Chapter 368
Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.
It was the coldest month of January, approaching the Russian New Year, and the winding Irtysh River was still frozen . The river surface and the vast grasslands on both sides of the river were all covered with snow. At a glance, everything was white and desolate.
The snow, half a meter deep, completely blocked the road. Any wheeled vehicle was useless in this place. Therefore, in order to transport a group of "Comrade Stalin's officials" who arrived secretly in Semipalatinsk to the designated location, the military district mobilized four half-track armored transport vehicles.
However, this strange, square-looking armored vehicle is not very comfortable to ride, especially when you have to travel a long distance of nearly 200 kilometers in it. The bumpy feeling is really a torture.
Sitting in the last transport vehicle, Yuri was wrapped in a thick military coat and a flannel hat with earmuffs on his head, but even so, he still felt a little cold. There was no way, there was no heating equipment in this damn vehicle, and it was ventilated everywhere. It would be strange if he was not cold when traveling in an environment of more than ten degrees below zero.
In fact, according to the original plan, they were going to come here by plane, and a special plane would take them directly to the temporary airport at their destination. But the weather was not good, and a sudden snowstorm disrupted all their plans, so they had to come here in this miserable way.
put off?
That was impossible, because this trip to Central Asia was arranged by Comrade Stalin himself. The people who came included a series of core leaders such as Zhdanov, Molotov, Voroshilov, etc., and Comrade Stalin himself was waiting in Moscow for the good news they would send back.
Semipalatinsk, the name of this city completely disappeared from the world map in 2007 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The then President of Kazakhstan Nazarbayev personally issued a presidential decree to change the name of the city to "Seme". Of course, some people also call it "Semye".
In the decades of Soviet history, Semipalatinsk has a special status. In this place, there is a confidential area code-named "Semipalatinsk-21". During the Soviet era, more than 400 nuclear tests were carried out here, accounting for more than 60% of all Soviet nuclear tests.
In other words, if Satan had to choose between Hell and Semipalatinsk, he would probably rent the latter to the Soviets and live in Hell himself.
Yes, the reason why Yuri and his team braved the wind and snow to rush to Semipalatinsk was to witness the test explosion of the first nuclear weapon in Soviet history. Comrade Stalin had high expectations for this test, so it must succeed and cannot fail.
Honestly speaking, Yuri really didn't want to get close to such a lively scene. If he had a choice, he would rather stay away. Well, it would be better to stay farther away. This is a fucking atomic bomb with radiation. What if something goes wrong?
He was not like the optimistic Comrade Zhdanov, who thought that this was just a large TNT bomb. This thing had radiation. If he was exposed to dozens of roentgens of radiation, who would he turn to for justice?
Although the half-track armored vehicle was uncomfortable to sit in, it was very stable when driving on the snow, without any signs of slipping. Anyway, the car was as cold as an ice cellar, and there was no insulation effect at all. Yuri simply reached out and pushed open the guard plate of the peephole and tried to look outside the car.
Outside the car, the vast snowfield reflected the dazzling white light. A reindeer could be vaguely seen running not far away. Further away, there was a clearly visible wire mesh fence.
This wire mesh fence is at least two meters high, with concrete piles erected at regular intervals. The fence stretches forward on the snowy plain until it disappears from sight. When you see this fence, you know that you have reached your destination today. Inside the fence is the so-called "Semipalatinsk Polygonal Area."
Don't get me wrong, this is not a nuclear bomb test area, but the location of the command center for nuclear tests. The real test area is about 100 kilometers southwest, through the gap of the Daigren Mountains, there is a test site of about 20,000 square kilometers, which is the area for nuclear bomb testing.
In order to ensure the safety of the entire nuclear explosion test, the Soviet army stationed four divisions of troops in the entire Semipalatinsk area, and an aviation division was ready to provide air reinforcements at any time. In the entire "No. 21" area, unauthorized entry was strictly prohibited. Anyone who did not heed the warning and broke in without authorization would most likely be shot on the spot.
In fact, there is nothing strange about this. After all, this is a secret project related to the destiny of the Soviet Union. The entire country has invested too many resources in this matter. Not to mention the resources required for the entire experimental process, just this nuclear test explosion, in order to verify the power of the explosion, the entire country spent a lot of money.
In this nearly 20,000 square kilometers of wasteland, the prisoners of war built a series of buildings. The military also placed five aircraft, more than a dozen tanks, armored vehicles, human models , and 1,500 animals in it.
Seeing the wire mesh belt meant that the final destination of this trip was about to be reached. Yuri looked at his watch and saw that there was less than half an hour left before the previously determined time for the test explosion.
The troop carrier drove for about ten minutes more, and a large number of square, low buildings appeared in front of it. From a distance, it looked like a temporary camp. At this time, in this "camp", there were a large number of human figures swaying.
The transport vehicle in the front was carrying reporters from various media outlets. According to the requirements of the propaganda department, if the test explosion was successful, relevant news reports would have to be sent out immediately. Of course, if the test explosion failed, then it would be as if nothing had happened.
Yuri sincerely hoped that the test explosion would be successful, otherwise, who knows how many people would suffer.
Before leaving Moscow this time, the secretaries of the Central Secretariat held a small meeting. Yuri and Suslov, as alternate secretaries designated by Comrade Stalin, also attended the meeting although they had not yet been confirmed through the election procedures.
It was at this meeting that Comrade Stalin's expectation for the success of the test explosion project was clearly revealed. He revised his previous decision and canceled the originally planned extraordinary meeting of the Central Committee. Instead, he planned to convene a plenary meeting of the Central Committee. If this Central Committee plenary meeting was really held, it would be the first Central Committee plenary meeting held after the end of the war.
According to Comrade Stalin's plan, he was going to make a phased summary of the "Fourth Five-Year Plan" at this Central Plenary Session and announce to the entire Soviet people the great achievements made in national construction since the end of the war. The successful test explosion of the Soviet Union's own nuclear weapons would be the most dazzling achievement among them.
In addition, with the success of the nuclear weapons research and development project, Comrade Stalin also planned to temporarily divert more resources from this project and invest them in the corresponding national construction projects. In order to show the superiority of the socialist system and set an example for the reconstruction of Eastern European countries, Comrade Stalin decided to promote the promulgation of "seven years of compulsory education"; implement a nationwide price reduction of daily necessities for the first time after the war; use the next one to two years to build 30,000 workers' new villages throughout the Soviet Union to solve the housing shortage problem; increase funding for scientific research institutions and strive to double the existing funds, etc.
At the same time, Yuri's idea of building seven magnificent "Stalin-style" buildings in Moscow was also put on the agenda by Comrade Stalin and became a supplementary project of the "Fourth Five-Year Plan".
This was the first time that Comrade Stalin clearly expressed his intention to modify the planning projects of the "Fourth Five-Year Plan". Yuri didn't know how to comment on this.
In fact, the supplementary projects proposed by Comrade Stalin are indeed projects that need to be implemented as soon as possible, but overall, the construction projects of the entire "Fourth Five-Year Plan" are still too biased towards heavy industry and infrastructure construction, and to a large extent, neglect the development and construction of light industry and agriculture.
Just as Yuri thought, the policies formulated by Comrade Stalin and his staff were largely influenced by the pressure from the international environment. The hostile policies towards the Soviet Union promoted by the Western world, led by Britain and the United States, made Moscow highly vigilant. Now is not like the later generations. No matter how tense the international atmosphere is, the world knows that it is impossible for a war to break out directly between the United States and Russia, because that is a precursor to the destruction of the world. Today, a war against the Soviet Union that brought great disaster to the country has just ended. It can be said that the nerves of the entire Soviet Union are tense. No one will doubt that the Western countries led by the United States and Britain will launch an attack on the Soviet Union at some point.
Therefore, in order to ensure national security, a military-led national construction policy has become Moscow’s primary consideration. From a practical point of view, this policy is completely correct.
However, Yuri now has his own political philosophy. He believes that under the current tense situation, it is understandable for the Soviet Union to adopt such a development policy, but after the completion of the "Fourth Five-Year Plan", especially when the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons have formed a certain combat power, the country's entire development policy must be revised, and the emphasis on agriculture and light industry must be increased.
In Yuri's view, the superiority of the Soviet state system should not only be reflected in grand projects and strong military power, but also in the people's food, clothing, housing and transportation.
