Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 397 395 Yue Jinping, Chief of the Baoding Intelligence Station, First Generation Semiconductor Factory

The railcar entered the station, and Japanese Special High Police officer Hata got off and hurriedly headed to Huo Family Garden in Xiguan, Baoding.

That place was the Hebei Station of the Special Higher Police, a secret intelligence agency of the Japanese army stationed in Baoding.

On the surface, this is a fake police station that is being set up.

In response to this Japanese intelligence agency in North China, the Fuxing Society's spies, who were lurking in Baoding, were also secretly monitoring everything here.

In the tea shop across the street, the owner was doing his abacus work while secretly watching the people coming and going.

As Haneda drove into the area in a military vehicle, the man returned carrying an oil paper package.

"Shopkeeper, here's the donkey meat sandwich you want."

The shopkeeper took the oil paper package with a smile and whispered, "What are your instructions?"

The man replied, "Our Fuxing Society's Second Division may be set up as a separate entity called the Military Commission's Investigation and Statistics Bureau. The original staff will remain the same, but we will be recruiting more. The higher-ups said that we need to achieve some results so that Director Dai can save face."

"With our limited manpower, what kind of results can we achieve?"

“I haven’t finished yet. The telegram also said that a station chief would be sent over to direct our operation.”

"That's good. The position of station chief here has been vacant for a long time, and the higher-ups have finally sent someone. When will he arrive?"

"The telegram contains the code word; once it matches, that's it. They should be here soon."

The conversation between the two suddenly stopped.

A woman in a cheongsam walked into the store. She was very beautiful, but there was a faint scar at the corner of her eye.

The shop assistant quickly approached her: "Madam, are you buying tea or teaware?"

The woman replied, "I love jasmine tea. Give me two ounces of Wu Yutai's, two ounces of Zhang Yiyuan's, and I'll also have a portion of Sentai Tea Shop's tea cakes."

Even though he was talking about tea, it made the waiter's heart race.

He smiled and asked, "You're from Beiping, aren't you?"

"How did you know?"

“Beijing has many bitter wells, and nobody wants to drink bitter tea anymore. Naturally, people prefer jasmine tea. The three brands you mentioned are all time-honored brands in Beijing.”

"You're right. I'll buy all my tea from you from now on."

What seemed like a very ordinary exchange turned out to be a secret code.

The waiter, under the pretense of showing the guest the fine tea, led him into the tea storage room at the back.

There, the woman in the cheongsam revealed her identity.

"Yue Jinping, the leader of the Shanghai station action group of the Fuxing Society, was appointed as the station chief of the Baoding station."

"Stationmaster, we've been waiting for you for so long."

After a conversation, Yue Jinping learned about the situation of Fuxing Social Security Baoding Station.

Besides this tea shop, there is another secret hideout located outside the train station.

She then took over management and reassigned the staff at Baoding Station.

However, she did not inform anyone at the station of her true mission in Baoding.

She was sent to Baoding to establish contact with an agent who was infiltrating the Japanese intelligence agency, so that she could send back the intelligence he transmitted.

In order to meet this undercover agent, Yue Jinping secretly drew a crooked little bird on the wall outside the teahouse over the next few days.

This seemingly childish doodle actually contains a secret code known only to the undercover agent.

The following day at noon, two men in suits walked out of the Huo Family Garden in Xiguan and strolled around, inadvertently entering the tea shop.

At the tea shop, the staff greeted us with smiles on their faces.

"Gentlemen, are you buying tea or teaware?"

One of them scrutinized the shop and uttered a sentence in Japanese.

The man next to him translated: "The Japanese officer wants to buy the best tea from here."

After some conversation, the two bought tea and left, with the translator paying before they departed.

Watching the two leave, the shopkeeper spat out a mouthful of phlegm: "What a piece of trash."

Then, just as they were about to put the money into the cash register, they suddenly realized there was a problem.

There was a foreign object sandwiched between the two banknotes.

Inside was a slip of paper.

He immediately realized what was happening, and without daring to look at the contents, he quickly handed it to the waiter.

The shop assistant then left the shop and went to the street, pretending to buy baked buns, and handed the note to a person selling food on the roadside.

After he left, Yue Jinping also came to the roasted meat stall.

Give me a baked bun.

"Alright, 10 coins."

Do you accept silver dollars?

"Of course I'll take it. Here's your sesame seed cake and your change."

Yue Jinping took the burnt food and copper coins and quietly put away the note hidden inside.

She then returned to her residence and carefully opened the note to read its contents.

[After a long wait, someone finally contacted me.]

[This is my first intelligence report; it concerns an important operation by the North China branch of the Special Higher Police.]

The operation was led by Lieutenant Hata of the Special Higher Police North China Branch, and its objective was to organize a group of undercover agents to enter the Taihang Mountains.

Having failed multiple times in sending people into the mountains before, they changed their strategy; all infiltrators were now Chinese traitors who had joined the Special Higher Police.

These people have been gathered and trained by Haneda and will be dispatched soon.

[Furthermore, I've obtained another piece of intelligence. Haneda was previously in charge of the Special Higher Police's assassination group; his operation failed, and he may be restarting the assassination plan. The target is Fang Wen, the commander of the Taishan Independent Regiment. According to Haneda's analysis, he suspects the Taishan Independent Regiment has established a secret airbase in the Taihang Mountains.]

After reading the contents of the note, Yue Jinping, who had never been moved by any situation before, gripped the note tightly this time.

She hadn't been in contact with Fang Wen for a long time, but she had always been concerned about him.

In her earliest days in Shanghai, she participated in an investigation into battlefield medical kits.

At that time, she found out that the relevant companies' shipments were all transported by Taishan Airlines planes.

She realized at the time that this might be related to Fang Wen, so she secretly destroyed the investigation materials and secretly found out what her ex-boyfriend was doing.

Based on her understanding of Fang Wen, she naturally knew the group of people Fang Wen trusted. Starting with those people, she actually found out some things.

Red cigarettes, battlefield medical kits, and surplus supplies from the Red Army's retreat.

All of these are related to Fang Wen.

However, Yue Jinping did not report to her superiors. Instead, she destroyed all the materials and kept a close watch on the situation.

When she sees reports of Fang Wen's victory, she celebrates privately by herself.

Now that the Japanese are targeting Fang Wen, her first thought is to inform them. But how can she get the message to him?

Yue Jinping frowned, then relaxed.

Have it.

She recalled the time when she taught Fang Wen how to use the radio; the two had agreed on a secret code and a special frequency.

With a try-it-out mentality, she sent telegrams at this frequency.

Fuping Flight Base.

Fang Wen is communicating with William in Quyang County to learn about their involvement in the railway sabotage of the station during this period.

According to William's report, since the armored train was destroyed, the Japanese army has strengthened the defenses along the railway line.

This makes the raid difficult, but not impossible.

In particular, the operation in which William and his team participated was able to communicate with each other using the Taishan walkie-talkie, allowing each squad to keep track of the other's situation in a timely manner. As a result, they were able to carry out a brilliant raid, taking down a train and destroying that section of railway without relying on air support, which paralyzed the Japanese railway transportation for two days.

Fang Wen was very satisfied with this. The Taishan walkie-talkie performed very well in the battlefield environment, making infantry operations more flexible.

He plans to expand the production of walkie-talkies and equip this infantry communication marvel to the front-line troops as soon as possible.

As he was envisioning the future of Taishan's military industry, the correspondent reported.

"Commander, there are radio waves on a special frequency that you set to monitor. I have recorded the content; it is an encrypted message."

Fang Wen had several special frequencies, which he handed over to communications personnel to monitor in real time. These included communications from Yoshida in Japan, Indiana in the United States, and Zhao Jiulin and Shui Wang.

But this is not one of them.

Fang Wen looked at the coded message that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

I was reminded of something that happened a few years ago.

He returned to his room, took a book out of his travel backpack, and pieced together a passage by excerpting text from different page numbers.

[Fang, if you can decipher the coded message, you'll definitely know who I am.]

[I have a message for you: the Japanese Special Higher Police are preparing to send a group of agents into the Taihang Mountains. This group is entirely composed of traitors, making it difficult to distinguish friend from foe. Be careful.]

[Also, they might specifically target you with an assassination attempt, so be careful.]

Fang Wen's heart softened as he recalled the past.

After a while, he got up, returned to the telegraph room, and had the communications officer send a telegram to the Eighth Route Army in the northern part of the Taihang Mountains, informing them to be careful of spies sent by the Japanese army.

After sending the telegram, he summoned Wu Yingzong and explained the situation.

Wu Yingzong frowned and said, "This is a bit troublesome. In the past, it was easy to identify Japanese devils when they entered the mountains; no matter how they disguised themselves, they couldn't be identified. But if it's a local traitor, it's not certain that we can find him. We can't just close the mountain to prevent outsiders from entering, can we?"

Fang Wen nodded. The Taishan Independent Regiment and the Provisional Seventh Division could not mobilize the masses like the Eighth Route Army did, and could not get the people in Fuping to help find the infiltrated spies.

But he has a more advanced method.

Those traitors who infiltrated the Taihang Mountains must report back the intelligence they gathered.

As long as their telegraph machines are turned on and send signals, Fang Wen will have a way to find them.

However, a batch of these devices for detecting the source of telegram transmissions needs to be urgently manufactured in Wuhan and shipped over.

Just then, Fang Wen was also preparing to rush to make another batch of Taishan walkie-talkies to bring back.

He then took off in a seaplane and flew back to Wuhan.

After several hours of flight, the plane landed at Wuhan Water Airport.

Fang Wen and Gong Xiuneng went straight to the headquarters of Taishan Airlines as soon as they got off the plane.

In the research institute at headquarters, Fang Wen asked the researchers to rush to produce a batch of electronic devices.

The researchers said it was difficult.

They were researchers, not skilled technicians.

Making a sample is not difficult, but they cannot achieve mass production.

So, how are the trainees in Kunming making progress?
Fang Wen sent a special telegram to Kunming.

The telegram was sent to Kunming Sea Airport, and Taishan Airlines staff took the telegram to the Southwest Associated University campus.

The Kunming campus was bustling with activity because the students had arrived early by plane.

Taishan Airlines staff searched for a long time before finally finding the training program.

The 500 students from Nanjing in the training program were placed in a separate area on campus, where they received electrical knowledge education from professors of the Physics Department of Tsinghua University.

Professor Wen, who was in charge of the training program, took the telegram brought by the Taishan Airlines staff and read it aloud in front of the students.

"New infantry equipment has been developed and has proven to be highly effective in actual combat. Unfortunately, there is a lack of skilled workers to manufacture it. The telegram inquires about the training program and whether a group of outstanding trainees can be selected to graduate early so that the new military equipment can be put into production and deployed to the front lines as soon as possible."

After reading the list, Professor Wen said, "Students, special times call for special measures, and our education must adapt accordingly. I am now announcing the list. Students whose names are called can graduate early and join the military production."

Then, Professor Wen took out a piece of paper and read out the names one by one.

Students whose names were mentioned stood up excitedly and happily.

Professor Wen then said, "Students who didn't have names yet shouldn't be discouraged. It won't be long before you all start working. Those who arrived early should study the technology diligently so they can be teachers for the students who come later."

Amidst laughter, the students stopped worrying about it and went back to their dormitories together to help the students who had left early pack their belongings.

The call from Kunming brought good news: 30 students graduated ahead of schedule.

Although it's less than one-tenth of the total, it's enough.

To pick up these students, Fang Wen personally flew to Kunming.

The seaplane departs from Wuhan, transits at Guiyang Qianlingshan Seaplane Airport, and arrives in Kunming after 5 hours.

Upon arriving in Kunming, the 30 students, carrying their luggage, waited at the sea airport.

Fang Wen stepped off the plane and said, "The place we're going to involves the military industry, so to prevent leaks, everyone needs to sign a confidentiality agreement. The agreement isn't complicated; it mainly requires that while working at the military factory, you cannot communicate with the outside world, nor discuss any work-related matters during your breaks or when you're out. If you agree, please sign the confidentiality agreement, and then we'll board the plane and head there."

While he was speaking, Gong Xiuneng distributed a stack of confidentiality agreements to the students and took out a pen and inkpad.

The 30 students signed the confidentiality agreement without hesitation and pressed their thumbs into the inkpad to leave their handprints.

Immediately, these students who graduated early squeezed into a seaplane with only 20 seats, ready for takeoff.

The plane refueled and took off again.

This flight had no layovers; it flew directly for over 700 kilometers and landed on the Shanmu River next to Xiangxi Airport.

The plane landed, and the students disembarked, where they were greeted by Fang Shun, the director of Xiangxi Airport.

Afterwards, the group entered the airport and arrived at a brand-new factory.

There were rows of workstations, and each workstation had some tools on it.

The equipment is ready; what's needed are skilled technicians who can operate it proficiently.

To address this, Fang Wen needs to teach these students the technological processes step by step, just as he did when he first established the aircraft manufacturing plant.

(End of this chapter)