In 1945, a three-meter-long and 4-ton atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. This is the first time that humans have used such a lethal weapon in actual combat. During the explosion, 70,000 people directly "evaporated" and died. Hundreds of thousands of people were affected by the nuclear radiation after that, and those who died were killed and those who were injured. The price of war is so much to bear by ordinary people, which makes people helpless.
Time comes October 1965, a string of ringtones rang in Premier Zhou's office. The phone was called by Chairman Mao. After answering the phone, he looked solemn. Then, he turned around and walked quickly to Chairman Mao's office.
After serious discussion, Chairman Mao decided to wipe from the map of a place called Baitao Town.
Where is Baitao Town? Why erase it? Many people may be confused, but let alone now, even at that time, many people don’t know.
Actually, this is a very important place.
At the beginning, after an atomic bomb called "Little Boy" exploded, people all over the world saw the power of nuclear weapon . This was obviously an imminent matter for the New China at that time.
and then Resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea . China became a feud with the United States again. Chairman Mao felt the importance of military development. Unfortunately, China, which was covered in scars, did not have such strong strength at the time. In many aspects, especially military, it had to rely on the help of the Soviet Union. However, in 1959, China's relations with the Soviet Union deteriorated again. The Soviet Union withdrew their technicians, and the data on nuclear weapons development were destroyed or brought back to , which was undoubtedly a disaster for the development of my country's nuclear projects.
Fortunately, those scientific research predecessors lived up to expectations and successfully ignited our country's first atomic bomb under the conditions of no one's guidance and lack of materials. This news came to Western countries and also caused a lot of sensation. They no longer regarded China as a weak country and began to be afraid of it. They have imposed restrictions on my country in terms of economy, technology, etc., and are often "nuclear weapons warnings."
At the same time, the central leaders also realized that alone has not enough nuclear weapons, and they also need to deal with methods. Therefore, "816 plan " was born.
After many surveys and discussions, the base of the "816 Plan" was selected in Baitao Town, Chongqing. In order to prevent reconnaissance and espionage activities in the Soviet Union and the United States, Chairman Mao also suggested that the project be transferred underground, and at the same time, all participants sign the confidentiality agreement to cut off contact with the outside world. The place of Baitao Town naturally also needs to be hidden from the map.
In 1966, the 816 plan officially began. The 54th Division's engineers began to dig caves here. It took eight years to dig an underground cave with the deepest underground of 400 meters and an area of 100,000 square meters. Then, another army arrived and together with the migrant workers recruited from the local area, they began to pave the road and build the base. Gradually, 60,000 people have lived in this place, hiding their names, as if they were living a secluded life.
Compared with the outside world, there is a complete community system here. People participating in the work can bring their families to live here, including supporting communities, parks, schools, hospitals, etc., as long as they are needed in life, they are almost everything. However, just as the construction of the base was about to be completed, it was stopped by the state.
The specific reason is actually very complicated. First of all, the late 1980s was the period when the Cold War of the Soviet Union and the United States was about to end. At this time, the Soviet Union had lost its strength to compete with the United States. Sino-Soviet relations gradually eased, and the threat to our country was much smaller. After the US President Reagan stepped down, he left behind a bunch of government bonds and deficits. The United States experienced a brief economic crisis. Although the economic crisis has not lasted for a long time, it also prompted the United States to focus on domestic economic recovery . In addition, the anti-war sentiment of the people in Western countries at that time was very strong, and no one wanted to experience the war again, and they called for the end of the Cold War. From this overall situation, this base may not be used for a long time.
Secondly, this base consumes a huge amount of money. More than one billion yuan has been invested when the project was stopped. It may not be a wise move to consume it any more . So, is this money worth it? As a nuclear defense base, its effect is said to be that million tons of nuclear weapons are difficult to completely destroy. In addition, its concealment is also extremely strong. The special design makes the entire base unable to be detected in the air. Only a long chimney can be seen from the outside. If necessary, the chimney can emit smoke. At that time, let alone the base, the entire mountain will not be visible.
The third reason is that in the 1980s, my country's military weapons research and development level has developed significantly, and many new weapons have been developed, including Dongfeng Strategic Missile, Type 59 Main Battle Tank, Anti-tank Missile , various vehicle-mounted launchers and nuclear submarine . shows that my country has already had a variety of strike methods and no longer has to be afraid of being caught between the two superpowers , so this plan had to be terminated.
Although this is good news in general, tens of thousands of people devoted sixteen years of hard work to build the construction and security projects here, and it was useless at once. When they received the notice, the construction projects here had been completed by about 85%. Seeing that success was close to each other but could never be achieved, the engineers inside must have collapsed. Due to the confidentiality agreement, they had nowhere to tell at that time. Only the remaining photos and memories of a few people silently preserved the stories here.
