Chapter 417: Beginning Reconnaissance

Li Mingyuan stood before the large screen in the command center; sweat from the successful launch still remained on his forehead, but his eyes were bright and alert, showing no signs of fatigue.

"Dongfang No. 1 is transmitting a new set of images every 90 minutes..."

As soon as these words fell, the communications supervisor suddenly exclaimed: "Chief Engineer Li! The signal strength has suddenly increased by 30%! The satellite is actively requesting high-capacity data transmission!"

The corners of Li Mingyuan's mouth lifted slightly. This was the "little gift" he had secretly installed on the satellite—a complete Synthetic Aperture Radar System, more than ten times more advanced than the simple optical camera declared to the public.

"Open the special receiving channel and prepare to receive radar data," Li Mingyuan ordered with calm composure.

The staff in the command center looked at each other; many did not even know what a "Synthetic Aperture Radar" was, but no one dared to question Chief Engineer Li's order.

"Data stream transmission started, decoding program initiated."

Dense strings of numbers and symbols appeared on the large screen, far more complex than the optical images from just before. Li Mingyuan sat down at the main console himself, his fingers tapping rapidly on the keyboard.

"Damn, you really are something!" Minister Zhang leaned into Li Mingyuan's ear and lowered his voice, "Did you secretly pull off another big project, kid?"

Li Mingyuan couldn't help but laugh: "Otherwise, what do you think I've been running to the 'Thinking Center' for every few days? Playing chess?"

As the special algorithm written by Li Mingyuan ran, the torrent of numbers on the screen gradually transformed into clear images—these were no longer blurry panoramas of the Earth's surface, but exceptionally clear details of the ground.

"Zoom in on the western region of Beijixiong Guo," Li Mingyuan ordered.

The image switched rapidly, and a massive military base appeared on the screen, clear to the point of being breathtaking—vehicles, buildings, and even walking personnel were clearly visible.

"Zoom in further, on the central area."

The image continued to zoom in, revealing a massive launch site structure, with a silver-white rocket standing quietly on the launch tower.

"This is... Beijixiong Guo's 'Red Star' rocket!" a Military Expert stood up in shock, "Good heavens, we can even see the markings on the rocket clearly!"

Minister Zhang's eyes widened: "This... this can't be possible, right? How could a satellite have this level of observation equipment?"

Li Mingyuan, however, appeared exceptionally calm: "Synthetic Aperture Radar, Minister Zhang. It can penetrate cloud cover and obtain high-definition ground images under any weather conditions. More importantly—it can work at night."

"Continue zooming in," Li Mingyuan instructed, "the facilities next to the rocket."

The image zoomed in again, and a bungalow area next to the rocket appeared on the screen; the lights inside the buildings were clearly visible, and one could even make out the silhouettes of people moving about.

The command center fell into a dead silence; everyone held their breath, staring at these incredible images.

"Isn't this fucking science fiction?" a young technician couldn't help but curse, then immediately realized their lapse in decorum and quickly covered their mouth.

Li Mingyuan laughed instead: "It's not science fiction, it's science. From now on, every military base, every Missile launch silo, and every troop movement of Beijixiong Guo and Star-Spangled Country will be under our surveillance."

Minister Zhang took a deep breath, feeling almost dizzy: "Chief Engineer Li, do you know what this means?"

"It means Long Country possesses global strategic reconnaissance capabilities," Li Mingyuan replied calmly, "and—we are the only country that possesses this capability."

He turned to the console: "Switch targets, Western Hemisphere, Star-Spangled Country desert region."

The Radar image switched rapidly. A few seconds later, the Star-Spangled Country's "Sky Eye" base was presented in its entirety on the screen—the massive assembly plant, testing center, launch site, and even the vehicles parked on the ground could be clearly distinguished.

"Zoom in on the northwest corner area."

The image zoomed in again, and a special area protected by layers of security appeared on the screen; there was a clear rocket assembly plant there, with tight security surrounding it.

"This is their 'Zeus' rocket assembly area," Li Mingyuan explained, "Judging by the current progress, they still need at least 4-6 weeks to complete launch preparations."

The atmosphere in the command center became exceptionally tense; everyone realized they were witnessing a technological breakthrough capable of changing the global strategic landscape.

"Chief Engineer Li," Minister Zhang asked seriously, "what about the other equipment on the satellite? Is there anything else I don't know about?"

Li Mingyuan smiled slightly: "Wait a little longer, Minister Zhang. Dongfang No. 1 has one more mission—to test the performance of our Electronic Interference System in a space environment."

He ordered the communicator: "Activate the 'Storm-Space' system, target: Beijixiong Guo western military communication network, interference duration: 30 seconds."

Almost the moment the order was given, the image of the Beijixiong Guo base area on the large screen showed subtle changes—some lights flickered a few times, then rapidly increased, as if people were moving about in an emergency.

"Interference has begun, all military communications in western Beijixiong Guo are interrupted," the signal monitoring team reported.

Li Mingyuan nodded with satisfaction: "Stop the interference after 30 seconds, let them think it was just an equipment malfunction."

30 seconds later, the interference signal stopped, and activity in the Beijixiong Guo base area decreased significantly, returning to a normal state.

"This was just a small-scale test," Li Mingyuan explained, "At full power, the 'Storm-Space' system can interfere with military communications and Radar Systems across half a continent."

Minister Zhang took a deep breath, not knowing what to say. Long Country suddenly possessed two types of strategic weapons capable of changing the nature of war—global high-definition reconnaissance capability and space-based electronic interference capability; this was almost equivalent to mastering the "eyes" and "ears" of the battlefield.

"Notify the Military leadership, convene a special strategic meeting immediately," Minister Zhang regained his composure and ordered at once, "All materials are classified; report only to the leadership."

Li Mingyuan nodded and turned to the team: "Continue monitoring the satellite launch bases of both countries, record every detail, and analyze their progress and technical status. At the same time, prepare a detailed comparative report, including our technical advantages and possible countermeasures."

In the next three hours, the Dongfang No. 1 satellite used its Synthetic Aperture Radar System to conduct a comprehensive scan of important global military targets. With every new image transmitted back, the level of shock in the command center increased. They saw Beijixiong Guo's nuclear submarine base, Star-Spangled Country's secret air force airfield, the Missile launch facilities and military factories of both countries...

At five in the morning, Minister Zhang hurried back to the command center with undisguised excitement on his face: "The leadership has approved an emergency strategic meeting in one hour in the underground conference room. Chief Engineer Li, you must bring the most important satellite images."

Li Mingyuan nodded and quickly selected over a dozen images with the highest strategic value from the massive amount of data, including high-definition photos of the two countries' satellite launch sites, Missile bases, and military command centers.

The meeting was held on the third underground level, the most hidden part of the base, with only the most core military high-level officials and technical leads in attendance.

"Gentlemen, I have gathered you here today because we have mastered a technological breakthrough capable of changing the global strategic landscape," Minister Zhang said straight to the point, "Chief Engineer Li, please introduce it to everyone."