Munitions Empire

In the end, the secret weapon missile of Tang Country still failed to catch up with the war. The victory parade had already ended, and the ballistic missile capable of flying over 1700 kilometers still lay in the sunless laboratory.

Even during the victory parade, it was not brought out for a showy display. It remained a mystery, known within the upper echelons of Tang Country only by a vague code name.

Those who knew about this weapon were extremely secretive; whenever they mentioned it, they referred only to its numerical code, and most people only knew parts of it, with many having never seen the full form of this secret weapon.

The capital of the Dahua Empire had narrowly escaped disaster, but this was not the end. With Tang Mo, the prophet, present, it was natural not to abandon this weapon system representing the future.

Thus, after dozens of trials, the short-range ballistic missiles, fully ready for combat, immediately began to be secretively mass-produced, without any delay.

This type of missile was almost a replica of the V-2 missile, or more precisely, an almost replica of the Scud missile.

It improved on the complex structure of the V2 missile by adopting more advanced technologies, still using the mature kerosene and nitric acid fuel of the Scud missile, and its range was nearly the same, about 300 kilometers.

At its maximum range of 300 kilometers, the circular error probable of this inertially guided missile was about 300 meters, making it suitable only for attacking fixed targets the size of cities.

Compared to aerial strikes, this level of attack precision did not offer any advantage, but the missile still had significant value.

Its biggest advantage was that it was almost impossible to intercept. With its high ballistic trajectory and extremely fast speed, even if detected by radar, it had enough confidence to "hit" its target.

The missile, over 11 meters long, contained fuel as well as inertial guidance systems and a warhead, the whole warhead weighing 1 ton, making it truly a behemoth.

The warhead was optional; it could be equipped with a nearly 900-kilogram Fuel-Air Explosive Bomb, whose destructive power was tremendous, capable of somewhat compensating for the missile's lack of attack precision.

Another option was cluster munitions, available in two types: 40 larger bomblets for attacking runways, or 100 smaller bomblets for attacking personnel.

Both types of cluster munitions could also compensate to some extent for the lack of attack accuracy, as hitting the target with just one piece of ordnance would result in significant damage.

The so-called cluster bombs, another secret weapon of Tang Country, could rapidly clear a zone of living forces.

Of course, if necessary, Tang Mo could also equip this missile with more powerful warheads, such as nuclear or chemical warheads.

Chemical weapons were not humane, and Tang Mo was reluctant to unleash this Pandora's box. It was not that he was particularly noble, but because the entry threshold for these weapons was too low.

Once the overall technological level of the world reached a certain degree, nations would immediately be capable of developing and manufacturing chemical weapons, and then these countries would brazenly start using these weapons.

Thus, Tang Mo preferred to "seal" these cheap bio-chemical weapons, known as "the poor man's nuclear weapon," raising the threshold for their use.

And he, relying on a monopoly of nuclear technology, would become the true world police, suppressing any country that desired to possess "weapons of mass destruction."

To put it bluntly, he intended to ban easy, simple, high-impact weapons, and then monopolize high-tech superweapons to achieve overwhelming superiority.

Apart from the short-range ballistic missile Scud, another secret weapon of Tang Country was the long-range ballistic missile, Dongfeng 3.

This missile, modified by Tang Mo's technical engineers, had a range of 1700 kilometers, and could reach the capital of the Dahua Empire.

Its accuracy was not very satisfactory, but it was the only weapon currently capable of striking targets over 1700 kilometers away instantly.

Although its reliability was not very high and it was expensive and scarce, its emergence still had immeasurable strategic significance.

The appearance of this missile marked Tang Country's entry into another military phase, presenting a new competitor to strategic air forces. In related fields, Tang Country created countless possibilities.

Almost exactly like in actual history, as soon as ballistic missiles appeared, people thought of another use for missiles: rockets.

Inspired by Tang Mo, Tang Country's technicians began to evaluate the feasibility of artificial satellites. This entirely new equipment suddenly shifted the world's attention from above the clouds to the boundless outer space.

Tang Mo, being a "veteran," immediately instilled the importance of satellites in the minds of research personnel.

Without any detours, the several critical functions of satellites, including communication and detection, made this "future" technology highly prioritized.

But whether rockets or missiles, neither was the main focus of Tang Mo's development; what he was most concerned with now was the development of another little gadget.

This device was the electron tube, also the primary component of first-generation electronic computers. With this gadget, the electronic tube computer could be manufactured.