Iron Cross

Major General Dornberg asked everyone to hide in a cement bunker similar to the one before, and then issued the order to start the launch procedure. After the professional sergeant gently flipped a switch, a burst of compressed air removed the gasoline containing octane from the fuel. The box is sent to the pulse jet engine located above the tail of the launcher, and then the spark plug begins to energize and ignite the gasoline. The engine roared loudly, sprayed out dazzling flames from its tail, and began to fly forward.

Everyone can see clearly: the initial speed of this rocket taking off is much faster than that of an airplane, but somewhat slower than that of the A-4 rocket. Dornberg is a good explainer and knows what everyone is concerned about: "There are no control surfaces on the rocket wings, and control relies on the rudder and elevator on the horizontal tail. For a rocket that does not require maneuvering, this method is both It is practical and inexpensive. The autopilot device controls the rocket to fly in a predetermined direction. The range counting device calculates the flight distance of the rocket and opens the spoiler when it reaches the target. The system adjusts and locks the rudder surface on the horizontal tail to slow down the rocket and dive. Run to the target and detonate the warhead."

“Is this system reliable?”

Dornberg hesitated for a moment before answering Degenkobi's question: "It should be divided into two parts. The fuze part is very reliable. We have an electric fuze and a backup mechanical fuze in the warhead. In addition, There is also a delay fuse. If the first two fail to cause the rocket to explode, the last one can ensure that the rocket self-destructs after a period of time. We have experimented many times and there are almost no duds in the rocket after launch, but..."

He was just halfway through what he said when he suddenly heard the iconic "buzzing" sound of the rocket coming back. When he looked up, his face changed drastically, and he was so frightened that he didn't know what to say. Speer was originally wondering why his opponent, who was just fine, suddenly got stuck. Before he had time to ask, he heard someone next to him shouting hysterically: "No, the rocket has been blown away by the airflow. Danger! Everyone lies down..." "

Speer glanced at the air from the corner of his eye and found that the rocket that was roaring towards the intended target had actually turned around and flew towards the observation trench. At first, everyone thought it was going at an average speed when it was launched, but now it felt like it was Life and death are speeding up. He only felt coldness in his hands and feet. Before he could react, Gerhard Degenkoby, who had quick eyes and quick hands, used a tiger pounce to force him down into the ditch. Speer, who was caught off guard, raised his head with difficulty and vomited out. There was dirt in his mouth, and he was about to curse when he found the same face of the head of state that was almost twisted out of shape next to him. On his back was Adjutant Dargos. At this time, everyone only heard the rocket passing overhead with a "whoosh" sound, flying straight back, and about 15 seconds later, it exploded violently in the forest not far away. The sound was deafening, shaking the cement in the trench. The layers fell down "plop plop".

Everyone got up in embarrassment, dusting themselves off and thankful that they had escaped. There were endless complaints and curses. Hoffman ignored the scolding of the base and was the first to walk towards the explosion point. Adjutant Dargos followed closely behind. The others could only follow after seeing this. Major General Dornberg's mind was blank for a moment. They actually forgot to stop them, and instead let these big shots go on their own.

Looking at the huge crater on the ground and the destroyed trees around it, everyone took a breath of air. Speer sneered and said: "The power is really not bad, Mr. Dornberg. If the rocket just fell, it would be in the observation trench." The explosion is enough to blow up the heads of state and us, right?"

"I...I..." Dornberg was about to cry. He knew that the flight attitude of this rocket was not stable after launch. This is also the reason why the base has not reported the completion of the development. In order to ensure the test Successfully selected the one with the most perfect craftsmanship in advance, and debugged and inspected the system many times beforehand. Unexpectedly, such a thing happened under the nose of the head of state. There are cases where experiments fail, but a small probability event like today is almost unexplainable. He seemed to see the SS cell and the gate of the concentration camp waving to him, and he didn't know which treasonous group he would be classified into after entering. In short, this life is over.

His eyes were distracted, his whole body was convulsing as if he had been shocked by electricity, and he couldn't answer even a single sentence. The situation of other base personnel was not much better than his, and they all looked sad and did not dare to express their anger.

The scene fell into a terrible silence. Von Braun may have seen too many scenes of failed experiments and had enough immunity. He was the first to recover. He looked at the people around him who seemed to be holding their necks and could not speak, sighed and prepared to go forward to smooth things over: he knew that this "cheap" rocket project had many problems, and originally advised Dornberg not to rush to demonstrate it. However, the major general who was eager to express himself in front of the head of state obviously did not listen. Now that it has caused such a big and low-level accident, he would definitely suppress the matter without hesitation and laugh it off. But what day is it? This is an on-site inspection by the head of state. If he does not stand up and speak out, I am afraid that the development team of this rocket project will be completely ruined.

Hoffman was also thinking calmly. Although the V1 was the world's first successful gun, its limitations were too obvious: first, it was too slow, not only easily killed by fast fighters, but also at too low an altitude. It is also easy to be killed by anti-aircraft guns; secondly, its accuracy is poor, there is no reliable navigation system, and it is completely based on inertial guidance for fuzzy positioning. The circular probability error is as high as 20 kilometers, which is an incredible error. The slow speed is understandable. After all, the speed of later Tomahawks is only Mach 0.72. But without reliable navigation, V1 is at best a large uncontrolled rocket that can be heard exploding. He does not want to mass-produce and equip equipment as he did in history. He has been looking for a way to express it properly without dampening the enthusiasm of scientific researchers. Today's mistake may be a logical excuse - it can be developed, but it should not be produced in large quantities. Production!

After thinking clearly about the cause and effect, he spoke: "Major General Dornberg, your level of spying is really poor, and your timing of selection is also very bad. I have to send you to the SS for good training. If you really want to I'll kill you. You should have triggered the fuse directly when I saw the rocket just now - the three very reliable guys you mentioned."

"It's over, it's really over..." Dornberg didn't understand anything. He only heard the word "spy" and was trembling all over. He just muttered to himself.

Braun frowned at first, but slowly relaxed after hearing it at the end - it seemed that the head of state had no intention of pursuing further, but was just telling a joke, but the joke was so cold that it made people shiver all over. Chizzy. He whispered a few words into Dornberg's ear, and finally calmed him down.

Hoffman had an idea. He remembered the Me-163 project that Dr. Messerschmitt had been obsessed with, and said: "I have an immature idea. Since this rocket is difficult to control, why not transform it into one that can lay off people? Replacing machine guidance with humans may lead to better accuracy. I saw a canceled project at Messerschmitt, which is very close to what you are studying.”

Speer nodded, and he also remembered the interesting rocket interceptor project.

"Carry... carry people." Dornberg had not recovered from the shock just now, and his mind could not keep up with Hoffman's thoughts. After a long time, he stammered, "Of course... of course it can be controlled... Accuracy, but...but...we can't recruit qualified volunteers, and...and...this is not the same as an airplane. After the explosion is successful, wouldn't it be...wouldn't it be..."

"Of course we in the Third Reich can't do this, but we have friends who can..." Hoffman made a face at everyone and made a bow-legged look with his hands, "These Eastern friends are very willing to go to the Americans to fight for their lives. , and also said that life can be as gorgeous as cherry blossoms... I don’t know what kind of religious belief this is. It’s really a ghost! But as an ally, I appreciate their attitude of being generous in death, as long as they are willing to find it. It’s just a matter of trouble for the Americans. A manned rocket, not to mention a warship, is good even if it destroys a tank.”

"It depends on which one of the two is cheaper." Speer said bluntly, "I wonder what the price of this rocket is?

"Cheaper than a tank, cheaper than a tank..." Dornberg finally came to his senses and said quickly, "Less than 10,000 marks. If mass production is made and the wings are made of wood chips, the cost can be further reduced to 6,000. Within Mark—excluding development costs.”

"What about the manned ones?"

"At most, the cost will be 1,000 more marks."

"7000 marks?" Everyone was shocked. The price was far lower than they imagined. Not to mention tanks, it was much lower than the current cheapest armored vehicles. At most, it was the price of a 75mm anti-tank gun. Shi Pell laughed, "Fifteen rockets are worth a Panzer IV tank, but I don't think a tank can withstand the attack of 15 manned rockets."

"Well, that's called a saturation attack." Hoffman laughed. "Everyone, please imagine the scene of hundreds of manned rockets launching attacks on American warships and tanks. It's a bit exciting to think about it..."