Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 481: False Intelligence Successfully Delivered; Air Force Victories at the Base; European Arms Sales Strategy
After photographing the last page of information, Zhao Dasheng quickly hid the miniature camera back in his pocket, and, suppressing his wildly beating heart, complained to the accompanying guard, "There's something wrong with this index; it took me ages to find the right match."

The accompanying guard urged impatiently, "Your time is limited; there are other people coming to the archives to look things up."

"I understand, then forget it, I'll come again tomorrow." After Zhao Dasheng finished speaking, he picked up the folder containing the first generation of the Taishan machine, deliberately covering the words "first generation machine" with his hand, and put it back on the third shelf.

Then he turned to leave. As per regulations, the accompanying guard checked him and found no documents being smuggled in. They then left the archives with him.

As the two left the archives, Fang Wen in the monitoring room picked up the Taishan walkie-talkie.

“The target has left, William. Get your men moving.”

Upon receiving the order, William immediately arranged for his guards to change into civilian clothes and conduct comprehensive surveillance around the research institute and dormitory area.

Because of the walkie-talkies unique to Mount Tai, which provided a convenient means of wireless communication, Zhao Dasheng's whereabouts were reported to Fang Wen in real time.

Unaware of the trap, Zhao Dasheng was dreaming of getting rich. Although he tried to hide it, the surveillance personnel could still see the joy he inadvertently revealed.

However, this guy never voluntarily left his post, nor did he ask for leave, and even his daily routine at home remained the same as usual.

This is rather strange. Logically speaking, having obtained such important intelligence, he should have tried to act as soon as possible.

Therefore, Fang Wen and several key figures involved in the operation discussed the matter.

The day after Zhao Dasheng stole the data.

An impromptu meeting of the action team was held in the office building of a semiconductor assembly plant near the research institute.

Fang Wen spoke up, "Why hasn't Zhao Dasheng made a move? What do you all think?"

"Has he discovered something?" Fang Shouxin asked worriedly.

William shook his head and analyzed, "It shouldn't be. Zhao Dasheng is an ordinary person who hasn't undergone special training. He was just bought off with money. If he found out that he had been exposed, he wouldn't be so calm."

That makes sense. Zhao Dasheng used to be just a junior employee in one of the eight major families in Northeast China. Even after joining Taishan Airlines, he was still just a low-level employee.

However, due to his long tenure, he gradually rose to a management position, but even so, it was only the lowest-ranking management position in the logistics department.

He doesn't look like a rigorously trained Japanese special agent at all.

If he were to be so, it would mean he had infiltrated the Eight Great Families as a junior employee a long time ago, which is highly improbable.

Fang Wen thought so too. He was a prophet and didn't believe the Japanese could make such an arrangement. If Zhao Dasheng was a Japanese spy, he would have played a role back in Shanghai, and Taishan Airlines and he himself wouldn't be in this situation today.

Therefore, only one possibility remains.

That is, Zhao Dasheng could not contact the Japanese contact at any time.

He was waiting for his contact to reach him, or for someone he could only contact at specific times.

In that case, we can only wait patiently.

Time passed slowly, but the surveillance on Zhao Dasheng never let up.

The radio testing equipment was also kept on at all times.

However, the Japanese spies were very vigilant this time and did not use the radio, thus making the radio detection equipment fruitless.

It wasn't until late at night, three days after Zhao Dasheng obtained the intelligence, that things began to unfold.

The door to his single room opened quietly.

Dressed in black, Zhao Dasheng peeked around to make sure no one was outside before carefully leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

He was carrying a bundle on his back, so it seemed he was preparing to escape.

Fang Dasheng was unaware that right across from his residence, a pair of eyes were watching his departing figure from behind the door.

After it disappeared from sight, he picked up the Taishan walkie-talkie to report it.

"The target has left the residence and gone downstairs."

Following this report, the surveillance personnel lying in ambush nearby quietly sprang into action, secretly monitoring Zhao Dasheng's movements.

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of the semiconductor assembly plant's office building in the distance, Fang Wen was also watching.

In front of him was a television camera used in fighter jets. When combined with his supernatural abilities, this equipment could act as an infrared telescope to observe Zhao Dasheng moving in the darkness in the distance.

Unaware of Fang Wen's mechanical perception, Zhao Dasheng walked to the boiler room on the west side of the dormitory area.

That was the only boiler in the dormitory area, used to provide hot water to the residents, and it was only available in the morning and evening.

By then, the boiler had been turned off, and no one lived there.

Zhao Dasheng tiptoed to the edge of the boiler room, picked up a stone, and tapped the iron pipe on the boiler room wall.

With a gentle tap, the water pipe made a sound, not loud, that could only be heard by those nearby.

If you listen carefully, the sound is rhythmic, representing a specific secret code, like Morse code.

It should be a code passed to the contact person.

Fang Wen and the surrounding surveillance personnel were focused and watching intently.

After a short while, a figure emerged from the shadows behind the boiler room.

He was only 1.6 meters tall, a head shorter than Zhao Dasheng, and wore a baseball cap and black clothes.

This must be the contact person.

Fang Wen picked up the walkie-talkie: "Attention all departments, maintain silence and do not alert them. We can only begin the arrests after the transaction is completed."

Outside the boiler room.

Zhao Dasheng was talking to the short man opposite him.

"I got the stuff. How about what you promised me?"

"The gold is on me. Once I confirm it's real, I'll give it to you. But taking you away will take time to prepare. You'll have to stay here and wait for my instructions."

"I knew you would abandon me after using me. Fine, I'll find a way to leave on my own. Just give me the gold."

"That's fine, but I need to inspect the goods first."

"How do we verify them? Those negatives can't be exposed; they'll be ruined if they are."

"Go to my place, I have a darkroom where I can develop negatives."

"No, we'll trade right here. I'll give you the camera and photos, and you give me every penny of the gold. I'm not stupid enough to be tricked into being secretly killed."

The two failed to reach an agreement and even got into an argument.

Zhao Dasheng held the miniature spy camera in his hand, as if he was about to throw it.

The short Japanese spy, hesitant to act rashly, took off the bundle he was carrying and handed it to Zhao Dasheng.

"The gold is inside, see for yourself."

Zhao Dasheng's face lit up with surprise. He snatched the bundle and was about to open it.

In that moment of distraction, his opponent immediately attacked, rushing over and plunging a dagger into Zhao Dasheng's chest.

Until the last handle.

"You're so cruel, sob sob."

He couldn't say the rest of his words; the Japanese agents had already covered his mouth.

In his dying moments, Zhao Dasheng, as if in a final burst of energy, broke free from the hand covering his mouth and shouted, "There are Japanese devils!"

That one sound ended his life; he died instantly.

The commotion alerted the residents of the dormitory area, and one by one, the electric lights came on as people leaned out of their windows to look.

Things have changed. The original plan was to arrest Zhao Dasheng and release the other traders after the transaction was completed.

Unexpectedly, the Japanese spies were so ruthless. Having obtained the intelligence, they wanted to keep the reward for themselves and killed Zhao Dasheng. At this point, they couldn't afford to let the Japanese spies escape easily without making a big fuss.

Fang Wen picked up the Taishan walkie-talkie: "William, get your men moving, make a big show of it."

Upon receiving the order, William immediately made arrangements.

As the alarm sounded, fully armed guards were deployed to stand watch at all key passageways.

At the same time, searchlights were lit on the four observation towers in the southeast, northwest and southwest of the base, shining down.

There was also a broadcast.

"Attention everyone, non-security personnel, stay inside and do not move."

A massive manhunt was immediately launched.

Such a meticulous search operation seemed to have no flaws.

But they missed the area where Japanese spies were hiding.

Seeing the search party pass by and no one behind, the Japanese agents quickly emerged from the shadows and ran northwest.

That area is the semiconductor assembly plant area, which is now vacant due to relocation, and you can leave the base by simply climbing over the outermost fence.

He ran as fast as he could, rushing into the semiconductor assembly plant before the next search team arrived, then hid in the shadows to wait.

The search teams outside did not leave, but continued to search the area.

Seeing the flashlight beam shining on him, the guy suddenly rushed towards the distant wall.

He rushed to the wall, but it was difficult for him, who was not tall to climb over the more than 2-meter-high wall.

Unfortunately, a pile of miscellaneous items by the wall became his leverage point.

So the guy struggled to climb over the wall, escaped by getting caught on the barbed wire, and ran into the darkness outside the wall.

Only then did William report, "General Manager, the person has already left."

Fang Wen picked up the walkie-talkie: "Don't rush, let's go all the way with this act. Continue the search tonight, do it normally, so that we don't have any spies among us and they don't discover anything amiss."

“Yes, General Manager.” William acknowledged the order and continued.

This night was a sleepless one.

A researcher at the institute was murdered, and the guards searched all night but found no killer.

The Japanese spies left, and the fake technical documents were also sent out through his hands.

Fang Wen will continue to monitor whether this information will influence the development of the Zero fighter.

He still had a backup plan: his pawn in Tokyo, Yoshida, could continuously report to him on the progress of aircraft development there.

But it would take time to escape from here and get to the Japanese headquarters.

This matter is now temporarily concluded.

Fang Wen's focus immediately returned to the domestic battlefield.

The fighting remains fierce in various parts of the country.

After the fall of Wuhan, the Japanese army shifted its main targets to the occupied areas north of the Yellow River and South China.

North of the Yellow River, the Japanese army launched large-scale attacks on base areas and various anti-Japanese forces.

Especially the Jin-Cha-Ji base area.

As Fang Wen left, the combined air and ground ambush began, marking the start of a new counter-sweeping offensive.

Although the number of aircraft is not large enough, the combat radius only needs to cover the northern foothills of the Taihang Mountains and the surrounding areas, thus forming a rapid response combat mode that can both attack and defend.

Today they might be cooperating with local troops in Wutai Mountain to attack the sweeping forces to the west, but tomorrow they could be appearing near Shijiazhuang and Baoding to cooperate with the guerrillas in the Quyang area in their offensive.

Later on, they could appear simultaneously in multiple locations 300 miles apart in a single day to coordinate with ground troops in their attacks.

On one occasion, paratroopers were even deployed behind enemy lines to successfully ambush a Japanese convoy, annihilating the transport team and a group of officers on board.

Their actions caused the Japanese sweeping forces a great deal of trouble.

However, there were also losses.

During the operation, despite the coordination of gunboats, fighters, and interceptors, three gunboats were destroyed and two Il-16s suffered wing damage in an encounter with the Japanese air force.

After learning about the situation in China, Fang Wen was filled with emotion.

This is the brutal reality of war; unless there is an absolute and overwhelming military technological advantage, losses are inevitable.

Although the Japanese suffered greater losses, he still felt deep sorrow for them.

A larger-scale military would demonstrate superiority, rather than the localized tactical victories we see now.

To achieve that effect, production needs to be continuously expanded.

Since Taishan Airlines did not have the support of a large country, it could only solve the problem in another way: take advantage of the outbreak of World War II in Europe, make a fortune from the war, and then use that fortune to exchange for a large amount of materials and talents to expand production capacity and thus achieve rapid development.

To realize this wish, Fang Wen and Taishan Airlines alone cannot do it.

He needs another helper.

United States.

Indiana Deco left work on time as usual.

But this time, he didn't go home; instead, he went to a bar.

That was where he met with some old friends who had trained at the same military school when they were young and were then sent abroad.

Later, Indiana met Fang Wen, and after a treasure hunt at Lake Van, he acquired a considerable fortune. He used this fortune to return to the United States, and later, with Fang Wen's financial support, he became a senior agent of the Bureau of Investigation.

Now, he wants to replicate his experience and introduce his former colleagues to Fang Wen.

Indiana walked down the stairs into the basement-style bar.

He glanced around the bar and headed straight to the innermost corner.

Three middle-aged people were sitting there.

The man on the left had his hair neatly slicked back, and wore a gray-blue suit with a worn-out lapel pin. The wine in his glass remained untouched.

The man in the middle was drunkenly talking to his companion, but his eyes kept drifting around as he habitually checked out his surroundings.

The man on the right, dressed in a rumpled hunting outfit, was poking at olives with a toothpick in his left hand, while his right hand never left the briefcase beside him.

Indiana walked over with a big smile on his face.

He shook hands with the person on his left, hugged the drunkard, and waved to the person on his right.

Then, jokingly reminiscing, he said:

“Mark, you’re still so old-fashioned. You never drank when we went to bars together before, and you still don’t.”

“Dive, it’s been a long time. Every time I see that scar on your right cheek, it reminds me of what happened to us in Finland in early 1932. Damn it, that was an innocent disaster.”

"Devin, I bet you have a Colt 1903 in your bag, it's your favorite. What, still in the operations department?"

His words warmed up the atmosphere, and the conversation among the four gradually became more harmonious.

Only then did Indiana explain the purpose of their visit.

"I'm here today to introduce you to a friend. He can help you earn enough for your retirement in advance, without violating your professional ethics."

With just this one sentence, he successfully attracted the attention of three former colleagues.

(End of this chapter)