The train station looks very desolate. Apart from some artificially planted sand willows and poplar trees near the platform, there is no other green at all. Even the soldiers guarding the platform wear military uniforms in desert camouflage. In conjunction with the iron houses on the platform, the desolation and loneliness here are further highlighted.

Apart from the people working here, there are no people coming and going at this train station. A series of trains without any signs enter the station. The train station guards unload the cargo on the truck and then slowly drive away from the station. Day after day, year after year, even ordinary soldiers guarding the train station are difficult to know what cargo they are transporting and what cargo they are transporting away. Many soldiers can't even explain clearly where they have served in the past few years after retirement, nor do they know what identities are those men and women who occasionally appear near the platform who don't look like soldiers.

Here is the top-secret military research base code-named "Cangqiong", and this railway extending to the railway station is the "Gobi Line 6" that cannot be found on the civil map. This is the terminal station of "Gobi Line 6".

Usually, except for the bustling moments when the train enters the train station, the train station is basically quiet at other times. In fact, this train station is still a distance from the two main core areas of the "Sky" base. After the train pulls the goods to the train station, unloads them on the platform, and then an internal combustion engine-powered railway locomotive transports the goods through two different railway branches to different railway branches to different areas of the base. The defense in the railway station is only one line of defense. In the core areas of those bases, the warning measures are more stringent, almost three steps, one post and one sentry. The guards in the outer warning area have no right to enter the core area. Usually, the guards in the core area will not go around the outer warning area.

However, today, the situation was slightly different. Starting at 9:00 a.m., some guards were transferred from the core warning area 6 to strengthen the defense at the railway station. Moreover, some snipers in disguise uniforms were arranged on the commanding heights of the railway station. This posture opened the eyes of the guards at the railway station, but no one dared to inquire. They only strengthened the warning measures according to the command of the officers.

At 9:30 in the morning, the answer was finally revealed. A train without any sign slowly drove into the train station from "Gobi Line 6" and stopped on the only platform. The first one got off the train was the presidential guard in black uniform. They quickly took over part of the defense work of the train station, controlled the commanding heights, and established a more capable blocking battle position in those places. After that, some adjutants got off the train and muttered to the officers who led the team for a moment. Then, a big man walked off the train, was no one else, but Zhao Bei, the president of the Republic of China.

The soldiers on the platform may not know Lan Tianwei and Jiang Fangzhen, but they cannot not know Zhao Bei. Even in the years when Li Yuanhong was in power, Zhao Bei's portrait still occupied a prominent position in various government departments, especially in the army, where Zhao Bei's bust can be seen everywhere. As the founder of the National Defense Force, Zhao Bei's reputation in the army cannot be consumed by anyone or replaced by anyone. All soldiers admit this, and they are full of respect for the founder of the National Defense Force.

Now, the founding leader who had established the National Defense Forces suddenly visited the deserted desert Gobi. This situation made some officers and soldiers at the railway station even feel like dreams. Of course, they soon realized that the president was really standing on the railway station.

"Everyone has it! Stand at attention! Salute!"

The welcoming ceremony was very simple. The military band composed of cooks played a sonorous military music. The guards at the railway station held a gun ceremony. The President, wearing a marshal's uniform, held a small military parade on the platform. Then, an internal combustion engine-powered locomotive slowly drove into the railway station, and stopped next to the unloading train. After the President led his entourage on the locomotive, the locomotive quickly left the railway station and drove along the railway branch line on the left to a core base area.

In less than ten minutes, the internal combustion engine-powered locomotive arrived at the destination. Here, the ceremony to welcome the president was quite grand. The military band was well-dressed. In addition to the soldiers, there were also many male and female scientists and technicians in white coats. They obviously received a notice of the president's visit at their posts, and then rushed to welcome the president so that they didn't have time to change into casual clothes.

"Thank you all for your hard work. For the sake of the country's strength, you work in this isolated desert Gobi, endured the harsh working environment and living environment, contributed your wisdom and youth, shed sweat and blood, and built a solid foundation for national defense modernization with your hard work and loyalty. Here, on behalf of all the people and the central government, I would like to express my sincere thanks and greetings to you."

Zhao Bei's speech was not long, but it was impressive enough. Moreover, the current meteorological conditions did not allow him to stay too much on the platform. Soon, the wind blew from the northwest and the wind and sand were rising from the Gobi Desert. At the strong suggestion of the followers and the officials in charge, Zhao Beicai led these scientists and technicians into a strong and spacious fully enclosed huge shed. It was here, under the bright light, he saw the two rockets that were about to be used for rocket shooting experiments.

"Thunder" is the official name that Zhao Bei determined for the missile model of this rocket. However, now, before the rocket experiment was successful, the development code name of this rocket was still "Bow and Arrow 1". Before, Zhao Bei had seen this rocket's appearance in photos, but now, he finally saw the real thing.

In fact, "Bow and Arrow One" should be called a "short-range tactical missile", because this kind of rocket is not the type of uncontrolled rocket made by rocket enthusiasts. This rocket is equipped with an autopilot, which is a system that can track the rocket's own position without an external information source. With this autopilot, the rocket can basically hit wherever it is pointed.

But this is the first live-fire experiment of this kind of rocket. For safety reasons, there is no warhead installed on the rocket, but only counterweight and smoke agent are installed on the warhead to simulate the missile warhead.

According to the initial plan of the engineering and technical personnel, this experiment should be just a rocket launch experiment, and there is no need to set up a special shooting range to determine the rocket's fall accuracy. However, with Zhao Bei's direct intervention, this rocket experiment eventually turned into a simulated missile launch experiment, which not only set up a special shooting range, but also calculates the possible fall location of the missile.

This experiment was a brave adventure and a test of technology.

"The weather is not good now, can the experiment be carried out smoothly?"

Seeing that the wind and sand outside became more and more violent, Zhao Bei couldn't help but worry, so he asked a supervisor and the answer he received was yes.

"This season, there is a lot of wind and sand on the Gobi Desert here, but it usually lasts not long. At the latest, the wind and sand may stop. At that time, drag the rocket to the shooting site, add fuel after it is raised, and then you can shoot, and all the experiments can be completed before dark."

"How many times have you done the static experiment? What is the maximum thrust of the rocket's motor? Can the autopilot on the rocket ensure accuracy? According to your calculations, what is the circular probability error of the rocket's accuracy? Have you contacted the shooting range? How are the preparations at the testing and control stations going on? Have the radar and radio trackers been strictly tested?"

Zhao Bei asked a few more questions and received satisfactory answers. Everyone was very excited and followed the president around the rockets in the shed. During this secret inspection, Zhao Bei brought not many followers, which was also out of the need for confidentiality. However, Lan Tianwei and Jiang Fangzhen are senior military figures and have long known about the development mission of "Bow and Arrow One", so the questions they asked were quite professional, and they often needed answers from specific project leaders.

The technical issues that everyone is most concerned about are mainly on motivation and rocket guidance. At present, rockets use liquid fuel motivation. The fuel is alcohol and liquid oxygen. The fuel is injected into the fuel tank before injection. As for rocket guidance, it is based on kao autonomous driving instruments. The key is the gyroscope. All parts of the rocket are made domestically, some are manufactured by the base themselves, and some are ordered from private enterprises. This has formed a preliminary rocket industry chain. In order to cultivate professional talents, the base also has a school of aerodynamics research. All the students selected are outstanding students from major universities across the country. They have also participated in the development task of "Bow and Arrow One".

In the past, the rocket development work of the base was led by American Goddard. He did a very critical work for the rocket development project. The centrifugal pump used by the rocket was lubricated by liquid oxygen and the steam turbine was Goddardmin's. Later, Goddard's contract expired, and for the need for confidentiality, Zhao Bei did not extend the contract. After that, the rocket development work of the base was led by the Chinese. At the beginning, it was just a group of Goddard students responsible. Everyone was mainly engaged in basic theoretical research and conducted experiments on small rockets. After accumulating experience, they used international students to expand their technical teams, and then began to move forward quickly, gradually spreading from a 100-kilogram small rocket to a 500-kilogram rocket, then a one-ton rocket and a five-ton rocket, and finally successfully developed the "Bow and Arrow One" rocket weighing 19 tons.

During this development process, many supporting projects were launched one after another, from Doppler orbital radio trackers to integrated measurement adders, from original electronic tube computers to high-precision gyroscopes, all technical research projects related to rocket control and flight received sufficient funds and technical support. In fact, in 1933, a ton rocket was launched, and since Zhao Bei re-taken the center in 1934, this development pace has been further accelerated, and it can be said that he is running wildly.

Of course, at present, the "Bow and Arrow One" rocket cannot be considered successful in development. Only when today's rocket launch experiment is successfully completed and the rocket falls accurately in the selected fall zone can this model truly complete all the development work. The rest is to improve it into a professional tactical ballistic missile that is easier to transport and fire.

While developing rocket bodies, some supporting development projects are also launched at the same time. Therefore, the rockets displayed for Zhao Bei are now installed on professional transport vehicles. As long as you hang a trailer, you can directly drag them to the shooting position. On the shooting position, the corresponding vertical equipment and shooting platform are also ready. Once the rocket arrives, it can quickly complete the preparations before shooting.

This is only part of the rocket development work. In the subsequent missile development work, Zhao Bei has clearly required that the base must complete the task of transport, vertical and fire "in one go". That is to say, the base must develop a brand new missile carrier platform, which is a heavy transport vehicle. It can not only launch vertical missiles, but also act as a missile launch platform, directly launching missiles and accurately hitting the target. In addition, the corresponding missile warheads must also be equipped with ground-based missiles, cluster bombs, chemical bombs, special bombs, and many missile warheads must ensure the flexibility of missile combat missions.

This is a great project that has created the world. Everyone involved in this project is very excited and proud. They are very clear about the importance of the work they are engaged in. In the history of human war, such sharp weapons have never appeared in the history of human wars that can attack the enemy from hundreds of kilometers away. Although its accuracy may be questioned, its blow to the enemy's spirit and people's hearts is completely imaginable.

It is precisely because of this, when the developers and the President discussed in depth the prospects of this new strategic weapon, they almost agreed that this weapon may represent a new form of future warfare, and the President was even more optimistic that if this weapon could be equipped with a more powerful warhead, then the strategic pattern of the world would undergo fundamental changes.

What is this "more powerful warhead"? In fact, even the scientists and technicians on the scene cannot imagine specifically, but a few of them do know that a secret weapon is being developed at another core base fifteen kilometers away from the rocket development base, but they don't know what kind of weapon this weapon is.
Chapter completed!