Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 368 366 Nanjing Water Airport Assassination, Extraordinary Treasures for Good Fortune and Avoiding Misfortune, University Trip

The night transport team arrived in Wuhan at 4 a.m.

After the plane landed, Fang Wen spoke with Whitney: "Why don't you stay in Wuhan and not go to Nanjing?"

"Why?" Whitney asked, looking exhausted.

"There is a war going on in Nanjing, it's very dangerous."

Whitney was rather excited by Fang Wen's words: "I have never experienced war, but a general once came from my family, so I really want to experience what war is like firsthand."

Fang Wen found this amusing.

Here, everyone wants to end the war, but the guests from America want to see for themselves.

This is perhaps a thought shared by many Americans, after all, they successfully escaped World War I by relying on the Americas, which were far from the war, and would also benefit from the later stages of World War II.

But real war is not something to be admired, and this couple will likely suffer a severe psychological blow as a result.

Since Fang Wen has already fulfilled his obligation to remind them, and the other party still insists on going, then let him be.

After all, this is a major investor, and if that investment can be secured, my grand plan will proceed much more smoothly.

Therefore, he replied, "Alright, we'll transfer flights after dawn and head directly to Nanjing."

8am.

After having breakfast at the airport, Fang Wen and his group boarded a civilian rescue seaplane and flew towards Nanjing.

There were 10 planes taking off together; they were part of a rescue flight group.

More than two hours later, the planes landed one after another at Nanjing Water Airport.

The plane landed, and Fang Wen, Gong Xiuneng, the Whitneys, and two assistants stepped out of the cabin and onto the landing board.

Upon landing, the scene before her immediately instilled in Whitney a sense of the tension of war.

A dense crowd was queuing up not far away, dressed in different clothes, which revealed their social status.

There are rich people, poor people, intellectuals, workers, and farmers.

At this moment, regardless of social status, everyone held a plane ticket and brought their families, waiting to board.

Their faces were filled with anxiety and expectation.

Whitney raised her camera and photographed these scenes.

Fang Wen glanced at them and instructed Gong Xiuneng, "Keep an eye on them, don't let anyone get lost. I'm going to the airport office."

"Don't worry, Commander," Gong Xiuneng replied earnestly.

Fang Wen then left the dock and walked towards the airport office through the passageway enclosed by a wooden fence on the left.

Halfway there, he suddenly felt a slight warmth in his right pocket.

It was an anomaly that was automatically released from the small bronze cauldron in his pocket.

Last time in Taiyuan, the bronze tripod warned Fang Wen of the impending danger, which led to the capture of a Japanese spy attempting to infiltrate the military camp.

Therefore, Fang Wen immediately became alert.

He opened his left hand, and a small pistol slid into his hand through a mechanical device on his wrist.

The Walther PPK pistol is 150 mm long, weighs 570 grams, has 7 rounds, and an effective range of 50 meters, making it suitable for handling emergencies.

It was a small gift that came with my purchase of firearms and ammunition during my last trip to Europe.

(Walter PPK)

Fang Wen, on high alert, held his gun in his left hand and observed the situation on his right.

The passageway he was in had the Yangtze River to his left, but people were only on his right, and they were all people preparing to leave by plane. The danger came from among these people.

It is likely that there are Japanese spies or bribed traitors and assassins among them.

But who?

Fang Wen, whose mental strength far surpasses that of ordinary people, quickly scanned the crowd.

An anomaly was noticed among the people queuing in an orderly fashion.

People were pushing and shoving in the crowd, which caused the formation to become deformed.

Judging from the direction they were traveling, it was right in their direction.

If the other party rushes out from the crowd to assassinate me, am I supposed to shoot into the crowd?

Realizing he couldn't do that, Fang Wen immediately ran quickly toward the office.

His sudden change caught the assassin off guard. By the time he reached the office, two men with menacing expressions rushed out from the crowd.

The two pushed aside the people blocking their way and pulled out their pistols to fire.

But Fang Wen had already run into the room and quickly disappeared behind the wall.

Gunshots rang out, and the crowd immediately descended into chaos.

Gong Xiuneng, who was standing next to the Whitneys, quickly turned around. When he realized that the chaos was coming from the direction Fang Wen had left, his expression changed drastically, and he pulled out his pistol and rushed over.

At the same time, staff from Taishan Airlines arrived immediately, and company security personnel armed with long guns appeared, quickly ending the chaos.

"What happened?" Sun Debiao rushed over and asked.

The people at Taishan Airlines were still confused about the situation, and no one spoke up.

However, someone in the queue shouted, "I saw someone shooting at your pilots."

Gong Xiuneng quickly said, "It's the regimental commander. Someone is trying to assassinate him."

This caused panic among everyone at Taishan Airlines.

Sun Debiao quickly looked around, and after not finding anyone who had been shot, he relaxed slightly: "They should be alright."

At this moment, Gong Xiu saw Fang Wen standing behind the office door, waving at him, and quickly ran over.

"Commander, are you alright?"

“It’s alright, I spotted them in time and managed to evade them. But the assassins are still in the crowd, at least two of them, and we must find them.”

"I understand, just watch me."

Gong Xiuneng immediately turned around, his face filled with murderous intent.

He shouted, "Listen up, everyone! Someone just tried to assassinate the boss of Taishan Airlines. The person is hiding among you."

As soon as these words came out, the whole place was in an uproar.

The good deeds done by Taishan Airlines have enabled many civilians to escape the war, and everyone is grateful.

But now, someone actually wants to assassinate the boss of Taishan Airlines.

Suddenly someone shouted loudly.

"If anyone sees this, just say so, don't be afraid."

"That's right, this kind of scoundrel, this heartless bastard, let's work together to catch him."

The crowd was outraged, and then someone shouted, "He's here! I just saw him! It's him!"

Immediately, chaos erupted on that side.

It was over by the time the Taishan Air Escort Team members ran over.

A bald man with a blood-stained face and tattered clothes was dragged out by the people.

Someone handed a pistol to the guards: "This is the murder weapon he was carrying. He tried to shoot us, but luckily we all worked together to subdue him."

One assassin has been caught, but what about the other one?

The remaining one, having reached a dead end, will be in even greater danger.

At this point, those who witnessed the assassination described what they saw:
"One was bald, and the other had short hair. Now the bald guy has been arrested, and the one with short hair is left."

"I remember, the one with short hair had a scar on the back of his head, um, on the right side, about a finger's width."

Upon hearing this, Sun Debiao picked up the microphone and shouted, "There's another assassin, short hair, with a one-finger-wide scar on the right side of the back of his head."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the crowd began searching.

Not long after, someone from the crowd in the distance rushed out and ran straight to the riverbank, jumping into the river.

Gong Xiuneng sneered, "Let me do it."

He strode over, took off his coat as he ran, and jumped into the river.

The two chased each other across the cold river. One fled for his life, the other pursued desperately, yet they managed to maintain a certain distance.

But this is a sea airport; how could the assassin possibly escape?

Three seaplanes started up and headed in the direction the assassin had fled. They soon caught up with him, and the airline staff on board took out long poles and started hitting the assassin's head and body repeatedly.

After being brutally beaten, the assassin was powerless to resist and eventually gave up struggling. Gong Xiuneng, who swam over from behind, grabbed him by the neck and dragged him onto the seaplane.

An assassination attempt failed, and the two assassins were captured.

The assassin was taken into the sea airport office.

There, Fang Wen, completely unharmed, looked at the two disheveled assassins and interrogated them.

"Who sent you here?"

The two looked at each other, but neither spoke.

Gong Xiuneng walked behind the crew-cut man and reached out to perform his move.

The cracking sound of bones shifting filled the air, and the pain caused the assassin to groan in unbearable agony.

Upon seeing this, the bald man exclaimed in shock, "Dislocating tendons and bones! You're ruthless!"

"It's just a broken bone, not a severed tendon yet. I hope your companion can hold on until the end," Gong Xiuneng sneered. This assassination attempt made him realize that his security work had made a major mistake, so he acted with exceptional ruthlessness.

The flat-headed assassin had all his joints removed, and then his tendons were dislocated.

This kind of pain is something that those who haven't experienced it can never understand.

The extreme pain makes people give up all their perseverance.

He blurted out a curse in Japanese, then fainted.

Gong Xiuneng stopped: "It seems this guy is a Japanese spy lurking in Nanjing. Commander, I'll move on to the next one. I'll be more careful this time and won't let him pass out again."

Fang Wen nodded in agreement.

As Gong Xiuneng approached, beads of sweat appeared on the bald assassin's forehead, and his body trembled with fear.

“I said, I am not Japanese.”

"Then what are you?" Gong Xiuneng asked coldly.

“Me.” The bald man looked ashamed. “Years ago, I was a vagrant in the underworld. Later, he came to me. He was generous and easy to work with. I thought it was so comfortable, so I followed him. But I never expected that I would become a lackey of the Japanese.”

Gong Xiuneng did not believe it easily, but continued to question him about the details.

After some interrogation, the bald man revealed the general situation.

The Japanese spy who fainted was named Ding Hongsheng, and he ran a leather goods store in Nanjing.

Of course, this was just a cover; in reality, it was an intelligence station of the Japanese army in Nanjing.

The bald man was his subordinate. He was originally a hoodlum at the Yangtze River docks, but was later recruited. The two of them collected intelligence on the deployment and garrison of troops in Nanjing and sent it to the Japanese intelligence department.

Just three days ago, Ding Hongsheng received orders from his superiors to infiltrate the seaplane base and find an opportunity to assassinate Fang Wen.

Therefore, the two managed to sneak into the airport the day before yesterday.

However, since they had not found any trace of Fang Wen, they could only continue to wait at the airport.

Only today did they see Fang Wen get off the plane. They immediately rushed out of the crowd to carry out the assassination, but Fang Wen cleverly dodged it.

Listening to the other party's explanation, Fang Wen touched his pocket and felt a sense of emotion.

In the age of firearms, the physical and mental enhancements brought by superpowers cannot withstand bullets, but the crisis warning function of the bronze cauldron is very useful.

It was this ability that allowed him to escape danger on both occasions.

It seems I can no longer absorb the mysterious energy from the bronze cauldron.

Its early warning function is far more useful than its ability to absorb energy.

However, if he can't continue absorbing energy, his special ability can't continue to improve, which is also a problem.

Fang Wen recalled what Gong Xiuneng had told him when they first met: there was something similar to the small bronze tripod in Sichuan.

Once I've finished things in Nanjing, and with the fighting less intense in the dead of winter, it's time to go to Sichuan.

Thinking of this, Fang Wen got up and prepared to leave.

Sun Debiao asked, "General Manager, what should we do with these two assassins?"

“They are Japanese spies. If we hand them over to the local military and police, we might be able to follow the trail and arrest a few more spies,” Fang Wen replied.

"Yes, I'm taking people there."

Sun Debiao and several security guards led two assassins away from the sea airport.

Fang Shouxin and Manager Liu, who had rushed back from outside, took charge of the airport operations.

Boarding queues are still in progress.

Fang Wen then led Whitney and her party away from the airport.

However, this time, in order to protect Fang Wen's safety, the airport security team specially arranged for 5 security guards to accompany him.

Fang Wen wanted to refuse, because if an assassination attempt really occurred, no amount of security personnel would be of any use without the bronze cauldron's warning.

However, at the strong insistence of Fang Shouxin and Manager Liu, this item was still brought along.

In order to bring five more security guards, an extra car was added, making a total of three cars that drove out of the airport.

The car with three security guards was in front, Fang Wen's car was in the middle, and in the car behind, there were two security guards and two assistants of the Whitneys.

As the car drove on, Whitney, who was sitting in the back seat of Fang Wen's car, asked, "Where are we going now?"

“Going to the school, I need to make those scholars give up their studies and leave by plane,” Fang Wen replied.

"Why? You can't force someone to leave," Whitney asked, puzzled.

Fang Wen couldn't explain this problem; among the refugees who couldn't evacuate during that massacre were students from these universities.

These students, who should have contributed to the development of China after completing their studies, became innocent victims of the invaders' swords. Fang Wen would certainly not allow such a thing to happen again.

The conversation ended there, a rare instance where Fang Wen deviated from established communication strategies, and Whitney wisely refrained from further discussion.

Half an hour later, the convoy arrived at Jinling University and stopped outside the library.

Fang Wen and his group got out of the car and talked with the teachers who were there to greet them.

"They're all in the library. The meeting has already started. I've already informed them of your arrival, and they welcome you to join us."

"Okay, let's go in."

The group entered the library.

In the library of Jinling University, student representatives from several universities in Nanjing gathered together to prepare for a wartime student mobilization meeting.

They welcomed Fang Wen warmly when he came in.

The student hosting the event asked, "Who are these two?"

Fang Wen explained: "The Whitneys, friends from the United States, will use their cameras and words to record this war and spread it abroad so that more people will know what is happening here."

The students readily agreed.

The meeting continues.

As the students passionately discussed how to serve the soldiers defending Nanjing, Fang Wen pondered how to persuade them to evacuate Nanjing.

Because he knew that this battle would not last and would eventually be abandoned due to orders from above.

Those who stay because of their belief will become sacrificial offerings.

But how can we make these hot-blooded students recognize reality and leave behind useful lives?
It wasn't easy. You couldn't very well tell these students that Nanjing would be occupied and that a massacre would occur.

Fang Wen, who manages a multinational corporation and owns a private army, is well-versed in communication skills and would certainly not use this method.

He recalled his conversation with Whitney earlier and suddenly had an idea.

After the students finished their conversation, Fang Wen spoke up: "Gentlemen, my two friends from the United States do not have an objective understanding of the cruelty of war. They do not believe that in this day and age, there are still armies that commit so many atrocities against civilians. I would like to ask you to share your experiences so that they can understand."

The students were very willing to do so, especially since they had recently been on the streets of NJ telling the citizens about the atrocities committed by the Japanese army against civilians.

Whitney was stunned. How did this suddenly happen to her?

He heard Fang Wen whisper in his ear: "Cooperate with me."

(End of this chapter)