Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 550 Recruitment in the Jin-Cha-Ji Base Area, Japanese War Medicine
The Yan'an radar station was built using the military radar station construction standards of the Taishan Independent Regiment, and it did not take long from completion to testing.

The personnel who remained at the radar station were graduates of the Yangon Aviation School, having completed the radar course and requiring no additional training.

But in the Yan'an base area, there was one more thing to do: recruit workers.

Fang Wen left half of the working group members behind to handle recruitment matters in Yan'an.

There are many patriotic students here with good cultural levels. They are also very interested in joining the patriotic military industry. With the help of military cadres, the process is progressing smoothly.

Fang Wen could not stay there for long. On the third day after the plane landed in Yan'an, he prepared to take the air transport team to the Taihang Mountains.

Yan'an Airport

Because the area beyond the Yellow River was a war zone, the flights were scheduled to take place at night.

At 5 p.m., the crew members and aviation cadets who were traveling together to the Jin-Cha-Ji base area had lunch in the airport canteen.

Fang Wen sat at a table with the people from the Yan'an Aviation Team and chatted about the situation during this period.

Captain Qi Baoqian explained, "Our air force mainly guards the airspace over Yan'an and cooperates with the anti-mopping-up operations in the Jin-Cha-Ji base area. Because the terrain is mostly mountainous and the population is sparsely distributed, the Japanese army did not send many planes to attack, mainly focusing on reconnaissance. Therefore, our air force has not suffered any major combat losses so far, except for one Il-16 which had to stop flying because of outdated equipment that could not be repaired."

That Il-16 was Rao Minghe's personal vehicle.

Rao Minghe therefore switched to flying Squadron Leader Qi Baoqian's Il-16, while Qi Baoqian flew the Taishan high-speed interceptor.

Even so, Rao Minghe still fondly remembers his old partner.

He then pleaded with Fang Wen, "Commander, is it really impossible to fix?"

Fang Wen shook his head: "The engine parts inside are too worn out. Many parts need to be replaced to repair it. This kind of repair work is too much for your mechanics to do. I can repair it, but it's not worth it. It's better to take out the good parts from the aircraft and use them to repair other Il-16s."

"Well, old buddies eventually have to retire," Rao Minghe remarked.

At that moment, the officer who had previously been in charge of the radar station's construction walked into the mess hall, accompanied by several others.

He found Fang Wen and took the initiative to explain the situation.

"Mr. Fang, these people are cultural workers sent to the Jin-Cha-Ji base area. They will be performing for the soldiers and villagers there to promote the spirit of resistance against Japan. Do you have enough space on your plane to take them with you?"

Fang Wen glanced at them and saw that they were all young and lively cultural soldiers, mostly female soldiers, with a few male soldiers as well. He asked, "If their instruments aren't too big, can they go together?"

A young girl in military uniform replied, "We brought trumpets, violins, and the largest accordion, which we can carry with us."

"Alright, let's have dinner together in the cafeteria and meet at 7 o'clock sharp to leave." Fang Wen nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, we've already had dinner," the girl in military uniform replied. Then, the soldiers from the cultural troupe happily went to get their luggage and gathered outside the canteen.

They were performing arts soldiers, able to sing and dance, creating quite a lively atmosphere, which made the flight crew unable to resist going out to watch.

Time passed by unnoticed, and it was 6:50.

Immediately, the crew began boarding the plane, and while doing so, they also guided the soldiers from the cultural troupe to board as well.

Fang Wenze shook hands with each member of the Taishan Aviation Team.

"Goodbye. I have some good news for you before I leave. Four high-speed fighter jets will be delivered to Yan'an next month. You need to send someone over to receive them in advance."

The air force was overjoyed. With the addition of those four, the Yan'an Air Force now had six high-speed fighters, enough to deal with small groups of Japanese fighters attacking from above.

They then saw Fang Wen off as he boarded the plane and watched it take off.

Ten planes took off one after another into the night.

Fang Wen, acting as the lead navigator, turned on the guide taillights and switched the communication frequency to the internal aviation frequency to direct the other aircraft to maintain formation.

The female soldiers, who were assigned to his plane, watched this scene with curiosity.

The female soldier who had spoken earlier took the initiative to talk to Gong Xiuneng: "Is this a plane that your Taishan Airlines made itself? I've never been on a plane before. I've heard that you get dizzy when you fly, but why don't I feel it?"

Gong Xiuneng was somewhat shy. As a bachelor in his thirties, he was not good at talking to women.

The same thing happened with Miss Fang the last time, and it will be the same this time.

"Yes, that's right." After a long pause, he managed to utter three words.

Fang Wen witnessed this scene.

He suddenly wondered if his desire to bring Gong Xiuneng and his sixth sister together as a family was bad for Gong Xiuneng.

After all, Sixth Sister is no longer the innocent and naive girl she once was. Having lived in Europe and America for a long time, she has been influenced by the outside world, and there may be a big cultural gap between them.

At first, Gong Xiu might accommodate Sixth Sister in this relationship, but in the future, the conflicts will only deepen.

Perhaps, my matchmaking will only end up harming the two of them.

Thinking of this, Fang Wen felt it was necessary to talk, so he asked Gong Xiuneng to come over.

He spoke with Gong Xiuneng while piloting the plane.

“Xiu Neng, I once said I would introduce you to my sixth sister. This was something I didn’t think through. You should find an honest and decent woman to be your wife. My sixth sister has already gone wild abroad and is not suitable for you. Let’s just forget about it.”

Gong Xiuneng hesitated for a moment before replying, "Commander, there's something I haven't told you. Last time we went to America, in Las Vegas, I met Jin Yi."

Jin Yi is the sixth sister's name, and Gong Xiuneng actually knew that.

Fang Wen was stunned: "When? How come I didn't know?"

“That day you and your wife went for a walk, and I was afraid of disturbing you two, so I stayed in the yard. Then, Jin Yi came over and asked me to go shopping with her, and I agreed.”

"What did you talk about after you went out?"

"She told me about things abroad, and about Liu Shijie."

Liu Shijie was the one who worked for the Japanese and deceived Liu Mei's feelings.

This was a scar that Sixth Sister should not have mentioned, but she told Gong Xiuneng about it.

Fang Wen exclaimed in surprise, "Sixth Sister told you everything? That's impossible!"

Gong Xiuneng smiled and said, "I don't know why, but she said she thinks I'm reliable. However, it's not realistic to talk about feelings now. If I'm still alive after the war, she's willing to have a deeper relationship with me."

"Then you agree?"

"She agreed to it. As long as I'm alive after the war, I'll go to America to find her."

Well, matters of the heart are indeed complicated. Fang Wen thought the two people were not a good match, but they had already hit it off in private.

All Fang Wen could do was give Gong Xiuneng a guarantee: "Alright then, let's live well until the day the invaders surrender, and then I'll send you there."

Gong Xiu could put on a bright smile, but he wasn't sure if he could win the war.

In his eyes, and in the eyes of most people of his time, with most of the country occupied and the remaining regions still struggling to hold on, wasn't it too early to talk about the invaders surrendering?

After an hour and a half flight, the transport aircraft formation arrived at the northern foothills of the Taihang Mountains.

Fang Wen had been here many times, and even at night, he could easily use his mechanical perception ability to locate Fuping County.

Although the Independent Regiment has withdrawn from this area, the Provisional 8th Division remains.

The Provisional Eighth Division, which joined the Jin-Cha-Ji base area, remained stationed in Fuping, and even the riverside water airport was maintained and managed by them.

However, there was no ground-based radio communication equipment within the airport, so communication could only be conducted via telegram.

Immediately, Gong Xiuneng used the equipment on the plane to send a short telegram.

[Air force arrives and prepares to land and provide support.]

Upon receiving the telegram, the airport below sprang into action. Torches burned, illuminating the riverbed and guiding the aircraft overhead.

Fang Wen, with a serious expression, directed the planes to land one by one in batches.

It was nighttime, so we couldn't be careless.

Fortunately, they were all low-speed aircraft, so landing was not difficult, and the landing process was completed without incident.

After all the other planes had landed, Fang Wencai piloted his plane onto the river.

The plane then landed, and Fang Wen disembarked and went ashore, shaking hands with Bai Yunfei on the dock.

How are your eyes?

"Thankfully, you said it could last for a year. I've been living a fulfilling life every day. Even if I go blind after a year, it's all worth it."

"Don't think like that. A year has passed. Maybe that thing can still help you recover. Even if it doesn't work, medicine will become more and more advanced in the future, and new technologies can cure your eyes."

“When others say this, I just take it as a way of comforting me, but when you say it, I take it seriously.”

Fang Wen affirmed, "I actually have a talent for surgery. Your eye may have optic nerve damage. I might be the one to operate on you and repair the severed optic nerve in the future."

Bai Yunfei laughed and said, "You can fly planes and repair planes, so you'll be repairing people in the future!"

The two men smiled at each other and began to organize the soldiers to unload the supplies from the plane and store them in the warehouse.

After a night, Fang Wen got up early.

After washing up, he ate breakfast in Fuping and then left the city for the airport.

The seaplane base camp outside the city has now become the residence of the cultural and artistic work team.

The cultural troupe members who arrived by plane are starting their morning practice of basic skills in preparation for the upcoming performance.

The other dormitory was reserved for the crew members of Taishan Airlines.

As for the warehouse on the east side of the airport, it was guarded by soldiers arranged by Bai Yunfei.

After watching the cultural troupe's rehearsal for a while, Bai Yunfei came over.

He led 100 soldiers to participate in the construction of the radar station.

Subsequently, supplies were taken out of the warehouse and a radar station was set up between the airport and the barracks.

While the radar station was under construction, the Jin-Cha-Ji recruitment team also officially moved into Fuping County, intending to use it as their office and then send recruitment personnel to various parts of the Jin-Cha-Ji base area to carry out recruitment work.

The Jin-Cha-Ji base area has expanded to include more than 20 counties, including Wanping, Fangshan, Laishui, Zhuoxian, Changping, Zhuolu, Huailai, Xuanhua, Lingqiu, Guangling, Weixian, Laishui, Fuping, Quyang, Tangxian, Wanxian, Pingshan, Xingtang, Lingshou, Zhengding, and Jingxing.

This is the situation created by the Eighth Route Army.

They firmly tied down the local Japanese troops in the North China Plain and the mountainous areas of northern Shanxi.

Such a large area presents a slight challenge for recruitment efforts in Taishan.

Fortunately, Fang Wen was there. He flew his plane back and forth between different counties every day, landing on the water or on the hard ground of the plains, sending recruiters to various places.

These recruiters, with the cooperation of the local county brigade, carried out the recruitment work.

Recruitment notices were posted, and news of Taishan Airlines' recruitment spread throughout the base area.

People in northern China probably don't know about Taishan Airlines, since north of the Yellow River, there is only one feeder flight on the Haihe River.

But if you mention the Taishan Independent Regiment, everyone will know it.

With the help of staff from various places, people learned that the fighter jets flying in the sky in their base area were all manufactured by Taishan Aviation, which gave them a new understanding of the recruitment process.

In the simple language of the people in the north, a job posting can be summarized in a single sentence.

"Go build airplanes and cannons to fight the Japanese devils."

People flocked to register, making recruitment sites across the region bustling with activity.

Recruitment in the Jin-Cha-Ji base area is progressing smoothly, and everything is normal in Yan'an as well.

Many people are willing to work in the military factories in the south, and they all meet the requirements.

The first batch of 300 recruits will soon be ready. At that time, Fang Wen will lead a flight team of 10 aircraft to the base in northern Myanmar.

Everything was going smoothly until the day before their departure, when Bai Yunfei brought some things and found Fang Wen.

The dormitory of the cultural troupe at Fuping Water Airport was empty; they had already gone to the grassroots level to perform for the soldiers.

Fang Wen and the flight crew set up a football field next to the runway, and the two teams were playing a game.

This kind of competition, if it had happened yesterday with the support of female cultural performers, would have been extremely intense.

But since those female soldiers weren't there today, they kicked much more gently.

Fang Wen didn't even play; he acted as the referee.

Bai Yunfei approaching from a distance made him realize that something might be wrong, so he handed over the refereeing duties to the person next to him.

He walked over.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Is something wrong?"

"There is something, but it has nothing to do with you. We mainly want to ask for your knowledge to help us figure out what it is."

"Oh, did you bring the things?"

"I brought it. Go to the office and take a look."

The two entered the old office at the airport.

Inside, Bai Yunfei took out several boxes of items.

"These are the things. They look like medicine. They were found on Japanese prisoners of war. They kept their mouths shut and couldn't possibly tell us what they were."

After listening to Bai Yunfei's explanation, Fang Wen examined the items in front of him.

It was a small bottle, only about the length of a finger.

Even when interpreted in Chinese, the meaning of the Japanese text above is readily apparent, easily leading one to associate it with military matters.

Why were the Japanese prisoners of war unwilling to reveal what it was for?
Fang Wen opened the medicine and smelled a pungent odor.

His physical abilities, far exceeding those of ordinary people, made him feel that the smell was stimulating his nervous system, producing a sense of excitement.

The fact that it can have this reaction just from smelling it suggests that it must have a special purpose.

Could it be performance-enhancing drugs?

Yes, it's very possible that those Japanese soldiers would become extremely excited on the battlefield, to the point that it couldn't even be described as Bushido; it felt more like madness.

Are they using drugs to stimulate themselves?

Fang Wen's face turned cold; this was something he hadn't expected.

It seems that the invaders really went to extreme lengths for this war.

They not only developed poison gas bombs, but also used war drugs on their own people.

If this is true, then the Bushido spirit that those Japanese devils boasted about is utter bullshit; they were nothing but a bunch of madmen on drugs.

(End of this chapter)