Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 589 Company Celebration, Shunzi and Luncheon Meat R&D, Airdrop Support from Zhongtiao Mountain

A letter home, filled with Fang Wen's affection for his newborn children.

After all, this is the blood ties and emotions he left behind in this era.

But now was not the time for sentimental thoughts, so he put the letter in an envelope and flew to Yangon.

In Yangon, Fang Wen handed the letter to Manager Liu, who was preparing to go to Paris to audit the accounts.

"Old Liu, this letter is for my wife and children. Take it to Paris and try to get it to America."

Manager Liu took the envelope, initially not quite understanding what was happening, then suddenly exclaimed with delight, "Congratulations, General Manager! Are they twins?"

“Yes, they are twins, a boy and a girl.” Fang Wen smiled.

"Shall we celebrate?" Manager Liu asked.

Manager Liu's words made Fang Wen think for a moment.

Taishan Airlines is its own business, and it's only right to celebrate its successor within the company.

Therefore, he nodded and said, "Okay, I'll have Uncle Fang handle it."

The two then continued their discussion about delivering the letter.

If you want to get the letter to the United States as quickly as possible, the best option is to use transoceanic air freight.

Pan Am was the first company to officially launch transatlantic airlines. They originally planned to use clipper seaplanes, but after using the Xuanming long-haul seaplanes on the Pacific routes, Pan Am changed its transatlantic flights to Xuanming seaplanes manufactured by Taishan.

In May of this year, Pan Am's "Americano" (taishan xm Yankee) departed from New York, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, passed through the Azores and Lisbon, Portugal, and finally arrived in Marseille, France, completing the first transatlantic scheduled flight and opening up transatlantic civil aviation routes.

This time, it was sent to the United States via Pan Am Air Mail.

After giving his instructions to Manager Liu, Fang Wen watched him board the plane to Europe.

After the passenger plane took off, Fang Wen drove to the headquarters to go directly to Fang Shouxin.

"Uncle Fang, Mingzhu has given birth to twins, a boy and a girl."

Hearing the voice beside him, Fang Shouxin looked up, his face filled with joy.

"Young Master, this is wonderful! I..."

Fang Shouxin suddenly remembered something, opened his desk drawer, took out a red cloth bag, and after opening it layer by layer, he found a pair of smooth and warm gold locks, with the words "long life" and "hundred years" engraved on the locks respectively. "I had this made by an old craftsman at a gold shop. I'm waiting for your children to be born so they can wear them. Twins are great, one for each of them."

Fang Wen felt a warmth in his heart. Fang Shouxin had followed him from Shaoxing until now, and it could be said that this father and son were the people he trusted the most. Over the years, their relationship had become even closer than that of family.

Fang Shouxin was still talking in my ear.

"How is Mingzhu now? Is she feeling weak? I heard that they don't observe the traditional postpartum confinement period in foreign countries. Should we find a couple of experienced nannies to take care of her during this time?"

Fang Wen smiled and replied, "Uncle Fang, thank you for your concern. Mingzhu has a dedicated doctor and caregiver looking after her, and her parents, brother, and younger brother are all there too. My family will also be taking care of things, so everything will be fine. I came to see you today for two reasons: first, to share the good news, and second, to ask you to help with a simple celebration at the company so that everyone can know about it and share in the joy. But please don't go on a fuss; just do what we do for holidays, like giving the employees some candy and red envelopes."

"This can't be simple!" Fang Shouxin frowned immediately, but his tone was full of affection. "Young Master, this is your first time becoming a father, and with twins at that! The whole company should know that Taishan Airlines has a little master! I think, besides giving out wedding candy and red envelopes, we should also give some material gifts so that everyone can share this happy event with their families. We happen to have a batch of SPAM luncheon meat bought from the United States in the warehouse. How about we give it to the company's employees as gifts?"

SPAM luncheon meat is a canned meat product manufactured by Hormel Foods in the United States two years ago. Due to its ease of storage and ability to provide a large amount of calories and protein, it has become a best-selling item for the US military and also has a large market in Europe.

Even on future battlefields in Europe, armies around the world regarded it as the best supplement to field supplies.

Fang Wen purchased a batch of SPAM luncheon meat from the United States, hoping that Taishan Military Food Factory could try to replicate a similar-tasting meat product for military rations.

That way, it can not only supplement the nutrition of domestic soldiers, but also become an important source of foreign exchange income.

We have plenty of SPAM luncheon meat cans in stock, not all of which need to be used as R&D samples. Most are intended as gifts for clients, or to celebrate the arrival of our twins.

Fang Wen then agreed to Fang Shouxin's proposal.

Fang Shouxin then led the administrative staff to begin organizing.

Boxes of SPAM luncheon meat were taken out of the warehouse and packed into gift bags printed with Taishan Airlines' logo.

These gift bags, originally intended for customer feedback, are now finding a new purpose.

Each gift bag contained a can of meat, a red envelope, and a bag of wedding candy. Then, administrative staff affixed a note to each red paper that read, "Congratulations to the General Manager on the birth of your son! May your family be blessed with a dragon and phoenix!" and placed it on the gift bag.

After completing these tasks, the administrative staff divided into several groups and went to various departments at headquarters with gift bags to distribute them.

Subsequently, the headquarters staff organized themselves to participate in the production of the gift bags, aiming to ensure that everyone at Taishan Airlines could enjoy the fun.

(World War II soldiers eating canned lunch)
An entire warehouse of luncheon meat was distributed as gifts, and everyone at Taishan Airlines knew that General Manager Fang Wen had given birth to twins.

The entire company was immersed in a festive atmosphere.

Fang Wen was pleased, but he did not stop his planned operation. He immediately organized an air transport team to load a large amount of supplies onto the plane.

This shipment involved a very large volume of goods and a wide variety of items.

100 heavy-duty military bicycles, each weighing 26 kilograms, with a total weight of 2.6 tons.

However, the space required for storage would require 1.5 airplanes to fill.

In addition, there were over 100,000 rounds of ammunition, 800 hand grenades, 50 individual rocket launchers, and other ammunition, weapons, and equipment.

And the total monthly output of semiconductor components.

It would take 12 planes to transport them.

With so many transport planes and no aircraft escort, they would suffer huge losses if they were pursued by Japanese aircraft. Therefore, it was necessary for Fang Wen to personally lead the team.

The loading of supplies continued, taking a total of two days to load all the supplies into 12 aircraft.

It's time to go.

Fang Wen gathered the transport team pilots and solemnly said, "Gentlemen, this voyage is extremely important, and we cannot afford any mistakes. You are all veteran pilots who have flown with me many times, so I hope you will all take this seriously, okay?"

"can."

The pilots chorused. Although they did not fly fighter jets and fight the enemy on the battlefield, they were indelible unsung heroes. It was thanks to them that the Taishan Northern Myanmar Base was able to develop rapidly.

Fang Wen nodded and ordered, "Board the plane and depart."

On the water, airplanes with propellers turned and took off into the sky in batches.

In the air, the first thing to do when flying in formation is to maintain flight formation. This is very important. A complete flight formation can prevent aircraft in the formation from getting lost or falling behind.

Fang Wen activated his superpower, using mechanical perception to observe the spatial positions of each machine, and then picked up the microphone to give instructions.

"Unit 4, what's your altimeter reading?"

"Altitude 3600." "Descend 500 meters to avoid gaps with adjacent aircraft."

"Yes."

"Unit 11, your speed is a bit slow. Tell me what your speedometer reading is."

Through supernatural observation and real-time command via radio devices, 12 transport planes were arranged in a staggered "V" formation.

Subsequently, Fang Wen led the formation and flew north.

This flight route will take us from Kunming to Guiyang, then to Xiangxi Airport, and finally to Yanchuan. After arriving in Yanchuan, some of the aircraft will wait at the seaport, while Fang Wen will lead the remaining planes to the northern foothills of the Taihang Mountains.

The first half of the voyage was completed safely.

The most dangerous part was the transfer at Xiangxi Airport.

When he was 200 kilometers away from Xiangxi Airport, Fang Wen activated the radar target acquisition device to observe the situation of aircraft in the nearby airspace with his special ability.

There is feedback from the aircraft!

Flying from east to west, a distance of 300 kilometers, judging from the flight path, they should be Japanese troops heading to Changde for an air raid.

The Japanese, relying on their numerical superiority in aircraft, bombed everywhere, which filled Fang Wen with rage.

However, for the safety of the transport plane formation, he adjusted the route, avoiding the possible encounter with Japanese aircraft, and took a small detour to reach Xiangxi Airport.

Twelve planes landed one after another on the river outside the airport.

After the plane landed, airport ground staff immediately got to work, bringing over prepared fuel trucks to refuel the aircraft.

While refueling, boxes of supplies were loaded onto the plane.

These are all compressed military rations produced at Xiangxi Airport, which will be supplied to the Eighth Route Army base areas in the north and become one of the Eighth Route Army's rations for field operations.

While loading compressed military rations, Fang Wen's plane was also unloading 20 boxes.

Fang Wen patted the box and talked to Fang Shun: "This is the American canned meat I brought. You have experience in food production, so try to make the same meat products."

As he spoke, he pried open a box, took out a can of luncheon meat, and cut open the aluminum lid with a knife.

In the past two years, in addition to managing the airport, Shunzi's other job at Xiangxi Airport has been food processing.

Therefore, he can be considered quite experienced in food processing.

He leaned closer to Fang Wen, looking at the pink and white luncheon meat in the can with a faint sheen of oil. He frowned at first, then reached out and pinched a small piece, bringing it to his nose to smell it—it didn't have the salty aroma of cured meat, nor the rich flavor of braised meat, only a faint meaty fragrance and an indescribable oily smell, unlike any meat product he was familiar with.

"General Manager, this stuff... is quite unusual." Shunzi took a small bite and chewed slowly, savoring it as he said, "It's soft, doesn't get stuck in your teeth, and the saltiness is just right, but it's not very chewy. How should I put it, it tastes like meat and is quite oily, but it's not tasty."

“Yes, that’s it. What do you think?” Fang Wen replied.

Shunzi stretched out his finger again, rubbing the fingertip against the oil residue on the inside of the can. "When we usually cook meat, we either braise the whole piece or cut it into strips and smoke it. We've never seen meat minced like this before. But this method is good. It doesn't require steaming or frying, saving a lot of steps and making it much more convenient. Plus, it's ready to use right out of the can, which is really convenient to carry on the march."

Shunzi has a very good understanding of canned luncheon meat.

Fang Wen shared his thoughts: "This little canned food is just pork, starch, and spices mixed together, crushed, and canned. The US military relies on this as rations on the front lines; it keeps well and keeps them full. Our soldiers also need to replenish their energy during marches and battles. The cured meat and dry rations they carry are either too hard or spoil easily. If we could make this, it would save a lot of trouble. Moreover, this stuff is very expensive; it sells for 40 cents in the US and $1 in Europe. Do you think we could make a profit if we made it?"

"How much is 1 US dollar?" Shunzi, who had never been abroad, didn't quite understand.

“About 5 yuan,” Fang Wen explained.

The legal tender issued by the Nationalist government has now depreciated, losing 30% of its value compared to when it was issued 35 years ago.

However, as the official currency issued by the Nationalist government, it still circulated in large quantities, and it was also used at the Xiangxi Airport.

Through Fang Wen's conversion, Shunzi understood the value of luncheon meat, and his eyes immediately lit up.

So valuable.

“Young master, you’re not wrong, are you? This can only contains about 2 ounces. I don’t know how much a can box costs, but the cost of the meat and all the ingredients inside is definitely no more than 2 mao.”

“The aluminum cans can be produced in northern Myanmar, costing a maximum of five cents each. That means the cost is less than 25 cents? Even if we sell them at half price in Europe, we can still make ten times the profit. Shunzi, this depends on you. If it works out, we'll have another source of foreign exchange income.”

Fang Wen's words put pressure on Shunzi. He held the can and examined it from all angles, rubbing the sealed edge of the lid with his fingertips: "It really keeps well. Once this tin can is sealed, it can probably last for half a year in a cool place. It's just that the manufacturing process... we've never made it before."

He recalled the method of curing pork in western Hunan and couldn't help but mutter, "When we make cured meat, we have to choose pork belly with a good balance of fat and lean meat, marinate it with salt, Sichuan peppercorns, and star anise for ten to fifteen days, and then hang it in the kitchen to smoke. We rely on the salt and the smoke to prevent spoilage. These American canned goods don't need to be smoked or cured. Do they rely entirely on the tin and the oil inside?"

“There’s also starch,” Fang Wen added. “I had Lin Shuiwang inquire about it. A lot of starch is mixed in here, which makes the meat clump together better and saves on feed. We don’t have much pork here, but we have plenty of sweet potatoes and potatoes, so we have enough starch. If we can figure out the proportions, we can reduce costs significantly.”

Shunzi's eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands: "That's right, I remember now. My dad said there's a delicious food in our hometown in Hebei called 'Menzi'. It's made with starch and minced meat, and it's very soft! Maybe if we use the Menzi recipe, we can make a similar texture!" The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed, and he couldn't wait to take the luncheon meat samples back to organize the people at the military grain factory to conduct research and development.

Fang Wen smiled and patted Shunzi on the shoulder: "Then I'll be counting on you."

After saying that, he boarded the plane and ordered the other planes to prepare for takeoff.

After refueling and loading their cargo, the aircraft formation took off again, departing from Xiangxi Airport, passing through the Qinling Mountains, and heading up the Yellow River.

More than two hours later, the transport aircraft formation arrived at the Yanchuan Yellow River Water Airport.

The convoy was already waiting there.

Boxes of supplies were unloaded from the plane and loaded onto trucks.

Fang Wen took advantage of the unloading time to talk with the officer who was receiving him.

"I will leave these three planes here for the time being, and load them with cargo when I return from the Jin-Cha-Ji base area."

"Okay, I'll make the arrangements. There's something I need to discuss with you."

"You said."

"You are the best pilot, and your accuracy in airdropping supplies is also the highest. Could you conduct an airdrop in the Zhongtiao Mountain area?"

"To the Fourth Army?"

"Correct."

Fang Wen's thoughts were racing.

He had already learned of the Fourth Army's battles with the Japanese army in the Zhongtiao Mountains area through coded intelligence telegrams.

This army, formerly the 17th Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army under General Hucheng, has always maintained good relations with Yan'an. During the current War of Resistance Against Japan, it also maintained tacit understanding with the Eighth Route Army's Jin-Yu Border Detachment, which was waging guerrilla warfare in the Zhongtiao Mountains.

It's normal for an army with few progressive tendencies to receive air support.

“Okay, how many supplies are you planning to airdrop?” Fang Wen replied.

(End of this chapter)