Sky Curtain: My Great Qin must have an aircraft carrier!

Waaaaah—

The piercing alarm sounded again, and the celestial view shifted to an altitude of 10,000 meters.

The plane flew smoothly above the clouds, with a city laid out like a chessboard below, bustling and noisy.

Inside the cabin, several pilots were gazing calmly downwards.

"Arrived at the designated coordinates, ready to drop bombs."

As the button was pressed, the belly hatch slowly opened, and a huge black bomb began to freefall toward the city below.

The bomb had a very strange shape, like a spindle magnified countless times, with a black outer shell and a smooth surface.

It fell quietly, tracing an arc in the sunlight.

Can a war that has swept the world be ended with something like this?

Li Shimin unconsciously stood up and leaned forward, wanting to see more clearly.

Inside the Xianyang Palace, Ying Zheng put down his pen.

Inside Weiyang Palace, Liu Che waved for the singers and dancers to leave.

Throughout history, everyone has been watching intently, waiting for the answer.

This is the ultimate weapon created by humankind—the atomic bomb.

Faced with Japan's insane boast of sacrificing 100 million lives, and in order to minimize Allied casualties, the US president ultimately approved the use of this super weapon against Japan.

Japan became the first country in human history to personally experience its power.

—Headquarters of the Independent Regiment in Northwest Shanxi.

"Damn it! This day has finally come!"

Li Yunlong slammed his fist on the table, his face filled with barely suppressed elation.

"Atomic bomb? Great name! As long as it can kill these sons of bitches, it's a good bomb!"

"If I were to throw that thing at you, I'd fly around those dilapidated cities of Japan three times! And blow them up to pieces!"

Zhao Gang didn't advise Li Yunlong to pay attention to discipline; he himself clenched his fists.

Those villagers who died tragically, those comrades who sacrificed their lives, it is finally time for an end to their suffering!

Even as they were talking, the images in the sky continued to play.

The black bomb continued its descent, breaking through the clouds and getting closer and closer to the ground.

Until a certain moment—

The whole world first lost all sound.

A ball of light, brighter than the sun, expanded over Hiroshima.

The whole world lost its color, leaving only a blinding pure white.

The light stung the eyes of everyone in the Wan Dynasty who were gazing at the sky.

Birds turned into wisps of smoke in the air, and the crowd was instantly evaporated into ashes.

As the shockwave raged, trees on the mountains fell in swathes, as if they had been cleanly severed by an invisible giant scythe.

A mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke, mixed with the ashes of death, slowly rose above the ruins.

Under the sky, everyone's mouths were agape, but no sound could be uttered.

This is divine retribution.

It is a power that ordinary people cannot reach, or even dare to imagine.

The atomic bomb, codenamed "Little Boy," was detonated approximately 600 meters above Hiroshima.

At the moment of detonation, 70,000 Japanese people within the shockwave's radius were instantly vaporized.

The Hiroshima atomic bomb killed more than 200,000 people and hastened the end of the war.

Because those militarists finally realized that they could no longer hide behind the people and that they too would suffer indiscriminate death.

They calmed down and began to consider whether they should continue the war.

Li Shimin stared at the mushroom cloud rising in the sky, shaking his head with a wry smile.

So this is how wars can end.

What wars will we fight in the future?

Why not just throw this thing at the other country? Which country can withstand such an attack?

The hall was completely silent, and the generals were all ashen-faced.

Cheng Yaojin stared wide-eyed for a long time before finally managing to stammer, "Good heavens, if one of these were dropped on the roof of Chang'an, we wouldn't even have any dust left..."

Li Shimin picked up the teacup, took a big gulp of cold tea, and suppressed the pounding in his heart.

Then, an extremely absurd idea came to mind.

"Since the United States possesses such a weapon capable of destroying nations, why doesn't it simply unify the world?"

"If I had this, not only the Turks and Tuyuhun, but even the ends of the earth would fall under the Tang Dynasty's territory."

"No country could withstand such a weapon, could it?"

"this……"

Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji looked at each other, wondering how they could possibly understand the United States' thinking.

While everyone remained silent, Du Ruhui suddenly spoke up, "I do have an idea."

Li Shimin turned around and gestured for him to speak.

Du Ruhui took two steps forward, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke.

"As Your Majesty just said, if the United States alone possessed this, it could completely sweep across the world."

"But what if this thing isn't only available in the United States?"

Li Shimin's brow twitched twice.

Du Ruhui continued, "Tianmu previously mentioned that firearms appeared in the Song Dynasty, but not long after, firearms were available all over the world."

"What if other countries also developed atomic bombs..."

Li Shimin felt a chill run down his spine, and his mind became completely clear.

Yup!

If all sides possessed such powerful weapons, none of them would dare to make the first move.

An unprecedented sense of absurdity gripped Li Shimin's heart.

What was thought to be the ultimate weapon for conquering the world has instead become a symbol of peace.

Sure enough, the sky confirmed his guess.

The advent of nuclear weapons gave humanity, for the first time, the means to destroy a civilization.

[Thus, humanity entered a completely new era—the era of nuclear deterrence, during which direct wars have never broken out between major powers possessing nuclear weapons.]

Decision-makers, even for their own safety and well-being, must consider the consequences of starting a war with the utmost caution.

Li Shimin slowly sat back on the dragon throne; he had guessed correctly.

It's not that nobody wants to use it, it's that nobody dares to use it.

The king can only live if the general dies, but what if the king dies first?

Who would dare to lightly declare war?

-

The night wind howls on the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi.

The generals sat around the rough wooden table, discussing amongst themselves.

"Good heavens, once this lump of iron was thrown, the Japanese devils were completely speechless!"

"Japan deserves to be bombed! Good riddance! How many people did they kill in Nanjing? Karma!"

"Yes! We should bomb him with more!"

At this point, someone secretly glanced at the figure sitting in the corner.

The instructor was leaning against the wall of the cave dwelling, a cigarette between his fingers, squinting at the sky.

After a long pause, he finally chuckled.

"You're all talking about the atomic bomb, but nobody cares about something else—Japan is about to surrender."

There was a two-second silence in the cave, and then everyone came to their senses.

Yes! Japan was hit by an atomic bomb and was about to surrender, so this war—

"Chairman, do you mean Japan is doomed?"

The instructor flicked away his cigarette ash and said casually, "Haven't you noticed? In the last six months, Japan's offensive momentum has weakened considerably."

"News has come from North China that several Japanese troops have even experienced desertions."

"The heavens told them that Japan was destined to fail, so the war couldn't be fought."

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Victory is no longer a distant hope, but a reality within reach!

"So, what should we do after we win?" a young soldier asked excitedly, his face flushed.

The instructor looked at the soldier, and his smile softened considerably.

"There's a lot to do."

"We want to build a completely new country, one without oppression, where the people themselves are the masters."

The cave dwelling fell silent, and everyone's eyes were filled with anticipation.

No one doubted these words, because the outcome had already been revealed: Japan was destined to be defeated.

When clear hope is presented before us, even the greatest suffering becomes worthwhile.

Then someone asked, "Will we be able to have something called a nuclear bomb in the future?"

The cave dwelling fell silent once again.

Everyone looked at the instructor.

The instructor remained silent for a long time, so long that the embers in his pipe were almost extinguished.

Finally, he raised his head and said, word by word.

"It will happen."

"There definitely will be."