Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 243, Section 242: The Third Red Army is Back, 5 Rounds of Ammunition, PBY Seaplane
Yangon.

It took nearly two years of development.

A great deal of human and material resources were invested.

They also established friendly and close relations with the local British troops, local people, and overseas Chinese.

Taishan Group is already considered the largest foreign-invested enterprise here.

The oil refinery in the southeast emits black smoke from its large chimneys every day as it continuously refines crude oil.

Crude oil transported from Yenangyaung in the middle reaches of the Irrawaddy River, as well as crude oil from the Persian Gulf, allows refineries to extract large quantities of chemical products.

Fuel, lubricants, asphalt, paraffin, etc.

Of the nearly 5 tons of fuel produced annually, a portion undergoes further processing, specifically treated to increase the octane rating and become high-quality aviation gasoline.

This technology was brought by the American joint venture partner. High-quality aviation gasoline will make piston engines more efficient, which is also an important part of Fangwen Aircraft Industry.

The refinery is a stroke of genius, enabling future fighter jets to replenish with high-quality aviation fuel.

It is estimated that there will be a production capacity of 3000 tons of high-quality aviation fuel per year.

Fang Wen felt fortunate that he had won the bet in Las Vegas.

Aside from a small portion supplied to their own company's flights, most of this high-quality aviation fuel was secretly stockpiled.

There is an oil depot in Yangon that can store 2000 tons of fuel oil.

But important supplies cannot be stored in just one place.

Domestic reserves are also needed to cope with various unforeseen needs.

Therefore, there is also a large oil depot with a capacity of 500 tons at Xiangxi Airport.

There is a backup oil depot in Jinghong with a capacity of 500 tons.

Jinghong has a seaplane airport, which can directly send seaplane pilots to Yangon to transport fuel.

Xiangxi Airport is a ground airport, so every month on the 15th, when the refinery's premium aviation fuel is released, Fang Wen has to fly over there in his Taishan No. 1 to transport the fuel.

1935 7 Month 15 Day.

It's time to haul oil again.

Fang Wen stopped what he was doing and drove Taishan No. 1 out of the hangar.

Subsequently, Huo Duanyang, the plant manager of the oil refinery, organized workers to transport barrels of aviation fuel onto the aircraft cargo hold using trailers.

After filling the oil drums, they continued to fill the two specially designed auxiliary fuel tanks on the aircraft.

After everything was completed, Huo Duanyang reported to Fang Wen: "General Manager, a total of 38 large oil drums with a capacity of 200 liters each have been loaded, plus the 1800 liters in the auxiliary oil tank, making the total loading of 8 tons complete."

Fang Wen nodded and signed the delivery form. Even as the group's general manager, he had to sign every time oil was issued, otherwise the accounts would not match up later.

After signing the papers, he boarded the plane, closed the cabin door, and sat in the cockpit to check the plane's pre-takeoff condition using mechanical sensors.

After confirming that the cabin doors were closed and that the engine and other equipment were functioning correctly, Fang Wen controlled the aircraft to take off and fly towards Xiangxi Airport.

After a 7-hour flight, the plane arrived over Xiangxi Airport. After a brief radio confirmation, it landed at the airport.

After the plane landed and came to a stop, Shunzi jogged over and waited by the plane.

After Fang Wen came out, he immediately said, "Young Master, Bai Yunfei came to the airport a while ago. He also brought this year's tobacco."

Bai Yunfei was the pseudonym of Shu Zhitao, a secret liaison between the Red Army and Taishan Aviation.

Fang Wen exclaimed in surprise, "He's back? What about the Third Red Army?"

“He didn’t say,” Shunzi replied.

Fang Wen's thoughts were racing.

Since the Central Red Army began the Long March, the Red Army in various base areas also started mobile warfare in order to support it.

The Third Red Army had already left its base area last year to draw the Kuomintang army's firepower elsewhere, thus relieving pressure on the Central Red Army.

Their constant mobile warfare meant that even the Kuomintang army didn't know their exact location, so Bai Yunfei certainly wouldn't reveal it to outsiders.

Did he make any purchase requests?

"Yes, bullets. They need a lot of bullets to replenish their supplies. And battlefield medkits. Bai Yunfei said that battlefield medkits are too important to them, and they will buy them as long as they are available, regardless of the price."

Fang Wen nodded.

Fighting across multiple locations resulted in high ammunition consumption, and relying solely on captured bullets was certainly insufficient to meet the demand.

The Sunshine Bullet Factory has been operating for the past few months and has stockpiled 5 bullets, which can be airdropped to the Red Third Army in one go.

As for battlefield medical kits, they were all airdropped at once, and we didn't have any reserves on hand, so we had to prepare them again.

He instructed Shunzi: "Find a way to tell Bai Yunfei that the bullets can be provided first, a total of 50,000 rounds. The battlefield medical kits are out of stock for the time being and will be available in a while."

“Okay.” Shunzi accepted the order.

Subsequently, all the fuel drums on the plane were unloaded, and the fuel inside was poured into the fuel depot. The extra 1600 liters of fuel in the two auxiliary fuel tanks were also extracted and filled into the fuel depot.

After unloading 8 tons of fuel, Fang Wen piloted the plane back to Yangon with 38 empty fuel drums.

Back in Yangon, Fang Wen had the refinery staff retrieve the empty oil drums, then disembarked and went directly to the bullet factory.

In the bullet factory's warehouse, rows of wooden ammunition boxes were placed.

Each ammunition box contains 5 x 120 oil paper packets and 600 rounds of ammunition.

There were a total of 84 ammunition boxes, containing 50,000 rounds.

He didn't have the workers move and install the machine, but instead waited for Shunzi's call back.

After all, with seaplanes now available, transportation methods have become more diversified. They can be airdropped or handed over to Red Army ships on rivers.

At Xiangxi Airport, Shunzi had already asked his wife to contact Bai Yunfei.

An hour later, Shunzi's wife, Long Yumei, brought back a man in a long gown, who was none other than Bai Yunfei.

He met Shunzi in a secluded room inside the airport.

"Are there really 50,000 rounds of ammunition?"

Bai Yunfei was somewhat agitated. The long-term mobile warfare had made bullets the biggest problem, and he had heard the soldiers discuss those pure copper bullets more than once.

The pure copper bullets secretly supplied by Taishan Aviation, while not as penetrating as the copper-steel armor bullets, had a very high hit rate and were also very destructive upon impact.

Everyone discussed this in their spare time and agreed that it was due to the high quality and fine workmanship.

Shunzi replied earnestly: "Yes, it really is. And this time, there are two options for air transport: the first is the previous airdrop, and the second is delivery by sea."

Shunzi mentioned the two delivery methods offered by Fang Wen, but to her surprise, Bai Yunfei didn't want either of them.

"No need for that trouble, our troops have already fought their way back."

Shunzi asked in surprise, "You fought back?"

This was something Shunzi couldn't believe: despite the Kuomintang's encirclement, the Third Red Army had actually fought its way back.

From that perspective, Yongshun was under the control of the Third Red Army, so all that was needed was to transport the bullets to the Xiangxi Airport.

Shunzi immediately left and sent a telegram south.

In Yangon, it was already afternoon. Fang Wen, who had received the radio waves, skillfully translated the message.

The telegram surprised Fang Wen. He hadn't expected the Third Red Army to be so capable. After several twists and turns, they had fought their way back to their old base area, having circled the entire southwest region.

He became increasingly interested in the Third Red Army and wanted to take this opportunity to see it for himself.

Immediately, Fang Wen went out and gathered the workers to load all 84 boxes of bullets into Taishan No. 1.

The 84 boxes containing 5 rounds of ammunition were actually not very heavy; with the wooden crates, they weighed only about 700 kilograms.

This is nothing for Taishan No. 1.

After loading the bullets, Fang Wenyang piloted the plane into the air, and the plane returned to Xiangxi Airport after nightfall.

After the plane landed, Fang Wen instructed Shunzi: "The Red Third Army is here. You hand over the bullets to them. I won't show up."

Shunzi nodded; this was exactly what he was supposed to do. The next day, a military unit actually arrived.

Fang Wen changed into local Miao ethnic clothing and quietly left the airport, ready to see this army that had been fighting all along.

Their uniforms were full of patches, and their legs were wrapped in leggings as they strode in.

Upon closer inspection, these soldiers looked hungry and appeared to be in poor health.

But they were full of energy and could even sing loudly while marching.

Such troops were very popular with the locals, who lined the streets to welcome them.

The troops were stationed near the airport for a day, but did not make any contact with the airport.

It wasn't until nightfall that they quietly handed over the 48 boxes of bullets to Shunzi's men.

Shunzi also brought food that Fang Wen had prepared for them, including cured meat, flour, and fried rice, all of which were easy to carry and could be stored for a long time.

The army did not accept the food; they simply took the ammunition they had been given and disappeared into the night.

After they left, Shunzi sighed, "General Manager, they're too proud. What we offered was support, nothing shameful, yet they refused it. If it were me, I couldn't stand being hungry; I would eat when I'm hungry."

Shunzi's words gave Fang Wen a deeper understanding of the Red Army.

This is a force that arms itself with spirit; they place revolutionary faith above all else, a quality that is extremely rare even in this era.

Fang Wen thought so.

Shunzi couldn't do it, most people at Taishan Airlines couldn't do it, and he himself couldn't do it either.

After the transaction of 50,000 bullets,

When Fang Wen learned of this unit again, they had already reached Hubei and annihilated the headquarters of the 41st Division and one brigade.

Inspired by the spirit and morale of this unit, Fang Wen felt that his Taishan Group should also have such discipline.

Of course, one cannot expect everyone to have strict discipline and obedience. As a second choice, Fang Wen wanted a disciplined army of its own for Taishan Airlines.

Therefore, he gave the seven members of the special operations team a task of expanding their ranks.

This allows these seven individuals to recruit their own army members and conduct military training.

In comparison, Fang Wen did not require this unit to have the qualities and spirit of the Red Army, but at least it should be able to fight, dare to fight, and not be afraid of fighting.

Such people do exist; those in the underworld are also daring and willing to fight. As long as they are paid enough and have no worries, they can gather a group of people.

Subsequently, the seven special operations team members returned to their home country, sought out their fathers' connections, and began a recruitment drive in the underworld.

Meanwhile, Fang Wen continued with his work.

Design a long-range aircraft capable of crossing the Pacific Ocean.

To defeat his opponent, he needed to obtain information about him. To this end, Fang Wen spent a lot of money to obtain relevant information from Shanghai and Europe.

In the current history of aviation, there are several examples of aircraft flying across the Atlantic, including Fang Wen, who also flew across the Atlantic, and there are even airlines preparing to launch transatlantic flights.

But the Pacific Ocean has never been conquered by aviators.

The most feasible option at the time was the Do-X airship of the Weimar Republic.
This behemoth, a hybrid of ship and airplane, has six propellers and 12 engines, and its takeoffs are always a spectacular sight.

Unfortunately, after completing its transatlantic flight, it suddenly disintegrated in mid-air during a demonstration flight in Europe.

Fang Wen carefully studied this behemoth seaplane.

In his experience, this kind of aircraft has absolutely no structural advantages; it can only fly by brute force.

This was clearly a failed direction for aircraft research.

The next challenge to cross the Pacific Ocean will be the Sikorsky S-40.

This is an aircraft named after its designer; it is also a seaplane.

This type of aircraft has a fuselage that closely resembles the clipper ship, a fast sailing vessel used in 19th-century American maritime trade. Therefore, the suffix "---"---"---" is used in its name, such as American Clipper, Southern Clipper, and Carney Bean Clipper.

Based on his experience, Fang Wen judged that this type of aircraft had a lightweight structure and sufficient lift, making it capable of long-range flight.

But it also has its flaws.

This design was originally intended for small aircraft, but it was used on a large aircraft. Moreover, in order to make it lightweight, the external support structure of its wings even adopted an exposed steel frame.

This design will result in a fragile aircraft support structure, making it prone to accidents in stormy or even rough sea conditions.

This is why only three Sikorsky S-40s were ever built before they were phased out, proving to be completely impractical.

This type of aircraft is not relevant to the reference of Fangwen, so he passed it directly.

The last aircraft, which is Fang Wen's competitor.

Martin M-130 aircraft
This aircraft was created by Martin Aircraft Company based on the inspiration of the Sikorsky S-40.

Its fuselage is also shaped like a clipper ship.

However, the wings and tail have been modified more rationally, making them structurally safer and more reliable.

Fang Wen carefully examined the information on this competitor.

Based on the information obtained, this aircraft has an all-metal skin, four propellers, a high-wing configuration, and a vertical tail.

This information is too simplistic.

Fang Wen analyzed the situation based on his own experience in manufacturing and piloting seaplanes.

The Martin M-130 has a large fuselage and a large internal space capacity. Combined with the structure of the wing-propeller engine, this results in its center of gravity being under the front.

This structure makes it difficult for seaplanes to take off in still water.

For seaplanes like the Martin M-130, taking off from still water can be more difficult because most of the fuselage (including the nose and wingtips) is submerged. In such cases, the aircraft may need to take off from a current with some speed (such as a river or ocean waves) or from a relatively flat land surface such as a beach.

This means it cannot land on calm river or lake surfaces.

If absolutely necessary, it must be towed by a motorized vessel.

Fang Wen immediately identified the Martin M-130's weakness, but lacked any inspiration on how to counter it.

What kind of aircraft design could possibly surpass the Martin M-130?
The Martin M-130 appears to have good performance and has been tested; it should be capable of ultra-long-distance flights.

To defeat it, you can't rely on tricks or shortcuts.

Fang Wen carefully recalled his memories of the future.

It seems that future large seaplanes will all adopt this spaceship-like design.

This structure is used to take into account buoyancy, load capacity, and other factors.

What will be the difference between future spaceship-type seaplanes and current ones?

That's not easy.

After racking his brains without finding a solution, Fang Wen suddenly remembered the aircraft design data he had previously stolen from Vienna.

That was something Mitsubishi bought from the Nazis at a high price; perhaps there was something they needed in it.

He went to the confidential blueprint room of the aircraft manufacturing plant to retrieve those documents, and after looking through them, he actually found them.

Back then, the Japanese not only purchased the blueprints for heavy strategic bombers from the Nazis, but also some additional materials.

For example, the PBY seaplane design draft.

This is a military amphibious aircraft that the United States began developing in 1933.

The design company was United Aircraft Corporation, and according to the data in the design drafts, it was projected to have a maximum range of 4000 kilometers.

Fang Wen's heart immediately stirred.

This amphibious military aircraft boasts superior performance; even the simplified civilian version can outperform the Martin M-130.

More importantly, having the capability to produce civilian versions will allow for the production of military versions in the future.

Now, Fang Wen's task is to replicate the PBY seaplane from the design draft.

(The most produced seaplane of World War II: PBY seaplane, also known as the Catalina seaplane)
(End of this chapter)