Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 123, Section 122: Return to Shanghai, Taishan Volunteer Army Established

Kuang Anming's message did not need to be relayed by his sister, Kuang Mingzhu.

Fang Wen was already behind the boarding gate.

Should he go or not? Fang Wen was considering it.

These days, it's hard to say.

In the past few years, there have been several incidents of planes being intercepted by local warlords, and these were still actions between warlords.

If the F.220 is intercepted here, Taishan Airlines probably won't be able to get it back.

Although what the other party said made sense, we couldn't take the risk.

After all, this F.220 is too important; it's not just a simple transport aircraft as it appears on the surface.

Therefore, Fang Wen decided to refuse, even if it offended Long Yun, he could not take the risk.

Kuang Anming then relayed Fang Wen's message. The officer showed a regretful expression but did not react. He simply took out his camera and took pictures of the plane.

After taking the photos, he got into a military vehicle and left.

After waiting a while longer, refueling was completed. Kuang Anming paid for the fuel, locked both fuel tanks, and then hurriedly boarded the plane and closed the cabin door.

"Brother-in-law, it's ready."

Fang Wen immediately turned the plane around and took off into the sky.

It was already 10 a.m., and there were still more than 1900 kilometers of flight left, which needed to be completed within 6 hours, and the flight needed to arrive at Shanghai Airport before 5 p.m.

After all, with such a large plane, Fang Wen couldn't say he was absolutely certain he could land it at night. If the wing got damaged, he would be heartbroken.

The f.220 soars through the sky.

Fang Wen drove alone, yet he handled it with ease.

His wife, Kwong Ming-chu, sat beside him.

Kuang Mingzhu looked at the equipment in front of her in the passenger seat, feeling somewhat nervous and uneasy, afraid that she might mess things up by touching something inappropriate.

To distract herself from the tension, she looked down and became very interested in the earth beneath the white clouds.

With the help of a map and compass, he could clearly determine his current location and introduced her to the magnificent landscape of China below.

The plane flew in a straight line towards Shanghai, and the first city it passed through was Guiyang.

Guiyang is a small city, enclosed by city walls, and divided into upper and lower districts.

This place seems to have remained largely unaffected by the outside world, retaining its antique charm.

Holding binoculars, Kuang Mingzhu also saw something that interested her.

"So many memorial archways! Only ancient emperors could erect these, right?"

Fang Wen pretended to look up at the ground.

Along an ancient official road, there are several stone archways, but no one knows who erected them.

This was the grandeur of ancient people; their entire lives were engraved in stone and erected along the official road for people to admire.

The plane did not stop and continued flying.

We arrived at Yuanjiang.

“Look at that river below. Most of the tung oil from the tung oil-for-airplanes project enters the Yangtze River through this river and is transported to Nanjing,” Fang Wen said.

Kuang Mingzhu also picked up the binoculars and looked down with interest.

"Didn't Fourth Sister and Fourth Brother-in-law say they were also by the Yuan River? By the way, what does Fourth Sister look like? Is she pretty?" she asked, showing her concern for Fang Wen's own sister.

Fang Wen didn't know how to answer this, as he couldn't picture his fourth sister at all.

"Yes, beautiful." To change the subject and avoid his wife asking about his childhood, Fang Wen simply flew along the Yuan River, showing his wife Changde, where his fourth sister lived.

After passing Changde, the plane veered eastward, crossed Dongting Lake, and arrived in Yueyang.

From Yueyang, the northeastern route would take you to Wuhan along the Yangtze River, but that would make the journey much longer. Fang Wen continued eastward, crossing a marshy area, and arrived at Jiujiang.

Next to JJ City is Poyang Lake, another inland lake in China, whose waters flow into the Yangtze River and then into the sea.
Below Jiujiang, there is a magnificent mountain peak, which is Mount Lu.

The plane continued flying eastward, and two hours later, it finally arrived at Taihu Lake.

This trip took us right through three of China's most famous inland lakes.

After crossing Taihu Lake, Shanghai is not far away. It only takes an hour to reach Shanghai Airport, which I haven't been to for two months.

At Shanghai Airport, a staff member from Taishan Airlines ran out of the control tower, shouting, "The general manager is back! He's back in his jumbo jet!"

As he called out, Taishan Airlines employees gathered at the airport, including more than twenty young newly recruited flight apprentices.

Everyone stood outside the airport runway, looking up at the sky, anticipating the moment the plane would land.

A few minutes later, a huge plane descended from the sky, landing on the runway with a roar and cheers from the employees.

"Wow, it's huge!" Exclamations of surprise rose and fell.

Shao Sishen proudly told the second batch of aviation flight apprentices: "This is our Taishan Airlines' new aircraft, the only one of its kind in China."

Meanwhile, the F.220 aircraft had already begun to taxi off the runway and parked at the parking area.

The hatch opened, and a group of people came out, but Fang Wen and Kuang Mingzhu were not among them.

While everyone was wondering, Fang Wen poked his head out from behind the cabin door: "Shao Sishen, Pan Jiafeng, Liu Zongzhang, Sun Debiao, Howard, Fang Shouxin, Fang Shun, come up, let's have a small meeting."

Those who were called upon headed towards the plane to hold a small group meeting belonging to Fang Wen.

Inside the F.220 cabin, several people looked at the aircraft's internal structure with great interest, constantly asking questions.

"Where is this?"

"There are five machine gun rooms in total, but I think they're useless. They should be converted into bomb disposal rooms in the future."

"What about here?"

"The ammunition compartment can hold a total of 4000 kilograms of bombs. There is also an additional 4000 kilograms of bombs mounted outside."

Goodness gracious! We were all from the airline industry, and we were all quite shocked by Fang Wen's description.

In particular, Pan Jiafeng and Shao Sishen.

Pan Jiafeng rubbed his hands together, extremely excited. "Master, I'll be your co-pilot. When you fly it in the future, you must take me with you."

"I'm not old, but I'll definitely take you with me," Fang Wen replied with a smile.

Shao Sichen felt a mixture of envy and sadness. If he weren't disabled, he too would have dreamed of piloting such a behemoth.

Fang Wen sighed inwardly and patted Shao Sichen on the shoulder: "You can't pilot a plane, but the apprentices you train can, right?"

Shao Sishen regained his composure and nodded vigorously.

After comforting his comrades, Fang Wen spoke up to quell the noise: "The meeting is starting now, everyone can make yourselves at home, stand if you want, sit if you want. I'll talk about what I gained from this trip to Europe, and my future plans."

Everyone immediately fell silent; some leaned against something, while others sat down.

Fang Wen gathered his thoughts and began.

"The first gain from this trip to Europe was the purchase of this land-based night bomber. It can fly 2000 kilometers, and after modification, it can reach 3000 kilometers, enabling it to conduct round-trip night bombing missions with a combat radius of 1500 kilometers." Sun Debiao raised his hand: "General Manager, what is combat radius?"

Fang Wen took out his notebook, drew a circle, added a dot in the middle, and then connected the circle to the edge line.

"This is the combat radius; the entire area encircling it is within its bombing zone."

Everyone understood the explanation and began to estimate in their minds how wide an operational radius of 1500 kilometers could cover.

You don't know until you think about it, and once you do, you're shocked by how vast the scope is.

Shao Sishen was the first to react.

"If we set the center in Jinan, we can cover most of the three northeastern provinces, including the Great Wall."

Fang Wen nodded.

"The problem is, we don't have that many bombs, and I'll take responsibility for that. Now let's talk about the second thing."

He took a large bag from the pile of goods in the machine gun compartment.

He showed the documents inside: "Tomorrow, who wants to go to Nanjing with me? This is weapons data I brought back from Germany. I'm going to talk to Huo Duanyang."

A group of people raised their hands, and Fang Wen chose Fang Shun. "Shunzi, it's you. I heard you didn't pass the exam again. You're just killing time anyway, so come with me."

Shunzi, who had been having a great time, suddenly wilted, and everyone burst into laughter.

After the laughter subsided, Fang Wen continued, "The third thing is very important, but also very troublesome. I brought back a special drug from London, England. It needs to be extracted from a type of mold, and currently, only the Department of Biology at Tsinghua University in China has the research and development capabilities for this. The problem is that this drug is extremely important and can save countless lives on the battlefield. If it is leaked, I am worried that the Japanese will try to steal it. Therefore, the cooperation with Tsinghua University must be kept secret, not only on our side but also on Tsinghua University's side."

Fang Wen's words made everyone realize the importance of this matter.

China has been at war for decades. Even those who have never been on the battlefield know how painful and desperate it is for those wounded on the battlefield.

Those wounded soldiers missing limbs on the streets are still relatively healthy; many others won't survive.

Manager Liu volunteered: "General Manager, let me go to Beiping. I've been there for a while and I know the place well."

Fang Wen nodded: "You can't go alone. Let Sun Debiao go with you. One is a scholar and the other is a warrior. They are both familiar with Beiping. It's perfect. Now let's talk about the fourth thing. I want to establish Taishan Aviation's own volunteer army."

The term "volunteer army" is a name that has only emerged in China in the last two years.

After the September 18 Incident, in Northeast China, anyone who organized themselves to resist the Japanese was called a volunteer army, whether they were ordinary people, soldiers, or police officers.

Last year, during the heist at the Young Marshal's Mansion, the heist team collaborated with a volunteer army.

In Shanghai, after the January 28 Incident, volunteer forces also emerged to cooperate with the 19th Route Army.

It can be said that this was a spontaneous anti-Japanese force with a wide range of participants from all walks of life.

After Fang Wen made this suggestion, no one objected, as if they had expected it.

They all voiced their agreement.

Fang Wen nodded, "That's good. I hereby announce the establishment of the Taishan Aviation Volunteer Army, which will be referred to as the Taishan Volunteer Army. Our organization is not a strictly militarized organization, but we must be united, care for each other, keep secrets, and never betray our comrades."

Everyone nodded solemnly.

Fang Wen continued, "Currently, there are only a few of us in the Volunteer Army. However, because of our special nature, our future operations against the Japanese army will mainly focus on air combat. Therefore, we do not need to expand our numbers arbitrarily. We will rather have fewer than fewer. Only those who are certain to be trustworthy will be accepted."

After obtaining everyone's unanimous agreement, Fang Wen announced the end of the meeting, and Fang Wen's small group, who had no objections, left with a hint of excitement.

Fang Wen and Kuang Mingzhu stayed behind.

He took three canvas bags from deep inside the cargo pile in the cabin.

He handed the bags to Kuang Mingzhu, saying, "The Taishan Volunteer Army needs financial support to continue. These three bags will serve as seed money. How about you manage this money?"

"Is it appropriate for my husband and I to be in charge of things and the other to manage the money?" Kuang Mingzhu asked worriedly.

Fang Wen smiled and said, "That's a good match. You are the person I trust the most. When husband and wife are of one mind, they can overcome anything."

Hearing her husband's words, Kuang Mingzhu felt a sweet warmth in her heart.

She opened the bag to take inventory.

Under the illumination of the cabin's electrical lights, a bright light reflected out, almost blindingly so.

Kuang Mingzhu, whose family owns a gold shop, is very sensitive to these things. Upon closer inspection, she exclaimed in surprise.

"Gold jewelry, agate, obsidian, sapphires, sir, these are all quite old, aren't they? Oh, right, those you brought from Europe?"

Fang Wen nodded and opened another bag himself. To be honest, the three bags of treasure were the last ones left, and he didn't think much about them. He had no idea what was inside.

The second bag contained gold and jewelry.

The third bag contained rows of bright red gold coins.

When you calculate it this way, it seems to be much more than my initial investment of $50,000, so it can be considered a small profit.

The Taishan Volunteer Army was established, but it only had nine members: Fang Wen, Kuang Mingzhu, Shao Sishen, Pan Jiafeng, Liu Zhanggui, Sun Debiao, Howard, Fang Shouxin, and Fang Shun.

But Fang Wen believed that his team of nine people could create the fighting power of a regiment or a division and deal a heavy blow to the Japanese.

One of their objectives was to conduct strategic bombing raids on Japanese troops outside the Great Wall in order to hinder their offensive.

But such bombing requires a large number of aerial bombs. Even the napalm bombs developed by Huo Duanyang require a huge production capacity to manufacture.

And in this vicinity, only the Jinling Arsenal had the capability to complete it.

In addition to the matter of information about German weapons, he took Shunzi on a China Airlines flight to Nanjing the next day.

After getting off the plane, the two took a shuttle bus to the city and walked along the same route they had taken before.

When Fang Wen arrived at Yanghu Lane, he still looked for the same gatekeeper.

But the other party didn't ask for the money back.

“Mr. Fang, Researcher Huo said to notify him immediately when you arrive. I dare not take your money.”

After saying that, he jogged into the factory to call for help.

Not long after, Huo Duanyang came out.

"You're back from Europe? You must have had a lot to see and hear along the way," she said happily. "Come on, let's find a place to chat."

Fang Wen smiled and nodded, and the three of them found a seat at a wine shop in Yanghu Lane that was located by the Qinhuai River.

Huo Duanyang ordered several local Nanjing specialties, then warmed a pot of Shaoxing wine and poured it for Fang Wen.

Taking a sip, Fang Wen said, "My trip to Europe was truly eye-opening. I witnessed the poverty of South Asia, the exotic customs of Central Asia, and the technological advancements of Europe. I also visited the Persian palace and met the king. And I went to the Weimar Republic to witness its chaos."

Huo Duanyang felt a strong urge to try it and quickly poured himself a drink.

"General Manager, please explain in more detail, one by one."

“We can’t do it one by one; we could talk for a whole day and night. Let’s get down to business first.”

Fang Wen looked at Shunzi, who then handed the suitcase he had been holding to Fang Wen.

Fang Wen opened the suitcase and took out the introduction and index sections of two documents, handing them to Huo Duanyang.

"These two items were bought back from the Weimar Republic at a high price. Do you think they're useful?"

(End of this chapter)