Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 439 A Small Matter of the Fang Family: Researching Bazooka Rockets

A large group of people were having a lively time in the penthouse suite of the Tarzan Resort Hotel in Las Vegas.

Fang Wen's parents, elder brother, and his father-in-law, Kuang Shanming, and his family were all present.

This floor has been rented out for a long time and used as their residence.

They can enjoy the services of star-rated hotels, have no worries about food and accommodation, and travel around whenever they have free time, which can be described as a very pleasant life.

Fang Wen, who had just gone out, returned with a package of mail in his hand.

Mr. Fang walked over.

"What? Are you going back to China?" Mr. Fang asked with concern.

"Yes. Things are done here, it's time to go back." Fang Wen nodded.

Father-in-law Kuang Shanming came over with a bag: "Take this with you, it's for Mingzhu and Anming."

He opened the bag and took out the contents: American ginseng, old-fashioned Chinatown pastries, and herbal jelly made by his mother.

Fang Wen took the bag and had a farewell talk with the two men.

"You should stay here and not go back for now."

"How long will you be staying?" Mr. Kuang asked.

"It's hard to say. The domestic situation is dire. The Japanese army has already begun its attack on Wuhan, and the Nationalist army is suffering repeated defeats," Fang Wen replied truthfully.

"I heard the Yellow River has breached its banks. Well-informed people in Chinatown say that the Nationalist government breached the dike. Didn't that stop the Japanese?"

Fang Wen's face was grim: "We couldn't stop it. The south bank of the Yellow River has become a flood zone. Many places were submerged, and hundreds of thousands of people have fled."

Speaking of this, he felt uneasy, and Kuang Shanming noticed that something was wrong with his son-in-law.

He quickly changed the subject, saying, "Staying here is fine, but there are so many casinos around here, I'm afraid young people might not be able to resist."

Mr. Fang sighed, but said nothing.

Fang Wen realized something was wrong and quickly asked, "Is it my eldest and second brothers?"

Mr. Fang nodded: "At first, because of your request, Taishan Amusement Park was not open to them, so these two guys secretly ran away to other casinos to fool around."

"Dad, don't worry about this, I'll handle it." Fang Wen said, picking up the phone in the suite's living room and asking the front desk to notify Zhao Jiu to come over.

Not long after, Zhao Jiu arrived.

Fang Wen and he talked in the suite's private room:

"Did you know that my two older brothers went to other casinos?"

Zhao Jiu looked troubled: "I've been keeping an eye on them. They've been hiding from our people and sneaking off to another casino. That casino is newly opened and has no connection with us. Plus, it's your brother, so it's not convenient to send someone to bring them back."

"How long?"

"It started last month. I went there six times. I think I won and lost, but I didn't see them borrow money."

Fang Wen's face darkened as he listened to Zhao Jiu's account.

It's said that a little gambling is harmless, but excessive gambling is harmful. There are too many things involved in gambling.

Whether they went on their own or were misled by others, it won't work.

"Which casino? I'll go with you and bring the person back."

"The Rock Casino".

After ending their conversation, Fang Wen and Zhao Jiu immediately went outside.

The two left the hotel, leading a group of people away from Taishan Amusement Park, and headed to a giant rock a kilometer away.

They went on foot, in a large and impressive procession.

As they walked, Zhao Jiu explained the situation of the Giant Stone Casino to Fang Wen.

"This casino is newly opened. All I know is that its owner is from Denver and owns gold and silver mines near Denver. In the past two years, due to the Gold Act and the Silver Act, his net worth has skyrocketed. He came to Las Vegas last year and spent a huge sum of money to buy a gambling license this year and opened his own casino."

Fang Wen didn't speculate too much about this. He thought that as long as he brought the people back, he could forbid them from going there again.

I have important things to do and can't afford to waste too much time on their dirty business.

Ten minutes later, he arrived at the Rock Casino.

He and Zhao Jiu were in front, followed by Gong Xiuneng and seventeen soldiers from the Independent Regiment, as well as twenty security guards from Taishan Amusement Park.

Nearly 40 people entered the casino lobby, immediately attracting the attention of the other party.

The duty manager jogged over and greeted Zhao Jiu: "Mr. Zhao, welcome to Jushi."

"I came here with the big boss."

Zhao Jiu's words startled the duty manager of the Giant Rock Casino. He looked at Fang Wen and vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

Fang Wen didn't hide anything and directly stated his purpose: "My two older brothers work at your casino. Can I go in and find them?"

"Sure, but there are so many of you," the manager said hesitantly.

"They're waiting here." After saying that, Fang Wen walked directly into the casino with Zhao Jiu and Gong Xiuneng.

In the bustling casino, gamblers are completely absorbed in their games.

Fang Wen searched through the crowd.

His keen observation skills were remarkable, and he quickly located his two elder brothers.

The two men sat together playing cards, their coats off, ties undone, hair disheveled, but their emotions running high.

Fang Laoda covered his cards and slowly pushed them aside, while Fang Lao Er shouted from the side, "Come on, big, not small."

When the cards were revealed, it wasn't what the two wanted. Boss Fang slammed the cards on the table and took a big gulp of wine.

Fang Lao Er then asked his elder brother to step aside, saying that he would take over.

During their argument, neither of them knew that Fang Wen was already standing behind them.

The casino manager, who had followed them, also gave the dealer a look, and the dealer immediately stopped dealing cards.

Realizing something was wrong, the two turned around and saw that it was their fifth brother, and they immediately panicked.

"Fifth Brother, we're just having some fun, we'll be back in a bit," said Boss Fang nervously.

The second son of the Fang family was more quick-witted. He stood up and said, "Oh dear, I forgot that I was supposed to go shopping with my partner today. I'm not playing anymore."

Fang Wen reached out to stop him: "Let's make this clear today. You can play at home, play cards with your friends, I won't interfere. But you can't go to Las Vegas or any gambling dens in the United States."

With so many people watching from the casino, the second son of the Fang family felt humiliated and angrily said, "Fifth brother, what right do you have to tell us what to do?"

Fang Wen coldly looked at them and said, "Second brother, eldest brother, if you can't do this, and you're discovered again next time, I'll have Zhao Jiu tie you up and take you back to China to fight the Japanese with me. That's much more fun than here."

After saying that, he turned around and said, "I'm leaving. Your family is waiting for you two."

When the two brothers heard their younger brother speak so sternly for the first time, they suddenly realized that their fifth brother, Fang Wen, was not just a businessman, but also a soldier who had killed many Japanese soldiers on the battlefield.

It seems that Fifth Brother is serious.

The two dared not say another word and obediently followed Fang Wen out of the casino.

As Fang Wen walked out of the casino, he stopped and turned to the casino manager: "I apologize for bringing my family's affairs to your door. Please pass on a message to your boss: if he wants to cooperate, he can just say so. Taishan Amusement Park never tries to hog anything; we welcome all partners. But don't try to take advantage of my family. If I find out you're behind this, then let's go to war."

His words carried a murderous intent, the kind of ferocity found on a battlefield with mountains of corpses and seas of blood, which terrified the manager so much that his legs trembled.

Fang Wen's attack was no ordinary gang fight!
Hopefully, the casino's owner understands the seriousness of this statement.

After saying this warning, Fang Wen, along with his two older brothers and a group of people, returned to his family's hotel.

In the penthouse suite, Fang Wen had a meal with his family. The meal was quiet, and no one from either family spoke at the table.

It was entirely because he sensed Fang Wen's anger.

Unbeknownst to them, Fang Wen, having been tempered by war, became increasingly decisive and efficient in his actions, which even his family found somewhat unsettling.

After finishing a bowl of rice, Fang Wen put down the bowl and said, "Mom and Dad, Father-in-law and Mother-in-law, I have to leave now. I'll come to see you again later."

After saying that, he took the things his father-in-law had given him, along with the bag of postal parcels, and left.

Only after he left did his family feel relieved.

Mr. Fang glared angrily at his two good-for-nothing sons: "Are you still going to the casino?"

The two quickly shook their heads; they wouldn't dare be kidnapped and sent back to fight in the war.

After saying goodbye to their families, Fang Wen and his group headed to Las Vegas Airport.

Instead of taking off immediately, he used the aircraft's radio to contact various parties.

I got a call back from New York.

That Viking treasure was highly sought after.

Wealthy people of Scandinavian descent near New York City want a funerary object that represents the Viking kings of that era.

In their view, these things can be passed down as cultural heritage to the next generation, and it's no big deal to spend more money to invest in them.

As a result, the auction attracted many participants and was very competitive from the start.

After all, there were only so many items, and everyone had already chosen their targets, so no one was willing to give way to anyone else during the auction.

The auction, which could have been completed in one day, was so popular that Lin Shuiwang changed the auction schedule to two sessions a day, to be completed over three days.

This way, the bidders were mentally prepared after the first auction, and the price was even higher in the second auction.

In the end, all the Viking treasure was auctioned off, generating over $1.5 million in revenue.

This amount of money is equivalent to the annual operating revenue of Taishan Airlines' international routes.

This is a very substantial gain.

But that's not all.

Lin Shuiwang's telegram also mentioned that an ancient family from Denmark and Norway had sent a message through the auctioneer.

They stated that if the treasure was indeed discovered in Greenland, they would not make any claims to it due to the island's unique circumstances. However, they requested the location of the wrecked ship so they could send people to study it and uncover the lost history of the Viking civilization.

They were willing to offer a high price to get Fang Wen to reveal his location.

For example, $20 in cash, or other conditions.

After reading the telegram.

Fang Wen pondered.

He plans to return via Pan Am's Pacific route, and the money from the sale of the treasure will remain at Taishan International for future material purchases.

Therefore, I will not be going back to New York.

However, it's not impossible for those ancient families to find out the location of the Viking wreck ships.

Fang Wen wasn't particularly interested in money.

There is something more attractive.

That was the Madsen light machine gun.

This type of machine gun was copied by the Guangdong Ordnance Factory and the Kaifeng Arsenal a long time ago, and was called "light machine gun" at the time, but the production volume was very small.

Later, with the outbreak of the full-scale War of Resistance against Japan, there was an extreme shortage of squad automatic weapons in China. In order to make up for the lack of firepower, the Nationalist government purchased a batch of Madsen light machine guns from Denmark in March of this year.

It can be said that in the Nordic region, the Madsen light machine gun is one of the few military supplies that is worth mentioning.

This thing was produced as early as 1904 and was supplied to many European countries.

Although its rate of fire in combat is not as fast as that of modern light machine guns, it has its own unique characteristics.

With high reliability and high shooting accuracy, it rarely malfunctions in actual combat, just like the AK47 later on, and can adapt to various combat environments.

Fang Wen wanted the production technology for this machine gun, as well as the complete production line.

Then it was modified into a light machine gun adapted to the current combat environment.

This request shouldn't be difficult, considering it's military technology from 30 years ago; the other party shouldn't refuse to sell it.

Immediately, Fang Wenfa sent a message to Lin Shuiwang, asking him to negotiate with the other party and try his best to obtain the technology and production line.

After doing all this, we just need to wait for Pan Am's response.

As long as Pan Am agrees to allow the Blackwing to use their Pacific routes, it can take off.

While waiting, Fang Wen opened the postal package to see what the status of the still-developing American Bazooka rockets was.

The first page of the document contained a disclaimer.

"This technology has significant technical risks, but that doesn't mean I'm hiding anything from it. It's just the way it is. A transaction is a transaction, so don't come after me for this."

Clearly, Lieutenant Colonel Skode was afraid that the information would not be enough to cover his debts, so he made a special note of it.

Fang Wen smiled slightly and continued reading.

This rocket launcher utilizes entirely new military technology.

Rocket propulsion and hollow propellant.

Hollow charge technology uses the principle of metal jet penetration.

Its core lies in achieving the directional convergence and enhancement of explosive energy through specially designed explosive shape and charge structure, thereby generating a high-speed, high-density metal jet for penetrating armor or other hard targets.

When an explosive detonates, the high-temperature, high-pressure explosion products it produces will scatter outwards along the normal direction of the explosive surface.

If the explosive is designed as a cone or similar shape with a cavity, the explosive products will converge on the axis of the cavity, forming a powerful jet of metal.

This jet has extremely high speed and pressure, capable of penetrating thick armor or rock.

Rocket propulsion, in this context, refers to a rocket propellant they developed for this purpose.

It is located behind a warhead made using hollow charge technology. During launch, the propellant ignites inside the tube and is ejected backward to generate thrust.

The external launch tube mainly serves as a guide frame.

However, existing technologies have many problems and hidden dangers.

such as:

To ensure launch effectiveness, the propellant uses a fast-burning formula with a burning time of less than one second, ensuring that the projectile burns out before leaving the tube and avoiding burns to the shooter from the exhaust flame.

In reality, the incomplete combustion of existing propellants results in a low initial velocity of about 80 meters per second, and the range only reaches 100 meters.

Furthermore, there is the risk of incomplete propellant combustion, with high temperatures being conducted to the launch tube and burning the shooter.

Furthermore, the trajectory of the projectile is very unstable, resulting in a very low hit rate.

These and other problems are precisely why Lieutenant Colonel Skod is not optimistic about this project.

After reading it briefly, Fang Wen smiled.

Since there's a problem, the solution is to solve it. For him, this military project, which is destined to succeed, will appear on the battlefield a few years ahead of schedule.

(Bazooka rocket launcher)
(End of this chapter)