Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 24, Night Flight Reconnaissance of Shanghai, Warship Deployment Map

The flyers smelled of ink; they were freshly printed.

Fang Wende finalized the content to avoid distorting the true meaning of the propaganda.

The pale yellow paper reads:

"Resist Japan and save the nation, let us face this national crisis together!"

Fellow countrymen:
The Japanese invaders, with their wolfish ambitions, wantonly invaded our land, slaughtered our compatriots, and destroyed our homes. The Chinese nation faces an unprecedented crisis, a matter of life and death; how can we sit idly by?
The fate of our nation rests on the shoulders of every citizen! Every son and daughter of China bears the sacred mission of resisting Japanese aggression. We must unite as one, regardless of north or south, young or old, to jointly resist foreign invaders and defend our homeland!
Fellow countrymen, let us support the soldiers on the front lines and provide them with material and moral support.

We firmly believe that as long as we are united as one and share a common hatred for the enemy, we will surely defeat the Japanese invaders and win the final victory!

Fang Wen approved of the flyer, and then had Howard open the boarding gate so that he and the students could carry the flyer onto the plane.

He then got into the cockpit and asked the person in the back, "Pan Jiafeng, have you ever flown on an airplane?"

"I've sat down. Don't worry, Specialist Fang, I'll take care of distributing the leaflets," Pan Jiafeng replied, slightly nervously.

"I'll confirm the location first, and you can proceed when I notify you. By the way, Howard will put a safety rope on you. It'll be a bit windy when the machine door opens, so try to stand to the side," Fang Wen instructed.

Immediately, the aircraft engines started, and after traveling a distance on the runway, it took off into the sky.

Fang Wen has flown this route from Nanjing to Shanghai more than 200 times in the past year, and even circled over the city of Shanghai many times during test flights.

Therefore, they are more familiar with the terrain here than they are with the terrain from Beiping to Shenyang.

This familiarity is different from that of other pilots.

After activating mechanical perception, Fang Wen became one with the aircraft, transforming into an iron bird. With the help of the stars in the sky and the outlines of the city lights on the ground, he reflected them in his mind along with the map.

From this, he identified some terrain features and formed his own unique reference.

The plane climbed to an altitude of 4000 meters and quietly approached Shanghai.

An altitude of 4000 meters is not suitable for military reconnaissance, so Fang Wen pushed the control stick and lowered the aircraft to an altitude of 2600 meters.

It then circled around the urban area of ​​Shanghai.

The city of SH below is much dimmer than usual due to the power shortage caused by the war.

But from time to time, bright lights would burst out from the Zhabei District; those were the light sources emitted by bombs and artillery fire.

Where is the Huangpu River?
Fang Wen slowly adjusted the aircraft's position using his mechanical sense of direction, flying over the Huangpu River as he remembered it.

I saw it.

There were twinkling lights on the river.

That's where the Japanese warships were located, one every few hundred meters, all the way to Wusongkou.

Beyond the mouth of the Wusong River, larger spots of light appeared, signifying large Japanese warships.

While piloting the plane, Fang Wen talked with Howard and plotted the intelligence gathered on a map.

However, during this process, the two most important main battleships, Hosho and Kaga, were not discovered.

That was the naval prestige that the Japanese themselves boasted about in the newspapers, and it was also the greatest deterrent force in this war, the root of the Japanese military's air superiority.

Ships of this size do not need to get close to Shanghai; they are more likely to stay in the nearby waters.

Fang Wen turned the plane around and flew along the Yangtze River estuary into the near-shore area.

It was pitch black there, but a little further away, there was a large patch of light.

Although he couldn't see clearly, Fang Wen was already certain that they were two battleships and the fleet escorting them.

After obtaining the most important military reconnaissance intelligence, Fang Wen turned his aircraft around and returned to the skies above Shanghai.

"Pan Jiafeng, get ready."

"Commissioner Fang, I'm ready," Pan Jiafeng replied nervously.

As they passed through each area, Fang Wen would have Pan Jiafeng throw stacks of flyers onto the ground.

In the darkness of night, flyers floated in the air, landing on rooftops, balconies, courtyards, and streets.

Even in the Zhabei District, where fighting was taking place, a large number of leaflets were scattered.

At first, it was Japanese soldiers shouting that they believed the leaflets were dropped by their own planes. But when the soldiers of the 19th Route Army picked up the leaflets, they found that it wasn't like that at all.

Both sides were wondering where the plane came from in the middle of the night.

At 1 a.m., the plane returned to Nanjing Airport.

Fang Wen immediately took the map from Howard and instructed, "Take Pan Jiafeng to rest, I'll find Lieutenant Lu."

He believed that such important intelligence must be reported immediately.

After rushing off the plane, Fang Wen went straight to Lieutenant Lu's residence and knocked on the door.

After a rapid knocking, Lieutenant Lu opened the door with a displeased expression.

Then Fang Wen gave an urgent report.

"Lieutenant Lu, this is a map showing the deployment of Japanese warships, from the Huangpu River section all the way to the nearshore waters. A total of 30 ships have been identified, including two battleships in the nearshore waters, as well as the location of the escort fleet."

"You really think I believe you flew to Shanghai at night? A civilian plane, and you dare to lie like that, just scribbling some marks on a map and claiming it was your reconnaissance? What a joke. I was giving you a chance to leave here, you fool."

boom.

The door slammed shut, which alerted all the pilots on the floor, who all peeked out of their rooms to look at Fang Wen.

He had brought back such important intelligence with great passion and risked his life, only to have it ignored. This left Fang Wen feeling somewhat frustrated.

He carefully put away the map and strode away.

Overnight, flyers were everywhere in SH City.

Citizens picked up the flyers, but didn't know where they came from.

Attentive citizens noticed that there were even small prints on the back.

"This act of kindness was performed by Fang Wen, a flight specialist for China Airlines, and produced by Huatao Printing House."

While being patriotic, Boss Yang didn't forget to give himself a little advertisement, also printing Fang Wen's name on it.

Now everyone in Shanghai knows that their planes flew in last night despite being surrounded by Japanese forces, and even scattered leaflets all over the city.

Such favorable public opinion would certainly not be missed.

Immediately, several newspapers rushed to print special editions, featuring front-page headlines and reports.

The Japanese army's arrogance won't last long; what appears to be an impregnable fortress is riddled with weaknesses.

"Our civil aviation pilots skillfully maneuvered into the encirclement last night, maneuvering with ease."

Radio announcers are also using this for promotion.

The news spread quickly, and even the surrounding area knew about it.

In the airport dormitory, Howard and Pan Jiafeng slept fully clothed, their snores rising and falling.

Fang Wen lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, wide awake.

The passion remained undiminished, but the frustration of being misunderstood also persisted.

But more importantly, they wanted to get this crucial intelligence to the relevant air force command.

In his understanding, the Japanese army's main force in this attack on Shanghai was the navy, while the majority of the army was still in the Northeast. As long as they could pose a threat to the navy, the enemy would not be so bold as to launch such a deep encirclement.

If a bombing operation could be launched based on this naval deployment map, it might have a surprising effect.

But Lieutenant Lu's attitude left him unsure of who to turn to.

Before he knew it, it was dawn. Fang Wen was still not sleepy, so he decided to get up and wander around the airport.

At this time, there was a knock on the door.

He got up and opened the door; two officers in flight suits were standing outside.

"Fang Wen, we need to verify the situation with you. You need to answer truthfully about last night's night flight incident."

(End of this chapter)