I started with a ship full of max-level veterans, and I'm just a complete noob.

Jiang Ming pushed the second curve into the parallel slot, and the screen immediately split into two parts, left and right. The left side was labeled with the third edition of the smoothing matrix from the Soviet Union, and the right side was labeled with the measured wind field in Jiuquan and the original separation function.

Both figures use the same starting point, scale, and flight timeline. The trajectory before transonic speed is basically the same. After entering the low Mach sideslip sensitive zone, the three curves on the right figure begin to pull apart in the same direction.

The Soviet translator grabbed the microphone, ready to question the source and censorship level of the charts, while Jiang Ming had already taken the pointer and pointed it at the enlarged deflection angle at the end of the curve on the right.

"The input conditions are written at the bottom edge of the film. The first group uses the Jiuquan conventional southwest monsoon, the second group uses the upper-level jet shear, and the third group uses the northwest gyrowind. The sideslip angle symbols for the three groups are consistent with the overall group interface."

He moved the pointer and circled the positions where the three tracks entered the separation critical zone in sequence, and then drew along the last section of the rudder effect attenuation section towards the edge of the map.

"Due to different wind directions and different disturbance intensities, the separation points are also distributed across three altitude levels, but the corrected rudder output by the third version of the matrix always accumulates to the right."

Ren Xinmin had already flipped to the last interface page of the corresponding integral table. He checked each of the three time points reported by Jiang Ming and confirmed that the markings on the track corresponded completely with the hand-calculated draft.

The Soviet aerodynamics engineer took out his slide rule, compared the Mach number and sideslip angle on the screen, first checked the separation position function, and then checked the controller integral direction.

He clearly wanted to find errors in sign reversal or coordinate transformation in the Chinese algorithm, but for every node the pointer pointed to, the input source could be found in the overall parameter card in front of Ren Xinmin.

Vasily raised his hand to interrupt the translator's questioning and switched to Russian to ask his technical deputy about the symbol processing of the third version of the matrix under different wind conditions.

The three deputies quickly flipped through the appendices to the red mud dossier. One of them found the lateral offset compensation column and moved his finger down the table, but the page-turning motion became slower and slower.

Jiang Ming placed the third transparent film over the right image, and the target range coordinates, the main course of the test missile, and the boundary of the safe zone were then superimposed on the track lines.

"Here, the unified northward reference is adopted. The meteorological input is first converted to the missile coordinates, and then enters the control loop through the attitude matrix. The entire conversion process is recorded on pages seven to eleven."

He placed the pointer at the end of the three tracks where they overlapped the most, slowing down his speech so that the translator could relay the information word by word.

"This is not random error, but a directional bias that hides defects in weather compensation."

The sound of abacus beads and slide rules slid through the room as several experts reviewed the data from meteorological, control, and ballistic perspectives, with no one paying attention to the clock on the wall.

The original Soviet statistical chart shifted the yaw rate to around the 5,000-meter baseline, making it appear as scattered ellipses converging around the center line. After restoring the true coordinates, the centers of these ellipses all fall on the same side.

Jiang Ming took out a transparent sheet of coordinates for the Jiuquan test range from next to the projector and projected the numbers of the manual measurement stations, optical tracking points, and telemetry receiving points onto the screen.

The pointer moved along the end offset distance conversion grid and finally stopped above a manual measurement station at the forefront of the test field.

"According to the first group of wind fields, the center of the impact point crosses the safety boundary by 2,100 meters; according to the second group of wind fields, it crosses the boundary by 2,700 meters; according to the third group of wind fields, the offset direction remains consistent."

He circled the duty area of ​​the survey station and marked the layout of personnel shelters and optical equipment next to it.

"When this set of parameters is applied to live ammunition, the control system will treat the actual crossflow jump as noise and smooth it out. Then it will continuously give incorrect control values ​​to the right. The area that the projectile's terminal phase points to will cover the forward manual measurement station."

The major general tightened his grip on the armrests, moved forward to the table, and shifted his gaze from the yaw arrow to the coordinates of the manual survey station.

He had been to Jiuquan and knew that the measurement station there was responsible for the initial optical recording and the final point interpretation. During the test, technicians, photographers, and guards would be on duty at the same time.

If a test missile in its terminal out-of-control state were to pass through that area, the 2,700 meters on paper would become real casualties, and the so-called subsequent responsibility could no longer be covered up by a Soviet certificate.

The expert in charge of overall assembly immediately pulled out the range safety map and compared it with the coordinates on the screen item by item. After confirming that the number and orientation matched Jiang Ming's transparent film, he pressed the slide rule in his hand directly onto the table.

"The forward measurement station is located at the edge of the main safety zone. This offset, combined with the engine shutdown error, will even cover the backup withdrawal line."

Another meteorological expert took over, holding up the radiosonde summary of the July monsoon in Jiuquan under the light, his voice already tinged with anger.

"These three sets are just historical wind fields. If they coincide with the strong wind shear that became active earlier this year, the yaw range will continue to expand outward."

Discussions quickly broke out in the meeting room. Several senior experts who had been worried about the supply of components also looked up and put their hands, which had been on their notebooks, back on their pens.

Technical compromises are related to the project's progress, while manual surveying stations are related to the lives of Chinese personnel. When these two are placed on the same map, the choice has become ambiguous.

Sweat beaded on Vasily's forehead. He grabbed a handkerchief to wipe his hairline, then turned to his deputy, who was in charge of aerodynamic data, and asked him to explain the coordinate datum of the third version of the matrix.

The aerodynamics engineer next to him took the document and tried to approach it from the symbol conventions of the separation function, but the Chinese projection diagram had already completely connected the input, response and landing point under the three wind directions.

If he questions the projectile coordinate transformation, Ren Xinmin has the overall interface card; if he questions the meteorological data, the original Jiuquan radiosonde tape is right there; if he questions the control response, the contraction ratio of the three-edition matrix can be recalculated item by item.

Jiang Ming returned to the table, picked up the stack of layered integral derivations, turned the double numbers on the cover toward the recorder, and then placed it in the center of the main table.

A heavy sheet of paper weighed down the list of suspended supplies, with the input conditions, coordinate transformation, crossflow separation, control response, and final integration listed at the top.

"Intermediate values ​​are retained for each set of calculations. The Soviet representative can choose any page or any node for on-site verification by personnel from both sides."

Ren Xinmin also pushed his overall interface record over, completing the last connection between Jiang Ming's underlying equations and the guidance system.

"I am responsible for the interface. The symbols, units, and limiting conditions have been checked twice by the overall team. If the Soviet side believes that there is an error in the Chinese algorithm, please point out one specific error."

The Soviet aerodynamics engineer stood up, took a pen, and walked to the derivation draft. He flipped through the coordinate transformation and separation position function, and then compared the third version of the matrix substitution formula with the original table in the dossier.

He lingered on one page for a long time, moving his pen back and forth along the side-slip correction, but in the end he only wrote a Soviet symbol on the margin, corresponding to the symbol used by the Chinese.

The two definitions are in opposite directions, but after coordinate transformation, their physical meanings are completely consistent, thus rendering this possible rebuttal ineffective.

The engineer looked up at Vasily, his lips moved slightly, but he ultimately put the pen back next to the document and returned to his Soviet seat.

The pressure in the conference room shifted to the other side of the main table, where Vasily still had the authorization documents and the list of suspended supplies at hand, but the complete system of the technical committee had been dismantled down to each verifiable node.

Jiang Ming put away his pointer and took out a set of backup manuscripts with the same number from his metal briefcase, handing them to the meeting recorder to verify the seal.

"The original, backup, punched paper tape and film are each stored through independent channels, and time records are kept before and after the communication branch is cut off. This set of results can be recalculated at any time."

Old Sun stood outside the conference room door, and through the glass window, he saw the huge arrow on the screen that crossed the boundary, and then he saw the major general pull the consent form away from the pen.

He couldn't understand the separating function and the integral matrix, but he recognized the Chinese measurement stations circled on the target range map, and he also recognized the increasingly slow page-turning movements of the Soviet side.

Old Sun handed the thermos to the guard by the door, wiped his hands on his greasy work clothes, and finally felt the breath that had been pressing on his chest subside.

Vasily is still searching through the version notes.

He clutched the handkerchief in his palm and kept pressing the aerodynamics engineer for answers, but the responses remained the same: the coordinate version and the meteorological mapping level needed to be re-verified.

The translator waited a long time before finally translating Vasily's explanation into Chinese, his voice already hoarse.

"The third version of the document may have mixed calculation versions under different latitude conditions. This is a version archiving issue and cannot be used to determine that the Soviet technical committee bears subjective responsibility."

As soon as he finished speaking, Vasily pulled out the version circulation page from the red clay dossier, pressed his palm against the seal of the Moscow Calculation Bureau in the upper right corner, as if he had finally grasped a way to retreat.