Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, a native of Ukraine, whose name is familiar to those who are engaged in astronautics, is the great designer and organizer of the Soviet cosmonautics, the designer of the first intercontinental rocket (ballistic missile) with a range of more than 8000 km, the designer of the first artificial Earth satellite launch vehicle, the general designer of the first manned spacecraft, and so on.

It can be said that if the Nobel Prize had been awarded to the Soviet Union at that time, he would have won the prize more than once, and even in the Cold War, he would have made a beneficial contribution to all mankind.

The earth is the cradle of mankind, but human beings cannot stay in the cradle forever, and for the aerospace industry, Korolev is the one who sent mankind out of the cradle.

However, Korolev is now a prisoner.

This, of course, is the reason for the Great Purge.

In 37, the Great Purge began, and like many innocent people, Korolev was sentenced, and he was lucky compared to those who were shot.

He was sentenced only to ten years to work as a coolie in Siberia.

At that time, many scientists were sent to prison, and in an instant, the Soviets found that they had no scientific research strength, so many people came out again, such as the famous aircraft designer Tupolev and others.

After they came out, they still cared about their colleagues in prison, and they were good friends with Bolev and Korolev, and he repeatedly made requests to the Central Committee of the CPSU to let Korolev leave the prison and resume normal work.

At this time, the Soviet Union noticed that Germany had successfully developed a ballistic missile, although the range was not far, it was also a terrible weapon of mass destruction, and the Soviet Union's talent for developing rockets was in prison.

So, Korolev was released, transferred to Special Prison No. 4, and started to develop rockets again.

However, they still need to work, working during the day and at night, and working long hours every day is a devastation to their bodies.

The person who threw Korolev into it in the first place was Beria. Now, Beria is a member of the National Defense Council, the highest organ of state power in wartime, and his tasks range from intelligence and diplomacy to organizing the construction of fortifications, the evacuation of factories, and the production of weapons.

He knew the importance of rockets to the Soviets, and he also knew the importance of Korolev, so he was ready to give Korolev better conditions to work.

It matters very much, for Beria, it is the most important thing for him to tap the labor force of every prisoner and quickly build the oil city here, and now that the huge reserves of oil fields have been exploited, he can already give Moscow an account, so talents like Korolev can give them a better stage.

Beria was the most resolute in carrying out Stalin's orders, and after Stalin's death, Beria was also very active in quelling the rebellion of the prisoners in the Great Purge.

Beria knew that these were the most valuable personnel of the Soviets.

Korolev did not know what attitude he should have towards Beria, or rather, he did not care about such a problem, he was preoccupied with rockets.

Soviet rockets, to come out under his men!

After smoking a cigarette, Korolev's calculations were completed, he turned his head, looked at Beria, and said: "I hope Grushko will work with me." ”

For Korolev, he had to have Grushko's help.

Valentin Petrovich Grushko, a rocket engine specialist belonging to the Soviet Union, was imprisoned with Korolev at the beginning, and Korolev wanted to build a rocket, and it would not work without a suitable engine, Grushko was necessary.

(For their relationship, East China Zhixiong is really quite a sigh.) Without Grushko, there would be no glory for Korolev, but on the moon rocket engine, Korolev parted ways with Grushko, preferring to come up with an N1 rocket with countless engines in parallel than RD270. ）

"No problem." Beria easily agreed.

This time, a large oil well with rich reserves was drilled, and in short, he could breathe a sigh of relief, and Beria looked at the oil gas in the burning oil well, quite satisfied.

No one knew that at this time in the sky, a long-range reconnaissance plane was flying.

Long flights are boring, because the cabin has a limited capacity, so it is impossible to make a small lounge where people can sleep in beds, as is the case with the Junkers-390.

They can only stick to their positions, looking at the blue sky and white clouds outside, and time is passing little by little.

After flying over the Caspian Sea, over Kazakhstan, and calibrating its course at several landmarks, the long-range Junkers-86P reconnaissance plane is still flying slowly.

Yes, if you look at the speed of the fighter at more than 700 kilometers per hour, its speed is definitely slow enough, but in terms of altitude and range, it cannot be compared.

At an altitude of 15,000 meters, which has exceeded the height of the troposphere, there will be no bad weather here, there will be no special air currents, their flight is very smooth, except for the characteristic clatter sound of diesel engines, there are no special circumstances.

They could take turns resting all the way through, except for Stiegler, the navigator, who was always at work to make sure the course was correct.

The terrain below seemed to him to be a curved turn on the map, and he was constantly comparing them, and the sun shone into the cabin from the west, and the whole cabin shone with golden light.

"Attention, about to fly over the target, ready to take pictures." Stiegler shouted.

After a long flight, it was already past four o'clock in the afternoon, and they would soon reach the target.

As a reconnaissance aircraft, its main equipment is an aerial camera, after improvement, it can carry three high-precision cameras, as long as it flies once, it can take enough pictures of the target, and then take it back for study.

I've been flying for so long, just waiting for my chance now! Everyone cheered up and flew all the way, but the Soviets did not react, and it seemed that the route here was absolutely fine.

Suddenly, Stiegler shouted, "I saw the oil well burning!" ”

They're actually digging new oil wells, and there's more than one!

It is basic common sense that only a newly opened oil well will ignite it.

Underground energy, oil and gas layers are generally crude oil, natural gas, water and other solid impurities of gas-liquid-solid three-phase coexistence, crude oil accounts for most of the oil wells, natural gas accounts for most of the gas wells.

Although it is said to be an oil field, there will be a small amount of natural gas in it, and it is good to be able to separate it for storage and use, but the cost of adding a natural gas separation system is far more expensive than the value of this small amount of natural gas, so it is better to burn it.

This natural gas is discharged directly into the atmosphere, which is very unsafe, and can cause fires and even explosions in case of fire. In particular, it is shrouded in the sky over the oil field and directly discharged, and as the concentration continues to increase, it will make the entire oil field become a terrible scene such as a thermobaric bomb.

Therefore, before drilling and exploiting oil wells, these gases must be burned under controlled conditions to ensure safety.