Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 493 Nanning Temporary Stop, Guangxi Clique Wants to Buy Aircraft, Yangjiang Transit Point

My trip to Europe lasted only one night before it ended.

An arms sales agreement has been reached with the French Air Force, under which 20 gunboats will be sold in two batches.

The next day, Fang Wen piloted the company's civilian airliner back to Yangon, while the 10 military observers requested by the French Air Force traveled to Asia on the same plane.

Therefore, Fang Wen simply designated this flight as a private plane, carrying only these military observers.

After the plane took off, the cabin became lively.

Most of these French Air Force military observers were former pilots, so the conversation naturally turned to their own professional fields.

They knew Fang Wen, so they encouraged one of their companions to go and strike up a conversation with him.

The 1.6-meter-tall Frenchman stood outside the driver's compartment and asked.

"Sir, I know you are very skilled. Could you tell me which air battles you have participated in?"

While piloting the plane, Fang Wen smiled and replied, "In Europe, I only participated in the Spanish Civil War; the other battles were mainly fought in Asia."

"So, where do you think the most challenging air battle took place?" the young man continued to ask.

Fang Wen couldn't help but recall the aerial battles he had participated in.

"It should be the Battle of Valencia. My opponent was a German pilot from the Condor Legion. His flying skills and the Bf 109 he was flying impressed me, but I won in the end."

"Which do you think is better, the BF109 or our French Morane-Sainte MS.406?"

This is a difficult question to answer.

In Fang Wen's mind, he definitely favored the German Bf 109, a series of fighter planes that were very powerful in the European war of World War II.

The French Morane-Sainte MS.406 was inferior to the BF109 in every aspect, including speed and weapon firepower.

Fang Wen couldn't help but think of other French fighter jets, such as the D.520 Devatina, which could rival the Bf 109 in terms of horizontal maneuverability.

However, it has a common flaw in all aircraft produced by Devatina: due to the aircraft's shape design, it has greater drag and is slower than the BF109 with the same power.

From this perspective, the French Air Force's aircraft were inferior to those of the German Air Force in terms of performance.

But saying that might be a bit of a blow to customers.

Fang Wen could only laugh it off: "I think the fighter jets of both countries are excellent, but since the two sides have never officially fought each other, I cannot make any comments."

The Frenchman was delighted: "Our fighter jets are the best; the Germans are no match."

He turned around and announced to his companions that, just as Fang Wen had said, the French fighter planes were better than the German ones.

Fang Wen had no interest in exposing this, but also did not want to discuss it further.

After a day and a half flight, the commercial airliner arrived in Yangon.

Fang Wen and his entourage disembarked from the plane, and a civil aviation pilot took over the aircraft, which then flew to Yunnan.

He then took Gong Xiuneng, who was waiting at the airport, and flew to northern Myanmar in a gunboat.

The unique subtropical jungle environment of South Asia fascinated the French, who frequently looked down.

Gong Xiuneng complained, "Commander, you didn't take me with you on this trip to Europe. I haven't slept well for the past three days."

"What, aren't you satisfied with the vacation I gave you?" Fang Wen asked in surprise. He hadn't brought Gong Xiuneng, his personal bodyguard, with him on his trip to Europe this time because he was only planning to stay in Paris and wouldn't be going anywhere else. This was a good opportunity to give him a vacation.

"I've gotten used to staying by your side to protect you. Whenever you're not around, I'm always worried about this and that. Commander, don't give me leave next time. I'll be your bodyguard until the war ends."

Gong Xiuneng's sincere words touched Fang Wen. "Okay, then save your vacation days. Just let me know whenever you want to take a break."

At this point, Fang Wen remembered something. "Gong Xiuneng, I have a task for you. Help Lin Baolu, the manager of the Paris branch, find his lost father. His father's information is in my briefcase. Take it yourself."

Gong Xiuneng opened his briefcase and took out a piece of paper.

"He is 1.7 meters tall, handsome, good at charming women, can cook Chinese food, is from Fujian, and returned to China in 1927. Alright, I'll take care of this."

After that, Fang Wen stopped talking and focused on driving.

More than four hours later, the gunboat arrived at the base in northern Myanmar.

After the plane landed, Wu Yingzong, Pan Jiafeng, and William greeted him at the airport.

Fang Wen asked someone to arrange for the 10 French observers to rest, while he talked with Wu Yingzong and the others.

The group walked towards the base's office area.

Wu Yingzong reported the situation. "Commander, training is over. As you requested, the 800 soldiers of the Independent Regiment equipped with new weaponry have been incorporated into the 3rd Reinforced Battalion of the Independent Regiment, which consists of four reinforced companies."

Fang Wen asked, "Did they all pass the airborne training?"

Airborne deployment is the fastest way to deploy infantry. Fang Wen plans to make full use of airborne operations throughout the operation in the south. Therefore, the airborne capability of the infantry is very important.

"They all passed. Each of them underwent five airborne training sessions, achieving a 5% pass rate," Wu Yingzong replied proudly. He explained that he had trained alongside Pan Jiafeng's Second Aviation Battalion during the airborne landing in Fuping, which explained their high pass rate.

William raised a question: "Ten Taishan military vehicles have already been produced and distributed to the reinforced 10st and 2nd companies. The soldiers report that they are easy to drive and perform well. But how do we transport these vehicles back to China?"

This is indeed a problem. A military vehicle weighs 2.5 tons empty, and without sea transport, it can only be transported by air.

Fang Wen explained, "We will first establish an aircraft transit point in China. Only with a transit point can we conduct air combat, airborne operations, airdrops, bombings, and other operations. This transit airport will be located in Yangjiang. The military vehicles will be assembled at the Yangjiang land-based airport and used as marching vehicles. At that time, troops can depart from Yangjiang, travel in military vehicles towards Guangzhou, or be airdropped into enemy-occupied areas."

As they spoke, the group arrived at the base's office area.

They went inside, unfolded the map, and continued their discussion.

Looking at the area where Yangjiang was located, Pan Jiafeng asked, "This place is close to the sea. The Japanese won't send troops to land here, will they?"

Fang Wen shook his head: "The Japanese troops are currently concentrated in the Guangzhou area. Yangjiang is 190 kilometers away from Guangzhou but is located in a remote area. It would be of no strategic value for the Japanese to launch a large-scale attack on Yangjiang. If a small enemy force comes to attack Yangjiang, we will wipe them out. As for the Japanese navy sending troops to land, it is the same principle. They simply cannot spare the resources right now."

With Fang Wen's analysis, the three of them immediately gained confidence.

Next, Fang Wen inquired about the contact situation with the underground Communist Party in China.

"Pan Jiafeng will be in charge of this matter," he replied.

“Master, we have made contact with the underground party by telegram. Currently, the guerrillas in Guangdong have established anti-Japanese bases in Dongguan and Huiyang and are fighting the Japanese in the Dongjiang area. However, because the Kuomintang troops in that area have been wiped out by the Japanese, they lack friendly support and the Japanese have also sent traitors to lead the sweeps in those areas, making their development difficult.”

Fang Wen nodded. Dongguan and Huiyang were areas occupied by the Japanese army in October, but now they have established anti-Japanese base areas, which is indeed rare.

As long as we establish a transit point in Yangjiang, we can support the guerrillas there.

Early December 1938, 6:12 AM

The Taishan Independent Regiment began its operation.

The first advance force consisted of eight seaplanes and gunboats led by Fang Wen.

Each of the eight fighter jets carried a total of 150 soldiers and eight military observers.

Planes took off one after another from the sea airport in northern Myanmar.

Fang Wen, piloting the Water Tiger 4, directed through the microphone: "Attention all aircraft, maintain flight formation, heading east."

Under his command, eight gunship aircraft flew over the increasingly busy Burma Road and then entered domestic airspace.

More than four hours later, at 10:20 a.m., they arrived over Nanning. Nanning was now the main base of the Guangxi Army, where Guangxi troops who had withdrawn from the Wuhan war zone and local forces were organizing defenses to resist a future Japanese offensive.

The Guangxi clique did not refuse Fang Wen's proposal for a temporary landing and arranged for Fang Wen to make a temporary landing at the ferry crossing on the north bank of the Yong River.

Eight gunboats landed at the ferry crossing on the north bank of the Yong River, where soldiers carried fuel drums to refuel the aircraft.

This operation could have been completed during the flight and did not necessarily have to land in Nanning.

Fang Wen made another temporary stop for the future, since the Guangxi Army would be a great asset in the upcoming battle against Japan.

He disembarked from the plane accompanied by Gong Xiuneng and got into a car with the people who were there to greet him.

After driving for a while, the car entered the garrison command headquarters in Nanning city.

Fang Wen received a warm welcome there.

Director Feng of the Garrison Command Office received him.

"I have long heard of Commander Fang's reputation, and now that I have met him, he is indeed a man of great bearing and extraordinary character."

Fang Wen smiled and replied, "I don't deserve the praise, Director."

"Commander Fang, you're too kind. I heard you're flying to Guangdong. It must be dangerous there. Please take care."

Director Feng was very polite, and if the conversation continued like this, it would probably take a long time. Fang Wen didn't have much time, so he said directly, "I'm afraid I'll need to use the Nanning passageway frequently in the future. Could you do me a favor?"

"General Li and General Bai have both agreed, so there's no problem at all. There's just one thing I'd like to discuss with you."

"what's up?"

"Our Guangxi Army established its own air force a long time ago, but it was later merged into the 3rd Air Group, so it lost its air power. Now that the two generals want to rebuild the Guangxi Air Force, could you purchase a batch of military aircraft from your Taishan Military Industry and train the pilots on their behalf?"

Fang Wen never expected that the door that the Nationalist government had closed to him would be opened by the Guangxi clique.

But there are nuances to which aircraft to sell to the Guangxi clique.

The first-generation Taishan fighter jet was definitely not viable; the only aircraft that could be sold was the gunship fighter jet.

Therefore, he took the initiative to promote it.

"The mountains of Guangxi are complex, and the Japanese mechanized forces can only advance from specific areas. Our company's Taishan gunboats have been tested in the Taihang Mountains and in Spain, and are very suitable for supporting infantry in mountain warfare. I recommend that you purchase the Taishan gunboats."

Director Feng nodded repeatedly and took out a notebook: "Commander Fang, could you explain in more detail? I'll write it down so I can report to my superiors."

Fang Wen then explained to Director Feng two cases of using gunboats and aircraft in combat.

It took an hour to finish speaking.

Fang Wen stood up: "The matter of the plane cannot be decided yet. I have urgent matters to attend to here, so I cannot delay any longer. Goodbye."

Director Feng put away his notebook and ordered his adjutant to escort Fang Wen away.

Fang Wen returned to the gunship aircraft, and the eight gunship aircraft took off again.

It was already 11:30.
At noon, the gunboat arrived in Guangdong.

At this distance, enemy tracking is already possible.

Fang Wen activated mechanical perception and used radar detection to explore a 300-kilometer radius around him.

Multiple aircraft were spotted in the northeast direction.

Those were enemy aircraft flying in the direction of Guangzhou.

As for the southeast, it represents an even larger feedback signal.

Those are warships; judging from the distance and location, they are patrolling the outskirts of Hong Kong Island.

However, the area near Yangjiang is completely undeveloped.

Just as Fang Wen judged, that was not yet the Japanese army's strategic direction.

With radar scanning to detect the enemy, Fang Wen could confidently lead his gunboat squadron to land in Yangjiang.

An hour later, the gunboat squadron arrived over Yangjiang.

The landing point is the same spot where the refugees stranded here boarded the plane last time.

Through mechanical perception, Fang Wen saw several people standing on the riverbank dock below, including a radio placed on a wooden table.

That was the communication method between the local contacts in Yangjiang and the gunboat aircraft.

Fang Wen instructed Gong Xiu to use a wireless device to send messages to the lower levels.

A moment later, a response came from below, confirming their identities through a coded message.

Immediately, Fang Wen piloted the Water Tiger 4 to prepare for landing and ordered, "Shooter, prepare. If anything goes wrong, I will order you to fire."

"Yes, sir." Gong Xiuneng and the other shooters responded, ran to their respective firing positions, shook the gun mounts, and checked the ammunition.

Meanwhile, Fang Wen also piloted the Water Tiger 4 and landed steadily on the Moyang River.

The plane slowed down, came to a stop, and turned to land. Inside the cabin, the gunner stood by, while the other soldiers picked up their weapons and stood guard.

French observers documented all of this.

Fang Wen observed the actions of the people on the dock.

After finding no problems and not seeing any hidden troops nearby, Fang Wen instructed Gong Xiuneng to open the hatch and allow the soldiers to go ashore to stand guard.

Fang Wencai got off the plane after the soldiers took control of the dock.

He shook hands with the people who were there to meet him: "Thank you for your cooperation."

The leader replied, "These are all things the boss told us to do. The boss also said that the businesses and people in Yangjiang will listen to you."

The boss he mentioned was Sun Yaozong of the Guangzhou gold shop "Baoguangge," who had dealt with Fang Wen during the silver interception incident.

Among the group of people rescued in Yangjiang last time was Sun Yaozong's family, so when Fang Wen wanted to find a local in Yangjiang to guide him, Sun Yaozong in Hong Kong readily agreed to help.

He nodded, went back to the plane and picked up the microphone: "Attention all aircraft, the pier is a bit small. Land in order of your numbers, keep communication open, and follow my instructions."

Under his command, gunboats landed one after another and docked at the pier, unloading the soldiers they were carrying.

Of the 150 soldiers, 20 were sent to Yangjiang City to investigate with the messengers. They carried Taishan walkie-talkies and were ready to report any problems they found immediately.

The remaining 130 soldiers were stationed on the dock, waiting.

Within half an hour, those who went to Yangjiang City successively reported their findings, and no abnormalities were found.

At this point, Fang Wencai felt reassured and sent more soldiers into the city to take over the properties left behind by Sun Yaozong in Yangjiang City.

He will use Sun Yaozong's businesses as a base to establish a firm foothold here.

Then, various military supplies and more troops will be sent over.

(End of this chapter)