Yesterday we said that after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek adopted the opinions of Chen Cheng and others and appointed Yu Dawei to form an advisory committee to launch the atomic bomb research plan.
Yu Dawei is a pioneer of the Chinese military industry. Before becoming the "Secretary of the Ministry of Military Affairs", he served as the director of the military industry department for 12 years. During his stay in Germany, he specialized in mathematical logic and philosophy. He studied "ballistics" in Germany and became one of the few experts in China who studied "ballistics".
Yu Dawei
According to Yu Dawei's plan, the "Ministry of Military Affairs" sent young scientists to the United States to learn the latest atomic physics technology, and then returned to China to participate in the atomic bomb project. Chiang Kai-shek promised to use the Boxer indemnity returned by the United States to China as a fund for young scientific and technological talents to study in the United States. The international students from the United States are selected by Wu Dayou, Zeng Zhaohuan and Hua Luogeng respectively. Wu Dayou chose Zhu Guangya and Li Zhengdao, Zeng Zhaohuan chose Tang Aoqing and Wang Ruiyi, and Hua Luogeng chose Sun Benwang and Xu Xianxiu.
Zeng Zhaohuan
In the fall of 1946, the three major scientists led their students to the United States. This is not only the beginning of the Kuomintang's atomic bomb "seed plan", but also an important chapter in the history of China's atomic science.
In June 1946, the Kuomintang authorities quietly established the "Atomic Energy Research Committee", which was the first "National Defense" scientific and technological research unit established after the Military Committee was reorganized into the "Ministry of Defense". Yu Dawei hopes that the "Atomic Energy Research Committee" and the "National Defense Science Committee" established earlier will work closely together to conduct atomic bomb research. In the case of very limited funds, Chiang Kai-shek instructed to allocate 500,000 US dollars.
However, the atomic bomb development plan, which was still in its infancy, died prematurely due to the huge military expenditures of the civil war between the Chinese and the Communists.
On April 21, 1947, "Minister of Defense" Bai Chongxi proposed the establishment of the "Central Institute of Atomic Physics", and at the same time increased the relevant research equipment of the "National Institute of Physical Sciences", requesting an allocation of more than 1.4 million US dollars, plus the first year Supplementary equipment costs $1 million, totaling more than $2.4 million.
Bai Chongxi
It wasn't until more than a month later that Chiang Kai-shek made a sloppy instruction on this official document: "At present, the treasury should be huge, and foreign exchange must be used sparingly. The situation of the Kuomintang-Communist war was increasingly unfavorable to the Kuomintang, and the word "delay" temporarily put an end to Chiang Kai-shek's dream of the atomic bomb.
Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren
In fact, Chiang Kai-shek also wanted to develop nuclear weapons with the help of the Japanese. In January 1946, Li Zongren, then the general director of the Beiping battalion, received a secret message: During the Japanese invasion of China, the Army Ministry secretly dispatched a professional team to excavate atomic radioactive minerals in Zhangjiakou, Hebei. With Japan's defeat and surrender, more than 30 people in this team were arrested by the Chinese Communist Party, and most of the remaining people who were not arrested were living in hiding in Peiping.
Excavation of atomic radioactive minerals
Li Zongren searched for these Japanese nuclear experts in Peiping based on intelligence, hoping to use them to help the Kuomintang authorities develop atomic bombs. On February 1, 1946, he collected all the intelligence information and sent it to Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing.
Li Zongren
But at that time, Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren had been at odds for a long time, so he privately arranged for Dai Li, acting director of the Military Command, to investigate the details of Japan's development of atomic bombs in China during the Anti-Japanese War.
After investigation by Dai Li, the Japanese name Nishino in Li Zongren's report was named Nishino, and his laboratory had extracted 22 pounds of uranium. case, set up an "advisory committee", which is supervised by the Ordnance Industry Agency, which is responsible for the manufacture of weapons.
Chiang Kai-shek and Dai Li
After Chiang Kai-shek read it, he wrote the word "Ruyi" with a brush on the comment column below. Li Zongren, who was not trusted by Chiang Kai-shek, sent the second message 25 days after sending the first secret message. Secret telegram, the content is a new research plan drafted by Nishino.
But the Kuomintang authorities at that time were busy using their limited energy and financial resources to prepare for a civil war, and had no time to develop the atomic bomb.
htmlOn June 1st, Lv Wenzhen, chief of staff of the 11th Theater Command and director of the Beiping Forward Command Post in the North China surrender area of the 11th theater, sent a secret telegram to Chiang Kai-shek from the garrisoned city of Beiping. According to Lu Wenzhen's secret cable, the 11th Theater Command secretly detained a Japanese named Ishihara Shigeru, who was said to be an expert on atomic bombs.
Shigemitsu Ishihara claimed during his interrogation that the existing material already stored in China was sufficient to make an "acidified iron atomic bomb", which was estimated to be one-fourth as powerful as a uranium atomic bomb and could damage an area of 64 square kilometers. wide.
Lu Wenzhen
Lu Wenzhen finally asked Chiang Kai-shek for instructions: "The investigation of the atomic bomb is of great importance for the national defense potential. In addition to the preparation of various materials according to the experimental plan, it is planned to request a designated place for secret testing, so that the results can be obtained and used."
And In the end, Chiang Kai-shek did not agree to look for a site to test the so-called "acidified iron atomic bomb" in the 11th theater of Peiping. After all, for China at that time, the development of nuclear weapons was not only a test of science and technology, but also a test of financial ability, and it should not be taken casually. forehead.
Chen Cheng
On July 24, 11946, Minister of Military Affairs Chen Cheng integrated various information and submitted a very complete report to Chiang Kai-shek, directly denying the feasibility of using the Japanese to develop an atomic bomb program.
In 1949, with Chiang Kai-shek's defeat and retreat to Taiwan, the National Government's atomic bomb development plan was short-lived and ended in haste.
After retreating to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek still did not forget the development of nuclear weapons. What is the attitude of the US government? Please continue to pay attention to tomorrow's "Hubei Satellite TV Big Secret" headline number.
