Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 494 Military Airlift from Yangjiang Encounters the Japanese Aircraft Carrier Hosho
The first batch of 150 soldiers arrived in Yangjiang and were stationed in the city.

Because there was no prior notice, the people in the county did not find out until the troops entered the county town.

The county police and county security brigade officers scrambled to gather near their posts in a panic, fearing that Japanese troops were about to storm the city.

The soldiers of the Independent Regiment responded immediately.

The soldiers of the Independent Regiment, well-equipped, worked in an orderly manner, forming a three-dimensional defense relying on walls, gates, and alleyways.

This action startled the police chief, who quickly stepped back and hid out of the other party's sight. Then he picked up a megaphone and shouted, "Brothers over there, you don't look like Japanese devils. Is there some misunderstanding?"

Fang Wen looked at Wu Yingzong: "From now on, you will be in charge of Yangjiang. You will also be in charge of liaising with the people in Yangjiang County."

Wu Yingzong nodded, walked out of the gate of the residence, and said loudly, "We are from the Taishan Independent Regiment. We came to Yangjiang to use this as a base to launch a counterattack against the Japanese."

After a moment of silence, the person on the other end asked, "Is it the one who flew planes in the north to fight the Japanese, and whose regimental commander was also the owner of an airline?"

This question is somewhat novel, but it also reflects the true impressions that people in the south have of Taishan Airlines and the Taishan Independent Regiment.

“Yes. This is just our advance force. More troops and supplies will arrive later. We apologize for not communicating with you in advance due to the secrecy of the operation,” Wu Yingzong replied loudly.

On the other side of the street around the corner, the police chief of Yangjiang immediately relaxed.

He said to his subordinates, "That's good. The Taishan Independent Regiment is an army with airplanes and artillery. With them stationed in Yangjiang, they will definitely be able to protect Yangjiang. You stay here and guard the city. I'll go and tell the county magistrate."

He paused for a moment, then felt that leaving so abruptly seemed a bit too reckless. He figured he should at least verify it, so he mustered up his courage and stepped out.

"You say it's the Taishan Independent Regiment, how can you prove it?"

Wu Yingzong led a group of soldiers out of the alley. "Look at our equipment and the height of our soldiers. Do we look like the Japanese soldiers?"

He and his soldiers were all over 1.65 meters tall, the same height as the modified Taishan rifles they carried.

This is a way to identify Japanese soldiers, because Japanese soldiers are generally very short, around 1.50-1.55 meters tall, while the Type 38 rifle with a bayonet is 1.7 meters long, making the soldier shorter than the rifle.

The police chief was aware of this humorous method of judgment, and immediately walked over with a smile: "I forgot about that. The Japanese soldiers are indeed short. The defeated soldiers who escaped from Guangzhou also mentioned this. I'll go tell the county magistrate now. Please wait a moment."

After saying that, the police chief turned and jogged away with light steps.

After a while, the county magistrate, dressed in a Zhongshan suit, came over panting. Before he even got close, he clasped his hands in greeting from afar and said, "I apologize for not greeting you sooner, County Magistrate of Yangjiang."

Wu Yingzong saluted and introduced himself: "Wu Yingzong, Battalion Commander of the 3rd Reinforced Battalion, Taishan Independent Regiment."

The county magistrate, ever the friendly type, said, "The planes over the Moyang River must also belong to your unit, right? In all my years in politics, I've never seen a regiment with such good equipment. I'm truly amazed. By the way, will Commander Fang from your Independent Regiment be coming?"

"The commander is inside, please follow me." Wu Yingzong pointed to the alleyway.

The group walked into the alleyway, which was once familiar but now felt strange because of the Independent Regiment soldiers on both sides. The county magistrate and the police chief were also a little nervous.

But since they were already there, they mustered their courage and went inside.

Once inside the courtyard, Wu Yingzong stood beside Fang Wen and reported, "Reporting, Commander, the County Magistrate of Yangjiang and the Police Chief have arrived."

Fang Wen stood up, smiled, and shook hands with the two men: "Hello, I am Fang Wen, commander of the Taishan Independent Regiment. The Independent Regiment will be stationed here permanently from now on. Sorry to bother you."

"We wouldn't mind at all; that would be perfect," the county magistrate quickly replied, and the police chief nodded in agreement.

Fang Wen continued, "That's good. Our regiment's presence in Yangjiang and its liaison with the county are all handled by Battalion Commander Wu. We'll be relying on the county for help in many ways."

After exchanging pleasantries, the two sides confirmed their intention to cooperate, and the county magistrate also made a proposal in order to allow more troops to be stationed there.

“There is a village in the south of the city with many empty courtyards and a training ground. The road at the entrance of the village is wide enough for two vehicles, and it is only 15 li away from the county seat. Commander Fang, your main force can be stationed there.”

Fang Wen asked Gong Xiuneng to unfold the map, "Where is it?"

The police chief pointed to a spot, "Here."

Fang Wen looked at the map and pondered. According to the county magistrate, the conditions there were indeed good, but it was only 12 miles from the coast, which meant that it was helping Yangjiang County block the Japanese army from landing.

That's fine. Fang Wen wanted to be stationed in a place like this so that he wouldn't have to run around when dealing with the Japanese landing operation.

He pointed further south to the right side of the Moyang River estuary and asked, "Are there any troops stationed here?"

The county magistrate shook his head: "During the Qing Dynasty, Lin Zexu banned opium and set up a fort on Hailing Island, southwest of the mouth of the Moyang River, to defend against foreign fleets. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, it was abandoned. No forts were set up in other places, and no troops have been stationed there since."

If there are no troops stationed along the coast, then we'll have to prepare them ourselves.

Fang Wen replied, "Okay, we'll set up our base there."

"Then I'll have someone prepare right away," the county magistrate happily agreed, unaware of just how fast the Independent Regiment could move.

The negotiations with Yangjiang County were successfully completed. Wu Yingzong led 140 soldiers to Chengnan Village, leaving a 10-man communications squad in the city to maintain contact with the city.

Wu Yingzong's purpose in going there was not only to establish a base, but also to organize laborers to build a land airport and a seaplane dock on the west bank of the Moyang River.

Fang Wen then led the team away in his gunboat.

The gunboat squadron returned to its base in northern Myanmar, where it was immediately inspected by mechanics, and a second shipment was arranged.

The second transport was even larger, consisting of 10 gunboats, 20 seaplanes, and the Taishan-1 large transport aircraft.

These aircraft can transport 650 soldiers, a large amount of military supplies, as well as 10 unassembled military vehicle parts, a small gantry crane, installation tools, and 10 engineers at a time.

In other words, Fang Wen also planned to complete the military transfer of the Independent Regiment in one go.

With such a large fleet of transport planes, the biggest fear is being attacked by Japanese aircraft, and Fang Wen couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't happen.

Therefore, he ordered Pan Jiafeng to pilot the Taishan No. 1, all pilots of the Second Aviation Battalion of the Independent Regiment to fly gunboats, and another 30 seaplane pilots from the company to fly.

He himself piloted the first-generation Taishan aircraft to provide escort.

Escorting a fighter jet is an extremely difficult and challenging task.

But Fang Wen felt he could do it.

To this end, he also made some minor modifications to the fighter jet.

Aircraft Manufacturing Plant No. 2 at the Northern Myanmar Base.

The fifth first-generation aircraft sat quietly in the hangar.

This fighter jet will be Fang Wenxin's private fighter jet, replacing the retired Shrike.

What name should we choose?

This document was prepared long ago.

Qinyuan.

It originates from the name of a mythical beast in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. There is a passage in the Classic of Mountains and Seas that says: "Four hundred li to the southwest, there is a hill called Kunlun... There is a bird there, which looks like a bee and is as big as a mandarin duck. It is named Qinyuan. Birds and beasts that bite it will die, and trees that bite it will wither."

This strange beast is extremely aggressive and highly venomous; any bird or animal that stings it will die, and any tree that stings it will wither.

Fang Wen chose this name because he wanted its lethality to match his private fighter jet.

Because of the tight schedule, he did not paint the Qinyuan aircraft, but mainly modified the aircraft's fire control and launch system.

With his superpower that allows him to become one with the machine, he can control the fire control system while piloting the ship, thus rendering the gunner's compartment of the Qinyuan useless.

Fang Wen combined the front and rear cockpits, moving the weapon fire control system from the rear cockpit to the cockpit. The rear cockpit was eliminated, and the freed-up space was used as a fuel tank, thus doubling the aircraft engine's fuel capacity.

This modification increased the aircraft's normal range to 1800 kilometers, enough to complete a long-haul flight from northern Myanmar to Yangjiang.

The entire modification process took five days thanks to the joint efforts of the engineers at the No. 5 Aircraft Factory.

A day later, Wu Yingzong from Yangjiang called to say that the land-based airport and the water terminal had been completed.

Thus, a new transfer flight can begin.

12 month 7 day.

Fang Wen boarded the Qinyuan and closed the hatch.

The ground crew below removed the boarding stairs and waved flags to indicate that the runway was clear.

The Qinyuan's engines started, and with a roar, it took to the sky.

After takeoff, Fang Wen picked up the microphone and made a call.

"The second transfer operation has begun, and aircraft from each unit are taking off one by one in accordance with regulations."

After the order was given, Fang Wen also activated his mechanical perception eagle eye to observe the situation below.

The first to take off was Taishan-1, piloted by Pan Jiafeng, which was the first to fly to China.

Fang Wen turned his gaze to the seaplane base, where 10 gunboats took off first and flew towards China.

Then came 20 seaplanes, which also formed a flight formation and followed.

With such a loosely organized flight formation, it is difficult to ensure that all aircraft can fly on the normal flight path.

If each lead aircraft deviates from its course, the entire formation will fly in the wrong direction.

To this end, Fang Wen activated the radar target acquisition device to monitor the aircraft's flight path in real time through radar signal feedback.

The 1000-kilometer journey from northern Myanmar to Nanning is the most dangerous.

The mountains below all looked the same during the long flight.

Problems arise with this lack of landmark identification during flights.

Pan Jiafeng's Taishan No. 1, gunboat fleet, and seaplane transport fleet all experienced deviations from their course.

Whenever a yaw problem occurred, Fang Wen would pick up the microphone to remind the user.

"Pan Jiafeng, what are you doing? Even you've gone off course. If you keep flying like this, you'll end up flying to Liuzhou, not Nanning."

"Attention, lead aircraft of the gunboat squadron, the flight path has deviated. Immediately adjust to 5 degrees south."

The water transport fleet has the most serious problems, including not only deviation from course, but also loose formation and incorrect aircraft positions.

For this reason, Fang Wen has been giving instructions via radio.

His command style, which accurately identified errors and provided timely solutions, ensured that the aircraft, despite encountering various problems, safely reached Nanning.

This time in Nanning, there was no stopover, and Fang Wen picked up the microphone to continue giving instructions.

"The gunboat squadron and seaplanes are refueling in the air. Everyone is doing a great job. Hang in there, we'll reach our destination in 400 kilometers."

Encouraged by him, the ordinary civilian pilots calmed down, and inside the cabin, the soldiers opened the fuel drums, connected the fuel lines, and refueled the spare fuel tanks.

Thus, the aircraft maintained their speed and formation, completed their in-flight refueling, and continued flying eastward.

Fang Wenze controlled the Qinyuan to increase its speed to 500 kilometers per hour.

The aircraft flew rapidly over the transport planes to conduct aerial reconnaissance.

Over Yangjiang, the Qinyuan aircraft flew from west to east, leaving a white line in its wake.

This is currently the world's fastest flight speed, causing people in Yangjiang to look up and watch.

The communications squad in the city proudly explained to the county magistrate: "This is our Taishan fighter jet. It's faster than the Japanese planes and has more firepower."

The county head of Yangjiang looked up and exclaimed, “I have lived in Yangjiang for 20 years. I have seen the old planes of the Guangxi Army Air Force in Liuzhou and the air force of Guangdong, but those were all leftovers by foreigners. I once thought that I would never see our own planes surpass those of foreign ones in my lifetime, but I never thought that it would be achieved in your hands. This is wonderful. I want the whole city to know.”

After he finished speaking, he went out and asked the police and the county security team to go door-to-door to spread the word.

People were even more excited when they learned that the airplane flying so fast in the sky was actually made by Chinese people, and the whole family went out to watch.

Then they saw an even larger formation of aircraft.

A total of 31 aircraft of various sizes appeared over Yangjiang County.

At that moment, the high-speed fighter jet suddenly flew south, leaving the land airspace and entering the airspace over the ocean.

Fang Wen arrived in Yangjiang ahead of schedule.

Immediately activate the radar detection system to conduct reconnaissance.

Within a safe range of 300 kilometers, only sporadic aircraft were observed in the northeast direction, towards Guangzhou.

And the course was not heading towards Yangjiang.

No aircraft were observed in other directions.

However, there were two warships sailing at sea.

The other party is suspicious; instead of patrolling the outskirts of Hong Kong Island, they are sailing towards the waters near Yangjiang.

Could it be that the Japanese found out about the operation I arranged?
Fang Wen used his eagle eyes to specifically look down at Yangjiang City.

If my actions were leaked, it would be because there were Japanese spies lurking in Yangjiang City.

This is so that the situation can be promptly relayed to the warships.

But there's no time to worry about the spies in the city; a battle is about to begin.

He focused all his attention on the two warships.

The radar detection device only provided electronic signals, and Fang Wen did not know the model of the enemy warship.

However, given that a large number of our own transport aircraft need protection, we must launch an attack to turn the tide.

Therefore, Fang Wen controlled the plane to turn and fly towards the East China Sea.

The plane passed through the mouth of the Moyang River and turned northeast. Ten minutes later, it encountered two enemy ships near Shangchuan Island.

To his surprise, he found himself facing an old rival.

One of them was the aircraft carrier "Hosho," which attacked Shanghai in 1932.

This old-fashioned naval aircraft carrier, carrying 14 fighter jets, is preparing for takeoff.

(End of this chapter)