Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 203 202 Taishan Special Operations Team, Training and Selection Plan
The people recommended by the treasure-hunting group arrived at Shanghai Airport on February 15th, led by various individuals.

The place used to receive them was the Taishan Aviation Flight Training Center.

The second cohort of flight apprentices has now graduated, and the third cohort has not yet been recruited, so this spot is currently vacant.

The scene resembled a new student enrollment, with parents bringing their children, expressing both encouragement and reluctance to let them go.

Shao Sishen said loudly, "Parents, please leave the classroom and wait outside. The general manager has something to say."

The Axe Gang members, the thieves, and the three Liu brothers all came out of the classroom and watched from outside.

Fang Wen went up on stage, holding the roster, and called out names.

"When my name is called, stand up and answer: Li Tiezhu."

The bald young man stood up, scratching his head, looking bewildered.

His father, also a bald man, was frustrated and disappointed in him, almost to the point of shouting.

Fortunately, someone sitting next to him reminded him, and Li Tiezhu responded loudly, "Here."

Fang Wen nodded and continued calling out names:
"Zhang Yunfei", "Zhao Wanping", "Chen Suoxin", "Liu Yingshou", "Qian Yinxing", "Zhou Pomen", "Wu Yingzong", "Liu Jinrui", "Liu Yubao", "Liu Yinfeng".

As they were called out one by one, Fang Wen got to know them.

He continued, "Roll call is now complete. We've all gotten to know each other. In the coming days, you will undergo selection and training. Only those who remain will be the people I need. I hope everyone will work hard and strive to leave no one behind. Now, your cultural teacher and homeroom teacher, Shao Sishen, will conduct a class meeting so that everyone can get to know each other better."

After Fang Wen finished speaking, he left the classroom. Behind him came Shao Sichen's voice: "Hello, classmates. The main purpose of today's class meeting is to improve our relationships. We are a group, and the first thing we need to do is to get to know each other."

Outside the classroom, the parents watched with great interest. These people from the martial arts world had basically never been to school, and they were full of curiosity as they watched their children receive a modern education.

Fang Wen coughed, "Yeah, they're too shy to leave us here. Let's go to my house and have a get-together."

The group then left the flight training center and went to Fang Wen's residence.

Food and wine had already been laid out at the residence, and everyone sat together. Fang Wen raised his glass.

"Thank you all for your support of Fang Wen. I assure you that I will never use the juniors you recommend as cannon fodder. They will receive the best treatment, the best crisis management training, and the best aftermath handling. However, there is definitely danger in their joining my department. I must remind you that it is not too late for you to back out now."

No one went back on their word, and everyone raised their glasses in a toast.

On behalf of everyone, Chief Wang spoke from the heart: "We are all people who have been through thick and thin. Although we have some money, we can't change our ingrained ways. Those kids are the same. Rather than letting them follow the path we took, it's better to let them try a different path. General Manager, we think your idea is good. Don't think of them as being so delicate. Who in the underworld doesn't risk their life?"

Everyone agreed.

"Yes." "I'm not good at polite words, so Chief Wang spoke for me." "That's exactly what I meant."

"That's good. Everyone, have some drinks and food, and let's chat slowly." Fang Wen smiled and sat down, and everyone else sat down as well, and the atmosphere became lively.

Chief Wang took out a stack of papers with calligraphy on them and handed them to Fang Wen.

"This is the resume I made as you instructed. Take a look."

Fang Wen's required resume was very simple: name, background, and special skills.

He took it and examined it carefully.

Name: Li Tiezhu

Background: His father was from Northwest China, worked as a bodyguard in Longxi, and is now an assassin for the Axe Gang.

Special skills: throwing axe, longsword, skilled in close combat, possesses superhuman strength, and inherited his father's fierce swordsmanship.

Name: Zhang Yunfei

Background: His grandfather worked for the Qing Dynasty's Sticky Pole Bureau, and his father was an assassin for the Axe Gang.

Special skills: Inherited killing techniques, agile movements, able to dodge flexibly in combat, and adept at ambushes and interrogations.

Name: Zhao Wanping

Background: Both his parents were doctors in the Axe Gang, and they were also poison masters, as medicine and poison were inseparable from each other.

Special skills: Although she is a woman, she has superhuman strength, likes to use a short axe, and is also proficient in medicine and poison.

The five thieves each brought out a disciple.

Name: Chen Suoxin

Special skill: Exceptional lock-picking skills; able to easily open both ancient and modern locks.

[Name: Liu Yingshou]

Special skill: Top-notch pickpocketing skills, lightning-fast movements, able to silently steal items from a crowd.

Name: Qian Yinxing

Special skills: Infiltration and stealth, adept at using the environment for silent movement, possessing a unique set of illusionary camouflage techniques.

[Name: Zhou Pomen]

Specialty: Specializes in house infiltration, has an excellent understanding of building structures, and can quickly find and enter any enclosed hiding place.

Name: Wu Yingzong

Special skills: Comprehensive skills, proficient in all aspects of lock picking, pickpocketing and infiltration, making him the most talented disciple in the thieving profession.

The three Liu brothers recommended a descendant of a tomb-raiding family.
Name: Liu Jinrui (Eldest Brother)

Special skills: Feng shui and geomancy, with a keen intuition for the location of ancient tombs.

Name: Liu Yubao (Second Brother)

Special skills: Solving mechanical puzzles; proficient in ancient mechanical techniques.

Name: Liu Yinfeng (Third Brother)

Special skill: Hiking in the mountains and forests, traversing long distances as if walking on flat ground.

The three brothers also share a common skill: digging tunnels. They are adept at using various tools to quickly excavate underground passages.

After reading the introduction, Fang Wen smiled. This was exactly the kind of talent he needed, not soldiers for large-scale wars.

Each person has unique strengths, which can complement each other in complex situations.

He raised his glass again to thank the treasure-hunting team for their support.

Taishan Airlines established a special operations department, and the assessment of the 11 candidates is ongoing.

Fang Wen designed a comprehensive assessment and training program for special agents.

The inspiration came from spy and secret agent movies I watched in the future.

The first step is selection.

Background check: A comprehensive and in-depth investigation is conducted into the candidate's family background, educational background, social relationships, etc., to ensure their reliability.

That hurdle is cleared. There are still a few more assessments and training sessions to go.

Psychological testing: Through professional psychological assessment tools, candidates' psychological qualities, stress resistance, and adaptability are evaluated to ensure that they possess the basic psychological qualities required to become special agents.

Physical fitness test: to assess the candidate’s physical fitness, endurance, agility, etc., to ensure that they can cope with various extreme environments when performing tasks.

Skills test: Based on the needs of intelligence work, candidates will be specifically tested on their language skills, combat skills, reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance capabilities, etc.

These three aspects of the assessment must be conducted by professionals.

Taishan Airlines has both money and connections.

There are no experts in psychological assessment in China, and no systematic assessment methods have been developed, so we need to look abroad.

Fang Wen contacted Indiana Telegraph and learned that Roberto Kerr, the telegraph operator in the Lake Van treasure hunt, had been promoted and gone to Europe.

With the help of Indiana and Roberto Kerr, they hired a retired MI6 agent who was proficient in all aspects of espionage and had previously taught at a spy academy.

However, Fang Wen offered too much, so he gave up his spy training in England and took a Taishan Airlines Asia-Europe flight to Shanghai.

2 month 20 day.

The special operations department trainees, who had only been in school for five days, were not having a good time.

For the past five days, since no training sessions have been scheduled, they have all been studying academic subjects under Shao Sishen's care.

According to Fang Wen, everyone must be made literate, know at least 1000 characters, and be able to express themselves in written form.

They don't reject this kind of learning, after all, there are many things you can't do without education, but they can't accept the daily academic classes from morning till night.

Fortunately, this situation no longer had to continue today. Fang Wen led in a man carrying a suitcase, wearing a round hat and a trench coat.

"This is your Special Operations Comprehensive Training Instructor, Elfman Parks. From now on, except for academic classes and a very few special courses, you will all be training with him. Everyone, stand up and salute your instructor."

The students stood up to pay their respects, but Elfman Parks was speaking English. Luckily, William was brought in as the translator, otherwise the teaching activity would not have been able to continue.

William, being an officer himself, communicated well with Elfman Parks, translated the training program he developed into Chinese, and then began its implementation.

Initially, Elfman Parks was skeptical of the physical condition of these Chinese trainees and held back on the intensity of their training.

However, as the training progressed, he was surprised to find that although these young people did not look very strong, their qualities in various aspects, such as endurance, explosiveness, and reaction speed, were no less than those of the students he taught at the special agent school.

After his initial surprise, Elfman Parks increased the intensity of the training, but still found that the trainees were able to keep up with his pace, which made Elfman Parks marvel at the talent of these trainees.

As Elfman Parks continued his teaching, a range of espionage skills were imparted to 11 trainees.

The trainees easily passed the close combat skills training and mastered the self-defense methods of MI6 agents.

They also received training in pistol and rifle shooting.

The rifle training used the German Mauser Gew.98 rifle, and the bullets were Taishan's own 7.92×57mm JS light pointed bullets, which came in two types: lead core copper jacket and steel core copper alloy jacket.

Lead-core copper jacket bullets have slightly weaker penetrating power, but if the bullet head is modified, they can still produce the destructive effect of dumdum bullets.

The steel-core copper alloy jacket has strong penetrating power and a longer range, making it suitable for long-range sniping.

During shooting training, Elfman Parks discovered a sniper partner.

Liu Jinrui has a strong sense of wind speed and direction and always achieves excellent results in shooting. Therefore, he received special attention and underwent sniper training.

Elfman Parks's intelligence training also included international affairs and basic espionage.

The international situation broadened the students' horizons, while the intelligence fundamentals taught them how to send and compile Morse code.

But that's not all they need to learn.

In addition, there is parachuting, special code compilation, and some ideological education.

Fang Wen had to teach all of these things personally.

Regarding parachute jumps, the original Muta Sand Jump has been modified to offer higher altitudes and better ground protection.

After completing multiple ground-based simulated skydiving jumps, the trainees will then take an F.220 aircraft for high-altitude skydiving training.

Regarding the special code encoding, not every trainee needs to learn the phonetic encoding of the local dialect. Only one trustworthy trainee will be selected to become a dedicated telegraph operator.

Finally, there is ideological education.

On March 20, the training program, which lasted for more than a month, came to an end.

The 11 trainees sat upright in their seats, looking straight ahead.

Three instructors stood to the right of the podium at the front of the classroom, where Fang Wen delivered his graduation speech.

"During this month of intensive training, all the trainees worked very hard. I am now announcing your assessment results."

The trainees looked up, anticipating the results of their month of hard work.

Fang Wennian said, "Li Tiezhu, 63 points in cultural subjects, 82 points in special operations, 76 points in parachuting. Overall score: 73. Admitted. Come up and collect your graduation certificate."

Bald Li Tiezhu stood up and excitedly went on stage to receive his graduation certificate.

"Now that we've graduated, let me say something to everyone," Fang Wen said with a smile.

Li Tiezhu habitually touched his bald head and stammered, "I, hey, I, hey." Like a broken record, he struggled to utter a complete sentence.

"Alright, go down." Fang Wen dismissed him from the stage and continued reading.

The next 10 students all had different academic strengths, but their overall scores were all above 70, so they were all admitted.

This is a happy ending for everyone, and it's the result of their hard work. Fang Wen didn't relax his restrictions at all.

Afterwards, the three instructors went on stage to give graduation speeches to the students before leaving the classroom.

After the three instructors left, only Fang Wen and 11 newly hired employees of the Taishan Special Operations Department remained in the classroom.

Fang Wen, with a serious expression, ordered: "Close the doors and windows, draw the curtains, and go on alert."

The order was carried out immediately. As he requested, the doors and windows were closed, the curtains were drawn, and someone stood by the window to carefully observe the outside world.

Fang Wen said with satisfaction, "Your performance under pressure was good. Now let's talk about your joining the Special Operations Department of Taishan Airlines. First, I want to explain why Taishan Airlines, a company, has such a special department. It's because I want to do something, something that people all over the world want to do but dare not or cannot do."

This opening statement, straightforward and honest, left no room for doubt.

After all, the owners of companies like Taishan Airlines could easily go abroad to enjoy a better life; there's no need for them to organize a strange special operations department.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Fang Wen continued, "In the International Situation class, you should all understand the current situation of China. We are facing a once-in-a-millennium crisis, no less severe than the Five Barbarian Invasions. Foreign powers have been taking turns bullying us. Although history tells us that after a long period of division, there will be unity, I cannot wait for that day to come. I will not be satisfied if I do nothing. That is why I established the Special Operations Department. And the first thing this department will do is to send you to the Northeast and investigate this place for me."

As he spoke, Fang Wen opened a map of Northeast China and hung it on the wall.

He pointed to the northeast corner of the map.

“This is Harbin. The Japanese have established a military outpost there. People are frequently going missing in the vicinity. I suspect that the Japanese are using our compatriots for human experiments.”

(End of this chapter)