Chapter 153: The Brightest

In the temporary command post of the Zhoushan test base, Wang Hao squatted on a chair, staring at the six monitoring screens in front of him, holding a cup of instant noodles, slurping loudly.

"I say Guangzi," he swallowed a mouthful of noodles.

"We've been waiting for four hours, are Eagle Country bastards going to fire or not?"

"I've almost played 'Candy Crush' to level two thousand."

Chen Guang sat in front of the main console, with three tablets in front of him, data streams scrolling on the screens.

He didn't look up: "The original exercise window was from 10 PM last night to 2 AM this morning. It's now 2:40 AM, it should have ended by common sense."

"So what if it doesn't follow common sense?" Li Yang walked over from the rest area next to him and handed Chen Guang a cup of hot water.

"Then it means they have other plans." Chen Guang took the water cup and took a sip.

"Satellite monitoring shows that 'Ocean Sovereign' and the escort ships have no signs of returning, and the supply ship is still refueling. They are waiting for something."

Feng Yan walked in from outside, still carrying the dampness of the night dew:

"Weather forecast, between 3 AM and 4 AM, the cloud layer above this sea area is the thinnest, and atmospheric transparency is 30% higher than now."

The command post fell silent instantly.

Wang Hao put down the noodle bucket: "So they were waiting for the best observation conditions?"

"Also waiting for us to be at our most exhausted." Feng Yan walked to the main screen.

"Notify all duty personnel, cancel rotation, everyone in position. If they want to fire more, it will likely be in the next hour."

The order was conveyed quickly.

The base, which had been a bit relaxed, tightened instantly.

The cooling system of the laser array made a low humming sound, the radar antenna turned slowly, and the engines of the generator set began to preheat.

Chen Guang pulled up the latest weather data map: "If the target is to test penetration performance, they might choose a more complex ballistic combination."

"'Torch Dragon', simulate the interception probability of different ballistic modes under current weather conditions."

The large screen began running the model.

Simulated trajectory 1: High-altitude parabolic, interception probability 97%.

Simulated trajectory 2: Low-altitude sea-skimming, interception probability 89%.

Simulated trajectory 3: High-low combined wave-type penetration—three high-altitude, two low-altitude, arriving simultaneously—interception probability... 71%.

"If I were the opposing commander, I would choose the third one." Li Yang pointed to the screen.

"High-altitude missiles attract attention, low-altitude missiles use sea surface clutter for cover. Five missiles fired in a volley, as long as one breaks through, it's a success."

"And it's night now." Zhao Kaiyuan added.

"The infrared characteristics of low-altitude sea-skimming missiles on the sea surface will be partially drowned by seawater background noise, increasing the difficulty for the tracking system."

Chen Guang didn't speak, his fingers tapping quickly on the virtual keyboard, adjusting the simulation parameters.

Just then, the indicator light of the external communication station lit up.

"Emergency communication from Navy Command Center!"

Feng Yan pressed the connect button. The serious face of the navy Rear Admiral appeared on the screen.

"Information just received." The Rear Admiral said straight to the point.

"Eagle Country just announced that the original exercise is 'extended by two hours', the reason is 'testing equipment adaptability under complex night weather conditions'."

"Five minutes later, they will conduct a second round of test-fires."

"Quantity?" Feng Yan asked.

"Five 'Vanguards'. Specific ballistic parameters... they didn't notify."

Expected.

"Our authorization?" Feng Yan continued to ask.

The Rear Admiral was silent for two seconds: "Higher-up order, 'Torch Dragon Eye' enters actual combat standby status."

"The principle is: only intercept targets that clearly pose a direct threat to our airspace. But if the opponent's missile 'accidentally deviates' in international waters..."

He didn't finish, but the meaning was clear.

"Understood." Feng Yan nodded, "We will hold that line."

The communication ended.

The atmosphere in the command post became grave.

Five hypersonic missiles, night, complex trajectory.

This is the real test.

Chen Guang took a deep breath, his fingers hovered over the start button on the main console for a second, then pressed it.

Throughout the base, indicator lights turned from green to yellow, then to red.

【'Torch Dragon Eye' full system start... self-check program running...】

【Six main laser emitter cooling liquid circulation normal...】

【Adaptive optics lens group calibration complete...】

【Radar array synchronous tracking mode activated...】

【Energy system output power: 95%... 98%... 100%...】

The system prompt sound was steady and clear.

On the screen in front of Chen Guang, the icons representing the six laser emitters all lit up green.

"System ready."

Wang Hao had already jumped off the chair and leaned over to the radar screen: "Coming, coming! Satellite monitoring, five targets launched simultaneously!"

"Damn, it really is five!"

On the large screen, five light spots rose rapidly from somewhere in the EastSea international waters, quickly differentiating into a clear combination of three high-altitude and two low-altitude.

Exactly the same as the simulation prediction.

"Ballistic calculation in progress..." Chen Guang stared at the data stream.

"High-altitude missile: standard parabola, target impact point... Footbasin Chicken northern uninhabited island area."

"Low-altitude missile: sea-skimming flight, trajectory... along the boundary line between international waters and our territorial waters, almost parallel."

Li Yang frowned: "They are very cunning. High-altitude missiles are aimed at Footbasin Chicken, low-altitude missiles are flying along our line."

"If we intercept the low-altitude missile, they can say we are 'overreacting'; if we don't, in case one 'deviates'..."

"So intercept only one." Feng Yan suddenly said.

Everyone looked at him.

"Chen Guang, calculate which low-altitude missile's trajectory is the most 'ambiguous'." Feng Yan stared at the screen.

"The kind that might cross the line if it deviates just a little."

Chen Guang operated quickly.

Two seconds later, the trajectory line of one of the low-altitude targets was highlighted in red.

"No. 2 low-altitude missile. Its preset trajectory is only... 7.3 kilometers from the territorial sea line."

"And the standard lateral dispersion error of 'Vanguard' missile in the terminal phase is plus or minus 5 kilometers."

"In other words, even if it flies completely according to plan, there is a certain probability of 'grazing the edge'." Feng Yan nodded.

"Then this one. The reason for interception is: preventive disposal, to avoid accidental border crossing."

He looked at the navy communication window: "Admiral, request interception authorization, target: No. 2 low-altitude missile."

"Reason: Trajectory is too close to our airspace, there is an unpredictable risk of border crossing."

Brief silence.

Then, the reply came: "Approved. Pay attention to controlling the interception position, destroy it in international airspace as much as possible."

"Understood."

Chen Guang's fingers hovered over the data monitoring key again.

This time, his fingertips had an extremely slight tremor, not because of tension, but because his brain was calculating every parameter at ultra-high load:

Missile speed, atmospheric refraction, turbulence distribution, energy allocation, coordination timing of six laser emitters...

"Haozi." He suddenly spoke.

"Ah? Here Guangzi!" Wang Hao leaned over quickly.

"If you had that pulse interference system you mentioned yesterday, how would you use it now?"

Wang Hao was stunned for a second, then his eyes lit up: "That goes without saying! Blind it first!"

"Burn its optical windows and infrared sensors, make it a blind man! Then the main laser will slowly burn—wait, Guangzi, don't tell me..."

Chen Guang didn't answer, but pulled up a sub-program he had written overnight.

【'Firefly' pulse interference module (simulation) loaded.】

【Note: This module is a software simulation, actual hardware not yet deployed.】

"Although not actually installed, the algorithm can be simulated." Chen Guang said.

"'Torch Dragon', insert pulse interference step into the interception process."

"Timing: 0.5 seconds before main laser irradiation, fire three consecutive low-power pulses, wavelength 532 nanometers, aimed at the target's head sensor area."

【Simulation process established. Expected effect: target sensor performance drops by 30%-50%, trajectory change response delay increases by 0.2-0.3 seconds.】

"Enough." Chen Guang pressed the start button.

The real operation began.

The command post was silent, leaving only the humming of equipment.

On the large screen, the light spot representing No. 2 low-altitude missile was moving rapidly.

Its altitude was maintained at fifteen meters above sea level, a typical sea-skimming penetration altitude, its radar cross-section was extremely small, and sea surface clutter almost completely covered its tracks.

But for "Torch Dragon Eye", this was not enough.

Six laser emitters distributed in different locations shared the same target trajectory model through the data link.

Their lens groups began to fine-tune, aiming not at the missile's current position, but at the position it would reach in 0.8 seconds.

"Distance to territorial sea line: 32 kilometers... 30 kilometers..."

Chen Guang stared at the countdown.

"28 kilometers. Entering best interception interval."

He pushed the control lever lightly.

On the six mountain peaks of the Zhoushan Islands, six deep red light beams pierced the night sky simultaneously.

They were twisted and scattered by atmospheric turbulence the moment they were launched, but after flying 500 meters, the adaptive optics system began to work.

The mirror surface fine-tuned at a frequency of thousands of times per second, canceling out the unevenness of the air.

Six light beams converged in the air, merged, and finally twisted into a deadly light column with a diameter of less than twenty centimeters.

Crossing the 28-kilometer distance at a speed of 300,000 kilometers per second, it arrived at the target area almost the same moment it was fired.

But the missile was not there.

It was not there 0.8 seconds ago.

This is the hardest part of laser interception: the speed of light is too fast, becoming a burden instead.

Because you must aim at the future position of the target, and the future position of a hypersonic missile is extremely difficult to predict.

"Torch Dragon's" prediction algorithm played a role at this time.

The moment the light beam arrived at the preset position, the missile happened to perform a tiny evasive maneuver.

Not manually controlled, but a conventional posture adjustment made by the autopilot system based on air data sensor data.

Just this 0.05-second delay made the missile "bump" into the light beam itself.

First second.

The light beam irradiated the left side of the missile tail.

The thermal insulation coating on the missile surface vaporized instantly, exposing the alloy shell underneath.

The simulated pulse interference also "hit" the warhead area in this second.

Although it was only a software simulation, the data showed that if there were a real pulsed laser, the missile's head sensor area should have received measurable interference by now.

Second second.

The alloy shell began to turn red and soften.

The missile's autopilot system detected an abnormality and tried to perform evasion, but the sensor data was already chaotic, reacting 0.25 seconds slower.

It was this 0.25 seconds that decided the outcome.

Third second.

The light beam continued to irradiate.

A hole the size of a fist was melted into the missile body, internal pipelines were exposed, liquid fuel leaked, and ignited instantly at high temperature.

In the night sky, a dazzling fireball exploded.

The missile's structure was still largely intact, but it had lost power, dragging a burning trail and beginning to fall.

From firing the laser to hitting: actual time: 3.2 seconds.

From the missile being hit to completely losing control: 1.8 seconds.

Total time: 5 seconds exactly.

In the command post, dead silence.

Then, Wang Hao was the first to jump up: "Damn! Damn! Guangzi! It's done! It's really done! 5 seconds!"

"I can hold my breath for 30 seconds! You brought down a Mach 20 thing in 5 seconds!"

Chen Guang didn't speak, he just stared at the data screen, his eyes not blinking.

The screen was replaying the entire process shot by the high-speed camera:

How the light beam chased, how it hit, how the missile was ignited, how it fell...

Every detail was terrifyingly clear.

And that final set of data:

Target speed: Mach 19.7.

Interception distance: 28.4 kilometers.

Light beam energy concentration: 91% (9% loss due to turbulence).

Irradiation time: 3.2 seconds.

Total energy consumption: equivalent to 8.3% of the base's daily electricity usage.

"Better than... expected." Chen Guang finally spoke, his voice a bit dry.

"The turbulence compensation algorithm's actual effect is 4% higher than laboratory data. The prediction model's error is within the acceptable range. But energy consumption..."

He paused: "Still too high."

Feng Yan walked over and patted his shoulder: "Don't worry about energy consumption for now. That shot was worth it."

He turned to the radar screen.

The other four missiles had each flown to their designated impact points.

The three high-altitude ones crashed into the international waters north of Footbasin Chicken, and the other low-altitude one flew the entire route along the boundary line, finally self-destructing and crashing into the sea.

A carefully designed "test" was interrupted by a more precise "bullet".

The communication from the Navy Command Center connected again.

There was a clear smile on the Rear Admiral's face.

"Interception data has been transmitted back to headquarters. The higher-ups are very satisfied." He said.

"In addition, Eagle Country just sent an 'inquiry', saying their No. 2 missile 'suddenly failed and lost contact', asking if we monitored any 'abnormal situation'."

"How do we reply?" Feng Yan asked.

"Reply according to the contingency plan: we monitored the missile self-igniting and crashing in international waters, the specific reason is unknown." The Rear Admiral paused.

"But privately, the military attaché of their embassy just contacted our people and asked a question."

"What question?"

"They asked..." The Rear Admiral couldn't help but laugh, "'Does your country's laser system sell?'"

The command post erupted into roars of laughter.

Wang Hao laughed so hard he slapped his thigh: "Sell! Why not sell! Castrated version! The kind that can only shoot water and not burn iron, not too much to ask!"

"As for the price, it's negotiable, one 'Ford'-class aircraft carrier for one set, not too much, right?"

Amidst the laughter, Chen Guang quietly left the main console.

He walked to the observation platform outside the command post, the night wind blowing on his face, carrying the salty smell of the sea.

In the sky, the fire caused by the interception had dissipated, leaving only the stars.

Li Yang followed him out and handed him a bottle of water.

"Pressure is high?" Li Yang asked.

Chen Guang took the water and took a sip: "Actually... when I pressed the start button just now, I was thinking about one thing."

"What thing?"

"If that missile really suddenly turned and rushed into our airspace, and we didn't intercept it." Chen Guang looked at the night sky.

"What would be the consequence."

Li Yang was silent for a while.

"But the fact is, we intercepted it." He said, "And it only took 5 seconds. Chen Guang, do you know what this means?"

Chen Guang shook his head.

"It means from today on, anyone who wants to threaten us with missiles must first calculate a math problem." Li Yang also

"Calculate their missiles to see if they can fly over 28 kilometers within 5 seconds. Calculate their penetration technology to see if it can be faster than the speed of light."

"But the energy problem..."

"The energy problem is the next hurdle to overcome," Li Yang said. "But tonight, let's enjoy this moment first."

He pointed toward the command post.

Wang Hao was gesturing wildly to Zhao Kaiyuan, likely bragging about the brilliance of his "pulse interference" idea.

Zhao Gong and Li Kui were checking the lens heat load data from the recent interception, nodding as they looked.

Feng Yan was conducting final coordination with the Navy.

Everything was as usual.

But something was already different.

Chen Guang took a deep breath and threw his empty water bottle into the trash can nearby.

"Let's go back," he said.

"There are still crash data from four missiles to analyze."

"Also, the hardware design for Haozi's pulse system needs to be put on the agenda as soon as possible."