Chapter 48: Moon Bomb
It was just a single leap, and the filming mission was already complete. The next moment, a whopping 18GB of data began transmitting to the Earth Base at a downlink rate of 600 Mbps.
Including time for data verification, antenna dispatch, and such, about ten minutes later, the data download was finished and subsequently sent to the image analysis team organized by Professor Lu Zhaoming.
Just over ten minutes later, the online meeting reconvened, and Professor Lu Zhaoming solemnly stated the results: “We found no anomalous creations within the corresponding coordinates range on the Tranquility Plain.”
He uploaded a picture to the virtual meeting room. Jiang Yang clicked to open it, zoomed in, and saw the delicate and realistic lunar surface scenery.
Dark basalt, thick lunar dust, sharp, jagged lunar rubble, and so on, together outlining a desolate and silent scene.
Possibly since billions of years ago, after the Moon cooled down and lost its geological activity capability, no foreign objects have ever visited here.
It has preserved this scene to this day, like a specimen.
Compared to the conditions in other parts of the Moon, there is nothing abnormal here.
“In about two hours, the lunar survey satellite will fly over the corresponding area again, and at that time, it will conduct a second filming and transmit the data back.
But based on experience, I don’t think there will be any new discoveries later.”
Professor Lu Zhaoming said solemnly: “Whether there are anomalous creations in the corresponding area is something visible at a glance; it doesn’t require too much complex analysis, and repeated filming won’t help improve accuracy.”
Jiang Yang said somewhat uncertainly: “Is it possible that the anomalous creation is small in volume, the lunar survey satellite’s resolution is insufficient, or… the anomalous creation is extremely similar to the lunar surface background environment, so it can’t be seen?”
“There is that possibility. It’s also possible it’s underground and not on the lunar surface at all.”
That would be quite tricky.
Existing intelligence already indicates the anomaly must be in that area, but our side can’t detect any clues.
Sun Changhe said: “Commander Gu.”
Gu Changshan stood up from behind Jiang Yang, letting his figure appear on the screen as well: “Gu Changshan reporting to you.”
“Do we currently have the capability to deliver nuclear weapons to that lunar area? How much time is needed? How many can we deliver?”
In an instant, the online meeting room fell into silence.
Jiang Yang’s heart also tensed up instantly.
Indeed… no matter what anomaly exists in that area, our side could just deliver nuclear weapons there and carry out carpet bombing, which could also solve the apocalypse problem!
This is undoubtedly one of the directions worth attempting!
But Jiang Yang was also clearly aware of the limitations of this approach.
It can only serve as a final desperate measure after other means fail. After all, we don’t even know what exactly is there, what state it’s in, or what form of existence it takes, so blindly bombing it is hard to say how effective it would be.
Gu Changshan said solemnly: “We need some assessments; we can have results in about one hour.”
“Go immediately.”
“Yes.”
Gu Changshan turned and left, leaving Jiang Yang alone in this core meeting room.
Just as he thought, Sun Changhe continued: “Using nuclear weapons for indiscriminate bombing is our last choice. Before that, we still need to figure out the situation there as much as possible.
Professor Lu, what facilities would be needed for the most comprehensive search and inspection of the JH area under current technological conditions?”
“I also need some assessments, about one hour.”
Sun Changhe looked at Jiang Yang again. Jiang Yang straightened up: “Then let’s adjourn for another hour.”
The screen went black, and Jiang Yang leaned back in his chair, wearily rubbing his forehead.
This high-intensity information exchange and thinking is extremely draining on the brain. Even just as an observer, simply receiving those high-frequency, important decisions and thinking about them is exhausting enough, not to mention that Jiang Yang also took on certain roles as host and decision-maker during the process.
“If only Zhou Yu could give my head a massage.”
This thought naturally surfaced in his mind.
In his previous lives, whenever he studied until exhausted, Zhou Yu always had ways to relax both his mind and body. Unknowingly, he even felt somewhat dependent on it.
But thinking of Zhou Yu’s current state…
“Something like the apocalypse always requires a process to accept. She probably hasn’t recovered yet.”
Jiang Yang shook his head, gave up the idea of going to find Zhou Yu now, leaned back in his chair instead, closed his eyes to rest, and tried his best to calm his thoughts, giving his constantly high-speed brain a moment of rest.
One hour passed quickly, and Gu Changshan also completed the collective assessment, sitting back behind Jiang Yang as the online meeting reconvened.
“Report to Director Sun, we have completed the preliminary assessment of the plan to deliver nuclear weapons to the Moon.
Our assessment result is that existing intercontinental ballistic missiles can fully undertake this task after some simple modifications.
For communication, navigation, mapping, and positioning, we can utilize the existing lunar exploration network, with no need for additional supplements.
The missile body needs some additions and removals of equipment, such as removing the atmospheric reentry program, adding extra fuel, increasing vacuum multiple ignition devices, etc. The modification work for a single missile is expected to take five days.
After the missile launch, it will take about one day to reach the Moon’s JH area.
We currently have a total of 60 intercontinental strategic nuclear missiles, each capable of carrying up to 8 nuclear warheads with a maximum yield of 2 million tons of TNT equivalent, totaling 480 warheads.
Calculated for a bombing area of 300 square kilometers, on average, one warhead per 0.625 square kilometers.
The lunar vacuum environment nuclear explosion simulation program shows that a single warhead is fully capable of vaporizing everything in a 0.625 square kilometer area, bombing out a pit about 100 meters deep, and transmitting the shockwave several kilometers into the lunar underground.
Based on our nuclear shelter performance calculations, the shockwave lethality of a single nuclear warhead can reach about 400 meters below the lunar surface.”
Listening to this series of data, Jiang Yang felt a shock from the depths of his heart.
He knew that in the Moon’s vacuum environment, the nuclear bomb’s lethality would be greatly reduced.
Because the nuclear bomb’s primary killing method is the shockwave. In a vacuum with no air, the shockwave naturally can’t form.
But even so, its lethality was still this powerful.
If it exploded on Earth, then…
No wonder in the previous life, just a single intercontinental missile passing through from over a thousand kilometers high altitude made so many nations immediately soften.
But…
Jiang Yang clearly remembered that conventional launches of satellites, landers, lunar rovers, etc., to the Moon take at least five or six days, yet this missile only needs one day?
