Author: Perilla
Late on the night of April 30, 1964, in a remote workshop at the 404 factory, a historic feat was underway.
In the early hours of the morning, at this time it was the last three knives, the young mechanic Lu Yihai was staring intently at the smooth uranium hemisphere in front of him, in order to see clearly, he took off his protective glasses without fear of radiation. Only to see him decisively drop the first knife, then the second knife, the third knife. With one knife and one thread, a delicate and smooth uranium ball was finally revealed.
The inspector reported that the accuracy of the core components, concentric chamber and size and other data all met the design indicators. When he heard that all the indicators were qualified, Lu Yihai breathed a long sigh of relief and happily reported to the leaders outside the workshop.
"Report leaders, the accuracy of the core components, concentric chambers and specifications and other data have reached the design indicators. The first full-sample uranium ball of the 596 was successfully processed. ”
"Be well..."
"Great, Lu Yidao, you shouldn't call Lu Yidao."
"What's that called?"
"Lu Sandao!"
This is a plot from the TV series "The Years of Passion".
The character prototype of Lu Yihai's character is yuan Gongpu. Qian Sanqiang, the founder of "two bombs and one star", once described him like this: "You are a screw, a very important screw." ”
Yuan Gongpu (1934.5—2021.8.22)
At that time, with excellent technology and excellent psychological quality, Yuan Gongpu became the first person in China to hold a uranium ball, and he was known as the "original three knives", and his name was also left on the list of two bombs and one star merit, and was admired by the world.
Abandoning the family and business, taking root in the Great Northwest without regret
Time back to 1959.
The young Hara Gongpu is facing a major choice: on the one hand, his wife who has just been married for 4 months, and on the other hand, the needs of the country, unknown work. How to decide? The original Gongpu tossed and turned.
At this time, he did not expect that his fate would henceforth be closely linked to the process of China's nuclear industry.
Yuan Gongpu is a native of Ye County, Shandong Province, born of a poor child, when he was 16 years old, forced by life, he left his hometown to come to Shanghai and entered the tool factory as an apprentice.
Hara Knew that he had not been to school and had limited knowledge, and in order to enrich himself, he spent all his limited daily time studying. He worked during the day and walked an hour or two at night to go to night school, all the way to high school.
Yuan Gongpu's conscientious and persistent learning attitude has won the love of the master of the tool factory, and the teacher often calls him to his side when he works, letting him study next to him.
In this way, after just three or four years, the original Gongpu grew from a primary school apprentice who knew nothing to a single technician, and in just 3 years, he achieved a level 4 worker (equivalent to an intermediate title), reached the level of a college student at that time, and after another year, he was promoted to a level 5 worker, which was simply a miracle at that time, and the original Gongpu also became a model for young apprentices in the tool factory.
In 1956, the former Gongpu worked in the tool factory merged into the Shanghai Automobile Chassis Factory, and the former Gongpu was also appointed secretary of the general branch of the factory regiment, when he was only 21 years old.
Soon after, Yuan Gongpu met a Shanghai girl named Guo Fumei at the car chassis factory, and the two had a long-term relationship.
Wedding photo of the former Gongpu couple on April 23, 1959
In the spring of 1959, Hara Gongpu and Guo Fumei married. At this time, he was the technical backbone of the factory, the secretary of the general branch of the regiment, and the young man who was focused on cultivating in the factory, and the future was bright. The mother's family is also optimistic about this marriage, and Guo Fumei's aunt also gave up her own house and let her niece make a marriage room. If there are no accidents, they will spend their lives in Shanghai and Hemei.
However, a special selection shattered the calm of life.
The factory wanted to select two outstanding workers to work in a unit in the great northwest under the jurisdiction of the Second Ministry of Machinery Industry, and the former Gongpu was selected as a representative of outstanding technicians in Shanghai. To go or not to go? Yuan Gongpu, who was already a party member, finally responded to the call of the motherland.
According to the confidentiality requirements of his superiors, he only told his wife about the news of departure a week before leaving home. The wife listened, some angry and some heartache, wiped her tears, hurriedly went to the street to buy a pound and a half of coffee-colored thick wool, "I heard that the Great Northwest is very cold, but the Great Northwest is cold, my man is not cold." His wife knitted a turtleneck sweater for him before he set out.
The heroes who rushed to the front line of the Great Northwest
After leaving home, the group of top technicians in China, including Yuan Gongpu, trained in Beijing, and traveled all the way west, finally reaching the 404 factory built on the Gobi Desert.
This mysterious factory with a digital code name is called "Jiuquan Atomic Energy Joint Enterprise", the factory has no mailing address, only a mailbox, the name is "Lanzhou ##号" in Gansu, but it is not in Lanzhou at all.
As the earliest nuclear material production and processing base in the mainland, the 404 factory had 50,000 employees and their families at its peak, and there were thousands of garrisons on the periphery.
Practiced hard for five years, for that special moment
I didn't expect that this stay was 34 years, and the young guy at that time had become white-haired.
Hara Gongpu, who had just arrived at the 404 factory, did not know what he was going to do, and he was required to wear a bulky protective suit every day, wearing a special latex glove to operate the lathe, and cutting a hemispherical steel ball.
The work is boring, and the living conditions are extremely poor.
The altitude here is above 3,000 meters, and there are no people within a radius of 300 kilometers. Food was scarce, and since it was a time of natural disasters, each person's daily dry food was two nests less than the size of a fist.
The food sent was not enough to eat, and people were puffy. Yuan Gongpu and his colleagues used their spare time to carry a basket to the desert twenty or thirty miles away to dig up camel grass seeds, although the smell of sheep was particularly heavy, but they still had to mix it with flour and barley flour to eat.
Water is more expensive, and water trucks have to pull water from dozens of kilometers away every day. When building the factory, each person can only get a tea tank of water per day, drinking water, washing face, washing clothes, washing socks are all it, that is, washed into mud, still reluctant to pour, must be sprinkled under the bed, so that the air moistened. At that time, in addition to eating a full meal, the most luxurious wish was to be able to take a hot bath one day.
This old-fashioned machine tool in the "404" exhibition hall made a great contribution to the development of the first atomic bomb on the mainland
The factory has not yet been built, and everyone lives in tents and researches while building. The wind and sand on the Gobi Desert were so great that a gust of wind blew even the tent away. The tent is not afraid to scratch away, the most feared is that the design drawings are blown away, then the effort will be wasted, and may also leak secrets. So at that time, things were scraped away and no one chased them, and everyone pounced on the drawings.
Despite the harsh conditions, the practice in hand did not stop, and soon, some cut steel balls were piled up in the large wooden box at each person's feet.
On this day, the chief engineer of the factory, Jiang Shengjie, came over, and Yuan Gongpu plucked up the courage to ask: "Chief Engineer Jiang, we want to know, we practice this all day, what do we want to do?" ”
Only to hear Jiang Shengjie say, "There is a very important task in transferring you, but I can't say it now." When you get home with your skill, and the steel balls that each person has cut are filled with that big wooden box, I'll tell you. ”
This practice is another three years, three years, they continue to practice processing the same size of steel balls, starting from the car steel ball, the steel ball out of the car piled up in a corner of the workshop. After the technical state is stable, it is practiced with a round ball made of uranium 238 similar to the material of the uranium ball. Everyone's cutting memory has become more and more skilled, and even with their eyes closed, they can know where the next knife should fall.
History will not forget you, the young surgeon at the age of 30
In 1964, Hara and others finally learned their real mission, which was to cut the core component of the atomic bomb explosion, the uranium-235 hemisphere.
Since the uranium ball is the key to the nuclear reaction of the atomic bomb, there are extremely high requirements for finish and size, so the uranium hemisphere must be finely polished and cut to meet the specific requirements of the atomic bomb explosion. In the 1960s, the industrial level of the mainland was relatively backward, there was no CNC machine tool, and such cutting work could only be carried out manually by skilled skilled workers.
It's just that the number of master swordsmen is not easy to determine, because everyone's skills are very exquisite. To this end, the 404 factory held a series of technical competitions, and the technical worker Yuan Gongpu of Shanghai Automobile Chassis Factory ranked first.
After this examination, Zhou Zhi and Jiang Shengjie talked to Yuan Gongpu and said, "Comrade Yuan Gongpu, after strict investigation, we have selected you as the main knife hand. Are you confident? ”
Then, Jiang Shengjie said: "Comrade Yuan Gongpu, this is something that no one has done before, and it is the trust of the party and the people to hand it over to you organizationally. Nuclear fuel is extremely precious, it is our lifeblood, more important than our lives, and history will not forget you if you can take out the first nuclear part in your hand. ”
Hara Gongpu in his youth
Hara nodded solemnly.
In this way, Hara Gongpu became the main cutter of uranium-235, this year he was 30 years old.
He said, "That's almost three knives carved with my life." ”
Finally waited for that day.
That day, Yuan Gongpu went out to work as usual, but before leaving the door, he suddenly said to his wife Guo Fumei: "I went to work, you want to bring up your daughter." "After saying that, turn around and leave.
After Yuan Gongpu left, Guo Fumei burst into tears, her daughter was only more than a year old at this time, and she knew in her heart that today's work may be a life-and-death test for her husband.
In fact, in the 3 months of the final sprint to the uranium ball, the wife watched her husband, who was 1.7 meters tall, lose 90 pounds. In the last week, Yuan Gongpu was so nervous that he could not eat well and sleep well.
In addition to the high precision requirements of processing uranium balls, critical accidents are also very dangerous, and the external radiation of the instantaneous firing line can expose the staff to large doses of irradiation, which in turn leads to staff casualties, which are unpredictable.
To this end, according to the plan and requirements, the finishing process is operated by three people, the original Gongpu to the main knife, each cut a knife, the thickness is only one-tenth of the hair; the second person as a guardian, on the one hand, to monitor, remind him of the operation, on the one hand, to pick up the uranium chips he cut down in time to prevent the accumulation of uranium chips in the chip plate to cause a chain reaction; there is another person who specializes in measurement calculations, the original Gongpu cuts three knives, he has to measure once, to see how much is still wrong, and how many knives to eat.
Everything went according to plan. On the morning of April 30, 1964, from the director of the 404 Department of public security to the deputy director of the 404 factory responsible for security, they talked to yuan Gongpu one by one, all of which meant the same thing: uranium balls are more important than life, there can be no deviation, and the task must be completed 100%. At 12:00 noon, Yuan Gongpu put on three layers of protective clothing, put on double layers of latex gloves, and together with the team leader He Shaoyuan (calculating) and Kuang Bingxing (guardian), after strict inspection by five guard units, walked through three doors, and then entered the confidential workshop. Zhou Zhi, director of the 404 factory, Jiang Shengjie, chief engineer, Zhu Linfang, director of the workshop, and others were all guarding the door.
When faced with the uranium ball in front of him, which had condensed tens of thousands of people's efforts for ten years, Yuan Gongpu felt more and more pressure. At this time, the uranium ball suddenly fell off the vacuum suction cup, and the sound of "beep" fell into the chip plate! The 3 people in the workshop were stunned, and Hara Gongpu almost instinctively and desperately picked up the uranium ball with both hands!
The processing was immediately suspended, and yuan Gongpu was sweating profusely, his clothes were soaked, and he sat down in front of the director of Zhou Zhi factory in despair.
"I'm worried that the uranium ball is broken!" Yuan Gongpu said. Fortunately, after repeated inspections by the technical department, the uranium ball was safe and sound.
Is it to change people on the spot, or to continue tomorrow?
Jiang Shengjie proposed two methods: one is that Xiao Yuan will rest tonight and do it tomorrow; the other is to change an operator and continue to work tonight. Director Zhou Zhi said in an unmistakable tone: "When the two-year plan was formulated, I gave the ministry a military order, May Day, that is, before tomorrow, we must take out qualified uranium parts!" ”
Zhou Zhi and Jiang Shengjie knew about Yuan Gongpu, who was not a technical problem just now, but was too nervous. The stakes are high, and everyone in the room was nervous.
In the tense waiting, it was almost late at night. Zhou Zhi asked Yuan Gongpu, "Xiao Yuan, how is it?" ”
After drinking the milk to replenish his strength, Hara Gongpu had gradually regained his composure, so he asked to continue processing. Soon, the three people of Yuan Gongpu once again walked to the lathe with full armament, slowly turned the handle of the machine tool, and the spherical machine tool turned again.
Hara Gongpu concentrates on processing uranium balls
Processing uranium balls, the last three knives are crucial, each knife needs to be strictly measured, more cars and fewer cars are not OK, once there are more cars, the uranium balls will be scrapped, tens of thousands of people have been busy for many years the results will be in his hands; less cars, less standards, resulting in a hardened layer, it is not good to process. Therefore, you can't drive more and you can't drive less. Once a problem arises, the uranium ball cannot be taken to assemble, and the atomic bomb cannot explode on time.
Hara Gongpu carefully operated...
Finally, after cutting the last knife, Hara Gongpu breathed a long sigh of relief and slumped down in his chair, which was already in the early morning of May 1, 1964.
"That's almost three knives carved with my life." Later, Hara Gongpu recalled.
Five and a half months later, a huge noise that shocked the world resounded in the depths of the Lop Nur Gobi in China, and China's first atomic bomb was successfully tested and exploded, and when the news came, Yuan Gongpu, who was thousands of miles away, burst into tears with excitement.
"Tricking" his wife into going to the Gobi Desert became a lifetime of guilt
After the successful explosion of the first atomic bomb on the mainland, Yuan Gongpu was responsible for many specific work related to nuclear tests with excellent cutting technology, and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal of China's nuclear industry for his outstanding contributions.
The honorary certificate received by the former Gongpu couple
Despite the honor, Hara Gongpu always felt guilty about his wife and his children. Only a few months after marriage, Yuan Gongpu came to the Great Northwest, after which Yuan Gongpu devoted himself to study and work, and only returned to Shanghai to visit his relatives once after two and a half years.
In February 1963, the eldest daughter of Yuan Gongpu and Guo Fumei fell to the ground, and Yuan Gongpu, who was far away in the Gobi Desert, did not see her daughter born with his own eyes. He missed his wife and his daughter, whom he had never met, so he wrote to his wife, hoping that she would come to Yumen, come to the place where he worked, and live together.
In order to let his wife feel at ease, under the "guidance" of the leader, he said in a letter to his wife: "Our living conditions here are very good, that is, the wind is strong, the wind blows grass and grass are low, cattle and sheep are often eaten, and milk is drunk as water. "At that time, ordering a bottle of milk in Shanghai was also based on the hospital certificate of giving birth to a child or serious illness.
The call of her husband, Guo Fumei has been looking forward to for a long time. So the wife applied to the unit to transfer the working relationship to the 404 factory where the former Gongpu was located to support her husband's work.
The eldest daughter was only half a year old, and the mother said, "Leave the child in Shanghai, I will take it." I don't know what the situation is there, you all have to work, how to bring such a small child? "Guo Fumei said goodbye to her mother with gratitude and endured the pain of leaving her young daughter in Shanghai...
When Guo Fumei traveled thousands of miles to Jinyin Beach, she found herself "deceived" by yuan Gongpu. In front of the 8 square meters of small room only one bed, a table, two chairs, the conditions are far more difficult than Shanghai, not to mention milk, even rice is limited supply, many times to eat barley, coarse grain.
Hara Gongpu (left) discusses work with co-workers in a tent
Although the days were hard, the husband and wife were finally reunited, and Guo Fumei did not regret it.
However, in fact, the original Gongpu did not have much time at home, according to the regulations of the nuclear industry department, the radioactive post could not work more than 6 hours a day, but in order to practice hard skills, the original Gongpu often went to two classes together, and the work was 12 hours. After work, it is still a half-hour train ride to get home. As soon as he entered the house, he was often so tired that he could only fall on the bed.
Yuan Gongpu learned many years later that for a long time, his wife was hospitalized with a fever and did not dare to disturb him; because of the lack of habits of eating, stomach pain developed to stomach sagging.
He said: "She has suffered with me all her life, and she has to take care of me when she is old and sick. ”
However, Guo Fumei still insisted on standing behind her husband.
Time passed day by day, and in the blink of an eye, more than thirty years later, the best youth of the two people were dedicated to the country's nuclear cause.
Mrs. Hara Koura returns to 404 to reminisce about the early days of the business
Someone once asked if he regretted his choice that year, and Yuan Gongpu and his wife replied in unison: "No regrets, no regrets." ”
And Guo Fumei has never regretted marrying Yuan Gongpu. In her heart, her husband will always be a hero who stands tall in the sky.
When the cancer pain is unbearable, sing "Dongfang Hong" loudly
After retiring in 1993, the couple returned to Shanghai and lived in an old house of only 60 square meters in the unit.
This difficult time on the Gobi Desert in the Great Northwest has long become the glory of the former Gongpu's life, but the years of secrecy discipline have shaped the low-key and restrained character of the former Gongpu. For the past, he never showed off, but only frothed with his wife and silently lived every day of retirement.
However, the peaceful life was suddenly broken. One day, Yuan Gongpu pulled his wife to his cabinet, "Come here, I tell you, the information of this drawer can be made public, and the information of this drawer is to be handed over to the organization and confidential!" ”
These materials are a summary of the technology he has worked in the 404 factory for decades, processing the first atomic bomb on the mainland, the first hydrogen bomb, and the core components for nuclear bombs such as flat explosion and air explosion, a total of 10 times before and after.
On this day, Yuan Gongpu suddenly said to Guo Fumei: "Old lover, I can't stay with you for long." ”
It turned out that soon after his retirement, Yuan Gongpu realized that his body had changed, but it was not until 2011 that he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer at Zhongshan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University, and bone metastasis had occurred. After treatment, the condition was temporarily stabilized. Until 2019, the original Gongpu cancer recurred. His wife said that when he was in excruciating pain, he sang "Dongfang Hong" aloud, and he said that it would be more comfortable.
In August 2021, the physical condition of Yuan Gongpu, who was recuperating in Beijing, deteriorated again, in order to fulfill Yuan Gongpu's wish to return home, CNNC transferred a professional ambulance driver, and after a continuous 14-hour trek, the medical staff finally escorted the old man of Yuan Gongpu back to Shanghai safely.
A few days later, the old man left this world peacefully at the age of 87.
On August 24, 2021, people mourned the hero Yuan Gongpu
Yuan Gongpu was only one of the thousands of people who rushed to the frontline of the construction of cutting-edge national defense technology in his youthful youth, and there were hundreds of thousands of technicians like Yuan Gongpu, countless ordinary workers, and PLA commanders and fighters and militiamen who took root in the Gobi Desert with lofty ideals and held the power to change the world in their hands, but they hid themselves silently in the barren mountains, fearing hardships and hardships, just to serve the motherland.
It's just that their identities are hidden behind group labels; their stories lie quietly in the secret cabinets and historical archives. Just as Hara Gongpu introduced himself to others: "The original is the origin of the atomic bomb, and Gongpu is the 'public servant' of the people." The stories of tens of thousands of people have created a great era of surging passion, each of them is a hero, and it is precisely because of their silent dedication in the difficult years that they have jointly achieved China's "two bombs and one star" and achieved China's status as a powerful country today.
The medallion received by the former Gongpu
Pay tribute to the heroes of the older generation, and history will always remember them!
(This article is the original of "Hai Natian", and it is refused to reprint or excerpt without permission, otherwise legal responsibility will be pursued)