Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 568 The Establishment of the Rocket Factory, the Nomonhan Incident
On April 25, Fang Wen returned from Europe, along with Manager Sun.

The others remained in France to monitor Schneider Electric's shipments.

The plane landed at Yangon Airport, and Gong Xiuneng went to open the cabin door.

Manager Sun stood up, preparing to talk to Fang Wen before disembarking.

"General Manager, aren't we going to headquarters?"

"I need to oversee the military projects, but the civil aviation sector is entirely up to you," Fang Wen replied.

"Yes, we will manage the company well. By the way, General Manager, do you think the Japanese might try to obstruct our procurement from Schneider Electric?"

"It's possible, but their warships can't get here. At most, they can send agents to sabotage or hire foreign forces at sea to attack our cargo ships. I'll fly over to escort them when they depart from Marseille port after loading their cargo."

"I see. The general manager has considered everything very well, so I don't need to worry."

After finishing his sentence, Manager Sun got off the plane and left.

Fang Wen, on the other hand, was pondering how to provide protection based on what Manager Sun had said.

Although seaplanes can land on the sea, long-term escort missions require the preparation of various supplies.

This requires Lin Shuiwang on the American side to arrange for the cargo ship's aircraft to receive supplies.

Alternatively, a dual-purpose platform could be built on the cargo ship to supply landing aircraft.

Wasn't that exactly what the sunken aircraft carrier Hosho did?

However, he then rejected this tempting idea.

Converting a cargo ship into an aircraft carrier requires a large amount of steel and a massive amount of engineering work.

Not to mention the training required to support an aircraft carrier, which is something that Taishan Aviation cannot currently do.

It's more realistic to focus on developing the aviation industry and make some preparations for the army along the way.

He shook off his thoughts, started the plane, accelerated, and took off, heading towards the base in northern Myanmar.

Several hours later, the plane landed at the base center airport in northern Myanmar.

Fang Wen, who had just gotten off the plane, went straight back to his residence to rest and replenish the energy consumed by the long flight.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Fang Wen was already up.

He stood at the window of his residence, gazing at the mechanics and workers who were doing their morning exercises in the distance.

To do a good job in the military industry, a healthy body is very important. Therefore, every morning, each factory and department has its own morning exercises and training activities.

Looking at them, Fang Wen couldn't help but think of the rockets again, and a heavy sense of urgency arose in his heart.

The rocket project, which he sees as a key lever to change the current situation, must be implemented and take root in the shortest possible time.

After washing up, he deliberately tidied his slightly messy hair and straightened his clothes in front of the mirror.

Afterwards, he went out and took Gong Xiuneng to the research institute's cafeteria for breakfast.

Because of the previous incident, the research institute's cafeteria underwent a special overhaul, and the manager has been replaced.

When the staff saw Fang Wen arrive, they became very nervous and couldn't even speak.

The head chef came out, took the serving ladle, and said, "General Manager, we've learned the importance of safety after what happened that day, and this will absolutely never happen again."

Fang Wen interrupted, "Your job is to provide food and drink. Just do your job well and don't break the rules. Give me a steamer of hot buns."

The head chef beamed with joy as he prepared food for Fang Wen, and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

After eating a steamer full of hot buns with porridge, Gong Xiuneng and the other person left the canteen and headed to the base's office area.

Base security soldiers were conducting drills by the roadside, their synchronized footsteps and shouts mingling together.

Fang Wen suddenly stopped and pointed to a fenced-off open space not far away: "That was originally intended to be a warehouse, right? Converting it into the first phase of the rocket factory should be enough."

Gong Xiuneng looked in the direction he was pointing and said, "It's quite a large place."

Upon arriving at the base's office area, Shen Weitao was already waiting at the conference room door.

He was holding a list in his hand. When he saw Fang Wen coming over, he quickly went up to him and said, "General Manager, the heads of each department are already waiting inside. As you instructed, I had them compile a list of the personnel in their departments with mechanical and chemical backgrounds in advance."

Fang Wen nodded, pushed open the door, and walked into the conference room.

More than a dozen people in charge stood up in unison, their eyes full of anticipation.

The group included Lin Yifei from the No. 2 Aircraft Manufacturing Plant, Bai Zeshan from the Semiconductor Plant, Huo Duanyang from the Ammunition Plant, Lu Zexuan from the Taishan Research Institute, as well as the heads of the base's security department, logistics department, aviation department, power department, transportation department, and warehousing department.

"Please sit down." Fang Wen walked to the head of the table and opened the folder. "I called everyone here today to announce something. We are going to build a new factory to produce rockets."

As soon as he finished speaking, a low murmur arose in the conference room.

Although there had been speculation, everyone was still excited when the news was confirmed.

The term "rocket grenade" was quite remarkable when it appeared at the base last month; the power of a salvo was truly astonishing.

Everyone hoped that such powerful weapons could be produced at the base and supplied to the domestic resistance against Japan.

Fang Wen raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet: "Schneider Electric will provide equipment and technical support, but they have no experience in producing rockets. Therefore, the equipment may need a lot of debugging. I will follow up on the whole process. Today's discussion is mainly about the preliminary preparations for the factory construction, which need to be done in advance. I have decided to establish a rocket factory preparatory group, with Shen Weitao as the group leader."

Shen Weitao suddenly stood up: "It's the General Manager!"

"Next is personnel selection." Fang Wen's gaze swept over everyone present. "We need a group of technical backbones for the rocket projectiles to work with me on the construction of the production line. The requirements are that they understand engineering technology and can endure hardship. Each department should submit its list within three days."

Lin Yifei from the No. 2 Aircraft Manufacturing Plant spoke first: "Our plant has no problem, but the engineers in the plant all have their own engineering teams. If we need to adjust, the entire engineering team has to be adjusted."

"The ammunition factory can also produce eight people," Huo Duanyang added. "The batch of chemical equipment we bought from Germany last time was used to make propellant for individual rockets. They've already figured it out, so they should be able to get started quickly with making rocket fuel."

Everyone responded enthusiastically, one after another, without mentioning any difficulties or making any demands.

Looking at the group of people in front of him, Fang Wen suddenly recalled the scene when they first arrived at the construction base in northern Myanmar, where everyone was crammed into a makeshift shed and eating dry rations.

Back then, no one could predict what the future would hold, but everyone was determined to win.

That's how it is; it took just over a year to achieve such a scale.

“There’s still the issue of the site.” Fang Wen tapped the table. “Gong Xiuneng and I have inspected it. The vacant lot on the east side will be used to build the first phase of the factory. Bai Zeshan and Huo Duanyang, you two have experience in infrastructure construction, so you two will be in charge of the factory construction.” Bai Zeshan and Huo Duanyang accepted the task without hesitation.

The meeting lasted less than an hour, and all tasks had been assigned.

As the meeting adjourned, Fang Wen watched the departing figures and suddenly called out, "Wait a minute."

Everyone turned around to see him stand up, his voice not loud but exceptionally clear: "Rocket bombs are a more advanced weapon. I hope that when they are used on a large scale in the war, they can deal a heavy blow to the Japanese. I also hope that in the future, when people talk about this war, they will remember the contributions of Taishan Military Industry."

No one spoke, but the light in everyone's eyes shone even brighter.

After the heads of various departments left, Gong Xiuneng came over and said, "I just received a Soviet telegram, and I have brought the message with me."

The Soviet Union finally replied, and Fang Wen immediately took the telegram to check its contents.

The telegram described the air battle in concise language.

April 20, 1939, 4:16 PM.

The I-16 fighter jet was on a mission to cover Soviet troops when it encountered Japanese aircraft over the front lines.

At a distance of 1 kilometer from the Japanese aircraft, rockets were launched simultaneously, shooting down two enemy aircraft on the spot.

In addition to shooting down Japanese aircraft with rockets, the fleet also shot down 11 Japanese aircraft with machine guns, without suffering any losses itself.

The telegram was filled with the pride of the Aerodynamics Institute.

It was specifically noted that the area-of-effect damage generated by multiple fighter jets firing rockets simultaneously successfully disrupted the tactical deployment of the Japanese aircraft group, giving them an advantage in subsequent air battles.

After reading it, Fang Wen couldn't help but analyze the contents of the telegram.

Clearly, the Japanese suffered from a lack of understanding of the Soviet aircraft's weapon configuration.

The Soviet Union's surprise salvo of aerial rockets, coupled with the Japanese aircraft's dense formation flight, were important factors in the outcome of this war.

Of course, the effect of a salvo of aerial rockets is the most important aspect.

As a result, Fang Wen became very interested in the war between the Soviet Union and the Japanese army in the north, and simply sent a telegram to the domestic intelligence station to learn more.

Shanghai in late spring.

In the storytelling venue on Fourth Road, a storyteller is recounting the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

But in today's world, there are very few listeners, and their livelihoods are miserable.

Qian Yinxing sat upright at the octagonal table in the corner, his gaze seemingly fixed on the stage, but his peripheral vision kept scanning his surroundings warily.

Recently, the Japanese army has been making arrests all over the city, and the streets are not safe.

"Sir, your Biluochun tea." The waiter came over with a copper kettle to refill the water. Qian Yinxing nodded slightly and took out a few copper coins from his sleeve and placed them on the table.

This kind of money was originally banned after the issuance of legal tender, but now it is being used as currency again by ordinary people, which is really a last resort.

In Shanghai today, currency and finance are in complete disarray.

The invaders attempted to issue military scrip, demanding that businesses and the public accept it through administrative orders, or face punishment for "resisting Japan." However, because military scrip lacked actual reserves and had extremely poor credibility, the public was unwilling to use it, and it was only forced to circulate in institutions directly controlled by the Japanese army (such as Japanese-owned enterprises and puppet regime agencies).

Another type of counterfeit currency was the "Huaxing Note," issued by the "Huaxing Commercial Bank," which was supported by the Japanese army. It was intended to replace the legal tender. This month, the Huaxing Note was forcibly implemented in the Chinese-controlled areas of Shanghai. The exchange rate between the Huaxing Note and the legal tender was forcibly set by the Japanese and puppet regimes at 1 Huaxing Note = 1 legal tender. However, it was difficult to circulate within the concessions. The Shanghai Municipal Council of the International Settlement still recognized the legal tender's legitimacy. The Huaxing Note was only used in the administrative and taxation processes controlled by the Japanese and puppet regimes, and its acceptance among the general public was extremely low.

Unable to replace legal tender in controlling the financial system, the Japanese army began counterfeiting legal tender and circulating it in the market.

This led to monetary chaos, with many merchants simply resorting to using the old silver dollars and subsidiary coins for transactions.

The waiter pocketed the coins and left.

Just as the waiter turned around, a woman in a moon-white cheongsam, carrying an exquisite embroidered handbag, gracefully walked to the empty seat opposite Qian Yinxing and sat down. "Boss Zhao, long time no see. I didn't expect to run into you here."

The woman's voice was soft and melodious, with the gentle Wu dialect characteristic of women from Jiangnan, but she had a very shallow scar on her right eye.

It was Yue Jinping, an agent of the Military Intelligence Bureau in Shanghai. She was once a pilot, but she became more and more skilled in the field of espionage.

Qian Yinxing put down his teacup, a gentle smile playing on his lips: "It's alright, please sit down."

After thanking her, Yue Jinping sat down, placed her bag under the table, and casually adjusted the hem of her cheongsam. However, she tapped her fingers three times lightly under the tablecloth—this was their agreed-upon security signal.

Time was of the essence, so the two quickly whispered to each other.

“Last month, our Shanghai district leader was arrested and confirmed to have defected. All our original bases and contact points were exposed. If it weren’t for my team coming out on a mission, we would have been cornered by the Japanese soldiers. It feels just like when we were parachuted in; we have to start all over again.”

“I think there must be a mole among you, otherwise how could there be a series of arrests of those in charge?”

"It's possible. I've decided to take a group of trustworthy people and go it alone. Could I borrow your radio station to send messages?"

Qian Yinxing took out a small notebook, wrote a line on it, tore it off, and handed it to Yue Jinping.

"This address is a temporary meeting point. Go there at 9 a.m. tomorrow to pick up the telegraph machine. It's a new type of telegraph machine developed by our Taishan Military Industry. It's miniaturized and easy to carry."

"You even manufacture telegraph machines?" Yue Jinping asked in surprise. During her time dealing with the Japanese in Shanghai, she didn't know much about Fangwen and Taishan Airlines.

A hint of pride flashed across Qian Yinxing's face. "The military industry established under the general manager's leadership has produced a lot of military equipment, which has already been put into actual combat in both the north and the south."

"Were they the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army?" Yue Jinping asked.

"Correct."

"I should know. He said he hated the Nationalist government's system." Yue Jinping felt a little lost. Her former lover seemed to have gone down a different path from her. She hoped they wouldn't become enemies in the future.

Qian Yinxing sensed something was wrong and quickly changed the subject: "The general manager wants me to investigate what happened between the Soviet Union and the Japanese army on the northern border."

“I know a little about this. In the border region of the puppet state of Manchukuo, there is a place called Nomonhan, where a large number of troops are gathering. The higher-ups have also asked us to investigate this matter to see if there is any opportunity to take advantage of it.”

"You mean you want the Soviet Union and Japan to fight each other?"

“Yes. I suggest you send a telegram back to explain the situation to Fang Wen. If he has the connections to escalate the conflict between the two sides and cause a war, it will be very beneficial to us.”

"Okay, I'll go back and report right away."

After a brief meeting, Qian Yinxing and Yue Jinping left the teahouse one after the other.

(End of this chapter)