Chapter 919 Manned Spaceflight (1)

Vice President Truman felt that under the current situation, except for the issue of territorial cession and war criminals, other issues could be easily discussed. Everyone looked at each other, and Marshall reminded them. "Mr. Vice President, the Germans still have troops stationed on our soil."

"But haven't they already occupied Alaska? It's also the continental United States. Let the Germans station troops there." Anyway, they couldn't take back Alaska in a short time.

Marshall couldn't help but smile bitterly. Vice President Truman's idea was too naive. Alaska was not voluntarily divided up by the Germans, but was taken away by the Germans. The Germans have already taken it for themselves, so what's the use of giving it to them now? Is there someone who can fairly recognize the legality of Alaska's ownership of Germany? The Germans would probably die laughing if they heard this suggestion.

Commander Arnold on the side was not optimistic about continuing to bargain with the Germans. "What if the Germans ask for the so-called 'peace negotiation fee' again?" Last time they paid a "peace negotiation fee" of 200 tons of gold in vain, but nothing was negotiated, which made them very angry. If the Germans repeat their old tricks, will they surrender or not?

At this moment, the secretary hurried into the conference room to report the return of the German bomber formation over Chicago.

Vice President Truman asked hastily. "What about the casualties?!"

The secretary shook his head. "Mr. Vice President, the fire has not been extinguished, and it is getting more and more fierce. Most of the fire brigade in the city have been forced to withdraw from the city. I'm afraid the fire will burn for a while."

"..." After a long silence with a gloomy face, President Truman gave instructions. "Inform the ambassador to Sweden and ask him to contact the Germans. As for the 'peace negotiation fee', nothing was negotiated last time. If the Germans want more this time, they will be too greedy!"

Anderson, the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, who received the domestic telegram, immediately left for the German Embassy.

After hearing his intention, the German Ambassador Eberl did not mention the "peace negotiation fee", but simply shook his head. "Mr. Anderson, are you Americans treating the war as a joke? None of the conditions we proposed will be changed. Just like the 'Treaty of Versailles'... Tsk, I almost forgot that you, the United States, did not sign the 'Treaty of Versailles' "After the end of World War I, the United States and other victorious countries participated in the formulation of the Treaty of Versailles, but the U.S. Congress refused to pass a bill to support the United States in joining the League of Nations (because the United States did not receive enough benefits from the Treaty of Versailles, but had to bear considerable burdens due to the Treaty of Versailles). many responsibilities and obligations), thus rejecting the Treaty of Versailles. Subsequently, the United States signed separate treaties with the defeated countries, including Germany, in 1921. The treaty with Germany stipulated that the United States enjoyed the benefits stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles by other victorious countries.

"Those are all matters of interest, and they are also matters of interest now. But you should also know that we did not deliberately target or embarrass you, the United States. These conditions are not too excessive, are they? After all, the British Empire and France have accepted it, and for you, the United States, Of course we have to treat everyone equally, otherwise how can we show our fairness and impartiality? And I really don’t see how it will be beneficial to you to continue to delay. Maybe we will capture the hundreds of thousands of Moscow expeditionary troops in a few months. Another price.”

After talking for a long time, there was no substantive result. Ambassador Anderson knew that it was impossible for the Germans to change their minds. He sighed, stood up and prepared to leave.

Ambassador Abel walked him to the door. "Ah, by the way, our Highness asked me to tell you that the 'Pigeon Guided Bomb' developed by your country is really interesting. I really have to admire the imagination of your country's R&D personnel."

"..." Ambassador Anderson frowned slightly. As an ambassador to another country, it was naturally impossible for him to know about the secret weapons developed domestically. Although he didn't know what the so-called "pigeon guided bomb" was, he could hear a hint of ridicule in Ambassador Abel's words.

Hurrying back to the embassy, ​​Anderson sent a telegram back to the country, and also reported on the "pigeon-guided bomb" incident.

At this time, everyone in the Washington conference room had not dispersed. President Truman's face darkened immediately after receiving the telegram handed over by his secretary. "That means the Germans have completely mastered the secret of the 'Pigeon Guided Bomb'?!" He had been mentally prepared for the failure to agree on the terms of the peace talks, but the information about the "Pigeon Guided Bomb" was leaked, which really shocked and angered him. All secrets are in the hands of the Germans, so what secrets does the United States have? !

"Bang!" After taking a look at the cable, General Leahy slammed the table, glared at Director of Strategic Services Donovan, who was sitting not far away, and yelled. "Director Donovan, how do you do your intelligence work?! You look like a naked bitch!" Although counterintelligence work is the responsibility of the FBI, last time Hoover After the director's incident, the FBI was temporarily affiliated with the Office of Strategic Services, so Donovan was naturally held accountable for the leak of intelligence.

Others also stared angrily, because Director Donovan was directly appointed by former President Willkie and had little foundation or connections. To be more precise, he had not had time to establish more connections before President Willkie could provide him with services when he was in office. He supported it, but now that President Wilkie has resigned and left office, Donovan's situation is naturally self-evident.

Director Donovan sighed deeply and did not make any excuse. "It was the negligence of our intelligence agency, and I am willing to take the blame and resign."

No one tried to persuade him to stay, and Director Donovan's resignation was passed as a matter of course.

This is just a small episode, they still have to worry about this war.

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in the Berlin Palace, Yannick glanced at the telegram sent by the ambassador to Sweden and curled his lips in disdain. "These stupid guys, don't they know how precious peace is? It's wishful thinking to want peace without paying a price. Keep bombing and see how long these guys can hold out."

At this time, a red phone on the desk rang, and Yannick reached out and picked up the receiver. "Dr. Oberth." In the past year, the German Space Launch Base has launched various rockets at a frequency of almost one every five days, including satellites, space flight equipment, and experimental spacecraft. Some of these spacecraft are unmanned, and some are loaded with various animals.

This time they are going to send people into space. "Are the manned space program ready?"

"The rockets and spacecraft are ready, but..." Dr. Oberth hesitated slightly before continuing. "His Royal Highness Prince Oscar insisted on going up first." In order to prepare for the first manned space flight, they secretly gathered nearly 100 excellent pilots for training, and finally selected the best 10 as candidates. Unexpectedly, Prince Oscar asked to go to space first at this time.

"..." Yannick was not too surprised. After all, he expected this day to come when he sent Prince Oscar and his wife to the space launch base. "Is there anything wrong with his body?"

"His Royal Highness Prince Oscar is in good health and meets the conditions for going to space, but..." Going to space is no joke. You may encounter all kinds of dangers. How can you let the prince of the empire take risks.

"Then let him go. When will it be launched?"

"Three days later."

"I know, I will go there when the time comes." After hanging up the phone, Yannick patted his head speechlessly.

Two days later, Yannick flew to the space launch base in Algeria.

Walking out of the cabin door, what came into view was the carrier rocket standing on the launch tower in the distance. The design of the spacecraft carried by this rocket was inspired by the original Soviet Union's first manned spacecraft "Vostok 1". The design of the Vostok spacecraft was derived from the Zenit satellite series. It adopts a two-cabin structure, with the entire ship divided into an equipment cabin and a return cabin. The latter is equipped with a life support system and can accommodate one astronaut. Although it borrowed from the Soviet spacecraft design, it is still much more advanced than the Vostok 1.

At that time, the interior of the Vostok 1 spacecraft was mainly composed of mechanical devices. The spacecraft had neither computers nor air conditioning, and the cabin was full of various metal pipeline valves. Later, when American astronauts visited the spacecraft, they were surprised to say that Gagarin was simply sitting in a washing machine to go to space. At that time, Gagarin had no intention of returning to Earth alive. Before leaving, he arranged for his family, wrote a suicide note, and resolutely embarked on a journey to space. (According to the plan, manned flight must be fully prepared after 8 successful test launches, but in fact only 7 were carried out, and only 3 of them were successful in the standard sense. Just 20 days before Gagarin entered space, Soviet genius astronaut Valentin Bondarenko was burned to death in a fire in the spacecraft while testing the Vostok spacecraft on the ground.)

And this "Zvestia 1" manned spacecraft is equipped with Germany's most advanced computer equipment, and has a complete life support system and escape system (of course, it is still not as advanced as the escape system in later generations).

When "Vostok 1" returns, it will eject the astronauts at an altitude of about 7,000 meters above the ground, and the spacecraft and astronauts will have their own parachutes. The reason for landing separately is that the parachute cannot bear the heavy cabin at all. "Vostok 1" smashed a big hole on the ground when it landed. If the astronauts stayed in the cabin, they would be seriously injured if they did not die under this impact.

The "Star 1" spacecraft is equipped with reverse thrust rockets, which can reduce the impact of landing and ensure the safety of astronauts, so astronauts do not need to risk their lives to parachute themselves.

After getting off the plane ladder, Yannick greeted everyone who came to greet him and looked at Dr. Oberth. "Dr. Oberth, how are the preparations going?"

Dr. Oberth's face was full of worry. "Your Highness, the preparations have been completed, but His Royal Highness..."

"Have you told him about the dangers of going to space?" Seeing Dr. Oberth nod, Yannick muttered in his heart that even if there was an accident, it was his own fault and he could not blame others. "In that case, there is nothing to say. This is his own choice, and it can be regarded as a contribution to mankind." (Today's chapter)