Chapter 1368: Open Plank Road
Later in the day.
Hunan Province, on the outskirts of Hecheng.
Second Artillery Base 55.
The morning mist in the mountains had not yet dissipated. Yang Guang, commander of the 814th Missile Brigade, sat in front of the observation window of the combat command room, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the worn areas of his military uniform cuffs.
In the reflection on the glass, a row of camouflaged HY4330 missile launchers were rolling over a tunnel road that had just been washed by rain the night before. The mist raised by the rear of the vehicles refracted into fine halos of light under the lights.
Thanks to the launch mission it participated in two years ago, the 814th Brigade was fortunate to become the first unit in the entire army to be fully equipped with Dongfeng 31A.
Originally, this model was just a replacement of the DF-31 with a new solid rocket engine to increase its carrying capacity and extend its range to the standard "intercontinental" level. Therefore, other auxiliary vehicles were completely compatible with the basic DF-31, and only the launch vehicle needed to be updated. Even the training outline did not change much.
However, during this last installation, some minor incidents occurred.
About two weeks ago, the 55th Base suddenly received a notice that the original 8 new missiles to be received were changed to 10, and they were required to quickly pull them out after completing the replacement to conduct a very special firing test.
Logically speaking, it is definitely a good thing for the missile force to get the launch mission.
But Yang Guang's heart was shrouded in a faint worry.
The instructions he had received before were either quite vague or highly confidential, so that even brigade-level officers did not have the right to know the full picture of the implementation in advance.
Either the entire task itself is sudden, so that even the superiors have to make decisions on the spur of the moment, and additional time is needed to perfect the relevant plans.
But no matter what, now that the new ammunition has arrived, the specific requirements have not yet come...
For the commanders who are responsible for the execution, it is inevitable that they feel a little uncertain.
"Brigade Commander Yang, the inspection of missiles No. 1 to No. 8 has been completed. The parameters and status of each subsystem are normal. They are being brought back by the launch battalions of your brigade."
At this moment, the voice of He Shulin, the technical director of the base, came through the encrypted radio:
"The three-stage structures of the 9th and 10th rounds are somewhat different. According to regulations, several additional steps are required. Comrades are unpacking the technical manuals provided by the manufacturer. It is estimated that it will take about 6-8 hours to complete."
After hearing this, Yang Guang frowned subconsciously:
"Something different?"
"Lao He, what's going on?"
As he spoke, he stood up and put the thermos cup back on the table.
Generally speaking, upgrades and replacements of different sub-models like this can be handled by the testing company of the technical battalion in the brigade.
This time, due to the special requirements from above, He Shulin, director of the base's expert office, took the lead in taking over the work.
He even said he had never seen...
That's probably quite rare.
“Is it a new model?”
Yang Guang couldn't help but start to daydream.
He had long known that the DF-31 had a more drastic version than the Type A, which was said to further increase its range and be able to cover most of the North American continent without taking the Arctic trajectory.
The superiors are so secretive that it is entirely possible that they made a temporary decision to give the model that is still under testing to the combat brigade for launch, in order to deter evildoers at this critical juncture of transition from disaster relief to reconstruction.
Similar things have happened in the past.
But the deterrence failed that time due to confidentiality issues...
However, when I thought about it again, I thought it was impossible.
If it is really a major model change, the troops will have to be given a few months of learning and adaptation period before the test launch, and the developer will have to send some technical personnel to assist. It is impossible to require them to carry out the mission immediately after receiving the equipment.
He Shulin's voice sounded again, interrupting Yang Guang's thoughts:
"We can see that there are two more sets of heat pipes in the third stage, and the positioning system interface is not the standard we are familiar with. In addition, the volume of the fairing is larger, and it is estimated that it can accommodate a three-warhead MIRV carrier..."
At this point, he paused for two seconds, as if he had made some new discovery:
"But according to the nameplate, the carrying capacity is not much different from the other eight Type A bombs. Unless there is a new type of nuclear warhead with a higher degree of miniaturization, it is impossible to carry three... As for the others, we have to open the inspection port and compare them in detail."
The latter suddenly caught a key word:
"Wait, why is it called carrying capacity?"
Even technical personnel do not always strictly refer to a device or equipment by its scientific name during daily communication.
But there are always some customary names.
For example, "carrying capacity" is an expression that rarely appears in missile forces.
On the contrary, when he was working with the aerospace department before, those guys who worked on rockets often mentioned them.
He Shulin was also stunned:
"That's what it says on the nameplate... Now that you put it that way, it's true. The other missiles all use combat payloads..."
At this moment, a bold guess popped up in Yang Guang's mind:
"Hurry up and find the technical manual to see what this thing is called."
Just at this moment, the eight missiles that had completed testing had been put into storage, so he quickly grabbed the protective suit hanging on the back of the chair and ran towards the entrance of the bunker on the other side of the combat command room.
As he passed through three blast-proof doors, he noticed that several staff members from the base's technical room were labeling a newly arrived batch of protective equipment. The production date on the packaging boxes was a week ago.
There is no doubt that this is indeed a temporary mission...
……
The combat command room was not far from the equipment maintenance cave. When He Shulin unpacked the technical data, Yang Guang had already come behind him.
"Brigade Commander Yang, you are right... This thing is called the 'Rapid Orbital Replacement System'. It looks like a solid-fuel rocket improved on the basis of the Dongfeng 31. It is used to quickly launch four micro-positioning satellites in the event of a nuclear war and all spacecraft in low-Earth orbit have failed. It will assist us in completing rapid maneuvers and strategic counterattacks..."
The former was like a child who had obtained a new toy, pointing at the contents on the title page with excitement on his face.
But Yang Guang directly put his hand on his forehead and sighed——
The moment he walked in here and saw the full picture of Bomb No. 9, he had basically confirmed his guess.
Most of the previous doubts have been resolved.
In fact, Yang Guang should be the person who knows this "fast track replacement system" best in the entire army.
Because it is actually a modified Kuaizhou-31A solid-fuel rocket that can be loaded into the Dongfeng standard launch vehicle.
The first two launches were even carried out by the 814st Launch Battalion of the 1th Missile Brigade.
That is why their superiors assigned these two missiles to them, whose counterattack priority was not high, and gave them almost no adaptation period, requiring them to carry out the launch mission after a few days.
At that time, the maintenance and support personnel were all directly from China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, so He Shulin had never been involved in the technical department before and was considered a novice.
The only thing that I still can't understand is why we have to launch a rocket urgently at this time.
"Comrade Yang Guang, Comrade He Shulin."
The voice of the base commander Bi Daping rang out from the entrance of the cave behind him:
"You should have seen the situation of the new equipment, right?"
The two turned around and saluted, and found that the other party had come to them with Political Commissar Liu Chunquan and several staff officers.
"Now I will give you specific mission instructions."
Bi Daping said as he took out a sealed file from his briefcase, showed it to everyone once, and then opened it:
“现命令第二炮兵55基地导弹814旅在6月7日拂晓前将一枚快速轨道补位系统转移至9号测试发射阵位，并按照如下参数和指令将预定载荷发射入轨……”
As a technical officer, He Shulin subconsciously wanted to say something.
But Yang Guang saluted directly:
"Guaranteed to complete the mission!"
He Shulin was stunned and for a moment he was not sure whether he should respond or continue to express his own concerns.
Bi Daping seemed to see through his thoughts, and after handing the order document to Yang Guang, he smiled and said:
"Don't worry, your technical department only needs to complete the relevant tests according to the manual requirements. The 814th Brigade has enough experience with this model..."
After saying that, he looked at Yang Guang next to him:
"Isn't that right, Brigadier General Yang?"
He Shulin's gaze swept across the two people in front of him who seemed to have a tacit understanding, and his eyes were half shocked and half confused.
Usually, after a new type of equipment arrives, the technical department should first master the various operation and maintenance details, and then pass them on to each brigade.
Now the superiors and the missile brigade commander all seem to understand everything very well, but he is still kept in the dark.
Makes him feel as if...
A bit redundant?
……
After the order was given, He Shulin quickly led the technical team back to work, while Bi Daping and Yang Guang walked half a circle around another No. 10 missile that had not yet entered the inspection, and finally stopped next to the fairing.
"It's a little different from Kuaizhou-1, right?"
Yang Guang glanced at the missile body on the lifting platform, which was glowing with cold light, and shone the tactical flashlight at the middle of the missile body:
"The third stage has an extra layer of honeycomb composite structure, and its length is closer to the original Dongfeng 31A rather than the Kuaizhou-A. In addition, the fairing is not entirely the Kuaizhou design, but other than that, there is nothing special."
After saying this, he smiled bitterly:
"Speaking of this kind of mission, we should have been notified earlier, right?"
Bi Daping shook his head solemnly;
"There are some procedural issues. Some approval documents were only completed three days ago... The military is about to issue new emergency preparedness regulations, and there is also a 2008 Orbital Defense White Paper that is not open to the public..."
As a deputy division-level cadre, Yang Guang could not yet access the ideas of the decision-makers, but he also felt the importance of this document through its title.
So I didn't continue on this topic, but asked my last question;
"Commander, Kuaizhou-1 has carried out nearly ten successful launch missions. Why do we suddenly have to be responsible for launching this satellite?"
Bi Daping lowered his head and was silent for a moment, then replied:
"On the one hand, it is to test the rapid response capability of the troops... As you know, recently, there have been several short interruptions in the GPS signal over our country. If it were not for the dual-terminal Beidou system, it would have likely caused some operational confusion. In this case, the superiors must consider the possibility of the existing Beidou satellites failing..."
"On the other hand, it's also because the Americans are used to staring at our missile launchers."
"Ok?"
Yang Guang was keenly aware of something.
He seemed to be part of a larger plan.
Bi Daping's next answer confirmed his guess:
"When the Pentagon's reconnaissance satellite discovers a DF-31 about to be launched, it will inevitably gather most of the nearby orbital reconnaissance resources here, which will provide enough maneuvering and launch windows for another mission in the north..."
"Another item..."
Yang Guang instinctively wanted to ask what level of mission could require an intercontinental ballistic missile to provide cover.
But considering the confidentiality regulations, he finally suppressed his curiosity and just nodded.
"Understood……"
