

Xiao Su was also listening intently from the side.

Zhou Yunxiao thought for a moment and said, "Dean Qian, I'm fine with going anywhere, as long as I can get things done. Anyway, I'm just a brick in the construction of Dongguo, so you can go wherever you need me."

Dean Qian laughed heartily, nodded, and said, "Alright, then I won't let you go back to Jingzhou. I'll leave this brick on the Gobi Desert to continue shining. Won't you feel resentful?"

"Reporting to the commander, I guarantee it won't happen!"

"Well done!"

Dean Qian nodded approvingly, "Then it's settled for now. As for how to arrange the work next, I'll talk to you about it separately later. Ye Ling, I've left this person for you. This is a top student who returned from studying abroad in Sulian, so you must take good care of him."

Upon hearing this, Ye Ling, standing to the side, thumped his chest and said:

"Don't worry, I don't know about missiles, but I'll actively learn from Director Chen how to care for and respect intellectuals. If Comrade Zhou isn't taken care of properly, keep everything below the neck for me; as for the rest, Dean Qian, you can take it!"