Chapter 836 The Second Nuclear Test

Among the developments of many heavy weapons, the German government obviously pays more attention to the development of aircraft.

After all, tanks have too many terrain restrictions, but aircraft are not affected by terrain, only by weather.

Moreover, various types of aircraft can complete tasks such as transportation, air support, airborne landing behind enemy lines, and long-distance bombing. Among all heavy weapons, they are the most useful weapons.

For the research and development of military aircraft, one aircraft manufacturer stands out, and that is the local military industrial enterprise now called the Bavarian Aircraft Factory.

The aircraft factory may not be famous, but their new name a few years later, the Messerschmitt Aircraft Factory, was famous during World War II.

As early as last year, the German government held a private tender for the design of a new generation of fighter jets. The one selected by the German government was the Be109 single-engine, single-seat, single-wing, all-metal piston fighter designed by Messerschmitt, a designer at the Bavarian Aircraft Factory.

The concept aircraft designed is also known as the Bf109. This may be strange to say, because the Bavarian Aircraft Factory was renamed the Messerschmitt Aircraft Factory a few years later. The Bf109, also known as the Me109, was historically Germany's main fighter in World War II and served until the end of the war. Europe fought all the way to Africa and participated in all the battles fought by Germany.

Just from the length of service of this aircraft, we can judge how excellent the design concept displayed by this aircraft is.

Precisely because of its optimism about the design of this aircraft, after announcing that it would vigorously develop the military industry, the Bavarian Aircraft Factory immediately received the attention of the German government and regarded it as a military industry enterprise that was strongly supported.

With the support of the German government, the Bavarian Aircraft Factory quickly produced the first prototype of the Be109 single-engine, single-seat, single-wing, all-metal piston fighter, and officially began testing of Germany's advanced fighter jets.

While the Germans were concentrating on developing fighter jets, a very tragic aerial encounter was taking place over Madrid, Spain.

For the Spanish Republican government, Madrid, the capital, must not be lost. Once the capital falls, it will be a heavy blow to the morale of the Spanish government and will also make many people depressed.

For the Spanish National Army, conquering the capital Madrid has become the most important thing at this time.

Although Spain's territory is considered a large country in Europe, its mainland area is not large, and its capital, Madrid, is located in the center of Spain.

This also means that no matter which party controls the capital area, it can have huge influence on other surrounding areas.

The reason why the Spanish Republican government was able to maintain a stalemate with the National Army and the German and Italian armies for so long was because of the defense of the Madrid area and the public's support for the Republican government.

If the capital area is lost, it will become an unknown variable for the Spanish Republican government whether the Spanish people can continue to support it.

In the Madrid offensive and defensive battle, the air battle between the two sides becomes crucial.

As long as any party has an advantage in the airspace, it can pose a huge threat to the enemy's ground forces. More importantly, whether it is Spain, Germany or Italy, the armies on the Spanish battlefield lack anti-aircraft weapons, and ground forces pose almost no threat to the air force.

Under such circumstances, both sides attach great importance to air supremacy and even plan a large-scale air battle for this purpose.

On March 27, 1935, a large-scale air battle broke out over Madrid with more than 200 aircraft. More than a hundred aircraft crashed that day. It was the largest air battle in human history since World War I.

The result of this air battle ended with a tragic victory for the Italian Air Force. Of the 120 aircraft France supported for Spain, more than 60 crashed, and more than 30 aircraft were seriously damaged and required major repairs.

As for the Italian army, of the 225 aircraft it dispatched to Spain, more than 50 aircraft crashed and nearly 40 aircraft were seriously injured.

After this air battle, the Spanish Republic no longer had any resistance in its air force.

Even France, which supports them behind the scenes, will not be able to provide hundreds of aircraft to support Spain in a short period of time.

However, it was precisely because of this large-scale air battle that all European countries saw the importance of aircraft and the importance of developing aircraft-related technologies.

According to intelligence sources, since this air battle, European countries have begun to research new fighter jets and invested a lot of money in their own domestic aircraft manufacturers.

Arthur was not aware of the butterfly reaction caused by the Madrid air battle. When the battle over Madrid was fierce, Arthur was also very excited, waiting for news about the second nuclear test in Australasia.

At this time, nearly 10 months have passed since the last nuclear test. During this period, under the leadership of Einstein, the nuclear weapons research and development test team conducted many discussions on new atomic bomb designs and simulated a large amount of relevant data before deciding to start a new round of nuclear weapons experiments.

Of course, during these ten months, the nuclear weapons research and development experimental team did not only explore the design of atomic bombs. They also looked for another element that could be used for nuclear testing, plutonium-239.

According to the speculation of the nuclear weapons research and development test team, plutonium-239 should be an element that is more reactive than uranium-235. This also means that an atomic bomb using plutonium-239 will produce a greater explosive yield given the same weight of nuclear material.

In order to test this speculation, the nuclear weapons research and development test team produced a total of two atomic bombs, called Death's Sickle and Death's Whip.

As for which type of atomic bomb to build, it depends on which element exerts greater power when the test bombs of these two atomic bombs explode.

On April 1, 1935, April Fool's Day, Australasia's second nuclear weapons test explosion officially began.

It is still the desert interior of Western Australia, with the familiar closure of cities and roads, and the relocation of all foreign tourists.

Because this was done a year ago, it can be said that there are no foreign tourists in the entire Western Australia region.

This also facilitates the testing of nuclear weapons, and also ensures that there are basically no foreign spies within hundreds of kilometers of the nuclear weapons testing site.

"Everyone, after checking the equipment for the last time and confirming that it is correct, our second nuclear test is about to begin." As Einstein's deputy, Szilard was actually the person to direct this nuclear weapons test explosion.

"All the data have been determined and accurate, and the nuclear test can begin." Enrico Fermi, who was on the side, nodded to Einstein and Szilard after confirming that all the data were correct.

"Everyone, I announce that the second nuclear test of the Australasian Nuclear Weapons Test R\u0026D Team has begun!" Einstein nodded and announced to everyone.

"Countdown, 3, 2, 1, detonate!" Szilard counted down slowly, and after the countdown ended, he pressed the button in his hand without hesitation.

boom!

Following the huge detonation sound, a mushroom cloud even larger than before instantly rose in a desert dozens of kilometers away.

The terrifying heat melted all the yellow sand within a few hundred meters, and the yellow sand a few kilometers away was carried by the shock wave, creating a huge deep crater within a few kilometers of the explosion point.

"How is it? Do you have any observation data?" Fermi asked impatiently.

Compared with the last test explosion, this time's test is far more dynamic than the last one.

As a scientist involved in this project, Fermi was very much looking forward to the power of the new round of test explosions and whether they could satisfy Arthur.

"The forward observation team has completed the observation, and the observation data will be brought back within ten minutes." Szilard said with a smile.

Ten minutes later, the nuclear weapons research and development experiment team conducted various calculations on the test-detonated atomic bomb based on all the data brought back by the observation team.

"What are the final numbers?" Szilard asked Fermi.

"Part of the data is still being calculated." Fermi said with a smile: "But according to our calculations, the explosion power of this atomic bomb is at least five times that of the previous one, which means we have succeeded."

"Continue to calculate, I want to get the most accurate and comprehensive data." Einstein nodded, but there was not much excitement on his face: "The next test explosion of the atomic bomb is scheduled for a week later, we need Choose the more powerful of the two atomic bombs and hope our guesses don't let us down."

The atomic bomb currently being tested is a conventional atomic bomb that uses uranium 235 as the nuclear material. It is also the first atomic bomb created by the nuclear weapons research and development test team.

The difference from the first atomic bomb is that the design of the atomic bomb was changed and the utilization rate of uranium 235 was improved.

In fact, all members of the nuclear weapons research and development test team are obviously looking forward to another atomic bomb, which is the latest atomic bomb using plutonium-239 as the nuclear material.

The new atomic bomb, which has undergone major changes in nuclear materials and design, obviously has greater potential than ordinary atomic bombs.

Under the premise that ordinary atomic bombs have been successfully tested, all scientists, including Einstein, have begun to look forward to the test explosion of the second atomic bomb.

"Does the explosion data need to be sent to Fort St. Arthur?" Fermi asked.

Generally speaking, data from nuclear weapons tests needs to be sent to Fort St. Arthur, which is Arthur's desk.

This is not only a channel for Arthur to understand the progress of nuclear weapons research and development, but also a form of supervision for the members of these nuclear weapons research and development teams.

"No need for the time being." Einstein shook his head and said: "When the second atomic bomb test explosion is completed in a week, all the explosion data of the two atomic bombs will be sent to Fort St. Arthur.

I believe that compared to this uranium-235 atomic bomb, the plutonium-239 atomic bomb is what we are really looking for. "

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