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On October 16, 1964, my country successfully exploded China's first atomic bomb in the Lop Nur area of Xinjiang. For a time, the whole country was jubilant and the international shock was shocked, greatly improving my country's international status.
Three months later, Chairman Mao An old friend Snow made a special trip to Beijing to visit Chairman Mao.
During the talks with Chairman Mao, he remembered the classic statement that Chairman Mao had put forward when he was in Yan'an that year, "The atomic bomb is a paper tiger." Snow, who was outspoken, asked Chairman Mao half-jokingly and half-seriously: "Is the atomic bomb still a paper tiger?"
The scene was once very embarrassing, but he did not expect Chairman Mao to successfully resolve it in one sentence.
How did Chairman Mao make the assertion that “the atomic bomb is a paper tiger”? Why did we work hard to develop atomic bombs later? What other twists and turns have been encountered in China's atomic bomb development work? How did Chairman Mao answer Snow's question?
This starts with the use of the atomic bomb against Japan.
strategic level "paper tiger", and the most important thing is to tactics
In August 1945, the United States successively dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. The huge power produced by this novel weapon has caused extreme panic among people from all over the world and caused chaos in the thoughts of cadres and masses in the liberated areas of our party. Many people even once believed that the atomic bomb was the decisive factor affecting the direction of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
After Chairman Mao learned of the situation, he organized a cadre meeting in Yan'an as soon as possible to express his views to the majority of cadres: "There is only an atomic bomb but no struggle for the people, the atomic bomb is empty."
But because the scale of this meeting was relatively small, it still did not completely solve the problem of the people in the liberated areas' understanding of the atomic bomb.
Louis Strong
For this reason, Chairman Mao specially summoned the American progressive journalist Louis Strong in August 1946.
During the interview, Chairman Mao put forward his famous statement: "The atomic bomb is a paper tiger used by the American reactionaries to scare people!"
Soon, Chairman Mao's statement spread throughout every liberated area.
After hearing the word "paper tiger", the vast majority of military and civilians all smiled and understood the essence of the atomic bomb clearly.
Chairman Mao also wants people outside of China to understand his views, so he paid great attention to translation issues in this interview.
But one of the translations at that time Lu Dingyi did not understand Chairman Mao's profound intention, but instead directly translated the paper tiger into Scarecrow.
Lu Dingyi
Chairman Mao actually understands English a little. After hearing Lu Dingyi's translation, he asked him what Scarecrow means.
Lu Ding explained to Chairman Mao: "Scarecrow It means scarecrow. Because there is no English word corresponding to paper tiger in English, it is translated as scarecrow. "
Chairman Mao immediately pointed out: "This translation is not good, this is not what I mean. The scarecrow stays in the field to drive birds, and the paper tiger scares children. Translation of the paper tiger into a scarecrow cannot reflect its appearance and its appearance is very fierce and melts when it encounters water."
At this time, another translator Ma Haide said wisely: "then it is literally translated as 'Paper —Tiger’. ”
Chairman Mao was very satisfied after hearing this, and then he repeated it humorously in Hunan dialect: “Paipao—Taogener! ”
From then on, this English sentence in Hunan tone has become one of Chairman Mao’s favorite English speaking. He has been said on different occasions for many years, and the classic statement that the atomic bomb is “Paper-Tiger” has also been spread throughout the world by Strong’s hand. All politicians who have heard of it are impressed by Chairman Mao’s light weight and insightful viewing.
But what they don’t understand is that the reason why Chairman Mao said this is just to strategically despise the enemy and make people realize that although the atomic bomb is very powerful, it is intimidated by its powerful power, and even a nuclear country dares to use it casually.
Most of the time, they use it to scare other countries. As long as the people of other countries can withstand fear, instead of fighting hard, they will naturally lose their majesty like a paper tiger encountering water.
But on the other hand, Chairman Mao attaches more importance to the atomic bomb than anyone in the party in tactical terms.
Chairman
History records show that just before and after Chairman Mao told Strong that "the atomic bomb is a paper tiger", he also sent people to Europe and the United States to collect relevant technical information about the atomic bomb.
But at that time, only the United States mastered the atomic bomb technology and was listed as a core secret by it, so no substantial gains were achieved in the end.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the first country Chairman Mao visited was the Soviet Union.
During his visit to the Soviet Union, Chairman Mao watched a documentary related to the Soviet atomic bomb test, and he was greatly touched.
So after returning to China, he officially told relevant leaders of the party: "It seems that the atomic bomb can scare many people. If the United States has it and the Soviet Union has it, we can do something."
This is the first time Chairman Mao has made public statements on the issue of "China must also have an atomic bomb."
China Atomic Energy Research Institute
In order to achieve this goal, he first instructed Chinese Academy of Sciences to establish an institution specializing in researching atomic bombs, which was later famous China Atomic Energy Research Institute.
Then, when foreign exchange was very nervous, he specially allocated US$50,000 to delegate 5 Qian Sanqiang to Europe to purchase related equipment and instruments.
At the same time, he used his personal prestige to treat domestic scientists with virtue and create a good atmosphere for the country to respect science; on the other hand, he issued a call to overseas scientists, welcome them to return to the motherland and serve the country.
Under the call and care of Chairman Mao, a large number of scientists with accomplishments, ideals and hard work have returned to China, laying a solid talent foundation for the future development of my country's nuclear industry.
Resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea
Resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea , self-reliance is the basic
Just as my country was orderly advancing the research and development of the atomic bomb, Korean War suddenly broke out. Chairman Mao resolutely decided to send troops to North Korea to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea from the perspective of defending the country. After the Volunteer Army entered North Korea, it defeated the crazy attacks of the US military one after another, suppressing the US military around the 38th parallel and not being able to move.
The commander-in-chief of the " United Nations Army " at that time, MacArthur , was unable to turn the situation around, and even proposed to the US government the plan to use the atomic bomb on the Korean battlefield.
Although the United States did not dare to use atomic bombs in the protests of countries around the world, including American allies, this also made Chairman Mao realize that in order to accelerate the development of nuclear weapon and master atomic bomb technology in the shortest time, we can fundamentally curb the United States' nuclear deterrence.
Khrushchev visited China
But at that time, my country's scientific research and industrial foundation were too weak, so Chairman Mao thought of the Soviet Union, who had long mastered atomic bomb technology.
Under this circumstance, in October 1954, Chairman Mao had visited Khrushchev specifically proposed: "We are interested in atomic energy and nuclear weapons, and I hope you will help us in this regard."
But Khrushchev was reluctant at the time. Although he later reluctantly signed an atomic energy aid agreement with our country, it also made Chairman Mao realize that the atomic bomb should still be "self-reliant as the main focus and foreign aid as the auxiliary."
So even with the Soviet aid, our country did not take it lightly and always paid attention to cultivating its own scientific research strength.
For this reason, on January 15, 1955, Chairman Mao held a special meeting in his own bedroom in Fengzeyuan, Zhongnanhai.
Li Siguang
At the meeting, Chairman Mao specially invited physicist Qian Sanqiang and geologist Li Siguang to teach the participants a nuclear physics class and uranium ore geology class.
After the course, Chairman Mao not only emphasized the importance of the atomic bomb again, but specifically proposed: "In today's world, if you want to not be bullied by others, you cannot do without this thing."
Then he also proposed the future development direction, that is, "We do it ourselves." After the meeting, the central government quickly passed the China nuclear weapons development plan. In order to keep confidentiality, the central government gave the project a code name "02".
As expected by Chairman Mao, in June 1959, the Soviet Union suddenly unilaterally tore up the technical agreement, refused to provide China with atomic bomb samples and technical information on the production of atomic bombs, and withdrew all experts in China.
Khrushchev visits China
Before withdrawing the experts, Khrushchev also hypocritically found Chairman Mao, put on a "controversial" tone, and said to Chairman Mao: "Where should we withdraw the experts about the production of the atomic bomb?"
actually wanted to use this to threaten Chairman Mao and submit exchange conditions to China.
But since China was prepared for a long time, Chairman Mao was not afraid, but said to him calmly: "We can try it ourselves, it is also a training for us."
After the Soviet experts withdrew, Chairman Mao immediately convened a Politburo meeting and proposed the goal of "doing it yourself, starting from scratch, and preparing to build an atomic bomb in eight years."
However, the Soviet Union withdrew experts in June 1959 and threatened China, after all, it hurt the hearts of the Chinese people, making people realize once again that "backwardness must be controlled by others". In order to remember this national humiliation, the Central Committee responsible for the development of the atomic bomb specially changed the project code from "02" to "596".
Subsequently, the vast majority of scientific researchers in my country united, worked hard, overcome difficulties, and successively overcome a series of technical difficulties such as atomic reactors, cyclotrons, uranium ore smelting and refining, detonation devices, sample bomb design, and construction of Lop Nur test site. The successful development of the atomic bomb is just around the corner.
Natural Disaster encountered difficulties, and the United States came to make trouble again. But at this moment, my country had serious natural disasters for three consecutive years, the country's economy was in difficulties, and its finances were tight. The atomic bomb research work once caused controversy.
Some people advocate suspending the research and development of atomic bombs from the current economic situation; some people advocate "being pants" and "burning it out even with firewood."
After Chairman Mao learned about the situation, he did not make a decision easily. Instead, he appointed Zhang Aiping , a member of the Central Committee and deputy director of the office, to investigate the development of the atomic bomb.
After detailed investigation, Zhang Aiping finally assured the central government that my country's nuclear industry has a foundation, and as long as the guarantee keeps up, atomic bombs will surely be successfully manufactured in 1964.
This means that no matter how hard or difficult it is, as long as you persist for another three years, the atomic bomb career will be completed.
Although China's finances were difficult at that time, it was still fine to persist for three years, so there was no controversy for everyone. Chairman Mao immediately decided: "Term overcoming all difficulties and continue to develop the atomic bomb."
But one wave was not settled, and another wave started again. The United States has once again set its sights on our atom development project.
US reconnaissance aircraft
Since 1959, the United States has sent reconnaissance aircraft to conduct reconnaissance on my country's atomic bomb research situation many times.
But it was not until 1961 when it first identified the Lop Nur base with the "Corona" satellite that it confirmed the fact that China is engaged in nuclear weapons development.
In order to prevent my country's R&D process, the United States first launched the so-called "psychological warfare plan."
At home, they have made major media frantically publicize the nuclear advantages of the United States, create the myth of invincibility of the United States, and create a false image of a nuclear power for the American people.
In diplomacy, the United States frequently sends officials to visit their allies, comforting them that China cannot create an atomic bomb. Even if it creates an atomic bomb, the United States can guarantee their safety.
Kennedy
But this is a self-deception spiritual victory method. In addition to giving them some comfort in their hearts, it has not been affected by China's atomic bomb development process. Therefore, they thought of using the Soviet Union, which had become a feud with China, to deal with China.
1963 In 2018, Kennedy sent representatives to Moscow to meet Khrushchev. Before leaving, Kennedy repeatedly told him that after meeting Khrushchev, he must tell him: "A China with an atomic bomb, even a China with a small nuclear power, is very dangerous to the United States and the Soviet Union."
but unexpectedly, Khrushchev directly rejected the United States. The suggestion was also "weird". He believed that: "When a country does not have nuclear weapons, he will keep shouting, but once it has nuclear weapons, it will be more restrained."
Khrushchev
Seeing that the Soviet Union was unwilling to participate, the United States decided to do it itself in desperation, so it formulated the so-called "desperate" plan. Attempt to send the US Air Force or the Kuomintang army to carry out air bombing on our nuclear test facilities, and to send agents to carry out secret ground attacks.
But when it was about to be implemented, Kennedy was suddenly assassinated and the "Desperate" plan was left unresolved.
At that time, China and the Soviet Union had become very serious, and the Soviet Union was also familiar with the development of atomic bomb in my country. If the Soviet Union intervened, my country's atomic bomb development work would be greatly delayed even if it was not destroyed. However, Khrushchev directly refused with a strange reason, allowing our country to "escape the disaster."
Kennedy's funeral
At that time, our country's air defense capabilities were relatively weak. If the United States really carried out air bombing, it would also cause immeasurable losses to my country's atomic bomb development work. However, Kennedy happened to be assassinated, causing our country to "escape the disaster."
is said to be accidental or historically inevitable, but no matter what, it is God bless China.
nuclear weapons explosion shocked the world. After the chairman answered Snow's question,
cleared the internal and external obstacles, my country's atomic bomb research and development work began to move onto the fast lane.
With the efforts of the vast number of scientific researchers, my country finally created China's first atomic bomb in September 1964.
The Central Committee responsible for the development of the atomic bomb is worried that after the test is successful, it will attract countermeasures from nuclear powers such as the United States and the Soviet Union and even nuclear strikes on , so it is recommended to develop technology first and not conduct experiments for the time being to keep the secret.
Chairman Mao
But Chairman Mao said with a heroic spirit that the test as soon as possible is to let them know that China has an atomic bomb.
In this way, the central government finally decided to conduct an atomic bomb detonation test on October 15, 1964.
On October 16th at 14:59:40, at the Lop Nur base, the commander-in-chief Zhang Aiping issued a blasting order in excitement and nervousness after asking for the last time for weeks Premier .
Then, the operator pressed the start button of the main control station. After 10 seconds, the entire system entered the automatic control state, and the counter started the countdown in the countdown in a simultaneous manner.
When the counter is reversed from 10 to 0, a series of detonations began inside the atomic bomb, compression, supercritical , and neutrons. With a last loud bang, golden light erupted, fireballs swelled in the air, and mushroom clouds soared into the air.
In the command post, General Zhang Aiping, who had been through many battles, was so excited that she burst into tears. Before he could calm down, he reported the exciting news to Premier Zhou with sobs.
After learning the news, Premier Zhou also reported it to Chairman Mao as soon as possible.
But surprisingly, Chairman Mao, who had always dreamed of China's atomic bomb, was surprisingly calm.
He was not busy celebrating, but instructed Premier Zhou to say that he must find out whether it is the real nuclear explosion and to make foreigners really believe it.
Premier Zhou had no choice but to make another confirmation with the comrades on the scene. Later, Zhang Aiping ordered chemical defense soldiers to enter the experimental site, took samples of the scene after the atomic bomb explosion, took photos, and passed them to Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao then agreed to announce the news to the whole world.
Afterwards, Chairman Mao said with emotion that China's atomic bomb was forced out by Khrushchev and he wanted to issue a one-ton medal to Khrushchev!
1965 On January 9, 1965, an American journalist who had been in China for more than three months, Edgar Snow is about to finish his trip and return to Switzerland . Before leaving, he went to visit Chairman Mao, and Chairman Mao also warmly treated him.
Snow and Chairman Mao are old friends, so they are not restrained. During the talks, he half-jokingly asked Chairman Mao half seriously and said: "Do you still think the atomic bomb is a paper tiger?"
Chairman Mao laughed after hearing this and replied wisely: "But in the end it will be eliminated, and then it will become a paper tiger!"
Edgar Snow
Finally, Chairman Mao reiterated to Snow: "China doesn't want to have an atomic bomb in its hand. Now that it has it, it doesn't want to have a lot of it. It's enough to have a few." Because China's purpose is not nuclear intimidation, but when other countries intimidate our country, our country can have the capital to stand up straight.
As Deng Xiaoping said, if China did not have " two bombs and one satellite " in the 1960s, it would not be called an influential power, nor would it have the international status that it is today.
It has been nearly 60 years since the first atomic bomb exploded. When we look back at this history, we will admire Chairman Mao’s talent and far-sightedness even more.
