Chapter 91: 90, Fake Gold Arrives, New Plan: Bombing Shenyang Japanese Army
Shunzi kept his word, and brought Master Liu back an hour later.
The disheveled Former Qing Dynasty Bandit King was clearly dragged out of bed by Shunzi, but he didn’t mind at all and instead asked urgently: “What happened? Are my disciples okay?”
Fang Wen glanced at the street outside: “Let’s talk inside.”
Then, the two walked into the residence, while Shunzi stood guard outside.
As soon as they entered, Fang Wen got straight to the point: “A telegram came from there, saying stealing the sky and changing the sun, swapping fake gold for real gold. Old Liu, you should be skilled at this, right?”
Old Liu stroked his beard and nodded proudly: “Tou Men naturally knows these tricks, but I never thought they could be used against the Japanese. Just thinking of the Japanese seeing a room full of fake gold all made by me makes me happy.”
He burst out laughing, accompanied by coughing, and Fang Wen quickly patted his back lightly to keep him from choking.
After catching his breath, Old Liu said seriously: “How long, thick, and heavy are the gold bars? What’s the net weight?”
Fang Wen had a record of this question.
In his encrypted telegram exchanges with Shopkeeper Liu, there was not only intelligence but also information on those valuable items.
Taking out his notebook, Fang Wen read:
“Produced by the Central Mint, with serial number, purity, and weight.”
Old Liu shook his head: “The Central Mint produces many kinds of gold bars, with different styles. You need to tell me the serial number on them so I know which mold to use.”
It seemed Old Liu had a complete set of fake-making templates.
Fang Wen marveled inwardly and read out the number.
Old Liu nodded: “I have ready-made molds for this batch of gold bars. They can be made absolutely identical, indistinguishable even when held in hand. The problem is, the fake gold I make is harder than real gold. If you airdrop it from the air, it might break.”
“I can solve this problem,” Fang Wen replied confidently. During the January 28th Incident, when he piloted the plane for night airdrops, he had been considering how to solve this issue, and after getting parachutes, the problem was easily resolved.
“Alright then, I’ll go back and prepare now. How many do you need?” Old Liu asked.
“64000.”
Old Liu was greatly surprised, then broke into a smile. This time, they were really going to make a fortune.
With his face flushed, he got into the cart and had Shunzi take him back.
The fake gold matter was in preparation.
Fang Wen also began arranging airdrop parachutes.
Airdrop parachutes were relatively simpler; they just needed to be securely fixed to the wooden boxes containing the fake gold bars. During free fall, air resistance would naturally inflate the parachute.
The drop location was also very important. To prevent this batch of fake gold bars from scattering over too large an area and making collection difficult, they had to lower the flight altitude and drop from just over 1000 meters.
Additionally, this time they had to bring people along. Fang Wen couldn’t pilot the plane, perform the airdrop supplies, and handle everything alone.
He discussed it with his small team.
It was finally decided that the strong Pan Jiafeng and Shunzi would do it.
This excited the two immensely; they could finally participate in the action.
Later, someone from Old Liu’s side came over and delivered a fake gold bar for verification.
Although he hadn’t seen the gold bars from the northeast, Shanghai also had gold from the same batch of the Central Mint, so Fang Wen had someone buy one back.
Comparing the real and fake gold bars, they were basically the same in color, shape, and weight.
One could say that even picking up two gold bars at the same time, without careful examination, a rough judgment would likely deem them real.
With this verification, Fang Wen confirmed they would proceed with this method.
Five days later, 64500 fake gold bars were completed, costing 2000 silver dollars just in materials.
The extra 500 bars were for airdrop testing. They had to test now for any issues, or problems during the actual airdrop couldn’t be fixed.
These test gold bars were wrapped in paper, packed into wooden boxes, and padded with straw for cushioning. Each box held 240 bars, weighing about 15 jin.
After loading the two boxes with gold bars and nailing them shut, they attached parachutes.
The airdrop test could now begin.
The predetermined airdrop point was in Jiaxing, where Fang Shouxin went ahead to arrange.
At 9 p.m., in the dead of night, the roaring sound of an engine came from Shanghai Airport as the Boeing 247 took off.
Shortly after takeoff, the plane reached the skies over Jiaxing.
Fang Wen entered mechanical perception state, searching for the airdrop location in the midnight darkness.
The flash of fire on the ground caught his attention. That was the spot.
The plane descended and circled at around fifteen hundred meters.
Shunzi and Pan Jiafeng waited at the boarding gate.
“Prepare,” Fang Wen said.
Following Fang Wen’s order, Pan Jiafeng immediately opened the boarding gate.
Whistling wind rushed in, causing the two to step back involuntarily. They didn’t have parachutes; falling out would mean no one could save them.
At the moment they reached the drop zone, Fang Wen gave the order: “Drop”
Immediately, Shunzi threw out the box with the parachute.
The other box didn’t move.
The plane then waited in the air.
Until Fang Shouxin on the ground used another cluster of fire to form a pattern conveying information.
Seeing that flame, Fang Wen understood: the airdrop had failed.
The airdrop supplies were undamaged but had drifted a great distance.
This result would cause the real airdrop to fail; the treasure-stealing team didn’t have enough manpower to search mountains and fields for scattered airdrop supplies.
Therefore, there had to be a way to keep the airdrop within as small a range as possible.
This was originally an intractable problem for airdrop supplies; even in the future, drop points couldn’t be perfectly accurate.
But Fang Wen had a solution.
This solution came from the Shanghai night airdrop supplies to the 19th Army action.
At that time, to prevent damage to airdrop supplies, they used a long rope, flew low, and hung the supplies on the rope for landing.
This used the rope’s friction to decelerate the high-altitude fall and reduce losses.
Now, they could improve it with a better method.
The plane descended to 800 meters.
Fang Wen said: “Implement the second airdrop test.”
Pan Jiafeng opened the boarding gate again, and Shunzi flung a rope outward.
This rope was 500 meters long; its role was not only deceleration but also fixing the airdrop range.
Then, the wooden box with the parachute was hung on the rope and thrown out.
The wooden box slid down 500 meters on the rope, greatly reducing descent speed via friction. After detaching from the 500-meter rope, the parachute’s ring buckle on the box was pulled off, and the parachute opened under air resistance.
Thus, the wooden box would descend the final 300 meters under parachute, a distance that wouldn’t let the supplies land too far off without damaging the items inside the box.
Another pile of flames lit up below, indicating the landing range was accurate and the airdrop successful.
The plane then returned to base.
With the low-altitude rope deceleration airdrop method confirmed, all the fake gold was boxed.
64000 fake gold bars, totaling 267 boxes, were all transported to Jinan.
Fang Wen then contacted the north to confirm the airdrop location and arrangements needed for the airdrop.
October 25, 1932, 8 p.m.
Shenyang City was quiet.
This was the Japanese Army’s curfew time; any Chinese people appearing on the streets would be shot.
Inside the Anping Pawn and Consignment Shop, just one street from the Young Marshal’s Mansion, more than a dozen people were busy at their posts.
Some hid behind doors and windows observing outside, some made tools, some studied the Young Marshal’s Mansion floor plan.
In the inner room, under a vertical pit covered by a wooden board, three brothers who looked very similar were digging a tunnel.
The tunnel direction pointed at the Young Marshal’s Mansion; based on progress, it had reached under the intervening road.
Soil dug from the underground pit was loaded into small buckets once accumulated, then the rope on the pit wall was pulled.
People above would hoist the wooden buckets full of soil out of the vertical pit.
This soil was temporarily dumped under the bed, in corners, and covered with implements.
Once dried, treasure hunting group members would pack the soil into small cloth bags, take it out, and quietly scatter it around various places in the city.
Such actions required utmost caution to avoid discovery.
In another corner of the inner room, Shopkeeper Liu would take out the telegraph machine at this time each day to report to the south.
After reporting, he would put on headphones and listen for half an hour to check if an encrypted telegram came from the south.
This time, he heard one and quickly picked up the brush to write rapidly.
After writing, he pondered and translated it into plain text.
He then took the plain text out of the room and handed it to Gang Leader Wang, who was studying the floor plan.
Gang Leader Wang read the plain text softly: “Tomorrow night, airdrop at the old place. Need fire to guide.”
He was instantly delighted; the key props needed for stealing the sky and changing the sun were finally arriving.
“Sun Debiao, you go pick up the stuff tomorrow. I have to meet someone with Shopkeeper Liu tomorrow night and can’t split up.”
Sun Debiao nodded. He knew exactly who Gang Leader Wang was meeting but wouldn’t mention it here. After all, among them, only the three brothers knew the full picture; they couldn’t leak secrets casually.
The night passed just like that.
The Anping Pawn and Consignment Shop opened early for business, with energetic employees cleaning the shop and chatting with passersby, a lively business scene.
Shopkeeper Liu slung a small bag over his shoulder and went out; some passersby who knew what he did gave him disdainful looks.
Shopkeeper Liu ignored those hostile gazes. He knew what he was doing; perhaps by the end of the year, compatriots in Shenyang City would give him a thumbs up when mentioning him.
And so, the day passed.
Shopkeeper Liu returned, then went out again with the patriarch.
They went east of the city and met a young man wearing glasses there.
He was a Japanese Army translator and a native from outside the Passes; Shopkeeper Liu and his father had a debt-free friendship with him.
After entering, Shopkeeper Liu smiled and introduced: “This is my new boss, the owner of Anping Pawn and Consignment Shop, Boss Wang. Patriarch, this is Translator Zhao, the most favored by the Japanese. I hear Translator Zhao will be the new mayor of our Shenyang City next year.”
Gang Leader Wang clasped his fists and bowed.
Translator Zhao had an arrogant expression, as if after becoming a translator, he hadn’t looked compatriots in the eye for a long time.
This was worlds apart from his fawning obeisance toward the Japanese.
Though the two present wanted to kill the kid, the action depended on him, so they could only put on a fawning attitude he enjoyed.
Translator Zhao enjoyed the two’s obsequiousness and finally spoke: “Shopkeeper Liu said your Anping Pawn and Consignment Shop wants to officially open in seven days and set off firecrackers then, right?”
“Yes, these days we just want good luck,” Gang Leader Wang said with a sycophantic smile, taking out a stack of silver dollars.
This stack had thirty silver dollars.
Translator Zhao showed delight: “No problem at all. I’ve already told the superiors, and they’ll come watch you set off fireworks then. Make it spectacular.”
The Japanese were actually coming to watch; Gang Leader Wang was startled but then relieved. Wasn’t this the best cover?
He gladly agreed.
Meanwhile, Sun Debiao also began his action.
He led seven from the action group to the old city wall, using a grappling hook to catch the brick seams atop the wall, then agilely climbed up.
The group climbed the wall one by one, redirected the grappling hook, and swiftly slid down the rope to the ground.
They exited the city easily without alerting any Japanese Army sentries, but the road ahead still required caution.
Searchlights on the city wall swept regularly; they had to dash through the gaps between the two searchlights’ sweeps.
Sun Debiao silently counted in his mind, then took off running, the others following without hesitation.
They sprinted 300 meters in one go before the searchlights arrived belatedly.
Next, the group headed southwest, procuring a mule cart midway.
The reason for using a mule cart instead of a horse-drawn carriage was deliberate.
Mules are naturally mute and silent at night, perfect for actions.
But to make the mule travel at night, they blindfolded it and led it along.
After more than an hour, they reached the Pearl Lake edge where the airborne drop had occurred.
They stuck the torch from the mule cart into the ground, then waited silently.
Until midnight at 12.
Sun Debiao quickly took out the kerosene lighter and lit the torch.
About half an hour later, a roaring sound suddenly came from the quiet night sky.
Under the moonlight, they saw the fuselage of the Boeing 247 streak across the sky.
This distance showed the plane was very close to the ground.
Then, boxes bloomed like flowers at 300 meters altitude, steadily landing in the area guided by the torch.
The airdrop landed smoothly, the plane departed, and Sun Debiao’s group immediately began collecting all boxes scattered in the nearby area.
A total of 267 wooden boxes, none damaged.
Nearly 2 tons of fake gold couldn’t be transported back in one night.
They made five trips with the mule cart to transport all the boxes to a nearby hiding spot.
Then, three action group members stayed to guard the hiding spot, while the other five each carried two boxes back the same way.
They had to transport all this fake gold back under the Japanese’ noses to prepare for the next action.
Inside the Anping Pawn and Consignment Shop.
More than a dozen people gathered around; one wooden box was open, fake gold bars gleaming under the light.
Even knowing they were fake, everyone still breathed heavily.
Gang Leader Wang frowned, however.
“267 boxes. Only 10 brought back, and it starts in 7 days. What to do?”
Sun Debiao sighed: “The Japanese guard tightly. We must be very careful to bring the stuff back, and after re-entering the city, dodge Japanese patrols and police dogs. Bringing it all back undiscovered is too hard.”
The treasure hunting group had made a huge mistake.
They hadn’t realized how enormous 2 tons of fake gold was.
Bringing it back in batches without a single mistake, undiscovered by the Japanese, was too difficult.
But without fake gold, all subsequent preparations were for nothing.
Gang Leader Wang looked at the others; everyone was at a loss.
He said: “Shopkeeper Liu, go ask the general manager tomorrow night and see what he says.”
After the night airdrop, Fang Wen felt refreshed. With the fake gold props, he could almost see the treasure theft action succeeding.
Once the gold was stolen, find a landing point, pilot the plane there to retrieve the gold, and the plan would be complete.
Seemed not too difficult.
This idea was shattered that evening while receiving the encrypted telegram.
Looking at the encrypted telegram, Fang Wen pondered.
They had finally hit a snag.
If the fake gold couldn’t be transported into the city undetected, everything was for naught.
How to solve it?
Must create a gap in the Japanese Army’s vigilance. Only massive chaos would give the treasure-stealing team a chance to transport the fake gold into the city.
An idea formed in Fang Wen’s mind.
Bomb the Japanese Army in Shenyang. In that situation, the Japanese Army would definitely be thrown into chaos.
And if bombing, make it spectacular, teach them a big lesson.
