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

Thick smoke billowed from the open space in front of the experts' building, and many colleagues from the government offices watched with regret.

So much valuable knowledge was completely destroyed before I even had a chance to learn it.

Some, unwilling to give up, even stumbled and rushed over as soon as the Surinamese experts left.

Ignoring the scorching hot metal bucket, they reached into the pile of ashes like street scavengers, trying to find a few pages of readable material.

However, the Surinamese were known for their thoroughness and would leave nothing of value behind.

Some people had even anticipated this scene and deliberately hid at the entrance of the expert building, laughing loudly as they pointed at the soldiers who were "rummaging through the trash," just like watching monkeys in a circus.

[Wasn't my hand burning hot...? Watching the seniors pry open the Surian's red-hot iron barrels with their bare hands really broke my nerve.]

They're not scavenging for trash; they're searching for a future in a pile of ashes!

The dignity of intellectuals can be completely abandoned in the face of the future of Dongguo. This scene is far more educational than the flippant phrase in textbooks, "Withdraw the experts and rely on ourselves."

Now I finally understand why our predecessors, even if it meant going without food and water, tightened their belts to build our own industrial system. One experience of being held hostage and even ridiculed like a monkey is enough!

When Zhou Yunxiao passed by the experts' building, viewers in the live broadcast room felt a pang of sadness and were deeply moved.

Until Zhou Yunxiao walked into his office in the government building.

Ye Ling stood by the window with his hands behind his back, staring intently at the gray smoke rising from the experts' building, seemingly lost in thought.

Only after Zhou Yunxiao entered did he manage to force a smile.

"Comrade Xiao Zhou, your translation task has been successfully completed. From today onwards, you no longer need to stay up all night. Although the Surians broke their promise, we took precautions and, thanks to you, managed to mitigate some of the losses..."

Zhou Yunxiao clicked his tongue in regret, and sighed as he thought of the hydrogen bomb data that he hadn't had time to move yet.

"Sigh, if only this news had come a day later! There's still so much good stuff in Sullivan's archives that I haven't had time to copy yet!"

Ye Ling chuckled, walked over and patted him on the shoulder, "That's quite a lot. During this period, you alone have translated at least two hundred documents, totaling no less than two million words. Look at you, you've lost a lot of weight. You've worked really hard."

Zhou Yunxiao chuckled and scratched his head.

Ye Ling added, "It's the Sultan's right to burn documents, but we can't just renege on a contract that's already been paid for. To date, they still owe us 225 launch devices, 215 radar devices, and at least three P-2 missiles. Go back and write a strongly worded letter of demand in Russian and have them take it back."

"Yes, sir, I will definitely condemn them severely."

Zhou Yunxiao patted his chest.

Then, Ye Ling turned around and picked up a telegram from the table, which was stamped with two bright red seals: "Top Secret" and "Urgent".

"Although I had long anticipated this day, it still came too soon. But so be it if the contract is broken. It's a boil... it had to be popped sooner or later. Rather than hiding it and putting on a show, it's better to just let it burst!"

He handed the telegram to Zhou Yunxiao, saying, "Take a look at what's on this and share your thoughts."

Zhou Yunxiao quickly skimmed through the telegram from Jingzhou. It was several hundred words long, but the main points were essentially the same—

"Self-reliance and hard work" are essential; we must catch up with and surpass the world's advanced levels!

Zhou Yunxiao stood at attention and asked, "Commander, do you have any new tasks for me?"

Ye Ling got straight to the point:

"Comrade Xiao Zhou, now that all the Sultan experts have withdrawn, many projects that were halfway through at the base have been forced to stop. Before, with teachers guiding us, progress was naturally rapid, but now that the teachers have abandoned their posts, we have to become teachers ourselves."

"Teachers with real talent and practical skills are few and far between, not just at the Dongfeng Base, but even nationwide. Their energy is entirely focused on Project 596 and Project Dongfeng No. 2, so some projects are so overwhelmed that they have to choose the best among the worst..."

At this point, Ye Ling waved his hand dismissively, "Don't misunderstand, I wasn't saying you're short, it was just a metaphor. I won't beat around the bush with you anymore. Since you're studying rocket and missile engineering, you should be familiar with air-to-air missiles and surface-to-air missiles, right?"

Zhou Yunxiao pondered for a moment, then nodded. "I worked on a project on the Diamond Air Defense System with my mentor at the Moscow Aviation Academy, so I have a better understanding of surface-to-air missiles. As for air-to-air missiles, the principles remain the same, and I can offer some pointers."

"So, how difficult do you think it would be to shoot down a U.S. U-2 spy plane?"

Looking at the commander's serious expression, Zhou Yunxiao began to think carefully.

"When it comes to shooting down reconnaissance aircraft, air-to-air missiles are naturally more maneuverable and have a higher hit rate than surface-to-air missiles. However, our weakness lies in the fact that our main J-5 fighter jets cannot fly at a high enough altitude, with a maximum service ceiling of only 16000 meters, so we have to look up to find the U-2."

"Therefore, the J-5 is inherently at a disadvantage. Even when carrying air-to-air missiles, it is difficult to find a suitable launch position. And this is not a gap that can be bridged in a short time. After all, President Qian insisted on developing missiles first and then fighter jets because missiles are relatively simple and fighter jets are too complex."

"Therefore, the only way to shoot down a U-2 is with a surface-to-air missile! With its powerful solid-propellant booster, the missile can easily send several hundred kilograms of explosives into the air at an altitude of over 20,000 meters, and the success rate is also much higher..."

Zhou Yunxiao pointed out the J-5's shortcomings incisively.

"Good, I knew you were a good guy!"

Hearing this, Ye Ling felt a great weight lifted from his heart. He patted him on the shoulder and said, "So, are you confident about sending you to the Third Division to assist in the development of the Red Chess No. 1 surface-to-air missile?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yunxiao paused for a moment, "What about the first branch..."

"Director Zhang and his team are enough to keep an eye on things at the First Division," Ye Ling waved his hand. "Looking at the entire base, your Surface-to-Surface Missile Test Division has the most elite troops. Dongfeng-2 hasn't entered the testing phase yet, so your workload isn't too heavy. Why not allocate some manpower to support neighboring units? Besides..."

At this point, Ye Ling's expression turned serious as he stared at the cloudless sky outside the office window and said:

"Accompanying this telegram were instructions from the General Staff and the Special Committee, demanding that we shoot down a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft before the 15th UN General Assembly in October this year, to solidify irrefutable evidence of the United States illegally intruding into its airspace and engaging in espionage!"

Zhou Yunxiao asked, "Even if there's irrefutable evidence...aren't we ineligible to participate and speak at the meeting?"

He thought to himself that the right to participate in the UN General Assembly was not recognized and restored until 1971, so even if he had the evidence now, it would be useless, since everyone had been silenced.

"Hehe, we may not be qualified to speak, but our elder brother is."

Ye Ling grinned, "Although the cooperation agreement has been torn up, the friendship remains. If we can really shoot down a U-2, such a rare opportunity to slap Eisenhower in the face, he'd be happy to fan the flames!"

Then, he said in a deep voice:

"I know it's difficult for you to shoot down a U-2 in such a short time, but we have no choice but to do it."

"As the saying goes, 'By striking once, you can avoid a hundred blows.' We want the Westerners to know that we are no longer the weak Qing Dynasty of decades ago, nor are we the easy targets we can bully. We want to stand up and shoot down their planes with dignity."

"We need to let America know that this isn't their backyard, a place where their planes can come and go as they please! Not just anyone can run rampant on this land!"

Zhou Yunxiao listened silently, then clenched his fist and said, "Please rest assured, Commander, we will definitely complete the mission, shoot down the U-2 reconnaissance plane, and uphold our national prestige!"