On 1965, Zhou Enlai received a mysterious phone call, and then a team disappeared on 18.

With the sudden ringing of the telephone, Premier Zhou took the call with dignity. Because he knew this day would come. Although China didn't take the initiative to do so, the current situation is urgent and imminent. Correspondingly, in the remote Bashu area, a special army set out quietly. And the place they want to go will also disappear on the map of China, that is, Baitao Town in Chongqing.

This picture, this rhythm, seems to have the meaning of agent action. It's no wonder that Premier Zhou was the head of the * * * special action front, and he was good at this business.

However, with the disappearance of this special unit together with Baitao Town, people have aroused various conjectures: what kind of unit is this, why did it disappear 18, and what tasks were they performing? Why is it directly under the command of Premier Zhou?

Unknown tourist attractions

On 20 10, a new tourist attraction was started in Baitao Town, Fuling, Chongqing, except that this scenic spot is an ugly cave, but the words "8 16 underground nuclear project" stand impressively on the cliffs.

In the face of the sudden cave, people are at a loss. Even the old man who has lived here for nearly 50 years knows nothing about this cave. However, a group of old people who came from other places looked at the cave with tears in their eyes and lingered.

From the appearance, this cave is just an ordinary cave. Why do people from other places visit it? Why haven't people around here known for decades? With such questions, people walked into the cave.

Surprisingly, the inside of the cave is amazing and a strange sight. The lights in the cave are flickering, and various forks extend in all directions. The whole cave is a huge maze. The space in the cave is huge, and the echo that takes a long time to return is enough to explain the emptiness here. There is no doubt that this cave must be a big project involving tens of thousands of people for many years. So the question is, who built this cave? What is it used for?

Behind this huge project of tens of thousands of people, there must be a big secret hidden. The dignified expressions of the old people who came from other places can be seen. Maybe they have heard of it, or maybe they have been here.

Just 3 kilometers away from the cave, a new martyrs cemetery has just opened. Here, surrounded by green trees, the Wujiang River flows slowly, as if afraid to disturb the people who are sleeping here. An 86-year-old man is a frequent visitor here. After a while, I became familiar with it, only to know that this old man named Pan Kaitai is the designer of the 8 16 project.

Sleeping under the cemetery is his former comrade-in-arms, a participant in the 8 16 project. In the cemetery, 76 stone tablets stand tall, and the photos on the tombstones are all young people in their prime. In the face of the 8 16 project being designated as a scenic spot, Pan Kaitai had several emergencies.

First, I didn't expect 8 16 to be decrypted, which is obvious to all.

Second, I didn't expect to see so many comrades still alive.

Third, I didn't expect to visit the tombs of my comrades in my lifetime.

A secret kept all my life.

The full name of 8 16 Project is "8 16 Underground Nuclear Project", which was the most confidential nuclear raw material base in China at that time. Simply put, it is to provide nuclear materials for the manufacture of atomic bombs.

Baitao Town in Fuling was chosen because of its remoteness and good privacy. Second, it is close to Wujiang River, and water resources are sufficient, which is a necessary condition for nuclear energy transformation. That is, when Premier Zhou received the telephone instruction, Baitao Town disappeared from public view, the 8 16 project was officially launched, and the team of nearly 60,000 people was also hidden in the mountains.

The most dangerous part of 8 16 project is also the core area of the whole project. This part is the bottom of 8 16 pot, which is mainly the core of nuclear material and nuclear energy conversion. In other words, the whole project is served here.

The reason why it is the most dangerous place is because the whole link is automatically operated by equipment and instruments. Of course, once the machine breaks down, you need to use human-assisted operation, and this procedure is limited to 30 seconds, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable.

This not only requires all participants to have strong professional ability, but also gives great consideration to their psychological quality. As you can imagine, the confidentiality requirements at that time were very strict, so you couldn't go abroad, let alone communicate with foreigners.

In the words of the section chief, it is four words: keep your mouth shut and expand it a little, not to your parents, not to your wife and children.

I can't tell others what I did when I was young, nor can I share my hardships and the courage of this comrade-in-arms with others all my life. In fact, it is very difficult to do this. It is cruel for them to say nothing about their contribution to the country 35 years ago and completely forget the 8 16 project. So when this history is declassified, they will go all the way and let go of their throats and cry.

According to relevant statistics, nearly 700 million yuan was spent before and after the 8 16 project, which was undoubtedly sky-high for poor China at that time. 60,000 young soldiers secretly went deep into the mountains and started their century journey under difficult conditions.

Third-line construction responds to changes in the current situation

Faced with the 8 16 project, people have many questions. Since the atomic bomb and hydrogen bomb have been successfully built, why should we spend manpower and material resources to build such an industrial base for nuclear raw materials? Just providing nuclear materials? Judging from the 8 16 project itself, I'm afraid it's not just for this. Even so, why did the construction stop later?

This incident was caused by the sudden change of face of the Soviet Union. In those years, this big brother once gave China great assistance. In other words, the start of the new China was helped by the big brother of the Soviet Union. However, after the international situation changed, the Soviet Union tore up the original aid contract, evacuated a large number of experts and equipment at the same time, and even completely destroyed the information and drawings of the aid project in China. China's economic lifeline was cut off instantly, and many construction projects were forced to press the pause button.

As discussed before, with the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations, the US-Vietnam War became a prairie fire, approaching the economic lifeline of China at that time-southern China. In the face of the North-South attack of the United States and the Soviet Union, in order to protect China's hard-won peaceful environment and cope with the sudden vicious incidents, it is urgent to start the so-called "third-line construction". This is the scene where Chairman Mao consulted Premier Zhou in the middle of the night.

Due to historical reasons, at that time, more than 70% of China's industries were distributed in the northeast and coastal areas. From a military point of view, this industrial layout is very fragile and passive. The heavy industry base in Northeast China is within the range of Soviet bombers and even short-range missiles. Coastal areas, especially East China Industrial Zone, are completely exposed within the attack radius of American aircraft carriers. In the event of war, there is a high probability that China's industry will soon be paralyzed.

That is, under this concept, it is necessary and urgent to strengthen the military and economic buffer zone in western China. Subsequently, the Prime Minister approved the establishment of an underground nuclear raw material base in Great South China, which is the origin of the "8 16 Project". There is no doubt that this is a top secret national military project initiated by Chairman Mao and approved by Premier Zhou. It is worth mentioning that the 8 16 project had a special position in the third-line construction at that time. It is not only a production base for nuclear weapons and nuclear fuel, but also a huge prevention and control system. The 8 16 project can not only resist the air impact of 1 10,000 tons, but also provide strategic prevention and control support for about 30,000 people.

As a wartime emergency project, due to the reversal of the international situation, the relationship between China and the United States and other western countries was improved, and the Soviet Union was forced by the pressure of the United States to ease the situation in northeast China. Later, with the disintegration of the Soviet Union, China relieved his worries. At the same time, China's economic layout has undergone a strategic shift, and giving priority to the development of the eastern region has become a development trend. In such an international and domestic environment, the preparation status of the 8 16 project was lifted in the mid-1980s and listed as a suspended construction plan.

It is worth mentioning that the prohibition of orders is an instinctive reflection of soldiers, and only relaxation can show the rhythm of national strength. Although the 8 16 project was built for 18 years, it still failed to wait until the salute was completed. However, from the perspective of national policy, the 8 16 project shows the heroic spirit that the people's army can win the battle and die for the country at any time, which is particularly important.

As a unique tourist attraction, today's 8 16 project has been opened to the world. The atomic bomb sandbox was specially set up in the project to commemorate the revolutionary martyrs who died heroically for the national nuclear weapons construction and the great soldiers who devoted their youth and time to the third-line construction.

In fact, even if we wander through the 8 16 project now, it seems that we can vaguely see those young soldiers working hard and those engineers are still learning selflessly. Although their faces are covered with sweat and dust, their eyes are so focused and firm. In fact, this is the source of strength for the rise of China.

In Ran Ran, the grass in the Martyrs Cemetery above the 8 16 Project is older. People come and go, so back and forth. The only constant is that on these 76 stone tablets, the young faces of the martyrs are still so vibrant. No matter how the times develop and society progresses, they are on the side of the 8 16 project, and their will is rock solid.

For Pan Kaitai and others, this is a reunion spanning 40 years. Although things were different when we met again, we could still talk and laugh and tell the story of 8 16.