Chapter 123: 122, Return To Shanghai, Taishan Volunteer Army Established
Kuang Anming’s shout didn’t need his sister Kuang Mingzhu to relay it.
Fang Wen was already behind the boarding gate.
Should he go or not? Fang Wen was considering.
These days, it’s really hard to say.
In the past few years, there had been several incidents where airplanes were intercepted by local warlords, and those were actions between warlords.
If they intercepted the f.220 here, Taishan Airlines probably wouldn’t get it back.
Although the other side spoke nicely, he couldn’t take that risk.
After all, this f.220 was too important; it wasn’t just as simple as serving as a transport aircraft on the surface.
For this reason, Fang Wen still decided to refuse, even if it meant offending Long Yun; he couldn’t take the risk.
Immediately, Kuang Anming relayed Fang Wen’s intention. That military officer showed a regretful expression but didn’t flare up; he just took out a camera and took photos of the airplane.
After taking the photos, he got into the military vehicle and left.
After waiting a bit longer, refueling was complete. Kuang Anming paid the fuel fee, locked the fuel tanks on both sides, then hurriedly boarded the airplane and secured the hatch.
“Fourth sister’s husband, it’s ready.”
Fang Wen immediately turned the fuselage and took off into the sky.
By now, it was already 10 a.m., with over 1900 kilometers of flight path remaining, needing to be completed within 6 hours to arrive at Shanghai Airport before 5 p.m.
After all, with such a large airplane, Fang Wen didn’t dare say he had absolute confidence in landing at night; if the wings got damaged, it would be heartbreaking.
The f.220 soared with wings spread in the high sky.
Fang Wen flew it alone, handling it with ease.
Beside him sat his wife Kuang Mingzhu.
Kuang Mingzhu looked at some equipment in the co-pilot area, feeling somewhat nervous and uneasy, afraid that she might accidentally cause trouble.
To distract her nervous mood, she looked below and developed a strong interest in the land under the white clouds.
Fang Wen, who could clearly judge their current position relying on the map and compass, introduced the splendid rivers and mountains of China below to her.
The airplane flew straight toward Shanghai, with the first city passed being Guiyang.
Guiyang City wasn’t large, enclosed by city walls, divided into upper and lower urban areas.
This place seemed not to have been much influenced by the outside world, still retaining its antique charm.
Kuang Mingzhu, holding binoculars, also saw something she was very interested in.
“So many archways! These could only be erected by emperors in ancient times, right?”
Fang Wen pretended to look up and below.
Beside an ancient official road stood several stone archways; it was unknown for whom they were erected.
This was the pomp of ancient people: a lifetime of fame engraved on stones, erected beside official roads for people to admire.
The airplane didn’t stop and continued flying.
They arrived at Yuanjiang.
“Look at the river below; most of the tung oil for the tung oil for airplanes project enters the Yangtze River from this river and is transported to Nanjing,” Fang Wen said.
Kuang Mingzhu also interestedly picked up the binoculars and looked below.
“Didn’t fourth sister and fourth sister’s husband say they are also by the Yuan River? Right, what does fourth sister look like? Is she pretty?” she asked. She was still very concerned about Fang Wen’s own older sister.
To this, Fang Wen didn’t know how to respond; there was no image of fourth sister in his mind.
“Mm, pretty.” To change the topic and avoid his wife asking about his childhood, Fang Wen simply flew along the Yuanjiang, letting his wife see Changde where fourth sister lived.
After passing Changde, the airplane veered east, crossed Dongting Lake, and arrived at Yueyang.
From Yueyang on a northeast flight path along the Yangtze River, they could go to Wuhan, but that would make the journey longer. Fang Wen continued east, passing through a wetland area to Jiujiang.
Next to Jiujiang City was another inland lake of China, Poyang Lake, where the lake water flows into the Yangtze River and converges to the sea.
Below Jiujiang, there was a majestic mountain peak, which was Mount Lu.
The airplane continued flying east and finally arrived at Taihu Lake two hours later.
This trip had passed through the three most famous inland lakes of China.
After Taihu Lake, it wasn’t far from Shanghai; an hour’s flight path brought them to Shanghai Airport, absent for two months.
At Shanghai Airport, a Taishan Airlines staff member ran out from the control tower, shouting loudly all the way: “The general manager is back. He flew back the giant behemoth.”
Following his shouts, Taishan Airlines employees gathered at the airport one by one, including more than twenty young new flight apprentices.
Everyone stood outside the airport runway, looking up at the sky, anticipating the moment the airplane landed.
A few minutes later, a massive airplane descended from the sky with a roar amid the employees’ cheers and landed on the runway.
“So big!” Exclamations rose one after another.
Shao Sishen proudly lectured to the second batch of aviation flight apprentices: “This is our Taishan Airlines’ new airplane, unique in the country.”
Meanwhile, the f.220 airplane had begun taxiing off the runway and stopped at the parking area.
The hatch opened, and a group of people came out from inside, but Fang Wen and Kuang Mingzhu were nowhere to be seen.
While everyone was puzzled, Fang Wen poked his head out from behind the cabin door: “Shao Sishen, Pan Jiafeng, Manager Liu, Sun Debiao, Howard, Fang Shouxin, Fang Shun, come up; let’s have a small meeting.”
Those called hurried toward the airplane for Fang Wen’s small group meeting.
Inside the f.220 cabin, several people excitedly examined the internal structure of the airplane, asking questions nonstop.
“What’s this?”
“Machine gun room; there are five in total, but I think they’re useless. They’ll be converted into bomb-dropping rooms later.”
“What about here?”
“Ammunition bay; it can hold 4000 kilograms of bombs altogether. There’s also 4000 kilograms of bomb load externally.”
Goodness, everyone was from the airline company and was greatly shocked by Fang Wen’s description.
Especially Pan Jiafeng and Shao Sishen.
Pan Jiafeng rubbed his fists with excitement. “Master, I’ll be your co-pilot. When you’re old and fly it, you must take me along.”
“I’m not old, but I’ll definitely take you,” Fang Wen replied with a smile.
Shao Sishen felt envy mixed with sadness; if he weren’t disabled, he too dreamed of flying such a colossal machine.
Fang Wen sighed inwardly and patted Shao Sishen’s shoulder: “You can’t fly airplanes, but the apprentices you train can, right?”
Shao Sishen’s emotions recovered, and he nodded vigorously.
After comforting his comrade, Fang Wen stopped the chatter: “Meeting starts now. Everyone relax—stand if you want, sit if you want. I’ll talk about the gains from this European trip and future plans.”
Everyone immediately fell silent, some leaning, some sitting.
Fang Wen organized his thoughts and began.
“The first gain from this European trip is buying this land-based night bomber. It can fly 2000 kilometers; after modification, it can reach 3000 kilometers, enabling round-trip night bombing with a combat radius of 1500 kilometers.”
Sun Debiao raised his hand: “General manager, what is combat radius?”
Fang Wen took out a notebook, drew a circle with a dot in the middle, and connected lines to the edge.
“This is the combat radius; the entire circle is within its bombing zone.”
Everyone understood this explanation and mentally estimated the range a 1500-kilometer combat radius could cover.
Not thinking about it was fine, but realizing it was shocking—the range was huge.
Shao Sishen reacted first.
“If we set the center point at Jinan, we can cover most of the Three Eastern Provinces; the Great Wall is also within range.”
Fang Wen nodded.
“The problem is, we don’t have that many bombs. I’ll handle that. Now, the second matter.”
He took a large bag from the cargo pile in the machine gun room.
He displayed the information inside: “Tomorrow, who will go to Nanjing with me? This is weapon information I brought back from Germany; I want to discuss it with Huo Duanyang.”
A group raised hands; Fang Wen chose Fang Shun. “Shunzi, it’ll be you. I heard you failed the exam again; might as well come with me since you’re idle.”
Shunzi, who had been happy, immediately wilted; everyone burst into laughter.
When the laughter stopped, Fang Wen continued: “The third matter is very important but also troublesome. I brought back a special medicine from London, UK; it needs to be extracted from a kind of mold. Currently, only the biology department of Tsinghua University has the R&D capability domestically. The problem is, this medicine is extremely important—it can save countless wounded lives on the battlefield. If it leaks out, I’m worried the Japanese will try to seize it. Therefore, the cooperation talks with Tsinghua University must be kept confidential, not just on our side but also on theirs.”
Fang Wen’s words made everyone realize the importance of this matter.
The land of China had been at war for decades; even those who hadn’t been to the battlefield knew how painful and despairing it was for the wounded.
The maimed soldiers on the streets missing arms or legs were the lucky ones; many didn’t survive.
Shopkeeper Liu volunteered: “General manager, let me go to Beiping. I’ve stayed there for a while and know it well.”
Fang Wen nodded: “You alone won’t do; have Sun Debiao accompany you—one civil, one martial, and both familiar with Beiping. Perfect. Now, the fourth matter: I want to establish our own Taishan Airlines volunteer army.”
Volunteer army was a title that had emerged on the land of China in the past two years.
After the September 18th Incident, in the Northeast, whether ordinary people, soldiers, or police officers, as long as they organized to resist Japan, they were called volunteer armies.
During last year’s treasure theft at the Young Marshal’s Mansion, the treasure hunting group had cooperated with a volunteer army.
And in Shanghai, after the January 28th Incident, volunteer army teams had appeared cooperating with the 19th Route Army.
It could be said that this was a spontaneous anti-Japanese force with broad participation from all classes of society.
After Fang Wen proposed this, everyone had no objections, as if they had anticipated it.
They voiced approval one after another.
Fang Wen nodded. “Good. I now announce the establishment of the Taishan Airlines Volunteer Army, abbreviated externally as Taishan Volunteer Army. Our organization is not a strict military one, but we must be united in sincerity, care for each other, keep secrets, and never betray companions.”
Everyone nodded solemnly.
Fang Wen continued: “Currently, the volunteer army only has us few, but due to our special nature—mainly air combat against the Japanese army in the future—we don’t need to expand numbers casually. Better to lack than overabundance; only accept those confirmed trustworthy.”
After gaining unanimous agreement, Fang Wen announced the meeting ended. The Fang Wen small group left with a hint of excitement, no objections.
Fang Wen and Kuang Mingzhu stayed behind.
He took out three canvas bags from deep in the cabin cargo pile.
Handed them to Kuang Mingzhu: “The Taishan Volunteer Army needs funds to sustain; these three bags will serve as seed capital. How about you manage this money?”
“We as husband and wife, one managing affairs, one managing money—is that appropriate?” Kuang Mingzhu asked worriedly.
Fang Wen smiled: “Appropriate. You’re the one I trust most; a couple united is unbreakable.”
Hearing her husband’s words, Kuang Mingzhu felt sweetness in her heart.
She opened a bag to count.
Under the electric lamp in the cabin, a bright gleam reflected out, dazzling.
Kuang Mingzhu, whose family ran a gold firm, was sensitive to these; upon close inspection, she exclaimed in surprise.
“Gold jewelry, agate, obsidian, sapphire—these seem to have some age. Oh right, these are the ones you brought from Europe?”
Fang Wen nodded. He also opened another bag. Truth be told, these three bags of treasure were the last remaining; he hadn’t thought much and didn’t know what was inside.
The second bag was also gold and jewelry.
The third bag consisted of red gold coins.
Adding it up, it seemed far more than his fifty thousand US dollar investment—a small profit.
The Taishan Volunteer Army was established but had only nine members: Fang Wen, Kuang Mingzhu, Shao Sishen, Pan Jiafeng, Shopkeeper Liu, Sun Debiao, Howard, Fang Shouxin, Fang Shun.
But Fang Wen believed that his team of 9 could create the combat power of a regiment or a division, dealing heavy blows to the Japanese.
One of their targets was to conduct strategic bombing on the Japanese army outside the Great Wall to restrain their offensive.
But such bombing required massive aerial bombs; even Huo Duanyang’s researched napalm needed enormous productivity to manufacture.
And nearby, only Jinling Arsenal had the capability.
Plus the matter of German weapon information, the next day he took Shunzi on a China Airlines flight to Nanjing.
After disembarking, the two took a shuttle bus to the urban area and walked the familiar path again.
Arriving at Yanghu Lane, Fang Wen still found that gatekeeper.
The other party didn’t take money this time.
“Mr. Fang, Researcher Huo said to notify him immediately if you come; I dare not take your money.”
Finishing, he trotted into the factory to call someone.
Soon, Huo Duanyang came out from inside.
Happily: “You’re back from Europe? You must have many observations from the journey. Come, let’s find a place to chat.”
Fang Wen smiled and nodded. The three sat at a spot in a wine shop by the Qinhuai River in Yanghu Lane.
Huo Duanyang ordered a few Nanjing local specialties, warmed a pot of yellow wine, and poured for Fang Wen.
After a drink, Fang Wen said: “The European trip was truly eye-opening: South Asia’s poverty, Central Asia’s exotic customs, Europe’s technological prosperity. Also visited the Persian imperial palace and met the king. Went to the Weimar Republic to witness the chaos there.”
Huo Duanyang itched to hear more and hurriedly poured wine.
“General manager, tell in detail, one by one.”
“Can’t do one by one; it’d take a day and night. Business first.”
Fang Wen looked at Shunzi; Shunzi handed over the suitcase he had been holding to Fang Wen.
Suitcase opened, Fang Wen took out the introduction and index sections of two sets of information and gave them to Huo Duanyang.
“These two things, I bought at high price from the Weimar Republic. See if they’re useful?”
