Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 448 The Eighth Route Army Air Regiment Learns from Fang Wen, The Mysterious Second Bureau
After concluding the spy roundup operation in Yangon, Fang Wen flew directly back to China in a brand-new gunboat.

Accompanying him were two other modified gunboats and six Eighth Route Army flight cadets.

Because it was a daytime flight, Fang Wen chose a route that deviated from the combat zone, flying the waterway from Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan to Shaanxi.

This area is within the scope of the joint venture airline and is also the domestic route that Taishan Airlines can currently control through operation and management. After refueling and transiting at seaports in these areas, four gunship aircraft disguised as ordinary seaplanes flew from Sichuan over the Qinling Mountains, crossed the Yellow River, and finally arrived at Fuping, behind the Japanese war zone.

Three planes landed at Fuping Water Airport.

After landing.

Six Eighth Route Army flight cadets lined up at the dock and saluted Fang Wen.

Fang Wen returned the salute: "This flight is now over. Through a long-haul flight of nearly 3000 kilometers, you have proven your capabilities. Now we can drop the title of flight trainee and officially call you pilots. I hope that you will be able to apply the tactics and skills you have learned in your daily training on the battlefield in the future."

"Yes," the six pilots replied in unison.

Bai Yunfei and the others watching from the sidelines applauded.

Fang Wen turned to Bai Yunfei and smiled, "These are the second batch of pilots and gunboats. The promise to deliver them all within three months remains unchanged."

"Thank you for your support of our army and the cause of the War of Resistance," Bai Yunfei replied, then introduced the person next to him: "This is Yan Wenwu, the newly established commander of the flight regiment."

Fang Wen looked at the people next to Bai Yunfei.

Yan Wenwu was dressed in the uniform of the Eighth Route Army, looking quite capable.

There was another person, wearing a faded Zhongshan suit and thick glasses, but Bai Yunfei did not introduce him.

Who is this person?
Dispelling his doubts, Fang Wen smiled and spoke with Yan Wenwu: "These pilots are now in your hands. How is your flight regiment doing?"

"The flight regiment is being established. With the addition of these three aircraft, there will be a total of five gunship aircraft, as well as a group of paratroopers you have trained." After a pause, Yan Wenwu said sincerely, "I was just transferred to the flight regiment and am still exploring tactical coordination methods. I have many questions I would like to ask you."

This is normal. Currently, Fang Wen is the only person in China who has commanded joint air-ground operations, and all kinds of technical equipment come from him.

Fang Wen agreed without hesitation.

"Sure, how about we talk now?"

"Okay!"

Bai Yunfei, who was standing to the side, said, "Then you guys chat first, we'll wait here."

"Okay. It shouldn't take long."

After saying that, Fang Wen and Yan Wenwu went into the airport office.

There, Yan Wenwu voiced his questions.

“I’m a veteran with years of experience leading troops. My superiors saw that I had some talent in organization and command, so they made me the commander of this flight regiment. But I have no flying experience, I’ve never commanded any air force units, and I’ve never participated in air-to-ground coordinated operations. This is a big problem.”

Fang Wen nodded: "This problem isn't just yours; I think the Eighth Route Army would face the same issue even if they sent someone else. I have experience in this area and can share it with you. How about this, I'll share some of my experiences commanding operations over the past two years, and you can see if it helps you."

Yan Wenwu immediately took out a pen and notebook and said earnestly, "Thank you."

After organizing his thoughts, Fang Wen spoke up:
"Your air regiment operates using a combined air-to-ground combat model, similar to the Taishan Independent Regiment. We share similarities in this respect. First, you need to understand one thing: what are the advantages of this air-to-ground coordinated combat?"

One sentence struck a chord with Yan Wenwu. He stopped writing and looked at Fang Wen, waiting for the next sentence.

Fang Wen continued, "The gunship aircraft is the main body of the entire system. It is an air combat platform with the advantages of high mobility, wide field of vision and strong overall judgment. As the commander, you need to summarize the information reported by the gunship aircraft pilots in a timely manner and make judgments and countermeasures. Extending from the gunship aircraft as the main body, a variety of tactical variations can be generated, such as paratroopers air-dropping behind enemy lines to carry out decapitation operations."

Yan Wenwu raised his hand: "What is a decapitation strike?"

"It means directly crossing geographical boundaries to drop a surprise force into the enemy's command post and annihilate the enemy's command system," Fang Wen explained.

"Straight to the heart of the enemy!" Yan Wenwu slapped his thigh.

He was a veteran soldier, so he naturally knew the enormous effects of this tactic.

If successful, it can be decisive in determining the outcome of a war.

Before the establishment of air regiments, it was extremely difficult for the Eighth Route Army to achieve this tactical effect. Even the best speedsters could not traverse the entire depth of the battlefield in a short time without being detected by the enemy and striking directly at the heart of the enemy's territory.

Even if it succeeds occasionally, it's a tactical miracle that can't be replicated.

Now, Fang Wen is saying that this tactic of the air regiment will be a routine tactic.

It was so captivating that Yan Wenwu listened and copied very attentively, afraid of missing a single word.

Fang Wen continued.

"I've summarized it into three basic coordination methods for air-to-ground operations, which are mainly based on gunships and aircraft."

"First, air support for frontal attacks: gunships and aircraft can provide continuous fire support for ground troops, suppressing and destroying enemy positions."

"Second, special operations deep behind enemy lines, with gunboats and aircraft carrying paratroopers to conduct covert airborne operations and strike targets behind enemy lines."

"Third, aerial reconnaissance and command. Gunships and aircraft can also provide ground troops with real-time intelligence and enemy situation dynamics through aerial reconnaissance and surveillance."

After a pause, Fang Wen felt that the third point was more important, so he added it.

"In my two years of combat, I've discovered that the Chinese army is lacking in military reconnaissance. The Red Army and the Eighth Route Army are relatively good at this, but the Nationalist Army is quite disorganized. On the other hand, the Japanese are very well prepared. They not only send out a large number of spies to infiltrate and transmit military intelligence, but also use military balloons and reconnaissance aircraft on the battlefield to gather intelligence. It is precisely because of these factors that the information gap between the two sides allows the Japanese troops to respond quickly and flexibly. Now, your air regiment's gunboats and the fighter jets in Yan'an can cooperate to solve the problem of overall military reconnaissance."

Yan Wenwu gripped his pen and quickly wrote down all of Fang Wen's long speech.

This exchange of experiences ends here. Yan Wenwu still needs to explore how to actually do it. Fang Wen doesn't need to go into the details, as the pilots who returned from their training in Yangon have already learned the relevant knowledge.

That concludes our exchange. Fang Wen and Yan Wenwu walked out of the office together.

At the door, Yan Wenwu solemnly saluted: "Your experience is invaluable. I will study it carefully when I get back, and I will ask you for advice again if I have the opportunity in the future."

"No problem, see you next time."

Fang Wen and Yan Wenwu shook hands and said goodbye.

Subsequently, Yan Wenwu and six Eighth Route Army pilots boarded three gunboats and took off for the air regiment's base in the Taihang Mountains.

After watching the plane depart, Bai Yunfei introduced the people around Fang Wen.

"This is someone from the Second Bureau, his identity is classified, his code name is Radio Wave."

It turned out that the person next to Bai Yunfei, who hadn't been introduced before, was actually from the mysterious Second Bureau. Fang Wen smiled and shook hands with Dianbo.

"Hello, radio waves."

"Commander Fang, thank you for your support of military supplies. Whether it's frontline weapons, gunboats, Taishan walkie-talkies, or intelligence equipment behind enemy lines, they are all excellent," the radio said.

"The reason I've come here specifically to see you is because I have a very secret matter to discuss. The fewer people who know about it, the better," Fang Wen said solemnly.

Bai Yunfei realized that what he was about to say was very important: "Shall I excuse myself?"

This time, Fang Wen did not try to stop him; Bai Yunfei was not suited to be involved in such matters.

After Bai Yunfei went to wait aside, Fang Wen asked Gong Xiuneng to hand over his suitcase, and then he and Dianbo went into the house.

Back in the airport office, Fang Wen opened his suitcase and took out his belongings one by one.

There are several styles of semiconductor radios.

The largest is 10 centimeters long, while the smallest is only slightly larger than the palm of a hand.

He pointed to the radios on the table: "These are all popular radios that have been selling well recently."

(Taishan's Zhongxing Semiconductor Radio Series Products)

Looking at these brand-new electronic devices, codenamed Radio Wave was surprised.

"I've never heard of Star Radio."

Fang Wen explained, “Zhongxing is an American company, which I jointly established with three American consortia. Its sole purpose is to sell the semiconductor radios produced by Taishan. Zhongxing brand semiconductor radios are now being supplied in large quantities in Europe and are also being sold in Asia. Currently, due to the war, they have not yet appeared in the north, but sales have begun in Guangzhou and Yunnan in the south. In addition, in the Japanese war zone, because we deliberately allowed the Japanese navy to intercept some cargo ships, a certain number of Zhongxing radios have also appeared.”

The codenamed radio wave didn't understand what Fang Wen was saying; it seemed to have little to do with him coming.

But he didn't interrupt Fang Wen and continued to listen.

In response, Fang Wen simply explained the situation directly.

"This new type of electronic product was very popular as soon as it was launched because of its technological advantages and portability. I predict that it will be a global bestseller soon. At that time, a large number of Zhongxing radios will appear in the Japanese war zone and even in Japan itself. But I made some technical modifications to these products and hid a special function inside, which I will show you now."

As he spoke, Fang Wen took out a radio and opened the back cover.

After opening it, Fang Wen began to operate it, prying open a capacitor on the right side of the radio's internal circuit board to expose a round hole.

He took out a small metal rod, no more than one centimeter in diameter, inserted it into the round hole, and turned it to the right twice.

After doing all that, he took out several parts from the radio and assembled them into a miniature telegraph ring.

At this point, Fang Wencai explained: "On the surface, this is an ordinary civilian radio, but some of its components were specially designed by me. Through my operation just now, this radio has now become a transmitter. It uses the power supply of a radio and can transmit shortwave signals. Depending on the model of the radio, the signal range is also different. The maximum signal range can reach 100 kilometers away, and the minimum signal range is within 3 kilometers."

Codename Radio Wave adjusted his thick glasses with his right hand and looked down carefully at the internal structure of the radio that Fang Wen had opened.

He couldn't help but ask, "What is this?"

Fang Wen explained, "An integrated circuit board uses transistor technology to integrate the circuitry and electronic components of the entire device into one place. It is also much smaller than a vacuum tube."

"Does your company possess this technology and manufacture them?"

"Yes, but for now, I don't plan to let outsiders know that these are Taishan products. At least not for the next few years. They are just ordinary radios normally, but they can be converted into telegraph machines when needed."

At this point, Dianbo understood why Fang Wen had said this matter had to be kept secret.

This design will be extremely effective if the enemy is unaware of it.

Imagine an intelligence agent behind enemy lines; the easiest thing to expose is their radio, but without a radio, they cannot transmit intelligence.

If, at this time, intelligence agents behind enemy lines did not need to conceal radios, they could simply obtain a portable radio to transmit intelligence.

Wait a minute, he discovered a loophole and quickly asked, "Even if this device is stealthy, it will still generate radio waves when it transmits, so it will still be detected by the enemy's detection equipment, right?"

Fang Wen nodded: "There is no perfect intelligence equipment, but it has a very good deceptive function. Suppose that if an intelligence agent is infiltrating the enemy and needs to send a message, he can directly use the enemy's radio and quickly restore it afterward. In this case, I think they probably won't be able to find the signal source, and may even confuse it with their own radio."

The radio wave understood that this kind of secret door device must be kept extremely confidential and could only be used by a small number of very important infiltrators behind enemy lines.

This way, they can transmit intelligence without the enemy's knowledge, and the enemy will not be able to discover the radio station's location.

This is the real reason why Fang Wen went to such lengths to create this design.

Sometimes, if crucial intelligence can be successfully transmitted, the effect can be comparable to winning a major battle.

Radio Wave solemnly shook hands with Fang Wen: "Your design is very useful, but I must know who else besides you knows about its hidden function."

“I designed the hidden features, and I designed the entire circuit board for the Stars series radios all by myself. No one else knows about it except me.” After a pause, Fang Wen added with a smile, “Now there’s one more of you.”

"Please keep this a secret. We'll use this stealth feature for the most important things. Can I learn how to use it if I stay here for a day?"

"No problem at all, it's very simple."

The rest of the day.

Fang Wen and Dianbo stayed at the airport, disassembling one semiconductor radio after another and carefully explaining how to activate the hidden functions in different radios.

It may seem complicated, but Fangwen's designs are actually based on certain principles.

Simply open the back cover, locate the circuit board on the right, and find the second capacitor counting from the bottom.

Don't be afraid of damaging it; just pry it open, and you'll see a small socket.

Then, a small, cylindrical iron rod specially made by Fang Wen was inserted into the socket.

The grooves on the cylindrical iron rod head match the grooves in the socket, allowing the gear underneath the groove to be rotated and the concealment function to be activated.

The miniature telegraph finger sleeve also consists of some fixed-position detachable components that can be removed and reassembled.

Radios can also be used as radio receivers to receive radio waves of specific frequencies, making it easier for intelligence personnel to receive instructions and information from the outside world.

After learning how to activate and use the radio's hidden functions, Dianbo accepted the suitcase containing the various radios and bid farewell to Fang Wen.

After Bai Yunfei notified the flight regiment, a gunboat flew over and carried him to Yan'an.

(End of this chapter)