Chapter 420: Katyusha Stands on the Steep Shore_1
After Jiang Yu issued the departure order, he transferred full command to Wu Xinghai.
Wu Xinghai was the overall commander of this operation, and senior officers including Cao Yang and Levzhet Andrei Vasily were all involved in this mission.
The high-level commanders of the Solar System State were mostly people who had participated in the battles against the Trisolarans, the PDC, or Fleet International many years ago.
Wu Xinghai was more than eighty years old this year, which, given the lifespan of humans now, was his prime.
The military operations he led had never disappointed the people, and after the second battle against Venus, the moniker "Sword of the Solar System" was bestowed upon him.
More than three thousand two hundred battle ships were involved in this operation, all elite units from various legions, and over sixty percent of the ship captains and higher-ranking commanders were officers or soldiers that had been tempered by the Second War.
The warships they used were all of a new model, with increased weapon power and maneuverability.
In addition, six hundred and seventy large civilian ships were also part of the reclamation operation, each carrying a thousand passengers.
Most of these passengers were young and middle-aged, constituting the technical backbone and seasoned workers from all walks of life.
To equip nearly four thousand ships of all kinds with curvature engines would take a considerable amount of time.
And it would be a waste of resources, considering that curvature engines are mostly unnecessary.
Thus, the Academy of Sciences developed the "Interstellar Multi-traction Curvature Acceleration Spaceship," commonly known as the "Star Accelerator."
The appearance of the Star Accelerator slightly resembles that of a paintbrush handle.
The curvature engine is located on the narrow side of the "brush," while on the other side, there are ten or thirty huge grooves, each capable of tightly securing a warship or civilian spaceship.
Nowadays, the warships of the Solar System State are much smaller than those from the Uranus Campaign over a hundred years ago.
An ordinary warship is only two to three hundred meters long and about a hundred meters wide.
The civilian ships are much larger than the warships because for a long period after arriving in the new world, the spaceships will serve as homes for the immigrants, hence the need for fully equipped facilities to sustain a thousand people's lives.
These spaceships have securing devices at the rear that match the grooves on the Star Accelerator.
Before accelerating interstellarly, each spaceship must be secured to the Star Accelerator, which then propels the ship into lightspeed travel.
This approach saves a considerable amount of cost, and most importantly, time spent manufacturing curvature engines.
Otherwise, this fleet would have to wait at least another thirty years to depart with the same specifications.
However, with such design, the curvature engine drives such a considerable mass that it takes three days and six hours to enter lightspeed, somewhat like a pony pulling a heavy cart.
But compared to the saved time, a few additional days to reach lightspeed are negligible.
For passengers like Jiang Yu, however, those three days are somewhat torturous.
Clearly on the verge of experiencing lightspeed travel, yet they must patiently wait for the gradual acceleration.
Finally, the Galaxy III signaled that lightspeed would be reached in three minutes. The universe gradually changed, and due to the Doppler effect, the space ahead became a blue sea of stars, while behind it stretched a red sea of stars.
These two seas of stars slowly merged, eventually forming two orbs of light, between which lay seemingly endless darkness.
Both orbs had haloes, prompting Jiang Yu to recall the doodles he made with crayons as a child.
Stars occasionally flew out from the orb in front, then darted through the middle darkness and sped away behind.
As they moved, their colors continuously changed from blue to green to yellow, and after they passed by the spaceship, they turned red.
Jiang Yu watched the spectacle eagerly, unaware that he was on the verge of tears: "Lightspeed, oh, humanity has finally learned to run!"
At that moment, he saw before him Chief Ji with a serious smile, Chang Weisi with an expectant smile, Zhang Beihai with a troubled smile, and Rediaz with a contented smile.
How Jiang Yu wished they could also witness humanity's moment of soaring to the heavens!
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On Civilian Ship No. 23, Captain Weide and various group leaders, including the security chief, were already singing and dancing in the room, showing off their excited feelings.
The captains of the more than six hundred civilian ships were elected through competitive voting, with their superiors being officials appointed by the Governing Council.
Weide, who was vastly charismatic, had virtually no competition and became the captain of Civilian Ship No. 23.
Joining him on the same ship were some former members of the now-disbanded Star Ring City Self-Defense Force, who had joined the ship's security team.
Weide sat on a chair, smiling as he watched everyone laugh, "I've got something good here."
As he spoke, he took out a bottle of red wine from the drawer.
There was a cheer from everyone, which quickly quieted down as a group leader said, "According to the regulations, all working and administrative staff on the ship must not drink alcohol while in transit."
But Weide had already used his mechanical arm to open the bottle of red wine, "As captain, I do have some privileges, and at times like this, how can we go without wine?"
Everyone chuckled, "Heh heh," promptly finished the drinks in their glasses, and stretched their cups towards Weide.
Weide distributed the red wine evenly to everyone, then raised his glass, "To humanity's future! To lightspeed spaceships!"
Together, everyone said, "To lightspeed spaceships!"
Everyone downed their wine in one go, and Weide started singing a Russian song, "Расцветали яблони и груши…"
The song was "Katyusha," which Weide had learned during his days working in intelligence in Russia.
The upbeat melody and rousing rhythm made everyone's blood boil with excitement, as if they each had inexhaustible strength to offer to the new world.
This Russian version of "Katyusha" brought the whole party to a climax, and everyone was like a soldier ready for deployment, waiting for the command to charge forward without hesitation!
...
Lightspeed flight only lasted one day and seven hours before they would disengage from lightspeed.
After leaving lightspeed, twenty-eight years would have passed in the whole universe!
As the departure from lightspeed approached, everyone was at their post, ready for action.
When the two orbs of light at front and back gradually returned to a normal starfield, Galaxy III announced, "Successfully disengaged from lightspeed!"
All the staff aboard the spaceships clapped their hands together.
In the command room of Command Ship Number Two, aside from the two senior officers Jiang Yu and Cao Yang, all the strategists—whether on duty or not—as well as Jiang Yu's subordinates, gathered there.
Amidst the warm applause and cheers, a communications strategist suddenly jumped up, "We have… a deviation! Right now…"
His voice was drowned out by the cheers, and Jiang Yu and Cao Yang hurriedly gestured for everyone to quiet down.
The communications strategist said, "Our course has seriously deviated! It seems like we are now inside the New Continent Star System!"
The news shocked everyone; they understood what being inside the New Continent Star System implied.
It was akin to smearing a layer of bright color over the star system, easily drawing the attention of an advanced civilization!
Jiang Yu took a deep breath, "Contact the headquarters, contact the Reclamation Office, contact the Solar System!"
A mistake had occurred, and it was urgent to discuss countermeasures.
The first to connect were Wu Xinghai and the director of the Reclamation Office, Steven Virgil Wian.
Jiang Yu asked, "Do you have any new discoveries on your end?"