Courtyard House: A Major Power's Heavy Industry, Hand-Crafted Nuclear Fusion

Late at night, at Base 504.

Although it was already 2 a.m., the city that never sleeps was still brightly lit.

At the back gate of the research institute, a hunched figure was pushing a garbage cart slowly along the asphalt road.

"Old Fan, still busy so late?"

The sentry at the gate recognized him. Grandpa Fan, a cleaner in the base's logistics department, was usually honest and kind, always smiling—a typical good-natured man.

"Yes, comrade."

Old Fan stopped the car, wiped the sweat from his forehead, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Those scholars from the Theory Department just finished their meeting. There's a lot of waste paper. I'm afraid it will pile up tomorrow morning and affect their work."

"Thank you for your hard work." The sentry waved. "Go on in."

"Okay, sure."

Old Fan pushed the cart into the backyard of the research institute.

This is the most secure area in the entire base. Every day, the waste paper produced is processed by a special shredder and then incinerated by designated personnel.

However, there will always be some non-confidential, household waste mixed in.

Lao Fan's task was to clean up this household garbage.

He skillfully emptied the trash cans one by one into the truck. His movements were swift, but his eyes seemed somewhat unfocused.

When he reached the trash can downstairs from Su Zheng's office, he slowed down.

He looked around warily.

no one.

Only the sound of the wind blowing through the poplar trees could be heard.

Old Fan quickly pulled a black plastic bag from his pocket and, with lightning speed, filled it with some scraps of paper from the trash can.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he continued pushing the cart toward the landfill at the edge of the base.

……

Half an hour later.

Landfill.

Located downwind of the base, far from the core area, this place is rarely visited.

Old Fan pushed the garbage truck into a hidden pit.

He did not take out the trash.

Instead, a thin metal tube was pulled out from the bottom of the garbage truck, from what appeared to be a solid axle.

That's an antenna.

He then pulled out a black telegraph machine, no bigger than a cigarette box, from under the car seat.

"Beep beep... beep beep..."

He put on his headphones and his fingers flew across the telegraph machine.

Those hands, usually rough and calloused from holding brooms, were now as nimble as a pianist's.

Unseen radio waves traversed the sandstorms of the Gobi Desert, flying towards the distant north.

however.

Unbeknownst to him, less than fifty meters away behind a sand dune, a pair of eyes were coldly watching him.

"Should we arrest them?"

General Zhang lay prone on the sand dune, the safety of his gun already off.

"Don't rush."

Su Zheng held down General Zhang's hand.

He was wearing specially made night vision goggles (actually the Eye of Truth) and watching the figure sending a telegram.

"Let him send it."

Su Zheng's voice was soft, yet it carried a confident air of being in control of the situation.

"Why? That's a leak!" General Zhang exclaimed anxiously, "What if he sends out your blueprint..."

"rest assured."

Su Zheng smiled and said, "The blueprints are in my head. No one except Xin Yi and Lao Yu has ever seen them. What he sent out were just things we wanted him to send out."

"You mean..." General Zhang paused for a moment, then realized, "a counter-espionage plot?"

"right."

Su Zheng looked at the still busy figure.

"I've actually noticed this old Fan a long time ago."

"You noticed? When?"

"Two weeks ago."

Su Zheng recalled, "One day I was eating in the canteen and saw him wiping the table. He had calluses on the back of his hands. Those were from holding a gun for a long time. Moreover, the way he walked, although he deliberately pretended to have bowlegs, his lower body was very stable, and he was obviously a trained fighter."

"Most importantly..."

Su Zheng pointed to his eyes.

"I've seen his garbage truck. The axle was hollow, and there were things hidden inside."

General Zhang gasped.

"That old fox! He's been hiding it well! How come the background check didn't find out?"

"It's very difficult to detect a professional agent through background checks. He might be a 'sleeper,' and if it weren't for the huge commotion surrounding this hydrogen bomb breakthrough, he might never have woken up."

Su Zheng said.

"So what do we do now? Just let him keep going like this?"

"right."

Su Zheng took a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to General Zhang.

By the moonlight, General Zhang could see the contents of the document.

It was a report that looked very much like a genuine "top secret report".

The title is: "Summary of the Failure of Thermonuclear Fusion Experiments and Adjustment of Technical Approach".

The content is roughly as follows:

"After numerous attempts, the radiation focusing problem of the TU configuration could not be solved. Experimental data shows that X-rays cannot be effectively compressed into the stage."

"After research, it has been decided to suspend the development of the TU configuration and instead focus all efforts on developing the 'enhanced atomic bomb' (boosted type)."

"The development cycle of the hydrogen bomb is expected to be delayed until 1970."

General Zhang's eyes widened in astonishment after reading it.

"This...this is fake?"

"Of course it's fake."

Su Zheng sneered, "I had Xinyi 'print' this out on my own, then tore it up and threw it in that trash can."

"Furthermore, to make him believe it, I deliberately sprinkled some coffee stains on it to make it look like an abandoned document."

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

General Zhang gave a thumbs up, "If our big brother in the north believes this, they will definitely breathe a sigh of relief, thinking that we can't develop a hydrogen bomb anytime soon."

"That's right."

Su Zheng nodded, "As long as they lower their guard, even if it's only for six months, it will be a valuable window of opportunity for us."

"All warfare is based on deception."

"This is also a form of national defense."

……

In the sandpit.

Old Fan finally finished sending out the newspaper.

He breathed a sigh of relief, put away the antenna, and tucked the transmitter back into the axle.

A smug smile appeared on his face.

This intelligence is extremely important.

The Chinese have abandoned the TU design! This means their hydrogen bomb program has been hampered!

If this message were to be relayed back, what a great achievement that would be!

Gold bars? A villa? Or a Volga car?

Lost in his pleasant fantasy, Lao Fan pushed the garbage truck, ready to leave.

Just then.

"Snapped!"

A bright beam of searchlight suddenly shot out from behind the sand dune, pinning him to the spot.

"Who?!"

Old Fan was shocked and instinctively reached for the dagger at his waist.

"If I were you, I wouldn't move."

A cold voice sounded.

In the surrounding darkness, dozens of dark gun barrels suddenly appeared.

Su Zheng and General Zhang emerged from behind the pillar of light.

"Uncle Fan, you're quite busy."

Su Zheng looked at the "cleaner" whose face had turned ashen and said indifferently, "It's so late, and you're still calling your family to let them know you're safe?"

Old Fan's hand froze in mid-air.

He's an expert.

He knew that at this distance, if he dared to move a finger, he would be riddled with bullets.

"I don't understand what you're talking about..."

Old Fan was still trying to argue, "I just came to take out the trash..."

Do you need a radio to take out the trash?

Su Zheng pointed to the garbage truck, "Do you want me to saw open that axle and take a look?"

Old Fan's face instantly fell.

He knew it was over.

"You...knew all along?" Old Fan's voice turned sinister.

"It's not too early."

Su Zheng walked up to him, looking down at him. "I was watching you from upstairs just now when you were picking up those scraps of paper."

"you……"

Old Fan suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with terror. "That document...it's fake?!"

"When the truth is taken for falsehood, the falsehood becomes truth."

Su Zheng smiled. "But you can rest assured, your telegram has already been sent. The other side has received it."

"They will believe that China has given up on the hydrogen bomb."

"I have to thank you for your 'dedication'."

"puff--"

Old Fan coughed up a mouthful of blood.

To kill someone is to destroy their spirit.

This was worse than death. The intelligence he had risked his life to send out turned out to be a carefully prepared poison by the enemy!

"take away."

General Zhang waved his hand.

Several fierce-looking soldiers rushed up, pinned Lao Fan to the ground, and tied him up tightly.

"Interrogate! Interrogate him thoroughly!"

General Zhang gritted his teeth, "Get everything out of his belly! I need to know how many more spies are planted in our base!"

……

the next day.

A quiet "deep cleaning" was carried out at the base.

Based on Lao Fan's confession (under General Zhang's methods, few people could survive a night), the security department followed the clues and uncovered three more spies lurking in different positions.

One was a purchasing agent for the canteen, another was an electrician in the workshop, and the third was... surprisingly, a nurse in the infirmary.

Although none of them had access to core secrets, the level of infiltration was still chilling.

"It seems we need to strengthen our security measures."

In his office, General Zhang looked at the interrogation report with a grave expression.

"It's time to strengthen it."

Su Zheng nodded. "The hydrogen bomb is about to be assembled; we absolutely cannot afford any mistakes."

"I suggest that the base be placed under complete lockdown starting today."

"All personnel are restricted to entry only, with no exit allowed."

"All letters and phone calls will be subject to double-person, double-post review."

"Also," Su Zheng pointed out the window, "that air defense radar needs to be on 24 hours a day. To prevent the enemy from resorting to desperate measures and launching an air raid."

"clear!"

General Zhang saluted. "Not even a mosquito can fly into our core area!"

……

at the same time.

Thousands of kilometers away, Moscow.

The Kremlin's intelligence agency.

An urgent telegram was delivered to the director's desk.

"Top-secret intelligence sent back by codename 'Cleaner'."

The director put on his glasses, looked at it carefully, and his previously furrowed brows slowly relaxed.

"Failed? Gave up?"

"I knew it!"

The director slammed the telegram on the table and burst into laughter, "How could the Chinese possibly have come up with the TU configuration in such a short time? That's something that even we took five years to figure out!"

"It seems that their Su Zheng is just a braggart."

"Even so-called 'geniuses' have to bow down in the face of scientific laws."

"Chief, then we..." the adjutant beside him asked, "...should we still conduct a 'surgical' strike on their base?"

"It's unnecessary."

The director waved his hand dismissively. "A country that's still developing 'enhanced atomic bombs' poses no threat to us. Taking action now would only cause trouble in terms of international public opinion."

"Let them do what they want."

"Wait until 1970? Hmph, by then our multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles will all be in service!"

……

The intelligence agency's misjudgment bought China valuable time.

The war clouds that had hung over Base 504 quietly dissipated.

Inside the base, the actual development of the hydrogen bomb is progressing at an astonishing pace.

A month later.

All the parts have arrived.

Highly enriched uranium triggers, lithium deuteride detonators, special explosive lenses, and even that ceramic detonator processed using ultrasound.

Everything is ready.

Inside the final assembly workshop.

Su Zheng looked at the "big guy" that was already taking shape and took a deep breath.

This is not the "sphere" of the atomic bomb.

This is a gourd.

The top one is an atomic bomb, the bottom one is a hydrogen bomb. They are connected in the middle by a complex radiation channel.

This is the famous "Yu Min configuration".

"Old Yu," Su Zheng turned to look at Old Yu beside him, "let's give it a name."

Looking at the masterpiece that embodied all his hard work, Lao Yu's eyes welled up with tears.

He thought for a moment and said:

"Let's call it... 'Raging Storm'."

"hurricane?"

"Yes." Lao Yu quoted a line of poetry, "The raging storm descended from the sky for me."

"Great name!"

Su Zheng praised.

"Then let this storm rage even more fiercely!"

……

1967 October.

There are still six months left until Su Zhengli's pledge of "two years and eight months".

But "Crazy One" is already fully prepared for launch.

This time, it's not a tower explosion.

Instead, it was airdropped.

A newly modified H-6A bomber is parked at a nearby air force base.

Its bomb bay has been specially modified to accommodate this behemoth weighing 3 tons.

Pilot Li is signing a waiver of life or death under the wing.

"Dean Su, please rest assured."

Captain Li handed the signed note to Su Zheng, saluted, and said, "As long as I'm still alive, I'll definitely hit the bullseye!"

Su Zheng patted him on the shoulder.

"Not only do you have to make the right shot, but you also have to come back alive."

"This thing is a hundred times more powerful than an atomic bomb."

"You only have 40 seconds to escape."

"40 seconds..." Captain Li smiled. "That's enough. My plane flies fast."

……

Everything seemed to be going smoothly.

But at the last moment before takeoff, an accident still occurred.

As the H-6 bomber, loaded with hydrogen bombs, prepared to taxi off the tarmac.

"Alarm! Hanger locked!"

A terrified shout came from the cockpit: "The release indicator light isn't on! It's probably an electrical malfunction! If we take off like this, we won't be able to drop it in the air, and we'll land with the hydrogen bomb... We're all doomed!"

The atmosphere at the scene froze instantly.

This is live ammunition!

If the disassembly and repairs are done on the ground, it will take at least two days. That would mean missing the best weather window.

"Don't panic."

Su Zheng jumped off the command vehicle and grabbed his toolbox.

"I'll go."

"Dean Su! It's too dangerous!" General Zhang grabbed him.

"There's no time."

Su Zheng glanced at the sky. Dark clouds were approaching.

"It must be fixed within ten minutes."

He rushed toward the bomber.

They crawled into the narrow, dark bomb bay where a hydrogen bomb with a yield of several million tons was mounted.

This is truly "dancing with death".