In 1956, Khrushchev made a secret report at the Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. At the meeting, he completely denied Stalin. Subsequently, the domestic situation in the Soviet Union became turbulent, and Western countries also took the opportunity to launch an anti-Soviet and anti-communist wave. Khrushchev, who was in an isolated position internationally and domestically, became obviously enthusiastic about China in order to gain the support of the Chinese government. In particular, he showed signs of loosening his support for China's series of new technologies.
Khrushchev
Beijing, a Soviet man came to the residence of Marshal Nie Rongzhen, it was the Soviet Ambassador to China Arkhipov. Ambassador Arkhipov brought good news to New China: The Soviet Union expressed support for the Chinese government's request for assistance from the Soviet Union regarding new national defense technologies. The Soviet government agreed that the Chinese government would send a delegation to the Soviet Union for talks at an appropriate time.
After receiving support from the Soviet Union, Nie Shuai quickly organized a delegation to visit the Soviet Union in accordance with the instructions of the Party Central Committee. The number of delegations participating in the visit this time is not large, but it can definitely be called "a sparrow that is small but has all the five internal organs." The delegation consisted of five groups, namely missiles, atomic energy, aircraft, electronics, and conventional weapons. After arriving in the Soviet Union, the five groups worked together and conducted targeted talks.
Before leaving, Nie Shuai reported to Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou. Chairman Mao praised Nie Shuai for his vigorous and resolute actions, and told Nie Shuai:
There is one more important requirement, that is, people! As long as there are a group of people who have mastered advanced technology, it will be more effective than anything else!
Chairman Mao and Nie Shuai
After Chairman Mao talked, Premier Zhou also sent various instructions to his old comrades, hoping that Nie Shuai could endure his temper, gain the initiative in negotiations, and strive for more benefits for the country. In this way, the three of them ended their conversation in a relaxed atmosphere.
On September 7, 1957, Nie Rongzhen led a delegation to fly to the Soviet Union. Due to the confidential nature of new national defense technologies, the delegation was called the Chinese Government Industrial Delegation. The Soviet government attached great importance to this meeting and arranged a large number of scientists, engineering and technical experts to conduct counterpart negotiations with the Chinese delegation.
On October 12, 1957, after thirty-five days of negotiations, Marshal Nie Rongzhen, on behalf of the Chinese government, signed with the Soviet Union the Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the production of new weapons and military technical equipment and the establishment of a comprehensive atomic energy industry in China, which is the historically famous Agreement on New National Defense Technologies between China and the Soviet Union.
Sino-Soviet peace talks
With the signing of the "New Defense Technology Agreement", factories assisted by the Soviet Union began to build one after another, and the aided weapons were gradually shipped back to the country. Groups of Soviet experts in atomic energy also arrived in droves, atomic bombs, , missiles, aviation and other cutting-edge projects were launched one after another.
At the beginning of 1958, the Chinese government announced to the world that all the volunteer troops who had stayed in North Korea would withdraw back to the country to participate in socialist construction . In March of the same year, more than ten days after the 19th Corps returned to Beijing as a returning volunteer unit, people could no longer find the name of this unit in central, local or military newspapers. The 100,000-strong army evaporated overnight.
In fact, part of this mysteriously disappeared army has quietly appeared in the vast Gobi Desert in the northwest. Their mission is to build an atomic bomb testing site for China.
On May 31, 1958, Deng Xiaoping personally approved the construction of a uranium enrichment plant in Lanzhou. Subsequently, the atomic energy complex including the atomic reactor, the uranium hexafluoride production line, and the atomic bomb nuclear components processing plant were designated as Jiuquan, and the nuclear fuel original parts factory was designated as Baotou. China's nuclear industry completed the layout of research and production, and the site selection and construction of the atomic bomb test base also kicked off.
Dunhuang Hou Pit
After a journey of wind and rain, the nuclear weapons test base site selection and survey team finally arrived at the nuclear weapons test base set by Soviet experts - the Dunhuang Hou Pit outside Yumen Pass in Gansu Province. General Zhang Zhishan, who was the vice president of Shangqiu Infantry School at the time, commanded the team to set up camp and sent a message to the organization:
We have entered the designated area and will conduct hydrogeological exploration as planned.
After General Zhang Zhishan reported the situation of the troops non-stop, personnel from various units also took their positions one after another, and tents were erected one after another. Soon, Marshal Peng Dehuai, who was far away in Beijing, took the opportunity to come to the nuclear weapons test base site selection survey team.
report, report to the leader, Zhang Zhishan, captain of the 0673 unit, reports to you!
With the sonorous report of General Zhang Zhishan, the two generals finally met in the windy and sandy camp! Mr. Peng, who was always serious, looked at his beloved general with a kind face. He quickly asked his beloved general to sit down and made a cup of tea for General Zhang Zhishan with his own hands.
Peng Dehuai during inspection
The purpose of Mr. Peng’s visit this time was to coordinate the construction of the atomic bomb test base. Before General Zhang Zhishan drank the cup of tea, Mr. Peng anxiously asked General Zhang Zhishan. General Zhang Zhishan sat upright and reported to General Manager Peng one by one regarding the survey work of the nuclear weapons test base:
At present, we are mainly conducting hydrogeological surveys within the scope defined by Soviet experts to explore whether the geological conditions are consistent with the test of nuclear weapons .
Mr. Peng looked at the enthusiastic General Zhang Zhishan and kindly reminded:
We must pay close attention to the site selection of the nuclear weapons test base. Nuclear weapons testing is very special. The place must be chosen well. Once chosen, we must build it quickly. We would rather wait for the atomic bomb than let the atomic bomb wait for us. We cannot afford to wait! Your command center has been finalized, Zhang Yunyu .
Due to the highly top-secret nature of the development of nuclear weapons, except for the top management of the 0673 unit, the majority of officers and soldiers did not know that this mission was to select a location for a nuclear weapons test base. Therefore, President Peng did not go to the grassroots level of the army to visit the officers and soldiers as usual. However, President Peng still wanted General Zhang Zhishan to imagine the scene of inspecting the base test in the future, and encouraged General Zhang Zhishan to work hard and strive to get the missile into the sky as soon as possible!
Not long after, the officers and soldiers of the nuclear weapons test base site selection and survey team saw their commander in the yellow sand sky - Zhang Yunyu, a middle-aged man with angry sword-like eyebrows, a kind and kind middle-aged man, and eyes as sharp and determined as aquiline hooks. The commander was not greeted by General Zhang Zhishan. As soon as he got out of the car, he began to understand and conduct on-site inspections of the base under the guidance of General Zhang Zhishan.
General Zhang Yunyu during the field inspection
The construction of the base has just begun at this time, and large-scale construction has not yet been put on the agenda. After General Zhang Yunyu inspected the officers and soldiers, he began to study the local meteorology, hydrology and geological data.
After studying hard for several days, General Zhang Yunyu and General Zhang Zhishan conducted a more extensive exploration inspection around the base. General Zhang Zhishan reported to Commander Zhang Yunyu realistically: There is a difference between the actual situation on the ground and the expected situation by Soviet experts.
General Zhang Yunyu looked a little anxious. He leaned down and broke off a clod of soil on the Gobi Desert with his hands. Then he began to step on the edge of the mound. With each step, the soft sand flowed down in piles. General Zhang Yunyu said with an annoyed look:
Can such soil also meet the requirements? Have Soviet experts ever conducted on-site exploration?
The two of them visited the base for a whole day and hurried back to the camp after dark. They hurriedly gathered all the cadres without caring about eating and held a meeting to discuss the results of today's field trip. Commander Zhang Yunyu gave the soil clods brought back from the field trip. The cadres looked at it and said:
It is probably not possible to build our nuclear weapons test base here. There is no water source here, the geological conditions are also very poor, there is too much loose soil, the surrounding mountains are basically made of soil, and the place is too small, too close to Dunhuang (only 60 kilometers), and there are many people around. The Soviet experts selected the site by looking at maps, and we did conduct on-site inspections. We should seek truth from facts. The hard Gobi Desert that Soviet experts saw on the map was actually a loose soil layer on the ground. The river they saw on the map had dried up a hundred years ago. Mogao Grottoes were only three words on the map, but what we saw were lifelike murals, treasures left by our ancestors. Since we have come to this place and conducted on-site inspections, we should be brave enough to shoulder this responsibility! If the nuclear weapons test base is really chosen here, then we will become the sinners who harm our descendants!
This site selection is only 60 kilometers away from Dunhuang County. Ordinary people may even live under our own mushroom cloud. Moreover, the murals in Mogao Grottoes have a history of thousands of years and are priceless treasures left by our ancestors. Once a nuclear test is carried out, our people and the treasures left by our ancestors will suffer.
General Zhang Yunyu was pragmatic and did not trust the authority of Soviet experts. After a show of hands at the meeting, he rejected the plan to establish a nuclear weapons test base in the Dunhuang pit. He flew to Beijing early the next morning, sat at Nie Shuai's conference table and reported what he saw to Nie Shuai. Also present at the meeting were General Chen Geng, the dean of the Harbin Military Academy, and General Chen Shiju, the commander of the Engineering Corps.
Nie Shuai (stills)
After General Zhang Yunyu reported the situation to Nie Shuai in detail, Nie Shuai also told what he learned about the situation. The high-altitude winds in the Dunhuang area will blow the radioactive dust produced by the nuclear explosion to the densely populated areas in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Moreover, only 20,000 tons of nuclear tests can be carried out in the Dunhuang area, which cannot achieve our expected goals.
General Chen Shiju, commander of the Engineering Corps, who was standing by, told angrily about his experience in a meeting with Soviet experts. It turned out that the Soviet experts did not want to build a large-scale nuclear test base at the beginning of the site selection, and told us that our country could only have a 20,000-ton atomic bomb, and no larger tonnage was needed.
After listening to General Chen Shiju's speech, General Chen Geng patted the table impatiently and said:
They are talking nonsense. It is up to us to decide how much nuclear weapons we need. An atomic bomb with a yield of 20,000 tons is obviously not enough. Since a nuclear weapons test base can only be built once, then we might as well build a big one. At least we should build a base that can conduct atomic bomb explosion tests with an equivalent of two million tons. Maybe we don't need it now, but it doesn't mean we won't use it in the future.
Although General Chen Geng's speech was irritable, he was very calm and objectively reflected the current situation of our country's atomic bomb testing at that time. Although we were crossing the river by feeling the stones, we are full of confidence in the future development of nuclear weapons! After finishing speaking, General Chen Geng, who was always witty, immediately turned around and asked General Zhang Yunyu what he thought.
Lop Nur
General Zhang Yunyu did not say that he would conduct another inspection, but looked firmly at Nie Shuai and the other three leaders, and firmly said the three words Lop Nur. It was obvious that this competent and pragmatic commander of the nuclear weapons test base had been prepared!
At the end of the meeting, Nie Shuai concluded:
Comrade Zhang Yunyu will go to Lop Nur immediately to conduct on-the-spot inspections and select a nuclear weapons explosion test site in Lop Nur. Not only will we conduct atomic bomb tests with an equivalent of two million tons, we will also conduct hydrogen bomb tests and underground nuclear tests in the future.
Just like that, it was another transfer order from the Party Central Committee. This 19th Corps , which had just returned from the Korean battlefield and rushed to the back pit of Dunhuang without rest, headed west to Lop Nur without even knowing what it was going to do.
On December 28, 1958, the nuclear weapons test base site selection and survey team finally arrived in Lop Nur. After arriving, General Zhang Yunyu and General Zhang Zhishan immediately conducted an on-site inspection of the surrounding situation. The inspection results proved that this place is very suitable as a nuclear weapons test base.
Commander Zhang Yunyu reported to Nie Shuai immediately:
Commander Chen Shiju and the Central Site Selection Committee, we have selected the test site in Lop Nur. This area is a natural Gobi with hard geology and a vast territory. There is the Bogda Peak of the Tianshan Mountains in the north, the Altyn Mountains in the southwest, and the average sea. It is 5,000 meters above sea level, forming two natural barriers. There are Lop Nur and Kongque River in the area, with abundant water resources and no human habitation within 300 kilometers. Bosten Lake, the upper reaches of Kongque River, is hundreds of kilometers away from the center. The land is fertile and the water is sweet. Every spring, Malan flowers bloom, making it a good place for scientific research and life.
The place selected by General Zhang Yunyu was recognized and approved by Nie Shuai. The survey team laid a wooden stake more than 100 kilometers northwest of Lop Nur. This will be the test point of China's first atomic bomb in the future. This beautiful place has a poetic name because of the blooming Malan flowers - Malan !
Malan Base
Thousands of employees of Malan Base and tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of the 19th Corps have not only dedicated their lives to Malan Base, but their second and third generations are still continuing the work of their ancestors!
Although the nuclear test base site selection and survey team composed of the 19th Corps was not able to scold Fang Qiu on the experimental bench like scientists and personally participate in the development and launch of atomic bombs, the shouts and the hammers driving down the wooden piles on the Gobi Desert, and later we can see their achievements. They are unknown, but they are extremely heroic!
Group photo of Malan base staff
Let us pay tribute to these unsung heroes!
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