In fact, on this night, Li Zheng's loss of control was nothing compared to the loss of control of the Sixth Academy.

If the launch failure of 8.8 was a blow to the head, then today's shutdown is adding insult to injury and shattering the body.

In the past two months, the Sixth Academy and all personnel involved with YF-87 have almost lost the ability to distinguish between day and night.

Inspections are being carried out day and night in the machine room, drawings are being revised day and night in the design institute, work is being done day and night in the factory, and even the large transport drivers are rushing around day and night.

They don't know where the end point is and whether the future is bright.

I just felt like there was a knife behind me. I chased him day and night, and when I stopped to take a breath, I was about to be stabbed through.

In this day and night running, everyone's mental, physical and willpower are squeezed to the limit.

After successfully testing the car in 1500 seconds during the day, many people just rushed home and wanted to have a full sleep.

But before I finished taking a shower, the phone call came.

Some people cried on the spot, some threw away their phones and sat there, and some just collapsed and yelled at the phone.

On the night of 8.8, maybe the mourning soldiers could still win.

But at this moment, disaster has struck like a flood, and the army is in ruins.

The shutdown occurred at 8:35 pm, 57 seconds into the extreme environment. It only took two seconds for the oxygen pump shaft system to go from cracking to breaking.

This result was even far more tragic than the defeat on 8.8 that night.

At 9:27, when Chen Hongbing drove back to the test center, he happened to pass by the ambulance.

He stepped on foot oil and drove to the door of the center. He only saw a group of young men in work clothes sitting on the steps crying.

"Isn't it just a failure!" Chen Hongbing got out of the car and slammed the car door angrily, "Is this what the hell your Sixth Institute has achieved?"

However, the scolding did not dispel their grief, but made the young men cry even harder.

"Director Chen..." An older engineer stood up tremblingly while holding on to the steps, "Chief Engineer Zhang... Chief Engineer, he... fell..."

Chen Hongbing's mind suddenly shook.

Who can't do it? How could it be him?

"What's going on?" Chen Hongbing grabbed him and asked, "His high blood pressure isn't one or two days old..."

"The emergency doctor said...it might be a cerebral hemorrhage..." the engineer said, covering his face and sitting on the ground, unable to say another word.

"Ah..." Chen Hongbing also trembled and stared blankly at the empty hall, "Where is Mr. Zhu, is he here?"

"on the way……"

"I know..." Chen Hongbing took a deep breath, stepped forward and picked up someone, "Go in and cry...don't sit here, it will have a bad influence."

Under Chen Hongbing's urging, several people finally stood up and walked into the hall tremblingly.

Chen Hongbing stood alone in front of the door, silently lighting a cigarette and watching a small white car drive in quickly and stop in front of the door.

Shen Tinglan hurriedly got out of the car, ran up quickly, pointed in the direction of the hospital gate and asked: "Ambulance, who?"

"Zhang Zhicheng." Chen Hongbing exhaled and sighed, "If it is really a cerebral hemorrhage...it will be good if you can survive it..."

Shen Tinglan was also stunned, not knowing what to say or what to think.

Her first reaction was that the chief engineer of YF-87 has fallen. How can this work be carried out? Is there anyone else who can take over?

But deep self-blame followed.

The person who fell was a colleague who had worked with him for many years and was a key member of the aerospace industry. The first thing I should have thought about was his safety...it would be too cold-blooded to directly consider the gains and losses of work.

"I'll go to the hospital to see him after the meeting. I won't be able to help him now." Chen Hongbing said, lifting his right leg. "To be honest, I'm in terrible pain from gout right now. It's hard to walk. I'm leaning on it at home." It’s a crutch.”

Shen Tinglan looked at Chen Hongbing's old knees and sighed: "Zhu Mingyue seems to be getting divorced too... I have seen him taking some psychotropic drugs recently."

"It's really a fucking collapse..." Chen Hongbing raised his head in despair, "If I had a gun now, I would really fucking collapse myself..."

"Okay... go in and sit down."

"No, just like this, it hurts more when you bend your legs and stand up." Chen Hongbing stood stunned. Although he was still upright, no matter from which angle he looked, he looked more like a defeated general with great ambitions. "Tinglan ...This time...it may really be the end..."

"..."

"Huang Er, it's over."

Shen Tinglan covered her face and turned sideways, tears welling up in her eyes.

…

At 10:30, Li Zheng, who was lying down meditating, was woken up by the doorbell.

Opening the door, Du Songtao walked in carrying a dozen beers.

"You have to thank me properly." After Du Songtao took out two bottles, he stuffed the rest of the beer into the small refrigerator, then opened the bottle cap and handed one bottle to Li Zheng, "It's hard for those little eagles. Feed."

Li Zheng hesitated for a moment, then answered: "I can't drink well..."

"Can you still get drunk with beer?" Du Songtao raised his head and took a long sip, then slumped down on the chair, "I feel comfortable..."

Li Zheng also pulled up a chair and sat down, clinking glasses in the distance: "Anyway, thank you. I was really in a bad state just now and couldn't give a lecture."

"'Thank you' is not worth anything. I can get as little as 5,000 for speaking at a meeting." Du Songtao smiled, "You owe me."

"Then I'll call you..." Li Zheng was about to take out his cell phone.

"No, no, no, I want a debt of gratitude." Du Songtao took another sullen breath and asked, "How is the situation?"

"It's very bad." Li Zheng lowered his head and said, "Half the engine technical team collapsed, the chief engineer suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, and the deputy chief engineer was holding a meeting to analyze, and there were still a few key members who couldn't bear it anymore. According to the hospital examination, it is said that there are two people who are divorced, seven are suffering from depression, and two are suffering from bipolar disorder..."

Du Songtao straightened up when he heard this: "Zhang Zhicheng has a cerebral hemorrhage?"

"Um."

"Then it's up..."

"What's up?"

"Huang Erxuan is dead."

"That's not the case...after all, it's a very mature project."

"You kid really don't understand." Du Songtao started gesticulating vividly.

"There have always been disputes over routes in the aerospace system, and factions naturally arise based on differences in routes."

"The most obvious ones are the 'technological innovation' school and the 'conservative and progressive' school. Of course, I made up these names myself."

"Shen Tinglan, Chen Hongbing, Zhao Zhenhua, the entire Huang Er team and you are all in the technical group, hoping to make an amazing rocket in one fell swoop and use it as a basis for comprehensive technological innovation."

"On the other side are conservatives who hope that launch vehicles will continue to develop around relatively mature results."

"To put it simply, it's just to make the kerosene engine bigger, and then strap dozens of them to the rocket at once. It's simple and crude."

"Have you heard of Project 927?"

"You're so stupid, you've never heard of it."

"When Huang Er established the project, the group considered the situation of total failure, so it prepared a backup project, numbered 927. Simply put, it is a giant kerosene rocket, three and a half stages, and 27 of the largest kerosene rockets engine."

"Doesn't that sound very stupid to you? The upper limit of this direction is indeed low, but it is simple and easy to use, and its transport capacity is no worse than Huang Er, but it is incomparable with Huang Qi planned later."

"927 has been in the planning stage these years and has not been officially launched."

"But since the beginning of the year, the calls for 927 within the system have suddenly increased a lot. What do you think is the reason?"

Li Zheng said without much thought: "SpaceI?"

Du Songtao smiled and nodded.

"That's right, the Eagle Rockets follow the same technical route as the 927, which is simple and crude."

"Then after the defeat in 8.8, as Huang Er was questioned, 927's voice became even louder. After all, 927 can complete Huang Er's future tasks, but it just looks stupid."

"Although I haven't calculated it carefully, Huang Er must have burned tens of billions by now. It must be painful to put it aside suddenly, but now the engine development team has collapsed... It's hard to say whether it can be regrouped in a year or two."

"On the other hand, the 927 is a mature technology, so just increase the number of engines. This stupid big guy, with Huang Er's work intensity and resource allocation, can be released for testing in half a year...and it should be

It’s a little cheaper.”

"By the way, there are so many institutions."

"Our country's space program, from our pursuit of knowledge, to the moon landing, to the space station..."

"We can't all be stuck here, right?"

Li Zheng sighed and asked: "So you also support 927 replacing Huang Er?"

"I'm a satellite manufacturer, so I don't care about this." Du Songtao walked to the refrigerator and took two more bottles of beer. "It doesn't matter what your technology is, whoever pulls my satellite up is a good rocket."

Li Zheng took the beer, lowered his head and said, "It seems that this time is really the darkest moment."

"Don't be so pessimistic. Even if Huang Er really puts it aside, the existing technology is still here, and it will be brought up one day in the future." Du Songtao patted Li Zheng, "There is still use for people with technical skills, but Chen Hongbing is dead.

Well, Zhao Zhenhua will lose half his life, which will cost tens of billions anyway, not to mention the time lost."

"Well..." Li Zheng said, covering his chest, "I feel uncomfortable."

"Isn't that what aerospace is like?" Du Songtao laughed while drinking a glass of wine. "Our Qiuzhi-1 is also a big gamble. Even if you successfully transport us to the orbit of Mars, we still have to orbit, detect, and land.
To be continued...