Republic of China: Ace Pilot

6 month 7 day.

At the headquarters of Taishan Airlines Paris branch.

Because of last night's night flight, most of the staff here have left, leaving only Fang Wen, Gong Xiuneng, and 5 other staff members, including 3 crew members and 2 European employees who stayed behind at the Paris branch.

At 7 a.m., Fang Wen led the rest of the team into the hangar to tinker.

This time, he was going to fly another plane in the hangar: a luxury amphibious private jet.

During the inspection, Gong Xiuneng, who was handing him tools, couldn't help but ask, "Commander, is that Huashan Type 1 aircraft just left here like that?"

Fang Wen crawled out from under the fuselage and took the wrench from Gong Xiuneng: "There's nothing we can do. Paris is being bombed every day. It's too dangerous for our pilots to fly it to Geneva during the day. I can only fly one plane back myself. We can only leave it here and let the people in Paris keep an eye on it. If they can't keep an eye on it, then so be it."

Gong Xiuneng knew that Fang Wen had made a lot of money through night flights, far more than the cost of the plane. Since the regimental commander said it was no longer possible, it was probably impossible to get the plane back.

He muttered to himself, "The Germans got a good deal."

Even he could see that France was at its wit's end.

Seven-thirty.

A black sedan pulled up outside the branch office and honked its horn.

After asking questions, the staff opened the door and led one person on foot to the hangar.

"The general manager said it was from the French Ministry of Education."

Fang Wen washed his hands, put on a clean coat, and went over to shake hands with the person.

"Hello, I am Fang Wen."

“Louis Tec from the National Department of Fine Arts, Ministry of Education. People from the National Museums Administration are waiting for you at Chambord Castle. I came on their behalf.”

"Is everything settled regarding the flight?"

"They are ready. We have also applied to the Army High Command and received special permission to fly civilian aircraft. But you must take off before 9 o'clock and cannot take off during German air raids to avoid being hit by anti-aircraft fire."

Fang Wen nodded: "Okay, let's set off now."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and boarded the plane with his crew.

The aircraft engines started, and with a roar, the fuselage slid out of the hangar and accelerated onto the runway for takeoff.

Heading southwest, we arrive at the Château de Chambord, located 150 kilometers southwest of Paris.

Half an hour later, the plane arrived in the Loire Valley.

Fang Wen observes below.

Chambord Castle is located 4 kilometers south of the Loire River.

Outside the castle, there is a waterway that can be used for landing.

Fang Wen once flew here and landed his plane on the waterway.

I came here for Hispano-Suiza's aircraft engine technology, and I attended a wedding here.

He shook off his thoughts and looked toward the castle.

In the open space outside the castle, there were boxes of various sizes.

Another group of people were waving colorful flags; this was the ground guidance that Fang Wen had given them.

Immediately, Fang Wen controlled the aircraft to adjust its direction, decelerate, and land on the waterway.

The plane docked at the end of the waterway. Gong Xiuneng opened the cabin door, got off the plane, and tied the cable to a stone by the small dock.

He and the other crew members then carefully moved the six aviation fuel drums stored in the cabin out.

Just then, the Frenchmen from the castle rushed over.

The elderly man leading the group, the curator, said breathlessly, "Mr. Fang, we thought you would land over at the castle."

Fang Wen smiled and replied, "If the load is low, it can land on short runway terrain, but you don't have aviation fuel, so I have to bring it myself. If the load is too high, it can only land on water."

He pointed to the several barrels of aviation gasoline and instructed, "You have to keep a close eye on these fuels; the rest of the flights will depend on them."

The curator nodded repeatedly and instructed two young museum staff members to guard the oil drums.

Then, Fang Wen and he walked towards the castle.

Looking at the boxes, Fang Wen asked, "A plane can carry 900 kilograms of supplies in one trip. I suggest we carry the lighter ones first."

The curator replied, "These are oil paintings."

He did not specify what artwork was in the box.

Fang Wen didn't ask. Once he was on the plane, he would naturally be able to see what was inside using his supernatural ability to see through things.

At this point, the curator summoned René Greu and George Morand.

"The two of them will be on the flight, and they will announce their specific destination after takeoff."

"Let's begin now."

"Ok."

The museum staff, who had been waiting patiently, began to carefully move the items.

Although these oil paintings are relatively light, the movers were very careful.

After two trips, the cabin space was used up, and if more were loaded, the people inside would have difficulty moving around.

Fang Wen said, "Alright, that's enough for this trip. We can set off now."

René Greu and George Morand hurriedly boarded the plane, fearing that Fang Wen would not take them with him when he flew away.

Fang Wen shook hands with the curator, turned around, boarded the plane, and sat in the cockpit.

Gong Xiuneng untied the cables, closed the cabin door, started the aircraft engine, turned the nose of the aircraft on the water, and then accelerated and took off along the waterway.

Once the plane was airborne, René Greu then spoke up: "Our destination is the Locticio Abbey, located in the Aveyron department, 9 kilometers from Villefranche-de-Rueg."

While piloting the plane, Fang Wen said, "Gong Xiuneng, give him the map and have him mark it on the map."

Gong Xiuneng unfolded the map in front of René Grué, and after René Grué marked it, he took the map back to the driver's seat and handed it to Fang Wen.

Fang Wen took the map, unfolded it with his left hand, and controlled the joystick with his right.

The location marked on the map is in the mountainous region of southwestern France, bordering Spain.

That was the furthest point from the Germans, and its remote location made it ideal for hiding things.

Fang Wen knew how to fly, so he adjusted his course and flew southwest.

After flying for a while, he took out the gem necklace and activated the vertical gem within.

With his X-ray vision enabled, Fang Wen's mechanical perspective penetrated the wooden shells inside the cabin.

Fang Wen didn't recognize all of those oil paintings.

But he knew the three most famous paintings among them.

Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" and "The Virgin of the Rocks", and Raphael's "Flora".

Putting aside everything else, these three paintings alone are already among the finest pieces in the collections of French museums.

Fang Wen couldn't help but think that if the other party didn't pay for the shipping, he would use the oil painting as collateral and see who would be more heartbroken.

An hour later.

The plane flew more than 350 kilometers and arrived at Villefranche de Roueg in the Aveyron department of southern France.

Flying over this small mountain town, you'll reach the Locticio Monastery.

Directly in front of the monastery is a large artificial pond with fish in it, and the water is quite deep.

After Fang Wen finished his observation, he controlled the plane to land on the surface of the pond.

Time passed slowly, and Fang Wen continued to transport goods between Chambord Castle and the South.

The war situation in France, however, continued to deteriorate. June 9th.

The plane landed smoothly on the artificial pond in front of the Lochteyu Monastery. Gong Xiuneng was the first to disembark and securely tied the cable to a stone post on the edge of the pond.

The monks from the monastery were already waiting on the shore, followed by several museum staff. Once the plane door opened, they went to unload the artifacts being transported from the plane.

Unlike the previous two days, the items being transported now are heavy metal and stone products, which are particularly difficult to move.

"Be careful, don't drop it. This is the mummy of an Egyptian pharaoh from over 3000 years ago," René Grue said, jumping ashore first and repeatedly reminding the others.

The collection was carefully carried out of the cabin, and the monks carried the items one by one into a pre-prepared secret room along the monastery's stone path.

Fang Wen leaned against the cabin door frame, his gaze sweeping across the distant, rolling mountains, his fingertips caressing the vertical gemstone.

With his clairvoyant abilities, he knew the monastery's interior layout inside like the back of his hand, and he was also very clear about what was hidden inside.

Unfortunately, none of the treasures in the collection could attract his supernatural abilities; not even the mummies from ancient Egypt would do.

Just as the last box was being carried into the secret room, the priest from the monastery rushed in, clutching a Taishan transistor radio, his face ashen: "It's terrible! The city's broadcasts say... the Wei Gang defense line has completely collapsed! The French army is retreating towards Paris!"

René and George exchanged a glance, both seeing panic in each other's eyes.

Fang Wen immediately got off the machine and signaled to the priest to turn up the volume.

The French broadcast on the radio was intermittent, but every word was like a hammer blow: "...Our Army Group A has made a full breakthrough. Guderian's 19th Panzer Corps has defeated the right flank of the French 6th Army Corps and is advancing rapidly southwest of Paris... Rommel's 7th Panzer Division has crossed the Seine, captured Rouen, and turned north. The retreat routes of the French 9th Corps and the British 51st Division have been cut off."

Fang Wen noticed the problem with the broadcast; although it was in French, the vocabulary was incorrect.

"This must be a German broadcast; they must have set up a high-powered transmitter to broadcast throughout France."

The priest froze, staring at the radio frequency in his hand: "It seems so. This isn't the national radio frequency I usually listen to. The Germans have forged our radio station, so what they're saying must be false."

The people from Paris weren't as convinced as he was. George staggered back a step, grabbing a stone pillar for support: "How could it be so fast...? What happened to Wei Gang's defensive line?"

Under his influence, everyone else also looked dejected.

Fang Wen suddenly noticed a very interesting comparison.

The conservative Germans were surprisingly employing a flexible and adaptable blitzkrieg tactic.

France, which has always prided itself on being romantic and versatile, was using the most rigid positional defenses against the Germans.

The Maginot Line, followed by the Weygand Line, were both broken down by the flexible and unpredictable German blitzkrieg tactics.

Meanwhile, the East experienced something similar during the same period.

The National Army was forced into passive battles with the Japanese mechanized forces in positional warfare, much like the French army was now in a similar situation.

The Communist army adopted flexible and varied guerrilla tactics and actively fought against the Japanese army behind enemy lines.

All of this confirms that the ancient warfare model of two armies facing each other is about to be replaced by modern military strategies and tactics.

At this moment, René walked up to Fang Wen with a solemn expression and said in a deep voice, "If what was broadcast on the radio is true, then the Germans are about to reach Paris. We must go back as soon as possible."

Fang Wen nodded. The situation was indeed urgent, and he also needed to collect the shipping fees.

He then hurriedly said goodbye to the priest, turned around and boarded the plane, with René and Georges following closely behind.

Gong Xiuneng untied the cable, jumped back into the cabin, and closed the door. The engine immediately roared, and after gliding a distance on the pond's surface, the plane took off and headed back towards Chambord Castle.

During the flight, Fang Wen turned on the radio function of the aircraft's wireless device, tuned the frequency, and received a propaganda broadcast from Germany.

These days, French radio broadcasts are full of empty words of encouragement; it would be better to listen to what the enemy is saying.

The radio kept broadcasting bad news:
"...Rommel's 7th Panzer Division captured the port of Saint-Vallée, and approximately 4.6 men of the French 9th Corps and the British 51st Division were forced to surrender..."

"Paris has entered a state of emergency, and the government is preparing to relocate south..."

"...Our ally Italy has officially declared war on France! Italian troops will cross the Alps and enter France from the southeast."

The last message devastated the French passengers on the plane.

Germany alone is already unable to recover, and now Italy is joining the fray.

Fang Wen had no words of advice to offer, and he remained silent as he flew toward Chambord Castle.

An hour later, the plane landed on the waterway of Chambord Castle.

After the plane landed, Fang Wen got off and walked straight to the castle.

The castle is preparing for evacuation; staff are loading the remaining artifacts onto trucks, ready to transport them south by road and water.

Fang Wen walked over to the curator who was directing the moving: "Where's my shipping fee?"

The curator turned around and saw Fang Wen, straightening his tie. "Our agreement is to use a batch of Eastern artifacts to pay for the shipping. The boxes here are all from the East; you can choose 10 boxes to take with you."

So that's what they wanted to do.

Fang Wen looked at the boxes the curator was pointing to.

There are dozens of boxes, containing both good and bad items. If someone chooses 10 boxes as shipping costs, they are more likely to select the lower-value ones.

However, Fang Wen can avoid this problem.

He turned to Gong Xiuneng and instructed, "Stay here and don't let anyone near these boxes. I'm going to get something."

Gong Xiuneng accepted the order without hesitation, stood in front of the wooden boxes the curator pointed to, and drew his pistols to be on guard.

Fang Wen strode towards the waterway dock, jumped directly onto the plane, activated his superpowers and the Vertical Eye Gem.

With the aid of his X-ray vision, his field of vision expanded, allowing him to clearly see the wooden boxes more than 100 meters away and even see through their shells.

The items in these boxes are indeed all Eastern artifacts.

However, this includes artworks from other countries, not just China.

Fang Wen searched through these boxes for what he wanted.

Finally, we found it.

The batch of Dunhuang silk paintings that were bought included hundreds of ancient Chinese books, as well as ceramics and antiques.

He selected the ten best-looking boxes, noted their locations, and then disembarked and walked back to the castle.

The moving had stopped because Gong Xiuneng was holding a gun in both hands, and the curator looked nervously at Fang Wen who was walking over.

"If you feel this is inappropriate, we can discuss it."

Fang Wen shook his head and handed the Taishan Airlines commemorative envelope in his hand to the curator: "No need, I'll just choose 10 boxes. This is a gift for you to commemorate our cooperation this time."

The curator, who had just received the commemorative envelope, wanted to say something but then fell silent.

Fang Wen walked towards the wooden crate. "Put the gun away."

Gong Xiuneng smiled as he put away his gun and stood guard beside Fang Wen.

Under the watchful eyes of the museum staff, Fang Wen casually picked through the items, one here and one there, seemingly completely unconcerned about the value of the contents of the box.

He quickly selected 10 boxes, called the crew members, and together they carried them onto the plane.

After finishing the move, Fang Wen prepared to leave.

The curator walked over and asked, "Mr. Fang, do you still accept air freight business?"

Fang Wen shook his head: "Sorry, I have to go back to Asia."

"Alright then, have a safe trip."

The curator, along with René Greu and George Morand, watched as Fang Wen piloted the plane away.

As the aircraft flew through the air, Fang Wen activated his special ability, using the onboard radar to detect situations within a 300-kilometer radius.

The feedback made Fang Wen frown.

The situation in Paris is very bad. A large number of aircraft are flying towards Paris, and radar signals of a tank formation have been detected 100 kilometers away from Paris.

This Paris is no longer a place I should go back to.

He immediately changed course, preparing to fly from southern France to Switzerland. (End of Chapter)