Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 13, Section 13: The Northeast Flight Plan

An hour later, their relationship changed somewhat.

Feeling the warmth of the other person's body, Fang Wen asked:

"Did the Fuxing Society send you here today?"

“No.” Yue Jinping rested her head on Fang Wen’s shoulder. “They’re looking for my father; they want to bring something back from the Northeast.”

After a brief explanation, Fang Wen learned the whole story.

After the September 18 Incident, due to the non-resistance, the main force of the Northeast Army withdrew to the interior of China. The remaining garrison was completely defeated or surrendered. The vast three northeastern provinces were lost in a short period of time, and the remaining ones were in imminent danger.

This situation resulted in a large amount of wealth remaining in Northeast China and being unable to be retrieved.

Among them were a group of wealthy merchants who came from Northeast China when Zhang Zuolin took control of the Beiyang government.

Although these people enjoy a life of luxury in the interior of China, their wealth and fortune are all in the three northeastern provinces.

Given the current chaotic situation there, they certainly dare not go back, and even want to retrieve the gold, silver, and valuables hidden in the three northeastern provinces.

Therefore, this group of people found Yue Jinping's father, originally intending to use military means.

Under these circumstances, traveling by land is simply not feasible, and no one dares to send troops there.

Yue Jinping's father thought of his daughter and came up with the idea of ​​an air corridor, which led to the current situation.

"What does your father do?" Fang Wen asked.

"He works in the military and is currently stationed in the north. He acts as a guarantor, and those people have already come to Shanghai," Yue Jinping replied.

Upon realizing this, Fang Wen felt somewhat relieved.

What he feared even more was that Yue Jinping had been assigned to the mission by her superiors at the Fuxing Society. In that case, even if she completed the task, given the nature of secret service organizations, she might be discarded after being put to use.

Then, he asked the question that he was most concerned about.

"What model of aircraft is it, and where is it?"

Yue Jinping got up and sat up, took out a document from her clothes and handed it to Fang Wen, then spoke up to explain.

"The Rheinland NYP-2 is currently the best civilian long-range transport aircraft. It has five seats, a curb weight of 1 ton, a payload of 1.3 tons, a maximum flight altitude of 5000 meters, a maximum speed of 220 kilometers per hour, a maximum range of 1600 kilometers, a length of 8.5 meters, and a wingspan of 14 meters."

"Maximum range of 1600 kilometers?" Fang Wen was surprised. This was the longest-flying aircraft he had ever seen, and all its specifications were quite impressive.

"Yes. It's made by Rheinland, an American company. They even did a transatlantic flight demonstration two years ago. Guangzhou funded the purchase of two for transport. They leased it at a high price, but because no pilots were willing to fly to Northeast China under the current circumstances, they came to my father for help. I told my father about your situation, and he asked me to come and ask if you would be willing."

It seems those wealthy businessmen from Northeast China are quite powerful; they were even able to acquire such an aircraft.

Combined with what Yue Jinping said about other things, Fang Wen was tempted.

"I can fly, but I need to meet them first."

"They're waiting in the city. You and I will go there tomorrow."

As Yue Jinping spoke, she suddenly blushed, lifted the covers to peek out. "Get out of bed first, I need to do something."

Fang Wen got out of bed as instructed and saw Yue Jinping take out a small knife, lift the quilt, cut the bed sheet stained with crimson, and carefully put it away.

After doing all this, Yue Jinping actually took the initiative to explain.

"Commissioner, please don't take today's events to heart. My future with the Fuxing Society is uncertain, so I just want to give my virginity to someone I love. According to the customs of my hometown, this thing should be made into an embroidered piece and kept as a memento of my transition from a young girl to a woman."

Fang Wen didn't know what to say. He felt that Yue Jinping had changed a lot from the Yue Jinping he knew. Or perhaps, as she said, tonight was just a farewell to the past.

After a night, Fang Wen applied for leave early and returned to the city with Yue Jinping.

The place they went to was a detached villa.

Yue Jinping knocked on the door, and a servant wearing a melon-shaped hat opened the door and led them to the second floor.

A group of people were chatting on the second floor and did not stop when Fang Wen and Yue Jinping arrived.

Guided by a servant's whispered instructions, Fang Wen and Yue Jinping sat to the side and waited.

I also took this opportunity to hear what they were saying.

They spoke with a strong Shandong accent.

"Not resisting? Bah! What kind of soldier are they if they don't fight?"

"I think there's definitely something fishy going on."

"Of course they are! With four families vying for power in the Central Plains, how could the Zhang family be left out? I think he's using this opportunity to seize control of the Central Plains. Didn't you see the young marshal has been staying in Beiping the whole time?"

"I have some news, I don't know if it's true or not. Someone went to Japan and expressed their willingness to exchange their interests in Northeast China for Japanese arms. I only found out about this in July, and I didn't think much of it at first, but I didn't expect it to come true in September. If I had known this earlier, I would have been preparing to transfer my assets then."

"Anyone can offer hindsight advice, so let's not discuss that anymore. Since Miss Yue is here, let's hear what she has to say."

The conversation among the wealthy men from Northeast China came to an end.

Everyone looked at Yue Jinping.

Yue Jinping stood up. "This is Fang Wen, the flight specialist for China Airlines that I mentioned. His piloting skills are excellent. With him on board, the success rate of this operation will be very high."

"What we want is absolute success, otherwise why go to such great lengths?" a wealthy man said.

"If we don't succeed, it means the plane will crash. I risked my life for this money. There are many people in this world who are not afraid of death, but there are very few who are not afraid of death and can fly the Rhine NYP-2 well," Fang Wen replied calmly.

His one sentence greatly changed the other party's opinion.

As he said, there aren't many people nowadays who dare to risk flying a plane to Northeast China and are technically competent.

But those who can be trusted are even fewer.

Suddenly, all the arrogance and show of force from the rehearsals became useless.

Next, Fang Wenzhen began to discuss this action, which was still only a framework and lacked specific details.

"If I'm flying this plane to the Northeast, I'll need three days to familiarize myself with it. Yue Jinping will come with me. You should also send two more people who are familiar with the situation in the Northeast and can liaise with all parties to ensure a smooth operation."

From this statement, the wealthy realized that this was a man of action.

Fang Wen continued:
"The plane has a payload capacity of 1.3 tons. After deducting the four of us, there's about one ton of cargo left. Since there are so many families, we need to discuss how much stuff each family will bring back and what their share will be, to avoid chaos later."

This is also important. The wealthy men nodded in agreement and began to calculate their own hidden agendas.

Fang Wen hadn't finished speaking yet.

"I also need a map of the Northeast region, landing site plans, and rendezvous procedures. The Rhine NYP-2 requires a runway at least 200 meters long and 50 meters wide, or we can choose to land in a flat plain. However, considering the high risks during the day, we need to land at night. This requires your people in the Northeast to place two rows of torches on the ground in advance as ground markers for guidance."

(End of this chapter)