Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 218 217 Military Rations Production, Airborne Deployment to the Base Area
A day later, Xiangxi Airport called back, explaining the situation that Fang Wen wanted to know.

A total of 400 tons of rice is needed.

The specific airdrop area was not specified; it was said that the details would be discussed during the airdrop.

Fang Wen understood this; such matters must be kept confidential, otherwise there would be great danger.

Having confirmed the exact amount of airdropped supplies, Fang Wen prepared to set off.

He walked into the airport with his wife, carrying a bag full of US dollars.

This time, we flew the Taishan-1. Only the Taishan-1, with its 8-ton payload capacity, could deliver 400 tons of rice. Even this first-generation heavy bomber would need to make 50 airdrops to achieve the 400-ton target.

Fang Wen waited in front of Taishan No. 1.

After a while, Pan Jiafeng drove over, with several bulging backpacks in the car.

Pan Jiafeng got out of the car and explained:
"Master, here are the seven sets of equipment you requested. I'll carry them up for you."

Fang Wen nodded and went over to help move the items.

These devices were all radio wave positioning transmitters. After Sun Debiao successfully used them for the first time during the bombing of the Great Wall, Fang Wen had Tsinghua University continue to produce them. Later, they were even more effective in the bombing of Zhongmabao in Harbin.

He brought seven sets of equipment to South Asia specifically for airdrop location. After all, there are several airdrop points, and some of them might be in critical situations where torches are not suitable for guidance.

The positioning device was loaded into the cabin, Fang Wen bid farewell to everyone, and piloted the plane into takeoff.

This time, the aircraft was changed, more than doubling the flight range, and the route was changed directly to Shanghai-Guangzhou-French military base.

After a flight, the plane landed at a French military airfield base.

The airport commander was still very enthusiastic, but this time his attention was entirely on the Taishan-1: "Is this the prototype of the F.221BN5? This is the first time I've seen it."

“F.221BN5?” Fang Wen asked in surprise.

“Yes, our Air Force recently purchased 11 Farman F.221BN5 night long-range bombers. My friend in the Air Force sent me a photo. Wait a moment.” The airport commander finished speaking, took out his wallet, and pulled out a photo.

That photo is a picture of people and an airplane together; the airplane looks no different from an F.220.

Fang Wen nodded and said, "This is an F.220 prototype. Your military didn't value it back then, so I bought it at scrap price to use as a transport aircraft."

"Scrap!" The airport commander patted Fang Wen on the shoulder and laughed heartily.

After he finished laughing, Fang Wen handed him a gift bag: "This is a gift for you. I hope our friendship will last forever."

Unlike the reserved demeanor of the East, the French officer opened the gift bag directly and was immediately drawn to the banknotes inside.

he replied.

Our friendship is unbreakable.

That's good. If the French army had helped with the grain collection, it would have been much less troublesome.

In early November 1934.

It was rice harvest season in French Vietnam, and rice merchants from all over the country were out in force, making the main grain-producing areas of the Mekong Delta very lively.

Unlike previous years, this year's grain collection team included another type of person.

A convoy of ten French military vehicles drove into the Mekong Delta.

The convoy passed the grain-collecting team and entered the first village.

French soldiers got out of the vehicle and lined up outside, while some people with Asian features also got out of the driver's seat.

These Eastern faces were naturally Fang Wen and his group.

After getting off the bus, Fang Wen led the team into the village. In a higher place, he had the seven members of the action team set up chairs and then had the translator use a megaphone to make announcements.

"Listen up, villagers! The French army is now purchasing grain, and everyone is welcome to participate. It's 1 franc for every two kilograms, and the terms are excellent. If you wish to sell, please register quickly."

During the grain harvest season, everyone is very sensitive to grain prices.

The news spread quickly that the price of military grain purchases was 20% lower than that of external purchases.

People from the village came over, eager to know more.

They still have concerns, fearing that they might encounter sellers who offer IOUs but don't pay in cash. In that case, no matter how attractive the price, they wouldn't dare to sell recklessly.

But once they found out it was all cash transactions, the situation immediately changed.

Many people rushed over carrying their rice, eager to sell it.

Faced with such a lively scene, Manager Liu stepped forward.

"Tell them that you will only accept new rice at 1 franc per kilogram, and not old rice."

Now, all the new rice that was originally intended to be sent to rice mills and sold to rice merchants has been bought up by the military grain procurement team.

The successful acquisition of the first village spread the news quickly throughout the Mekong Delta, and everyone was looking forward to receiving the military grain in their own villages.

This has made them lose interest in rice acquisitions by rice merchants.

Rice merchants dared not act recklessly and simply suspended their purchases, waiting for the military grain procurement to end before resuming their operations.

Unexpectedly, the other party only accepted 8000 dan of grain and then ended the matter.

After a false alarm, the grain harvest season in the Mekong Delta has returned to normal.

With 400 tons of rice in hand, Fang Wen began preparing for the packaging and airdrop of the grain.

He discussed it with Fang Shouxin, Manager Liu, and Sun Debiao.

Fang Wen began by saying, "Let's talk about how to handle this batch of grain."

Sun Debiao was the first to respond: "I don't like this rice. The rice from Northeast China is plump and fat, while this kind of rice is thin and long, and it tastes dry."

He was just complaining; having gotten used to Northeastern rice, he simply couldn't get used to this kind of rice.

Fang Wen picked up a handful of rice and pondered.

Through this period of time, he learned about the rice here. It turns out that this type of rice is called Champa rice, which entered China during the Song Dynasty and later gradually evolved into the double-cropping rice of the south.

This is what we now call indica rice.

Rice includes not only indica rice but also japonica rice.

Northeast rice is japonica rice, so Sun Debiao couldn't get used to this kind of food.

But that's nothing to worry about; Red Army soldiers probably wouldn't have these kinds of customs.

But since the rice was all transported raw, they would need to process it. Otherwise, during the march, where would they find so much time to cook?

It seems they'll make it into fried rice.

What else besides fried rice?
Fang Wen spoke up: "I think we can't just send raw rice over. We have to consider the actual situation of the Red Army. They are constantly engaged in mobile warfare and often can't boil water or cook rice. If we just send it over like this, they will have to risk their lives to get a meal. It would be better if we cooked this rice into food that they can eat anytime."

Everyone began to think along Fang Wen's lines of thought.

Sun Debiao quickly added, "I've got it all. Sticky rice cakes, rice cakes, rice noodles, and rice balls."

Fang Wen shook his head: "These are all edible right out of the pot, they'll get hard if left out for too long."

His words made both Manager Liu and Fang Shouxin think of the same thing.

"Rice cake."

Upon hearing the two of them say the same thing at the same time, Fang Wen immediately remembered.

These days, street vendors often sell rice cakes.

Fang Wen has eaten there once or twice; there are many varieties.

Fried rice cakes, rice noodle cakes, etc.

These are all affordable foods that can be stored for a long time and can also satisfy hunger.

With this idea in mind, Fang Wen began the production process.

The Taishan No. 1 truck, carrying 400 tons of rice, delivered the supplies to Xiangxi Airport in 50 separate shipments.

Subsequently, all airport staff stopped what they were doing and began processing rice cakes.

Sitting on this kind of thing is very simple and is an essential skill for many farmers. Even if you don't know how, you can understand it with a little guidance.

As per Fang Wen's instructions, 400 tons of rice were made into two types of rice products: sweet fried rice cakes and savory rice noodle cakes.

To make fried rice cakes, Champa rice needs to be soaked in water for 4 hours to allow the grains to fully absorb water. Then, it is steamed and spread out on a large mat to cool.

After the cooked Champa rice has cooled, it is poured into a large pot and constantly stirred with a spatula to ensure that the rice grains are heated evenly.

During the frying process, the color of the rice grains gradually changes from white to light yellow, and then from light yellow to dark yellow, while emitting a rich aroma of rice.

Reaching this step means you've accomplished most of the task.

Next, dip the fried rice in a little syrup and then place it in a carved wooden container to set its shape.

Once the syrup has solidified, remove it from the mold; this will make sweet fried rice cakes.

(Wooden mold for fried rice cakes from the Republican era)

Sweet fried rice cakes are simple to make, while savory rice flour cakes are even easier.

Isn't that just the future of rice crackers?

The ingredients are only three: rice flour, salt, and sugar.

Grind Champa rice directly into powder, then mix it with salt and sugar in different proportions.

Then pour in boiling water, stir with a wooden spoon, and once it's cool enough to handle, slowly knead it into a raw rice ball by hand.

Break the prepared raw rice dough into small pieces, scatter them on a plate, and wrap them in gauze.

Then put the rice balls into a steamer and heat until cooked through.

Take out the cooked rice dough, knead it into a cylinder, and cut it into slices about half a finger wide.

These irregularly shaped, thick sheets are pressed by workers using rolling pins into rice cakes that are 5 millimeters thick and seven or eight centimeters in diameter.

Then they are placed in baskets or trays and left to air dry.

After it is completely dried, the last step is puffing.

Since there are no microwave ovens or ovens, the only way to puff it up is by deep-frying, but it tastes even better for people who lack oil and fat these days.

The first batch of food was produced in a total of 1000 kilograms, and then production was halted.

Just because Fang Wen and his employees think it's good doesn't mean the Red Army will accept it; they need to inspect it before they can continue.

Therefore, Fang Wen asked Shunzi to tell his wife to take the two samples to Bai Yunfei.

Mid-September 1934.

The fifth encirclement campaign was far more intense than the previous ones.

Each base area was quietly making preparations.

Because of the grain airdrop operation, Shu Zhitao, the only single contact person, was waiting at Shiwanping, a few miles away from Xiangxi Airport.

The current Shu Zhitao, also known as Bai Yunfei, is the owner of Baiji Trading Company. His original identity has been completely sealed off, and his former military personnel all believed that he had sacrificed his life.

This was a special contact method used by the higher authorities to acknowledge Taishan Airlines' willingness to provide assistance to the Red Army during such a critical time.

Now, apart from him and a few high-ranking officials, no one knows that the mysterious supplier codenamed 'Mountain God' is Taishan Airlines.

The knocking on the door startled Bai Yunfei from his thoughts, and he exchanged glances with the two shop assistants inside.

The two men stood in unison at the location where the weapons were hidden.

Bai Yunfei went to open the door, and upon seeing that the guest was Long Yumei, he quickly stepped aside: "Come in quickly."

After entering the house, Long Yumei immediately took off the bundle she was carrying: "They got the food we needed. But they changed the original plan. They used the rice they bought to make a batch of military rations. They asked me to bring it over and ask if we want raw rice airdropped, or if we want some additional military rations?"

"Military rations?" Bai Yunfei was very interested. When he was an instructor, he often thought that if the soldiers had military rations, it would be much more convenient during battles and transfers.

After Long Yumei took out the two kinds of 'military rations', he couldn't wait to be the first to try them.

The fried rice cakes, coated in syrup, have a rich aroma of rice and a sweet taste.

He preferred another one, which was salty and would be very refreshing to eat during long marches.

"Are these all made from rice?" he asked.

“Yes, it’s made right here in the airport. It’s very simple. I asked Shunzi if it was difficult, and he took me to see the whole process,” Long Yumei replied.

Bai Yunfei nodded: "I need to send a telegram to report to my superiors."

After exchanging telegrams, he returned.

"It's been approved. Rice or rice products are both acceptable. Can the airdrop begin?"

"They said we can't use torches for guidance, that's too dangerous. Now we're switching to airdrop guides, who need to be airdropped first. With airdrop guides, airdrops will be much safer and more accurate in the future."

"What is an airdrop guide?" Bai Yunfei asked blankly.

“I don’t know either; this is a secret that many people at Taishan Airlines don’t know,” Long Yumei replied.

"Well, since it's a secret, let's not pry too much. Let's know the specifics of their demands."

"They said there could only be a maximum of 7 airdrop points at a time, with one airdrop guide at each point. We needed to provide the drop location, send someone to meet us, and give a code word for the meeting."

Late at night, Shunzi's Miao wife trekked through mountains and valleys under the moonlight back to the airport.

She told her husband what had happened.

"This is the drop zone. As per your request, we will send someone to meet your drop guide near the location."

During the conversation, Long Yumei handed a map to Shunzi.

Shunzi then left home and gave the map to Fang Wen.

Looking at the map, there were exactly seven areas, no more and no less. Fang Wen and the seven members of the action team communicated.

"Tonight, I will parachute you into these areas. Remember your code. Don't get it wrong. If the code doesn't match, it's useless for you to go there."

The seven-member task force responded seriously: "Don't worry, General Manager, we will remember the code."

"That's good. Go back and get some sleep. Report to the hangar tomorrow."

After Fang Wen finished giving his instructions, the group left.

The next morning, the seven men assembled in the hangar with their equipment.

With nothing to do during the day, they practiced parachuting in the hangar and repeatedly memorized the code.

Until night falls.

Fang Wen and the seven members of the action team had dinner together.

They then boarded the plane.

The plane entered the runway in the darkness and gradually accelerated into the air.

After entering the sky, Fang Wen took out the map and checked the various drop points.

Most of them are distributed south of the Yangtze River, but they are all in remote and harsh areas, relying on the local terrain to resist encirclement and suppression.

It was truly remarkable that they managed to hold on despite such intense encirclement and suppression.

He can do what ordinary people cannot; he is no ordinary person.

Fang Wen couldn't help but admire him.

He organized the flight route and gave instructions to the seven members of the action team behind him.

"This is your second operation, but this time it's not a combat mission. Besides providing airdrop guidance, observe and learn as much as you can. If we ever go to war with the Japanese, I hope you will be the number one Chinese airborne force that the Japanese fear."

Fang Wen's words filled the seven men with great enthusiasm, and they all readily agreed.

Subsequently, the airdrop began, with one team member after another landing in different areas of Hubei, Jiangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Anhui.

After they landed, they made bird calls according to the rendezvous signal, and then the contact person appeared.

After exchanging coded signals, the seven members of the action team were led to their respective secret residences by their contact.

After exchanging information with the local Red Army troops, they sent telegrams back to the Xiangxi Airport, confirming the official airdrop location.

(End of this chapter)