Chapter 108: Emergency Order
“Commander Liu, the United States’ space station is scrapping and falling. Our supercomputer has calculated that the opponent’s current speed is 20 Mach, and upon re-entry into the atmosphere, it will directly collide with our space elevator.”
After Fan Ren finished saying this, Liu Shengzhan on the other end of the telephone fell silent, as if digesting this information.
“Is the calculation result accurate?”
“Accurate. You know our supercomputer; it has never been wrong.”
Fan Ren was very certain; he had great confidence in the Xinghai supercomputer.
“20 Mach—our missiles may not have the capability to hit an object at that speed.”
“Yes, so as long as you agree, the Xinghai supercomputer will connect to the data link system used by the missiles. With the assistance of the Xinghai supercomputer, I think there should be no problem.”
The two of them didn’t even discuss whether missiles could be launched.
This was beyond doubt. The construction of the space elevator had consumed countless manpower and resources from Great Xia, as well as Xinghai’s financial resources.
Even the lunar base, which had been in operation for half a year, had its large output of ore used in this project.
Liu Shengzhan knew even more that Elder Ye’s think tank had proposed that once this elevator was completed, relying on it to further increase lunar base mineral production, the output of tri-titanium alloy would hopefully change Great Xia’s embarrassing situation of minerals always coming from Australia.
Of great significance! Ensure its safety at all costs.
“Good. I will immediately order the missile troops to cooperate with your Xinghai supercomputer to connect to their data link command system. Give me a launch time once done. I’m heading to the command headquarters right now. I’ll communicate with Elder Ye.”
“Yes, Commander Liu. Our Xinghai supercomputer is ready at any time.”
Liu Shengzhan’s decisiveness was demonstrated at this moment. After hanging up the phone, he first issued orders to the command headquarters.
He ordered the deployment of a hundred of Great Xia’s latest supersonic anti-aircraft missiles nearby, and to immediately enter launch state, ready for launch orders at any time.
At the same time, he ordered the military headquarters’ data link command system to connect to the Xinghai supercomputer.
After these matters were completed, he found time amid the busyness to call Ye Rongshan in the imperial palace.
When the call connected, it was obvious that Ye Rongshan’s tone on the other end was quite spirited, with slight background noise around him.
During this time, Great Xia’s development had been progressing by leaps and bounds. As a Great Xia elder, he had endless meetings related to the development of various industries.
“Shengzhan, what’s so urgent?”
“Elder Ye, I have an emergency situation to report to you.”
After he spoke, the sound of Ye Rongshan softly instructing those around him a few words could be heard from the receiver, and then the noise quieted down.
“Speak. There’s no one else here.”
Liu Shengzhan took a slight breath and said solemnly, “The United States’ space station is scrapping and crashing. Xinghai just called me. Their supercomputer has issued a warning that the space station will collide directly with our space elevator in 4 hours and 45 minutes at 20 Mach.”
Like him earlier, Ye Rongshan fell silent for a moment after hearing this news.
“Can it be shot down?”
His response was concise and clear.
Hearing this, Liu Shengzhan relaxed a bit in his mind and reported the response he had discussed with Fan Ren.
“The above plan has already been arranged, but whether to proceed with the interception in the end still requires your approval.”
“Hmph!”
A cold snort came from the receiver. Even as a military headquarters big shot, Liu Shengzhan couldn’t help but shiver upon hearing it.
Elder Ye had always maintained that amiable demeanor toward people. Even when angry, he had never shown his emotions so directly.
“I order!”
“Yes!” Liu Shengzhan straightened up entirely and shouted loudly.
“Order: Your department must shoot down this space station at all costs. Can you complete it?”
“Yes!”
“Order: Eastern Army, Southern Army, Northern Army, Missile Department—enter level one alert!”
“Yes!”
“Order.”
“Yes! Guarantee mission completion!”
After hanging up the phone, Liu Shengzhan’s straight standing posture did not relax.
The secretary pushed the door open and entered, noticing the chief exuding an intimidating aura, which made him hesitant to speak and disturb.
“Is the car ready?”
“Yes. The military aircraft is also being prepared. We can take off directly after arriving at the airport, expected to arrive at the space elevator nearby airport in one hour at the fastest.”
Hearing this, Liu Shengzhan picked up his neatly ironed and clean jacket and strode out with a tiger-like gait.
The space elevator was not far from the aerospace base. At Liu Shengzhan’s demand, the base command headquarters was temporarily taken over. Before Fan Ren arrived, the hall was already filled with personnel from the military command headquarters.
Fan Ren had the relevant credentials. He arrived at the command hall and paused for a moment, then Liu Shengzhan’s voice came from behind him.
“Commander Liu.”
“Go in first and get a grasp of the situation.”
Fan Ren nodded and followed behind him, but he found that his footsteps couldn’t quite keep up with Commander Liu’s pace at this moment.
In the command hall, a chair had been added next to each of Xinghai’s engineers’ seats, all occupied by command headquarters members in crisp military uniforms.
The atmosphere was much more serious than usual.
After they entered, a commander with colonel rank immediately hurried over from inside.
“Report to Commander Liu. All command headquarters personnel are in position. As instructed, operations here are temporarily handled by Xinghai engineers. Our operators at all levels are only responsible for relaying orders.”
Liu Shengzhan nodded, his gaze falling on the base’s central big screen.
The colonel hurriedly began explaining: “Report, the impact time given by the Xinghai supercomputer is now 3 hours and 20 minutes remaining. This is the space station’s fall trajectory diagram.”
“Any news from the anti-aircraft troops?”
“All nearby anti-aircraft missiles are in position. The base supercomputer has connected to our command data link. According to the supercomputer’s calculation, the optimal interception time is in 3 hours and 10 minutes. At that time, the supercomputer will guide the anti-aircraft missiles for flight attitude adjustments.”
“According to the supercomputer’s result, after 100 anti-aircraft missiles hit the target, the kinetic impact caused will offset its fall trajectory 100 kilometers from the space elevator, resulting in a separation distance of 10 kilometers when passing the space elevator, posing absolutely no threat to the space elevator.”
Fan Ren nodded beside him. He understood that the purpose of the interception was to alter the falling space station’s path, so the final contact point would no longer be the predetermined collision path with the space elevator.
This was because anti-aircraft missiles needed to balance ultra-high maneuverability, so they weren’t very large in size, and their explosive power was thus quite ordinary.
However, this was all because ordinary spacecraft were extremely precious; even hitting a bird or a coin with the engine could instantly destroy it.
Even if anti-aircraft missiles had small power, as long as they hit the target, they could make it lose the ability to continue flying.
But this scrapped space station was different. In its normal state, it was 90 meters long, and with various branches connected, its weight exceeded 400 tons.
All of this would rapidly disintegrate in large quantities after high-temperature friction with the atmosphere during atmospheric entry.
Ultimately, only an 8-meter long, 3-meter diameter, 10-ton main cabin would head toward the space elevator.
This was also why 100 anti-aircraft missiles were prepared for phase-locked bombardment.
Only this quantity of explosion energy, along with momentum impact, could make it deviate from the predetermined fall trajectory.
