Chapter 15 14. Lop Nur: Nuclear Land

The successful atomic bomb test in 1964 shocked the world in Lop Nur.Lop Nur is located in the southeast of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, in the east of the Tarim Basin.Historically, there used to be an oasis of life with herds of cows and horses, surrounded by green trees and clear rivers.There used to be a developed ancient Loulan civilization.But then it became a Gobi Desert, where almost no grass grew, the temperature in summer was as high as 70°C, and there were no birds in the sky.Sven Hedin once discovered the ruins of the ancient kingdom of Loulan here, and for a long time after that, it was as fascinating as a mystery, but also frightening.Later, Chinese scientist Peng Jiamu disappeared here.But for nuclear experts in the Chinese military, this seems to be a natural testing ground. On October 16, 1964, China's first atomic bomb was successfully tested here, and China has since entered the nuclear club.At that time, becoming a nuclear power undoubtedly greatly enhanced China's diplomatic confidence and the Chinese people's own sense of national pride.To this day, people who travel to Lop Nur still visit the old site of the nuclear test base.

"Count down to zero, detonation! In an instant, a huge ball of fire rose into the sky, the sky and the sky burned up, and the sun turned gray. Then there was a loud noise, which spread outward and was reflected back by the stretching Tianshan Mountains. Like a giant thunder running over the top of the head. The shock wave sweeps across the boundless Gobi. The fireball is rolling, rising, and expanding, changing from orange to blue to velvet white. Finally, it freezes into a vertical flower. A mushroom cloud between empty sky and earth. Horribly beautiful!" Li Xuge, the later commander of the Second Artillery Corps, described the moment at three o'clock in the afternoon on October 16, 1964 in his diary.

Many years later, Li Xuge, who is nearly 80 years old, still remembers "colorfully" in an interview.He said.General Zhang Aiping, who was in charge of atomic bomb research and testing, stipulated that all those present should wear sunglasses with a transmittance of 1/10,000.Li Xuge joked: "I'll take a look if I spare a pair of glasses", but in the end, "Zhang Aiping severely criticized it". Zhang Aiping herself fell into consternation.Never in his military career had the battle-hardened general seen such a powerful explosion.The shock lasted for four minutes. Zhang Aiping picked up the phone and called the then Premier of the State Council Zhou Enlai, who was also the head of the Central Special Committee for the Research and Development of the Atomic Bomb, and told him that the atomic bomb was successfully tested.

Zhou Enlai was silent for a while, and asked Zhang Aiping if it was a real nuclear explosion. "I was also taken aback. Yes, why is it called a nuclear explosion? No one has ever seen a nuclear explosion. What would a real nuclear explosion look like!" Zhang Aiping later recalled. He had no way to prove that it was really a nuclear explosion by describing the effect of the test explosion on the phone. Zhang Aiping turned around and asked the physicist Wang Ganchang next to him. Wang Ganchang looked at the huge mushroom cloud cloud column 60 kilometers away due to the explosion, and was silent for a while, and then gave one judgmental answer: "It should be of."

No one knows what kind of mood those who participated in the creation of this huge and destructive weapon were feeling at such a moment.Its colossal power and its ensuing political effects, if not to mention its possible applications, would have left participants with a sudden sense of heaviness.Oppenheim, who participated in the manufacture of the first atomic bomb, suddenly remembered a poem from India after witnessing its explosion: I am death, the destroyer of the world. But that's why this group of soldiers and scientists came to Lop Nur.They had to build this atomic bomb.In this endless sea of ​​death, there are legends about the ancient country of Loulan, nightmares about ghosts and ghosts wandering around, stories about treasures and treasure hunts, and various bizarre events.But its desolation also makes it the perfect place to create a "grim reaper"—if you want to unleash a demon, it's best to choose a place without victims.

In 1964, the only remaining countries capable of producing nuclear weapons were the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France.As the two superpowers at the two poles of the world, the United States and the Soviet Union have the most powerful military strike force in the world.The alliance between the United States, Britain, and France lasted until after the war.In theory, China and the Soviet Union were in the same socialist camp.The specter of communism has cast an Iron Curtain across the world from Asia to Europe, and at both ends of the Iron Curtain are the confrontation of two ideologies.In Europe, the division of Germany and the Korean War in Asia were public manifestations of this confrontation.

But there are cracks in the socialist camp on one side.Moreover, it is between the two largest socialist countries. On July 16, 1960, the Soviet government sent a note to China to stop the implementation of the agreement on aiding China's atomic energy industry and national defense industry, withdraw all experts in China, and terminate the supply of all equipment and materials originally planned.Corresponding to this, of course, was the withdrawal of Soviet specialists in various fields of industry. Those stubborn Chinese had to build it all themselves, from the smokestack-strewn heavy industry that Mao Zedong wanted, to the atomic bomb with its enormous deterrent capabilities.Chen Yi said that even if the Chinese pawn their pants, they want to get the atomic bomb out!

But easier said than done.The development of a country's defense industry must have a commensurate development of heavy and light industries.The disproportionate development of the defense industry will drain the country like a huge blood-sucking machine. According to reports by Chen Yun and Li Fuchun, who are in charge of the national economy, by the end of 1960, the entire national economy had been severely damaged by the "Great Leap Forward" marked by the communalization movement and the steelmaking movement: grain and cotton fell to the level of 1951; The number of pigs on hand at the end of the year was not as good as it was in 1949; the light industry declined in an all-round way; the only heavy industry that improved was at the expense of agriculture and light industry.Nie Rongzhen, director of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission, said later: "I am asking for donations in the name of the revolution, and I ask you to provide some food and non-staple food to support our test base immediately. Our scientific and technological personnel are working too hard. Whether they can survive is related to A major event in the future and destiny of the country."

That's exactly what worries politicians who say China still makes developing nuclear weapons a top priority.They said to Chen Yi, who vowed to make an atomic bomb even if he became pants: Boss!You'd better pull up your pants, you can't get an atomic bomb with a bare butt. After the Soviet experts withdrew, "The Second Ministry of Machinery Industry in charge of the atomic energy industry decided that in order to motivate all personnel to fight and keep in mind the day of Big Brother's treachery, June 1959 was the date when the Soviet Union stopped providing atomic bomb teaching models and drawings as The code name of the first atomic bomb was '596', also known as the 'strength bomb'."

There is no suspense whether to continue to develop the atomic bomb, even if the country is almost overwhelmed.It is not just a "fighting bullet" about vanity or face, it can also become a trump card in the hands of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai.It will make China the fifth nuclear power, and it will make the whole world really start to take this red country seriously and start negotiating with it.It could also be a sign of self-reliance, a country that possesses the technological capability to build nuclear weapons even without outside help.The mushroom cloud it ignited would have been the ticket to a powerful state, at least in the tense international environment at the time.

The task of researching and developing the atomic bomb was handed over to Zhang Aiping, the founding general, the first Minister of Defense, then the deputy director of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission, and the commander-in-chief of capturing Yijiangshan Island.Zhang Aiping recalled that she said at the meeting: "I said, I only know yam eggs, but I don't understand atomic bombs. Boss Chen angered me and said, if you don't understand, you can't learn? Who is born with it?" Zhang Aiping, who received the order and took on the heavy responsibility, submitted a report "Basic Situation of Nuclear Energy Industrial Construction and Several Urgent Issues to be Solved" a month later.In the report, Zhang Aiping set the event of the completion of the development of the atomic bomb in 1964, and "the nuclear explosion test in 1964 is possible." It’s just that the premise of realizing it is to support it with all the strength of the country. This is why Zhou Enlai, a state minister, is in charge of the Central Special Committee for Atomic Bomb Research and Development. Only the Premier of the State Council has the power and prestige to coordinate various departments and give Nie Rongzhen and Zhang Aiping what they want. support. Later, in Zhang Aiping’s son Zhang Sheng’s book recalling his father, he wrote: “According to the statistics of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission at that time, at the critical stage of the development of the atomic bomb, there were 26 ministries and commissions, 20 provinces and municipalities, including 900 A number of factories, scientific research institutions, colleges and universities, and various branches of the People's Liberation Army participated in the battle. In terms of cutting-edge technology, special equipment and new materials, more than 20 research institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences alone participated. National Defense Science and Technology Commission, Ministry of Metallurgy, The Ministry of Chemical Industry, the Ministry of Petroleum, the Ministry of Machinery, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, and the Ministry of Defense Industries such as Aviation, Electronics, Weapons, etc., plus Tsinghua University, Nankai University, PLA headquarters, military arms, Chemical Defense Research Institute, Military Engineering Academy, Military Medical Academy And so on, helped to solve nearly a thousand issues. Under the direct leadership and organization of the Central Special Committee, all the efforts of the whole country, all walks of life, and all walks of life, worked together vigorously, forming an unprecedented situation of uniting and tackling difficulties together.” Despite the exaggeration of the language, these efforts, which were finally brought together in Lop Nur, finally brought amazing results. Three years later, in May 1967, the first hydrogen bomb exploded successfully. Today, the atomic bomb test base of that year has long been deserted.When tourists drive to Lop Nur and visit this top-secret base at that time, all they can see is the desert yellow sand and the broken walls standing in it.The continuous houses have no roofs, no doors and windows, and the walls stand tall, but they are also incomplete.The big characters written in those years are still preserved on the wall: Long live Chairman Mao, serve the people or wholeheartedly for the revolution.If you look carefully, lucky tourists may be able to find the shell casings left over from that year. Those who have been here for decades are long gone.Some of them have become famous all over the world, but they still experience things that make people feel ridiculous today. In 1985, Deng Jiaxian, the hero of the two bombs, was seriously ill, and Yang Zhenning, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, went to the hospital to visit him.They talked about the fact that the state awarded bonuses to those who made contributions to the development of the two bombs.Xu Luxi, wife of Deng Jiaxian, said: "The reward is RMB 10."Yang Zhenning was taken aback: "I'm not joking." At this time, Deng Jia spoke first: "It's not 10 yuan, it's 20 yuan. The atomic bomb is 10 yuan; the hydrogen bomb is 10 yuan." It turned out that in 1985, with the special approval of the central government, it was decided to award special prizes to those who made contributions to the two bombs and one satellite, with a total bonus of 10,000 yuan.But how to divide the money made the leader who received the bonus a headache. In the words of Zhang Aiping's son Zhang Sheng: "So many people left their families and brought their mouths to this barren land, and they stayed for 20 or 30 years! Who has not made a contribution? Don’t talk about contribution, there is always some dedication, right? Dedicate your youth, dedicate your life, and dedicate your life to your children and grandchildren.” Therefore, the award-winning organization itself took out more than 100,000 yuan, and then divided it into three levels of 10 yuan, 5 yuan, and 3 yuan to the meritorious persons.Assigned to Deng Jiaxian, the two projects of atomic bomb and hydrogen bomb happened to be 20 yuan.