Chapter 189: 188, Republic Of China Wenchuan Earthquake, Bombing The Gat-tian Lake, Earthquake Relief
Fang Wen continued to sift through intelligence.
Through this intelligence, he gained a clearer understanding of the changes in the entire world.
【The military budget for North China will be restored to the level of Zhang Xueliang’s era, amounting to 4.5 million yuan per month; from now on, North China’s finances will be entirely managed by the Ministry of Finance; relief funds for the theater of operations are initially set at 20 million yuan, reduced to 5 million due to the central government’s lack of funds, with 4 million to be allocated from the issuance of public bonds.】
Even 20 million yuan in relief funds can’t be paid out?
Fang Wen expressed disbelief, thinking it was just another excuse to issue public bonds.
He saw two words: “money laundering.”
【The Prime Minister of the Weimar Republic delivered a highly inflammatory speech. In his speech, he claimed he would withdraw from the League of Nations and dissolve the German National Assembly.】
With the Weimar Republic withdrawing from the League of Nations, coupled with the dissolution of the Reichstag, and other parties becoming illegal organizations, the Weimar national referendum next month will have only one voting option: the Nazis led by Little Mustache.
Fang Wen lamented that the wheels of history were accelerating.
Japan withdrew from the League of Nations in March of this year, and now the Weimar Republic is also withdrawing from the League of Nations. These two countries, now completely unrestrained, have begun to expand their production of military equipment, and war is drawing nearer.
【The anti-Japanese alliance in the North China region is in a precarious situation. The anti-Japanese allied forces led by Generals Fang and Ji are being constrained by the Kuomintang army, and are suffering heavy casualties from the Japanese army’s encirclement and aerial bombing.】
There are no more anti-Japanese forces in the North China region.
Fang Wen sighed.
From the September 18th Incident in Manchuria in ’31 to October of ’33, Fang Wen witnessed how the entire situation deteriorated. They could have fought, but they didn’t, and they wouldn’t even let others fight.
Thinking that he couldn’t pilot a fighter jet to fight in the north, Fang Wen lost all interest,
and he had no more interest in the subsequent intelligence.
He simply got up, wanting to go for a walk to vent his frustration.
As he went out and reached the stairwell, he heard Chun Cao’s voice: “General Manager, there’s a telegram message in the company’s commercial telegraph office specifically for you to see.”
The company’s commercial telegraph offices were commercial institutions set up at several airports to promptly transmit inventory and price information for aviation distribution companies, allowing them to respond to various changes.
It was rare for a General Manager like Fang Wen to need to see a telegram, so he couldn’t help but be curious to see the message.
The telegram contained only one sentence.
【A professor from Tsinghua University’s geology department is requesting aid from Jinan, Sichuan is in danger.】
How could Sichuan be in danger? The Japanese hadn’t even defeated Sichuan after the War of Resistance.
But what did a professor from Tsinghua University’s geology department mean by that?
Fang Wen instructed the company’s commercial telegraph office to send a telegram to inquire for more detailed information.
The other party sent back another telegram.
【An earthquake occurred in Sichuan in August, causing siltation in the mountain gat-tian lake. If an incident occurs, it will endanger many areas including Mao County and Wenchuan.】
The word “Wenchuan” struck Fang Wen’s heart.
In the future, he had experienced a major earthquake in Wenchuan, and the entire country prayed for blessings for those affected by the Wenchuan earthquake.
During that earthquake, the term “gat-tian lake” was heard most frequently.
How could a similar situation be happening in Wenchuan during the Republic of China era?
Thinking of his past life experiences, Fang Wen didn’t hesitate, went out, and piloted his Shrike Hao fighter jet to Jinan.
At Jinan Airport, two gentlemen from Tsinghua University looked anxious.
The two anxiously communicated with the telegraph operator.
“When will General Manager Fang arrive?”
“Time is of the essence, the gat-tian lake could burst at any moment, affecting over a hundred thousand people. Did you make that clear?”
The telegraph operator replied helplessly, “I did. Even with a plane, it can’t fly thousands of miles in an instant. Please be patient.”
They waited for 2 hours, and finally, Fang Wen’s Shrike Hao landed at Jinan Airport.
After parking the plane, Fang Wen went directly to the commercial telegraph office and met the two professors from Tsinghua University’s geology department.
“I am Fang Wen, what is the matter?”
“I’ll explain,” said the elder one urgently. “We are professors from Tsinghua University’s geology department. This morning, I received a telegram from a senior student at the Mao County Government in Sichuan. He said that a major earthquake occurred in Mao County on August 25th, causing landslides and mudslides that blocked the riverbed, forming a lake. That gat-tian lake is growing larger, and if it collapses, over a hundred thousand people downstream will be submerged.”
Fang Wen asked sternly, “What help do you need from me? Please tell me.”
“We know you are an air combat hero, skilled in high-altitude airdrop bombing. Could you use bombs to create an opening in the gat-tian lake according to our plan, allowing it to drain in advance and avoid a more dangerous situation?” explained the professor.
Fang Wen nodded and continued to ask, “How large is the gat-tian lake? How many bombs are needed? Where is Mao County located within Sichuan? Can a plane land in Mao County?”
These were questions Fang Wen needed to know; otherwise, the other party’s proposal could not be implemented.
Although the two professors were in the geology department, they did not know the exact situation there. Fortunately, the commercial telegraph office could directly send a telegram to the telegraph bureau in Mao County.
After sending the telegrams, the situation was finally understood.
Some questions were answered, while others were not.
Mao County is north of Chengdu, and there is a flat flagstone road outside the county government.
The location of the gat-tian lake is a huge valley blocked by debris. It is difficult to describe its size; one needs to go to the site to see it.
The situation was urgent, and Fang Wen felt that Taishan Airlines should bear its corresponding social responsibility. He immediately contacted his wife.
At Taishan Airlines Headquarters, Kuang Mingzhu looked at the telegram message, solemn.
In her husband’s name, she summoned Shopkeeper Liu, Sun Debiao, Pan Jiafeng, and Shao Sishen for a meeting.
Once everyone was assembled, Kuang Mingzhu explained the situation.
Hearing that the earthquake had dammed a huge lake, which could collapse at any moment and flood the downstream cities, everyone was shocked.
Kuang Mingzhu added, “Mister said he is going to Mao County to rescue people. More than 100,000 people there are in danger. We at Taishan Airlines must shoulder our moral duty and not stand idly by. Therefore, we need to establish a Taishan Airlines disaster relief team, ready to respond at any time.”
Shopkeeper Liu lamented, raising his hand high, “The reason I pioneered in the Northeast was that my family faced disaster. At that time, there was no kind person like the General Manager to help. In the end, only I was left from my family, and I followed others to seek a living outside the Passes. I will definitely participate in this kind of rescue.”
Sun Debiao also raised his hand high, and Pan Jiafeng and Shao Sishen were no exception.
The disaster relief team was established, awaiting deployment from the front lines at any time. Fang Wen, however, was piloting a Boeing 247 carrying two geology professors to Mao County.
The flight from Jinan to Wuhan involved refueling and transiting in Wuhan.
The distance from Wuhan to Mao County is about 1000 kilometers, which is within the flight range, but there is no established flight path.
Without satellites, flying without a flight path can only be achieved by the best pilots; the matter is not as simple as outsiders might think.
Even Fang Wen needs to determine his position through various means.
The best method is the triple-fix positioning technique using a sextant, compass, and map.
While piloting the aircraft, Fang Wen asked the two geology professors seated in the cabin, “Who knows how to use a sextant?”
The younger professor replied, “I do.”
Fang Wen handed him the sextant case and instructed, “Take a sextant reading every 15 minutes and mark the results on the map.”
The younger professor complied, taking out the sextant and aiming it at the sun.
The results he measured gave Fang Wen a clear sense of direction. Combined with the compass, if there was any deviation, it was immediately corrected.
It was precisely with the help of the sextant that the airplane flew towards Chengdu in an almost straight line.
Upon arrival in Chengdu, the plane continued flying north, and before long, they reached the Mao County area.
Inside Mao County town, a road was paved with red cloth to guide the landing.
Fang Wen did not land immediately but continued flying north to survey the situation of the barrier lake.
According to the descriptions from the locals, the Min River flows through Mao County and Wenchuan, and the barrier lake is upstream on the Min River.
After flying for a while, the plane reached that section of the river where the barrier lake was.
The two professors carefully observed the situation below and discussed it.
The older professor made a summary:
“This section of the Min River was blocked by a landslide caused by the earthquake. This situation is rare. Although some gaps have been cleared, a large amount of water has still accumulated. This will increase the pressure on the mountain, leading to further collapse. Once it is completely blocked, a huge barrier lake will form within two days. If it collapses, the volume of water released in a short period will be very large, posing a great threat to the downstream areas. The surging river water will inundate towns.”
（Barrier Lake Diagram）
Fang Wen nodded and turned the aircraft, “We will land first and gather more information from the local government.”
After flying back for a while, the plane landed on a flat stone-paved road outside the County Government.
Although it was a bit bumpy, the landing was successful.
As soon as the plane stopped, the three of them immediately disembarked and communicated with the county government personnel who were waiting to greet them.
One of them was a senior student of the two professors from Tsinghua University.
After a period of explanation, the county government personnel finally realized the immense threat of the barrier lake.
The County Magistrate recounted what happened on August 25th.
“The barrier lake you see used to be called Diexi Town. Due to a severe drought, a ritual to worship the City God was held on August 25th. Everything was fine at first. When the temple officiant began chanting the incantations, there were suddenly three loud bangs. Then the Earth Dragon turned over.”
“Earth Dragon turned over” is actually a colloquial term for an earthquake. Everyone didn’t pay much attention to the matter of the City God temple and was more interested in what happened next.
What followed was tragic. Diexi Town, located by the Min River, experienced violent shaking and trembling. Subsequently, the fallen rocks buried the entire Diexi Town.
Twenty-one nearby Qiang villages were also affected.
The mountains that collapsed due to the earthquake not only buried villages but also blocked the Min River.
The blocked Min River caused the downstream river to dry up, while this section of the river continued to rise.
The county town was also affected by the earthquake, with large areas of houses collapsing.
Fortunately, the county town consisted mainly of bungalows and small buildings, so there was not much major destruction.
After listening to the County Magistrate’s account and combining it with the advice from the geology professors, Fang Wen pondered how to proceed.
The blocked river channel had many accumulated stones. This inverted triangular accumulation would be very stable, and ordinary bombs might not even be able to break it open.
However, once the pressure builds up to the point where it breaks, the downstream areas will be in trouble.
Therefore, the geology professors’ advice was correct; it must be broken open as soon as possible.
The key was how to break it.
He voiced this thought.
The two geology professors agreed.
One of them said, “We don’t understand mechanical structures very well. Perhaps those who study architecture would know better. They should be able to find the structural weak points of the entire landslide blockage. If we bomb from the weak points, it might succeed.”
Listening to the professor’s analysis, Fang Wen had a flash of inspiration. Aren’t Mr. Liang and Mr. Lin from Shanghai architects?
There’s also the problem of the bomb.
Taishan Airlines doesn’t have bombs of this magnitude. The National Government likely doesn’t either, and even if they did, they wouldn’t use them for this purpose.
We need to get the bomb laboratory at Xiangxi Airport to figure something out.
He immediately sent a telegram from the county town’s telegraph room to Shanghai.
Taishan Airlines Headquarters outside Shanghai Airport.
The temporary disaster relief team was waiting.
The telegram finally arrived.
Kuang Mingzhu read out the telegram message.
【 Please invite Mr. Liang and Mr. Lin, explain the situation, and inform them that we need their help to find the mechanical structural weak points to break through the landslide. 】
【 Notify Xiangxi and have Huo Duanyang create a giant bomb. 】
Kuang Mingzhu immediately went into the city to find the two gentlemen.
This time, they were lucky; the two were not out but were at their homes in Shanghai.
After Kuang Mingzhu visited their homes, she explained the situation.
The two gentlemen were not certain about this either.
Mr. Liang replied, “Architectural structures are more regular. When we consider mechanical structures, it’s not complex.”
Mr. Lin added, “Hearing you describe the landslide, formed by the assembly of many large rocks, this type of mechanical structure is complex.”
However, the two gentlemen did not refuse and agreed to go.
Subsequently, they were sent to Wuhan by Pan Jiafeng and were waiting.
Pan Jiafeng returned to Shanghai to organize the temporary grounding of all Taishan Airlines Boeing 247s. Tickets that had been sold were to be refunded, and then the disaster relief supplies purchased by Shopkeeper Liu, Sun Debiao, and Shao Sishen were to be loaded onto the planes.
Disaster relief supplies were loaded onto the planes one by one, including grain, flour, oil, clothing, and cotton quilts.
Because the matter was urgent, Taishan Airlines did not publicize their joint disaster relief efforts but acted alone.
All Boeing 247 airplanes flew to Wuhan, and Fang Wen also flew back.
They still had not taken off; a bomb capable of blasting open the landslide was still needed.
For this reason, Fang Wen flew from Wuhan to Xiangxi Airport.
Xiangxi Airport Aerial Bomb Factory.
After Pan Jiafeng understood the situation, he immediately discussed it with his colleagues in the chemical laboratory.
When he explained that the purpose of creating a large bomb was to save lives, everyone gladly agreed to participate.
This voluntary participation was more motivating than a direct request.
They discussed how to make it together.
The external casing of the bomb could use fifty-kilogram napalm incendiary bombs.
However, the cartridge cases used for these bombs are made of tin, which is easily broken. Therefore, gunpowder with the fastest explosion speed is needed to increase the instantaneous blasting power.
Bullet propellant will suffice.
The detonating agent can be the same type as that used in napalm incendiary bombs; it can also achieve ignition.
But what would be the actual power of fifty kilograms of bullet propellant?
By the time Fang Wen arrived at Xiangxi Airport, the explosion effect had also been calculated.
Fang Wen looked at their calculation results.
According to the chemical laboratory’s usual calculations for propellant, the explosion of fifty kilograms of propellant can generate 15.5 million joules of energy. Calculating that 1 joule can push a 0.102-kilogram object one meter, the energy released by fifty kilograms of propellant can move a ten-kilogram object 151 kilometers.
Looking at the explosion power calculation results, Fang Wen estimated that it should be able to create a gap.
The key is to find the best angle and position for the explosion.
