Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 572 Flight at 5589000 Meters Altitude: Eighth Route Army Rocket Training
The large strategic bomber Taishan-1 took off, followed by two gunship aircraft, which flew back to China.

For security reasons, Fang Wen's Taishan No. 1 will not make any stops along the way, but will fly directly to the northern Taihang Mountains region.

As for the two gunboats, they followed the Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan route, transited through the logistics company's seaplane airport, and headed to Yanchuan, from where they flew to the Taihang Mountains.

Of course, the gunships equipped with rocket launchers also needed to be kept secret, so the launchers on both sides were specially covered with cloth.

(Mount Tai No. 1 renovation version)

Three hours later, the plane entered Sichuan and arrived in Leshan.

The seaplane base here is entirely controlled by the logistics company, making it safer than the one in Chengdu. Two gunboats landed for temporary maintenance and refueling.

Fang Wen continued to pilot the Taishan No. 1, flying north alone.

From Leshan, Nanchong, and Bazhong, across the Qinling Mountains to Ankang and Shangluo.

Further north of Shangluo lies the Yellow River, and on the other side of the Yellow River is Yuncheng.

The two places are separated by a river. Shangluo is under the control of the National Army, while Yuncheng was occupied by the Japanese army last year.

Fang Wen then controlled the aircraft's altitude to prevent it from being seen from the ground.

Generally speaking, the altitude at which an aircraft can be clearly seen with the naked eye is below 3000 meters. At mid-to-high altitudes of 3000-6000 meters, the aircraft can be seen as small dot-like or strip-like outlines, but the details are blurry and it is difficult to distinguish the specific aircraft type.

At altitudes of 6000-8000 meters, observation with the naked eye becomes more difficult. Usually, only a faint moving dot can be seen under extremely good lighting conditions, and it is easily confused with birds, clouds, etc.

At altitudes above 8000 meters, the naked eye can hardly see anything directly at normal altitudes. Even large aircraft like the Taishan-1 are difficult to spot with the naked eye from the ground at this altitude due to the great distance and atmospheric scattering; they can only be detected with the aid of telescopes or other tools.

Therefore, Fang Wen directly climbed to an altitude of over 9000 meters and flew over the Yellow River in broad daylight.

At an altitude of 9000 meters, the air currents carried a biting chill, and fine ice crystals condensed on the metal skin of the Taishan-1, making it look like it was covered with a layer of silver frost under the sunlight.

In the past, such high-altitude flight was achieved solely through the physical endurance of the pilot.

However, the use of pressurized cabin technology now makes the internal environment of an aircraft almost the same as at normal altitude.

Fang Wen used mechanical sensing to investigate the aircraft's performance—the modified engine maintained 70% power output even in the thin air, which was sufficient to maintain flight.

Looking down through the right-hand porthole of the cockpit, the Yellow River appeared like a yellowish-brown ribbon winding through the ravines. Clouds drifted by, as if covering the river with a thin mist, merging with the Loess Plateau on both banks into a vast expanse of desolation.

On the south bank of the Shangluo border, one can vaguely see crisscrossing fields and scattered villages, while on the north bank towards Yuncheng, the area is relatively prosperous, with a few gray-black patches representing the outline of the town.

According to intelligence from the Eighth Route Army, Yuncheng Airport was located 20 kilometers east of the north bank. The effective firing altitude of the Japanese Type 98 anti-aircraft guns was less than 7000 meters, which should have been a safe altitude.

Suddenly, the fuselage dipped slightly, and a turbulent current brushed past the left wing.

This sudden airflow poses a certain danger to propeller aircraft. Fang Wen quickly steadied the control stick, adjusted the aircraft position, and restored balance.

After crossing the main channel of the Yellow River and entering the airspace above Yuncheng, Fang Wen used mechanical sensors to specifically observe the situation of the airport and air defense positions below.

Contrary to what the intelligence reports indicated, the Japanese army recently built three more ammunition depots in Yuncheng, seemingly preparing to amass more troops there.

Is the Japanese army planning to cross the Yellow River and attack Shangluo?
Fang Wen thought it was unlikely, as he remembered that Shangluo had never fallen during the War of Resistance against Japan.

Of course, this cannot be absolute, since the individual factor still exists.

Therefore, he decided to tell Bai Yunfei about the new situation after landing.

A layer of condensation formed on the windshield in front of the cockpit, caused by the temperature difference between the inside and outside. Fang Wen wiped it with a cloth and continued piloting the flight.

The terrain beneath the wings gradually changed from loess gullies to undulating mountains, with sunlight filtering through the clouds and casting flowing shadows on the ridges.

Fang Wen knew that it was the foothills of the Zhongtiao Mountains, and further north was the Taihang Mountains.

This mountainous area is still under the control of the National Army, so we can lower our altitude now. After all, flying at an altitude of 9000 meters for a long time is a burden on the aircraft.

He gently pushed the control stick, and the nose of the Taishan No. 1 aircraft tilted down, beginning a slow descent at a speed of 200 meters per minute—8000 meters, 7500 meters, until the altimeter pointed to 6000 meters, at which point it stabilized again.

The air was slightly denser at this altitude, making the engine sound clearer.

On the distant horizon, the outline of the Taihang Mountains rose like the spine of a giant beast. Behind them, the Yellow River had long since disappeared into the clouds. The massive fuselage of Taishan-1, like a silent giant bird, flew into the depths of the mountains.

More than an hour later, Taishan No. 1 arrived at the Jin-Cha-Ji base area controlled by the Eighth Route Army in the northern part of the Taihang Mountains. Not far away was the Fuping Airport, where it was scheduled to land.

To accommodate large aircraft like the Taishan-1, the military camp south of Fuping City specially cleared out the former training grounds. The runway was a temporary site made of compacted earth, with rubble and grass roots still left at the edges.

Fang Wen didn't need his special abilities; he could see three red flags planted at the end of the runway through the porthole—the agreed-upon "landing is permitted" signal.

Eighth Route Army soldiers on both sides of the runway were waving brightly colored red ribbons, the arcs drawn by the ribbons in the air guiding the behemoth in the sky.

Fang Wen controlled the aircraft to adjust its position and reduce its altitude. As it descended, the landing gear hydraulic system was activated, and the three sets of wheels were slowly lowered from the fuselage belly.

When the plane descended to 1000 meters, Fang Wen saw the entire airport for the first time: the rammed earth runway was less than 1500 meters long, nearly one-third shorter than the standard takeoff and landing distance of the Taishan-1 aircraft. At the end of the runway, there were sandbags piled up to half a person's height, serving as a makeshift arresting device.

This is in preparation for potential accidents during landing.

Of course, this possibility is almost zero if Fang Wen is driving himself.

He took a deep breath and pulled the throttle back half a notch, and the engine speed dropped.

As the flight speed decreased, he also had to be mindful of crosswinds. He kept his eyes on the anemometer on the instrument panel, like an ordinary pilot, the needle oscillating around 10 knots. He slightly pressed down the right rudder, aligning the nose of the aircraft with the runway centerline. As the wings swept over the military camp, the resulting airflow caused the trees to sway and the wild grass to bend to the ground.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Bai Yunfei was standing next to the command post with binoculars in hand, while the communications soldier beside him carried a walkie-talkie with its antenna swaying in the wind.

This was the first time Bai Yunfei had seen the modified Taishan-1. Although the size was about the same, this aircraft was completely different from the previous Taishan-1.

Bai Yunfei couldn't help but marvel at how Taishan Military Industry's aircraft manufacturing capabilities had improved under Fang Wen's leadership.

As the aircraft slowly descended, when it was 500 meters above the runway, Fang Wen lowered the flaps, and the lift of Taishan-1 suddenly increased, as if the fuselage had been lifted by an invisible hand.

He steadied the control stick, keeping the plane descending at a rate of 3 meters per second. Suddenly, the soldiers on both sides of the runway lay down on the ground—this was to prevent the engine exhaust from kicking up flying rocks and injuring them.

On the windshield in front of the cockpit, the outline of the sandbag pile became clearer and clearer, and the plane was getting closer and closer to the ground.

The moment the main landing gear touched the ground, a muffled "bang" was heard, and the fuselage shook violently.

Fang Wen pressed the control lever and simultaneously stepped on the brake, but the force was not very strong, and the braking effect needed to be gradually increased.

The tires left two trails of blue smoke as they scraped against the rammed earth, sending pebbles flying as they were crushed, and the trees beside the track moved rapidly backward.

When the plane was 400 meters from the sandbag pile, it slowed down and finally came to a stop less than 150 meters from the arresting gear. The roar of the engines gradually subsided, and Fang Wen unbuckled his seatbelt, picked up the intercom, and announced: "Safely landed in Fuping. This flight is now over. Gong Xiuneng, go open the rear cabin door."

Gong Xiuneng opened the hydraulic device of the rear cabin door, the tail section split open, and the lower belly panel slowly lowered and rested on the ground.

At this moment, Fang Wen had already arrived at the rear cabin and was the first to walk out of the rear cabin door.

As he left the plane, the first thing he saw was Bai Yunfei running over with several soldiers in coarse cloth uniforms. They looked up at the wings of the Taishan No. 1, their eyes full of amazement: "This big guy... it looks much prettier."

Fang Wenle was delighted. The aesthetic appeal of the streamlined fuselage was more readily accepted than the angular, beast-like design of the F-220.

He replied, "This is called streamlined design, which is to make the aircraft conform to aerodynamic characteristics and reduce flight drag."

At this moment, Gong Xiuneng shouted from the plane, "Commander, let's hand over the duties first."

Then, Fang Wen led Bai Yunfei onto the metal step of the rear cabin door and into the aircraft.

Inside the plane, Gong Xiuneng and Bai Yunfei checked and registered the supplies.

The 300 82mm rockets were neatly stacked, with the words "Aircraft Type" and "Ground Type" marked in white paint on the outside of the wooden crates.

"Each box contains 10 pieces, and 30 boxes contain exactly 300 pieces."

Fang Wen patted the top wooden box and introduced, "The propellant is a modified double-base propellant, and the fuses are all mechanically triggered. We have test-fired three batches in northern Myanmar, and the dud rate is controlled within 5%."

Gong Xiuneng then opened a wooden box and showed the actual item.

The rocket was painted with "Taishan Military Industry" and its production number.

Several soldiers behind Bai Yunfei couldn't help but lean forward. One of the young soldiers, wearing glasses, asked, "I heard that this kind of weapon is very difficult to master. The higher-ups specifically found us student soldiers. Sir, can we learn it?"

Fang Wen nodded: "You've all been to school, so you have a basic understanding and your comprehension should be better, making learning relatively easier. As for the specific instruction, there will be dedicated teachers to guide you after the goods are unloaded and stored. Look over there, that's them."

He pointed to Yan Huaixun and his group.

Subsequently, the inventory and registration of supplies and unloading were carried out simultaneously. After one batch of supplies was registered, another batch was unloaded, and all supplies were transported to the military camp's warehouse for storage.

After the cargo was unloaded, Fang Wen went to the Fuping radar station to check on its current operational status and how they guided two gunboats to evade Japanese aircraft and reach Fuping.

The radar operators strictly followed the techniques they had learned at the Taishan Aviation School, monitoring the nearby airspace around the clock. After confirming that there were no Japanese aircraft in the vicinity, they notified Yanchuan.

Subsequently, two gunboats, escorted by the Yan'an Air Force, arrived at the Fuping Water Airport.

The installation and training of the rocket launcher began on the second day.

The engineers from Taishan Military Industry, brought by Fang Wen, assembled the four rocket launchers by hand. The launch tubes were connected with nuts and rivets to form a complete launcher.

This is a 16-tube launcher with a hydraulic system that allows for manual adjustment of the firing direction.

Having it alone is not enough without a vehicle.

However, there were no trucks available in Fuping to transport it, so it had to be transported to Qingyang County and installed using captured Japanese trucks.

However, for better demonstration and teaching purposes, an alternative was used: two mule carts.

After securing two of the launchers to the mule cart, the formal instruction began.

On the cleaned test firing range, the rocket launcher and 16 black iron pipes on the mule cart gleamed coldly in the morning light, giving off a mysterious and powerful feeling.

Those who came to learn included not only highly educated student soldiers, but also artillerymen drawn from various units.

Yan Huaixun patted the launch tube with his hand: "Look carefully, these 16 tubes, each can hold one rocket."

The soldiers formed a semi-circle, their rough cloth uniforms sleeves rolled up, some still clutching their rifles. A weathered veteran in the front row couldn't help but ask, "Comrade Yan, which is more powerful, this iron pipe or our mortar?"

“Of course, rockets are more powerful.” Yan Huaixun bent down and took a rocket from the wooden box. “Mortars fire one rocket at a time, but this thing can launch 16 rockets at once, enough to give the Japanese a hard time.” He stuffed the rocket into the leftmost tube and locked it in place with a “click.” “Be careful when loading the rocket. The tail fins should be facing backward and the warhead should be facing forward. Don’t do it backward—if you do it backward, it won’t fire and it will explode.”

"Comrade Yan, you're joking. We're all veteran artillerymen, we wouldn't make this kind of mistake. But you'd better give those student soldiers a good talking to," a veteran replied.

A burst of laughter erupted.

Bai Yunfei said coldly, "Have you all forgotten the unity and friendship between comrades? Don't ruin the learning environment with your frivolous smiles."

The soldiers quickly straightened their posture.

The lesson officially began.

Yan Huaixun's assistant squatted on the ground and drew a simple coordinate system with white lime, with horizontal bars labeled "left and right" and vertical bars labeled "elevation." Based on this and the actual operation, Yan Huaixun said, "This hydraulic rod is for adjusting the direction. Turn this crank, and the pipes can turn left and right to deal with running Japanese soldiers; that graduated dial is for adjusting the elevation angle. The higher the graduation, the farther it can be fired." He turned the crank, and the 16 pipes slowly turned to the left, eliciting a low gasp of amazement from the soldiers.

When it was time for loading practice, the soldiers were divided into two groups of eight.

An old Eighth Route Army artilleryman was the first to speak. His rough fingers held the rocket, but he stopped at the nozzle: "Is there anything wrong with this thing?"

Yan Huaixun smiled: "Don't worry, the rocket is safe before it is loaded. When loading, you need to remove the safety pin, but remember, safe operation is essential. You must strictly follow the standard procedures and not make any unauthorized changes."

The veteran gunner nodded, confirmed the loading procedure again, and carefully followed the professor's instructions to load a rocket into the launch tube.

Of course, since it was a training exercise, the safety pin on the rocket was not removed.

These trainees studied and familiarized themselves with the dressing and filling process again and again. They not only had to know the knowledge points required for this process, but also had to memorize them and be able to recite them from memory without missing a single word.

Through practice and rote memorization, the trainees mastered the loading techniques.

This was followed by live-fire operations and pre-launch measurements.

The aiming practice used three old locust trees 1000 meters away.

Yan Huaixun had the soldiers use a compass and a target to determine direction, while he squatted down and drew a range chart: "10 degrees elevation, 800 meters; 15 degrees, 1200 meters. Copy this chart down for you, memorize it every day, make it second nature, and you'll be much faster when you need to make calculations later."

He pointed to three locust trees and said, "Rockets are area attacks; they don't require precise hits, but they must ensure the approximate target area."

To explain it better, he put it another way: "The rockets that are fired will fall like a net, and there is no need to aim for every shot to hit the target, as long as it covers this area."

A young soldier suddenly asked, "Comrade Yan, is this thing very loud when it's launched?"

“It’s a huge commotion. It spews fire when it’s fired, and the sound can be heard for miles. So after we’re done firing, we have to drive away, or we can wait for the Japanese to retaliate with their shells.” He patted the wooden sideboard of the mule cart. “Now that we’re using mule carts, these mule carts are our legs. After we’re done firing, we drive the carts to move around and play hide-and-seek with the Japanese.”

(End of this chapter)