Chapter 36 Chapter Thirty-Five General Aaron Perry

Ding Jieqiong could see at a glance that the gold stars on Aaron Perry's epaulets, shirt lapels and boat cap had increased from one to two.She smiled and handed her right hand: "Oh, congratulations, congratulations! Why didn't you tell me when it happened?" "Didn't Aum tell you?" The general grinned widely.He gently pinched the female scientist's slender and white fingers, lifted them up and kissed them lightly. "I haven't seen him for two weeks, he's very busy." "Yes, I was promoted to major general within the past two weeks."

"When is the treat?" "What about you? You were promoted to professor." Ding Jieqiong has been an associate professor for seven years and just became a professor not long ago-this is the result of her direct participation in the "Manhattan Project" and because of Perry's powerful intervention.The general sighed: "Joan, in terms of level and contribution, you should have been a professor." Perry called "Aum" after Ding Jieqiong, and "Joan" after Aum.Now, he went on: "Well, Joan! Let's have a cocktail party together to celebrate, shall we? I'll pay for it and you'll mix it. I hear you can make over a hundred cocktails!"

"Let me pay! I am alone, and the money will never run out." "You have no money. Your money is all bought and sent to China." "How do you know?" "Of course I know!" Perry pointed to the distance, and Ladin Jieqiong said, "Here, Hull is here." Several jeeps drove up.The first car stopped in front of the general and the female professor.A grinning Major Hull Olmhorse jumped out of the driver's seat to give a military salute, followed by a handshake. "How's your body?" The general looked at Hull. "You saw the way I jumped out of the car, don't you look like a jaguar?" The major stood at attention, chest out, full of energy.

"I think you're a bit contrived," the general shrugged. "How could it be?" Hull spread his hands. "Of course you will!" The general waved his hand, "You can do ground work with peace of mind, and don't dream of going to heaven again." Hull looked at Ding Jieqiong as if asking for help.The female professor consoled her while boarding the jeep: "Let's heal the injury first, Hull." Hull stayed in the hospital for ten months after being injured in China. He underwent three surgeries and was still with multiple disabilities when he was discharged.Although he could barely cover the scars on his body after putting on the clothes, he couldn't relieve the pain in his body, and his movements became obviously clumsy.He got a medal and was promoted to major, but at the cost of not flying any more planes.Hull had to teach at Wujiaba Aviation School in Kunming and do some ground work, while insisting on treatment and exercise; he hated the Japanese, and dreamed that one day he would fully recover his physical fitness and return to the blue sky.But another blow came a few months later: he was ordered to return to the United States in February 1944.Waiting for him will be retirement.Hull was eager to stay in the army.He thought that in terms of the anti-fascist war, he had much more vision than the US government!He arrived in China long before the outbreak of the Pacific War.He had fought bloody battles, made numerous military exploits, and suffered serious injuries.Why kick him away?He did everything possible to preserve the identity and dignity of an active-duty officer.In desperation, he thought of his brother.He knew that Roman knew a lot of big people, including the president, the secretary of the army, the secretary of the navy and the chief of staff of the army and so on.

Roman did not go to the president and the ministers.He took Ding Jieqiong to Perry only once, and the matter was done.With the rapid advancement of the "Manhattan Project", the Army assigned an aviation unit to Perry's command.The general approved Major Hull's continued service with the unit.But he soon discovered that Hull's ambition was to go to the blue sky again, so he categorically stopped, and clearly stipulated that the major could only be engaged in ground work. "Put on the tea glasses, Joan! The California sun is too strong." Perry said, looking fondly at Ding Jieqiong, and waved like a cavalry captain.The first Jeep driven by Hull was the first to move.The others followed, racing in a single file toward a twin-engine plane at the end of the tarmac.

As the "Manhattan Project" has become increasingly tense, and as the safety factor of various aircraft has become higher and higher, Perry has changed from being against flying to encouraging flying.He even wants to be within the scope of the "Manhattan Project", no matter who goes where to perform what tasks, anyone who can fly will fly!He did it himself.This is the case before him. He ordered a special plane and invited Ding Jieqiong to fly to Nashville from Berkeley; in order to put on a "two-star general" style, he deliberately let a colonel, two lieutenant colonels and two captains follow behind him—— Well, there is no brigadier general among them.

This is the first time Ding Jieqiong has taken a plane in the United States for ten years.Perry understood her curiosity and took her to sit with her in the "front cabin".From here you can see the cockpit clearly, see the pilot's operation, and have the maximum vision in all directions, which is also very interesting.Colonels, lieutenant colonels, and captains huddled in the rear "steerage."The plane is not big, and the "front cabin" can only accommodate two people. "I named this place 'General's Cabin', and I only allow myself to enjoy it alone. Today is the first exception, Joan." In order to overwhelm the roar of the plane, Perry raised his voice vigorously: "Do you understand, Joan? It's a common problem of us men, we like to stay with beautiful women."

"I know." "This is great!" "Actually, General, women also like beautiful men like this..." "Really?" Perry suddenly looked depressed, "Cough, but look at my face!" It was a day in late August, 1944.It has been one year and eight months since Ding Jieqiong obtained the "license" and formally participated in the "Manhattan Project".During this period, she still worked in the laboratory or computing room as before, mostly in Berkeley, but also went to Stanford University, Caltech, Columbia University and DuPont—universities and companies that took on the "Manhattan Engineering" many theoretical research, experiment and development projects.Among the 150,000 scientists and engineers participating in this great project, there are very few women, and among them, Ding Jieqiong is the only non-American and British scientist—by the way, there was originally Fermi; After taking the oath of allegiance to the United States of America on July 11 in the Chicago District Court, he also became an American.

The "charter" was issued by Perry himself.On the issue of the nationality of female scientists, the general did not say a word.No matter where he met Ding Jieqiong, he was extraordinarily enthusiastic.On this day at the end of August 1944, he came to the University of California and invited female professors to fly to Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, on the same plane.Perry said, "You've been in Berkeley too long, I'll go out with you." After some banter on the plane, Perry dozed off by himself.Listening to his slight snoring, Ding Jieqiong felt a little envious.She looked at Perry, remembering her first meeting with the general.That day is easy to remember, it was "Christmas Eve" in 1942...

As soon as Ding Jieqiong walked out of the small building, he was shrouded in a cloud of cold air rushing towards him.She shivered.Olmhos followed closely, put his overcoat on her body, wrapped it tightly with his hands, and walked her through the garden with his arms.Before opening the concealed iron gate, two dark blue Rolls-Royces were still parked in place, as silent as two stone sculptures, with a dull luster shining on the car body.That is the reflection of the lights near and far.As soon as the two of them stepped out of the iron gate, the front door on the side of the car behind was pushed open without a sound.A middle-aged man in military uniform got out, straightened up towards the female scientist, put his heels together, touched the boat-shaped cap with his right hand, and uttered a series of rough syllables:

"Aaron Perry. Brigadier General." "Long time, General." Ding Jieqiong stretched out his right hand, "Have you stayed in the car all this time?" "Yes, it's been six and a half hours." The general leaned forward, took the female scientist's right hand and kissed it.It was at this time that he began to "kiss hands" to Ding Jieqiong; it was only changed later: the upper body no longer leaned forward, but lifted the other's right hand high and stuck it to his lips. The female scientist originally imagined that this one-sided, resolute general who commanded hundreds of thousands of horses must be tall, tall, and cowardly; now, it is quite different. He turned out to be a short, dark-skinned, rough and strong man, nearly half a century old, A pair of black-rimmed glasses rest on the iron-like hooked nose... "You must be very hungry," Ding Jieqiong felt that his hand was pricked by the opponent's beard.The General's hand was also hard and cold as a rock, unlike any man's hand she had ever touched and held in America. "It's mainly thirst," replied the general, "and a little cold." Ding Jieqiong's heart skipped a beat.She hesitated for a second or two, then said reproachfully to Perry, "You should have gone in with Dr. Olmhouse." "Let's call it 'Aum', I like this name." Perry shrugged and said with a smile: "Yes, I wanted to go into the house with Aum, but Miss Darden wouldn't let me in." "Why do you think so?" "I am mainly responsible for the injustice that Ms. Ding has encountered." As he spoke, the general leaned forward again, "I have come here to apologize to you and solemnly invite you to participate in the 'Manhattan Project'." Ding Jieqiong was silent for a few seconds, then turned to Aum: "Why didn't you say that General Perry is here?" "This is the general's order." Aum also put his heels together and leaned over. "Quick, get in the house!" The female scientist laughed, her eyes suddenly passed over the two Rolls-Royces, "Who else is in the car? Let's go into the house together." "There are a few soldiers in the car," Perry replied. "It's their job to stay in the car." The three turned around and walked into the small building.After entering the hall, Aum took off the overcoat for Ding Jieqiong, revealing a well-proportioned figure wrapped in light red home clothes.Perry looked at her and said: "Miss Ding, I have heard that you are tall. We met today, and it is true. You are a bit taller than me. However, compared with Aum, you are still a typical oriental woman. tiny and cute." "Speak more nicely," Miss Ding smiled, "You're 'just'!" After entering the living room, General Perry looked around with his nose sniffling, and finally saw two unfinished cocktails: "What are you two celebrating?" "Start running the Chicago Boiler!" The female scientist made tea for the two guests and went upstairs alone. "How is it, doctor?" Perry lowered his voice. "We did it again," said Aum, describing conversations with female scientists over the past few hours. "As I expected." "Great!" Perry breathed a sigh of relief. "Joan's bedroom and study are upstairs. I think she has taken that paper." Ding Jieqiong has long started research on uranium.With Aum's help, she got as much uranium metal and uranium oxide as possible, and she also had better laboratories and assistants, and her research went deeper.Aum knew that Joan's theoretical thinking was eloquent and forward-looking, and many of her experimental designs were masterpieces.Orm also knew that Joan had bombarded uranium nuclei with neutrons, protons, and several other particles in an accelerator. As a result, several series of radioactive gases were obtained on at least two levels, with 120,000 photos and nearly a hundred data. Ten thousand, the interpretation of the photos and the calculation and processing of the data are "vast", which made Ding Jieqiong exhausted and stayed in the hospital for several days... Orm remembered that, as usual, several of Joan's assistants complained;The longest time, the female scientist did not leave the laboratory for two whole months, drinking mineral water and eating sandwiches every day.Because of the artificial lighting in the laboratory, she couldn't tell the difference between day and night when she walked out of the building two months later... Joan's research took nearly a year and was finally completed in the spring of 1941.It's just that according to the regulations, all experimental results directly and indirectly related to the war must be published after the war, and Joan was excluded from the "U Committee" and the "Manhattan Project"; therefore, only Aum knew about it.But as the only person who knows this, as a famous theoretical physicist, until today, he has always believed that Joan's discovery has only "pure theoretical" significance at least in the "foreseeable future". After the "shutdown" happened, he thought that Joan could solve the problem based on his "intuition", but he still didn't think of the causal relationship between the radioactive gas and the "shutdown". What does "spring of 1941" mean?At that time, there was no trace of the world's first "atomic boiler"!However, Joan has foreseen that its basic structure and its operation may "choke"... "Theoretically, we can solve this problem." Standing by the "shutdown" boiler, Olmhaus said to Perry calmly: "But it will take a lot of money and dozens of scientists." , engineers and computer operators, it will take at least half a year..." "More than half a year?" Sure enough, the general shouted, "Are you crazy? No, absolutely not!" "There is another solution—" the Doctor drawled, and paused. "I know," the general stared at the doctor, "you will ask to find Ding Jieqiong again." "yes." "What are the odds of success?" "Eighty percent." "Ten percent is enough!" Perry became excited, "Hey, doctor, how did you get 80 percent?" "From you." "I?" "Did you forget? You once authorized me to keep in touch with Dr. Ding. During the communication, I was authorized to discuss with her theoretical, experimental or technical issues directly or indirectly related to the 'Manhattan Project'..." "'Concession'? No, that's tacit consent." "Even if that's the case." Olmhus swayed his body, "I remember that in those discussions, she had relevant views or discussions." "Let's go together." Perry held out his hand to the doctor. "Where are you going?" "To Berkeley, of course, to Miss Ding's." "when?" "immediately." "What do you mean? Today is 'Christmas Eve'..." "That's right," Perry waved his hand, "Go!" After the special plane landed in Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, Perry and the officers went to the city to do some business; then changed cars and rushed to Oak Ridge.The roads in Tennessee are densely covered, the roads are flat and wide, and the convoy is driving fast. "Here, Joan, look, this area is deep in the heart of the United States, far away from the east coast, and even farther away from the west coast—" Perry sat side by side with Ding Jieqiong in the back seat of a stretched Rolls-Royce, staring at the car for a long time. Outside the window, "That is to say, the possibility of an air strike is almost non-existent. Tennessee has easy access to Washington, New York, and Chicago--you know, the three cities that are the lifeblood of the 'Manhattan Project'. Tennessee has many Good road network and railway network, many airports are close to completion or have already been put into use. The area we are going to is sparsely populated, without towns and villages; green fields, grasslands, forests and mountains are everywhere; Towers, high-voltage transmission lines extend in all directions. In addition, this state also has ample labor force and relatively warm climate conditions that are convenient for year-round construction and outdoor experiments-what does all this mean? It means that it is possible to open up dangerous Large-scale production and test sites with high reliability." There are three "highly dangerous large-scale production and test sites", one for extracting uranium, one for extracting plutonium, and one for assembling and testing atomic bombs. They are all called "bases" and code-named are X, W, and Y, respectively. "I personally surveyed and selected the three bases. I was born as an engineer, so I have this vision." The general's tone was as always, full of confidence, "The United States has a vast territory, which provides the basic conditions for my career. You are An expert in uranium, so, Joan, let me first accompany you to see the 'X Base' where uranium is extracted." "Didn't you say it's called 'Oak Ridge'?" asked the female professor. "There used to be no place-name here, 'Oak Ridge' is what I called it--do you like it, Joan?" "I like it," Ding Jieqiong praised sincerely, "very poetic." "I also named the main plant 'Carrington'." The general said proudly, "I'll say it again: under normal circumstances, 'haste makes waste', but it is not the case in wartime. The first consideration is speed , be quick! Even with some blindness, even a 'swarm of bees' is good! You can always catch something..." "Can scientific research ... 'catch something'?" "Yes!" Perry said resolutely, "When this scientific research is related to war, especially the ongoing war, it must be like this." For example, the general said, for example, heavy water can be used as a moderator in atomic boilers, so as early as August 1942, the design and construction of heavy water plants began, and three were built at once, costing a huge sum of 20 million U.S. dollars .However, I don't know how much heavy water these factories can produce, how much heavy water is needed, or even whether heavy water is needed... "As a moderator, graphite is much better than heavy water!" "Yes, you already knew that," the general shook his head, "but we didn't know that at the time." "How did you know later?" "Aum told us the results of your experiment." "I heard that a batch of heavy water was still produced..." "I don't need it, I sent it to Canada." "It can be used in the future." In October 1942, scientists began to calculate the explosive power of an atomic bomb, and how much uranium-235 or plutonium-239 was needed to make an atomic bomb.Because it determines the scale of production.The resulting "factor" is ten, that is, the actual demand is one-tenth or ten times the calculated amount.Ten pounds to a thousand pounds of uranium (or plutonium) is "correct" for an atomic bomb... "The 'Manhattan Project' has concentrated all the top theoretical physicists in the world today, but the most impressive theoretical achievements are nothing more than this." Perry said in a self-deprecating tone, "Joan, there has never been a thing like us, doing so something important and so uncertain.” The laboratory has proved that uranium 235 and uranium 238 can be separated by three methods: centrifugal method, gas diffusion method and electromagnetic method. The mission of "X Base" is to try to use all three of the above-mentioned laboratory methods to industrialize methods to obtain uranium 235, which is used to make atomic bombs.It was originally planned to transfer from the laboratory to large-scale production in the autumn of 1942.Construction of the electromagnetic separation process began on November 1.On January 1, 1943, the construction of the centrifugal process began.Construction of the gas diffusion process begins on March 1st... "The three processes are almost used at the same time because we don't know which method will be successful. Even if one method is successful, it is lucky." General Perry said, "As I said earlier, 'swarming' is also good. Yes, you can always catch something—here, Joan, see that iron-gray city wall ahead? 'X Base' is here!"