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

Xiao Su blushed at the praise and gave him a light, reproachful look. "How can I compare to a great mathematician? I'm just a humble calculator."

"That's not necessarily true; even the smallest blade of grass has the right to look up at the stars!"

Zhou Yunxiao laughed and said, "By the way, your function handbook is too old. The number tables only have four-digit precision. It must have been captured from the Japanese during the War of Resistance Against Japan, right? The latest version is already the fourth generation, and it has ten-digit precision."

Xiao Su exclaimed in surprise, "Ten-digit precision! What an amazing reference book!"

As we all know, there were no supercomputers in this era.

Even the most advanced hand-cranked mechanical calculator can only perform simple calculations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and square root extraction.

However, when it comes to complex calculations involving logarithms, trigonometric functions, exponential functions, cube roots, interpolation methods, etc., one has to consult reference books and use them to complete the calculations.

This magnificent work, filled with lines of formulas and pre-calculated function results, spanning dozens of volumes, is the "Handbook of Mathematical Functions"!

As the head of the data processing group, Xiao Su's eyes lit up when she heard that there were reference books with tens of digits of precision.

Zhou Yunxiao didn't forget to joke with her:

"Exactly. For high-precision ballistic calculations like those for missiles, using a reference book with four-digit precision is definitely not enough. Maybe the 5-kilometer error in the Dongfeng-1's impact point was due to your miscalculation..."

"Huh...no way?"

Xiao Su was a timid girl. Upon hearing this, her face immediately turned ashen, and she nervously clutched the hem of her clothes.

"Pfft, hahaha... Just kidding, how could you possibly have miscalculated?"

Zhou Yunxiao hadn't expected her to take it seriously, so he quickly explained, "The design parameters for Dongfeng-1 were inherently quite rough, so a larger error is normal. How about this, I'll get you a copy of the latest 'Bradius's Handbook of Mathematical Functions' later?"

"B...Braddis?"

Xiao Su snapped out of her daze and asked blankly, "Is it also a logarithmic table with tens of digits of precision?"

"Of course, if I'm going to send something, I'll send something good. The Surinamese expert team has these kinds of reference books; I'll try to get some later."

"Is this...is this appropriate? I...I don't have anything to give you..."

Xiao Su stared blankly at his face.

Zhou Yunxiao's eyes darted around, and he feigned a sudden realization, saying, "I have a great idea! I'll give you the latest reference book; how about you help me refine the trajectory of the lightning-inducing rocket when you have some free time?"

Xiao Su was stunned for a few seconds, not expecting the conditions to be so simple.

Originally... even if Comrade Yunxiao hadn't mentioned it, as a good comrade-in-arms... I would have helped anyway.

"Okay, it's a deal!"

Xiao Su happily agreed.

After chatting with Xiao Su for a bit, Zhou Yunxiao returned to his seat and continued studying the lightning-inducing rocket.

After staying up all night, his head was spinning. He rubbed his face and wrote down a few fuel formulas on a piece of scrap paper.

Liquid oxygen - alcohol; 1 part nitrate, 2 parts sulfur, 3 parts charcoal; nitrocellulose - nitroglycerin; nitric acid - kerosene; ammonium perchlorate - aluminum powder; nitric acid - unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine...

Zhou Yunxiao sat there alone, deep in thought.

The reason I didn't ask netizens was because the live stream was turned off.

He discovered that the stability of the live stream seemed to be related to his energy level; streaming for too long at a time or being extremely tired would cause the signal to be interrupted.

I had just stayed up all night, so I decided to turn it off temporarily.

Besides, he wasn't entirely useless. In his previous life, he was a top student at Beihang University, and after transmigrating, he inherited the memories of the original owner from the Moscow Aviation Institute, so he could be considered a top talent.

Can't even handle a small lightning-inducing rocket?

Zhou Yunxiao pondered for a while and then deleted the last two recipes.

These days, mainstream propellants like ammonium perchlorate and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine are not technologically mature for Dongguo and are difficult to replicate.

As for liquid oxygen-alcohol... although Dongfeng-1 uses this fuel and the technology is relatively mature, it is too complicated for field operations such as mine detonation.

That leaves three options...

The morning passed quickly, and Zhou Yunxiao fell asleep while thinking.

When I opened my eyes again, I found that the office curtains were mostly drawn and there was an aluminum lunchbox on the desk.

Looking up, I saw Comrade Xiao Su sitting at the long wooden table, gently cranking the computer handle with his right hand while skillfully copying drafts onto the paper with his left.

In the quiet room, the only sound was the clicking of computer gears.

Perhaps it was the perfect angle of the sunlight, or perhaps it was the girl's naturally beautiful profile that made Zhou Yunxiao so captivated him. He leaned on the table next to her, one hand supporting his chin, and stared at her for a long time without realizing it.

A slender neck, a graceful curve from cheek to chin, fair and delicate skin, and slightly pouting lips.

But gradually... a blush appeared from the girl's ears and quickly spread to her face.

Finally, Xiao Su slammed down the computer crank, turned her head with a helpless look, glared at Zhou Yunxiao, and gave him a slightly reproachful look.

Zhou Yunxiao scratched his head awkwardly, turned around to pick up the lunchbox, and felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

"Did you get this food? Thank you!"

Xiao Su mumbled, "Yeah, I got you some food at noon since you weren't awake. Did you... not sleep at all last night?"

Zhou Yunxiao nodded, "It's for carrying out a special mission."

"Then why do you come to work so early in the morning? Can your body handle it?"

Xiao Su asked with concern.

"It's alright, I know what I'm doing."

Zhou Yunxiao smiled, opened the box, glanced at the bitter greens and fried barley inside, and remained silent for a while.

Xiao Su asked, "What's wrong? Are you cold? I'll go find a place to warm it up for you."

"No need, it's alright."

Zhou Yunxiao suddenly realized that he hadn't been able to defecate for four days!

……

The Dongfeng-1 test mission had just ended, and the technical demonstration team for Dongfeng-2 had just been established, so the technical team didn't actually have much to do.

To save on food rations, Ye Ling sent some people back to the Fifth Hospital.

Others who were idle were pulled out to reclaim land, build reservoirs, or go into the mountains with hunting teams to hunt wild game.

Therefore, the building was almost empty, and even Xiao Su had to carry a shovel out to clear land in the afternoon.

When Zhou Yunxiao returned after washing his lunchbox, the office was empty.

He glanced at his watch and realized he had slept for three hours while slumped over the table.

Let's make up for it with another three hours this afternoon.

Just as I was about to close my eyes and fall into a deep sleep, the phone suddenly rang.

When Zhou Yunxiao answered the call, he heard it was from the General Staff Department, specifically asking him to go to the headquarters building.

So he washed his face and hurriedly got into the Liberation truck to head to Garrison No. 10.

……

At the No. 10 garrison building, Political Commissar Sun had just finished his lunch.

The enamel bowl contained half a bowl of stewed cabbage with broth, and on the table were a black flour bun and a corn bun.

In the other soup bowl was a bowl of runny corn porridge, so thick it could be used as a mirror.

Political Commissar Sun was eating a cornbread when the office door was suddenly pushed open.

Ye Ling entered the room, threw down his military cap, and angrily walked towards his desk, while his guard stood trembling at the door.

"Damn it, Wu Dongquan, that two-faced bastard, dares to disobey even Director Chen's orders. Is he trying to rebel? Give the word down: all the land reclamation teams, reservoir teams, and hunting teams, stop what you're doing and come with me to Jincheng to take back the grain! Anyone who dares not to go will be demobilized and transferred to civilian work on the spot. I don't want cowards!"

Political Commissar Sun frowned, quickly put down his bowl, and walked over to ask, "What happened this time? Why are you so angry?"

Ye Ling pulled out two spare pistol magazines from the drawer and tried to put them in his pocket, but Political Commissar Sun stretched out his arm to stop him from leaving.

"Old Sun, don't get involved in this!"

"Tell me what happened first. Can I just stand by and watch you make a mistake?"

Ye Ling then sat down angrily and said, "When Director Chen left, didn't he say that he would give our base a batch of military rations that were originally allocated to Jincheng for emergency use? Wu Dongquan agreed on the phone, but when Lao Qin from the logistics department went to the train station to pick up the rations, they were detained by Wu Dongquan's men!"

Old Qin went to ask, and the guy surnamed Wu said that this was originally the army's rations, and they didn't even have enough for their own people, so why should they share half with us? He even threatened that it wouldn't matter if he called Director Chen, whatever, he wouldn't lend out a single grain of rice! I'm so angry!