Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapters 258 and 257: Compressing military rations, successfully intercepting the Bank of Japan, and establishing an elite air force.

Lin Shuiwang did not receive a direct reply from the Whitneys, so he could only send a telegram back to report the situation.

Upon receiving the telegram, Fang Wen was no longer in a hurry.

At least from Lin Shuiwang's telegram, we know that Pratt & Whitney is indeed developing a dual-engine system.

In other words, even without my help, they will definitely appear on the battlefield in the future, and I will still have the opportunity to obtain that super-powerful engine.

Since the engine problem can't be solved for the time being, let's do something else.

Full of energy, he prepared to begin research and development of compressed rations.

The discovery of compressed rations was entirely accidental. One of the several cold heading machines ordered from Europe was used to process bullet casings.

However, processing only bullets would be too wasteful, so Fang Wen asked the cold heading machine manufacturer to add several molds that could be used to heading different types of shell casings.

When this thing was brought back, one of the workers dropped a steamed bun into it, and it was crushed into a hard little piece.

The news spread throughout the bullet factory, and Huo Duanyang casually mentioned it when he came over.

It was this sentence that made Fang Wen suddenly realize that cold heading machines could also be used to process compressed dry rations.

But at the time, I was in the middle of a trans-Pacific race with Pan Am, so I didn't have time for it.

Now there is time.

Fang Wen, who hadn't bothered with the engine, immediately got to work.

For this stuff, nutrition comes first, taste second, but it has to be palatable.

Fang Wen felt he couldn't do it, so he launched a prize-winning contest in the industrial park.

The announcement spread rapidly after it was posted on the bulletin board of the industrial park.

Immediately, some people who knew how to make pastries came to sign up.

These people would first make a sample using their recipe, then let everyone taste it. If it was approved, they would pay to buy the recipe.

After purchasing the raw materials and then putting them into practice, all sorts of pastries were made.

It really is a wide variety.

After tasting these pastries, Fang Wen selected those with popular flavors and prepared to produce them on a trial basis.

However, after the first batch was produced, Fang Wen discovered a problem.

How can you make compressed dry food from pastries that contain moisture? They'll easily get moldy and spoil.

Obviously, compressed rations are not made this way.

Fang Wen then chose another direction and hired a food expert.

This request was sent to various locations through the group's radio network and received numerous responses from local offices and branches.

Ultimately, Fang Wen chose an expert who had spent a long time in both Europe and China and was proficient in both Chinese and Western pastry techniques.

The expert landed at Yangon Airport on a Taishan Airlines plane. After Fang Wen picked him up and took him to the industrial park, he eagerly asked, "I want to make a food that can be stored for a long time. How can I do that?"

The expert pondered for a moment: "Simple or complex?"

"Simple is best," Fang Wen replied without hesitation.

The expert was quite skilled; he immediately devised a simple formula.

Simply mix wheat flour, sugar, and shortening in the correct proportions, then add a little water and knead into a dough.

Let it rise naturally. Once risen, divide it into the required length and width, and then bake it into shortbread.

Fang Wen remained noncommittal, then asked with a smile, "I've opened an industrial park here, and I'm thinking of adding a biscuit factory. Would it be alright if I hired you for $30 a month to provide me with technical guidance?"

With the issuance of legal tender, Fang Wen no longer uses domestic currency as payment for employment, as that would be tantamount to harming his own employees.

Actually, many people in China are not optimistic about the legal tender, and this food expert is one of them. He happily accepted: "Okay, okay."

"Alright, let's sign the confidentiality agreement and the employment contract."

Bai Zeshan, who had been standing next to Fang Wen, placed the contract and confidentiality agreement in front of the food expert. It was his turn next.

Now that Taishan Group is so large and powerful, it can no longer keep secrets as it used to, and can only rely on credit and contracts to restrict its operations.

The food expert took the confidentiality agreement and employment contract and examined them carefully. The employment contract was in black and white, with clear rights and responsibilities, and there were no problems.

However, the confidentiality agreement stipulated that it must remain confidential for ten years, ending in 1945.

If they breach the contract, they will be punished by Taishan Group.

Upon seeing the punishment details, the food expert was terrified. "Am I going to die?!"

"It depends on the harm caused by the leak. If you don't leak anything, there won't be any problems. You know, big companies all have secrets," Bai Zeshan replied.

The food experts accepted this explanation and signed the agreement.

He was then taken to the bullet factory.

He was shocked when he heard that the machine used to make bullet casings was being used to make cookies.

But having received the money, he was obligated to do the work. Fang Wen assigned him five workers who knew how to make pastries, and they began to get busy.

This kind of thing really needs to be done by food experts.

He came up with a solution in just two days.

The shortbread made from wheat flour is crushed into granules and powder, then mixed with a special liquid, and finally compressed into extremely compacted dry food using a cold forming machine.

This is the first type of compressed dry rations.

It can be eaten directly; it has a salty-sweet flavor.

It's the basic model.

Fang Wen instructed them to continue their research and development based on this foundation and to begin producing compressed dry rations.

In order to produce compressed dry rations, Fang Wen had the European branch order two cold forming machines that could specifically press 500-gram portions of compressed dry rations.

The two custom-made cold heading machines haven't even arrived yet, but news has come from Guangzhou.

The staff at the industrial park's telegraph office came to report.

"General Manager, a telegram from Guangzhou says something big has happened in the United States."

The telegram from Guangzhou could only be from his father-in-law, Kuang Shanming. In order to ensure that he could be contacted in case of emergency, Fang Wen told him the company's commercial telegram frequency. It was precisely because it was a plaintext telegram that the telegraph operator could also see the content.

Fang Wen took the telegram and read its contents.

[Good son-in-law, you guessed right. Sure enough, the US launched a second round of measures in December, issuing an order the other day to stop large-scale purchases of silver from the international market. We have limited access to information here and don't know why the price of silver suddenly plummeted.]

[Japanese traders at the Shanghai Gold Exchange were dumping silver, but because no one could buy it all, the market crashed that day with no transactions.]

[Our Guangzhou Gold Exchange reacted a bit slowly; many people sold some silver in the morning, but no one dared to buy in the afternoon.]

[Thank goodness for your reminder. After I finished throwing, they all followed suit, and now they're all watching from the shore.]

"Son-in-law, give me a bottom line on how low the price of silver can drop, and we'll buy it when it reaches that price."

Fang Wen was stunned. His father-in-law really thought he was a god of wealth. Who knows how much the price of silver will drop this time?

He remembered that when the United States announced the silver purchase bill, the price of silver was only $0.45 per ounce. Now, it shouldn't be a problem to return to the original price.

Immediately, Fang Wen instructed the telegraph operator to send a reply.

A private room on the second floor of the Guangzhou Gold Exchange.

More than twenty big bosses of gold shops were overjoyed.

They experienced an extremely memorable operation.

At high prices, they dumped all their silver on the Japanese.

Then they exchanged everything for gold, a safe-haven asset, without incurring any loss.

Now that the US is no longer buying up silver, the price is definitely going to collapse.

They want to see how low the price of silver will fall today.

At this moment, Kwong Shan-ming came in and was immediately surrounded by the gold shop owners: "What did your son-in-law say in his telegram?" "He said that wherever it took off from, it will probably return to the same place."

The gold shop owners were stunned; this was ruthless.

Because of the U.S. silver purchase program, the price of silver has been hovering around 1 yuan for a long time. If it returns to 0.45 yuan, the Japanese will suffer huge losses.

But you have to earn double.

They raised their glasses to celebrate the sniper shot.

Then, the gold exchange downstairs opened for business.

A massive influx of people rushed in, all selling silver. With buyers outnumbered sellers, prices even plummeted due to a single person's small purchase.

Everyone realized that without Americans buying silver, this hype was ruined.

The losses suffered by these speculators were not the greatest; the panic was in Shanghai.

Several trading companies in the Shanghai Japanese Concession had participated in hoarding silver, and now that silver prices have plummeted, they have suffered heavy losses.

But that's not the core issue. The most crucial problem now is having money but not being able to sell it.

Japan protested to the United States, but the protest was useless. The United States was no longer accepting silver, so how could Japan force Japan to accept it?

No one expected that the Nationalist government's chaotic attack would inflict internal damage on the Japanese.

If China, the world's largest silver consumer, stops buying silver, how will Japan sell its silver holdings?

Now, even Japanese silver mining companies are worried about the future trend of silver prices.

Under such circumstances, some Japanese merchants chose to short sell, dumping their silver holdings regardless of cost.

Silver prices fell to 0.8, and finally someone stepped in.

But that small amount was simply not enough to absorb the flood of sell orders.

For a month, silver prices have been falling, but there are still not many buyers.

Even the Nationalist government, which lacked sufficient reserves of legal tender, was unwilling to intervene.

By the time the new year arrived, silver prices had fallen to 45 cents an ounce.

This is what Fang Wen referred to as the return to the origin.

The Southern Gold Exchange Alliance finally made its move. With their generosity, they swept up all the silver in the market, buying up as much as they could.

Once their funds were nearly exhausted, those who were slow to realize the situation rushed out to buy silver.

By this time, the Japanese had sold off all their silver.

1936, which is the 25th year of the Republic of China.

1 month.

Fang Wen received good news from Guangzhou.

He didn't feel much joy about it.

Today, Japan's economy is in a severe downturn, and the Silver Incident will not stop them. Given their aggressive military expansion, the counterattacks they face will be even more brutal.

Those who go bankrupt, the poor, and the ronin, once armed and placed on the Chinese mainland, would be more brutal than the nobles. They would want to take everything and disregard any life.

The only thing that can stop them is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

It's time to go back home and recruit elite pilots.

But before that, Fang Wen had one more thing to do.

He loaded the prepared 1 ton of compressed rations and 1 rounds of ammunition onto the Yunhe.

Then he telegraphed Shunzi at Xiangxi Airport and asked him to contact Bai Yunfei.

At Xiangxi Airport, Fang Shun's wife, Long Yumei, left the airport and, under her other identity, made contact at a nearby secret liaison point.

Bai Yunfei, the contact person for the dedicated line, stayed behind and remained undercover, having already changed into ethnic minority clothing.

He invited Long Yumei into the house and they spoke in hushed tones.

"The Water Dragon Society will provide one ton of compressed rations and 1 rounds of ammunition," Long Yumei whispered.

"What is compressed dry rations?" Bai Yunfei asked, puzzled.

"According to Shunzi, it is a special food for military campaigns. A small piece weighs a pound and can be stored for a long time. It is both filling and nutritious."

"That's great?" Bai Yunfei was surprised, then smiled. The mysterious water dragon had already provided battlefield first aid kits and first aid supplies that could save lives, saving many soldiers' lives. So, the appearance of compressed rations wouldn't be a big deal.

He said seriously, "The organization asked me to inquire about this. The Red Army doesn't take a single needle or thread from the masses. Since it's a transaction, everyone has to get what they need. We can't let Shuilong lose out. Go ask him what kind of return he wants."

Long Yumei nodded and turned to leave.

When Shunzi's telegram was sent back, Fang Wen translated the coded message and showed a surprised expression.

What kind of transaction return do you want?
He treated this as a transaction, merely a cover-up, without ever intending to actually make any money from it.

But it wouldn't be good to say that he didn't want anything at all, and Fang Wen pondered this.

He recalled the Red Army soldiers' perseverance and fearlessness, which were fundamental qualities of a wartime pilot.

Originally intending to leave after the war and hand over his aircraft assets to the Red Army, he had an idea.

Now, by using this opportunity to train a few elite pilots, wouldn't it be perfect to utilize our own elite flight formations?

With that thought in mind, he immediately sent a telegram to Shunzi.

Long Yumei, who had just returned home, went out again and found Bai Yunfei to report back.

"Shuilong replied. He wants to organize an elite combat squadron of pilots, saying that our Red Army soldiers are of good quality and spirit, and he wants to find a few from our side."

"This request?" Bai Yunfei nodded. "I'll report it to my superiors right now."

Bai Yunfei took out his secret radio and contacted his superior on the single line, waiting for a reply.

Half an hour passed while they waited.

The reply from above reads: "Shuilong is a trustworthy revolutionary friend. We must not only send qualified people to learn to fly, but also obey his orders and protect his safety. This message is to be conveyed directly."

"Also, please inform Shuilong about the airdrop. The Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army will be established soon, and that's where the most difficult conditions are. Could you airdrop supplies to them?"

After a night and three trips, Fang Wen finally settled the matter of the airdrop.

Unexpectedly, the Red Army gave up the airdropped supplies to the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army.

The Northeast region has now been under the control of the Japanese Kwantung Army for three years and should not be underestimated.

Although the exact location is still unknown, Fang Wen has already begun preparations.

Therefore, he suspended his plans to return to China and began to study how to conduct air transport to Northeast China.

Air freight is definitely safest at night.

But now that he has killed a Japanese noble pilot in an aerial competition in the Bohai Sea, airports in various places will inevitably be monitored by Japanese spies.

It's not safe to go via land-based airports.

Taking a waterway for transfers would be safer.

He opened the map of the seaplane routes of Taishan Airlines that he had drawn.

The Yangtze River, the Yellow River, and the Hai River are all safe springboards for me; I can take off from any of them.

Alternatively, it could be done without all that trouble; the Xuanming seaplane could simply take off from Yangon.

The distance from Yangon to the northeast is about 4000 kilometers, which is exactly the range of the Xuanming.

The problem can be solved simply by ensuring a stable supply of fuel for the return trip.

If he could refuel and resupply during the return flight, Fang Wen felt he had successfully completed this 8000-kilometer-long flight.

That means I'll be able to pilot the Xuanming to Japan someday.

(End of this chapter)