Chapter 49

With the successful detonation of the first atomic bomb and the first hydrogen bomb, the mushroom cloud rising over Lop Nur let our Eastern backbone straighten up; we no longer need to worry about nuclear blackmail from certain people. But that's not enough—we need delivery vehicles to send this thing over the enemy's heads!

Initially they used the Strong Five, but that aircraft's range was too short, and flying there was too dangerous. Fortunately, the East Wind series rockets soon appeared, but they were all liquid-fueled rockets launched from fixed silos, with long preparation times and low survivability. Moreover, we insisted on not being the first to drop nuclear mushrooms on the enemy, so a second-strike nuclear capability became crucial.

Looking worldwide, using nuclear submarines that lurk underwater in peacetime and launch their carried nuclear missiles when needed can provide a nuclear second-strike capability when under attack.

This thing may never be used, but as long as we have it, it can protect our nation's skies and safeguard our homeland and people!

Although liquid-fueled missiles can also be fitted into nuclear submarines—that's what the old Soviets did—other countries uniformly use submarine-launched solid missiles.

Short preparation time, rapid launch, and no need to carry flammable liquid fuel—it's the ideal submarine-launched missile!

With this in mind, in 1965 the beloved Premier Zhou proposed the plan for a submarine-launched solid missile; in 1967 the project officially launched, named Giant Dragon Seventy-One, but they felt the dragon name was too significant, and if it failed the impact would be bad, so in 1972 the missile was officially named Giant Wave One, with the project designation Project 8291.

At the time the key was building solid rocket engines; considering secrecy and safety, Giant Wave One's R&D took place on the grasslands, where countless aerospace workers braved the yellow sand, lived in the grasslands' simple houses, slept at night, rolled out their bedding by day, and worked on the heated brick beds.

Conditions were harsh and R&D constantly risked lives; in this environment, aerospace personnel embodied the spirit of fearing neither hardship nor death, completing the development of the solid rocket engine.

Later, the specialized institute for solid rocket engine research was assigned to Western Peace, while the missile's control system—or rather, the overall department—was relocated to the Capital, and superiors even brought in the renowned aerospace expert Huang Lao to take charge.

Our East is poor, so we must follow our own unique path; Huang Lao proposed an East‑characteristic platform‑tube‑boat scheme.

First they launched the missile successfully from a ground launch pad, then placed it into a launch tube to simulate underwater launch conditions; all these experiments succeeded, leading to the final submarine launch.

On the television screen before them, the water surface was calm—this should be the second step, the underwater launch‑tube test; and this failure pattern is almost identical to the submarine‑launch situation of 1982 in later years.

This test must have been added later, because without their own drag‑reducing rod they wouldn't use one, and this missile is probably the one that was formally launched in 1982.

Now the experimental missile has exploded, and countless people are blaming the drag‑reducing rod; Zhou Ding, who proposed this idea, is extremely anxious.

He wasn't afraid of being blamed, nor afraid of taking responsibility, but the cause of the malfunction had to be found, so he decided to go find Qin Miao, send a telegram back to Ha Gong Da; the school said Qin Miao wasn't there, and they didn't know if he had returned to his hometown, so Zhou Ding then went to the relevant municipal departments, asking them to help find Qin Miao.

Then… he heard that Zhang Wanhe had gone to Qin Miao's father's factory, so Zhou Ding went to Zhang Wanhe's doorstep; after waiting just a few minutes, Zhang Wanhe returned, and Zhou Ding went up to ask about the situation—and it really was a coincidence, he was there!

Now Qin Miao has been brought back—can he find where the drag-reducing rod fell off, causing the missile to lose attitude control?

"Comrade Qin Miao, what do you think?" Huang Lao asked.

"The missile had just come out of the water, its attitude was normal, but after the solid rocket motor ignited, the missile lost control and quickly deviated from its course… so… the problem lies in the missile's internal control section; of course, it might not be a major issue—perhaps a connector detached prematurely."

Slap!

Engineer Ding Wanchun slammed his hand on the table and stood up: "You're saying the missile lost control, blaming us?"

"The previous several land-based launch pad tests were all complete successes, so the missile itself has no problem!"

"Exactly, it's clearly the drag-reducing rod's problem, and you're saying this just to shirk responsibility!"

The old experts in the conference room were all angry, you brat, dare to doubt that our missile itself has a problem?

"Alright, enough, Old Ding, sit down!" Huang Lao shouted at everyone: "Comrade Qin Miao, don't be afraid, say whatever you think."

"Gentlemen leaders, I'm just a freshman at Ha Gong Da, I don't understand anything… I have a bold idea; of course, if you think I'm wrong, then just treat me as…"

"Speak up, or if you have gas, let it out!" Ding Wanchun was still agitated.

"Our big rocket shouldn't be single-stage, right?"

Back then, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky proposed the rocket formula; according to his formula, to achieve sufficient speed for a rocket, one must continually jettison useless casings during flight, which led to the concept of multistage rockets.

During launch, the lower rocket engine ignites first, pushing the whole vehicle upward; once the lower stage has completed its work, we jettison the entire lower section, then ignite the upper engine.

Rockets of this era must at least be two-stage, with some having three-stage, three-and-a-half-stage, and other configurations.

Giant Wave One is also a two-stage rocket.

"That's right, it's a two-stage rocket—so what?"

"The rocket's control signal should come from the warhead section at the very top; this signal first passes through the upper second-stage rocket, then reaches the lower first-stage rocket. At the junction there should be a cable connector. If the connector responsible for transmitting the control signal becomes loose or detaches prematurely, then the first-stage rocket's servo mechanism will receive no control signal, causing the rocket to lose control and self-destruct."

This is the cause of the Giant Wave One sea trial failure in 1982! At that time, Huang Lao took all the responsibility upon himself, letting his subordinates investigate boldly; they searched for days and nights, found the fault, and five days later the second test launch achieved complete success.

"Hmph, daydreaming! The connector wasn't loose in the previous launch, so why would it be loose now?"

"Perhaps it's because this launch was from underwater, and the overload at the moment of exiting the water caused it?"

"Hmph, then it shouldn't have been ignited!"

"Immediately notify the Dalian side to check the separation connector of Yao-7!" Huang Lao said: "Do we have the same model in our institute? Conduct the experiment right away!"

"Huang Lao, all this is just his daydreaming; he's a young man, what does he know?"

"Back when we first started the Giant Wave One project, half of the personnel were college students!" Huang Lao looked at Ding Wanchun: "Moreover, Comrade Qin Miao makes sense—let's check immediately!"

Several minutes later.

"Word came from Dalian: the separation connector of the Yao-7 missile is loose!"

"We used the same model for the experiment, and indeed it is prone to being shaken loose by the overload upon exiting the water; after continuing to run for a few seconds post-exit, it will completely disconnect."

The cause of the fault has been found!