Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Fang Wen walked over and looked at the group of Taishan technicians who had traveled a long way to Lanzhou.

"I haven't eaten anything either. Let's eat first and then talk business. Please sit down."

Upon hearing this, everyone sat down.

The waiter came over: "Sir, what would you like to eat?"

Fang Wen looked at the food in front of Lu Zexuan, the leader of the engineering and technical team: "Give me one of his."

"Okay, please wait a moment." The waiter left.

The group, who were about to start eating, stopped instinctively when they saw that Fang Wen had not yet eaten, and waited for the waiter to bring the food.

Seeing this, Fang Wen chuckled and said, "Eat up. When you're traveling, there aren't so many rigid rules. Besides, back in the base canteen, I never saw you waiting for me to serve your meals."

A lighthearted joke instantly eased everyone's tension.

Everyone smiled at each other, picked up their bowls and chopsticks, and settled down to eat.

Lu Zexuan, the leader of the engineering and technical team sitting next to Fang Wen, handed Fang Wen a pancake: "General Manager, you must be hungry after your long flight. Take this to tide you over."

"Thank you for your kindness." Fang Wen took the sesame seed cake, broke it into small pieces, and ate it in small bites to satisfy his hunger.

Before long, the innkeeper came quickly with a large bowl of steaming mutton soup, accompanied by two crispy crescent-shaped sesame cakes.

The aroma of mutton soup in Northwest China is so enticing that it whets the appetite just by smelling it.

Fang Wen broke the crescent-shaped sesame cake into pieces and soaked them all in the boiling mutton soup. Once the cakes were fully soaked in the soup, he ate them with the broth.

Covered in sweat.

He looked around and saw that the dozen or so technicians present had finished eating and were waiting for Fang Wen.

Fang Wen said, “The situation has changed this time. I will not be going to the Soviet Union with you. The entire work of building the radio factory will need to be completed independently by your team. I know that it will be extremely difficult and unpredictable for you to build a factory abroad, but you don’t need to worry too much. At present, the Soviet Union urgently needs our radio technology and is very keen on this cooperation. The Soviet side will cooperate fully in the subsequent site selection, materials, factory construction and many other matters.”

After saying this, Fang Wen observed everyone's reactions.

Upon hearing this, the technical personnel present showed no panic or resistance. These personnel selected for overseas projects were all key members of the Taishan base, who had been carefully selected through multiple rounds of screening and were already mentally prepared for tackling tough challenges overseas.

Fang Wen was quite satisfied with what he saw. He looked at the team leader, Lu Zexuan, and gave him special instructions: "You are the main person in charge of the team. You need to coordinate the work of equipment debugging and technology implementation, as well as take care of everyone's living conditions and safety. Make sure everyone returns safely."

"General Manager, I will do my best," Lu Zexuan solemnly replied.

"It's tough on you. We're really short-handed right now, so we have no choice but to send you to the Soviet Union to lead the team," Fang Wen said with emotion. Then he added in a deep voice, "There's one more thing you need to be careful about. The Soviet Union desperately needs our radio technology and will definitely try every means to extract the key technical points and replicate the process. You must keep a close eye on things the whole time, restrain everyone's words and actions, and warn and stop any probing, attempts to win them over, or spying attempts in a timely manner."

He paused for a moment, then added, "But remember to be careful not to ruin the partnership. Even if they figure out the process, they won't be able to access our core technology, since only we can produce the core components ourselves."

"Understood!" Lu Zexuan replied in a deep voice.

In fact, this was just a repetition; Lu Zexuan and his group knew very well what they were going to the Soviet Union for.

Fang Wen said no more and told everyone to go back to their rooms to pack their luggage.

He then took out his portable walkie-talkie, adjusted the frequency, and contacted Ivan at the Soviet-aided airport three kilometers away, informing him of his need for airport pickup.

Less than half an hour later, a Soviet-style military truck came to a steady stop in front of the hostel.

Carrying their luggage, everyone helped each other climb onto the truck bed. The truck then turned around and sped off towards the airport outside the city.

Upon returning to the airport, Fang Wen immediately went to find Ivan to coordinate the subsequent itinerary.

Ivan, who had just completed a 20-hour non-stop long-haul flight, was on the phone half an hour ago, but is now fast asleep on his bed in the airport dormitory.

Fang Wen decided to let him rest and recover his energy, so he didn't disturb him.

Fang Wen then contacted the Soviet staff remaining at the airport and arranged accommodations for all members of the Taishan Engineering Technical Team to stay overnight.

After settling all the technical personnel in, Fang Wen had no intention of resting at all.

When these technicians went to the Soviet Union, their safety had to be guaranteed since they were not driving themselves.

Therefore, Fang Wen went to the Li-2 transport plane on the tarmac.

He used his supernatural abilities to thoroughly investigate the fuselage structure, fuel and electrical systems, engine components, and cargo hold securing devices, leaving no detail overlooked.

After discovering a few minor issues such as slightly loose parts and minor aging of pipes, he immediately took out the tools on board and personally disassembled, adjusted, and tightened them to repair these minor faults and bring the aircraft to excellent condition.

After that, there were still things to do.

That means unloading the cargo from the plane.

There are only six Soviets at the airport now, which is not enough to do the unloading work.

Fang Wen could only get the engineering and technical team to help.

Fortunately, the aircraft's cargo door was slanted, and the airport had the corresponding unloading vehicles, and a hoisting device was not transported back to the Soviet Union.

With everyone's help, the supplies inside the cabin were unloaded.

One night passed.

A good night's sleep left Ivan feeling refreshed and energetic.

At dawn, he and another Soviet co-pilot who remained at the airport arrived at the tarmac.

Fang Wen was already waiting there. The three of them boarded the cabin together and had a detailed discussion and confirmation on the Li-2's take-off and landing operations, cruise emergency response, fault handling, and precautions for long-haul routes.

After confirming that Ivan and his co-pilot were skilled in operating the aircraft and capable of handling various emergencies independently, Fang Wen was completely relieved.

Inside the airplane cabin, the two shook hands.

Looking at his old friend with whom he had fought side by side many times, Fang Wen said sincerely, "Old friend, I hope we can fight side by side again next time we go to the Soviet Union."

Overwhelmed with emotion, Ivan stepped forward and gave Fang Wen a tight bear hug, his voice earnest:
"Being able to be your friend, rather than your enemy, is the greatest pride of my life."

Fang Wen patted him on the back, let go, turned around and got off the plane to notify the technical team to board.

More than ten Taishan technicians boarded the plane in an orderly manner and sat down on the bulkhead seats inside the cabin.

The cabin door closed slowly.

Fang Wen stood by the runway, watching the plane take off.

With its engines roaring, the Li-2 transport plane slowly taxied, accelerated, and took off, drawing an arc in the northwestern sky. It gradually rose higher and flew further and further away, heading towards the Soviet Union.

Watching the plane disappear into the horizon, Fang Wen turned around and went back to his dormitory to lie down and rest fully clothed.

More than two hours later, the roar of engines could be heard from the sky as three Taishan seaplanes equipped with land-based take-off and landing devices flew in formation.

Fang Wen immediately got up and communicated with the Soviets at the airport, asking them to open the runway for landings.

This is the first batch of transport aircraft to arrive, and two more batches of transport aircraft will follow to carry out the task of transporting supplies.

A total of seven seaplanes landed.

Also arriving were Taishan's own porters.

Fang Wen directed them to carefully move, load, and secure all the wooden crates containing the precision components of the cyclotron using the airport's handling equipment. Because transferring the components from a large aircraft to Lanzhou would be too conspicuous, Fang Wen changed the original transportation plan and transferred them all to Taishan's own seaplane.

Subsequently, Fang Wen piloted one of the planes to take off and lead the way.

Seven seaplanes departed from Lanzhou Airport, transited and rested at Chengdu Logistics Company's seaplane airport, then received a second resupply at Guiyang Airport, and finally flew to Taishan Base in northern Myanmar.

Throughout the entire process, thanks to the cover provided by the Southwest Logistics Company, no party suspected anything.

Seven seaplanes landed at the seaplane base in northern Myanmar.

The plane docked at the airport pier.

Fang Wen disembarked and jumped onto the dock.

Gong Xiuneng rushed over to greet him.

He said with a hint of resentment, "General Manager, do you no longer need me as your bodyguard?"

Fang Wen laughed and said, "How could that be? It's just that it's inconvenient to take you with me. You'll always be my bodyguard, as long as you want to be."

These words made Gong Xiuneng beam with joy.

After calming his bodyguard down, Fang Wen looked at Shen Weitao, the base director who had come to pick him up, and asked him to bring the base's security forces over to help.

A large number of security personnel quickly arrived at the scene and worked with the unloading crew to unload the cargo from the cabin.

They were then all transferred to the Taishan Research Institute warehouse for storage and were guarded by designated personnel. No one else was allowed to enter unless Fang Wen agreed.

After the parts were properly installed, Fang Wen went to the newly built standalone physics research building of the research institute to find Jiang Wenjin, the head of the nuclear research project team.

The laboratory on the second floor was brightly lit, and a group of researchers were engrossed in conducting experiments.

Jiang Wenjin is also busy on the front lines.

Upon seeing Fang Wen arrive, Jiang Wenjin immediately stopped what she was doing and came out.

"General Manager, you're back."

"Hmm, what kind of experiment are you doing?" Fang Wen asked.

“We are testing various chemical reactions of yellowcake,” Jiang Wenjin replied.

No wonder the radiation level in the lab has increased. Fang Wen nodded and said, "Be careful to protect yourself from radiation."

“The current radiation concentration is low, and short-term exposure will not affect the body,” Jiang Wenjin replied.

"Come to my office, I need to talk to you about something."

"Okay, I'll go get the documents."

After the conversation ended, Jiang Wenjin went to get her things, while Fang Wen went to his office to wait.

After a while, there was a knock on the office door.

"Come in."

Gong Xiuneng opened the door from the outside, and Jiang Wenjin came in carrying a stack of documents.

Clearly, he had been preparing a lot for the report during this period.

Fang Wen spoke up: "Tell me about the progress of the nuclear project first."

"General Manager, the island's pre-extraction plant is now fully operational, and we have mastered the complete set of mature technologies for uranium ore purification yellowcake. Moreover, because our uranium ore has extremely high purity, the purification effect far exceeds the initial estimated data."

He handed over a detailed experimental report and continued to report: "Currently, the production data is stable. Every 100 tons of high-purity uranium ore can be reliably purified to produce 2.4 kilograms of yellowcake."

"The purification rate is so high?" Fang Wen looked through the report and was also surprised.

The original estimated purification output was far lower than the current data. The current excess yellowcake production means that the accumulation of nuclear raw material reserves has accelerated significantly, which can greatly shorten the overall R&D cycle of the project and leave sufficient room for error in subsequent testing, problem-solving, and mass production.

Fang Wen closed the report, looked at Jiang Wenjin, and began to recount what he had gained from his trip overseas:

“This time I brought back a brand new technology from the United States, called cyclotron particle accelerator purification technology. Compared with the purification methods you proposed before, I think this one is more suitable for us.”

"Really?" Jiang Wenjin asked in surprise.

"Of course it's true. That's why I called you here to talk about this."

As Fang Wen spoke, he stood up, walked to the small blackboard, picked up the chalk, and began to explain.

"After I went to the United States, I tried to learn about their nuclear physics research. I discovered that they were also preparing to manufacture nuclear weapons. They also encountered problems in the purification process. The gaseous diffusion method consumes too much energy and only produces uranium with a purity of 20%. The thermal diffusion method can only be used for pre-enrichment. And the centrifugation method you proposed cannot be implemented on our equipment."

"Can't even the United States provide the equipment for centrifugation?" Jiang Wenjin couldn't help but interrupt and ask.

"Yes. I've looked into it. To achieve the effect you described, you'd need 100,000 centrifuges working together, which is practically impossible."

After answering Jiang Wenjin, Fang Wen continued.

"Even with the United States using a large amount of energy for gaseous diffusion uranium refining, they can only achieve a purity of 10-20%, which is far from the 80-90% purity requirement for weapons-grade uranium. However, an American scientist has invented a device called a cyclotron accelerator. It can collect uranium with weapons-grade purity."

Jiang Wenjin is filled with a thirst for science, which is now his lifelong pursuit and research.

"General Manager, please stop keeping me in suspense and tell me how it works."

Fang Wen nodded and drew a structural diagram of the cyclotron on the blackboard.

Then he explained:
"This thing uses the mass difference of different uranium isotopes to achieve separation."

First, the uranium raw material is converted into uranium tetrachloride and heated to vaporize. Then, the gaseous uranium atoms are converted into positively charged uranium ions through an ionization device.

After entering the vacuum cavity, the ions are accelerated by the electric field and gain kinetic energy, and then enter the strong fan-shaped magnetic field region.

Because charged particles move in a circular motion in a magnetic field, the smaller uranium-235 has a shorter deflection radius, while the larger uranium-238 has a longer deflection radius, and the two ions fly along different trajectories.

Multiple collection slots are set at the end of the cavity to accurately intercept the separated ion beam.

After being collected, uranium ions are reduced to metallic uranium. With precise ion targeting, a single enrichment can enrich uranium-235 to over 80%, meeting weapons-grade standards.

As Jiang Wenjin listened to Fang Wen's explanation, her mind raced.

He understood what Fang Wen said and muttered to himself:

"So that's how it is. How come I didn't think of that? The electromagnetic field interferes with the movement of the ions, and then the different masses of uranium ions are used to generate different centrifugal ejection trajectories. As long as the target is placed on the preset trajectory, the same mass of uranium ions can be collected."

He then nodded in affirmation, saying, "This idea is correct. We can definitely use this kind of equipment as the final extraction process."

He hesitated for a moment, then asked a question he had wanted to ask for a long time: "General Manager, the uranium refining process, according to the law of conservation of energy, must consume a large amount of energy. How do we obtain the enormous amount of energy to support the refinement and storage of weapons-grade uranium?"

Fang Wen has a solution to this problem.

He calmly replied, "It can be solved. If there's a lack of energy, we'll use uranium to generate electricity. The concentration of uranium used for nuclear fuel only needs to be increased to 3%-5%, which isn't difficult to achieve."

As he spoke, a series of technical documents about future nuclear power plants flashed through his mind. (End of Chapter)