Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 265, Section 264: Flight Club Aircraft Auction, Mount Tai Air Gunship Modification

Military competition begins.

William and Wu Yingzong each led their own troops to the competition venue.

The two sides stared at each other across the river, the atmosphere tense and ready to fight.

The first event was an orienteering and intelligence gathering competition.

The mercenaries arrived first, and the 10 selected operatives entered the dense forest.

The dense forest not only presents various natural obstacles, but also thirty hostile patrols.

After a series of evasions and chases, only half of the operatives completed their intelligence gathering and reached their destination.

Next up was the Taishan Action Team, which also consisted of 10 people facing a 30-person enemy patrol.

As a result, the seven people successfully completed their intelligence gathering mission and reached the destination.

In the first round of the competition, the mercenaries actually lost.

This made them very resentful.

The two sides then tied in the tactical shooting competition.

In the final battlefield rescue and medical care, the Taishan Action Team skillfully used specialized medical emergency equipment to treat patients and transfer the wounded, achieving even better results.

After such a competition, the mercenaries were defeated and could only hang the title of loser on the outer wall of the camp.

This title successfully inspired their sense of collective honor, and in order to remove this shameful title, they repeatedly suggested to William that they compete again.

This request was exactly what Fang Wen wanted. He wanted the two units to be in a good competitive state, thereby generating a sense of collective honor and improving training effectiveness.

Subsequently, the two commanders negotiated and agreed to hold a competition every three months, with the losing side being branded with a symbol of humiliation.

In order to win the competition, both sides were training, and William took the opportunity to reorganize the mercenary group.

After a military competition imbued with a sense of collective honor, the mercenary group's discipline and teamwork improved.

Fang Wen will shift his focus away from this aspect and turn to other things.

The third Taishan Flying Club event was held.

As the leader of the organizing committee, he had to make an appearance and make contact with those powerful members from South and Southeast Asia.

He also presided over the seaplane auction.

He then flew a seaplane to the Mandalay Palace in central British Burma.

After several hours of flight, the plane arrived at its destination and landed at the Club Sea Airport on the Irrawaddy River.

Besides Fang Wen's Yunhe seaplane, there was another aircraft on the water, also a Shuiyun-1 type.

That was the vehicle of the King of Sarawak, who was also the first local king overseas to own a domestically produced aircraft.

Fang Wen got off the plane, took a boat ashore, and Liu Yinfeng waited on the shore in a car.

He offered his explanation:

"General Manager, many new members have arrived. Zhou Pomen is busy with reception and can't leave, so I'm the only one who can pick you up."

"It's alright, let's go." Fang Wen got into the car. As always, he always drove himself and rarely handed over control of his car or plane to others.

The car headed to the palace, drove directly through the palace gates, and parked in the parking area.

Afterwards, Fang Wen arrived at the management area of ​​the flying club, which he knew very well.

There, we listened to reports from Liu Yinfeng and Zhou Pomen.

This recruitment drive for the flying club has attracted 32 new members.

Besides enjoying leisure activities at the palace, they were also there for the seaplane auction.

The auction will take place tonight.

After inquiring about the preparations for the auction, Fang Wen rested and waited in the club.

Time passed quickly, and evening arrived.

After having dinner in their respective palace rooms, the members of the flying club headed out to the entertainment area in the center of the palace.

After all the members had arrived at the entertainment area, Fang Wen came out with a microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to have you become members of the Taishan Flying Club. Tonight's gathering will feature the auction of 10 Taishan seaplanes, along with corresponding services."

After he finished speaking, he looked around and said, "If anyone has any questions, please ask them now."

While the new members were still pondering the questions, the King of Sarawak was the first to stand up.

"General Manager Fang, I'd like to know what kind of services you can provide if I buy your seaplane?"

“A very comprehensive service, including establishing seaplane routes, sea airports, and even training operations staff and pilots,” Fang Wen replied.

After that, others immediately raised questions.

Some local kings argued that their territories were not large, and that even if they bought an airplane to establish an air route, they still needed to unite with other local kings.

Some Southeast Asian Chinese families felt that independent operation was too troublesome and wanted to know if Taishan Airlines could participate in its operation and management.

Fang Wen responded with a smile to these questions.

Times have changed, and he understands more and more that having more friends means having more strength, and Taishan Group needs more support.

Even if the Japanese occupy Southeast Asia in the future and cause some losses, that should not lead to rejecting the friendship brought about by current interests.

He smiled and promised that if they wanted to jointly operate the aircraft, that would be fine too. Taishan Airlines would establish operating branches in South Asia and Southeast Asia to specifically handle the joint operation of seaplane routes.

Such a promise greatly increased the interest of the flying club members.

The first batch of ten Shuiyun-1 seaplanes were quickly auctioned off.

After the auction, Fang Wen socialized with the new members of the flying club, discussing all sorts of topics.

From Europe and America to Asia, all sorts of hot topics are covered.

The most discussed topic is Germany's rise to power by stationing troops in the Rhineland demilitarized zone.

The King of Afghanistan spoke up: "According to my information, the Germans' actions will not be subject to any sanctions. The British and French, who could have sanctioned Germany, merely held a meeting in London and proposed: 'To establish contact between the two sides in order to prepare the technical conditions for taking war measures in the event of unprovoked aggression.'"

"What do you mean?" a local king asked, puzzled. His question was translated into English by a translator.

"It means that they were worried that Germany would start World War II, so they decided to make some technical preparations, such as the Maginot Line, which the French started building several years ago," Fang Wen explained.

The Afghan king, who had studied in France, analyzed: "The Maginot Line is very strong. I believe that once it is completed, Germany will have no chance to invade France."

Seeing that no one believed him, he described the situation of the Maginot Line in great detail.

It was a permanent fortification built of reinforced concrete.

The defensive line contains various cannons, trenches, fortresses, kitchens, power plants, hospitals, factories, and more.

The internal passageways were extensive, and some large fortifications even had tram tracks. Many local rulers appreciated this, feeling that France had created a powerful defensive system.

Fang Wen smiled without saying a word, but in his heart he disagreed.

Seeing this, the King of Afghanistan couldn't help but ask, "General Manager Fang, do you really think the Germans can break through the Maginot Line?"

Under the watchful eyes of many, Fang Wen replied, "If Germany were to invade France, they would come up with many ways. The last thing they would do is launch a direct assault on the Maginot Line; they could simply bypass it. Just like the Mongol army's wars in Europe, unnecessary frontal battles are pointless."

Fang Wen was talking about Eastern strategic thinking, which the Afghan king did not understand, and the local kings also seemed not to understand.

He did not discuss this matter.

Then the conversation turned to Japan.

There are many different opinions about the February 26 Incident.

Some have even analyzed that this is a struggle between the royalists and the militarists.

Fang Wen, who was a witness to the event, had a different opinion.

The Imperial Way faction's actions were far too naive. They actually resorted to assassinating cabinet ministers to force all sides to submit. This behavior undermined the entire system, and they were destined to fail.

Fang Wen did not share this analysis. Not wanting to participate in the discussion, he got up and left the room to take a walk in the palace.

At this moment, the head of a Southeast Asian Chinese family also came out.

"General Manager Fang, I heard you're recruiting elite pilots?"

"Hmm. How did you know?"

“We can keep up with what’s happening in China even from overseas. My son is learning to fly in the US and he’s quite good at it. Could he join us?”

Fang Wen stopped and told the truth: "The elite pilots I recruited have high requirements. They also have to fly military aircraft and will be fighting the Japanese in the air in the future. It's very dangerous."

The head of the family replied, "I know. My son asked me to inquire about this. He said that even if I didn't ask, he would still sign up himself. I've thought it through. Rather than letting him come secretly, I'd rather sign him up myself. If he's selected, it would be best if he came back alive. If something happens, I hope he can shoot down a few Japanese planes."

Fang Wen was very surprised: "You can find a way to lock him up. People in my elite air force are really going to die."

"There's nothing we can do. Times have changed," the family head sighed.

The phrase "times have changed" encapsulates every aspect of this era.

1936 was a year of tremendous change.

The February 26 Incident in Japan and Germany's recapture of the Rhineland were just fragments of that year.

That year, the Great Depression that affected the world had passed its most dangerous phase, and major European and American countries were gradually emerging from the crisis.

That year, the only war in the world was Italy's strange invasion of Ethiopia, which had dragged on for four years without ending.

That year, the French left-wing Popular Front coalition won an election and promised to bring holidays to the French people, allowing the French working class, who had never had a holiday before, to finally have one.

That year, the Spanish Communist Party won the election and was preparing to implement sweeping reforms.

The whole of Europe seemed to be undergoing a communist transformation.

This has a consequent impact on the social situation of the entire world.

Young people are more enthusiastic about discussing and participating in political activities.

This includes overseas Chinese descendants as well.

As a unique inheritor of Chinese culture, overseas Chinese descendants have a sense of belonging to China and are willing to join meaningful actions to change their motherland and expel invaders.

From the head of the Chinese family, Fang Wen learned about the attitudes of overseas Chinese towards their motherland and realized that he had almost missed out on an important source of support.

He immediately leveraged the resources of overseas Chinese communities in South and Southeast Asia to launch a recruitment drive for elite pilots throughout the overseas Chinese-speaking world.

Under such recruitment propaganda, some young people with basic flying skills came to Yangon.

In Yangon, Fang Wen conducted the selection process for them.

A suitable batch will be retained and added to the Taishan Elite Aviation Team's reserve plan.

For those who are unsuitable but possess excellent flying skills, Fang Wen would have a conversation with them and then let them stay to become pilots in the low-speed fighter jet unit.

Meanwhile, a group of mercenary pilots from Europe and America also arrived in Yangon one after another, becoming members of the elite air force.

Now we have pilots for the elite air force.

However, the fighter jets specifically designed for them have not yet been determined.

Lacking the necessary foundation, Fang Wen has abandoned his plan to independently develop high-speed fighter jets and has instead sought to purchase them.

For this procurement, he paid a considerable intelligence fee to gather information on the most advanced fighter jets currently in use by various countries.

Once the information is gathered, a suitable model will be selected, and then an order will be placed.

During the downtime before intelligence gathering, Fang Wen mainly focused on the military-grade modification of low-speed aircraft.

Inside the Thames Aircraft Manufacturing Plant in Yangon.

Fang Wen, along with senior engineers and Howard, discussed aircraft modifications at the manufacturing plant.

This is the fifth technical seminar; the previous four seminars failed to produce any results.

Bai Zeshan, the meeting's chairperson, spoke up:

"This seminar mainly focuses on two modification plans: 'lightweight gunboat aircraft' and 'heavyweight gunboat aircraft.' These are the results of discussions from the previous four seminars. Please share any differing opinions you may have."

The meeting was attended by more than 20 senior engineers from the factory, including French engineers and many college graduate engineers recruited from domestic universities.

They did not distinguish between nationalities and schools, but rather divided themselves into two factions: heavy aircraft and light aircraft, based on different arguments.

The heavy aircraft faction spoke first: "We reiterate: the theory of firepower first and armor first. The best direction is a low-speed fighter with an air fortress-like structure that can withstand infantry attacks and suppress the ground."

The light aircraft proponents immediately countered: "An aircraft's defensive capabilities can never compare to a tank. Although low-speed aircraft are slower, they can still maneuver on the ground. But if we follow your design concept, the aircraft's speed will be reduced to 150 kilometers per hour. At that speed, it will become a target for many weapons, and no matter how thick the defense or how strong the firepower, it will be useless."

Neither side could convince the other, and a heated argument broke out at the very beginning of the discussion.

Fang Wen had a headache. He felt that the entire research and development direction had deviated from its original purpose. These people were arguing about the weight of the materials without addressing the core of their design.

This discussion must bring these people's thinking back to our own.

Thinking of this, Fang Wen stood up and walked onto the podium.

His taking the stage silenced the debate.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to ask you to put aside your disagreements and listen attentively to what I have to say. Is that alright?"

All the engineers admired Fang Wen and responded in unison, "Yes."

Fang Wen nodded and continued:

"This plan comes from a dream of mine. In my dream, a low-speed aircraft would circle around a ground target and attack it using a specially designed side-firing weapon system. This circling attack maneuver around the target could provide continuous fire suppression on the ground."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "This kind of air-to-ground tactic doesn't require high speed. In fact, low-speed aircraft are more suitable for suppressive air-to-ground fire. Therefore, its modification focuses on continuous and stable circling flight, side-firing weapon systems, and specific nighttime illumination projection auxiliary devices. Its function is to cooperate with ground troops in conducting three-dimensional fire suppression attacks. So, think about it, isn't the direction of everyone's debate off track?"

(Fairchild AC-119 gunship, Vietnam War)
(End of this chapter)