Late on the night of September 23, 1964, an urgent and confidential meeting was being held in the Ziguang Pavilion in Zhongnanhai, attended by Marshal He Long, Marshal Chen Yi, General Zhang Aiping, and many other founding generals, and the organizer of this meeting was our beloved Premier Zhou.
As soon as the meeting began, Premier Zhou said very seriously: "If we do this big thing, then China will undergo earth-shaking changes, but before it is done, it must be strictly confidential..."
Premier Zhou
As soon as Premier Zhou's voice fell, General Zhang Aiping suddenly stood up, and he applied to Premier Zhou for leave, hoping to leave early, but just as General Zhang Aiping was about to walk to the door, Premier Zhou suddenly said: "Aiping, wait a minute."
Why did General Zhang Aiping leave halfway? Why did Premier Zhou, who had always been gentle and elegant, stop him? What does Premier Zhou mean by "this big thing"?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > internal and external difficulties, Chairman Mao made up his mind</h1>
On November 3, 1962, under the order of Chairman Mao, a command department with the highest level of secrecy and the greatest power was formally established, and the name of this command was called the Central Special Commission. With Premier Zhou as the director, He Long, Li Xiannian, Nie Rongzhen, Luo Ruiqing, Zhang Aiping, and many other founding generals as members, and this department has only one task, that is, to develop the atomic bomb.
Central Commission
On September 1, 1960, Chairman Mao said when receiving foreign guests in Moscow: "China is within the range of the US atomic bomb, under the gun port of the United States, and Japan, South Korea and the Philippines around China have American atomic bomb bases, and we are surrounded!" ”
On September 24, 1961, Chairman Mao, in a meeting with Marshal Montgomery of the United Kingdom, said: "We are ready to build some nuclear weapons ourselves. ”
Chairman Mao
Until 1962, our nuclear research program was in a stop-and-go state. At the beginning, in the period of sino-Soviet friendship, in order to strengthen the communist forces in the world, the Soviet Union offered to help china develop the cause of nuclear weapons, and sent a large number of talents and supported many related equipment.
Just when all the people of our country were expecting the early appearance of our country's atomic bomb, the Soviet Union gradually exposed its evil intentions, and after being recognized by our country, Sino-Soviet relations began to deteriorate. Beginning in June 1959, the Soviet Union withdrew all the experts and equipment it had aided our country, which immediately put our atomic bomb research in a dilemma.
At that time, our country was in a difficult period of natural disasters, and if we continued to study, it would inevitably increase the burden on the people, but if the research was suspended, all previous efforts would be completely wasted. For a time, whether to make a job or an atomic bomb became the most difficult choice for our leaders at that time, and Chen Yi even shouted out such a slogan: "Even if Chinese treats his pants, he must get the atomic bomb out."
Chen Yi
When everyone was arguing endlessly, Chairman Mao said: Whether to continue to study the atomic bomb requires a special office, and it is best to conduct an all-round investigation, and we cannot decide whether to continue or stop just by arguing.
Soon, the matter of examining whether the atomic bomb was continued or suspended fell to Premier Zhou, and after careful consideration, Premier Zhou thought of the best person to do this, he was Zhang Aiping.
Zhang Aiping
Zhang Aiping began to participate in the revolution at the age of 15 and made countless contributions in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation. After the founding of New China, Zhang Aiping successively served as commander-in-chief of the Zhejiang Military Region, deputy chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army, and later appointed deputy director of the Science and Technology Commission for National Defense.
Zhang Aiping has always been very prescient in the development of defense weapons, and he has repeatedly proposed the idea of developing the world's top weapons. Therefore, it is most appropriate to entrust Zhang Aiping with the task of investigating the feasibility of nuclear weapons research and development.
In order to fulfill the orders of her superiors and in the spirit of being responsible for the national defense forces of the motherland, Zhang Aiping first approached Zhu Yaguang, a top expert in the field of nuclear weapons research in China at that time, and asked him about the specific problems and feasibility of the research and development of the atomic bomb; then, Zhang Aiping visited Liu Xiyao, a professional in physics, hoping that he could assist him in completing the investigation of atomic bomb research.
Liu Xiyao
In addition to inquiring around, Zhang Aiping also organized a very professional inspection team, and under his leadership, this team has visited qinghai, Gansu and other atomic bomb material mining bases.
In 1961, Zhang Aiping submitted to the central government an inspection report entitled "The Basic Situation of the Construction of the Atomic Energy Industry and Several Problems to be Solved Urgently", in which Zhang Aiping realistically stated the current development of atomic energy in China and showed in detail the feasibility of China's research and development of nuclear weapons. At the end of the report, Zhang Aiping also wrote such a sentence: If all goes well, the first atomic bomb of New China will be successfully detonated in 1964.
Zhang Aiping was full of hope for the prospects and feasibility of China's development of the atomic bomb, but when Chairman Mao saw this report, he did not give any instructions, because at that time China's development was in the most difficult period, and countless people could not even eat enough to eat. It was not until an international change in 1962 that Chairman Mao made up his mind to develop nuclear weapons.
In 1962, China was completely caught in a situation of internal and external difficulties, the domestic economic crisis had not yet been lifted, and the Kuomintang on the southeast coast was eager to move, India frequently created disputes on the Sino-Indian border, and the Soviet Union in the north made frequent military transfers on the Sino-Soviet border.
In order to enhance China's international deterrent power, on November 3, 1962, Chairman Mao solemnly wrote several big words in Luo Ruiqing's "Report on Strengthening the Leadership of the Atomic Energy Industry": Very good, do as you please. We must vigorously coordinate and do a good job in this work. Immediately afterward, under Chairman Mao's instructions, China formally established the "Central Special Commission," and China's research on nuclear weapons officially entered a stage of rapid development.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="46" > a passion for research</h1>
Although everyone knew the power of the atomic bomb, at that time, our country was facing many problems in the study of nuclear weapons, first of all, the shortage of funds, the second was the shortage of resources, and finally the lack of talent.
In order to reduce the research and development costs of the atomic bomb, every step of China's research process is very cautious, and many of the stages that need to be tested are completed through simulation and calculation, which saves Hundreds of millions of dollars in research and development funds for China. Zhang Aiping saves from the little by little of life, he will try to avoid taking a special car, often riding a bicycle alone through the streets of Beijing.
In order to solve the problem of resource shortage, China issued a mobilization order as early as many years ago, through the organization of the masses, the use of manual extraction, to do their best to shorten the speed of purification of crude uranium. Moreover, the state is also trying to step up the progress of the development of heavy industry.
In order to solve the problem of lack of talents, Zhang Aiping mobilized all the network resources around him, he first found his old classmate Liu Xiyao, who graduated from the Physics Department of Wuhan University and had a unique insight into the research of nuclear weapons, and then found Zhang Zhenhuan, who graduated from the Geology Department of Peking University and knew the principles of atomic bombs and missiles very well.
In addition to collecting relevant experts everywhere, Zhang Aiping also seriously studied the knowledge of the atomic bomb herself, and at the dinner table at home, she once posted a periodic table of elements, as long as she had free time, Zhang Aiping would stay in front of this periodic table to study.
Through Zhang Aiping's continuous efforts, the problems of funds, resources and talents for the development of the atomic bomb have been successfully solved, but at this time, there is another most fundamental difficulty in front of Zhang Aiping: how to achieve secrecy?
Although China's strength was not particularly strong at that time, many Western countries were still quite jealous of China, so they would try their best to spy on China's military intelligence, which is why the United States later threatened to bomb our nuclear bases. In order to ensure the secrecy of nuclear research, Zhang Aiping decided to move the nuclear research institute from Beijing to the remote Northwest.
Many scientists in charge of nuclear research have been living in the city for many years, and they have concerns about the desolate Great Northwest, and in order to encourage everyone, Zhang Aiping made a blood-boiling speech at the mobilization meeting: "If you want to do practical things, follow me, and we will do a great cause on the Gobi Desert that shocks the world." ”
Atomic bomb research and development site
Under the mobilization of Zhang Aiping, all the researchers were enthusiastic, and a group of "fighters" took firm steps from Beijing to the inaccessible northwest Gobi Desert, but the conditions here were far more difficult than imagined.
Gobi Desert climate change is uncertain, and the temperature difference between day and night is very large, sometimes the daytime temperature is twenty or thirty degrees, but in the middle of the night it will be as low as minus ten degrees, in addition, the local water quality conditions are also very poor, not only has a very obvious bitter taste, sometimes there will be sand in the water, so at the beginning, many researchers have abdominal pain, diarrhea and other water and soil dissatisfaction.
After learning of the suffering faced by scientific researchers, Premier Zhou immediately issued instructions: Scientists, technical workers and soldiers must be fed, and everyone must not be hungry to conduct research. At that time, when the whole country was in great food shortage, Premier Zhou still tried to mobilize various daily necessities such as rice, flour and medicines from all over the country to provide support.
Under the close attention of Premier Zhou, under the personal leadership of Zhang Aiping, and under the study of countless scientists day and night, in mid-1964, China's atomic bomb simulation experiment without nuclear fuel was finally declared successful, which was also the last stage of atomic bomb research, and at the last moment when the atomic bomb was about to explode, all work was suddenly stopped.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="47" > everyone is equal</h1>
Since August 1964, Zhang Aiping has been traveling frequently to and from Beijing, Qinghai, and Xinjiang, preparing for the final atomic bomb test, but just when everything was about to be ready, he suddenly received a notice that the atomic bomb test was suspended.
The atomic bomb is indeed a weapon with extremely strong deterrent power, once successfully developed, it will not only greatly enhance China's international status, but also enable our country to get rid of the nuclear threat of other countries from now on, but no one can guarantee that this atomic bomb explosion test will be successful, and if the test fails, it will not only be ridiculed by all countries in the world, but may also threaten our security.
There have been countless organizational discussions on whether to conduct atomic bomb tests, but in the end two diametrically opposed results have been reached: first, the immediate atomic bomb test should be carried out to promote our country's prestige; second, the explosion test should be suspended and more appropriate opportunities should be waited for.
In the end, the results of these two discussions were sent to Chairman Mao, who had said in a previous interview: "China produces atomic bombs, not ready to be used, but as our defensive weapons." Chairman Mao believed that the existence of the atomic bomb was to play a deterrent role, and the sooner it exploded, the better. In the end, Chairman Mao personally instructed that the atomic bomb test be carried out immediately.
On the night of September 23, Premier Zhou held an emergency meeting in the midst of his busy schedule, and as soon as the meeting began, Premier Zhou asked bluntly: "What day do you think it would be better to set the atomic bomb explosion time?" Suddenly, the participants immediately began to talk about it, and just when everyone was discussing it in full swing, Zhang Aiping, who was sitting next to him, suddenly stood up and said: "Premier Zhou, I will have a diplomatic conference in a while, please allow me to leave early." ”
In order not to affect everyone's enthusiasm for discussion, Zhang Aiping was ready to quietly withdraw from the venue, but when he was about to walk to the door, Premier Zhou suddenly stood up and said: "Wait a while!" Suddenly, the participants froze, and everyone was puzzled by Premier Zhou's sudden behavior.
Premier Zhou said with a smile: "Now is the most critical time, we must achieve strict confidentiality. Only then did Zhang Aiping and all the people present understand that Premier Zhou was worried that Zhang Aiping would inadvertently take out China's research documents on the atomic bomb.
Finally, Premier Zhou said to Zhang Aiping: "The atomic bomb test is a state secret, even if it is your eldest sister Deng, I have never mentioned this matter to her, and she still does not know that we are doing atomic bomb research." ”
At about 2:30 p.m. on October 16, 1964, with the loud noise of Lop Nur, China officially entered the nuclear-weapon states, which was a moment for all Chinese to raise their eyebrows and breathe a sigh of relief, and it was also an important moment for New China to move towards a new journey.