Chapter 598: Growing Mushrooms

Pershing ballistic missile launch site on the Apennine Peninsula in Italy.

The operating officers and soldiers were on full alert, waiting for the secret key transmitted by the satellite. Finally, the verification signal appeared on the screen.

The commander and deputy commander of the missile battalion inserted their keys into the launch console and turned them synchronously. The numbers on the console began to count down.

Everyone's expression was very serious. These launch processes were different from their previous launch processes because, this time, they were launching real nuclear bombs!

Outside, next to the tracked launch chassis, the milky white missile had already been erected. When the countdown reached zero, as the launch crew pressed his hand on the red button, a blazing flame emerged from the bottom of the missile, and white mist rose up, covering the entire launch site. The milky white missile rose from the ground.

The launch is complete! The commander of the missile battalion was not as relaxed as usual, because he knew very well what the launch of this missile meant. He left the command vehicle and looked at the missile in the sky until it disappeared from his sight.

At the same time, the launch of this missile was again intercepted by the Soviet reconnaissance satellite, which gave Iraq an early warning.

If it was like before, the United States should have launched a wave of ballistic missile attacks. What effect would a single missile have? Therefore, the incoming missile must be the most lethal one!

After receiving the information, Andre was stunned. He already knew that the most dangerous situation had occurred!

Sharp air defense sirens sounded throughout Baghdad, and all citizens were evacuating to air-raid shelters in an emergency. At the same time, in the suburbs of Baghdad, the S-200 air defense missile battalion also quickly made preparations.

Several soldiers wearing gas masks pulled the pipe of the fuel truck and completed the filling of toxic fuel. The generator truck next to it rumbled, and sufficient electricity was supplied to the large radar next to it.

If you want to intercept a target hundreds of kilometers away, the radar will be able to detect a farther distance. Therefore, the S-200 missile system has a huge radar system. In the Soviet Union, it is connected to the integrated air defense combat network, but in Iraq, it can only operate alone.

Fortunately, the early warning data has been transmitted, and they only need to aim the radar in the general direction of the target.

The atmosphere was extremely tense.

Ten minutes later.

"Target found." The radar soldier shouted loudly: "Speed ​​three, it has exceeded our interception limit!"

When the S-200 missile was designed, it was mainly used to intercept targets such as high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. Although it has been improved to have the ability to intercept ballistic missiles, it can only intercept short-range ballistic missiles such as Scud.

The range of short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles is caused by the different speeds when they are launched. Similarly, when they fall again from space, their splashdown speeds are also different. The falling speed of short-range missiles is less than two kilometers per second, while that of medium-range missiles is around three kilometers per second. The largest intercontinental ballistic missiles can even reach around seven kilometers per second.

The difficulty of interception varies with speed, because the reaction time given to the interception system is different.

"There is no interception window, we can't find the interception window!" a missile soldier shouted.

The so-called interception window is the most suitable interception opportunity to complete the interception mission in a predetermined airspace. Because the opponent's missile flies at a fast speed, the time left for interception is very short.

"According to ballistic analysis, their target is not Baghdad, but Muthanna Province in southern Iraq!"

When a ballistic missile falls, its trajectory characteristics are already fixed, and the planned splashdown area will also be analyzed by a computer. Through calculations by the S-200 missile system, information on the target's splashdown area is obtained.

Not Baghdad!

The S-200 missile defense system can only intercept short-range ballistic missiles, and it mainly relies on nuclear warheads. Such warheads have not been exported to Iraq. Therefore, although the missile battalion has just made all combat preparations, it has no confidence in actual interception.

Not Baghdad! The information from the missile battalion reached the underground operations center in Baghdad, and Andre immediately gave the order: "Cancel the interception."

Muthanna Province! It's almost all desert. As long as the American ballistic missiles are not aimed at Baghdad, it's fine!

There is not much certainty of interception, and intercepting the opponent's missile during its landing phase is not a good plan. Even if the interception is successful, the wreckage of the missile will bring serious disaster to the local area. You know, the main residents of Iraq are gathered in the Mesopotamian Basin. Since the American missile was launched towards the desert, there is no need for us to intercept it in the middle, which would lead to an unexpected situation.

A Pershing ballistic missile flew across the Iraqi sky like a dazzling meteor, passing over the Mesopotamian Valley. Its speed increased further as it fell, reaching about Mach 2.2. Then, below it, the green scenery ended, replaced by an endless desert.

The warhead had reached its end point and continued to fall. Just 500 meters above the ground, the internal fuse detonated, and the ordinary explosives exploded first. This explosion squeezed the nuclear materials inside and pushed them together. The chain reaction occurred in just a few milliseconds, and the energy from the fission of the atomic nucleus was released in an instant!

"Boom!" This explosion resounded throughout southern Iraq! At the moment of the explosion, a huge fireball appeared. The center of the explosion had a temperature higher than the sun, melting everything around it!

Then, a mushroom cloud rose. The mushroom cloud was big on top and small at the bottom, just like a black mushroom. It was the devil from hell that was released!

The mushroom cloud was gradually rising. At the same time, with the explosion as the center, the shock wave was spreading in all directions. There was nothing below but sand. At this moment, the yellow sand filled the sky and spread everywhere. If it could hit a person, it would become like a bullet!

The lizard under the sand didn't know what was happening. Out of animal instinct, it curled up its body tightly. Then, the shock wave completely turned its body into ashes!

At this moment, it is brighter than a thousand suns, more violent than a tornado, and more terrifying than the most terrifying dark clouds. This is Pandora's box!

The light radiation disappeared, the shock wave spread out, but the nuclear pollution left behind will last for a long time. This place will become a dead place in the future!