Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 297, Section 296: Coordinated air combat operations delayed; Taishan Air Force operates independently; the era's only early warning aircraft.

Inside the canteen at Zhoujiakou Airport, freshly cooked hot dishes were served. Captain Gao and Fang Wen ate tea instead of wine to solve their dinner problem.

While we were eating, a group of people came in from outside.

They were pilots from the 4th Air Group.

They approached eagerly, and Lü Pengtao said, "Captain, General Manager Fang promised us that he would talk to us when he had time tonight."

"What do you want to talk about?" Captain Gao glared at him, looking quite imposing.

But the pilots he brought didn't seem to be very afraid of him.

Fang Wen was well aware of this; even those who had studied flying abroad, like Yue Jinping and Fei Yizhen, had no chance of joining the Central Air Force, which shows how fierce the competition was.

It's not just about having the skills; you also need connections, and your own qualifications and background are very important.

Captain Gao must have gotten his position through his excellent flying skills, but he couldn't gain the unconditional obedience of a group of pampered soldiers like he could with ordinary soldiers.

Fang Wen's air force was different in this respect. All the pilots were handpicked by him, without any connections, and obedience to orders was the primary requirement.

At that moment, Captain Gao's words interrupted his thoughts.

"General Manager Fang, it's a rare treat to have this get-together with you tonight. We've all been looking forward to it for a long time. Shall we talk?"

Fang Wen would definitely give Captain Gao face, and besides discussing official business, he also wanted to build relationships with these colleagues.

He smiled and asked, "What do you want to talk about?"

The pilots asked all sorts of questions.

"Tell me about the air battle in Shanghai in 20, especially the bombing of the Izumo."

"I would like to hear General Manager Fang tell me about his rise to wealth and how he built such a large business in just a few years."

"Let's talk about monoplanes. Europe and America are upgrading their fighter jets, and the future definitely belongs to monoplanes."

"And what about Taishan's aircraft manufacturing industry? Have they ever thought about building their own fighter jets?"

Faced with these questions, Fang Wen couldn't answer them all, so he tactfully replied.

"We're all in the same industry, so let's talk about something professional. Let's talk about airplanes. Everyone sit down, and we'll discuss it together."

Immediately, a group of people arranged their stools in a circle in the canteen and sat together. The canteen chefs were quite surprised as to why these pampered soldiers were so well-behaved today, and watched from a distance by the kitchen door.

Fang Wen began.

He summarized his knowledge of airplanes over the years and gave a comprehensive account.

"I was in the last batch of flight trainees at Nanyuan Aviation University. Because the school closed down, I graduated early without completing the course. After that, I entered the workforce and worked my way up. I've traveled to most parts of the world and seen aircraft from various countries, so I have a pretty good understanding of this field. The present era is also a time of transformation for aircraft, with monoplanes replacing biplanes being the general trend. The United States started research in this area a few years ago and developed the P-26. The Shrike that I flew over is one of the P-26 series models, but I have completely modified and upgraded its internal structure."

"What models are those fighter jets at Jinan Airport?" Lü Pengtao asked.

"The Il-16 is a Soviet monoplane; before that, the Il-15 they used was a biplane."

Fang Wen began to review the process of how fighter jets from various countries changed from biplanes to monoplanes.

The Soviet Union replaced the Il-15 with the Il-16.

The American Curtiss Hawker P-36 fighter jet replaced the original biplane.

Germany, on the other hand, developed the Bf-109 fighter jet to replace the He 51 biplane.

The British Super Marlin 300 fighter will replace the Gloucester G.37 Gladiator biplane.

France's D.510 fighter jet has also replaced biplanes as the new choice for the air force.

His words captivated the pilots.

That's how they learned about the mainstream fighter jets in the outside world.

Captain Gao was also somewhat familiar with this, adding, "And Japan. As far as I know, their navy and army have each launched a monoplane model; the army's is the Type 97 fighter jet, and the navy's is the Type 96 carrier-based fighter jet. Currently, all countries in the world with fighter jet production and R&D capabilities have begun to transition to monoplanes."

One pilot said dejectedly, "Our air force is portrayed as the pillars of the nation, eagles soaring over China, but in reality, it uses outdated equipment from several years ago."

As soon as this was started, complaints immediately arose.

"The Hawk III we were driving had already stopped production in the United States, so it was shipped to Hangzhou for assembly."

"Last year, 4000 million yuan was invested in the Air Force. I have no idea where all that money went. The airports were built a few years ago, and there are only so many planes. Where did all the money go?"

"It's not just 4000 million, it's more than 8000 million in total, and that's enough to feed a lot of people."

"Last year, on Chiang Kai-shek's birthday, everyone said they would donate money to buy airplanes to celebrate. But when the money arrived, there were only 10 Hawk IIIs. I heard that the money was used to suppress the Communists. In order to quell the doubts from all sides, they even painted the old planes and flew them around the skies of Nanjing and Shanghai a few times to show that we had new planes."

Hearing these complaints, Captain Gao felt a little embarrassed, since Fang Wen was an outsider, and this was tantamount to protecting his own family's reputation.

"Why bring this up? General Manager Fang, let's stop here for today. I'll take you to your rest area."

The conversation ended there, and Fang Wen and Captain Gao left.

Upon arriving at his lodgings, Captain Gao finally revealed his true feelings.

"General Manager Fang, I am just a soldier who loves flying and fighting. No matter how chaotic this situation is, we can only do our best, fight the Japanese invaders in the sky, and shed our blood, just to have a clear conscience."

Watching Captain Gao's departing figure, Fang Wen couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions.

If it weren't for a group of people who were pragmatic and ambitious, the Nationalist government would have collapsed long ago.

It's a real shame that those tens of millions of yuan in air force construction funds were wasted.

Moreover, Fang Wen, as someone in the industry, had known a thing or two about the shady dealings involved in the aircraft procurement process over the years.

Take the Hawk III fighter jet as an example.

This fighter jet, which the United States has stopped producing, was sold for around $1.5 a few years ago.

However, the domestic procurement cost is more than $3.

It has almost doubled, and many people must have been involved in how it was done.

The Hawk III was considered relatively good; later, more were purchased and assembled in Xingzhong, bringing the total to nearly one hundred, which is currently the mainstay fighter jet of the National Air Force.

The others are made up of old-fashioned fighter jets and trainer aircraft pieced together.

That's how we got the number 300.

Even so, 4 million yuan of legal tender was spent last year.

At a fixed exchange rate of 1 to 3, this is equivalent to $1300 million spent on Air Force construction last year.

With that much money, at the current international market price of over $3 for monoplanes in military sales, you could acquire 3 to 400 monoplanes.

In short, this makeshift organization was too corrupt, full of people looking to make money.

Fang Wen sighed, closed the door, and went to sleep.

After one night, Fang Wen returned to Jinan from Zhoujiakou Military Airport.

In the following days, the situation changed dramatically compared to before.

More Japanese troops were gathering in the Tianjin concessions.

In just a few days, warships and various military trains entered the pass.

In the vast North China region, after several years of encroachment, there were no longer any large-scale anti-Japanese forces to hinder them.

According to the intelligence Fang Wen obtained, the Japanese army that had entered the pass had reached five divisions, with a strength of about 100,000 men.

Fang Wen also learned about the movements of the Japanese Air Force, which was of most concern to him.

The Japanese air force deployed a total of 18 squadrons of various aircraft types to the Shanhaiguan, Jinzhou, and Dalian areas.

The Japanese North China Garrison Army organized the aircraft that arrived in Tianjin into an "Integrated Flight Group," with Colonel Naoto Kamijou, former commander of the 15th Air Regiment of the Kwantung Army, as the group commander. This group of 200 aircraft would cooperate with ground troops in the offensive.

During aircraft training exercises, there were even incidents of planes strafing peaceful trains.

Subsequently, the Japanese army launched an even more ferocious offensive against North China.

The troops were divided into three groups.

One force consisted of two mixed brigades of the Kwantung Army, advancing through Rehe towards the area north of Beiping;
One of the 20th Divisions stationed in North Korea advanced south of Beiping via Shanhaiguan;
One force, based on the riverside brigade of the garrison troops stationed in the Pingjin area, was deployed in the area east of Beiping, forming a three-sided encirclement of Beiping.

The 5th Division, which was transferred from Japan, joined the Japanese Navy to besiege the defenders of Tianjin and Tanggu.

In this situation, the Nanyuan Detachment and Tianjin Detachment established by the Nationalist government should launch air support to relieve the pressure on ground troops.

However, the collaborative operations that Fang Wen had been hoping for never materialized.

Therefore, he had to fly to Zhoujiakou again to find out what was going on.

Returning to Zhoujiakou, the bustling scene remained unchanged, but Fang Wen had no mood to appreciate it.

After getting off the plane, he was led to the airport office building by Lü Pengtao.

Upon meeting Captain Gao, Fang Wen was direct and to the point.

"More than 10 Japanese troops have been assembled in North China, and the offensive has begun. Beijing and Tianjin are in danger. When will air support be deployed?"

Captain Gao stood up with some guilt and walked over to Fang Wen to explain the situation.

"The planned 30 fighter jets have not yet arrived. The higher command has ordered us to hold back for the time being."

"Is it because the Japanese have too many warplanes and they are afraid of losses?" Fang Wen bluntly stated the situation.

Captain Gao did not answer.

Indeed, he wanted to kill the enemy, but was powerless to do so.

Fang Wen knew that making things difficult for him would be useless.

Take, for example, the incident we discussed last time about using Taishan Airlines' large transport planes to carry aerial bombs.

Captain Gao specifically inquired about it, but the logistics management officials rejected this time-saving and efficiency-improving idea.

The reason given was that the transportation process involved secrets and external transportation tools could not be used.

Therefore, aerial bombs are still on their way.

Do we really have to wait until August to deploy?
By then, the damage in North China was irreversible.

Fang Wen looked at Captain Gao, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

He understood that some things couldn't be forced. Since the top brass of the Nationalist government was still dragging his feet, he decided to take the lead himself.

Two hundred Japanese warplanes roamed the skies over North China.

How could the Taishan Air Escort Team, with only 7 fighter jets, possibly disrupt this battle?
While making this seemingly impossible plan, Fang Wen was not entirely unsure of himself.

Air forces of this era relied on pre-planned operations, making ad-hoc coordination in the air inconvenient.

The Taishan Air Escort Team possesses coded commands for real-time tactical maneuvers in the air, making them more flexible than others.

This is one of them.

The Japanese Air Force currently mainly uses the Type 95 and earlier biplanes. These aircraft have good stability in horizontal flight, but are inferior to monoplanes in multi-space combat.

The superior performance of the fighter jets and the corresponding supporting tactics are the advantages of the Taishan Air Force in dealing with biplanes.

This is the second.

Air forces of this era lacked enemy detection tools.

Not to mention future early warning aircraft that can conduct three-dimensional aerial reconnaissance and provide real-time updates to individuals within the combat system.

This kind of future aviation tactics is knowledge from Fang Wen's time, and originally required very complex supporting technologies, which is impossible to realize in this era.

But Fang Wen was able to do it. When he crossed the Pacific Ocean, in the East China Sea region, Fang Wen relied on this still imperfect airborne radar combined with mechanical sensing to detect enemy aircraft within a range of 300 kilometers.

Therefore, this early warning aircraft function, which only he could perform, became a crucial factor in the success of the operation.

This is the third one.

Fang Wen, who was very confident in the operation, began to prepare for it.

He convened the air force members for an internal discussion.

"Originally, the Tianjin detachment invited us to participate in the operation. However, due to their internal reasons, the operation has been postponed until August. If that happens, the best opportunity in North China will be lost. Therefore, I am prepared to act alone to intercept enemy aircraft in North China."

In response, the pilots of the air force stated that they would unconditionally obey Fang Wen's orders.

This trust and obedience were forged during the Spanish Air War; having gone through life-and-death trials together, they trusted Fang Wen's decision.

But the atmosphere was somewhat heavy, and they felt the pressure.

After all, it's 7 fighter jets against 200 fighter jets; it would be a lie to say you're not nervous.

Fang Wen offered an explanation in response.

"Things aren't what you think. From what I understand, the Japanese air campaign in North China was mainly bombing. Each time they operated, they would send Type 95 fighters to escort bomber formations, usually 20 aircraft per escort formation. For an operation of this scale, there would be 10-15 Type 95 fighters escorting the bombers, and 5-10 bombers carrying out the air raids. Seven aircraft against more than 20, do you have the confidence?"

Upon hearing Fang Wen's words, the pilots of the Taishan Aviation Team responded loudly, "Yes."

This scene reminded the pilots of the battle over the Valencia theater of war in Spain.

At that time, five German Condor Legion fighter planes also launched a surprise attack while outnumbered.

Now they themselves had become the attackers, and their opponents were the Japanese army, which excited them.

After deciding to intercept the Japanese bomber formation, Fang Wen immediately began modifying the Shrike.

The range detection radios originally installed on Taishan-1 and Shuiyun-1 could not be installed on the Shrike due to their weight and size.

In order to do so, he transferred Bai Zeshan from Yangon and also sent two professors who had participated in the design of the airborne enemy detection radio to Jinan by plane.

Bai Zeshan was originally a radio engineer who had studied in Europe, but due to work requirements, he became a manager at Taishan Aircraft Manufacturing Plant.

He was happy to be allowed to return to his old ways.

After a long discussion with two professors from Tsinghua University, he gave Fang Wen a suggestion.

The power was reduced by half, and the all-around target acquisition method of radio wave transmission was abandoned in favor of fan-shaped radio wave transmission.

This significantly reduces the device's efficiency and size.

However, the drawback is that the target acquisition area is always limited to the area directly in front of the nose of the aircraft.

Fang Wen could accept this. In the air, it was not difficult for him to quickly adjust the direction of the aircraft. As long as it could be used in war, it was feasible.

Subsequently, the modified equipment was installed on the lower part of the Shrike, with a fixed fan-shaped radar wave transmitter and receiver extending from below. Inside was the receiving equipment and a warning signal generator connected to the cockpit instrument panel.

According to Bai Zeshan and the two professors, this device serves as a warning of the appearance of flying objects in the air, but it's not accurate. Essentially, it alerts the area to suspected flying objects.

Little did they know that this thing was extremely useful to Fang Wen.

With this device...

He immediately began practicing.

That day, he began piloting the Shrike alone to the north, searching for Japanese warplanes appearing over North China.

The aim was to practice accurate enemy detection in this way, so that it could be used in the collective operations of the Taishan Air Force.

(End of this chapter)