Chapter 118: 117, Congress Building Arson Incident, Istanbul To Lake Van
February 27th.
All preparations were ready, and the Lake Van treasure hunt began.
Fang Wen sent information on two different frequencies, notifying personnel on both sides to prepare.
Afterward, he and Lin Shuiwang took the car sent by Falmang to the aircraft manufacturing plant, where they waited for night to fall.
Time passed bit by bit, and the two waited in the Ford Tri-Motor Airplane.
When dinner time arrived, Lin Shuiwang took out the prepared food and gave it to Fang Wen.
While eating, Lin Shuiwang was still a bit worried.
“Mr. Fang, are those people really reliable? Can we trust them?”
Fang Wen finished eating the smoked meat bread roll in his hand and explained, “There’s no question of trust or not; this is a transaction. Without me, they couldn’t do this. The most critical part isn’t finding the treasure, but transporting the items back to Europe.”
“Then what happens after we return?” Lin Shuiwang asked. He approved of Fang Wen’s plan; the entire process was under the pilot’s control, and the others couldn’t do without Fang Wen. But at the end, when the plane returned and it was time for profit sharing, that was often the most dangerous time.
He had considered Lin Shuiwang’s worry.
“I will fly the plane back to Paris and complete the profit sharing there.”
Hearing that they would return to Paris for profit sharing, Lin Shuiwang felt much more relieved. In his view, Germans and Americans couldn’t cause trouble in France.
But next, a gun appeared in front of Lin Shuiwang.
It was handed to him by Fang Wen, a Browning pocket pistol.
“One must be cautious of others; you keep it. If anything happens, you can use it for self-defense.”
Taking the pistol, Lin Shuiwang nodded solemnly.
In the time that followed, Fang Wen took out the map and told Lin Shuiwang about this aerial itinerary.
“Tonight we fly to three places. First from Paris to Berlin to pick them up, then a stopover in Vienna, and finally to Istanbul. Rest in Istanbul during the day, and depart for Lake Van at night.”
6 p.m., the sky was gradually darkening.
Airport runway lights came on.
The Ford Tri-Motor drove out of the hangar and accelerated on the runway, flying into the sky.
After flying for one hour, it was completely dark.
The plane flew westward continuously. In this peaceful era, with no radar monitoring, it didn’t alert the French Air Force at all.
The plane passed through Belgium and entered Weimar Republic territory.
Passing through Aachen, Cologne, Hanover, Wolfsburg, it finally reached the skies over Berlin.
The 800-kilometer range had already taken more than five hours, and it was now late night at 11 p.m.
At this time, Berlin’s central area was illuminated by a sea of firelight.
Fang Wen was surprised; how could the city center of Berlin be on fire? He had stayed in Berlin for a month and knew the environment there: open spaces with patrols. Even if there was a fire, it would be hard for it to spread.
Could something have happened below?!
Would it affect the landing?
Fang Wen’s heart sank slightly as he turned the fuselage and flew west of Berlin, searching for a landing point.
On the road in the forest area west of Berlin, there should be ground torch lights marking the landing point as agreed.
After some searching, he saw them: two rows of torches lighting up the road below.
He then controlled the plane to land on the road.
The old plane at 150 km/h speed posed no difficulty in Fang Wen’s hands; it landed easily on the road.
Once the plane stopped steadily, seven figures ran over from the roadside.
They were fully armed, carrying large bags and small bags, fully prepared.
Fang Wen signaled Lin Shuiwang to open the boarding gate and help load the items.
After a flurry of activity, various supplies were loaded into the cabin, and the seven officers boarded the plane.
The plane accelerated on the road and took off. After it lifted into the air, several soldiers appeared roadside, removed the torches, and cleaned up all traces.
The Ford Tri-Motor took off again, with the next target being Vienna.
Fang Wen asked aloud, “Is there no problem with your arranged stopover point?”
“No problem, it’s a farm.” The English-speaking officer replied; he became the German side’s communicator for this operation.
Fang Wen thought of the big fire in Berlin’s city center and couldn’t help asking, “What was that big fire tonight?”
“We don’t know either. We heard the Congress building was on fire. By the time we arrived, they had caught the arsonist. Apparently a Dutch Communist Party member, possibly instigated.”
Fang Wen detected a hint of conspiracy in the man’s words.
Although the Nazis currently held some governing power, they couldn’t decide everything.
Under the Weimar Republic’s parliamentary system, many Nazi Party proposals could be opposed and blocked by other parties.
Among them, the Weimar Communist Party was the second largest party in Congress.
Thinking of this, Fang Wen had a rough guess.
In the future, when the Nazis carried out dictatorial rule, they would surely eliminate dissenters.
This fire, plus such an obvious suspect, wasn’t it framing?
It seemed the Weimar Republic was not far from changing.
Brushing aside his thoughts, Fang Wen said aloud, “If the Nazi Party controls the entire country in the future, what will you do?”
The officer showed a bewildered expression: “I don’t know.”
At present, perhaps many Weimar soldiers were in this state.
Fang Wen said no more and focused on piloting the plane.
More than three hours later, 2 a.m.
The plane stopped flying forward and circled in the high sky.
Fang Wen said, “Vienna has arrived.”
The officers all stood up and looked below.
Seeing the lights below, they were incredibly surprised.
This was a rare experience: the magical Eastern pilot could really find the heading accurately at night.
This gave them even more confidence in the treasure hunting trip.
The English-speaking officer came to the outside of the cockpit and said, “The landing farm is south of Vienna, quite remote. Fly that way, and you should see the guiding firelight.”
The Ford Tri-Motor turned and circled over the skies south of Vienna.
After a while, the officers shouted in German.
The English-speaking officer explained:
“They found it. It’s right below.”
Fang Wen had actually seen it earlier and immediately landed the plane.
From Paris to Berlin, then to Vienna, a 1300-kilometer range, most of the fuel had been used; it needed to be refilled to continue takeoff.
He waited on the plane while two officers and Lin Shuiwang jumped down to negotiate with the farm people.
After a while, an ox cart dragged a large fuel tank over, and Lin Shuiwang took out a stack of British pounds as fuel payment to the other side.
Fuel filled, the plane took off again, heading to Istanbul.
This over 1000-kilometer range also demonstrated some minor advantages of the Ford Tri-Motor.
Though the speed was extremely slow, the performance was stable.
Precisely because of the slow speed, the requirements for landing points were not high; it could land in various poor landing environments.
It was almost tailor-made for this treasure hunting operation.
The 1200-kilometer range from Vienna to Istanbul took 8 hours.
The Ford Tri-Motor arrived in Istanbul at 10 a.m.
The plane called the ground from the air to request landing and, after approval, landed on the runway.
At the edge of the runway, a man in a suit and wide-brimmed hat was waiting.
Fang Wen waved from the cockpit: “Indiana, good morning.”
“I’ve been waiting for you here for a day. I hope your treasure is real.” Indiana replied.
“It shouldn’t be wrong. Get on the plane; we’ll talk over there.” Fang Wen pointed to the hangar where he had parked the P26.
Indiana was pulled aboard by two officers on the plane, and the plane drove toward the hangar.
At the hangar, Fang Wen gave the key to Lin Shuiwang to open the door.
After the hangar door opened, the Ford Tri-Motor drove in and temporarily parked.
Fang Wen immediately got off to check if his Shrike Hao was intact.
After two months, the Shrike Hao had quietly stayed in the hangar. Apart from a layer of dust, there were no issues.
Relieved in his heart, Fang Wen turned back.
On the Ford Tri-Motor side, everyone had already gotten off the plane.
But they split into three groups.
The seven German officers in one group, Lin Shuiwang and Indiana each standing apart.
They didn’t know each other and were all wary.
Fang Wen came over to introduce them.
“These seven are from the Weimar Republic National Army. This is Indiana from the United States Office of Strategic Services, and Lin Shuiwang, my assistant.”
Indiana showed an expression of understanding: “You have Germans and Americans working for you, then use the treasure distribution to keep us in check?”
Fang Wen calmly replied, “Yes, I only take thirty percent but bear the thousands of kilometers of flight. No one is a better organizer than me.”
“So, I get the remaining twenty percent, and these Germans get fifty percent?” Indiana disdainfully glanced at the seven German officers.
His words and actions, after translation, angered the officers, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Lin Shuiwang approached Fang Wen and whispered, “Sir, the situation isn’t good.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as you think. I see this as Indiana’s strategy. The Germans aren’t fools. They’ll probably renegotiate the distribution.” Fang Wen explained.
Sure enough, no fight broke out; the two sides discussed.
After a while, they invited Fang Wen to join.
The English-speaking officer stated the negotiation result.
“This American says he can handle cashing out the treasure into currency for us. We’re willing to give him ten percent. Fang, do you think he can do it?”
The Office of Strategic Services was the predecessor of the CIA; it wasn’t unusual for Indiana to have connections in Europe. Fang Wen nodded.
“If you agree too, then that’s it. After getting the treasure, I’ll fly back to Paris and cash it out there before we three-way profit sharing.”
Paris was the city of art, a gathering place for antique collectors, perfect for cashing out ancient treasure. Everyone agreed to the proposal.
Next was waiting for night to fall; after all, for the treasure hunting trip, it was best not to let the local government know.
During this time, Lin Shuiwang and Indiana went out once.
When they returned, they brought the most popular delicacy here, Turkish barbecue.
Lin Shuiwang specially introduced it to Fang Wen.
“They call this food Doner Kebab; it’s made with lamb leg meat.”
Fang Wen watched the local Turks set up tools on-site to grill.
Unlike the vertical rotisserie barbecue that would become popular worldwide in the future.
They skewered meat slices mixed with vegetables and plant tubers into long skewers, grilling them like Xinjiang mutton skewers.
Fang Wen couldn’t help suspecting that the so-called globally popular Turkish barbecue in the future might be an innovation, and this Doner Kebab was the traditional way.
After some grilling, the aroma of oil and spices wafted over.
It greatly whetted the appetite.
The meat-loving Germans really liked this food and directly crowded around to eat heartily.
Watching them eat, Fang Wen also felt hungry.
Soon, everyone in the treasure hunting team gathered around, enjoying the delicious food.
They not only had meat skewers but also a way of eating where flatbread baked from flour was cut open, stuffed with grilled meat, similar to eating meat-stuffed buns or hamburgers.
Eating together, relations gradually warmed.
Indiana and the German officers began chatting and laughing idly.
Seeing this scene, Fang Wen felt somewhat emotional. Cherish this brief peaceful era; in a few years, Europe would erupt in great war, and these people would become irreconcilable enemies.
But on second thought, it seemed China had endured war’s tribulations even longer.
From the late Qing Dynasty to now, war had never stopped, and in the future another ten years, nearly half a century of China spent in war.
Thinking of this, Fang Wen resolved inwardly to properly cash out the good things from this European trip after returning home, to strive for ending the war as soon as possible.
The barbecue meal ended.
A few hours until nightfall; everyone rested in the hangar or on the plane, finding spots casually.
Snores rose and fell; though noisy, the fatigue from a night’s labor made Fang Wen fall into deep sleep.
Lin Shuiwang didn’t sleep, however. He sat beside Fang Wen, right leg raised, hand pressing on his thigh, covering the Browning pistol in his pocket.
Among the officers, one also sat against the wall, keeping watch in the same way.
Indiana sat alone on the other side, head down and curled up; with his hat covering, it was unclear if he was asleep or awake.
Time passed bit by bit until it was finally dark.
7 p.m., everyone got up and boarded the plane to prepare for departure.
Fang Wen piloted the plane out of the hangar; Lin Shuiwang locked the hangar door and ran to board the plane.
Meanwhile, Indiana negotiated with airport staff, and the runway lights came on.
Arrangements made for takeoff, Indiana also boarded the plane.
The Ford Tri-Motor accelerated and flew into the sky.
The route from Istanbul to Lake Van, Fang Wen had flown once before, so flying it again was familiar.
The 1200-kilometer range took 8 hours, arriving at the destination at 5 a.m.
Lake Van at 5 a.m. was still pitch black.
But on the dock road on the southeast shore, guiding torches were lit.
Guided by the torches, Fang Wen controlled the plane to land on the dock road.
Finally, they arrived at the treasure hunting location.
A youth wearing a baseball cap came outside the plane. After Fang Wen got off, he introduced himself.
“Hello, I’m Roberto Kerr, the telegraph operator and ground contact for this operation. I get a share if the treasure is found too.”
Fang Wen shook his hand: “Yes, but find Indiana; he’ll handle your share.”
The youth glanced at Indiana, and after his nod, happily pointed behind: “Drive the plane to the dock; I’ve leased this place, no one will disturb us for a short time.”
Fang Wen returned to the plane, started it, and slowly drove along the road to the dock. Once there, everyone began working.
They took out black canvas and covered the plane.
Then they moved various supplies from the plane to the wooden house on the dock.
Next was inventorying supplies and calculating expenses.
For this treasure hunt.
Many tools had been prepared.
Shovels, stone hammers, explosives, diving gear, and so on.
The purchase of these supplies, various flight expenses, and the Lake Van dock lease fees all needed to be tallied.
These expenses would be deducted as costs of the treasure hunting operation after the treasure was found.
Expenses tallied, everyone took some supplies onto small boats and transported them to the small island in the lake.
After several trips, all supplies were delivered to the small island.
Only the telegraph operator Roberto Kerr was left guarding the dock; everyone else on the island began treasure hunting.
