Chapter 17: Loading Cargo In The Wild, Japanese Army In Shenyang City, First Manual Aerial Bombing
A large group of people emerged from the darkness, some holding torches for light, others carrying wooden boxes of various styles.
The scene immediately became lively.
Sun Debiao and Shopkeeper Liu got off the airplane, while Fang Wen, Howard, and Yue Jinping stayed on the airplane.
Shopkeeper Liu chatted warmly with the person in charge among those people.
“Managers from each family, according to the rules we discussed before, the goods must be weighed and cannot exceed the portions agreed upon by the owners. After weighing, confirm the seal is not damaged before boarding the airplane.”
The persons in charge from each family had no objections, and some even urged them on.
“We all know this, hurry up Shopkeeper Liu. So many of us are leaving the city; if even one person leaks the news, we’re all done for. Finish quickly so everyone can relax.”
Immediately, they began the busy work.
Two strong men set up a two-meter-long large scale, hanging large boxes one by one on the scale hook.
Shopkeeper Liu moved the large weight on the scale beam, carefully weighing the jin liang of each box.
Then, he worked the abacus, converting to kilograms using the standard of one jin being sixteen liang and one liang being 37 grams.
After uniformly calculating the goods for each family, he checked that the seal on the box was not damaged before having people carry the goods to the airplane hatch.
For safety’s sake, others could not board the airplane. Next, Fang Wen, Howard, and Sun Debiao together lifted the boxes into the cabin and stacked them one by one.
One ton of cargo was divided into over a hundred large and small boxes, which needed to be sorted by category, and it took more than three hours without finishing the inventory and loading.
Fang Wen checked the pocket watch he bought in Shanghai and saw it was already four o’clock.
“Shopkeeper Liu, how much cargo is left?” he asked.
Shopkeeper Liu stopped, stood up, and looked around: “Sixteen boxes left. About 200 kilograms.”
“Must finish within half an hour.” After Fang Wen spoke, he instructed Howard and Sun Debiao to load the cargo, then went into the cockpit, sat down, and started the engine.
Must take off by five o’clock at the latest, as planned.
Shenyang City is located in the east of China, seeing the sun earlier than other areas. From what Shopkeeper Liu said, in October in Shenyang, it gets light around five something, so the airplane must take off before sunrise.
Hearing the airplane engine sound, Shopkeeper Liu worked even faster, and after quickly weighing a dozen boxes, they were loaded onto the airplane.
After finishing, Shopkeeper Liu felt relieved and clasped his fists to the others: “Everyone has worked hard. Liu will head back to Beiping first; may we meet again inside the Passes someday.”
The persons in charge from each business firm also clasped fists in return, preparing to watch the airplane depart from here.
At this moment, a streak of white appeared on the distant horizon.
Suddenly, a sharp whooshing sound pierced the air.
Fang Wen, waiting, looked at the brightening horizon and felt a bit anxious.
They were operating right under the noses of the Japanese army, and there were plenty of Japanese soldiers inside Shenyang City. Even without anti-aircraft weapons, flying low or before takeoff was very dangerous.
A sharp, piercing sound made his heart tighten; it was gunfire.
It seemed to come from the direction of Shenyang City.
He hurriedly shouted outside: “Get on the airplane quickly, take off immediately.”
Shopkeeper Liu hurriedly turned and climbed the boarding ladder, nearly falling in his panic, but Sun Debiao grabbed him and pulled him onto the airplane.
Howard pulled up the boarding ladder, closed the hatch, and the airplane accelerated on the somewhat bumpy road.
After rushing forward over 200 meters, the speed finally reached takeoff state. Fang Wen pulled the control stick, and the nose lifted into the sky.
Just as the airplane lifted off, a series of gunfire crackled like popping beans.
Bold Sun Debiao leaned by the window and looked below.
“Something’s happened. The Japanese army is coming.”
Fang Wen entered mechanical perception state and saw the situation below.
A team of Japanese soldiers was firing dispersed shots, exchanging fire with several bodyguards.
But from the equipment, the bodyguards’ pistols were no match for the opponent’s military weapons.
Behind the bodyguards, a group of people was panicking and fleeing south along the road.
But in the direction they were fleeing, another troop was performing a flanking maneuver.
From the looks of it, once the bodyguards were overwhelmed, those people probably wouldn’t escape either.
Unfortunately, he was piloting a civilian transport aircraft and couldn’t help them.
Wait, Fang Wen suddenly remembered something.
Howard had once complained about the safety of the fuel during maintenance, saying the batch of aviation gasoline from Nanyuan Aviation School had poor anti-knock properties, low ignition point, and was very prone to catching fire.
But to prevent fuel issues midway.
The airplane also carried some spare fuel in 100-liter iron barrels.
While piloting the airplane in in-air circling, he asked.
“Howard, if we drop the spare fuel, can it be ignited?”
Howard responded in surprise:
“What? You’re crazy. I can make a fuse with a cloth strip, but I can’t guarantee hitting ground targets.”
Howard’s words sparked a bold idea in Fang Wen’s mind.
High-altitude bombing training to ensure impact points—he had tried it many times over the past year during test flights.
It required the bomber to calculate the drop angle and timing based on the airplane’s speed, altitude, wind direction, and wind speed.
Also considering the target’s distance and movement speed（if the target is moving）.
For this, he had specifically asked mathematicians to compute a bombing table for him, containing various formulas to apply.
This training gave him the ability to judge aerial drops in real time, though the success rate still needed more practice to improve.
But he couldn’t miss this live ammunition drop opportunity.
His mind raced as he thought.
The large iron barrel filled with 100 liters of aviation gasoline had a rounded outer wall, similar to a bomb’s shape.
It wouldn’t be greatly affected by air resistance. If the airplane flew over the target area, he just needed to calculate the vector difference in advance to determine the impact point.
Combined with mechanical perception, it was entirely possible to hit with one shot.
Immediately, while controlling the airplane, he issued orders to the flight team members behind him.
“I’m going to help the people below, but only one chance. You all must fully cooperate with Howard.”
The people in the airplane got busy.
They worked together to move the large oil barrel from the transport aircraft’s rear compartment to the hatch.
Then Howard tore a cotton undershirt into one-meter-long strips, soaked them completely in aviation gasoline, with one end inside the oil barrel and the other outside.
After preparing this, Fang Wen instructed:
“Yue Jinping, when I say open the door, open the airplane hatch.”
“After the hatch is open, Howard lights the oil barrel fuse. Shopkeeper Liu, Sun Debiao, you must immediately cooperate with Howard to push the oil barrel out.”
“This process must be done in one go without mistakes. Do you understand?”
Though the process was simple, it was very dangerous—that was a 100-liter fuel barrel. If not dropped in time, the whole airplane would explode.
The four looked serious, discussed earnestly, and confirmed the plan.
Immediately, the airplane circled to above the road.
On the road below, a team of Japanese army military vehicles was approaching.
At the moment the airplane in the air crossed with the ground convoy, Fang Wen suddenly shouted: “Open the door.”
