Violent explosions, fires turned the firing site into a fire-breathing hell. Concentric waves of fires quickly spread from the launch center to all directions, devouring all life in their path. The explosive burn was like an avalanche, and in less than a minute, it had already spread dozens of meters away.

Fuel from the tank was pouring into the nearby test personnel. People were engulfed in flames in an instant. The air is filled with deadly poisonous gases. Frightened people fled in all directions, trying to get away from the burning missiles. But the clothes on his body soon sparked in the scorching heat, and before he could run a few steps, the whole person burned. Those who were able to escape to safety tried to climb over the barbed wire fence for fear of being stabbed, while others jumped into trenches with leaking fuel, where they were burned by the acid that had accumulated inside.

After the fuel components burned out, the fire continued for several hours. Everything that could be burned was reduced to ashes: components and facilities, equipment and cable pipelines...... All the missile fuel tanks were melted down and burned, and only the first and second stage engines made of special heat-strong steel remained.

Serov did not know how many people died in the specific explosion, but one thing was clear: since Marshal Negelin did not die, the Soviet experts around him who were themselves security-conscious would naturally not accompany him to stay by the missile to show his bravery. Let Major General Kudryash command the people of the Central Asian Border Guards Corps put out the fire, this is the time to make political achievements.

In order to show the courage and responsibility of the new first deputy chairman of the KGB, Serov pushed open the iron door of the bunker and threw himself into the disaster relief, "Ahem...... fortunately, there are no nuclear bombs in it, or a fool will come to rescue you, even if the Soviet rocket experts are here, it is not worth me to risk the explosion of a nuclear bomb to pretend to be a savior. "Just got out of the bunker gate. Serov choked on the intense smoke, the fuel in the missile could not be burned out in a moment and a half, and the strange smell of some chemical fuel in the air was unbearable.

Serov, who had been prepared for a long time, went directly to the conning tower of the No. 5 test site, of course, the glass here has been shattered, and some staff members may have their hearing temporarily affected, or their skin may have been scratched by the shattered glass. They were lucky compared to the maintenance personnel who were burned alive on the launch pad. Stepping on broken glass on the ground. Serov, who took off his gas mask, tried the broadcasting equipment and found that it could still be used, "Comrades at the No. 5 test site, whether you are safe now or not, you must stay calm, the 29th Frontier Corps of the Central Asian Frontier Corps of the National Security Council Border Guards is doing its best to extinguish the fire, whether you can hear my voice or if you are still injured, stay where you are and don't let your wounds worsen, the KGB security personnel will find you for treatment, and before that, you have to save yourself!" ”

Thick smoke billowed over the entire test site No. 5, and it had been less than twenty minutes since the explosion began. Because the aviation fuel has not yet been burned, this brings certain difficulties to the fire extinguishing work. Serov, who had finished broadcasting to the entire No. 5 test site, turned around and saw the commander-in-chief of the missile launch, and this comrade commander-in-chief had an extra wound on his face that was five centimeters long, but it was obvious that this person was not as ignorant as Marshal Nedelin, which could be seen from the stitches on the wound on his face.

"Immediately activate the disaster contingency plan of the Baikonur Space Center, the border guards are not professional firefighting teams, they can only play the role of treating the wounded! As for whether the matter was reported to the Kazakh Soviet. I'm going to talk to Marshal Nederin. Serov, who was holding a gas mask, looked at the launch pad, which had been burned to scrap metal, with some amazement, and said with pity. We lost steel and aviation fuel, but the death of even one famous aviation talent was an immeasurable loss to the Soviet Union. Steel can be reforged, comrades who can die, the knowledge in their brains we can't salvage......"

"I see, Deputy Chairman Serov!" The commander-in-chief of the fifth launch site saluted, which is not surprising at all, and many specialists in military development have military ranks. As the commander-in-chief of the No. 5 launch site, his military rank is colonel, and he can communicate with Serov in a soldier-to-military manner.

Putting on gas masks, Serov began to supervise the border guards in the search for the wounded, and firefighters from the No. 5 launch site were also arriving in a steady stream, believing that it would not be long before other nearby launch sites would send people to support.

"Do you count how many people died?" When he appeared in front of Major General Kudryash again. Serov changed his look, and there were too many people wearing gas masks, which made him not feel like he stood out from the crowd. Comrade First Vice-Chairman, who risked his life to rescue the wounded, was carrying a windshield at this time.

"None of the staff members who inspected the tower survived, and the other experts who were not on the tower have been evacuated, and we don't know how many people are on the tower!" Less than twenty meters in front of Kudryash and Serov, there were still raging flames in front of them, and in front of them were firefighters from the No. 5 test site.

Because of the leakage of aviation fuel, the original sand was like a fire dragon advancing close to the ground, and missile fragments were everywhere within 100 meters around the launch tower. The value of this ICBM Serov does not know, but it is believed that the dead specialists on the launch tower are not at all less valuable than the missile.

"All the wounded launch site specialists were immediately bandaged and sent to Almaty, and some troops were dispatched to escort them, and the seriously wounded contacted the air force to escort them, and the speed must be fast." Serov briefly looked at a few burned personnel, and quickly ordered, "Send a telegram to Kamiyakin, the chairman of the KGB of Kazakhstan, and the wounded will be picked up by the KGB when they arrive in Almaty, remember, the news must be blocked!" ”

Orders were constantly issued in accordance with the rules and regulations of secrecy, and Major General Kudryash was asked to comply. Serov's first decisive move was to block the news, and at the moment Khrushchev was knocking on his shoes at the United Nations, and if he were told at this time that the ICBM had exploded on the launch pad, wouldn't it be a slap in the face of the first secretary.

Who would dare to do that? However, Serov only blocked the news from the local party committee to prevent some rumors unfavorable to the country, and he still had to take a report attitude towards Moscow. After bringing the fire under control, Serov wrote down the news of the explosion of an intercontinental missile at the Baikonur Space Center's No. 5 test site and sent it to Moscow by telegram, including his immediate boss Shelepin, as well as Brezhnev and Ustinov.

Serov, who had already returned to the Baikonur Space Center, made a blockade of the fifth launch site. The wounded have been treated and sent to Almaty for treatment, the death toll has been counted, and 22 people are missing. With the surging flames and aviation fuel flowing everywhere at that time, these missing people knew that there must be no bones left in the burned, and even the bones were burned clean.

Including the director of the second bureau of the test site, the leader of the operation, and the lieutenant colonel engineer Pa? Rice? Grigoriants, deputy director of the test site, colonel-in-law? He? Nosov, director of the 1st Bureau of the test site, lieutenant colonel engineer Ye? He? Ostashev, one name after another, proves that even the Soviet experts who were able to accompany the commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces, Marshal Nedelin, were better than the Soviet aerospace experts in history, one can imagine the status of these people in the field of Soviet aviation. In history, Marshal Nederin showed his valor and was wiped out as a whole. After decades of the Cold War, who would have thought that the biggest blow to the Soviet Union's aerospace would come from its own intercontinental missiles.

In the lounge of the main launch site of the Baikonur Space Center, Serov held the list submitted by Major General Kudryash in his hand, and his eyes fell directly on Marshal Negelin, and the atmosphere between the two was full of solemnity. The report in his hand was pinched and deformed by Serov, and the ashtray next to it was already full of cigarette butts, "Marshal Nedelin, fourteen specialists were burned to death, eight KGB Internal Guard officers were killed, who do you think is this person responsible?" Why did you violate the security regulations just because you were a marshal? I'm a lieutenant general? Serov stood up and asked in a low voice, "You promised me to stay in a safe place, but you personally supervised the battle, and the missile was less than twenty meters away, and I will write this situation in the report......

"Yuri, I must express my gratitude to you, you saved my life!" The fact is that the missile exploded, and Marshal Nedelin's own life was saved by Serov, otherwise he would have been one of the dead on the list.

"It's a pity that more people were not saved, I don't think it is suitable to personally supervise the work on the front line as a marshal, which will bring trouble to our scientific researchers, and I hope that the strategic rocket forces will not block the security work of our KGB in the future." Serov stretched out his finger and pointed at himself, "I am the director of the General Directorate of Military Administration, and missiles as a weapon should be carried out by our KGB to carry out security protection work, from the perspective of scientific research, intercontinental missiles are the scope of work of the Sixth General Directorate of the KGB, that is, the General Directorate of Defense Science and Technology Defense, I happened to save the marshal's life, but I will still write your ultra vires into the report......

On the one hand, Serov reminded the other party that I saved the life of you, the marshal, and that you would not have been able to let the soldiers of the Internal Guard take you back, and that you would not even be a carbohydrate now, and on the other hand, Serov also told Marshal Negelin that he still had the right to report about your overstepping and violation of security regulations this time. (To be continued.) )