Munitions Empire

Tang Country, Tongcheng, inside a workshop of a factory, a technician was adjusting a device larger than a computer case.

He was very dedicated, and the gears within the device were compacted one atop the other, complex to the point of being overwhelming. The entire setup was precise and complicated, with every detail shimmering with the brilliance of industry.

This was a mechanical gyroscope correction device, which could adjust the rotation of gears driven by an electric motor based on the gyroscope's motion, to manipulate some critical parts' operation.

The whole device was incredibly complex, and the precision required dedicated technical workers using magnifying glasses for careful adjustments.

"It's outrageous, the precision of this thing has surpassed our understanding," an engineer said to his colleague who had just put away his screwdriver.

That colleague lifted the magnifying glasses from his eyes and smiled, "You know what this thing is for, so you should understand why it needs to be so precise."

"I'm just wondering how such a terrifying weapon could have emerged in this world." The engineer carefully closed the cover on the side of the device, then began gently screwing in the screws on the frame.

"It's nothing, 1700 kilometers is not a short distance. To make something fly that far on autopilot, precision is non-negotiable," said the engineer still wearing the magnifying glasses, laughing as he placed the screwdriver in a box next to him.

Lying in the middle of this workshop, covered with a canvas, was a huge cylindrical object with four sharp glide wings protruding from the tail.

Yes, this was a missile, and possibly the first ballistic missile that would be involved in actual combat in this world!

To get this thing off the ground, Great Tang Group's chemical factory had continuously invested in new production technologies, piling up science until it was advanced enough to produce rocket fuel.

Despite the production of these highly unstable chemicals being quite difficult, Tang Country had managed to create sufficient nitric acid and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine manually in the chemical laboratory for a rocket to ascend.

These substances, either highly corrosive or highly toxic, were all deadly. If poured into the missile, the missile's specially treated body would only have a lifespan of two or three hours.

Therefore, the missile bodies stored in this workshop were empty, and everything would have to wait until preparations were complete to proceed.

To ensure that this high-quality imitation of the DF-3 could fly over 1000 kilometers smoothly and deliver the "gift" to the Emperor Zhao Kai of the Dahua Empire, engineers of Tang Country had put in an incredible amount of effort.

They had to ensure that their inertial guidance system remained reliable, controlling the missile at altitudes above 100 kilometers, flying at speeds of 4 to 6 times the speed of sound all the way until it hit the target.

The good news was that the target to be hit was several kilometers wide and long, so large it was impossible to see the edges at a glance.

The bad news was that this target was about 1700 kilometers away from their launch site, and the actual flight trajectory couldn't be verified or measured.

"A few days ago, didn't we launch a test rocket?" As they finished tuning the equipment, the two began to chat again.

"Yeah, I participated in the experiment, the overall operation of the rocket had no problems, and the final landing point was within the designated range," the engineer with the magnifying glasses said as he nodded, removing his gloves and tossing them on the table.

As he spoke, he also took off the magnifying glasses and placed them on his workbench, "It flew 300 kilometers, with a deviation controlled within 210 meters."

"That sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Six times the distance, the deviation is probably also six times as much, that's just less than 1,300 meters, completely within the data requirements," his colleague complained, rubbing the sparse hair on his head, "Why do we still need to improve precision then?"

"Out of the previous fifteen tests, nine failed. These are handcrafted, with too much randomness, which is very unsettling," the clearly more skilled engineer with a receding hairline grabbed his water cup, took a sip, and then continued.

Frankly, with the current processing precision, attempting to create a ballistic missile with a range of 2000 kilometers was indeed a bit of a stretch.

However, the Imperial Capital of the Dahua Empire was about 1500 kilometers away from the border of Tang Country, a distance that could no longer guarantee the safe bombing from flying fortresses.

Therefore, for Tang Mo to send Zhao Kai a grand gift, he had to think of a better solution: a missile that could go without returning was clearly the right choice.

Originally, with the technological accumulation of Tang Country, producing a relatively simple V2 rocket was not difficult, but the V2 rocket was too small with a range of only about 300 kilometers, insufficient for Tang Mo's need to attack the Capital of the Dahua Empire.

Thus, the technical department of Tang Country had no choice but to start with the more difficult, technologically advanced strategic ballistic missile, copying the closely ranged DF-3 missile as a model.

Due to technical difficulties, the missile had reduced length to minimize the range and set it to a very suitable 1700 kilometers, essentially a custom fit.

This reduced the difficulty of attack precision, theoretically keeping the error within seven or eight kilometers.