Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 569 Lake District Base Area, Long-Distance Escort for Cargo Ships, Pirate Ships in the Gulf of Aden
Upon receiving the coded telegram from Shanghai, Fang Wen carefully examined it.

[At 9:00 AM today, I met with Yue Jinping at the storytelling venue on Fourth Road. According to her, the head of the Military Intelligence Bureau's Shanghai district was arrested and defected, and all their former bases and liaison offices have been exposed. She is now leading trusted men on her own and has been granted permission to use our temporary rendezvous point. We will pick up the new telegraph machine at 3:45 AM tomorrow. When Yue heard about our military industry, she looked surprised. She already knew that the equipment produced by the Taishan Military Industry was supplied to the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, and she seemed somewhat disappointed. Another matter: Yue mentioned that the Soviet Union and Japan had amassed heavy troops in the Nomonhan area on the border of Manchukuo, and the Military Intelligence Bureau was also investigating. She suggested that we try to provoke both sides to start a war, which would be beneficial to the domestic war situation.]

When Fang Wen saw Yue Jinping mentioned in the telegram, he couldn't help but feel emotional.

But the other side chose the path, so we can only rely on the Taishan intelligence station to provide support.

However, the situation at Nomonhan was not as simple as Yue Jinping had imagined.

Fang Wen fell into deep thought.

After Japan occupied Northeast China in 31, friction between the Soviet Union and Japan on the Sino-Soviet border (including the border between Manchukuo and the Soviet Union and Outer Mongolia) gradually increased, but both sides avoided escalating the conflict.

The Soviet Union's main motivation was the tense situation in Europe and Germany's obvious eastward expansion. Therefore, the Soviet Union focused its main efforts on the western defense line and adopted a "defense first" strategy in the Far East. It repeatedly asked Japan to "respect the status quo on the border" through diplomatic channels, while giving up its interests in the Northeast. For example, in 37, the Soviet Union and its puppet regime signed the "Agreement on the Transfer of the Chinese Eastern Railway" to weaken direct conflict with Japan.

On the Japanese side: Although the Kwantung Army advocated "northern advance" (attacking the Soviet Far East), the mainstream of the military still favored "southern advance" (Southeast Asia). Therefore, it adopted a strategy of "probing provocation + diplomatic ambiguity" towards the Soviet Union, both condoning border conflicts (such as the Zhanggufeng incident last year) and avoiding a formal break with the Soviet Union, and the two sides maintained normal diplomatic relations.

Under such delicate circumstances, the two sides suddenly deployed large numbers of troops to confront each other on the border. It seemed that the Soviet Union was supporting its ally in Outer Mongolia, but in fact, there was a deeper meaning behind it.

Historically, the Soviet Union sensed the immense threat posed by Nazi Germany and prepared for a localized war to demonstrate its military strength, deterring the Japanese from becoming arrogant and freeing up resources to deal with Nazi Germany.

Therefore, a large number of aircraft, artillery, tanks, and nearly 10 troops were mobilized to the border area.

Therefore, there's no need for us to do anything; this localized battle will still break out.

Thinking of this, Fang Wen couldn't help but think of the Changsha battlefield again.

The entire Hunan province held out for seven years, managing to tie down the Japanese forces in Central China and ultimately achieving victory in the War of Resistance against Japan.

There, four major battles were fought in Changsha alone, and Yueyang, Hengyang, Changde, and western Hunan were also major battlegrounds.

It can be said that most of the large-scale battles during those seven years were concentrated here.

At present, the Japanese army has not launched a large-scale offensive against Changsha, mainly because they want to attack from Jiangxi.

Therefore, the Japanese forces in Central China are currently concentrated near Nanchang, Jiangxi.

At this time, the National Revolutionary Army and the Japanese Army were engaged in fierce fighting in Nanchang.

Will the New Fourth Army Air Regiment at Junshan Lake be able to play a role in this battle?
Fang Wen was filled with anticipation and sent a telegram to the New Fourth Army's air regiment.

Late March 39.

Smoke of gunpowder filled the banks of the Gan River, and the turbid waters carried broken logs and floating corpses downstream.

Although Nanchang fell a month ago, the National Army's First, Nineteenth, and Thirty-Second Armies, totaling 5 troops, are now launching a counter-offensive in three routes.

Before the ground troops were deployed, aircraft from the 4th Air Group of the National Air Force bombed the new airport on the outskirts of Nanchang and Japanese warships on the Gan River.

In the following two days, the National Army launched a full-scale counter-offensive, with the left flank pointing towards Jing'an and Fengxin, the central flank towards Gao'an, and the right flank towards Nanchang.

To support this operation, the fighter planes of the 4th Air Group took off in multiple waves around the clock to intercept and block the Japanese air force.

During this counter-offensive, the New Fourth Army Air Regiment, located 45 kilometers southeast of Nanchang, also joined the battle.

Military advisor Shao Sishen piloted aircraft number 1, leading nine other gunboats to support the National Army's offensive in the area south of Nanchang.

The 10 gunship aircraft played a significant role in this counter-offensive, inflicting heavy damage on the Japanese vanguard with air firepower and creating opportunities for ground troops to advance.

Under air fire suppression, the Nationalist army troops reached the outskirts of Nanchang, but then the battle situation suddenly changed.

The Japanese air force broke through the 4th squadron's interception and attacked the air regiment's gunboats.

Although the gunship aircraft had armor plating that could withstand 7.7mm bullets, three gunship aircraft were still damaged and had to retreat from the battlefield.

Looking at the telegram, Fang Wen felt somewhat helpless.

Due to a lack of production capacity, Taishan Aviation could not mass-produce high-speed fighter jets, but could only mass-produce gunships that were more suitable for supporting ground operations.

However, while gunships and aircraft have an advantage in ground attack, they lack means for air attack, which has led to the current situation.

In sporadic battles, ground reconnaissance, radio communication, and radar early warning were used to evade Japanese aircraft attacks.

However, in such large-scale battles, gunboats and aircraft groups can easily become targets for the enemy.

If these gunships and aircraft had been equipped with rocket launchers and could have fired intensively at the enemy aircraft, the situation would not have turned out this way.

This made him even more attentive to the rocket factory.

Therefore, he set aside his identity as a pilot and did not go to China to fight, but continued to preside over the work of the base in northern Myanmar.

Time passed little by little, and soon it was early May.

Despite fierce counter-offensive operations, the Nationalist army failed to recapture Nanchang.

With the retreat of the Nationalist Army, the air regiment on the other side of Junshan Lake became an enemy-occupied area. To address this, the New Fourth Army dispatched a special unit to join forces with the air regiment and establish a base area in the lake area of ​​Junshan Lake.

Because it is a lake area with complex terrain, and the air squadron used the ability of gunboats to anchor on the water to disperse the aircraft on the water, and with radar early warning, they were able to avoid many Japanese air raids.

Meanwhile, the Japanese ground forces, due to the coordinated operations of gunboats, aircraft, and guerrillas, did not dare to invade the Junshanhu area for a time.

On May 3, good news finally came from Europe: the equipment purchased by Schneider Electric had finally arrived at the port of Marseille and was being inspected.

Two ships carrying valuable strategic supplies must arrive safely without any mishaps en route. Therefore, Fang Wen will be going to escort them.

This will be an escort mission, with him as the pilot, and Gong Xiuneng, along with five other gunners and ammunition handlers, on board.

The personnel assembled and lined up outside the plane. Fang Wen said solemnly, "Because the plane is fully armed, it cannot land at a civilian airport for this operation. Therefore, there will be no transit at land airports. The plane will only stop on the water for maintenance. You should be prepared to spend a long time on the plane."

"It's the regimental commander." "It's the general manager."

Gong Xiuneng and the other crew members responded loudly.

"Boarding."

After Fang Wen finished speaking, he boarded the plane first, and the others also boarded the plane. Gong Xiuneng untied the cable and closed the cabin door.

The aircraft engine started, and as the propellers turned, the fuselage changed direction, then accelerated on the water and flew into the sky.

This time, the gunship aircraft will conduct a long-range escort mission covering tens of thousands of kilometers. If the round trip is included, it will be more than 2 kilometers, which has exceeded the theoretical limit of this gunship aircraft.

Only Fang Wen would dare to do that.

Therefore, a large amount of spare fuel and other supplies were prepared in the cabin to cope with such long-haul flights.

The plane departed from its base at a seaplane airport in northern Myanmar, crossed the mainland directly into the Bay of Bengal, and then traversed the Indian subcontinent.

There was no need to worry about interception by the Indian Air Force along the way. After all, the patrol range of the British Indian Air Force at that time was only around Delhi, while the South Indian Peninsula was completely undefended.

After flying over the South Indian Peninsula, the plane entered the Arabian Sea.

The flight had already covered 4000 kilometers. Although they had refueled mid-flight, the long flight had pushed the aircraft's engines to their limits. Therefore, Fang Wen decided to land in this sea area for maintenance.

He looked down at the sea, which was calm and there was no sign of a storm in the distance.

Then, the aircraft descended and landed on the sea.

After the plane slowed down and came to a complete stop, he said, "The plane will undergo temporary maintenance and rest for two hours. Gong Xiuneng, come over here and lend a hand."

"Commander, what are you doing?" Gong Xiuneng asked.

"Just pass me the stuff outside the inspection port while you're cooling down the engine and replacing some parts."

After Fang Wen finished speaking, he and Gong Xiuneng went to the supplies room, each carrying a sealed iron bucket, and arrived at a separate small room in the middle of the rear cabin.

The room was only 2 square meters in size and had nothing in it.

Fang Wen put down his toolbox, took out his key, squatted down and opened the latch lock on the floor, then pulled up the cover of the maintenance port.

He took his flashlight and turned it into the maintenance entrance, then entered the maintenance passage below.

This is a repair pathway specifically designed for mechanics, which allows them to repair components such as the aircraft's electrical system, fuel system, engine, and transmission rods.

Fang Wen walked along the maintenance passage towards the engine head and arrived at the location of the engine.

Two improved Sierra aircraft engines were located on either side of the maintenance access road, where the temperature was significantly higher than in other areas.

This is what Fang Wen discovered through mechanical sensing: the engine was overheating, the liquid cooling system was malfunctioning, and some parts needed to be replaced.

He first brought a bucket and placed it under the engine, then used a tool to open the liquid cooling pipe, and a stream of scalding, murky liquid flowed into the bucket.

After covering the bucket, Fang Wen carried it back and hooked it onto the handle with the rope.

"Gong Xiu can pull it up, and then hang two buckets of coolant down."

"Ok."

The rope was tightened, and the waste coolant tank was lifted up, followed by the hanging of two new coolant tanks.

Carrying two buckets of coolant, Fang Wen returned to the engine and poured coolant into the left engine's liquid cooling system.

Then place the empty bucket under the engine on the right and repeat the process as before.

After the engine coolant on both sides was replaced, Fang Wen then replaced some of the problematic parts.

In this way, Fang Wen easily solved a malfunction that could have caused the engine to stop in the air.

Two hours later, the engine restarted, and after a check that everything was normal, the plane took off again.

The next leg of the voyage involves crossing the Arabian Peninsula, sailing 4000 kilometers to reach the Mediterranean Sea, undergoing another inspection on the Mediterranean coast, and finally arriving at the port of Marseille.

Port of Marseille.

All goods have been inspected and loaded onto two cargo ships of Taishan International, awaiting Fang Wen's arrival.

Airplanes were circling overhead, and signals came through the radio in the captain's cabin.

The general manager had arrived, and the captain quickly notified the others.

The plane then landed in the sea near the pier and docked next to the berth.

Fang Wen stepped off the plane, jumped onto the dock, and talked with the personnel in charge of inspecting the goods.

"How about it?"

"It matches the transaction list perfectly, including the device serial numbers and the markings we left."

Even so, Fang Wen still boarded the ship to check.

The two cargo ships contained containers filled with the equipment.

After reading it, Fang Wen convened an emergency meeting with the captain and first mate.

"The supplies being transported on this voyage are quite special and may be attacked by the Japanese army. I will escort the voyage throughout the entire journey. Everyone should also be careful and notify me immediately if any situation is discovered."

The captain and first mate were both Chinese this time, and everyone nodded solemnly.

Subsequently, planes and cargo ships departed for Asia.

Taishan International's cargo ships are American-made Liberty-class vessels with a speed of 11 knots, or about 20 kilometers per hour. At this speed, it would take several days to reach Yangon Port.

Aircraft escort is not a constant operation. Generally, aircraft take off every three hours to conduct reconnaissance within a 300-kilometer radius. If there are no abnormalities, they will land in the waters ahead and wait for the cargo ship to arrive.

Because the cargo ship was equipped with food and fuel, this escort method could continue until it arrived at Yangon Port.

Nothing unusual occurred from the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea.

Once outside the Red Sea, it's the Indian Ocean, which is controlled by the British Navy, and there shouldn't be any problems there.

Fang Wen did not slacken his efforts because of this, but maintained a calm attitude and continued to carry out his daily escort duties.

Two days later, the two cargo ships arrived in the Gulf of Aden region and were about to enter the Arabian Sea.

Fang Wen took off for inspection, just like the previous two days.

This time, he finally noticed something was wrong.

In the waters ahead, several old-fashioned steamships are heading towards the cargo ship.

The people on the boat were dressed in tattered clothes and were carrying weapons such as rifles and machetes.

These people are probably from a nearby tribe.

Since ancient times, people in this area have had the habit of engaging in piracy as a side job, and this remains true even today.

However, their decision to rob two cargo ships belonging to Taishan International was clearly not a spur-of-the-moment act.

Fang Wen's expression turned cold. On one of the ships, he saw a group of people dressed in black, with two black dragons encircling their chests.

Fang Wen recognized this sign; it belonged to the Black Dragon Society, a criminal organization that served the Japanese army.

If Fang Wen hadn't been extra careful, the Japanese might have actually destroyed those two cargo ships.

But now, absolutely not.

Fang Wen said, "Everyone to your positions, prepare for battle."

(End of this chapter)