Chapter 39 Chapter 38 "Shangri-La"

One-fifth of the United States is located in arid and semi-arid regions, and there are large deserts and semi-desert steppes in the west.Among them, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and southern California have larger desert areas and large deserts.It belongs to the arid Colorado Plateau, and the rainfall is extremely scarce.Olmhos and Ding Jieqiong took off from the W base and flew towards the southeast, flying over Oregon and Idaho successively; when they entered the sky over Utah and Colorado, all they saw was gray land and large areas with wind and sand The "yellow ocean" with its topographical features can't be seen at a glance, and the topographical undulations gradually become smaller.The Colorado Plateau is a vast mesa with undulating mountains that rise above 10,000 feet.After hours of flying, oases and reservoirs appeared along a large river, like jade belts or beads carved from emerald...

"The Rio Grande is the largest river in New Mexico. The main towns in this state are all along its banks." Ding Jieqiong came here for the first time.Aum pointed out: "The capital, Santa Fe, and the largest city, Albuquerque, are on the east bank, and 'Y Base' is on the west bank." Flight altitude is decreasing.You can see the sparse yellow grass on the desert, dotted with some small bushes and cacti... "Who is interested in this place?" Ding Jieqiong smiled, "Can it also be called 'Shangri-La'?" "Shangri-La" is an alias of Y Base, which means "paradise".

"As an atomic bomb assembly and test base, this place is actually pretty good." Aum also smiled. "Although there is little rainfall, the air is fresh, there is no wind and sand, and there is almost no dust in the room..." "That's great!" The female professor is very sensitive to the living environment. "The residence arranged for you is half a villa, with five or six rooms. One of them is very large, and it is specially for you to practice dancing and playing the piano." "Thank you, Orm." "This is an order from General Perry. He said that there are many women in Base Y, but they are all family members. You are the only female scientist."

The plane landed at Albuquerque Airport.This is a newly opened airport, closest to the laboratory.The two boarded a jeep and drove towards the "small town" not far away surrounded by barbed wire and high walls. The Colorado Plateau has dangerous terrain, high gorges, deep valleys, and ravines.Alamos is an inaccessible plateau on the plateau, reaching an altitude of 7,200 feet, surrounded by canyons, the stratum on the cliffs is distinctly reddish brown, and the top of the plateau is gray and green, as if covered by wind and sand.There used to be a ranch school there, forty-five miles from Santa Fe, sixty miles from the nearest railway, connected by simple mountain roads.In November 1942, it was determined to build "Y Base" in Alamos, and the school was requisitioned as housing for the first batch of scientists and soldiers who came to the base.Although Perry is an expert in building houses, he couldn't figure out how many houses such a base would need.Aum estimates that there are 30 scientists, plus their family members, a total of 100 people, almost!But in fact the number reached 3,500 in the second year, 1943, and 6,000 this year, 1944, and the population is still increasing rapidly.In addition to hundreds of scientists, there are also their families, as well as logistics, security personnel and the army, thus forming the "small town" in front of us...

"Very good, I also became a citizen of Alamos!" Ding Jieqiong was a little excited. "No," Aum shook his head: "There are no 'citizens' here, and there won't be." "Didn't you just say that there are already 6,000 people here, and the population is still increasing rapidly?" "That is a de facto existence, not a legal existence." "What's the meaning?" "I can't find this place on the map of New Mexico. It doesn't have this place in its administrative divisions." Orm was patient. "There is no Y base, no Alamos, no place names, no citizens or townspeople, no 'people. ' or 'population', and no right to vote or divorce..."

"Not even 'Ding Jieqiong'?" "Yes. Only 'Jiang Menghong'." Before leaving the "W base", Aum said that in order to keep confidential, all the scientists at the "destination" used aliases.Ding Jieqiong understood what he meant, so she also gave herself an alias according to her mother's surname.Aum said: Very well, when we got there, the physicist Ding Jieqiong "disappeared", and there were only female engineers "Jiang Menghong"... "Again: there's no Alamos, there's no Y-base. If you have to verbally mention it sometimes," Aum thought for a while, then came up with the idea, "Yeah, just call it 'Shangri-La'!"

It is also for the sake of "secrecy" that the word "physics" is prohibited in "Shangri-La". Of course, there cannot be "physicists", "chemists" and "mathematicians".Some are all "engineers" or "technicians".In addition, broadcast newspapers throughout the United States are not allowed to use the words "atomic energy", not to mention uranium and plutonium, and not even to mention yttrium, which may be related to uranium and plutonium... "To cover up!" Orm protested. "Smart spies can sniff something out of something we avoid."

Perry waved his hand: "Fuck it, just do it!" Among the 6,000 people, there are so many scientific masters, including 13 Nobel Prize winners, so this place is also called "the concentration camp of Nobel Prize winners".Relatives and friends in foreign countries are not allowed to communicate directly with people here, and letters can only be sent to "New Mexico Box No. 1779".All letters will be checked, and those who are dissatisfied by the agents will be returned and ordered to be rewritten... Fortunately, scientists are very conscious.Those with family members among them told lies to their wives when talking about the nature of their work or the content of their meetings, and made them up vividly.Let alone generals and colonels.They convey information entirely in person, not on the phone or in writing.Top-secret documents are delivered by Army officers.They usually travel by train, in closed carriages, with concealed pistols slung over their shoulders, and rubber bags of documents strapped to their chests.The nearest city to "Shangri-La" is Santa Fe.People can go shopping and recreation, and even stay overnight in a hotel, but all the waiters there are agents.Phone calls were tapped.Secret tape recorders were installed in offices, residences and toilets.Communications between departments must be approved, first by the officer in charge.The important scientists are all equipped with guards, they are heavily armed burly men, they follow everywhere, step by step, like "guards"...

"I'm not an 'important scientist'," Ding Jieqiong became worried, "Can this one be waived?" "I told Perry, if I send you a guard, it can only be a woman." "How did he say?" "He said he sent a doctor to guard Joan..." "Is that Dr. Olmhorse?" "How did you guess so accurately?" Aum pretended to be surprised. "One of the characteristics of Base Y is that there are many young people, the average age is only 27 and a half years old." "But I'm thirty-four." "So Major General Perry said, he's going to salute you and call you 'Lieutenant General.'"

"why?" "Old men are four-star generals—admirals, bachelors are two-star generals—major generals. And your qualifications are less senior than old men, but higher than bachelors..." "So I became a three-star—"Lieutenant General"!" Ding Jieqiong burst out laughing. Aum said that among the 150,000 scientists and engineers who participated in the "Manhattan Project", only a few hundred knew that they were building the atomic bomb, and only twelve and a half of them knew the overall plan... "And 'Half Man'?" "Yes, it is you—for a long time, you have been informed of certain important situations from me, and participated in certain practical work. Of course, all this happened with the permission or instructions of General Perry."

Alamos is the final assembly base and test site of the atomic bomb. It has seven research laboratories, including theoretical physics, experimental physics, explosive physics, explosive chemistry, metallurgical technology, military operations and overall planning.There are several research groups under each room.Each group has a few to a dozen scientists.Ding Jieqiong is a member of a team in the Theoretical Physics Lab and the chief scientist of a team in the Experimental Physics Lab... "Because you have expertise and achievements in both theoretical physics and experimental physics," Aum explained. "Aum, you said it," Ding Jieqiong hesitated, "Communications between departments must be approved..." "Yes, there are strict rules." "That is to say, if I in the theoretical physics department want to discuss issues with me in the experimental physics department, I must get approval." "Theoretically, no, according to the regulations, it is indeed the case." Aum scratched the back of his head, thought for a while, and then laughed loudly, "Well, there are so many ridiculous things! For example, it is stipulated that alcohol is not allowed to be brought into the base, But everyone has violated this rule. The gate of the base is strictly guarded, but there are several gaps in the nearby wall, and children have slipped in and out, but no one has ever paid attention to it. So many soldiers suddenly appeared on the desert. A small town full of sentry towers and high walls of barbed wire, how to explain it to the surrounding people? The army said that this is a newly-built delivery room for female soldiers—even if female soldiers all over the country are willing to go to the desert to give birth, why do they see it? Less than a pregnant woman and a baby? The Navy says the latest deep-sea submarines are being built here—but it's hundreds of miles from the nearest coast! What's being kept secret? What's being kept secret? Can it be kept? It's child's play! Wait! See, sooner or later we'll get a lot of spies out of us." Conditions were difficult when the base was first established.There is a chronic shortage of housing.Many prefabricated houses were built, and many trailer-type mobile homes were brought in.Later, some apartments were built, but those board houses and prefab houses were not destroyed, and new buildings were mixed with dilapidated board sheds.The streets are unpaved and muddy when it snows in winter or rains in summer.For a while, there was only a telephone line and a handy telephone provided by a nearby forest farm.Dry cleaners, barbers, shops and restaurants are all far away in Santa Fe... Ding Jieqiong wrote in the letter to Su Guanlan—— Ding Jieqiong danced and played the piano alone in "Half a Small Building".Also go out for a walk.The scientists in Alamos are distinguished by age and seniority, but not by teachers and students. They are all colleagues and peers.Their intercourse with each other is both convenient and frequent.Gathering almost every weekend, a few people play the piano, a violin and viola duet, and sometimes a cello, and a trio; a few others are chopping meat and washing vegetables in the kitchen, steaming.Music performances and food tasting are carried out alternately, various wines and wine utensils are also placed on the table majesticly, the cups are intertwined, and the laughter is noisy... Alert rings.Ding Jieqiong looked up, yes, eleven o'clock at night-this is the time she set.She stood up, rubbed her eye sockets, yawned, made several chest expansion movements, and twisted her waist back and forth a few times; then, she turned around and opened a large safe.From the open cabinet door, you can see that there are stacks of drawings and documents stuffed inside, and there is also a thick pile of letters—they are all letters written to Su Guanlan in the months after coming to Alamos, the kind that cannot be mailed letter.She folded the unfinished letter, put it on top of the pile of letters, closed and locked the heavy cabinet door; then had a snack, packed up, dressed, went downstairs, and drove to the laboratory driving to...