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Chapter 1057: Feeling the Glory of the Empire (Third update, please subscribe)

Atomic City.

Although this is a secret city, as the New Year approaches, the streets are still hung with red lanterns and there is a festive atmosphere everywhere.

People always celebrate the New Year, and soon, when the Spring Festival arrives, the scientists in this city will fly back to their various places to reunite with their families.

Although the holiday is approaching, a group of researchers are still discussing in the office. The drawing in front of them is the structure drawing of the hydrogen bomb.

Scientists from the UK and Southeast Asia are conducting final discussions on it.

According to the relevant agreement, in order to speed up the development of hydrogen bombs, Nanyang and the United Kingdom jointly launched the "Fighting Plan". As a result, British scientific researchers came to Nanyang in the name of "academic exchange", teaching at Nanyang universities while participating in the "Fighting Plan".

In fact, for Nanyang, the biggest beneficiary of the arrival of these British scientists was not the “Fighting Plan” itself, but Nanyang’s education sector. After all, these scientists were first-class scholars in the UK. The arrival of these scholars has, to a certain extent, promoted the teaching level of Nanyang in the fields of physics and chemistry.

With the joint efforts of scientists from both countries, the configuration of the hydrogen bomb was explored bit by bit. In this process, the reconnaissance aircraft of the Nanyang Air Force played a key role. Every time the United States conducted a nuclear test in Bikini, the Nanyang Air Force would send reconnaissance aircraft to collect air samples and then hand them over to scientific researchers.

Through this method, they obtained air samples from many hydrogen bomb tests in the United States, and discovered the secret of the Teller-Ulam configuration compression principle from its radioactive fallout. Although they could obtain information about the degree of compression from the radioactive fallout, it did not tell them how to compress it, but this was not a difficult problem for scientists. With the efforts of scientists from both countries, they soon achieved a technological breakthrough in the hydrogen bomb.

Liang Zhenhua, who had just entered the Atomic City two years ago and graduated with a Ph.D. in physics from Yongan University, discovered the secret of the U.S. hydrogen bomb based on air samples from the U.S. hydrogen bomb test in November 52 - the addition of uranium 11 to the propellant.

在天然铀矿中99.28%是铀238，铀235仅仅只有0.71%。要想获取武器级铀235，必须进行浓缩提取，而大量铀238往往被废弃。

Based on the information obtained from air sampling, Liang Zhenhua proposed a design that uses natural uranium as the shell, and uses uranium 235, uranium 238 and lithium deuteride 6. The high temperature and high pressure generated by the explosion of uranium 235 can trigger the fusion reaction of lithium deuteride 6, and the neutrons released by the fusion reaction can trigger the fission reaction of uranium 238, forming a chain reaction of fission-fusion-fission, thereby increasing the power of the hydrogen bomb.

This type of hydrogen bomb is also called a "three-phase bomb". The United States tested it for the first time in November 11. It was through air samples that scientists in Southeast Asia discovered the secret.

Cracked the secret, seemingly easy as it may seem, but it ultimately took two and a half years and the joint efforts of scientists from both countries to complete its design.

"…1000 million tons!"

Liang Zhenhua took a deep puff of the cigarette, and when it was almost finished, he put out the cigarette butt in the ashtray and said.

"Its equivalent should be around 1000 million tons, 10 times that of an enhanced atomic bomb..."

After thinking for a while, he added.

“Although it weighs more than 10 tons, it is an acceptable weight.”

"The weight is not a problem, the problem is..."

As the second-in-command of the Nanyang Nuclear Program, Yuan Jialiu looked at the technicians from the two countries in front of him and said.

"Whether it can succeed or not is the question. This plan is jointly promoted by the two countries. If it fails..."

Turning his gaze to the British scientists standing by, Yuan Jialiu emphasized:

"It is likely to cause unnecessary disturbance in London."

This is the biggest problem with multilateral cooperation. Even when he was "Miss Ping", he didn't feel nervous at all, but cooperation between two countries may have problems of one kind or another.

"It will definitely succeed!"

In response to Yuan Jialiu's question, Peierce said that he had been the head of the "Alloy Tube Project" for the development of the British atomic bomb, and is now the British head of the "Combat Project".

"I believe that the work we have been doing will definitely bring us corresponding rewards. Yuan, I think we can conduct the test now!" Yuan Jialiu nodded. He knew that Nanyang had been waiting for this hydrogen bomb. In fact, to a certain extent, they were too late. If Nanyang had tested the hydrogen bomb during the "Hungarian Crisis", perhaps better results would have been achieved.

But better late than never.

……

Because the "Combat Plan" is a joint project between the two countries, the implementation of the nuclear test requires not only the approval of the Chang'an Residence but also the approval of Downing Street.

The atmosphere at 10 Downing Street in January was extremely relaxed, and facts once again proved one point - in most cases winning a war is always an effective way to increase government support.

Although the dispatch of troops to Egypt had caused protests from the Israeli Labour Party and some of the people, in fact more than 53% of British people stood on Eden's side and supported the war. Most Conservative constituencies undoubtedly supported Eden, and scholars at Oxford University also jointly supported the government out of fear of Nasserism and the expansion of Soviet influence.

Now, although the negotiations in Geneva are still ongoing, Eden, who has already regarded himself as the winner, is proud. He has even declared to the public opinion many times that "the British Empire is on the road to a comprehensive recovery, both in terms of economy and international influence."

To a certain extent, what Eden said was quite right. The military action against Egypt was a military success as well as a political success. It not only protected British property but also defended British dignity.

“Now, many workers have turned to support us because of our tough diplomacy, and even the Labour Party has asked its candidates not to show opposition to the Suez War.”

Referring to the upcoming by-election, Aiden spoke with considerable pride.

"But this cannot change their previous attitude of opposing the war. In this by-election, we must expose the Labour Party's behavior at both ends..."

As the leader of the Conservative Party, Eden is now more concerned about this year's regional by-elections. After all, these regional by-elections will affect the elections two years later. For the Conservative Party, the greatest achievement is that their tough stance on the Suez issue has ensured the interests of the United Kingdom.

"It is no longer the same as 45 years ago. At that time, bread was the most important thing for the British people. But what about now? When bread is no longer scarce, the British people have begun to pursue more. This is also the fundamental reason why we can win the general election again!"

"However, many middle-class people who originally supported us sided with the Labour Party's anti-war policy because of our military action in Egypt."

Hagens, who served as a staff member, reminded.

“Compared to those workers, the middle class is more important.”

At least for the Conservative Party, the middle class has always been its strongest support.

"That's the past!"

Aiden waved his hand and said.

"In the past, the middle class had a higher willingness to vote, and their support had a great influence on us, but now...times have changed. My friend, whether we like it or not, we must admit that workers and ordinary people are more important now, because there are more of them. The reason why the Labour Party defeated us after the war was because of them. Now, what we need is the support of these people. Compared with weakness, they prefer toughness, because for ordinary people, what is left except the glory of the empire?"

Aiden said, turning to look at Hagens.

"As Engels said - even the poorest patriot in the East End of London will involuntarily straighten his chest when he thinks of Britain's wealth and industry. Perhaps the Labour Party will promise them bread, hospitals and welfare, but we can give them glory, which is a kind of heartfelt satisfaction! It is even more important than bread..."

As an imperialist, Eden was nostalgic for the old times, when the glory of the empire was more important than bread. At least to a certain extent, that was the case.

But now everything has changed, but what Aiden needs to do now is to reawaken the glory of their empire.

"And those middle-class people will still choose to support us in the end, because... we don't use their money to help the poor without limits. As for those poor people..."

Picking up a secret message on the table, Aiden said with some pride:
"Soon, the flash of light from the Pacific Ocean will make all British people feel the glory of the Empire again!"

(End of this chapter)