Once We Lived in Nanjing

[Interview Transcript Excerpt: Speculation, Logic, and the Swordman's Grave Digger

This was a telephone interview. I didn't get to see the person in real life, nor did I know where he really was. In fact, it was quite difficult to get in touch with members of the military task force at that time. I went through a lot of people, inside and outside of circles, and followed a long process. Finally, the interview was facilitated by a contact from the People's Liberation Army Newspaper's Convergence Media Center.

"Simply put, the process for the nuclear bomb to leave the warehouse was quite complicated. I can't reveal the specific details, but it was indeed very difficult, as you understand."

The voice on the phone was a man's, speaking very quickly and decisively.

"Were the nuclear bombs you used at the time equivalent to 10 kilotons?"

I asked.

"Correct, the yield was 10 kilotons," said the voice on the phone. "This yield was carefully considered. Zhonghe Industry carefully analyzed and discussed the demands from the Nanjing Command Center. Their demands were quite stringent. Personally, I've never seen such a complex project. If it was just about having a large yield and powerful force, that would be easy. If it was about having a small yield and less power, that would also be manageable. The problem was that they required a large force within a small range and a small force over a broader area—this was tricky... Of course, the yield wasn't the hardest part to deal with."

"But in the end, you managed it."

"Yes, we barely met their requirements. We had to kill the aliens without harming a little girl, which would be tricky for anyone. It must be said, the director from the Nanjing Command Center is a fearsome person; I heard he has a nickname."

"Iron Hand, the Pursuer of Lives."

"Uh... Director Zhao is actually not a bad person, just a bit impatient."

"You just mentioned that the yield wasn't the hardest part to handle."

"The yield was actually the simplest part throughout the whole task chain. What was more complex was the delivery method... jokingly put, we joked about it in private, saying that sending a missile to Washington wouldn't be this difficult." The other person chuckled dryly, "Ordinary delivery methods were completely inapplicable for this mission. Our existing missiles—whether long-range or short-range—were all useless. We had to start designing a plan from scratch."

"So that's when you used the Long March 5?"

"Exactly, the timing was also just right. No effort spared when the shoes were worn out, as the saying goes. It just happened to be on the eve of the Long March 5 Yaosan launch. We were very pressed for time, needing to design a delivery scheme, and we had to use whatever was readily available. Long March 5 was like a pillow offered to a sleepy person; it perfectly solved the carrying capacity issue. With more than 20 tons of LEO capacity, it was very suitable. We immediately contacted Wenchang, and luckily, the space science and technology sector, especially the Sixth Academy, gave us great support."

"So, does that mean Long March 5 became a Super Space-Time strategic nuclear missile?"

"No, no, no, that's not accurate. Long March 5 still played the role of a courier, not a missile," the voice on the phone responded. "Because the requirements of the mission were completely different from ordinary strikes, the Command Center demanded that the nuclear bomb should not detonate in the air but rather underground or semi-underground, and it had to explode at a specific time and location. But if you ask for the exact time and place, no one could give an answer. Even the most precisely guided weapons would be groping in the dark, so everything had to rely on manual operation. Long March 5 was just a courier, responsible for delivering that nuclear bomb, ensuring it would be received."

"But just relying on Long March 5 couldn't accomplish this; you had to ensure that the nuclear bomb re-entered the atmosphere precisely and landed smoothly on the ground."

"Yes, the Long March 5 was only responsible for sending it out. It needed a carrier to bring it back safely. The bomb itself couldn't re-enter the atmosphere," the voice on the phone replied. "So we picked what was readily available again. By the end of last year, the new generation of manned spacecraft was already being tested domestically. There was no more suitable carrier than this, so we borrowed it."

I was surprised.

"Was it the Shenzhou spacecraft?"

"No, not the Shenzhou spacecraft, but a new spacecraft, a replacement for Shenzhou, with a two-stage structure. The one that was publicly launched for the first time this May, actually, the backup machine went to space in the middle of this year. The main machine had been borrowed by us half a year earlier."

"Borrowed for transporting nuclear weapons?"

"We put the nuclear bomb in the command module, strapped it in securely, and then sent it to space. The official explanation was that it was Practice Satellite No. 20," the voice on the phone answered. "♦♦ was very angry. He called us. Borrowing the spacecraft was okay, but it had to be returned afterward."

"♦♦?"

"Yes, he was one of the responsible persons. Because we were in a rush and also held the imperial sword, we acted first and reported later, and many departments were not pleased."

"By that account, there were significant hindrances during the planning progress."

"There were, but I can't go into detail about that."

"Alright, next question. The nuclear bomb was successfully delivered, but how did you manage to ensure it would eliminate the Big Eyes while not harming the half... BG4MSR?"

"This question... wait a moment, let me check if this can be declassified... Alright, I can answer this question. As I mentioned earlier, the delivery was not the toughest part of the mission chain. The toughest hurdle was actually the detonation. How to have Miss Qiu detonate it at the right time and place, to kill the Big Eyes while avoiding collateral damage. We obviously couldn't dig a huge pit on the ground and wait for the Swordman to step into it, right? During the initial planning phase of the East Red Action, this was a problem that stumped us all. If we didn't have to consider MSR's safety, we could 'wash the ground' with nuclear weapons, using several warheads to plough through the entire district to ensure the Big Eyes was killed. But with a little girl there, this was completely out of the question. From a certain perspective, she was like a hostage in the hands of the Big Eyes; the presence of a hostage tied our hands."

"That's understandable."

"This problem plagued us for a long time. As long as it remained unresolved, Miss Qiu couldn't be activated, and this indecision nearly dragged down the third phase of the East Red Action. It seemed that Miss Qiu would not be utilized... until that night, when MSR collided with the Big Eyes, fell into the well, and narrowly escaped death, which brought us a turning point."

"What was the turning point?"

"It was actually a speculation at the time, but it was later confirmed. This speculation was critically important, and it brought us a dramatic turnaround."

I held my breath, all ears.

"The night after MSR's narrow escape, the girl described Big Eyes to Bai Yang. She said it was strange, she didn't know if it was a coincidence, but she was always making eye contact with the Big Eyes."

I repeated the sentence in my mind:

"Is there a big secret hidden in this sentence?"

"A very big secret. It manifested a logic on the Swordman that humans couldn't understand. It was the key for the Swordman to master the lifeblood of the human world. But it also gave us a way to dig a grave for that Big Eyes... Director Zhao and the team uncovered this secret and managed to bury that Swordman, using just two cameras—"]