Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 501 The plan to raid the Japanese Southeast Command headquarters; Tang Yuandong makes a great contribution.
After gaining the trust of Vice President Lü, Tang Yuandong immediately became his confidant.

They fawned over the Japanese army all day long, while being ruthless towards their compatriots.

They'll either hold some kind of goodwill parade or conduct a manhunt for the city's protesters.

Vice President Lü, a former military officer, was quickly promoted and appointed as the head of the security department, also in charge of the self-defense force.

The members of the fake self-defense group were a diverse group, including those recruited by the fake regime, as well as local thugs, opportunists, and others.

Their main responsibilities included tasks such as maintaining local order, assisting the Japanese army in requisitioning supplies, and checking passersby.

Tang Yuandong, a close confidant of Vice President Lü, became the captain of the second team of the self-defense group.

Thus, he successfully infiltrated the enemy ranks.

But he was always hoping to be employed by Fang Wen, so he would often hide under the covers and listen to the radio late at night.

Finally, one day in mid-December, I heard the broadcast I had been waiting for.

He wrote down the numbers and converted them into Chinese characters one by one from memory, thus deriving a command.

[Investigate the movements of the Japanese army. If there are any results, proceed to Liu's Roast Meat Restaurant on Dishipu Road and use the first set of coded signals to make contact.]

Tang Yuandong wrote down every word and then fell asleep peacefully.

In the following period, he took advantage of his work to deliberately befriend his colleagues in the puppet regime and officers of the puppet army, and subtly inquired about the recent strategic plans of the Japanese army.

Once the intelligence gathering is nearly complete.

He wrote these notes down on a piece of paper the size of his palm, then rolled it into a tube and hid it inside a cigarette.

He then found an opportunity to go out and deliver intelligence to the rendezvous point.

To avoid attracting attention, he also brought two of his men with him.

Tenth Fu Road.

A famous food street in Guangzhou.

Nowadays, there are few pedestrians on the streets, and many shops are closed.

Tang Yuandong walked down the street with two of his men, looking arrogant and haughty.

Those who knew him cursed him in secret: "That scoundrel, he actually became a traitor and a lackey of the Han people, ugh."

Some people fawned over him, greeting him with obsequious smiles, "Captain Tang, do you remember me? We used to play cards together. Now that you're successful, you'll have to take care of me in the future."

"Sure. By the way, it's been a long time since I've had roast meat. The roast meat on this street is pretty good. Are any of the shops still open?"

Tang Yuandong naturally shifted the conversation to the purpose of his visit.

Guided by his words, the other person pointed to Liu's Roast Meat Restaurant not far away: "This place is good, Captain Tang, it's on me."

And so, Tang Yuandong, along with his old friend and two subordinates, entered the roast meat shop openly.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, he looked at the menu, ordered three plates of roast meat, and then sat down to eat and chat.

He had almost finished eating, so he got up and rubbed his stomach. "My stomach feels uncomfortable after eating greasy food. Does your shop have a toilet?"

"Yes, sir, please come with me." The waiter at the roast meat shop led Tang Yuandong to the back.

Once they were out of sight of his subordinates through the curtain, Tang Yuandong spoke up: "Do you like smoking Taishan brand cigarettes?"

The waiter stopped, turned around and looked behind him, and whispered, "I only smoke the pack of 10. You've worked hard, comrade."

Tang Yuandong was a little surprised to be called a comrade for the first time. He didn't think much of it and continued, "I have collected the intelligence as ordered. It's in one of the cigarettes in this pack. You must send the intelligence out immediately."

“Okay, don’t worry, I’ll send the message as soon as possible,” the clerk replied.

After handing over the intelligence, Tang Yuandong actually went to the restroom before returning.

The entire process was flawless, leaving no room for suspicion.

December 16, Yangjiang, 9 p.m.

The Independent Regiment's telegraph office received a telegram from the underground Communist Party and immediately reported it to Fang Wen.

After translating the telegram, Fang Wen immediately read its contents.

[It is reported that the Japanese army focused its efforts this month on "mopping up" anti-Japanese armed forces around Guangzhou, attempting to eliminate threats from their rear.]

Its main targets are Panyu, Nanhai, and Shunde, and it primarily involves military patrols and pacification operations.

So that's how it is. The Japanese are currently focused on Guangzhou and have no plans to continue their offensive outwards for the time being.

Then one can make targeted deployments for one's own combat objectives.

He continued to read.

The next piece of intelligence concerned the deployment of the Japanese army in Guangzhou.

The Japanese army stationed the 18th Division, the 104th Division, and other units in Guangzhou and its surrounding areas, with a total strength of more than 2 men, mainly infantry, supplemented by artillery, cavalry and military police.

A “zonal garrison system” was implemented, dividing the urban area into several garrison zones, which were guarded by detachments or battalions, and a curfew was imposed at night (from 20 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day).

The headquarters of the South China Region was located in the Nationalist GD Provincial Government Building.

Key garrison areas:

From the West Wharf to the Long Embankment: control the Pearl River shipping and establish naval outposts.

Along Huiai Road: occupying government buildings such as the municipal government and police station, deploying military police and patrol troops, and closely monitoring the main roads of the city.

Shamian Concession: Although Shamian was a British and French concession at the time and was not occupied by the Japanese army, they still set up outposts around it to restrict the concession from interacting with the outside world.

Also.

Baiyun Airport was expanded into a military airport to house air force units for air strikes against resistance cities and troops in South China, as well as for transporting supplies.

Along the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway and Guangzhou-Sanshui Railway: bunkers and garrisons were set up at stations such as Shilong, Xintang, and Foshan.

Huangpu Port: It is home to the Marine Corps and monitors water transport from the Pearl River Estuary to Guangzhou.

As Fang Wen looked at the information, he marked it on the map.

After marking the map, he looked at the information-rich map and pondered how to organize the first military operation.

There are many options, and because the attack is launched before the enemy is aware of it, the success rate will be very high.

Where should we start?

Attacking the South China Regional Command would have a decapitation effect, and killing a high-ranking Japanese officer in the war zone would greatly boost our morale.

Attacking ports and railways could also disrupt the Japanese army's logistics supply.

Attacking military airfields could prevent the Japanese from launching air raids for a period of time.

These three aspects are the most effective; the others are much weaker.

He understood that trying to do too much at once was not an option; he had to choose one area and concentrate his efforts on tackling it.

In that case, it would be better to carry out a decapitation strike and find an opportunity to wipe out the entire high command of the Japanese army.

Such a plan would require Tang Yuandong to obtain more accurate intelligence, ideally launching the attack when the Japanese high command was gathered at headquarters.

After having this idea, he sent another order to Tang Yuandong via broadcast the following evening.

After successfully completing the rendezvous and intelligence exchange, Tang Yuandong was full of energy.

He hoped that the intelligence he provided could play a role in the war of resistance.

A day later, he received new orders from the transistor radio.

[Investigate whether the headquarters has recently held any important meetings, and transmit intelligence such as the time and location of these meetings through the contact points.] Tang Yuandong's heart couldn't help but heat up. Having served in the military, he keenly sensed that this might be preparation for a major operation.

Did the Taishan Independent Regiment intend to attack the Japanese headquarters?
The idea struck him as incredible, just like the stories told by storytellers. Could it be that the current army could break through layers of defenses, storm into the core area, and wipe out all the enemy's high-ranking officers?
Tang Yuandong would definitely not believe it if it were any other unit, but the Taishan Independent Regiment?
With anticipation, he threw himself into the new intelligence investigation.

However, his rank was not high enough to obtain intelligence from headquarters.

Only Vice President Lü has access to it.

This money-grubber, after taking office as the police chief, held onto the self-defense force tightly and was thinking of ways to make money every day.

Not content with just making money this way, he also organized gambling games.

Therefore, he approached Tang Yuandong and asked him to help him set up a scheme to get more money from the gambling table.

Tang Yuandong appeared compliant, but he was secretly gathering intelligence while the gambling was underway.

Soon, he gained something.

During a bet with the military police translator, he overheard the translator's complaints.

“Starting the day after tomorrow, I won’t be able to come here anymore. Those shorty bastards are planning a big operation, and we military police have been transferred to guard duty. I’ll be going with them too.”

Tang Yuandong's heart stirred, and he prepared to find an excuse to continue the topic in order to find out more.

Before he could think of what to say, Vice President Lü spoke up: "Is this a joint meeting of various departments in the Southeast region? I heard that not only the two division commanders from Guangzhou, but also people from the Navy will be participating."

"Probably. We're going to be busy for a while again," the translator sighed.

Tang Yuandong kept this in mind, picked up a mahjong tile, and immediately spread it out: "I won."

Vice President Lü threw the money away, saying, "My luck is too bad today, I'm not playing anymore."

The translator lost interest in continuing the game and got up to say goodbye and leave.

"Perfect timing, I'm hungry. I'm going to buy some roast meat to go with my drinks. Chairman, shall I get you some?" Tang Yuandong said with a smile.

And so he left the maintenance committee and went to Liu's Roast Meat Restaurant on Dishipu Road to make contact.

The Yangjiang Independent Regiment's garrison.

Fang Wen received a telegram from the underground Communist Party.

He was excited as he read the contents of the telegram.

On December 25, the Japanese army will hold a major military conference in South China, which will be attended by many high-ranking officers.

This is a perfect opportunity to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.

This can be said to be the most effective operation Fang Wen has ever achieved since bringing special operations to this era.

In response, he immediately began to develop a plan.

The Japanese military headquarters was located at the former Nationalist government headquarters on Huiai Middle Road, which is now Zhongshan Fifth Road in Yuexiu District.

Located in the city center, the area was surrounded by a "zoning and garrison system" implemented by the Japanese army, making it impossible for ground troops to overcome numerous obstacles and reach the area.

The only way to achieve the operational objective is through airborne operations.

But then, how would the soldiers of the Independent Regiment leave after completing their combat mission?
He continued to ponder as he looked at the map.

The only way out was to go down Huiai Middle Road, through Zhonghua Road (now Jiefang Middle Road), and then east along the riverside road to Tianzi Wharf.

Subsequently, the gunboats landed at Tianzi Wharf, carrying paratroopers away, thus completing the entire combat operation.

(Illustrative diagram)

If that were to be done.

Paratroopers need to run a distance of about 2500 meters, which takes about 15 minutes at a forced marching speed of 10 kilometers per hour.

The airdrop and assembly will take at least 10 minutes.

How long would it take to storm the headquarters and end the battle?

Fang Wen stopped thinking.

Modern warfare is based on information asymmetry; the more information available, the higher the success rate.

Now that they don't even know the terrain and building structure of the enemy's command post, how can they guess how long it will take the paratroopers to complete the battle?

He decided to fly to Guangzhou again to find out the situation at the headquarters, and then organize a simulated battle in Yangjiang to obtain wartime data.

At 11 p.m., Fang Wen piloted the Qinyuan into the air and took off.

They soon arrived over Guangzhou.

While maneuvering the aircraft, he activated the mechanical sensing eagle eye to observe the situation below.

The location of the enemy command post was quickly found, and Fang Wen carefully memorized the situation in that area.

Then, it activated its X-ray vision ability, penetrating the building walls to explore the internal structure.

This allows us to obtain detailed and comprehensive data on the operational area.

After noting down this data, Fang Wen immediately returned to base.

After the plane landed, he quickly drew the scenes from his memory onto paper.

With the topographical map, they even had a grasp of the internal layout of the headquarters buildings.

Fang Wen then began simulation training.

The soldiers of the reinforced company conducted combat drills in a makeshift simulated environment.

They planned to memorize the entire building's internal structure and then, according to their established plan, launch an attack on the conference room on the second floor of the main building.

Using the same data, they simulated the battle again and again, and concluded that the fight could be resolved within 30 minutes.

In this case, the airdrop takes 10 minutes, the battle takes 30 minutes, the evacuation takes 15 minutes, and the boarding takes 10 minutes, for a total of one hour and five minutes.

Could the Japanese army react in that hour?

Fang Wen felt that the two should be considered separately.

Given the current efficiency of the army, Japanese troops within a 3-kilometer radius will be able to come to the rescue, but Japanese troops in more distant areas will not be able to react in time.

Therefore, the main focus should be on Japanese troops in the surrounding area.

What are they?

This included the military police, headquarters guards, some civilian officers who might be armed, and Japanese troops within a 3-kilometer radius.

This raises new questions.

During the period of combat and retreat, it is essential to effectively prevent Japanese reinforcements and attacks.

In this regard, gunboat squadrons can handle some of the problems, but the rest will have to be dealt with by paratroopers.

After five days of simulated training, the soldiers of the reinforced company have memorized the terrain and interior layout of the headquarters.

Fang Wen stopped the training and explained the situation to the soldiers.

"These past few days, you've endured tedious training, and I haven't explained the situation to you, mainly because I didn't want to distract you. Now I can tell you. Your training environment is the Japanese Southeast Command Headquarters in Guangzhou. The operation will take place soon, and from today onwards, everyone is prohibited from leaving the premises and from contacting strangers. The mission is for you to parachute down and attack the high-ranking Japanese officers' meeting being held there."

After listening to Fang Wen explain the plan, the soldiers were extremely excited.

Immediately, a soldier asked, "Commander, should we take prisoners?"

"We can't capture them. The objective of this operation is to kill them all. Any Japanese soldiers who obstruct us will be killed without exception," Fang Wen said coldly.

(End of this chapter)