Chapter 106: 105, Human Sand Table, Discovering Treasure, Armenian Church
The king’s proposal ended tonight’s regular topics, and everyone’s gazes turned to Fang Wen.
The guests naturally dispersed, revealing the central area.
It was a kind of banquet tacit understanding, reserved for the next storyteller.
“It’s your turn.” Indiana Deco said in a low voice.
Fang Wen walked to the center of the venue, thinking in his heart about how to proceed.
At this banquet, everyone was just looking at his appearance with curiosity.
If he went up and just boasted, probably no one would listen.
After all, the war in the East had no meaning to them, just like his own feelings before.
It was better to use the most authentic description to show the air raid at that time.
He stood in the venue.
“Thank you, King, for giving me this opportunity to have the honor of sharing our war with everyone here.”
“This was a lopsided air raid, and also a dramatic air raid.”
“To succeed, we chose a sneak attack.”
A guest interrupted, it was the Weimar Republic military officer seen earlier.
“Sorry, I have a suggestion. Could you give a more realistic description, like a human sand table?”
“What is a human sand table?” Fang Wen had never heard of the term.
The other explained: “It’s a very interesting military game. You provide the battlefield data, and each of us here can play roles in the war, evolving with your description.”
His proposal successfully aroused the guests’ interest, even some Pahlavi royal family members wanted to participate.
Fang Wen accepted the suggestion and added to it.
“Okay, but it seems a bit small here. Why don’t we go outside and find a place with water.”
“Follow me.” The king led everyone to the back of the Imperial Palace.
There was a pond there.
The pond could represent the nearby seas of Shanghai, and the human sand table would be conducted beside the pond.
Fang Wen described the situation at that time.
“Our side dispatched sixteen airplanes, departing in two routes from Nanjing Airport and Hangzhou Jianqiao Airport, with the bombing target being the enemy Izumo cruiser anchored in the nearby seas of Shanghai.”
The king, as commander, had an attendant insert a flag by the pond as Shanghai.
Then inserted two more flags on the west side and south side, representing Nanjing and Hangzhou.
Sixteen guests were divided into two teams, one with five people, one with eleven, respectively representing the air raid airplanes departing from both sides.
They moved toward Shanghai by the pond.
The king asked: “And then?”
“The Japanese airplanes belonged to the naval aviation team. When our side arrived in Shanghai, they were notified by the ground intelligence department and immediately took off to intercept. Due to the haste, there were only twenty. Our Jianqiao Airport’s ten airplanes intercepted, and Nanjing Airport’s five airplanes with me carried out the bombing.”
Another group of guests played the Japanese Army airplanes.
And placed a model ship in the pond.
Everyone began discussing.
The Weimar Republic military officer asked: “As far as I know, Shanghai was under Japanese control at that time, there were also a large number of warships at the seaside, the number of Japanese Army airplanes was far more than 20, and more airplanes would take off later to intercept. Right?”
Fang Wen nodded: “Yes, according to the plan at that time, the air raid had to end within ten minutes, regardless of success or failure, all airplanes had to withdraw.”
“This was still a very risky action. How many airplanes did you lose?” A lady asked with a worried expression.
“One, his wing and engine were strafed by enemy machine gun, and he ultimately crashed into the sea, but luckily, he survived and became a member of my company.” Fang Wen replied.
“My god, he was really lucky. In that war more than ten years ago, few pilots survived crashes.” An elderly guest sighed.
Fang Wen nodded, took out his wallet, pulled out the group photo inside, and pointed to Shao Sishen: “That’s him. Half his face was torn by shrapnel, his right hand and right leg were seriously injured in the explosion, but now he is still living strongly and has become the manager of the aviation school.”
The photograph was passed around, and everyone admired the person who bravely fought fate.
The conversation continued.
Someone raised a more detailed question.
“Can you tell us the airplane models of each side at that time?”
“Sure. At that time, we had 7 k47 fighter jets, 2 O2U-4 fighter reconnaissance aircraft, 3 Lin Kock III fighter jets, 5 WACO240A, and 1 Potez 25. The Japanese side mainly used Type 3 carrier-based aircraft.”
The fun of the human sand table was here.
People very familiar with aircraft performance described the performance of each model.
Everyone began analyzing.
Both sides were using biplanes for combat. Although the Type 3 had about 10% faster speed and flexibility, in that situation, it didn’t have much advantage.
Air chases and interceptions with fighter jets at 240-260 km/h range were like a race among a group of walkers—always a bit short, yet hard to catch up.
As for bombing, it was more about luck.
Everyone agreed that the bombing succeeded and sank the Izumo because it hit exactly the center of the hull, causing a fatal blow.
Someone proposed a hypothesis.
“If using current monoplanes, like the p26 series, would this air raid have a better effect?”
Fang Wen shook his head: “The current p26 series is 70% faster than biplanes. For bombing fixed targets, only dive bombing can improve the hit rate. Current warships are equipped with anti-air weapons, and dive bombing is equivalent to a suicide attack.”
The questioner nodded: “So, your bombing that time benefited from your talent, plus the biplane’s slower speed. If the speed exceeded your reaction, it would be hard to achieve.”
Fang Wen nodded in affirmation, but in his heart, he didn’t think so.
Since absorbing the energy of the four-faced Buddha, he felt his mechanical perception ability had also strengthened.
The state that biplanes could have before, he could now achieve on the Shrike Hao, even better.
But this was his trump card and couldn’t be revealed casually.
The topic of air combat ended here.
Everyone came to the banquet area.
Although nominally inheriting Persia, the Pahlavi dynasty adopted European-style banquets for external feasts.
Long rectangular dining tables, clean white tablecloths, each guest had a waiter serving them. They would pull out the high-backed seats, offer Western dining napkins, and then serve the dishes one by one.
The serving order started with the king and queen, then the guests, princes, princesses, and nobility.
There was an interval time for each dish, convenient for the guests to eat.
During the meal, no one spoke; everyone was working hard on the food in front of them.
Fang Wen had never experienced this dining style, but he was not unfamiliar with eating Western food.
He naturally put on the napkin and prepared to enjoy a big meal.
The first dish was mutton rice.
It had a very fragrant aroma that perfectly masked the mutton’s gaminess.
There were also beans, which should be freshly cooked broad beans.
Fang Wen turned sideways to communicate with Indiana: “What is this dish called?”
For delicacies, Indiana liked to talk: “Saffron mutton, my favorite food.”
This dish was only one spoon per person, about half a fist-sized portion.
Fang Wen finished this sweet-flavored mutton rice and looked forward to the next dishes.
The second dish was stewed fish.
Very rich spice aroma.
Besides tomato sauce, onion, and lemon, the others were things Fang Wen couldn’t name.
This time Fang Wen didn’t ask Indiana; he couldn’t get used to this dish.
Then the waiter cleared the tray and brought the last main course of the night.
In a small golden dish, full of black caviar grains.
This time, without Fang Wen asking, Indiana explained.
“This is the best caviar. 2000 years ago, Persians began eating sturgeon roe; their caviar is the most authentic.”
Top caviar from the Pahlavi dynasty royal banquet.
Fang Wen had to try it.
He picked up the long spoon, scooped a spoonful into his mouth.
The caviar burst in his mouth, the salty and fishy taste stimulating Fang Wen’s taste buds.
People from different regions have different evaluations of freshness.
On the coastline, this was the taste of freshness.
Fang Wen could accept it, but it wasn’t his favorite.
He finished the dish of caviar.
Next were the after-meal dishes.
Vegetable soup, desserts, fruits, bread, placed in the middle of the long table, available for selection.
At this time, everyone began talking again.
Fang Wen checked the time; it was already 8 p.m.
The telegram contact with the Istanbul side had been missed.
Without notifying them, landing couldn’t be arranged.
He whispered with Indiana for a while; the other agreed to contact on his behalf and give results tomorrow morning.
Thus, Fang Wen stayed in the banquet, silently observing the interactions of guests from various countries in the Imperial Palace, until 10 p.m. when the banquet ended.
He rode in Indiana’s car back to the airport; for some reason, his stomach felt hungry again.
Three main courses, very small portions, and he barely ate the second stewed fish. If he had known, he would have eaten more at the beginning.
Hungry Fang Wen took snacks prepared by his wife from the canvas bag.
After three days, the remaining snacks were dry but still edible.
Thinking that he could move freely after arriving in Europe tomorrow, he swept away the remaining three snacks, spread out the blanket to make a bed, and slept soundly.
Coming from subtropical climate India to temperate continental climate Iran, the biggest feeling was that the nights were much cooler.
And no mosquitoes.
This gave Fang Wen a rare good night’s sleep.
He slept until 10 a.m., then woke up.
Indiana surprisingly hadn’t come yet, so Fang Wen packed his things first.
Took another bath, changed back into the flight suit, and finally Indiana arrived.
“Contacted that side, the transfer airport is here, take a look.”
On the map Indiana took out, a place name was marked: Van.
It was a city in Turkey, with a large lake to the west: Van Golu.
“This is Turkey’s largest lake. When you fly here, find a dock on the east bank of Van Golu. There’s a landable road by the dock, and someone will provide you with fuel.”
It turned out to be road landing; for a small airplane like the Shrike Hao, road landing was the most suitable.
Fang Wen nodded in agreement, carefully checked the map, and marked its location on his own map.
Then, he bid farewell to Indiana and departed again by airplane.
Tehran to Istanbul, transferring at Van Golu.
Fang Wen embarked on the final leg of his journey from Asia to Europe.
On this journey, the airplane took off from the Iranian Plateau, and the terrain began to descend gradually.
After crossing over 700 kilometers of mountain land area, a blue lake appeared.
Fang Wen searched for that landing dock on the east shore of the lake.
The airplane flew low along the lakeshore and soon spotted the target.
There was a flat road by the dock, and on the road, someone was waving arms crossed.
That was the place.
Fang Wen prepared to land but suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity.
That feeling was what he had only when contacting the four-faced Buddha a few months ago; since the four-faced golden Buddha lost that energy, it had been a long time since he experienced it.
Could there be treasure here too?
Fang Wen couldn’t help but pilot the airplane to climb and circle again.
In mechanical perception state, he was one with the machine, his perception instantly expanded, and he also found the source of that mysterious perception.
It was a small island in the lake.
There was also an ancient building on the island.
After confirming the location, Fang Wen turned the fuselage, flew back to the airspace above the east shore dock, and landed on the road by the dock.
Once the airplane stopped steadily, a man wearing a collared robe and horse shoes ran over.
Communicated in English.
“Mr. Fang, I am your receptionist. The fuel is at the dock. Do you need to refuel now?”
“Yes.”
Fang Wen remembered the small island he saw earlier and immediately asked: “I saw an island in the lake just now, with an ancient building on it.”
“You mean Akdamar Island; on the island is a church.” The man replied.
“I am very interested in ancient things. Can you tell me more?” Fang Wen took out a British pound banknote.
After receiving the banknote, the other replied readily.
“Sir, I know that church very well.”
An old car drove over from the dock side, towing a fuel tank to refuel the airplane, while Fang Wen listened to the receptionist tell the story of the island.
The church on Akdamar Island was naturally called Akdama Church.
This church was ordered to be built by the Armenian king of that time in the 10th century AD, specifically between 915-921 AD, meticulously built by King Gagik I of Vaspurakan.
In the 8th century AD, Arab armies invaded from the south, forcing the Armenian prince to flee to Akdamar Island for refuge.
After the Arabs withdrew, Byzantium and the Persian Empire successively occupied the area, and Armenian rule swung back and forth between the militarily superior sides.
Ultimately, due to religious reasons, the Armenians were driven out, but they left this church on the island. The palace and monastery from the same period as the church have been destroyed; only this church remains intact.
After hearing what the other said, Fang Wen pondered.
This was a relic of a broken civilization heritage.
Whatever treasure was hidden inside, it was likely no one knew anymore.
Since that was the case, no need to rush to explore the church now, to avoid attracting local attention.
He decided to recruit a group of professional treasure hunters after the European trip and come back to explore.
Therefore, Fang Wen didn’t plan to stay now. After the fuel was replenished, he continued piloting the airplane to take off.
The final 1200 km journey entered the Mediterranean Sea climate.
Clear weather and warm sunshine, fresh air, made the flight comfortable.
