Beiyang reactionaries

"Chairman, the news just came that the neutron source and uranium balls have been successfully delivered to our nuclear test base."

1942 2 Month 18 Day.

It is the fourth day of the first month, and it still belongs to the category of New Year.Although the world is still at war, for most of China, it is enjoying the joy of the New Year.After all, China has not been involved in the war so far, and most regions have no clear concept of war, so everyone is celebrating the Spring Festival.

But not all departments are on holiday.

Some departments have no rest time at all, even during the Spring Festival.Especially for the atomic bomb research institutes that carry out the "Great Wall Project", this Spring Festival has become the busiest day.China began large-scale exploration of uranium mines in 1936, began to look for a suitable nuclear test base for construction, and established several national mathematics research centers.They are all preparations for the later atomic bomb research.In January 1937, the "Great Wall Project" was formally established at the national level.

After the "Great Wall Plan" was established, various departments began to operate rapidly.

It has been six years now.

For this plan, China allocated more than 10 billion RMB per year at the beginning.With the increase of research institutions, the expenditure on atomic bomb research soared, and the expenditure quickly exceeded 20 billion yuan.By 1941, the cost exceeded 30 billion yuan, and went straight to 40 billion yuan.

So far, more than 100 billion RMB has been invested in this plan.

And it's just a direct appropriation.

In fact, for the "Great Wall Project", many departments cooperated.Major universities and research institutions across the country are cooperating.If those indirect investments are also included, then China has spent more than 150 billion yuan for this plan so far, and it may even reach 200 billion yuan.This is not a small amount.

Fortunately, the Chinese government has not been short of money in recent years.

In the past few years, China's annual military expenditure has reached about 140 billion U.S. dollars, and most of the atomic bomb research funds have also flowed into the "Great Wall Project" account in the form of military expenditure.

If not, how could China have so much money to carry out this plan.But now, China's atomic bomb program has entered the final stage.The projects that should be completed have basically been completed, and the final neutron source and uranium balls have also been sent to the nuclear test site, leaving only the final steps.

"Is there any important problem to be solved?"

"Not currently. Technically speaking, we have already overcome the most important technical difficulties. From now until the first atomic bomb is manufactured, there will be no technical problems."

"Is the final time fixed?"

"Chairman, we have made calculations. According to the current situation, the time we set is July. We are confident that all the work will be completed before July. However, the specific time needs to be determined by you, Chairman."

Research on the atomic bomb entered its final moments.

The most difficult technical hurdle has been completely overcome, and now only the final production of the atomic bomb remains.After Liu Xiang was in charge of the "Great Wall Project", he had several discussions with the expert group. In fact, everyone confirmed that all the research and development work would be completed around mid-June.But Liu Xiang has this characteristic. He never speaks big, and always leaves room for it.This is Liu Xiang's habit of being a human being, and it is the same this time.

Although the expert group vowed that all the work will definitely be completed in mid-June.But when reporting, Liu Xiang will definitely not leave room for himself.So it's July.

Duan Xun thought for a while and said: "This matter still has to be determined according to your situation. Science is different from our wars. We must respect the opinions of scientists and objective laws. On the specific date, you, the expert group, and Zhao Professor (Zhao Zhongyao), Professor Wang (Wang Ganchang) discussed it, and then reported it to the Supreme Committee. This thing needs to be more cautious, and don’t affect the quality just to catch up with the schedule.”

Although China is a late-developing country, it lags behind Europe and the United States in science and technology.But because of Duan Xun's will, China began to prepare for the atomic bomb when the nuclear physics community was not completely sure about nuclear fission.

In comparison, countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union have only now started research in this area.But all because of the war, it is difficult to concentrate on research.The United States has just begun to pay attention to it, but there is no large-scale investment.

So China is already ahead of everyone.Duan Xun does not want to affect the quality in order to rush the time, because China has the time.

"Yes. I will discuss with Director Zhao (Zhao Zhongyao) and the others again to determine the final time."

"That's good."

"However, Chairman, recently I discovered that Director Zhao and his colleagues are not in the right mood. Director Zhao and the others are very worried that they will fail. Although from the experimental situation, there is no problem with the atomic bomb project. And we have completely constructed a theoretical model. With the current neutron source and uranium balls. But they are still very worried, fearing that they will not succeed in the end."

Liu Xiang expressed the concerns of frontline scientists.

For this atomic bomb project, how many young scientists have been mobilized in China.Zhao Zhongyao and Wang Ganchang are the main technical directors. There are a large number of young scientists in their 30s in the entire laboratory, and even many of them are young people who have just graduated from university and are only in their twenties.

In addition to scientists from these research institutions, more than 700 universities and scientific research institutions across the country participated in the "Great Wall Project".Starting from mining, thousands of factories in the fields of machinery, metallurgy, and chemical industry have participated in this plan.

How much did China spend to develop nuclear weapons?

Ordinary scientific researchers are not clear, and even some scientific research leaders are not very clear.But Zhao Zhongyao and Wang Ganchang knew it clearly.Because Zhao Zhongyao and Wang Ganchang are one of the persons in charge of the entire project, and they are also the only two scientists who fully know the content of the "Great Wall Project".In addition to being responsible for technical research, they are also responsible for cooperating with various other research institutions, technology centers, and factories.So they understand better than anyone else how huge the plan is this time and how many industries are involved.So in the end, Zhao Zhongyao was very worried.Once this time fails, so many scientists, so many institutions, so many factories in so many industries, and even spent so much money, all the hard work will be in vain.Who will be responsible for this at that time?

If it really fails, Zhao Zhongyao feels that he will be a sinner of the country.After all, it has cost the country so much money, used so many young scientists, and even delayed their scientific career.

If all the money is invested in other industries, how much development can it bring to China's industry.

Therefore, the closer it was, the more nervous he became.

Who is Liu Xiang, a very delicate person.For the final success, Liu Xiang immediately felt Zhao Zhongyao's inner tension and inner anxiety after a few contacts.

"Too much anxiety is not good for planning."

Duan Xun nodded.

For Zhao Zhongyao, Duan Xun liked and admired him very much.Zhao Zhongyao is not an ordinary scientist, he is a well-known person in the world of physics, even a very promising person.When he was about 30 years old, he was already a well-known scientist in the world of physics.If one is to say who is most likely to win the Nobel Prize among Chinese scientists, then Zhao Zhongyao is definitely ranked first.

If there is a good enough laboratory and enough experimental funds, Zhao Zhongyao is really likely to become a top figure in the world of physics.Not only Zhao Zhongyao alone, weapons experts like Zhou Peiyuan and Shu Xingbei, in fact, they could have a very high future in science.Therefore, when Fermi visited China, he stated that Zhou Peiyuan was one of the best physicists in the world.But because of the reality, they spend a lot less time on researching their original majors, and spend more time participating in China's weapons programs.

They basically participate in national defense science and technology projects while cultivating talents in schools.Their participation allowed China to develop weapons very quickly, but it also really delayed their development in the scientific community.Had they been born in the United States, their scientific prospects would have been very high.So for this group of young scientists, Duan Xun has deep guilt.So Duan Xun thought for a moment, held up a red phone, and said, "Pick up Professor Zhao Zhongyao's call for me."

"Professor Zhao? I'm Duan Xun."

"Hi, Chairman."

Duan Xun's phone was a private plane, and he was connected to Zhao Zhongyao soon.

"Professor Zhao, I have received the report, congratulations on completing the last step."

"Thank you for your encouragement, Chairman."

"Professor Zhao, in addition to congratulating you on the call, I also want to make the final mobilization for you. Carry out the experiment boldly without any burden. If you succeed, I will congratulate you, and the people of the whole country will congratulate you. It’s no big deal, we’ll start all over again at most. I, Duan Xun, are responsible for any responsibility, and it has nothing to do with you. Scientific research never fails, so don’t be burdened by it. After setting the goal, proceed boldly according to your ideas. "

"Yes."

Zhao Zhongyao is 40 years old, and he is in charge of such a major scientific research project, so the pressure in his heart can be imagined.

The closer to the final moment, the more nervous.He couldn't sleep well these days, because he was afraid that something might go wrong, and so much money and the efforts of so many researchers would be in vain.

Hearing Duan Xun's words now, although it can't completely relieve the tension in my heart, it also relieves my heart a lot.Zhao Zhongyao is very grateful for Duan Xun's support.Before Duan Xun, most of the college professors with high salaries were celebrities and famous professors.Compared with many outstanding bigwigs in science and engineering, after returning to China, no matter in terms of importance or salary, they are no match for those people at all.

Even finding a job is much more difficult than them.

However, after Duan Xun took over Beijing, the salaries of those professors did not increase much, but the support for science and engineering professors suddenly increased a lot.Especially among universities across the country, after the proportion of science and engineering majors increased, the demand for science and engineering talents increased rapidly.

The result is that China has really cultivated a lot of talents in this field in the past 20 years.So Zhao Zhongyao is really grateful to Duan Xun.

"Professor Zhao, tell our young scientists that they are the future of China. I would rather this project fail than see anything happen to them. So don't worry, don't be nervous, let them all keep themselves safe. Next, complete the plan."

711

"Chairman, Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union invited my country to participate in the Quebec Conference in Canada."

"Invite us to participate?"

"Yes."