afterglow

Chapter 606 Chapter No matter the time, I will accompany you to the end; Are you tired of making money? I am tired!
The official news agency of the Ming Dynasty gave a relatively detailed report on the Battle of Tarawa, explaining the causes and consequences of the battle, as well as the post-war handling of the situation with heavy rewards and rewards.

At the end of the official report, many excerpts from telegrams were attached.

From "the invading enemy blocked out the sky" to "the anti-landing counterattack was a great success" to "trapped in a siege and fighting to the end"... reading more than a dozen telegrams one by one makes one feel heavy-hearted.

Although there are still voices criticizing the navy for not going south to provide assistance, most newspapers admit that this is a helpless move - when the enemy's strategic deception works, the only way to minimize losses is to stick to the established strategy.

In a rare move, Zhu Lingjing gave a speech that evening.

"It is not long since the beginning of spring. Tonight is supposed to be an ordinary night, but the wars in various places have not yet ceased, and the military situation is still going on. I am worried, so I choose this evening to inform the people of all directions."

"The war has lasted for four years. Our national army has fought in the east and west, and has also led troops overseas, achieving remarkable results. In the west, it has reached the British Indian Union, in the south, the Australian continent, and in the east, the heart of the ocean."

"Our country undoubtedly holds the initiative, but the enemy is unwilling to surrender and is still unwilling to lose its interests in the East. Therefore, we can only strengthen our determination to fight and undermine the enemy's belief in resistance."

"Not long ago, the enemy fleet suddenly attacked Tarawa Island and attempted a counterattack. Our fleet is in the far north of the ocean, thousands of miles away, and has no way to send support."

"The Tarawa defenders fought alone for four days and nights, vowing to die, and almost died for their country. With only 7,000 men, they faced tens of thousands of enemies, killing and wounding more than 10,000. It was truly a heroic act."

"Both the American and British envoys wrote to me to ask how I felt and whether I was willing to negotiate peace. This is ridiculous. To this day, the United States and Britain still do not understand the wishes of our country and our people."

"The land that the United States occupies is rich and fertile, and its people have never known famine since childhood; Britain has invaded many parts of the world for hundreds of years, taking the fat of the world to maintain its national strength."

"The two of them have abundant resources, no worries about food and clothing, and are not familiar with the difficulties of the world. This is not the case in our country. Even if the people of Shenzhou are diligent and frugal, they can only have enough food and clothing."

"In order to strive for a better future and create a prosperous paradise, we must not allow Western countries to steal Eastern land. This is the long-cherished wish of all people."

"Since the beginning of the war, about 180,000 soldiers have died and hundreds of thousands have been injured or disabled, but this is not a shocking number compared to the suffering our country and our people have endured."

"During the wars between the Song, Liao and Jin dynasties, 38 million people died; during the wars at the end of the Yuan dynasty, 50 million people died; during the Chongzhen period and the Later Jin dynasty, 60 million people died."

"As I said in the declaration of war, this war concerns the future of my country, my people, and my race. It will benefit future generations. We must do our utmost to win, regardless of the cost or the time. We will fight to the end until we win the final victory."

"The 7,000 brave soldiers of Tarawa sacrificed their lives for the sake of loyalty. Their feat was extraordinary. I have ordered the construction of a monument to commemorate their achievements and honor their loyalty and bravery."

"During the four days and nights of their struggle, another 200,000 babies were born across the country. The flame of their legacy will continue, and their descendants will be endless. I hope that my descendants will grow up in a peaceful and prosperous world. I wish all my subjects well. This is my decree."

At dinner time, Zhou Changfeng and his family also listened to the speech on time.

In fact, it was impossible not to listen, because almost all radio programs were cut off, and all channels were broadcasting His Majesty the Emperor's evening speech.

"Who is this auntie who is talking?" Jian Jian sat upright on her own high chair and asked Zhou Changfeng who was sitting across the table.

The latter looked very nervous and said with a smile: "She, she is my boss."

I wonder how Zhu Lingjing would react if she heard herself being called auntie.

"Is it she who keeps sending dad to faraway places?"

"That's right." Xia Xiaoshi, who was picking up food, answered affirmatively.

"She's so bad!"

"Cough cough——" This time Zhou Changfeng couldn't hold it in any longer and kept coughing because of choking.

After a while, he said leisurely: "Someone has to be the bad guy after all."

Xia Xiaoshi definitely understood the reason behind this sentence, but Jian Jian, who was only three years old, naturally didn't understand it.

The next day, morning.

Xia Xiaoshi, who had dressed up carefully, set off. Due to her nature, her clothes today were gray, with no bright colors on top and bottom, and her makeup was also very light.

She was accompanied by people from the palace. They took two black cars and drove southeast under the protection of military police...

Shangguan Xun's home is in Jurong County, southeast of Yingtian Prefecture. It's not far away, and it takes about two hours to drive there.

This is a common three-sided courtyard house with white walls and black tiles, a typical southern architectural style.

Shangguan Xun’s first wife filed for divorce a few years after their marriage, mainly because she felt that an officer with a background in engineering had a bleak future. His current widow is his second wife, Wang Baisheng.

Wang Baisheng was not surprised by the arrival of Xia Xiaoshi and several palace attendants - various letters of condolence had been coming in these days, and she had already expected someone to come to visit.

In terms of social status, Shangguan Xun was employed as an architect in a construction company after retiring with the rank of major in the engineering corps. This was a typical middle-class person - he had no production materials but made money through professional knowledge and skills.

Overall, it's pretty decent.

After the outbreak of the war, Shangguan Xun re-enlisted in the army and was promoted to lieutenant colonel and colonel. His salary and benefits increased greatly. Unfortunately, under the rationing system of war mobilization, he and his wife and children did not enjoy such a good life.

"We have guests. Xiaolan, take your brother back to his room to play."

Seeing the visitor coming to visit, Wang Baisheng bowed and greeted his daughter.

"Good afternoon, Madam." Xia Xiaoshi responded gracefully, "My husband deeply admires General Shangguan's deeds and specially asked me to come here."

The female attendant who was leading the group beside her also spoke up: "His Majesty specially sent us to express his condolences."

The group then entered the front yard and sat down in the main hall.

Xia Xiaoshi put down the gifts she was carrying. She couldn't help feeling a little nervous. It was the first time for her to do this kind of work of comforting a widow. She was afraid that her words would be inappropriate and impolite.

"Sir, you praised Senior Shangguan for his extraordinary courage and loyalty to duty. He is a role model for generals across the country. Madam, if you have any difficulties in life, please do not hide them. We will definitely help you with all our strength."

"Thank you, I understand." Wang Baisheng nodded gently and looked at the living room next door. "I will raise the child well."

Xia Xiaoshi suddenly thought of Zhou Changfeng's instructions, and said, "Oh, sir, you specifically told me that there may be mixed comments about Senior Shangguan in the future, madam, you must keep calm and don't pay attention to it."

The attendant lady beside him also said calmly: "We have informed the Jurong County Criminal Office, and they will send more patrol police to this area. If there is an emergency, Madam can call the special line directly."

"Thank you for your trouble." Wang Baisheng stood up again with an apologetic look in his eyes and bowed. The furnishings in the house were very ordinary, just some daily furniture.

Wang Baisheng, who came from a village, was far inferior to Shangguan Xun's ex-wife in terms of status and knowledge. However, perhaps because he was heartbroken by his ex-wife's despise, Shangguan Xun married her who was more suitable for a peaceful life.

When Xia Xiaoshi was visiting Shangguan's family, in the Forbidden City...

Zhou Changfeng jokingly repeated to Zhu Lingjing what his daughter said last night - sending dad to a faraway place is bad!
After listening to this, the latter fell silent, looking gloomy and a little sad.

"It would be a blessing if we could make other countries surrender willingly just by talking," she said softly.

Zhou Changfeng quickly explained: "Uh...I was just trying to make a joke, but it made Your Majesty sad."

"Be a bad guy if you want to be a bad guy, it's just a little sentimental." Zhu Lingjing glanced at him, stared at the calendar on the imperial desk and said leisurely: "Without sacrifice, there is no gain, but the price of sacrifice is not cheap."

"Your Majesty is a good man." Zhou Changfeng first said a consoling word, and then cleverly changed the subject, "At present, the situation is very good, and the losses are very small. This war (our country) is already invincible, and we just need to hold on for a few more years."

The war did not take place on the homeland, and it was unlikely to affect the country. In Zhou Changfeng's view, the suffering endured by the people of the Ming Dynasty was so small that it could be ignored.

As a time traveler, he could only sigh that there would be no harm without comparison.

In history, more than 40 million people were killed or injured during the war alone!
Compared with the years of war and turmoil in the current time period of the original plane, the people of the Ming Dynasty can be said to be living in the prosperous and well-governed world that countless people dream of. Even though this well-governed world has many shortcomings, at least there is no need to worry about their lives being displaced.

The Jinwu Project is proceeding in an orderly manner. The small computer team has also been incorporated into the court and will focus on developing a larger computer.

There also seems to be some movement in the US nuclear program.

Some ideological sympathizers were developed into informants by the Stasi. The Stasi noticed that the United States seemed to be preparing a large-scale secret plan. Based on the fragmented information, the plan was summarized as follows:
First, it has a high priority, is extremely confidential, and has sufficient funding.

Second, the specific content is scattered, and participants only know a small part of the entire plan.

Third, there are outstanding physicists and mathematicians involved.

4. This project has been underway for at least four months.

The German Agency conveyed this information to the Ming Dynasty, and Zhou Changfeng was certain at a glance that this was the Manhattan Project in history.

Although it started earlier than in history, it is destined to be too late.

After talking about the nuclear plan, Zhou Changfeng smiled and said to Zhu Lingjing: "The Americans are late this time, much slower than us."

Then he muttered to himself: And without some exiled scientists, it will definitely take longer.

"It is estimated that a single nuclear bomb can release more than 20 million megajoules of energy, which is equivalent to about 5,000 metric tons of TNT." Zhu Lingjing flicked open her folding fan and said leisurely, "You can consider throwing it in Santiago or Panama."

People could not accurately infer the power of the atomic bomb and could only make a conservative rough estimate - which was actually several times the estimated value.

In fact, the power is even greater, at least 10,000 tons of equivalent. Zhou Changfeng thought to himself.

He nodded. "Drop one missile at a key strategic location as a deterrent, and then threaten and intimidate. This is an important bargaining chip to promote negotiations."

"This is like a hidden treasure. Interesting." Zhu Lingjing picked up the phone and dialed the number. Then she waved to Zhou Changfeng and said, "Go and do something else."

She was very concerned about the nuclear program and would personally check on the progress every once in a while. She had studied physics and had also focused on understanding nuclear physics after the nuclear program began, so she could be considered knowledgeable.

It is extremely difficult to be the pioneer of anything. To transform principles that only exist in theoretical physics into reality and to utilize the energy contained in microscopic particles is unprecedented and there is absolutely no experience to refer to. The technicians involved in the Jinwu Project are like wading through a river without any stones to touch.

Zhou Changfeng actually supported the simultaneous research and development of two configurations - gun method and implosion method, but due to many reasons, the gun method project was cancelled.

The "gun technique" has a simple structure and will definitely detonate successfully no matter what, but it consumes a large amount of uranium (U-235) and has a low utilization rate (<2%). Zhou Changfeng originally regarded it as a backup.

The research and development team calculated that if they wanted to produce enough uranium, they would need hundreds or thousands of large centrifuges, and the manufacture of the electromagnets for so many centrifuges would require 15 to 20 tons of copper.

This is a number that is simply impossible to provide unless the war ends.

Historically, the Manhattan Project was deterred for this reason, and ultimately 8.6 tons of silver were withdrawn from the Treasury Department's treasury as a substitute.

The Jinwu Project was not so persistent and simply gave up the "gunmanship" configuration project which was extremely expensive but had poor prospects.

Therefore, the "implosion method" configuration project became the only direction of the Jinwu Project.

Now the five graphite reactors of the first phase of the construction plan were put into operation a few months ago, and the two chemical separation plants are about to be completed.

The second phase of construction is also being carried out day and night, and three more graphite reactors and two factories will be added by then.

Each reactor is designed to have a peak power of 18 kW, and a steady supply of plutonium is being produced from it - the U-238 in the reactor captures neutrons and undergoes secondary β decay to become the target product Pu-239.

[The process is roughly like this: U-238→U-239→Np239→Pu-239. 】

After leaving the Forbidden City, Zhou Changfeng went to the Grand Marshal's Office as usual. His own strategy could not be disrupted, and the next target was still Maui.

The Americans suffered a loss last time because of the chaff, and they must have learned their lesson this time. Such tricks cannot be used to support the main responsibility. The iron must be strong before it can be forged, and the performance of the aircraft must catch up to the first-class level.

Although major aircraft companies in the Ming Dynasty are working hard to develop high-performance fighter jets, this takes time.

In order to ensure that the aircraft performance would not be inferior when launching the next offensive, the Air Force also purchased a batch of Fw-190A4 and Bf-109G2 fighters, a total of 180 aircraft, to meet the urgent needs and bridge the gap.

These are the most powerful fighter jets of the German Socialist Republic at present, and the models are also quite new. The German Socialist Republic Air Force has only replaced some of them.

The military attaché of the Ming Dynasty's embassy in Berlin was also commissioned by the Army to place an order for 35 heavy tanks, 2 medium tanks, and 2 light explosive blasting vehicles.

Among them, the latter two were purely for reference research, and only 35 heavy tanks were intended for self-use. With the same price, only 12 of the Ming Army's own new generation heavy tanks could be purchased. The Ming Army considered it a very cost-effective deal.

"Mr. Zhou, this deal is really a good deal. We made a profit!" said a lieutenant colonel staff officer from the Army Department with ease.

Making money?
People are numb!
(End of this chapter)