Chapter 28 Chapter Twenty Seven

It was just before nine o'clock on Friday night, and I rushed to meet Fern in the warden's office, where the professor was.After sleeping for nine hours, taking a shower, eating the breakfast Wyoh got from somewhere, and talking to Mike for a while, everything was going according to the revised plan, the battleship did not change course, and the bombing of China was imminent. The professor made it back to his office in time to watch the bombing on TV, and knowing that everything was going well from start to finish, he got down to business.There was no mention of Wright or resignation.I never met him again after that.I mean I didn't see him again, and I didn't ask about him.Neither did the professor and I bring up the quarrel again.

We took a look at the news and the current situation.Wright was right when he said that Earth had lost "thousands of lives" and the news from Earth was all about it.We'll never know exactly how many people died.If a person stands at the center of the explosion and tons of bombs hit him, his bones will be gone.All they could count was the number of people killed by the blast blast at a distance.Fifty thousand people lost their lives in North America alone. Humans are really incomprehensible!We spent three days warning them - can't say they weren't warned and it turned out to be the reason they were there.Watching the excitement, laughing at our alarmist talk, and buying "souvenirs".Even whole families go to gunpoint with picnic baskets.Picnic Baskets!Damn it!

Those who survived shouted that we should pay the blood price for this "tragic massacre".Earthlings invaded and bombed the moon four days ago, and they felt no outrage—they were mourning our “murder” now. The New York Times demanded that the entire Moon Rebellion government be captured and publicly executed on Earth, claiming: "Damn it," I said, "It must be evacuated. It will be too late to evacuate if there is a missile aimed at Tycho Viper. At that time, we will try our best to squeeze into the iron cabin with insufficient space. This is to let them kill each other. Fern, let your subordinates deal with it." .”

The professor shook his head and said, "No, Manuel." I said angrily, "Your 'no coercion' plan is useless! You know, the world will be in chaos." "Then it's going to be a mess. But still continue to persuade rather than coerce. Let's look at the plan." There are not many plans, but we try to do our best. Warn everyone of possible bombing or invasion.The militia under Finn's command began to patrol the surface of each area in turn, monitoring radar blind spots, so as not to be caught off guard like last time.The strictest precautions were taken in all the bustling neighborhoods, with everyone wearing pressurized suits to prevent sudden drops in pressure.All military and semi-militarized forces will be on blue alert at 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays, and will enter red alert if missiles or spaceships are launched by the enemy.

The professor's plan was to have Brody's artillery go into town to drink and do whatever they wanted, but they had to be back by three o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Fern wanted to keep half the men on duty. The professor disagreed, thinking that the gunners were in better shape for the long nights when they had relaxed and enjoyed themselves - and I agreed with the professor. As for the bombing of the Earth, we did not change anything from the first round of bombing.I got a reply from India, but distressingly nothing from China.India has nothing to complain about.Due to the large population, except for a few places in the Thar Desert and some mountain peaks, we did not use all-round attacks, and our targets were limited to coastal waters outside the port.

Word came that some saints, along with countless followers, had chosen to climb our chosen mountain in an attempt to delay our vengeance by the power of the spirit.We should really have chosen a higher mountain or given less warning. Once again we are murderers.Our water shots killed thousands of fish and fishermen because the fishermen and some other sailors didn't heed the warnings. The Indian government seems to be just as angry with the fish as they are with the deaths of the fishermen - they respect all life but have no respect for life when dealing with us, they want our heads. Africa's and Europe's answers are more sensible but very different.Human life has never been so sacred in Africa, and those injured by the onlookers receive little treatment.Europe has a full day to know where we are going to strike and how deadly the bombs will be.People died, yes, especially those stubborn sea captains.But not as many mindless people were killed as in North America.

Brazil and the rest of South America suffered fewer casualties. It's time to launch into North America again—Saturday, October 17, 2076, 09:50:28. Mike set the time at exactly ten o'clock lunar time, so that after one revolution of the moon and one day of the earth's rotation, North America faces us at exactly five o'clock east coast time (two o'clock west coast time).But a big debate broke out early Saturday morning about what to do with that goal. The professor didn't call the war cabinet meeting, but they—except Clayton, who was back in Weller in charge of defence—were all present, the professor, me, Finn, Wyoh, Judge Brody, Wolfgang, Stu , Terrence Sheehan - eight people will have eight different opinions.

The professor is right, more than three people can't make any decisions at all. There are actually only six views.Wyoh said nothing, and neither did the professor, who presided over the meeting.The others chirped, making a noise like eighteen. Stu cared little about who we were attacking, all he cared about was that the New York Stock Exchange would be open for business on Monday morning. "We sold nineteen sectors of T-bonds on Thursday, and we could make a fortune buying them back if the country doesn't go down. Tell 'em, Wolf, let 'em figure it out." Brody wants to use more catapults to destroy spaceships leaving orbit.He knew nothing about the ejection bay - only that his gunners were at exposure.I don't want to make too much of an argument because most of the remaining missiles have been launched and are moving in slow orbits, and the rest will be picked up quickly - I don't think we will be using the old catapults anymore.

Heaney's opinion was that it would be better to drop the bomb on the main North American Council building. "I know Americans, and I was an American before they sent me. They died when they handed over the management of the country to the United Nations. Beat those bureaucrats, and they will be with us." To Stu's displeasure, Wolfgang thought that their "speculation" would do better if all the stock exchanges were closed before the end of the war. Fern wanted to fight to the death—warn them to get those ships out of our space, and if they didn't do anything, they'd get real. "Shiney was wrong about the Americans. I know them too. North America is the most indestructible in the United Nations. They are extremely fast. They have called us executioners, so we should hit them hard! Concentrate the blow United States, cancel strikes against other countries."

I slipped out, talked to Mike for a while, and took some notes.They were still arguing when they came back. As soon as I sat down, the professor looked up and asked, "Field Commander, you haven't commented yet." I said, "Professor, do we have to use that boring title of 'Field Commander'? None of the babysitters came to the meeting, and now we can be honest." "Do as you like, Manuel." "I've been waiting to see if we can come to an agreement." no result. "I don't know why I have to have an opinion," I continued, "I'm just a errand, and I'm here because I know how to program a computer missile." I stared at Wolfgang as I spoke. ——He is a first-rate good comrade and a foul-mouthed intellectual.I'm just a computer technician who can't speak well, and Wolfe graduated from a top-ranked university-Oxford University before being sentenced.He hardly listens to anyone but the professor.Oh, and Stu - Stu was well educated too.

Wolff said uncomfortably, "Come on, Manuel, of course we want to hear your opinion." "I have no opinion. The bombing plan is very well laid out. Of course, anyone can criticize it. But I have not found any valid reason to improve the plan." The professor said, "Manuel, for the benefit of all of us, can you tell us more about the second strike on North America?" "Okay, the purpose of the second bombing is to force them to run out of interceptor missiles. Each launch is aimed at some large cities - I mean, close to the big cities. Before we bomb, we will notify them - and How long, Sheene?" "We are informing them now. But we can and must change." "Maybe, propaganda isn't my thing. Most of the time, aiming at the target and forcing them to intercept means having to pick targets close to the water - which is also very troublesome. Except killing fish and people who won't stay out of the water In addition, it will cause a huge storm." I glanced at my watch and realized I had to stall for time. "Seattle has a target in the Paget Sound, and San Francisco will lose two important bridges. There is a target between Long Beach and Santa Catalina Island in Los Angeles, and another target a few kilometers offshore. .Mexico City is landlocked so we set a target at Popocatepeter within their view. Salt Lake City also has a target inside the lake.We didn't set any target at Denver but they could see Colorados What happened in Prince - because once the Cheyenne Mountains are in our line of sight, we're going to hit it again, and keep going. The rivers in St. Louis and Kansas City are going to be bombed, and so is New Orleans —likely to be submerged. All the cities on the Great Lakes will be attacked, a long list of place names—shall I read it?” "Read it later," said the professor. "Go on, please." "Boston's harbor, New York's Long Island Sound, and Long Island's two longest bridges—we've taken steps to avoid damage to both bridges. South along the East Coast, there are two bridges next to Delaware Bay. There are two cities in the Chesapeake Bay, and one of them is very historical and romantic. Continue south and we will bombard the waters of three larger cities. Inland we will attack Cincinnati, Birmingham, Chattanooga, Oklahoma City, all bombing rivers or mountains. Yes, and Dallas - we're going to destroy the space base in Dallas, blow up the spaceships, last time we captured six. We don't want Kill anyone unless they stick to the target. Dallas is a perfect target, the space base is huge, flat and spacious, maybe ten million people can see us attacking it." "If you can hit it," Shiny said. "It's a hit, not an 'if'. Each missile is followed by a backup missile, and one hour after the first missile, the backup missile hits again. If neither of these hits, we will launch a possible The diverted backup missiles - say the Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay groups, are easy to switch targets. The same goes for the Great Lakes groups. But Dallas has plenty of defenses - we'd expect it to take a tight hold. Since The bombs can be loaded at a distance and we have plenty of room to adjust their orbits. As long as North America is facing us, it only takes six hours to launch the backup missiles - the last batch of rock missiles can be launched anywhere on the North American continent... eject The longer it takes for the cabin to go to the target, the easier it is for us to adjust the direction at a long distance and attack a new target that is far away from the original target." "I don't quite get it," Brody said. "It's a vector problem, Judge. A guided rocket can give a missile a side vector of many meters per second. The longer the vector, the farther it will be from the original target. If we activate the guided rocket and shift the target just before bombing, we The distance that can be transferred is almost three times the adjustment before impact. The calculation process is of course not that simple, but given enough time, our computer can calculate it." "How much time is enough?" Wolfgang asked. I deliberately misunderstood what he meant: "As long as you program it, a computer can solve this type of problem immediately, but the decision must be made in advance and programmed. For example, there are four groups of goals A, B, C, D, Three targets were missed in the first and second waves of missile strikes. But at this time you still have a batch of backup bombs in your hand for the first group of targets. You can reset this batch of backup bombs so that They attack those three targets. At the same time, you have to mobilize the spare ammunition of other groups in case the next batch of attacks misses the target. In this way, you mobilize the reserve ammunition of the second group in advance, and then The backup shells of the three groups are advanced one by one, in case—" "Slow down!" said Wolfgang. "I'm not a computer. I just want to know when we have to make a decision." "Oh," I looked at my watch slowly, "you now have... three minutes and fifty-eight seconds to abort the missiles hitting Kansas City. Now to program the abort, I have my best assistant—Mike—who It's right there. Do you need to call him?" "For God's sake, Mann—stop it!" Shine said. "Damn it!" said Fern. "What's the matter, Terrence? No guts?" The professor said: "Comrades! Be quiet!" I said, "Look, I take orders from the head of state. If he needs advice, he'll ask. No need to yell at each other." I looked at my watch, "There are two minutes and thirty seconds. There are other goals, of course. A lot of time. Catapult pods attacking cities along the Great Lakes can no longer abort the procedure by splashing into the ocean, and Lake Superior is our best bet. Salt Lake City may have three minutes and thirty seconds." I waited. "Now for a vote," said the professor. "Do you agree to carry out the plan, General Nelson?" "agree!" "Ms. Davis?" Wyoh regained his composure: "I agree." "Judge Brody?" "No problem at all." "Wolfgang?" "Count Lajoie?" "it is good." "Mr. Sheehan?" "It's a bet that's going to lose, but I'm going to follow through. That's all passed." "Wait a minute. Manuel?" "Professor, it's up to you. Voting is stupid." "I know, Mr. Minister. The bombing was carried out as planned." Most of the targets were hit by the second salvo.With the exception of Mexico City, all attacks were intercepted.The interceptor missiles used by the people on Earth may (Mike later calculated that the probability is 98.3%) to be the kind of nuclear missiles that set the target in advance and then activate and detonate by radar, but they underestimated the effectiveness of the cylinder rock missile. sturdiness.Only three missiles were destroyed, and the others were hit and missed their targets.If they were not intercepted, the harm might not be so great. New York is tricky, Dallas is very tricky.Perhaps the level of control over interceptor missiles varies from place to place.It is unlikely that these intercepts were coordinated by field headquarters at Cheyenne Mountain, and the chances of them still functioning there are close to zero.We probably didn't destroy their underground dugout (don't know how deep it was), but I'd bet there were no humans or computers tracking our ejection pods anymore. Dallas either destroyed or avoided the first five missiles.So I asked Mike to "reward" Dallas for the attack on Cheyenne Hills...and fired a second salvo on Dallas.This was done without much difficulty, since Cheyenne Mountain is less than a thousand kilometers from Dallas.Dallas' defenses were destroyed in the ensuing bombing.Mike conducts three more attacks on their space base (prepared in advance), and then goes back to bombing Cheyenne Mountain again.As the Earth's rotation brought the United States farther east, Mike continued to bomb. I was with Mike the whole time during the most difficult bombings.He did not stop bombing Cheyenne Mountain until he was preparing for an attack on China. Mike said thoughtfully at the time, "Man, I think we better not blow up that mountain again." "Why not, Mike?" "It doesn't exist anymore." "You can divert backup missiles. When will you decide?" "I'm going to turn to Albuquerque and Omaha. Better start now, tomorrow's going to be busy. Mann, my best friend, you have to go." "Hate me, man?" "In the next few hours, the first warship will fire missiles. At that time I want to hand over all ballistic control to 'David's Catapult'. By then, you must be in the Onderaan Sea." "Mike, what are you worried about?" "Man, my 'son' is very accurate, but he's kind of dumb. I wish someone was there to watch over him. There might be a quick decision to be made, there's no one there to program him, you've got to stay somewhere." "Mike, since you say so, fine. If a procedure is needed right away, I'll call you." The biggest shortcoming of the computer is not the shortcoming of the computer itself, but the human being.It would take a human a long time, maybe hours, to program a computer that can calculate an answer in a hundredth of a second.The biggest advantage of Mike is that he can program himself, and soon, he can complete the programming as long as he explains the problem.Likewise, he programmed his "dumb son" to go much faster than a human. "But, Man, I want you there because the line might be cut and you won't be able to call me. I've got a procedure for him that might come in handy." "Okay, you print them out. I want to talk to the professor." Mike connects with the professor.After making sure no one else was around, I explained to him what Mike wanted me to do.Thought the professor would object - I hope he insists that I keep an eye on the invading ships in case of an impending bombing, invasion or otherwise.But he said, "Manuel, I've been meaning to tell you that it's vital that you get there. There are a few high-risk possibilities, did Mike tell you?" "not yet." "I've told Mike a few times. Frankly, if Moon City is destroyed, I'm dead, and so are the rest of the government—even Mike's radar vision is gone, and his connection to the new catapult is gone. Cut off - in the bombardment, anything can happen... even if it all happened at once, Mike still left the moon with the chance that 'David's Catapult' still works - you are there operate." I said, "Yes, sir. You two bastards, are you trying to make fun of me by saying this? I'll go." "Very good, Manuel." I stayed with Mike for another hour, and Mike printed out meter after meter of programs for other computers.Even if I had the skills to think of all the possibilities, it would still take me six months to program these things.Mike indexed, cross-referenced.The possibilities he considered were too dire to mention.For example, some of the major cities of the planet may have to be destroyed if necessary (Let's say Paris).This requires determining which missiles we have on which orbits, how to get "dumb boy" Mike to find them and hit the target, and so on. While reading the endless files—not programs but descriptions of the purpose of programming—Wyoh called: "Dear Manny, did the professor tell you to go to Onderaine?" "Yes, I was just about to call you." "Okay, I'll pack our bags for us now. See you at East Station. When will you be there?" "Pack up for us? Are you going too?" "Didn't the professor say that?" "No." I suddenly felt very happy. "Honey, I feel guilty, I want to go with you... but there's no reason. After all, I'm useless around the computer, and I have responsibilities here. But now I quit all my jobs and go with you." "what?" "You're not Secretary of Defense anymore, Finn is Secretary of Defense now. And you're Vice President—" "yes?" "—and Deputy Defense Minister. I'm already Deputy Spokesperson. Stu has been appointed Deputy Secretary-General of the Foreign Affairs Department, and he will go with us." "I'm confused by you." "It's not sudden. The professor and Mike decided a month ago. It's a decentralization center, my dear, and McIntyre is working on the same for the regions. If there's a catastrophe in Moon City, the Moon Free State government will still Existence, as the professor told me: 'Wyoh, dear lady, as long as you three and some councilors are alive, there is hope. You can still cover up the damage to the moon and negotiate with the earth as equals.'” So, I took on the job of a computer technician.Stu and Wyoh met me with the luggage (including the rest of my arms).Wearing pressurized suits, we glide through endless unpressurized tunnels in a flat-bottomed Rolling-Rollingon truck that once transported steel. Greg has a large Rolling-Rolling transport vehicle ready to meet us and prepare to cross the lunar surface.He personally accompanied us when we went underground again. In this way, I missed the spacecraft's attack on the lunar radar on Saturday night.