On October 16, 1964, my country's first atomic bomb exploded successfully.
The mushroom cloud rising into the sky in the hinterland of the Lop Nur Desert solemnly declared to the world that the Chinese people, relying on their own strength, have achieved a major breakthrough in cutting-edge defense technology.
Since then, my country's missiles, hydrogen bombs, and artificial satellites have been successfully developed.
The brilliant achievements of the "two bombs and one satellite" cause have made an indelible contribution to my country's enhancement of national defense capabilities and establishment of its international status.
On June 28 this year, the "The Great Journey", a cultural performance celebrating the centenary of the founding of the party, announced the "List of 100 Important Heroes and Models". The advanced group of "Two Bombs and One Star" appeared on the list as representatives of the socialist revolution and construction period.
The golden handwriting is shining, showing the spirit of "two bombs and one star" of love for the motherland, selfless dedication, self-reliance, hard work, vigorous coordination, and the courage to climb.
General Secretary Xi Jinping once said: "The spirit of'two bombs and one star' has inspired and inspired generations of people and is a precious spiritual wealth of the Chinese nation."
Wherever the motherland needs me, we will go
In summer, Haibei Prefecture, Qinghai Province, is covered with green grass, white clouds drooping, and mist has been shrouded in the vast mountains.
Surrounded by the rolling mountains, there is a beautiful grassland—Gold and Silver Beach.
In June 1958, Jinyintan was planned as a nuclear weapons development base due to its advantages in hydrology, meteorology, geography, and geology.
Since then, many scientific researchers and soldiers of the People's Liberation Army have come to the Jinyintan Grassland, a "mysterious home" that is almost isolated from the world, with the belief that "wherever the motherland needs me, we will go".
"Go to the most difficult place in the motherland!" said Chen Fuliang, who had the opportunity to stay in Shanghai but chose to develop nuclear weapons in Jinyintan. "I graduated from the Department of Chemistry at Fudan University. I enjoyed it in junior high school, high school, and university. National scholarship. When I graduated, I felt that I was cultivated by the party and the state, so my first choice to fill in was to go to Qinghai. I don’t know what I did. I only knew that I would go to the place where the country needed to exercise."
The development of nuclear weapons is in a high degree of confidentiality, and family members cannot be contacted for a long time.
The staff cannot show their filial piety to their parents, nor can they care for their children.
"I have only received two telegrams, one is "Mother is seriously ill" and the other is "Mother is critically ill"." Chen Fuliang said, but because of work, he eventually did not go home.
Failing to send the end to his mother has also become a regret in his life.
There are still many people who have taken root in the Jinyintan grassland and dedicated silently. A large number of scientific research workers, such as Deng Jiaxian, Guo Yonghuai, Wang Ganchang, and Peng Huanwu, abandon the superior living conditions of foreign countries, and join the vast number of cadres, workers, and PLA commanders and soldiers to establish a foundation in the country’s economy and technology. Under the premise of weak and difficult conditions, the special mission of developing nuclear weapons is fulfilled.
They changed their names, concealed their family members, and some "evaporated" for more than 20 years.
"Two bombs and one satellite" hero Cheng Kaijia is a physicist who returned from Britain. He has worked incognito at the nuclear test base for 20 years.
Decades later, someone asked him if he did not regret his choice of returning to China. Cheng Kaijia replied: "If I do not return to China, I may have greater academic achievements, but I will never be as happy as I am now. Everything is closely linked to the motherland."
Fight high and fight cold, laugh and talk about thirsty drinking bitter water slurry
On July 16, 1960, the Soviet ambassador to China suddenly gave a note to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that all experts in China would be withdrawn from July 23 to September 1.
By August 23, 233 Soviet experts working in China's nuclear industry system all returned to China and took away important drawings and materials, and the supply of equipment and materials was also stopped.
When the Soviet experts evacuated from China, they also put on a sentence: "Leave us, it is estimated that you will not be able to build an atomic bomb in 20 years."
In the face of these situations, Mao Zedong said: "We must make up our minds to engage in cutting-edge technology. Khrushchev does not give us cutting-edge technology, which is excellent! If we do, this account will be very difficult to pay."
The Party Central Committee decided to shorten the front, concentrate its efforts, and make breakthroughs in atomic energy technology through self-reliance.
A large number of experts and scientific and technological backbones quickly rushed to the front line of nuclear weapons development and testing from all parts of the country.
The leak happened in the evening rain, and the time for the Soviet Union to completely tear up the contract coincided with China's three-year difficult period.
According to Liu Zhaomin, who had participated in the development of the atomic bomb, at that time, the amount of food allocated to each of them was only 24 kilograms per month, which is equivalent to 8 taels per day, 2 taels in the morning and 3 taels each at noon and night.
This is completely unsatisfactory for the 24 or 25-year-old scientific research workers who are engaged in high-intensity physical and mental work every day.
Therefore, every time they finish drinking the bowl of porridge, they will rub it again with steamed buns to scrape the glutinously clean without wasting any rations.
Because of insufficient food and non-staple food, nutrition cannot keep up, and many scientific researchers have symptoms such as edema and color blindness.
In winter, Jinyintan was full of snow and cold, and the vast number of builders, cadres and workers endured hunger and fought on the plateau.
The conditions are so difficult, but they still retain the spirit of revolutionary optimism.
"We are fighting on the Gobi Desert. We are not afraid of difficulties and strong beams. Let the gods change, even if the storms are rising, the sun and the moon above our heads are camp tents, we are hungry for food and gravel rice, and we laugh and talk about the bitter water slurry..." General Zhang Aiping, the chief commander of nuclear tests. The lyrics created are a true record of the hard life at that time, and it is also a vivid portrayal of the spirit of the participating troops.
Only by unity and coordination of the whole country can we win
On June 17 this year, my country's Shenzhou 12 manned spacecraft carried three astronauts and successfully docked with the space station's core module. The Chinese entered their own space station for the first time.
It is hard to imagine that more than 50 years ago, the mission of the Dongfanghong-1 when it went to the sky was only "to go up, catch, see, and hear."
The huge leap from Dongfanghong 1 to Shenzhou 12 depends on the tremendous advantages of the socialist system.
According to statistics, in the manned space project, there are hundreds of research institutes and units directly involved, as many as thousands of cooperating units, and hundreds of thousands of scientific research workers are involved.
"The implementation of such an ambitious project as manned spaceflight is unthinkable without the centralized leadership of the Party Central Committee and great national coordination." said Zhou Jianping, the chief designer of China's manned spaceflight project.
When Dongfanghong-1 was developed, the United States, the Soviet Union, France, Japan and other countries all launched their own artificial satellites.
But for Chinese satellite developers, let alone complete data, even satellite samples have not been seen, and the basic development conditions are not met.
Satellites required insufficient production and processing equipment, incomplete testing and test equipment, and shortage of resources and personnel. Western countries imposed blockades on China in terms of components and technology, and the Soviet Union also broke off technological diplomatic relations with China.
Various conditions restrict China's development of artificial satellites.
At that time, the artificial satellite project was secretly called the "651" project. Zhou Enlai specifically instructed that as long as the "651" project requires, the nation's human, financial, and material resources, no matter where it is from, and which unit, will be released and the green light will be given.
As a result, the central government allocated 200 million yuan to support the construction of artificial satellites; Qian Xuesen, Zhao Jiuzhang, Ren Xinmin and other overseas students broke through numerous obstacles to return to the motherland; all over the country mobilized more than 600,000 militiamen to guard the satellite launch communications day and night. line.
It was precisely under the courage and courage of the national forces to tackle the key problem that the Dongfanghong No. 1 was able to lift off smoothly, and for the first time Chinese music resonated throughout the world.
One day in July 2019, Dongfanghong-1 satellite and Tiangong-2 space laboratory met unexpectedly in an orbit about 400 kilometers from the earth.
In this encounter, the two parties are only 40 kilometers apart in space, but they have spanned nearly 50 years in time.
The reason why the "two bombs and one star" spirit is the precious spiritual wealth of the Chinese nation is that it is the spiritual force that has continued to fight against the dark night in the miserable years.
Only if a nation can stand and stand firm spiritually can it stand tall and stand upright in the historical torrent.
In the process of fighting for the cause of "two bombs and one star", the majority of scientific research workers, cadres and employees have cultivated and carried forward the lofty spirit of "two bombs and one star", which is the inheritance and development of the spirit of patriotism, collectivism and socialism. It is also an indispensable connotation of the times in the spiritual pedigree of the Chinese nation.
The spirit of "Two Bombs and One Star" spans time and space and is renewed over time. It embodies the great character of the Chinese Communists in hard work, sacrifice and dedication, pioneering and enterprising, and is deeply integrated into the blood of the party and the people, in order to achieve the second centenary goal. Unremitting struggle provides rich nourishment.
Our reporter Wang Siying