Republic of China: Ace Pilot

In early January 1941, the Tai Shan fleet arrived in the waters off Rangoon, escorted by a British escort ship.

The entire port of Yangon was under strict blockade by the British army, and the surrounding area was filled with heavily armed British soldiers. Soldiers patrolled and guarded every corner, creating a tense atmosphere.

This convoy, laden with nearly $9000 million worth of munitions, had long been a target of intense scrutiny from various powers. The British military was well aware of its importance and, in order to ensure the safety of the munitions, mobilized army troops stationed in Rangoon and dispatched two cruisers from the Far East Fleet to the Singapore base to increase the deterrent effect on the Japanese fleet.

As the five cargo ships docked in succession, two black sedans pulled up. The doors opened, and the Burmese governor, dressed in a white uniform, stepped out of the back car, while a British military officer rode in the front.

Fang Wen recognized the officer; they had dealt with each other many times before. He was Major Davis, the garrison commander in Yangon.

He then found Lieutenant Colonel Lemaître, who was arranging the unloading of the cargo: "The British governor has arrived, and we must meet with him first."

Lieutenant Colonel Le Maire stopped assigning tasks and walked over with Fang Wen.

The Burmese governor extended his hand, a gentle smile on his face: "Fang Wen, you have accomplished a great feat."

Fang Wen shook hands with him and introduced him: "This is Lieutenant Colonel Le Maire of the French Indochina colonial government. He is in full charge of this arms trade and transportation operation."

The governor shook hands with Lieutenant Colonel Le Maire: "Welcome to Rangoon! You must be tired from your journey. If the military supplies can be successfully transported to French Indochina, you will make a huge difference in this war."

Major Davis replied with a serious expression, "Your Excellency, the situation is complicated. The Japanese army has already learned about this shipment of munitions and will surely try every means to obstruct and sabotage it. We must finalize a transportation plan as soon as possible to safely deliver the munitions to French Indochina."

The Governor-General of Burma nodded: "That's right, the Japanese will never allow this shipment of munitions to be delivered smoothly to French Indochina. I have assigned Major Davis to be in charge of coordinating this transport operation. He will mobilize British vehicles and troops to fully assist you. Now, the most important thing is to determine a safe and reliable transport route."

Afterwards, the group moved to a temporary command tent next to the dock. Inside the tent was a huge map marking the borders, roads, and railways of various South Asian countries.

Major Davis stepped forward to the map, pointed to the border region between the Kingdom of Thailand and British Burma, and said in a serious tone:
"Gentlemen, according to our intelligence analysis, the most likely place to be in danger is the border region of the Kingdom of Thailand. As you all know, the relationship between the Kingdom of Thailand and French Indochina has always been very tense due to territorial disputes, and friction has been constant in recent years. Now, they are even deploying troops on the border to create a tense atmosphere."

He paused, then continued, "We have reason to suspect that the Japanese army might take advantage of the conflict between the Kingdom of Thailand and French Indochina to launch an attack on the arms convoy through the Kingdom of Thailand. I think we must avoid all transport routes along the Thai border and absolutely not take this risk."

Fang Wen walked to the map, his gaze falling on the border region of the Kingdom of Thailand. He slowly nodded, agreeing with Major Davis's assessment:
"Major Davis is right. The border with Thailand is indeed the most dangerous area. The Japanese are cunning and suspicious, and adept at exploiting contradictions among various parties. They will inevitably focus their efforts here. I have a suggestion regarding this."

He reached out and drew two routes on the map.

"We can transport the munitions in two parts. One part, smaller but more valuable precision weapons and equipment, will be transported by aircraft using Taishan's air transport capabilities, flying directly to Hanoi. This is fast and less likely to be intercepted by ground forces. The other part, a large quantity of ammunition, firearms, and other supplies, can be transported to China via the Burma Road and then transferred to French Indochina via the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway. In this way, the two routes are independent of each other, and even if one of them encounters a problem, it will not affect the overall transport mission. Moreover, it can avoid the dangers of the Thai border to the greatest extent possible."

Upon hearing this, Major Davis's eyes flashed with approval, and he immediately nodded in agreement: "Mr. Fang Wen's plan is excellent! Air transport is fast and highly concealed. The Burma Road is relatively safe with the joint protection of the Chinese and British armies, and it avoids the border of the Kingdom of Thailand. This will greatly reduce our risks. Let's proceed with this plan. I will immediately mobilize British trucks to transport the supplies to the entrance of the Burma Road."

Fang Wen smiled and looked at Lieutenant Colonel Le Maire.

Now that the shipping phase is over, he has completed most of his duties, and the decision now rests with Lieutenant Colonel Le Maire.

However, Lieutenant Colonel Le Maire frowned:
"No, I cannot agree to this plan! Gentlemen, you have overlooked a crucial issue—the quantity of this batch of weapons is far too enormous. There are hundreds of tons of ammunition alone, and tens of thousands of firearms. If we only use air transport and the Burma Road, not only will the transportation time be greatly extended, but the transportation costs will also increase dramatically. Such a single transportation method may seem safe, but in reality, it is much riskier. If one of the routes is destroyed by the Japanese army, or if a major accident occurs, French Indochina will not be able to obtain this batch of weapons in time, and our purchase of weapons will be meaningless."

Lieutenant Colonel Lemaître walked to the map, pointed to a highway on the Thai border, and said firmly, “I believe we should divide the transport into multiple routes. The air transport and the Burma Road route can be retained, but the highway transport line on the Thai border cannot be abandoned. As you can see, this highway starts from Yangon, passes through the eastern border of Thailand, and goes directly to Hanoi. It is the fastest land transport route, saving nearly half the time compared to the Burma Road. Moreover, according to our intelligence, the closest Japanese air base in Southeast Asia is in Haikou. Whether they take off from the southern waters of Thailand or from the Gulf of Tonkin, their carrier-based aircraft cannot cross a combat radius of 1000 kilometers to conduct long-range bombing. In other words, this highway transport line is safe from the air.”

What he said makes a lot of sense; he has clearly done very detailed research on this.

Fang Wen nodded, agreeing with Lieutenant Colonel Le Maire's assessment, and added:
"Actually, it's not impossible. Among our batch of weapons are 30 aircraft and 30 M2A4 light tanks. The M2A4 light tanks were specifically ordered for the terrain of South Asia. If these tanks are deployed for transport along the border roads, they can certainly serve as part of the escort force."

Yes, if there were 30 tanks escorting them, no matter how much the Japanese tried to sabotage them, they wouldn't be able to break through.

After all, this was still British territory. Without a large-scale military force, how could the Japanese deal with so many tank units?

But problems still exist.

Lieutenant Colonel Le Maire frowned and asked, "We don't have that many tank drivers right now."

“I have it,” Fang Wen said with a smile.

Within the Taishan system, the Independent Regiment has three mixed tank companies, and can allocate a 20-man driving team for support.

Besides the Independent Regiment, the tank production plant at the northern Myanmar base also has test drivers, and even the tank factory's technicians and engineers can drive tanks.

With this arrangement, even without tank gunners, it is still possible to assemble a crew to drive 30 M2A4 light tanks.

Moreover, the M2A4 light tank is relatively easy to drive, and Fang Wen is confident that his men can quickly learn how to drive it.

With Fang Wen solving the major problem of tank driving, this plan became even more feasible.

The Burmese governor spoke up at the opportune moment: "Lieutenant Colonel Lemaître is right. Time is of the essence, and we cannot abandon the fastest transport route. Since Mr. Fang Wen can provide tank drivers, the escort problem is solved. I think it's impossible for a Japanese force of less than 1000 men to take down a convoy of 30 tanks. I think it's feasible."

His words represented the British agreement, and they adopted the three-way transport plan proposed by Lieutenant Colonel Le Maire: air transport, the Burma Road, and the Thai border road, all carried out simultaneously.

The governor's words were final.

Lieutenant Colonel Le Maire smiled and quickly said, "Thank you, Your Excellency the Governor, thank you, Mr. Fang Wen, thank you, Major Davis. I will immediately contact the army in French Indochina to prepare for the meeting on the border."

After the transportation plan was finalized, the Burmese governor left, leaving Major Davis and Fang Wen to discuss the details.

As the conversation progressed, the topic of transporting military aircraft came up.

Fang Wen explained to the two men, “Regarding military aircraft transport, this time I brought back a mercenary air force from the United States. They will first fly the 10 P-40 fighters purchased by the National Salvation Air Force to the base in northern Burma, and then fly the P-40 fighters purchased by the French to the Hanoi military airfield. The pilots of the Taishan National Salvation Air Force have relatively rich experience in piloting monoplane fighters, and are more familiar with the piloting style of American fighters. I think they are better suited to fly the aircraft than the colonial pilots who have not yet been exposed to the P-40 fighter.”

Upon hearing this, Lieutenant Colonel Le Maire's eyes lit up: "The colony pilots are more skilled at flying biplanes and lack experience in flying monoplanes. I was indeed a little worried about letting them fly the P40 fighter. This arrangement is better, and I feel relieved."

A day later, the first batch of military supplies was unloaded. Among them were fighter jets from the Taishan National Salvation Air Force.

At noon that day, Fang Wen piloted a P40 fighter jet, and nine other P40 fighter jets piloted by the Taishan Salvation Aviation Team took off from Yangon Airport in succession.

Each aircraft was equipped with a Taishan walkie-talkie. Through this semiconductor radio real-time voice communication device, Fang Wen led the fighter squadron to the base in northern Myanmar.

Two hours later, the aircraft arrived at the base in northern Myanmar and landed one after another on the newly built hard-surface runway next to the weapons testing range.

All the planes landed safely, and through this flight process of takeoff and landing, Fang Wen gained a certain understanding of the quality of the pilots of the National Salvation Aviation Team.

Among them were retired U.S. Army pilots, whose skills were reliable; and patriotic overseas Chinese youths, whose skills, though slightly inferior, were still quite good, clearly having undergone very rigorous study and training.

Therefore, he could confidently lead these pilots to fly 30 French-purchased P40 military aircraft to Hanoi.

Time passed little by little.

The unloading of munitions at Yangon Port is proceeding in a tense but orderly manner.

Large quantities of army firearms and ammunition were unloaded and transported to northern Myanmar via inland waterways.

This is currently the largest volume of freight.

Every day, 10 planes were unloaded from the Hetu. After inspection, Fang Wen led the pilots of the National Salvation Air Force to Hanoi.

Three days later, all the planes were transported to Hanoi, and the Governor-General of French Indochina made a request.

He wanted to borrow pilots from the National Salvation Air Force, since these pilots seemed very experienced in flying the P-40 fighter jet. Training colonial pilots together with American military aircraft trainers should be more efficient.

Fang Wen naturally wouldn't refuse such a method that could more quickly improve the French army's combat effectiveness.

After agreeing to the governor's request, he flew to Yangjiang.

Twenty soldiers with tank driving skills were picked up in Yangjiang and brought back to Myanmar.

Subsequently, the tank factory at the northern Myanmar base also dispatched 20 workers and engineers with tank driving skills.

Forty soldiers, workers, and engineers from the Independent Regiment and a tank factory in northern Myanmar were placed on a wide, flat open space next to the Taishan Airport in Yangon.

There were five M2A4 light tanks that had just been unloaded from the ship on the open ground. They had brand-new olive green bodies, 37mm main guns, and their tracks, road wheels, and drive wheels were gleaming like new.

The 40 people watching were overjoyed.

Of course, their mindsets are different. Soldiers are eager to operate different types of tanks, while workers and engineers want to understand American tanks through operation so as to build better Taishan tanks.

Ten minutes later, Fang Wen arrived at the training ground and said directly to the US tank instructor in charge of teaching, "Teach me first, and I'll see how difficult it is to drive an M2A4 light tank."

Seeing that the boss wanted to learn, the US military instructor did not dare to be negligent and immediately boarded an M2A4 with Fang Wen.

The hatch closed, and the engine roared to life.

As the US military instructor operated the tank, it moved forward, while the instructor loudly explained the key points of operation from inside the vehicle:

"The M2A4 features dual-lever steering: pull the left lever to turn left, and pull the right lever to turn right; the accelerator is under the foot, and the gears are only forward, neutral, and reverse; the vehicle is lightweight and has agile steering, making it suitable for maneuvering on Southeast Asian dirt roads and jungle edges..."

During the conversation, the instructor skillfully operated the tank, slowly driving in a straight line, making small-radius turns, and stopping at a fixed point, with the entire set of actions being standard and regulated.

After the demonstration, the instructor asked, "Sir, would you like me to demonstrate the lesson again?"

"No need, get up, I'll try."

The instructor stood up and gave the driver's seat to Fang Wen.

Fang Wen sat down and activated his mechanical perception ability.

In an instant, he became one with the tank, and the internal structure of the entire M2A4 instantly appeared in his mind in three dimensions.

Every ignition of the radial engine, the meshing of the transmission gears, the engagement of the tracks and drive wheels, every linkage of the control lever, the pressure changes of the brake pads…

The U.S. military instructors behind him were somewhat looking forward to seeing what kind of trouble this "boss" would cause on his first try.

At that time, he will teach and answer questions for his boss to prove his worth.

next second.

The engine roared smoothly, and the tank didn't budge at all. Fang Wen gently pulled the control lever, and the tank steadily moved forward.

Straight-line constant speed, fine-tuning direction, stopping at a fixed point, turning in place with a small radius, reversing into a parking space.
The series of movements were fluid and smooth, with a level of fluency that was in no way inferior to that of the US military instructors demonstrating, and even surpassed them in terms of vehicle balance and steering precision.

The American military instructor stared wide-eyed, his face filled with disbelief:

This was the first time driving an M2A4. Even a seasoned tank driver would need more than ten minutes to get used to it and get the hang of it. This guy was driving it as skillfully as if he had driven it for hundreds of hours.

Fang Wen stopped the tank, shut off the engine, stood up, and spoke calmly:
"This vehicle has a simple structure, and its operating logic is not much different from our existing tanks, so we don't need to train it according to the complete US military manual. I'll devise a new, accelerated training plan." (End of Chapter)