Chapter 29 Chapter Twenty Eight

The captain of the first battleship "Hope" was very courageous.He changed course on Saturday night and headed straight for us.He had obviously guessed that we might activate the radar warning system and decided to get as close to us as possible and use the ship's radar to detect our radar setpoints instead of firing missiles from our radar beams. He seemed prepared to sacrifice himself, the ship, and its crew, as he descended a thousand kilometers below the surface before firing a missile that struck five of Mike's six radars, ignoring our radar jamming. Mike estimated that he would probably lose his "eyes" soon, but still let Judge Brody's laser battery shoot the eyes of the spaceship for up to three seconds.They were then turned on to shoot the incoming missiles.

Result: The battleship's navigation system was knocked out and crashed; two radars were hit by hydrogen bombs, and three missiles were destroyed.Two gun crews were killed, one was killed by a hydrogen bomb explosion, and the other was hit by a missile that fell straight down.Thirteen gunners were exposed to more than 800 roentgens of X-ray radiation, half of which was from the radiation produced by the nuclear bomb explosion, and the other half was due to exposure to the lunar surface for too long.It must also be pointed out that four soldiers of Lister's regiment died with these artillery groups. They fought side by side with their comrades in pressurized suits and died in the end.The other girls also received severe radiation, but not to the level of 800 roentgens.

The second battleship continued to orbit the moon in an elliptical orbit. We got most of our news from Mike early Sunday morning after arriving at the Little David sling.He whined about losing both radar eyes, and was saddened by the loss of the battery—I realized that Mike was becoming more and more human.He felt it was his fault for not destroying those six targets right away.I pointed out that what he was using was not a real weapon, but a makeshift limited-range device. "How are you, Mike? Are you all right?" "The most important thing is that I have lost contact with the outside world. A missile cut off my route to Singalek, but the report from Yuecheng said that the local area is still under good control, and the public facilities in the city have not been damaged. . I was very frustrated by the loss of contact - more on that later."

"Mike, you sound a bit tired." "I'm tired? Ridiculous! Man, you forgot who I am! I'm just annoyed." "When will the second ship be back in sight?" "If he keeps on the original track, it will probably be within three hours. But more than 90% of the possibility is that he will not follow the original track. I estimate that it will appear in about another hour or so." "Take the Garrison track!" "He left my field of vision at an azimuth of 32 degrees north by east. Man, what does that mean?" I tried to imagine the scene at that time. "Mike, show they're going to land for you. Did you tell Fern? I mean did you get the professor to remind Fern?"

"The professor knows. But that's not how I analyze it." "Really? Okay. I guess I'd better shut up and let you work." I did. Lenore brought me breakfast while I was examining "Little Mike." In the presence of Wyoh and Lenore, I am ashamed to say that I am still mourning the loss of life.After Mira's death, Mumu sent Lenore over under the pretext of cooking for Greg.There are actually enough wives on our site to cook for everyone.This is also to boost Greg's morale. Leno and Mira used to be very good friends. "Little Mike" looks fine.He's launching toward South America, one catapult pod at a time.I was in the radar room watching through the super telescope and watching him launch rock missiles into the harbors of Montevideo and Buenos Aires, even Mike couldn't have been more accurate than him.I checked his program for launching to North America and it was impeccable."Little Mike" was alone until Mike had dealt with other issues and decided to take back control.I sat there trying to listen to the news from Earth and Moon City.The coaxial cable from Moon City can transmit phone calls, and the silly son finally connected with Mike, both radio and video, and we are no longer isolated.In addition to the cables from Moon City, the site also has antennas pointing towards Earth, and we can listen directly to any message from Earth that the government complex can pick up.This is not redundant.During the construction of the site, listening to radio and television from Earth was our only entertainment.But now, if that channel goes down, we have a backup.

The official United Nations satellite relay station states that the lunar ballistic radar has been destroyed and we are in trouble.Wonder what the people of Montevideo and Buenos Aires think?Maybe they were too busy to hear the news.In some ways, projecting a missile over water is far less effective than projecting it over open ground. Moon City's Moon TV channel is broadcasting Shine's report on the results of the "Hope" attack. He repeatedly warned people that the war is not over yet, and warships may appear above us again at any time—now they are on combat readiness, and everyone is wearing underwear. Pressure suits (Shiner was also wearing his pressurized suit and helmet), the most thorough barometric precautions were taken, and units were on red alert.Heene also urgently urged all citizens not involved in these efforts to seek refuge at the lowest levels.

The TV was broadcasting his speech repeatedly-suddenly interrupted: "There is a signal! The radar has detected an enemy warship, which is coming quickly at low altitude. There is a signal! The missile has been launched and is flying towards the catapult—" Suddenly, both picture and sound disappeared. Here's what we at Little David's Sling later learned: the second battleship was flying very low and fast in the closest orbit the moon's gravitational field would allow, only a hundred kilometers from our catapults and Brody's artillery, Slamming our old catapults.The warship wreaked havoc on us for just a minute before coming within range of the drill artillery massed around the catapult radar.I guess the captain thought he was safe, but immediately came under heavy fire from Brody's artillery.The battleship made a circle and crashed near Torricelli.The craft was apparently preparing to land, and its landing brake rockets had ignited before crashing.

The next piece of news we got at our new site was from Earth: the brazen United Associates kept claiming that our catapults had been destroyed (true), that the threat from the moon had been lifted (false), and that all moonmen were calling on them to The leaders of the United States were thrown into prison and then surrendered to the benevolent UN (benevolent? nonsense). On hearing this, I checked my procedures one more time, and stepped into the darkened radar room. If all goes well, we will drop another catapult pod in the Hudson River, and over the next three hours we will drop the catapult pods one by one across the continent—"one by one" because "Little Mike" can't be like Mike That automatically bombards at the same time.

The Hudson River was bombed as planned.I don't know how many New Yorkers listened to the United Nations news broadcast and witnessed the outrageous lies being dismantled. Two hours later, the United Nations said the Moon mob had launched some missiles into orbit when the catapult was destroyed — but apart from those few missiles, Earth would not be under any further attack. I turned off the radar after the third missile to hit North America was finished.The operation of the radar is erratic, and the programming has taken this into account. "Little Mike" can turn on the radar to take a peek only when needed, for a few seconds at a time.

Nine hours until we start bombing China. But for the most urgent decisions, we have less than nine hours.The decision is: whether to attack China or not. Right now we have no other sources of information other than the Earth News Channel.Bombing China might be a wrong decision and cause some casualties.I don't know if the various settlements on the moon were bombed, and I don't know if the professor is dead or alive.Damn it.Am I now exercising the powers of acting president?I need professors, the job of "head of state" is not for me.What is needed most is Mike, who needs to analyze the actual situation, estimate various uncertain factors, and rule out this or that possibility.

I didn't even know if there was a battleship coming our way, and what was worse, I was afraid to look.If you turn on the radar and use "Little Mike" to search the sky, any warship that can be scanned by the radar beam will find "Little Mike" before "Little Mike" sees it, and then find out the position of the radar.So I can only listen.Heck, I'm not even a soldier, just a computer technician doing things I don't understand. There was a knock on the door, I got up and opened it, and it was Wyoh with coffee.Without saying a word, she handed me the coffee and left. I drank my coffee and thought: My God, they left me here alone, waiting for me to perform a miracle.But I don't think I can handle it. I seem to have returned to my childhood, listening to the professor say: "Manuel, when you encounter a problem that you don't understand, first do the part you understand, and then go back and look at the part you don't understand." He taught me something that even he didn't understand very well - mathematics, and at the same time taught me something far more important than mathematics, a basic principle. Thinking of this, I know what I should do first. I went to "Little Mike" and asked him to print out all the planned bombing targets of the orbiting catapult pods--a little effort, just a preliminary procedure, and Little Mike was ready at any time.to run it.While he was printing, I looked for programs that might work on the long list Mike had prepared. Then choose among these programs and start them - as long as you read them carefully and enter them correctly, there will generally be no problems.Before executing the program, I asked "Little Mike" to print out the program and I checked it again. Forty minutes later we were done.The catapult bays originally aimed inland in orbit were modified to target a coastal city.I added some insurance to my bets by delaying the strike of the missile with the longest orbit.However, "Little Mike" will still call the longest-running catapult pods whenever needed, unless I cancel the plan. I finally got rid of the stress caused by time.Now, I can change the course of any missile minutes before it hits the ground, sending it crashing into the ocean.Now I can calm down and think about it.So I did. I then convened my "war cabinet" in Greg's office: Wyoh, Stu, and my "commander of the armed forces," Greg. Lenore came and went, bringing us coffee and food, or just sitting there in silence.She's a woman with a head and knows when to keep quiet. Stu started: "Mr. President, I don't think we should attack China." "Don't be so restrictive, Stu, I'm only acting as president. Besides, I don't have time for etiquette." "Very well, may I talk about my suggestion?" "Wait a minute." I explained what I had done to buy everyone time, and he kept nodding without saying a word. "Our biggest difficulty is that we have lost contact with the outside world. Greg, the maintenance crew How's it going?" "Not yet." "If the line is down near Moon City, it may take them a long time, and we don't know if it can be fully repaired. So I guess we're on our own. Greg, do you have any electronic technicians on your staff who will assemble temporary radio equipment , so that we can talk to Earth? I mean get in touch with their satellites—shouldn't be too much of a hassle if you have the right dish. I might be able to help, and the computer technician I sent you isn't too bad. " (Actually pretty good for an electronics technician. I picked this guy, the guy I framed him for letting flies into his computer.) "Harry Biggs, who is in charge of power equipment, might be able to do it," said Greg, after a moment's consideration, "if he has maintenance equipment." "Let's leave it to him then. Once we get all the missiles out of the catapults. You can dismantle anything but radars and computers. How many more missiles?" "Twenty-three. There is no more steel." "Then twenty-three, no matter if you win or lose. Prepare to ship immediately, and it's best to launch today." "It's ready to go. It's ready to launch as soon as it's shipped." "Good. One more thing - we don't know if there are UN warships above us, maybe more than one. I didn't dare to use radar for fear of revealing the position. But we have to conduct aerial monitoring. You can find volunteers to monitor visually ?" Lenore said loudly, "I do!" "My dear, thank you, you have been hired." "We'll find volunteers," Greg said, "no need for a woman." "Greg, let her help you, it's everyone's responsibility." I went on to explain what I wanted them to do: the Onderaine Sea is now on the shadow side of the moon, the sun has set, and the moon has split into sunlight This invisible dividing line gradually extends towards us, drawing a clear track.If the spacecraft flying back and forth is flying from east to west, it will suddenly enter our field of vision; if it is flying from west to east, it will suddenly disappear from our field of vision.As long as the spacecraft in flight can be found, based on its trajectory at the end of the horizon, it can be predicted that the trajectory extends to a certain point in the deep sky.If the naked eye detection team can determine these two points, use constellation positioning, determine the absolute bearing of one point, and then calculate the relative position of the other point, and calculate the approximate time to pass through our airspace in seconds, "Little Mike" Its approximate trajectory can be measured.As long as a spacecraft goes back and forth twice, "Little Mike" can obtain its operating cycle and approximate orbit.That way we know when it's safe to use radar and radios and catapults.I don't want to waste ammo on UN ships that can't be hit at all, we need radar to determine the launch position. Maybe I'm being overly careful.But I can only assume: the only things that can save us and the moon from failure are the catapults here, the radars, and these missiles.Our lives hang by a thread, our future uncertain.We have to keep hammering the Earth in a place they never expected and never will find to show that we have enough missiles in stock. Most Lunarians, then and now, knew nothing about astronomy.We are cave dwellers and only go to the surface when necessary.But we were lucky to have an amateur astronomer on Gregor's staff who had worked at the Richardson Observatory.I put him in charge of teaching the naked eye observers to identify the constellations. After these tasks are implemented, I will go back and study the suggestions that Stu just made. "Stu, why can't we bomb China?" "I have been waiting for Dr. Zhang's reply. I received a message from him shortly before the contact was cut off." "God, why didn't you tell me?" "I'd like to tell you too. But you locked yourself in your room, busy with your orbital problems, and I think it's better not to bother you. Normally, the message is forwarded by my agency in Paris through the Lunar House company." To me. Here's the translation: 'Darwin's sales representative' - that's Dr. Chang - 'inform us of your cargo ship' - all in code. He's referring to our attack - due to improper loading were badly damaged. Unless their losses can be recouped, negotiations for a long-term peace will be suspended." Stu looked up: "All puns. I take it to mean that Dr. Zhang is ready to get his government ready to negotiate... If that's the case, we have to hold off on bombing China, or we'll just mess up his plans. " "Ok……" I stood up and paced back and forth, should I ask Wyoh for advice?No one knows Wyoh better than I do...she wavered between cruelty and impulsiveness - and I've long since learned that a "head of state" must never be bound by either, even if it's just the vice president.Do you want Greg's opinion?Greg was a good farmer, an even better mechanic, an active priest, and I liked him--but I didn't want to ask for his advice.As for Stu, I already know his point of view. Did I really know already? "Stu, what do you think? Not Dr. Zhang's—but your own." Stu pondered for a moment, "Manny, it's hard to say. I'm not Chinese, and I haven't stayed in China for a long time. I'm not an expert on Chinese politics and psychology. So I can only agree with his point of view." "Oh, damn it, he's not a Moonman! His purpose is different from ours, what does he want out of it?" "I think he's trying to monopolize the trade with the Moonmen. Maybe make the Moon their base. Or make the Moon their extraterritorial enclave. That's something we won't agree to." 【① An enclave refers to a piece of territory within a country that is part of another country. 】 "But as long as our losses are large enough, maybe we will agree to their conditions?" "Of course he never said that himself. You know, he's a man of few words and a good listener." "I know it all too well." I was very worried about this, and became more and more anxious. Behind him came the hum of news from Earth.I was busy talking with Greg, so I sent Wyoh to listen. "Wyoh, any news from Earth?" "No, it's the same statement: we're totally defeated and will surrender at any moment. Oh, and there's a warning that some missiles are still in the air, falling out of control. People will be advised to avoid the affected areas soon." "Is there any news that the Professor - or anyone in Moon City, or anywhere on the Moon - is in contact with Earth?" "Not at all." "Damn, what about China?" "Neither. There are comments from everywhere else, except China." "Well—" I went to the door and opened it, "Greg! Hey, man, go see if Greg Davis is here. I need to see him." I shut the door, "Stu, we're going to bomb China." "yes?" "Yes. We could have suffered less if China had broken up the alliance against us. But we are here today because we showed our strength that we can bomb them at will or destroy the weapons they send against us. Ship. I hope the last one is taken out as well, even if not, we took out 8 out of 9 battleships. We must not show weakness, especially when the UN is hyping that we are not only weak but also finished. Must Surprise them. Start attacking China! If we can stay strong while the UN insists the moon is conquered, there will always be countries that will stand up against it." Stu nodded, "Very good, sir." "I--" Greg came in. "Manny, are you looking for me?" "How's the message sender to Earth going?" "Harry says it won't work until tomorrow. He says it's a broken machine, but it will work as long as it's plugged in." "We have power. Since he said 'tomorrow,' he should know what to do. Let's start today—six hours? I'll give him a hand. Wyoh, go get me my tools, will you?" Number six and number three—better take arm number five. Also, you better follow me and change arms. Stu, you write some nasty news—I'll give you a rough idea, you Write bitterly. Greg, let's not launch the rocks all at once. Those missiles we have in space are going to hit Earth in the next eighteen or nineteen hours. Then, when the Commonwealth declares that all missiles When all exploded and the threat to the moon was eliminated... we'll squeeze into their broadcasts and warn them of the next bombing. Greg, on the shortest orbit, ten hours or less - double check catapults, atomic power According to the situation at the station and the control point, every missile must be on target." Wyoh came back with the tools, and I asked her to put the No. 6 arm on me. I said to Greg, "Let me talk to Harry." Six hours later, the signal transmitter was able to send a signal to Earth.It was done in haste, and it was finally modified from the echo sounder used in the early stages of the construction of the new catapult.But it can transmit audio signals, and the signals are strong.My menacing warning, written by Stu, has been recorded and Harry will play it at full volume. The visual inspection team confirmed our fears: at least two spacecraft were in orbit around the moon. We informed that the gifts from the moon will fall within ten kilometers of the sea from the major cities along the coast of China—Qingdao, Taipei, Shanghai, etc., and the top of the United Nations Far East Office will also be hit.Everyone please stay away from the target area.Stu will also stress that everyone does not include UN staff, who are expected to stay at their desks. We also issued a similar warning to India about coastal cities, and also informed them that out of respect for cultural and historical sites, the United Nations global office in Agra will be given an extra day and personnel will be evacuated. (I'm going to give them one more day after the earth has turned once - out of respect for the professor. Maybe one more day, I'm not sure. Damn, the UN has their offices in one of the most Next to the gorgeous mausoleum, which happens to be the most cherished by the professor.) We told the rest of the world to wait and see, the game will move on to the next round.But please be sure to stay away from any UN offices.We're not kidding, no United Nations office is safe.Please leave any city where a UN agency is located - UN dignitaries and obnoxious employees are better off staying where they are. For the next twenty hours, I trained "Little Mike" how to stealthily use radar detection when there was no spaceship in the sky.I would take naps between sessions and Leno would be right next to me, waking me up in time for the next session.After the missiles launched by Mike ran out, we went into alert mode, and the boulder of "Little Mike" rushed into the sky for the first time.After the successful launch is confirmed, we will inform the earth when and where the missile will hit the earth.The Commonwealth's claims of victory and centuries of lies about the Moon will be completely debunked.All these insolent messages were sent by Stu in his urbane voice. The first missile was originally given to China, but we gave it to the North American High Council, and reached its proudest pearl—Hawaii. "Little Mike" fired the ejection pod into the triangle formed by Maui (one of the Hawaiian Islands), Marocai Island, and Veranda Island.I didn't design the program, but Mike had anticipated it all.We fired another ten missiles in a very short time (we had to skip a procedure because a ship was over us) and then informed China when and where we were going to bomb - we missed it a few days ago some coastal cities.There were only a dozen missiles left, but it was safer to run out of ammunition than to show fatigue.So I chose a new target—seven to some cities along the coast of India.Stu kindly asked if the people of Agra had been evacuated and if not please let us know immediately. (But we didn't drop missiles on Agra.) We told Egypt again to clear the Suez Canal of ships - just a bluff, and the last five missiles. The next step is to wait. The missile aimed at Hawaii hit its target exactly.Looks great, Mike should be proud of "Little Mike". continue waiting. No one expected that thirty-seven minutes before the first round of bombings along the coast of China, India began to publicly condemn the actions of the United Nations, recognize us and offer negotiations.I hit the stop button too hard and sprained my finger. Next, I repeatedly hit the stop button with my sprained finger.China then recognized us, and Egypt, and other countries began to scramble to recognize us. Stu informs Earth that we have paused the bombing—just a pause, not a stop.Get those ships out of our airspace now—immediately!Only then can we negotiate.If they had to refuel, they could land fifty kilometers from any settlement and wait for us to accept their surrender.However, our airspace must be evacuated immediately! We waited a few minutes before sending this ultimatum - there was a ship passing the horizon and we didn't dare to risk sending a message.If the other party analyzes our position based on this, they only need to launch a missile, and the moon will be over. wait. The cable repair team is back.The interruption point of the line was almost at the place where it reached Moon City.Thousands of tons of rocks hindered the maintenance, so they had to find a place where they could reach the lunar surface, set up a temporary relay station in the direction of Moon City, and fired a dozen signal flares every ten minutes, hoping that someone would see and understand them intent, and get in touch with them – did you get in touch? No. continue waiting. The visual observation team reported that a spacecraft that was supposed to appear on time at 7:00 pm did not appear this time.Ten minutes later they reported that another ship had not shown up as expected.We wait and listen to the news. China, speaking on behalf of all countries opposed to the United Nations, declared its acceptance of the armistice and stated that spaceships from the Earth side had withdrawn from our airspace. Lenore broke down in tears and kissed everyone around her. After we calmed down (it is impossible for a man to think when he is surrounded by women, especially if five of them are not his wives), we finally returned to normal, and I said: "S Tu, you pick your troops and go to Moon City immediately. No female soldiers—you have to walk on the surface of the moon for the last few kilometers. Find out the current situation in Moon City—first try to get them to connect to our relay station, and then give me Call up." "Yes, sir." We were getting ready for their arduous journey—spare oxygen cylinders, first aid stretchers, etc.—but then we received a message from Earth, and all the frequency bands of the Earth line were full of this message. "Private message, professor to Manny—identification, Bastille Day and Sherlock's brothers and sisters. Please go home immediately. Your car is waiting for you at the new relay station. Private message, professor to—" The message keeps repeating! "Harry!" "Yes, what are your orders?" "Message to Earth - 'Manny to Professor: Identification: Brass Cannon. Here we come'."