Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 539 Aircraft Carrier Smokebox is a Weak Point, Air Raid on the Qiongzhou Strait

After listening to the chief engineer of the bomb factory's account, Fang Wen went to the bomb factory to see the actual bombs.

In a guarded warehouse, he saw the metal cylinder, which was no more than 20 centimeters in diameter.

Is this an aerial bomb with the power of a thermobaric weapon?

Fang Wen had wanted to achieve something but had never succeeded in doing so, but his subordinates managed to do it.

“What about the test data?” he asked.

The bomb factory's chief engineer quickly opened his notebook: "We conducted three live-fire tests at the firing range last week. All the pine wood within a 20-meter radius was carbonized, and the instantaneous air pressure in the sandbag bunker with a 15-meter radius reached eight times the normal atmospheric pressure."

Fang Wen remained silent, closing his eyes in thought.

The structure of the Fengxiang aircraft carrier appeared in his mind.

Fang Wen, who twice harassed the Fengxiang aircraft carrier in the air, has his own understanding of it.

The top layer of this aircraft carrier has a very thick steel plate installed to facilitate the take-off and landing of carrier-based aircraft.

This steel plate also served as protection for the aircraft carrier.

Imagine if an aerial bomb fell from the sky and hit the Fengxiang, it would be blocked by the steel plate and would hardly damage the main body of the ship.

This design makes it more difficult to deal with compared to other warships.

Fang Wen's air raid this time was intended to completely destroy it, not just blow up the upper flight deck.

Therefore, the power of the bombs must be increased.

His original idea was to use a large number of armor-piercing bombs to blast through the flight deck, and then continue to drop bombs at the breach to damage the ship's internal structure.

This method is uncertain. If the bombs brought to the aircraft detonate and penetrate the flight deck, or if the bombs land in scattered locations and the explosive force is insufficient, the desired effect may not be achieved.

But now, with the advent of incendiary thermobaric weapons, an extra layer of protection can be added.

Those are the three large smokestacks on the port side of the ship.

If an incendiary thermobaric bomb could be dropped into the chimney, the flames and thermobaric pressure released upon the explosion would absolutely cause devastating damage to the engine room and core control area inside the Fengxiang.

However, this requires determining the actual effects of incendiary thermobaric weapons before they can be used in actual combat.

To this end, Fang Wen requested the bomb factory to prepare three experimental bombs and construct three chimney-shaped target sites.

With only one day left before the airstrike, the Hengshan-1 was parked in the hangar at the base in northern Myanmar. Engineers from the No. 2 Aircraft Manufacturing Plant and workers from the bomb factory worked together to install 10 new incendiary thermobaric bombs into the aircraft's internal bomb bay.

This small 20-kilogram aerial bomb is not suitable for external mounting and can only be dropped by its internal bombing device.

After installation, the crew members assembled.

Fang Wen (Captain and Chief Pilot)
Shao Sishen (co-pilot and radio operator)
Gong Xiuneng (freelancer, responsible for emergency bombing and airburst grenade and signal flare deployment)

Five trainees (three machine gunners and two grenadiers)

Fang Wen gave a brief speech: "Today we are testing a new type of bomb. If it works well, we will use it in tomorrow's actual combat. Everyone must treat the test test with a combat-ready attitude and not take it lightly."

The trainees shouted, "Yes!"

Then, everyone boarded the plane, and Fang Wen controlled Hengshan No. 1 to taxi out of the hangar, turn and enter the runway, and after a period of acceleration, it took off.

In the air, Fang Wen activated mechanical sensing to observe the area below.

In the air-dropping range directly in front, three round sandbag arrays have been erected, with a diameter similar to that of an aircraft carrier's smokestack and a height of 3 meters, trying to simulate the smokestack of the Fengxiang as much as possible.

Dropping a bomb into three chimneys is extremely difficult.

Not to mention unguided bombs.

In other words, once the bomb is dropped, everything is left to chance.

However, for Fang Wen, the superpowers gained through mechanical perception can turn this situation around.

It requires a very large amount of computation.

To ensure a successful bombing run tomorrow, Fang Wen focused intently, becoming one with the aircraft, and inputting the data he sensed into the bombing process for calculations.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. His mechanical senses, like an invisible net, wove all the surrounding data into a precise model, which flashed through his mind like lightning.

The vibration frequency of the airflow passing over the wings, the subtle fluctuations in the propeller speed, and even the tiny displacements of each bomb in the bomb bay caused by changes in the aircraft's attitude, all flowed into his mind as data streams.

Wind speed, humidity, air density, the relative trajectory of the target... countless variables collide and recombine at high speed in his mind, eventually condensing into a precise data.

To verify whether the answer was correct, he gave the order.

"Prepare to conduct a gliding test bombing, maintain an altitude of 1,200 meters, heading due south, and reduce speed to 180 kilometers per hour." Fang Wen's voice came through the intercom in the cockpit, calm and without a trace of emotion.

The co-pilot, Shao Sishen, reported the aircraft's real-time parameters: "Current altitude 3200, heading 180, speed 340, wind speed southeast 6 m/s, airflow stable."

"Bombers, prepare," Fang Wen called out again.

The assistant bombardier followed the previously learned steps, pulling up rings 1-3 and pushing the transfer lever.
The lead bombardier was already kneeling in his position, staring intently at the ground through the bombardment scope.

"The bomb bay doors are unlocked. Thermobaric bombs number one to three have their safety catches released and are ready to enter the bombing area," the chief bombardier replied.

"Wait for the order to drop the bomb. When I say drop the bomb, you must do it immediately."

"Yes."

After the communication was completed, Fang Wen controlled the aircraft to descend and slow down, gliding over.

As he was about to fly over the target area, he gave the order: "Ready, three, two, one, drop the bomb."

That sound of a bomb being dropped.

The bombardier reflexively pulled down the bomb release lever.

The bomb bay opened, and three incendiary thermobaric bombs fell.

The target was then visible in the main bombardier's scope.

The three round sandbag formations gradually magnified in view. The brownish-yellow sandbags gleamed with an earthy gray hue under the sunlight, like three silent eyes gazing up at the sky.

After dropping the bombs, Fang Wen immediately pulled up, while his mechanical sensing antennae firmly locked onto the three falling bombs.

The bomb traced a near-perfect parabola through the air, and he anticipated and "corrected" the disturbances in the airflow in advance—not by physically altering them, but by calculating and avoiding potential deviations.

A few seconds later, a series of muffled thuds came from the ground.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, but instead a burst of orange-red flame shot out from the top of the sandbag array in the middle, like a torch rising from the ground.

The flames instantly engulfed the entire target, the intense heat distorting the air and creating a rolling heatwave that shot into the sky, carrying black smoke and dust. Even more astonishingly, the flames did not spread outwards, but were instead compressed within the sandbag array by an invisible force. The intense pressure from the burning sandbags caused the array to crack from the inside, scattering yellow sand mixed with burning fragments in all directions.

"Hit! Right on target!" The lead bombardier, who was observing, couldn't help but cheer.

To be precise, one of the three bombs landed in the round opening of the sandbag formation.

The results were pretty good, but the trial throws weren't over yet. Fang Wen prepared to throw out the remaining bombs as well.

"Continue dropping! Numbers four through six, seven through ten, in two groups!" In the next few minutes, seven flames erupted across the firing range. Three hit the remaining two targets, while the other four, though slightly off-target, still landed within three meters of their respective targets. The intense burning reduced the surrounding sandbags to scorched earth. The last bomb, in particular, grazed the edge of the left target and penetrated its interior. The shockwave from its detonation overturned the entire sandbag array, revealing the charred ground beneath.

The cabin was completely silent; even breathing could be heard clearly. Everyone was stunned by the almost uncanny accuracy of the hits—dropping ten unguided bombs into a target only 2 meters in diameter without any special equipment, and at a speed of 180 kilometers per hour, was beyond the limits of human capability.

Only then did the trainees realize that the ace pilots who were famous on the battlefield were truly as amazing as the legends said.

Fang Wen slowly pulled up the nose of the aircraft, and Hengshan-1 circled over the firing range. Looking at the still-burning target below, a barely perceptible smile finally appeared on his lips: "Record the parameters, return to base. Notify the ground that tomorrow's live-fire exercise will use this batch of missiles."

Shao Sichen's voice, barely containing his excitement, said, "Yes, Captain!"

Sunlight streamed through the cockpit window, illuminating Fang Wen's face. The muscles in his fingertips were slightly sore from prolonged tension, but the light in his eyes grew ever sharper. Tomorrow, when these "little torches" fell into the actual smokestacks, it would be the end of the Fengxiang.

On February 10, 1939, the Qiongzhou Strait was shrouded in darkness.

In the early hours of the morning, the once tranquil waters of Tianwei Port were suddenly shattered by a long-planned attack.

The Japanese Navy's 5th Fleet appeared in the Qiongzhou Strait, with more than ten ships anchored on the sea, their guns turned towards the shore, and aircraft taking off.

Under the combined pressure of artillery fire and air raids, the Japanese launched landing craft carrying thousands of soldiers to begin their landing.

After the landing craft docked, they surged onto the approximately 2-kilometer-long coastline like a tide, preparing to head towards the nearby towns.

This was part of the planned attack; there were no troops stationed on this beach.

However, they were unaware that their plan had already been leaked to Yan'an by Fang Wen, which alerted the Nationalist army stationed in Hainan.

A battalion of Kuomintang security forces launched an ambush from concealed positions on the shore.

Soldiers emerged from the sand and fired at the Japanese soldiers on the beach.

The Japanese soldiers, who had no cover, were stunned by this volley of fire and lost more than 100 men.

The rest quickly retreated and launched a counterattack from the landing craft.

While the beach sniping battle was underway.

Hengshan-1, which departed from its base in northern Myanmar, is also about to arrive at the battlefield.

In the Beibu Gulf, the Hengshan-1 is heading to the battlefield.

The target area is 100 kilometers away and will take 20 minutes to reach.

Fang Wen, who controls the aircraft's flight, simultaneously activates mechanical sensing and uses radar detection devices to investigate the enemy's situation.

There are 20 aircraft conducting airstrikes in the Haikou area.

Based on Fang Wen's understanding of Japanese naval intelligence, the attack was launched by the Japanese Fifth Fleet, which currently has no aircraft carrier and is using the Hosho aircraft carrier from the Third Fleet for the operation.

These should be all the fighter jets from the Fengxiang aircraft carrier that have been deployed.

Seizing the opportunity, Fang Wen controlled the aircraft to climb until it reached an altitude of 6000 meters before stopping.

This altitude is unconventional for combat, and given the current dim lighting, it's ideal for stealthy flight.

The 20-minute flight passed quickly.

Hengshan-1 has arrived over the Qiongzhou Strait.

Through mechanical sensing, Fang Wen gained an understanding of the situation below.

The Japanese army, relying on the intense artillery fire of its fleet, had already occupied the landing point.

The Nationalist troops that were blocking the retreat are now withdrawing towards the Tainan area.

Instead of pursuing, the Japanese troops advanced towards Haikou.

Near Da Ying Shan, the National Army is putting up resistance.

With far too few troops and inferior equipment compared to the Japanese army, these Nationalist troops would find it difficult to hold out.

Fang Wen shifted his gaze to the sea.

Below, more than 30 warships are lined up at sea, including the Fengxiang.

He was about to give the order to prepare for the airdrop, but then stopped.

During the radar detection, more than 30 fighter jets were discovered flying in from the direction of Guangzhou.

The Japanese army actually mobilized fighter planes from the Guangzhou military airfield to support the attack on Haikou.

However, its flight path happens to pass through the air defense zone of the Independent Regiment in Yangjiang.

Fang Wen immediately controlled the radio device with one hand, quickly switched frequencies, and sent out a coded message.

At the Yangjiang Independent Regiment's garrison, a soldier at the radar station suddenly got up, went outside, and reported to Wu Yingzong.

"Deputy Commander, an aircraft has appeared in the direction of Guangzhou and is flying towards us."

Wu Yingzong immediately ordered the air defense positions to enter wartime alert.

A moment later, before the plane arrived, a telegram from Fang Wen was received.

"Deputy Commander, we have received a secret telegram from the Commander, ordering us to prevent these fighter jets from flying over our regiment's air defense zone."

Upon hearing that it was Fang Wen's order, Wu Yingzong personally took charge and directed the anti-aircraft artillery positions to block the attack.

More than 30 fighter jets flew in, and dense anti-aircraft guns fired below, causing plumes of black smoke to burst in the airspace, catching the enemy off guard.

Such dense anti-aircraft fire deterred the enemy from crossing the border rashly, forcing them to temporarily turn back.

Enemy aircraft in Guangzhou were returning to base when detected by radar.

It's unlikely that these enemy planes will abandon their air raid on Haikou; they might bypass the Yangjiang air defense positions and fly over from elsewhere.

But their return gave Fang Wen a valuable opportunity to launch an air raid, which he seized and immediately began.

"Prepare for the first gliding airdrop. We will descend to an altitude of 1,500 meters and correct our course to southeast by east."

"Bombers, prepare to drop the external bombs first."

"Machine gunners, prepare to fire. If we encounter enemy aircraft, you will be required to return fire."

Following Fang Wen's command, the crew members quickly entered combat readiness.

With his left hand gripping the control stick and his right hand rapidly adjusting the throttle valve, the Hengshan-1 cut through the morning mist like a silver swallow. Due to its rapid descent, the wings drew two pale white streaks of air in the dim light.

Under the dim light, the Japanese army launched a surprise landing attack, but they did not expect an aerial assassin to come from above.

Suddenly, Hengshan-1 descended from the sky, leaving a dark trail, and then dropped all 1000 kilograms of bombs attached to it.

Five armor-piercing shells landed first, followed by five high-explosive shells.

Under Fang Wen's precise control and command, all 10 heavy bombs landed on the flight deck of the Fengxiang.

(End of this chapter)