Faced with the not so optimistic situation, Hoffman had no choice but to calm down and ask kindly: "Tell me what you plan to do next." Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

"From the point of view of the refining process, the difficulty and complexity of refining from low to high abundance increases exponentially, and uranium-235, which is generally used as an energy source, only needs 3-5% abundance, while weapons-grade may require 90% or even 95% abundance of raw materials. The same amount of time and energy may be able to refine 100 kg of elements with 5% abundance, but not 1 kg of elements with 80% abundance. Based on the current limitations, if only 5% of the raw material is refined, hundreds of kilograms can be refined at full power in a month. Heisenberg paused and said cautiously, "I insist that it is more practical and strategic to refine low-abundance feedstocks to make reactors to provide energy than to refine high-abundance feedstocks for bombs." Theoretical calculations show that a reactor for the manufacture of nuclear materials refined in 2-3 months can drive a 3,000-ton submarine. ”

"Submarines?" Speer interjected, "How?" ”

"The reactor will provide enough power, the submarine does not need to be refueled at all, as long as the air can keep up, it can stay under the sea for as long as it wants, and if the reinforced reactor is used on a large warship, there is no need to replenish heavy fuel at all, and it can be opened for as long as it wants...... "Hoffman opened his mouth and came - isn't it nuclear power!

Speer's face was full of shock, and Heisenberg nodded again and again: "The Führer's statement is very vivid, basically that's it." ”

Milch seized the opportunity to ask: "If it is loaded on an airplane, is it possible to fly without restrictions without having to land for supplies?" ”

"This ......," Heisenberg looked embarrassed, "I'm afraid not, the reactor will weigh dozens of tons, and it will need water or something else to cool it, it is too big, too heavy, it will not work on an airplane, a submarine or a large warship will be no problem at all, and it will even save space more than a traditional power plant." ”

"Hey!" The Air Marshal sighed, the nuclear-powered global fighter of his dream was completely shattered before it could take shape!

Hoffmann pondered: Heisenberg, as a representative of the energy faction, had peddled this set of ideas in front of him more than once, and the key was not to know the real intentions of this guy.

Later generations have three analyses of Heisenberg's miscalculation and his insistence on the view of the energy faction:

First, he didn't understand the principle of the atomic bomb at all, so the theoretical views and calculations were wrong.

Second, he knew the whole system - he thought of the uranium bomb as a "pineapple" in his conversation with Milch, but he was reluctant to help the Third Reich build it, because he thought it was immoral to make such a bomb, so he deliberately exaggerated the difficulty and time, which was also Heisenberg's own stated view after the war. Hoffman asked Milch privately, who flatly denied hearing the word "pineapple", but Hoffman did not want to simply dismiss this inference, because Milch is now on a different trajectory from history, and has been separated from the uranium project in the middle;

Third, he knew the whole system and was willing to make a bomb, but because of the constraints of practical difficulties, and at the same time he was overconfident that the United States would not be able to make such a bomb, so he finally gave up.

But Heisenberg was an academic authority after all, and Hoffmann nodded quietly and fell silent, and everyone fell silent when they saw that the Führer was silent.

"Professor Heisenberg's idea is very good, this should be an epoch-making energy source, just like the replacement of coal-fired boilers with heavy oil boilers, causing a major change in warships, maybe we can use it in the next war, maybe it can be used for civilian purposes - it would be nice to have a nuclear power plant, but what we need most is a final superweapon, not a secret energy source, Professor Bote, may I hear your thoughts?"

"Honorable Führer, I think you are right in asking for it, it is true that the creation of bombs is more important than the development of new energy sources. Of course, I admit that Professor Heisenberg is right, and at the moment we do not have the elements for large-scale refinement, so ......"

"Assuming that there are enough raw materials now, can we theoretically estimate the power and lethality of the bomb?"

"This ......," Hybot and the group of people looked at each other, and finally replied stubbornly, "Führer, this needs to be verified on the ground, theoretically it may be possible to destroy a city, maybe the chain reaction will be interrupted halfway, it may be just a large bomb at best, maybe not as powerful as the 'Driller' aerial bomb against the fortress of Gibraltar." ”

Speaking of which, Hoffmann has fully understood: the German experts led by Heisenberg and Bott have not yet figured out the theory, and they are stumbling forward on the premise of forcibly opening and guiding themselves, and the situation is like a complex mathematical problem, they reveal the answer in advance but do not solve the process, and then a group of people rack their brains to make it up.

Heisenberg himself wondered why the Führer was so keen on making bombs? He had made this clear statement last summer, in June 1942, when his first experimental reactor in Leipzig had been destroyed in a fire, and at that time neither the Führer nor Speer had expressed hope for such a bomb that had "no hope of success for three or four years" and that it would be more advantageous to turn to nuclear energy, so he applied for a small research grant. A few months later, the situation took a 180-degree turn, and the entire project was not only upgraded to specifications, but also allocated 500 million marks at once - a figure he never dreamed of. In this atmosphere, not only his reactor was rebuilt, but even the graphite reactor advocated by Bot was given the opportunity to be built, so he said that "both reactors are working well".

But he didn't think much about it, it was not uncommon for big men to change their minds and change their orders overnight - even Marshal Milch could fall and rise again, what else was impossible?

He thought it would be Bot's turn to speak, but he was even more shocked, and after Dahlges whispered a few words in the Führer's ear, Himmler, the Imperial Postmaster Onizog, and Kurt Dibner suddenly came to the meeting.

What is even more strange is that the Führer actually changed the agenda on the impromptu and postponed Bot's statement, signaling Dibner to speak first - he was in charge of the third uranium engineering group.

Dibner's first sentence shocked everyone present: "Honorable Führer, our uranium-paraffin three-dimensional reactor has fully met the design requirements, and the neutron output index has exceeded the best case in the Leipzig experimental reactor that Professor Heisenberg previously chaired, and of course I don't know if it has exceeded his latest construction results." ”

Heisenberg, of course, knew Dibner, and in fact the latter had asked him for theoretical questions a long time ago, and the so-called "three-dimensional reactor" was not a new term, two years ago he had heard of the design scheme of "uranium blocks in a grating pattern" - the block uranium was placed in a moderator encirclement, not in a two-dimensional plane, but in a three-dimensional surrounding. However, he was very unimpressed by this for three reasons: first, it was not the original work of Dybner, but after the German army occupied France, Diebner dug it out of the experimental archives in the Curie laboratory and systematically summarized it; Second, Heisenberg did not see much innovation in this scheme, and at best it was an improvement on his Leipzig experimental reactor; Third, Dybna himself graduated from Halle University, has a lower theoretical level, and is not well-known in the academic field, and he considers the other party to be just a second-rate person.

In addition, he was not accustomed to Debner: the latter not only joined the National Socialist Party, but also had a clear national social statement and political traces, which Heisenberg, a self-proclaimed moral model, dismissed. In his mind, Bot was the second best contender in terms of ability and different academic opinions, and Dibner was an academic liar at best - just look at his backstage and be the Imperial Minister of Post! God, the Ministry of Posts can also have something to do with nuclear research?

Dybner's second sentence is even more striking: "Combining the results of the experiment with the uranium extraction process, I think it is feasible to make a bomb, which is simpler and more straightforward than using a reactor as an energy supplier." The reason is very simple: the bomb does not need to be protected and maintained, as long as the power is released in an instant, and the energy source must be used as a comprehensive consideration of construction, safety, protection, stable operation and other factors, which is very difficult. If there are no constraints on the raw materials, we can make a bomb in a very short time -- I think it takes 3-6 months. ”

Now not only Heisenberg is an energy faction, but even Both, who advocates the creation of bombs, is shocked - he has not dared to speak like that. Speer turned his head to look at Heisenberg, and saw that he pouted disapprovingly, as if he was disdainful of such remarks, but he could not express it in the Führer's presence.

Hoffmann didn't seem to notice Heisenberg's attitude, but nodded gently: "Tell me more about your achievements in Morowitz......"

As soon as he said this, Speer frowned, and he remembered: Farben invested heavily in the construction of a large Dingner synthetic rubber plant in Morowitz, just 6 kilometers from Auschwitz, and the whole project was completed last year, and Farben invested 900 million marks in the project. Curiously, the plant never produced any synthetic rubber, but it consumed more electricity than the entire Greater Berlin area.

Synthetic rubber is no longer as urgent as it was at war, and after the opening of the Indian Ocean route, especially after it had the right to control the sea, Japan twice sent merchant ships to send natural rubber to the Middle East, and then transshipped it to the mainland. In addition to rubber, a large number of other tropical materials could be obtained through trade with Japan. So Speer was more interested in this rubber factory, which did not produce synthetic rubber, and he knew that there must be articles in it. It's just that because the company invested in everything from raw materials to power generation capacity, and made it clear that there were secret SS projects, and the SS was responsible for everything from military spending to security, Speer was curious and inconvenient to ask, and now it seems that the mystery lies in this. (To be continued.) )