The train driver in the courtyard

In the factory director's office.

"Using atomic bombs to make armor?"

It was not until the door was tightly closed that Director Guo uttered a word that sounded terrifying even when spoken aloud.

Atomic bombs can blow a city to pieces, but now they are used to make tank armor? This young man is really bold.

"Director, the material used to make the armor is not U235, which is used to make atomic bombs. Instead, it is uranium impurities produced during the combustion process of uranium fuel. Its main component is U238, which cannot be used as fission material and is also called depleted uranium."

Li Aiguo stood up and pointed to the technical parameters on the material and explained.

Director Guo stared at Li Aiguo for two full minutes. After making sure that Li Aiguo was not joking, his expression became serious again.

"Comrade Patriot, although I am not an expert on atomic bombs, I have worked with comrades from the 211 Factory and understand that uranium is radioactive. How do you solve this problem?"

Li Aiguo extended his hand to Director Guo: "Can I use a piece of paper and a pen?"

After taking the paper and pen, Li Aiguo drew the structural diagram of U238 on the paper, explaining as he drew.

"The half-life of depleted uranium is 44.5 billion years. The longer the half-life, the less radioactive it is. I have calculated that the depleted uranium armor on a tank weighs about two tons. Even if a tank driver stays on the tank for three consecutive days, the radiation dose he receives is not as high as the radiation dose received from an X-ray."

At this point, Li Aiguo paused for a moment and added: "Of course, the radioactivity of depleted uranium is related to its state. If depleted uranium is used to make depleted uranium bombs, the depleted uranium bombs will still release extremely strong radioactivity during violent explosions."

In later generations, the Xiaomei family particularly liked to use depleted uranium bombs.

During the beating of Xiao Yi's family, the large-scale use of depleted uranium bombs caused many soldiers to suffer from headaches, hair loss, mental confusion, insomnia, irritability, long-term fatigue, muscle pain, memory degeneration, dizziness and other symptoms, which were called "Gulf War Syndrome" and "Balkan Syndrome."

One of the excuses Xiaomei's family used to take action was that Xiaoyi's family had something radioactive.

The funny thing is that Xiao Yi’s family didn’t have any, but after Xiao Mei’s family brought in depleted uranium bombs, they also had them.

This thing is harmful to both others and yourself.

This is also the reason why we have been slow to develop depleted uranium bombs.

"Even if there is no harm, does this depleted uranium armor have better protection than armor plates made of 601 steel?"

When talking about 601 steel, Director Guo straightened his chest and his tone was full of pride.

No wonder.

The special steel used to manufacture the Type 59 tank was purchased from the Russians.

Later, the Russians interrupted the trade in special steel.

The First Machine Factory carried forward the spirit of self-reliance and, after two years of hard research, finally developed our own first 601 steel that can be used to manufacture tank armor.

Li Aiguo pointed to the pattern on the material and explained: "If I am not mistaken, the Type 601 basic body made of 69 steel has a certain defensive effect against the early PG-9 armor-piercing projectiles.

The protection against the current mainstream armor-piercing projectiles abroad, such as the APDS fired by the 105L7, is relatively weak, and it can only withstand one shot from the front.

The turret front casting structure has a penetration resistance of about 650 mm.

After hearing Li Aiguo explain the protection parameters of Type 69 so clearly, Director Guo's expression changed slightly.

Li Aiguo smiled bitterly in his heart.

In later military journals, the reason why the Type 69 tank was criticized by military fans and even expelled from the status of main battle tank was because of its extremely poor protection capabilities.

That group of military enthusiasts had already stripped the armor of the Type 69 tank thoroughly.

Li Aiguo went on to say: "Pure depleted uranium has low hardness and strength, so other ingredients must be added to make depleted uranium alloys.

The density of depleted uranium alloy reaches 19.1g/cm3, which is 2.4 times that of steel and higher than tungsten alloy.

Depleted uranium alloy is made into a mesh structure and embedded in a steel matrix to make an armor block, which is then embedded in the tank shell to form depleted uranium armor. "

At this point, thinking that Director Guo was the kind of factory leader who was a stickler for details, Li Aiguo felt that he should explain it clearly.

“The depleted uranium alloy is processed into a mesh skeleton, and the mesh is filled with ceramic blocks or anti-oxidation materials.

The mesh structure not only constrains the ceramic blocks to resist stress wave damage, but also improves the overall strength through the single crystal depleted uranium skeleton.

A honeycomb energy-absorbing layer may be added to the outside, combining a soft and hard strategy to absorb armor-piercing bullets."

At the end, Li Aiguo emphasized: "The most important thing is that the structure of depleted uranium armor can effectively interfere with metal jets, which makes the depleted uranium armor's ability to resist armor-piercing bullets equivalent to 600 mm homogeneous steel armor, and its ability to resist armor-piercing bullets can reach 1300 mm!"

Li Aiguo was not exaggerating.

In the past, the world's first tank to use depleted uranium armor was America's M1A1 tank.

During the Gulf War, there was a scene where the T-72 tank's artillery was powerless against the M1A1 tank.

Even in some accidental injury incidents, the M1A1's armor-piercing bullets were unable to cause much damage to the M1A1, which shows the high defensive capability of depleted uranium armor.

Director Guo was stunned and couldn't help but say: "600mm steel armor and 1300mm steel armor are enough to crush the Russian T64."

T64是老毛子最先进的主战坦克，使用了一门1门2A26式125毫米滑膛坦克炮，发射发射尾翼稳定脱壳穿甲弹，够在2000米距离上穿透380毫米厚的均质钢装甲。

The anti-armor penetration capability of depleted uranium armor is equivalent to 600 mm homogeneous steel armor.

The enemy's artillery shells have no way of penetrating the defense, so the new Type 69 becomes an indestructible bunker.

If the firepower is not enough, you can make up for it with protection. You don’t have to worry about being bombarded. Just stand and shoot, and you can easily deal with the enemy.

至于目前小美家的M60、三德子家的豹1、小法家的MX30使用的都是105毫米滑膛炮，火力还不如老毛子家的T62，更不用担心了。

This is what dimensionality reduction attack means.

Thinking of this, the usually calm Director Guo became excited and couldn't help asking, "How difficult is it to manufacture this depleted uranium armor? Can we manufacture it with our current production technology?"

Facing his expectant gaze, Li Aiguo nodded slowly: "It is indeed a little difficult, but I believe that as long as we work hard, there will be no problem."

Li Aiguo is a believer in production technology, so naturally he would not come up with something that cannot be manufactured at all.

The reason why the American people developed depleted uranium armor in later generations was, firstly, because they lacked tungsten, and secondly, because depleted uranium armor was easy to manufacture.

The real difficulty in the production process of depleted uranium armor lies in how to obtain depleted uranium.

During these years, Factory 211 was working overtime to produce giant mushrooms, and the last thing they lacked was the waste materials after refining.

In the great project of growing giant mushrooms, there is a saying of “five factories and three mines”.

211、502、202、404、221、401，711、712、713等工厂在地图上找不到，也没有名字。

Among them, Plant 272 is our first large-scale uranium hydrometallurgy purification plant, responsible for extracting uranium dioxide from uranium ore and uranium concentrate.

Depleted uranium is the waste product of the refining process.

It takes a lot of manpower and resources to deal with these wastes.

Now that depleted uranium is made into depleted uranium armor, Li Aiguo's approach is equivalent to turning waste into treasure.

"The centrifuges at Factory 272 roar day and night, and the depleted uranium waste is piled up into a small mountain." He unfolded another document to Director Guo and tapped one of the classified markings with his knuckles. "Instead of spending hundreds of tons of cement to seal it every year, it is better to let this 'nuclear waste' become the steel shield of the tank."

"Aiguo, if the depleted uranium armor is successfully developed, you will have made a great contribution to our military industry!" Director Guo stared at the information and was reluctant to move his eyes away.

Three days later, the special plane landed at a military airport in the suburbs of Beijing.

The brown paper bag in Director Guo's arms was soaked with sweat. Inside was not only the armor cross-section drawing hand-drawn by Li Aiguo, but also confidential data from Factory 272 - those experimental reports marked with "radioactive safety threshold", each page of which was stamped with a bright red "Top Secret" seal.

In the Armored Division's conference room, the long table was covered with tank parameter tables.

The chief's magnifying glass swept over the blueprint of the depleted uranium armor, and his eyes behind the lens gradually became sharper: "Using nuclear waste to make armor? This is a bold idea."

He suddenly closed the folder and said, "Notify everyone to hold a special meeting in two days and call all the 'old mushrooms' from the 211 factory!"

Two days later, in the early morning, the Armored Division building was heavily guarded, and black cars with confidential license plates drove in one after another.

In the conference room, the long table was piled high with all kinds of documents.

When the nuclear experts from Factory 211 arrived late and sat down with heavy materials in their arms.

The chief's fingers tapped the table rhythmically: "Today we will only discuss two things. Can we make it? Do you dare to use it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of flipping through documents could be heard in the conference room.

The nuclear expert pushed his glasses and quickly flipped through the data: "It is theoretically feasible, but a set of strict production, use, and recycling standards must be established. Any mistake in any link will result."

The armor material expert adjusted his black-framed glasses, his eyes sparkling with excitement: "The high density of depleted uranium can increase the protective power of armor of the same thickness by 30%! Combining the honeycomb sandwich design proposed by Comrade Aiguo and using 601 steel as the outer guard plate, it not only solves the smelting problem, but also enhances the anti-ballistic performance. This is a major breakthrough in materials science!"

"Great! Great!" The commander of an armored division stood up suddenly, his eyes wide open, "The soldiers on the front line have been looking forward to such an 'iron turtle' for too long! With depleted uranium armor, our tanks can fight the Russians' T-62 head-on!"

He slapped the border area on the map heavily, "Then let's see who dares to look down on us!"

The logistics leader also smiled and opened the account book: "Waste recycling is to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and centralized processing of depleted uranium armor is safer and more economical than decentralized storage. This plan is simply killing two birds with one stone!"

The chief looked around the room, his eyes full of satisfaction behind the lenses: "It seems that great minds think alike! I propose that a special research team be set up immediately, led by Li Aiguo, to work with Factory 211, the First Machine Factory, the Military Industry Research Institute, and Factory 272 to produce samples within three months! If there are any difficulties, report directly to Junwei!"

The applause was like thunder, making the glass in the conference room buzz.

Outside the window, the morning glow dyed half the sky red, as if foreshadowing the major changes that were about to come to our armored forces.

After the meeting, Director Guo wiped the sweat from his forehead and whispered, "If Li Aiguo knew this news, he would definitely be very happy."

Li Aiguo was indeed very happy. After Director Guo went to Beijing, he arranged the drawing of the tracks and came to the security department to "supervise" the operation of the security gate.

The security door is of great significance. Once it is confirmed that it can operate normally, it can be promoted in major factories across the country in the future. For example, it will become a flagship product.

It was just a low-probability event to smuggle goods in a military factory. After waiting for two or three days, there was no response from the security gate.

Early this morning, Li Aiguo was smoking and chatting with Lu Baishan when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside.

A security officer pushed open the office door and walked in, reporting: "Chief, there's movement at the security gate!"

"Let's go and take a look." Lu Baishan immediately became energized and walked out quickly, with Li Aiguo following behind him.

When he arrived at the gate room and saw the situation inside, Lu Baishan was a little confused.

"Minister Zhou, why is it you?"

At this time, Director Zhou had just been searched from inside to outside by the security officers and was putting on his pants. He had no time to pay attention to Lu Baishan.

Lu Baishan took this opportunity to explain to Li Aiguo: "Minister Zhou is the leader of the armed forces department of Factory 202. He is an old soldier who has come out of the difficult years."

What he meant was that there might be something wrong with the security gate.

Most people will inevitably feel angry after being wronged, and Minister Zhou is no exception.

It was the first time that he was mistaken for Dieter, and he was furious.

"Captain Lu, you are amazing! We have worked together for so many years, and you still doubt me."

"It's not that I doubt it. It's..." Lu Baishan turned his head to look at several security officers, gave them a look, and asked them to leave first.

After the security officers left, Lu Baishan told Minister Zhou the details of the security gate.

"So, you spent so much effort and produced a scrap product?" After Minister Zhou understood the whole story, he knew that Lu Baishan was responsible for the security work in the factory, and his anger immediately subsided.

He lit a cigarette and looked at Lu Baishan with some mockery: "Old Lu, you just like to take shortcuts. What is the most important thing for us who work in safety? It is to have a pair of sharp eyes."

Lu Baishan could only smile awkwardly.

At this time, Li Aiguo suddenly stepped forward, looked at Minister Zhou and asked, "Minister Zhou, were you injured before liberation?"

"This is the guy who helped you get through the security checkpoint, right? He looks handsome, but what's wrong with his brain?" Minister Zhou said after puffing out a cigarette, "Bullets have no eyes. We fought the enemy in a hail of bullets, so how could we not get hurt? In order to cover the retreat of the command post, I was shot three times in total. If I hadn't met that foreign doctor, I would have died long ago."

"Foreign doctor? Where from?" Li Aiguo asked casually.

"I don't know. It seems like it's something that everyone got from the country. The doctor is quite nice. Hey, little comrade, don't change the subject."

Facing Minister Zhou's questioning, Li Aiguo smiled faintly: "If I'm not mistaken, you must have a bullet shell that you haven't taken out."

After hearing this, Minister Zhou's expression changed. After being stunned for a long time, he turned his head and looked at Lu Baishan: "Old Lu, did you tell him?"

"Do you think I have the time?" Lu Baishan didn't understand Li Aiguo's intention, so he looked at Li Aiguo and said, "Aiguo, Lao Zhou is one of us, so don't hide anything you have to say."

Minister Zhou was confused about Li Aiguo's intention. After a moment of silence, he nodded and said, "I was shot three times that year. One of the bullets got stuck next to my spine. The doctor we took said that if the bullet was removed, I would be paralyzed, so we didn't take it out."

"That makes sense." Li Aiguo walked forward, pointed at the security door outside the window and said, "The function of the security door is to detect metal, and the bullet casing on Minister Zhou's body is metal, so it triggered the alarm."

"Hey, you're right, it's really like this." Lu Baishan slapped his thigh fiercely, "Old Zhou was found out today, which just proves that our security gate can operate."

Minister Zhou now understood the whole story.

He looked at the security gate with envy: "Lao Lu, I apologize to you. Our 202 Factory also needs this thing. Can you lend it to me?"

"This thing was made by Comrade Aiguo." Lu Baishan pointed at Li Aiguo.

His meaning is very clear. You looked down on him just now, but now you want him to help you with something. You decide for yourself!

Minister Zhou smiled awkwardly, took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it over: "Comrade Aiguo, I am a rough man. I just said something wrong. Don't take it to heart. You know what our 202 Factory produces. If any part is smuggled out, it will bring huge losses."

Baotou 202 Factory, also known as the Nuclear Fuel Element Factory, was founded in 58 and specializes in the development of various types of production reactors, power reactors, and research and experimental reactor fuel elements. It has made important contributions to the explosion of the Big Mushroom, the launching of nuclear submarines, and the peaceful use of atomic energy.

The secrets he had read from a document emerged in his mind, and Li Aiguo nodded without hesitation: "Of course, there happens to be one set of materials left from the last assembly."

"Okay, okay, that's very straightforward, patriotic comrade. Now we have to deal with the security gate issue." Minister Zhou was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.

With the security gate, the security of Factory 202 will be greatly enhanced.

Li Aiguo spent a whole morning installing the security door. Minister Zhou drove a truck to take the security door and Li Aiguo to Factory 202.

The security door was assembled and debugged, and before we knew it, it was time to get off work.

Minister Zhou specially arranged for a small kitchen to be set up in canteen 202 and took out a bottle of old wine.

After having a good meal and a few drinks, it was almost nine o'clock in the evening when Li Aiguo returned to the guesthouse.

It was pitch black outside at this time, and the dim light shone through the leaves onto the ground, casting mottled shadows.

"Who?!" Li Aiguo just walked to the door of the guesthouse and suddenly stopped, pulled out a pistol from his waist and pointed it into the darkness beside him.

"It's me, Team Leader Li, don't shoot." Zhao Qing didn't expect Li Aiguo to pull out the gun directly, and he walked out of the darkness in fright.

After seeing the other person's appearance clearly with the help of the dim light, Li Aiguo pointed the gun downward, his finger on the trigger, and frowned: "Zhao Qing, it's so late, what are you doing here?"

"I, I'm waiting for you. I want to report something to you." Zhao Qing looked around and said in a low voice, "Team Leader Li, how about we go in and talk?"

"No need, let's do it here." Li Aiguo's voice was cold.

Zhao Qing also realized Li Aiguo's cold attitude, smiled awkwardly, and said: "Team Leader Li, I am here to report Zhang Shiqi's situation. You must believe me, I am not making things up this time."

"Okay, tell me what's going on." Li Aiguo seemed impatient.

Zhao Qing straightened his collar, took a step forward, and whispered, "Team Leader Li, I found that Zhang Shiqi was deceiving Wang Xiaomei."

"Ok?"

"The night before yesterday, the two of them were hugging and kissing in the cinema. Zhang Shiqi showed his annoyance behind Xiaomei's back. Tell me, is he cheating on Xiaomei?"

"how do you know?"

"I was sitting not far from them." Zhao Qing also thought this statement was a bit ridiculous, and added: "I bought a movie ticket."

"."

Li Aiguo was silent.

He felt that he had nothing to talk about with a voyeur, so he turned around and went into the guesthouse.

"Team Leader Li, wait a minute." Zhao Qing was anxious and quickly followed Li Aiguo from behind: "Team Leader Li, if Zhang Shiqi really likes Xiaomei, there is nothing wrong with him. I will definitely support their marriage with both hands, but it is obvious that Zhang Shiqi is just playing with Xiaomei's feelings."

Li Aiguo asked calmly, "You came here today, maybe they submitted a marriage application to the factory, right?"

"Yes, but Xiaomei was definitely deceived by Zhang Shiqi. She is in charge of cutting materials now. How can she get married if she is so busy?"

Li Aiguo was originally planning to walk around Zhao Qing and leave, but when he heard this, his feet froze in mid-air.

He retracted his foot and asked casually, "Cutting materials? Isn't this the responsibility of the cutting workshop?"

The so-called cutting workshop is a common workshop in large factories and work sections. Its main function is to provide the required parts to other departments and to perform preliminary processing on these parts.

Take the Datong Locomotive Factory that Li Aiguo once visited, for example. Most of the raw materials for manufacturing locomotives were prepared by the cutting workshop.

Although Zhao Qing didn't know why Li Aiguo was interested in Wang Xiaomei's work, he explained honestly: "Our factory doesn't have a cutting workshop, only a material supply department. As you know, the material needed for the tank is a special alloy, and it is necessary for the cutter to transport the special alloy to the forging workshop. This is roughly the work, and I don't know the details."

The special alloy should be 601 steel. Li Aiguo felt that he seemed to have grasped a clue, but he couldn't figure out the specific ideas.

"Zhao Qing, I know you have a problem with Zhang Shiqi, but now men and women are free to marry, and as an outsider, you have no right to stop it. Okay, go back, and don't mention this matter again in the future."

After Li Aiguo gave Zhao Qing a few instructions, he went into the guesthouse.

Outside, Zhao Qing stood in the darkness for a quarter of an hour before he let out a long sigh, turned around and left.

****
Five days later in the evening, the setting sun dyed the red brick exterior wall of the No. 1 Machine Factory blood red.

Director Guo's special car rolled through the main road of the factory, raising a cloud of dust, and a dozen military trucks loaded with precision instruments followed closely behind.

The moment the car door opened, the cold wind, carrying the unique sand and gravel of the Gobi Desert, rushed towards the experts who filed out of the car - they came from many units such as the 211 Factory and the Military Industrial Research Institute, and the badges on their chests glowed coldly in the twilight.

The tungsten filament lights in the factory's conference room made everyone's shadows very long.

Director Guo took off his hat that was wet by the wind and sand, and glanced at the factory leaders present: "Comrades, what we brought back this time is not only experts, but also the trust of military prestige."

He slapped the top-secret document with a red seal on the table and said, "The depleted uranium armor project will be led by our First Machine Factory."

There were gasps in the conference room.

Director Guo raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and continued: "This project is classified as a top-level confidentiality mission. All participants must sign a confidentiality agreement immediately."

He paused, and said in a more serious tone, "Li Aiguo is the project leader, and Comrade Zhang Tan is the deputy leader. This is not a choice, it is a death order! Our First Machine Factory carries the country's expectations. Even if it costs our lives, we must get the depleted uranium armor!"

Outside the meeting room, the wind was howling and the flag that symbolized faith and mission was fluttering.

(End of this chapter)