Film and Television World Life Record

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Looking at the peaceful and tranquil city before me, it seems all the more precious in this era of war and chaos, and it deserves to be carefully protected.

The army is the best protector.

Today is also the day the military changes its uniforms.

Unlike the various military uniforms of today, the new uniforms of the security regiment were specially designed by Li Mu, imitating the camouflage uniforms of later generations.

Furthermore, it referenced some concepts from German military uniforms, which can be summarized in one word: "handsome." Handsome military uniforms have a significant impact on the morale of the army, and at the very least, they can change the image of the army in the minds of the people in the old era.

To this end, Li Mu specially found a large dye house to dye camouflage uniforms, and also hired several well-known fashion designers from the Shanghai International Settlement to design the military uniform based on Li Mu's opinions.

After the costume fitting, an order was placed with a large clothing factory, and now it's finally all finished. The fabric is good, and the workmanship is excellent; now the entire army can finally change into their new uniforms.

After two days, Li Mu oversaw the troops' uniform change. Looking at the familiar colors and the training figures, he felt a surge of emotions, as if he had returned to the real world.

Indeed, looking at these soldiers in camouflage uniforms shouting slogans and training in the barracks, who would have thought this was the Republic of China era?

However, the new military uniforms are indeed quite popular. Not only soldiers, but officers also like them very much. Wearing the new camouflage uniforms makes them look different.

He no longer looks rustic; he now exudes both ruggedness and coolness.

Even ordinary people were pleasantly surprised to see the newly transformed security forces, as they were quite different from what they had imagined soldiers to be.

The army's large-scale training was in full swing, and Li Mu also began to inspect various places. On this day, he came to the Nanshao Coal Mine, which is a rare coal resource in the Nanyang area.

Thermal power generation is heavily reliant on coal resources. Although nearby Pingdingshan is a major coal-producing area, and neighboring Shaanxi province has many places with extremely rich coal resources.

However, since they were on someone else's territory and transportation was still needed, Li Mu naturally attached great importance to the rare coal resources in the Nanyang area.

The coalfield is located in the Funiu Mountains in southwest China, spanning the counties of Nanzhao and Fangcheng. It is a Jurassic coalfield with relatively small reserves.

According to local records, the Nanzhao coalfield was relatively easy to mine due to its shallow coal seams, and mining began as early as the early Qing Dynasty. Small mine ruins can be seen everywhere. In 1870, the German Ferdinand von Richthofen came to Nanzhao to conduct an investigation.

In 1916, the Swede Nicholas Schaffner wrote "Coalfields and Coal Mines in Henan," recounting the investigation conducted by Ferdinand von Richthofen, Dingolführer, and Schaffner in Nanzhao. They concluded that the geology of Nanzhao differed from other coalfields in northern Henan and estimated its reserves at 3500 million tons.

In 1931, Wang You conducted a geological survey at the Nanzhao County coal mine and wrote a survey report.

However, due to the small reserves, apart from villagers from nearby towns and villages who come to mine coal temporarily, there are no specialized companies using machinery to mine coal here.

Accompanied by the group, Li Mu toured the site and decided to purchase more coal mining equipment next time. He wasn't concerned about production volume; it represented confidence. Even if external coal couldn't be brought in under special circumstances, they could still be self-sufficient.

A few days later, news came from the laboratory located deep in the mountains that penicillin had been successfully produced in the lab.

Before Li Mu came, he had to look at too much information. He had only seen the general methods and steps for making penicillin. If you asked him to explain it in detail, he wouldn't be able to.

It's quite impressive that penicillin can be produced in the lab so quickly based on the general methods and steps.

The next step is to streamline this process into an assembly line, using equipment and raw materials for mass production.

Once this is done, our source of income will be secure!

Chapter 423 Soaring into the Blue Sky

After a short stay in Nanyang, he took pig bristles and tung oil and headed to Singapore again, this time to learn how to fly a plane.

After delivering pig bristles and tung oil, nearly a million US dollars were received again. Combined with the three million two hundred thousand US dollars of various military strategic materials purchased last time, and a lot of goods shipped out domestically recently, a total of five million five hundred thousand US dollars in payments have been received.

Although the remaining supplies are selling more slowly, they can still probably fetch another two million US dollars. That's how profitable strategic military supplies are.

First, I went to the bank, repaid the loan, and redeemed over 900 kilograms of gold. These days, gold is still a more reliable store of value and has wider applications.

They injected one million US dollars into Far East Trading Company to facilitate its subsequent acquisition of pharmaceutical factories in the United States and to expand the company's strength and scale.

He made another list, outlining the supplies and equipment he needed to purchase, left another two million US dollars, and boarded a plane to Kuala Lumpur.

As the capital of Malaysia, Far East Trading Company has a branch here. Everything for Li Mu was arranged perfectly. He lived in a brand-new villa, served by Filipino maids, and was chauffeured around by car.

He spends most of his time at the flying club learning to fly planes; he's genuinely interested in learning.

In my spare time, I would stroll around the neighborhood, learn about the local customs and culture, and also get to know the local Chinese community. I was quite surprised to learn that he was the behind-the-scenes boss of the Far East Trading Company, and that he was so young and Chinese.

Many people tried to befriend him, but Li Mu only responded indifferently, not caring about it. However, there were quite a few technically skilled and educated young Chinese people here, and he hoped to recruit some of them to return to China in the future.

Compared to airplanes of the future, airplanes of this era are actually quite easy to learn. They have a simple structure and are easy to control. As long as you are willing to spend the money and are not afraid of consuming fuel, even an ordinary person can master them within two or three months and perform ordinary flying work.

With Li Mu's strong physique, efficient learning ability, and the fact that he has plenty of money and isn't afraid of consuming fuel, he can train for several hours a day in a training aircraft.

In just half a month, it has already started to fly quite well.

Just then, the twelve Hawk 75 fighter jets he had ordered arrived. He immediately assembled one and test-flew it for a few days under the guidance of his instructor, and it worked perfectly.

Li Mu then stopped studying and decided to return to China.

All the supplies worth two million US dollars that he instructed Far East Trading Company to purchase have been prepared.

This shipment is not entirely composed of military strategic supplies; half of it consists of civilian goods, various commodities in high demand abroad, and some newly developed technological products.

After all, Muwu Trading Company's business must continue, and domestic development requires a large amount of legal tender. These civilian goods can be sold domestically at several times the price, generating a large amount of legal tender in return.

In addition to the twelve Hawk 75 fighter jets, Li Mu also ordered a considerable number of accompanying aerial bombs.

The Hawk 75 fighter jet, besides having two 12.7mm Browning fixed nose-mounted machine guns, carried aerial bombs.

He can carry one 250-kilogram aerial bomb; or five 50-kilogram aerial bombs; or ten 25-kilogram aerial bombs.

Li Mu ordered 100 aerial bombs weighing 250 kilograms each, 500 aerial bombs weighing 50 kilograms each, and 1,000 aerial bombs weighing 25 kilograms each.

The price was naturally not cheap. A single 250-kilogram aerial bomb cost $500, which is equivalent to a kilogram of gold. A thousand bombs would cost exactly $50,000.

A 50-kilogram aerial bomb costs $100, so 500 bombs would cost $50,000; a 25-kilogram aerial bomb costs $50, so 100 bombs would cost $50,000.

A total of thirty tons of aerial bombs, valued at $150,000.

After receiving all the documents, Li Mu was a little excited and flew back to China the next day.

Upon arriving in Wuhan, they unloaded two-thirds of their supplies and goods to sell there, and then took a speedboat back to Nanyang.

The military airfield has been completed and is located in a secluded valley. From the outside, it is difficult to detect that there is a military airfield here.

Li Mu began recruiting airport-related ground staff and technicians two months ago.

After the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, most of the dozens of civilian airports across the country were grounded, freeing up a large number of professionals. The Qing government currently has several hundred warplanes, and some warlords, like Yan Xishan, also have more than twenty warplanes, each employing a considerable number of related technical personnel.

The recruitment process went smoothly, and a number of people were quickly identified. Through selection, the airport's ground staff and technical personnel were easily filled.

……

Several fighter jets were assembled here very quickly.

With everything prepared, Li Mu climbed into the cockpit, put on his pilot's helmet, closed the transparent glass canopy, and the plane slowly took off. Feeling the propulsive force of acceleration and the sound of tires rubbing against the ground, his heart involuntarily tightened.

The plane taxied on the runway for a while, then took off in an instant. The powerful thrust pressed him firmly into his seat, his heart pounding. The increasing speed and the scenery flashing past his eyes gave him a strange thrill.

A few days later, flying a fighter jet again, and this time within China, Li Mu felt inexplicably excited, his palms slightly sweaty. Flying a fighter jet, free and unrestrained, soaring through the blue sky—it's probably every boy's dream.

After a few minutes of smooth flight and regaining familiarity with piloting the fighter jet, Li Mu gripped the control stick and began practicing several standard flight maneuvers and postures.

With a gentle movement of the control stick, the aircraft departed level flight and began to turn, tracing a graceful arc across the sky.

For the next two hours, the Hawk 75 fighter jet circled, dived, rolled, climbed, lateralized, yawed, and pitched in the air before Li Mu, having had his fill of practice, began his return journey.

The fighter jet landed at the airport. Li Mu got off the plane and handed it over to the technicians for inspection and maintenance. He then went to a small villa he had built for himself nearby, had someone find a detailed map from Nanyang to Xuzhou, and began to study it.

Xuzhou is a transportation hub connecting the Jinpu Railway and the Longhai Railway, and a vital passage connecting the four provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, and Anhui, possessing significant strategic value.

In January of this year, the Japanese attempted to use Nanjing and Jinan as bases to attack and occupy the Xuzhou area from the south and north, thereby opening up the occupied areas in North China and Central China.

In order to tie down the main force of the Japanese and delay their attack on Wuhan, Guo Fu amassed a large army in Xuzhou to block the Japanese advance.

The Japanese forces, commanded by General Shunroku Hata, commander of the Central China Expeditionary Army, and General Hisaichi Terauchi, commander of the North China Area Army, comprised a total of 8 divisions, 3 brigades, and 2 detachments, totaling approximately 24 men, who launched a pincer attack on Xuzhou from the south and north.

On Guofu's side, Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone was in charge, and the two sides then engaged in fierce fighting.

This campaign will not come to an end until May.

It's early March now, and the fighting on the front lines is fierce. Staying in Nanyang isn't a solution, so Li Mu plans to fly to the front lines and, if he encounters any Japanese soldiers, bomb a few of them.

While studying the map, he also had the Military Intelligence Division report the situation at the Xuzhou front in a timely manner.

Li Mu rested well that day, got up early the next day, completed his daily exercise, and had breakfast. The fighter jets were already ready.

This time, not only was the 12.7mm Browning nose-mounted machine gun mounted on the nose of the fighter jet, but five 50-kilogram aerial bombs were also properly suspended.

Li Mu climbed onto the plane, closed the canopy, took a deep breath, and the fighter jet began to taxi. A moment later, it took off into the blue sky and flew towards Xuzhou.

This aircraft has a maximum speed of 480 kilometers per hour, a maximum range of 1,300 kilometers, and a combat radius of about 500 to 600 kilometers.

The straight-line distance between Nanyang and Xuzhou is also about 500 kilometers. As long as you don't overdo it, you'll have about 20 minutes of free time after you arrive.

When the time came, we had to return; otherwise, it would be ridiculous if the plane ran out of fuel halfway through the journey.

Along the way, Li Mu maintained an altitude of 5,000 meters and a speed of 370-380 kilometers per hour. More than an hour later, he appeared near Xuzhou.

As a fighter pilot, the first challenge a novice will encounter is finding the way. This is different from the ground, where you can ask around if you don't know which city is where.

In the air, especially in this day and age, without navigation or radar, one relies entirely on one's own eyes to determine direction and the city.

Thousands of meters in the air, looking down at the low-lying houses, they all look pretty much the same. How can you accurately identify which city it is, especially when it's 500 kilometers away and you've never been here before? It's even harder to tell.

Fortunately, he had done a lot of preparation yesterday, studying the map for a long time. Cities change too quickly, and there aren't many landmark buildings these days, making them difficult to identify. However, mountains, rivers, and lakes are the best landmarks for fighter pilots to navigate.

After flying around the area, Li Mu vaguely recognized a lake. Using it as a coordinate, he determined the direction and began flying towards the battle zone between the two sides.

After flying for a while, Li Mu spotted several plumes of smoke in the distance. He lowered his altitude and discovered that it seemed to be a town, with fires burning in many places.