Chapter 513 Apollo Project (Part 2)

In fact, the rubber factory was a uranium enrichment plant, and the scale of production was even larger than Speer had imagined. In addition to the original site of the rubber company, it also included a more secret place - Auschwitz concentration camp. After the change in Jewish policy, all ordinary Jewish prisoners in the concentration camp were released and performed forced labor, and a very small number of Jewish prisoners were transferred to other prisons. The entire concentration camp was almost an empty city, and the ground below became the site of a huge nuclear project. The entire factory, the old site of the concentration camp, and the land within a radius of 50 kilometers became a restricted area, but only Morowitz was open to the public. Only a very few people knew the secrets of the concentration camp, not even Speer.

Onizog was very satisfied with the effect of Dibner's speech, and even more satisfied with the fact that the head of state summoned them and asked them to give a keynote speech in public. Although it was only May, beads of sweat had already seeped out of his fat forehead. He proudly said: "We now have nearly 100 grams of uranium-235 with an enrichment of more than 87%. As time goes by, the amount will increase. We can provide more than 2 tons of uranium oxide blocks that constitute the main body of the reactor per month. I urgently hope that more experts will join this research system and make bombs."

For a while, everyone talked about this. Speer looked at Himmler meaningfully, thinking.

The SS was a force that could not be ignored from beginning to end in the uranium project of the Third Reich. The four giants of the National Socialist Party were certainly not a monolithic entity, and Hoffman did not allow them to be a monolithic entity. This was not in line with political logic and governance. Even if he had no political experience, he was still very clear about this set. Speer's status has risen very quickly in the past nine months because he has sole control of economic power. He has gone from the last of the four giants to the head of the four giants. Based on balance, Hoffman cannot ignore Himmler's feelings, not to mention that the latter has made contributions in eradicating the Goering Group.

Since Himmler had a tense relationship with Goebbels, Speer, Baumann and others, and had a special liking for secret projects, and the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Ohnizog was on good terms with him, Hoffman simply assigned this secret project to Himmler. After losing control of the intelligence system, Himmler's power was greatly weakened, and he attached more and more importance to the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications and the secret research team led by him.

More importantly, although the academic ability of the team led by Dibner was relatively weak, all the participants were members of the National Socialist Party, and some were members of the SS. They admired the theory of the National Socialist Party and the Führer very much, which was also the key factor in Himmler's willingness to support and fund the project. With the full support and heavy investment of the SS, the software of Dibner's team may be a little worse, but the hardware facilities are completely top-notch. No matter what experimental equipment and raw materials, as long as he asks, Himmler can get them for him.

When Heisenberg boasted about the 1,600 tons of uranium ore in the warehouse, 9,000 tons of ore were piled up under the Auschwitz concentration camp; when Heisenberg was still sighing about the power constraints, Himmler quietly built a huge uranium enrichment plant through Farben, and said that if conditions permitted, the entire concentration camp could become the location of the secret project. As for the coolies, it might be a constraint for Speer, but for Himmler, who managed all the concentration camps, it was just a number.

Speer was completely unaware of these inside stories, but Hoffman was an insider. Not only did he know, he also encouraged Himmler to let go. So this group had the fewest people and started the latest, but the results were the most significant. Because of the small number of people, the entire research system was the first to use the Z-4 ​​electronic computer invented by Conrad Zuse to carry out calculations. This project, which Hoffman called "my pension", quickly succeeded. The machine manufactured in March had an addition speed of more than 100 times per second (12 times multiplication)-all slide rules were thrown behind.

In addition to the field of nuclear physics, ballistic experts and rocket experts from Peenemünde were also very interested in this set of things. After experiencing it personally, they specifically asked for a set and hoped for faster and better equipment. Chu Ze said that the potential of relays has been basically tapped. Unless the next step is to use electron tubes, it will require more funds and personnel, and a larger venue. The ecstatic Himmler did not hesitate to allocate 10 million marks and provide all guarantees, and then took 15% of the shares from Chu Ze - in the name of the SS.

Electronic computers soon became the second important research project of the SS, with more than 40 researchers and more than 60 technicians and engineers. Chu Ze was the academic director. Although he himself did not have the title of professor or doctor, Himmler did not value these at all. He cared about the results. He once said to people around him: "If you can't make anything, no matter how loud the title is, you are just a hen that can't lay eggs." Himmler, who was born as a chicken farm owner, hated this kind of "hen" the most.

If we compare Zuse's project to a startup, then Hoffman provided the angel round and took 30% of the shares with 2 million marks; the SS provided the A round and took 15% of the shares with 10 million marks. Zuse and his research team still had 55% of the shares, and the total valuation of the project had soared to more than 66 million marks. The Armaments Department led by Speer also wanted to get involved. Himmler said that he could participate in the shares, but he had to wait until the Z5 computer with a calculation capacity of 1,000 times per second was completed and evaluated. He offered a price of at least 30 million for the Armaments Department to invest 10% of the shares.

Speer initially planned to accept it, because he had little chance to argue with Himmler or the SS, but when he thought that the Führer still held 30% of the shares, he went to Hoffman unwillingly, but the latter blocked him with one sentence - "10% of the shares of the electronic computer project that calculates 1,000 times per second is only worth 30 million marks? Himmler seems to have not realized the great significance of this invention. I must offer 100 million yuan." The Minister of Armaments was stunned and finally had to prepare to pay the money obediently. It is precisely because of so many big figures escorting that no big company dared to say anything about Chu Ze's invention or rob it.

After Dibner finished his speech, Heisenberg was stunned. Just when he was complacent about 5 grams of uranium-235, others had obtained more than 20 times the resources. What's more terrible is that he kept saying that he couldn't make it, but others said clearly that they could.

Hoffman knew that he had gone astray in his impatience: these experts had only a limited understanding of how to use highly enriched uranium-235 and were at a loss about the internal structure of the atomic bomb, but he could not wait to start making weapons-grade raw materials.

He cast his eyes on Bot, motioning him to give a special speech. Bot smiled awkwardly and quickly stated his views: "First, I think it is possible to make a bomb. The speed may not be as slow as Mr. Heisenberg said, but it will not be as fast as Mr. Dibner said; second, my research shows that graphite is a better moderator than heavy water and paraffin. In terms of effect, graphite is better than paraffin. In terms of the difficulty of obtaining it, although it is difficult to obtain high-purity graphite, it is easier than heavy water; third, if this kind of bomb is to be made, 2-3 or more must be made, and it must be tested before it is actually used to determine the power and effectiveness. The results and how to use it, of course, I hope I will never need him..."

"Very good." Hoffman nodded, and then unexpectedly mentioned Otto Hahn's name, "I have read the paper written by you and Mr. von Weizsäcker. I don't understand the specific details, but I know that you proposed the view that uranium can generate element 94 (plutonium) under the action of neutrons inside the reactor, right?"

Hahn, who had been shrinking in the corner, nodded. He didn't want to participate in this kind of meeting, but Weizsäcker forced him to come. Fortunately, he didn't have to make a keynote speech, so he shrank back with peace of mind. Unexpectedly, the head of state not only called his name but also asked this question directly, so he nodded subconsciously: "Yes."

"Element 94 has similarities with uranium-235? It will burst out extremely powerful energy when fissioning?"

"To be precise, one of its isotopes is similar to uranium-235, and the fission energy is also similar, but it is not yet certain which one is larger under the same conditions, and further observation is needed."

"Do you have a way to purify it?"

"I don't know, I haven't tried it. In fact, element 94 does not exist naturally in nature, it must be in the reactor, so the output is very small, and this element is highly toxic, so you need to be very careful when purifying it."

"How much can it be purified? 50%? 70%? 90%?"

Hahn thought for a long time: "In theory, if you are willing to pay a decisive price, you can increase it to more than 90%, but that is meaningless. I think 5-7% is enough to maintain the reactor. .”

Hoffman shook his head: “I don’t want a reactor, I want a bomb, and it’s only possible if it’s more than 90% abundant.”

“Führer, no one in the world has ever seen element 94 with an abundance of more than 90%, and even fewer people know that it exists, perhaps no more than 20 people. Otherwise, we wouldn’t name it 94, but would directly give it a code name.” Hahn was very excited when he heard the word “bomb”. “In addition, I don’t think that 90% abundance is a prerequisite for a bomb, and no one can prove this at present.”

Hoffman ignored his rebuttal and pressed on: “I’ve heard rumors that you said this in public - we must never make a uranium bomb, that’s immoral, and if the Führer lets me make this thing, I’ll choose to commit suicide.”

“Führer, I just…” Hahn was stunned, not knowing how to answer, and not knowing how this secret communication between scholars could be heard by the Führer?

Himmler’s face went dark and his face became very ugly. Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Speer stood up and tried to smooth things over, but was stopped by Hoffman.