Chapter 250: 249, Adapting To The Situation: Majuro Military Coup, Honolulu Layover, First Encounter With Pearl Harbor Navy
The Japanese on Majuro Atoll surprisingly had hidden an armored car, making the situation delicate.
The gangsters Zhao Jiu brought were fierce but lacked organization; once scattered by the armored car, the situation would turn.
So, it had to be eliminated.
Fang Wen had Zhao Jiu send people to block it first, while he and Wu Yingzong went to the tallest building on the island, the hotel where airplane passengers rested.
The two hurried to the top floor of the hotel, encountering panicked inquiries from passengers awakened by the gunfire along the way.
“Excuse us, we need to go upstairs.” Wu Yingzong shouted.
“What happened?” the passengers asked.
“No need to panic, everyone can keep sleeping; those who can’t sleep should stay in their rooms and not go out. It’ll be fine soon.”
Fang Wen gave a vague explanation; what happened tonight was a complete break with the Japanese, but there was no need to tell these passengers, as it would only cause more panic.
They ran to the rooftop and used binoculars to observe the distant situation.
Majuro Atoll was not large; by moonlight, Fang Wen, with better than average vision, spotted that armored car.
So that’s the thing.
Fang Wen’s military intelligence purchased from Shanghai included information on this type of armored car.
Imperial Japanese Navy purchased Crossley M1925 armored car from the United Kingdom.
Later, because their own Type 91 wheeled/tracked armored car entered service, this thing was abandoned.
Who would have thought to encounter one here.
Looking at this bizarre armored car that was just a car with a lid added, Fang Wen felt there were many ways to deal with it.
Its two low-angle firing machine gun turrets meant it could only deal with frontal combat; it couldn’t cope with flanking attacks in narrow terrain.
Of course, now this problem was solved by a large number of armed Japanese.
Then use remote-controlled bombs to deal with it.
Immediately, Fang Wen went downstairs.
Outside, Zhao Wanping and two military officers had returned from the airplane side, bringing two large boxes.
These were the remote-controlled bombs; since they were only for emergencies, there were only two in total.
Wu Yingzong volunteered: “General Manager, Wanping and I are conducting special operations teaching; let us handle this enemy-blocking actual combat with the remote-controlled bombs.”
The two were now the persons in charge of Taishan Airlines Group’s security defense department; privately, they were the captain and training officer of the Taishan Volunteer Army Combat Team, which specialized in special operations, and using bombs was one of its important tactics.
Remote-controlled bombs, this cutting-edge military application of the era, were also something they had focused on researching and training.
Actual combat experience was also valuable to the two; after all, they hadn’t participated in the Shanghai admiral hostage explosion incident.
Fang Wen nodded in agreement and handed it over to them.
Wu Yingzong and Zhao Wanping busied themselves on the road the armored car must pass; one pried open road surface stones with effort, the other took out the remote-controlled bomb for assembly.
Meanwhile, on the other side, with the armored car’s cover, Zhao Jiu’s gangsters gradually couldn’t hold out and kept retreating.
Seeing that it would take some time to finish burying the remote-controlled bombs, Fang Wen opened the other box, took out the six fragmentation grenades inside, and prepared to go provide support.
“We’ll go too.” the two 19th Route Army officers said.
Fang Wen looked up at the two and asked: “Do you know how to use these British-made fragmentation grenades?”
“We’ve used them.” the two replied in unison.
“Good, then we’ll throw grenades together later to buy as much time as possible.”
After discussing with the two, Fang Wen jogged to the frontline blocking position.
There, gang members hid behind houses on both sides of the road, occasionally poking out to shoot at the road center.
In the direction they were shooting, the Crossley M1925 armored car blocked a lot of bullets; the armed Japanese shooting from behind all used Type 38 rifles.
This showed that this group had deep ties with the Imperial Japanese Navy.
The tactic of armored car advancing with infantry assisting from behind allowed them to keep moving forward, forcing the gangsters to retreat repeatedly.
They were about to reach the road corner.
If they passed the corner and spotted Wu Yingzong and Zhao Wanping burying the bombs, the landmine would lose its effect.
At this moment, three British-made Mills No. 5 hand grenades were thrown into the air, landing behind the armored car.
Because they were fragmentation grenades, the explosion’s flash and sound weren’t intense, but they perfectly arced over the armored car’s cover, creating good suppressive effect in the enemy cluster.
At the three blast points, enemies were wounded and fell, with constant cries of pain.
To cover the infantry, the armored car had to stop and strafe forward with its machine gun.
By then, Fang Wen and the others had already hidden back behind the houses.
After the machine gun strafing, the armored car continued forward, but the infantry behind formed a skirmish line to prevent grenade attacks.
Who would have thought, after just a few steps, another three grenades flew over.
This time they learned; they all lay flat on the ground, reducing the fragmentation grenades’ damage area.
After the second round of grenade attacks, the enemies surprisingly went quiet.
After waiting a while, they thought the enemies had retreated, and the armored car continued forward.
Along this stretch, there was no more obstruction; the armored car led dozens of infantry around the corner, attacking toward the distant hotel.
Just after the armored car advanced dozens of meters, two bursts of fire suddenly exploded under its belly.
The fire and explosion shockwave bursting from the ground was completely absorbed by the armored car’s underbelly; the powerful blast lifted the armored car up, then it crashed back down heavily.
Immediately after, flames erupted from inside the armored car, accompanied by popping internal explosions like frying beans.
This armored car was completely done for.
At the same time, the gangsters ambushing on both sides of the road launched an attack, annihilating the now-exposed enemies.
Thus, the Imperial Japanese Navy’s military force arranged on Majuro Atoll was dealt with.
Now it was time to consider how to handle this mess.
Fang Wen’s original plan was to have the cargo ship dock at Majuro Atoll for airplane refueling; after all, it was in the central Pacific Ocean, nominally under Japanese administration, but in reality, the Imperial Japanese Navy had no base here or patrolling warships.
So, the cargo ship would hire a batch of gang thugs to temporarily control the island, wait for the airplane to refuel for 2 hours and take off, then the cargo ship would also leave.
But things don’t go as planned with changes.
The passengers couldn’t endure more than 30 hours of continuous long-distance flight.
Among them were lurking Japanese spies.
Who also contacted secret Imperial Japanese Navy members on the island for an attack.
Now it was good; originally planning to stay one night, but the lurking agents died, and the entire island’s Imperial Japanese Navy forces were annihilated.
So what to do next?
Ignore it completely and leave directly—that was the simplest but most problematic response. The Japanese would become furious and escalate, even affecting the United States side.
That would be troublesome for Fang Wen later on.
Fang Wen thought about how to turn this into something advantageous for himself.
He recalled his previous discussion with the two 19th Route Army officers.
The US and Japan had conflicts at sea; after World War II, the United States took over all Japanese-controlled islands in the Pacific.
So what if the Marshall Islands now possibly became US territory ahead of time, or were protected by them?
As long as the United States was willing to accept this land, it would plant a seed of opposition in relations between the two countries.
After coming up with this idea, Fang Wen immediately set about implementing it.
He had Zhao Jiu gather all the gangs involved in this action.
At 4 a.m., the gang members, exhausted after a night of turmoil, mustered their spirits to attend the meeting.
They were very curious about Zhao Jiu’s real boss, the legendary Eastern pilot recently in the newspapers.
Regardless, tonight’s action alone was enough to convince them.
Everyone was curious what this person calling the meeting was for.
After everyone arrived, without Zhao Jiu introducing, Fang Wen spoke first.
“Hello everyone, I believe you all know who I am. In five more hours, I will pilot the airplane to leave here. Before that, I want to talk to you. Do you want to establish a country?”
The gangsters were stunned; this was the biggest plan they’d ever heard.
They didn’t even dare to think of it.
Seeing no reaction from the gangsters, Fang Wen smiled and continued:
“Last night, we destroyed most of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s armed forces in the Marshall Islands. Now, the entire island nation has no army, no political parties, and is in chaos. I think you should take responsibility to restore its order, establish a party belonging to Marshall Islanders, overthrow the Japanese proxy government in the name of locals, and found an independent nation.”
Could it be done like this?
The gangsters were extremely surprised, but thinking about it, it seemed really possible.
They showed eager expressions, asking for specifics on how to do it.
Fang Wen thought: “Find a proxy locally to achieve all this, and what you need to do is provide money and materials, plus force, to grow this proxy force. Of course, to achieve all this, just you people aren’t enough.”
A gang member interrupted: “What are our interests? Are these barren islands worth us going to all this trouble to establish a country?”
As expected of gangsters, only caring about interests.
Fang Wen had already thought it out for them.
“This is central Pacific Ocean; regardless, Majuro Atoll is an extremely important Pacific shipping route transit island, not just the seaport, but also seaplane and land-based aircraft airports, plus far-ocean tourist attractions. Moreover, it can be a tax haven nation, with no tax records—your money can”
Can do what?
The gangsters instantly understood; even the fiercest gangsters fear the US tax bureau.
Al Capone, who had suffered greatly from it, was the first to grasp the huge benefits; he stood and declared: “I’m willing to join this plan.”
His leading effect made the other gangsters agree one after another.
Fang Wen continued: “The Japanese definitely won’t let it go easily, so tonight’s events must become an independence war by Marshall Islands natives. Local natives overthrow Japanese proxy rule, launch a military uprising, establish a party government, and you are hired combat personnel, even later becoming foreign employees of the new government. This is step one.”
“Step two is to gain international support to confront the Japanese. Mainly gain US support.”
Al Capone asked puzzled: “How to gain US support?”
“This involves very complex operations and lobbying processes; leave it to Taishan International. You just need to control the situation here.” Fang Wen replied. The step two plan in his mind was indeed complex, like offshore finance, tax haven, etc., all prepared for US rich people and politicians; he was just realizing them decades early—surely those people wouldn’t refuse such tricks.
The night’s discussion ended, and the gangsters underwent huge ideological changes.
They would go from a group of hires to masters of the entire island nation.
Attracted by Fang Wen’s beautiful visions, they prepared to act positively in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Xuanming’s passengers took small boats to board the seaplane, starting a new day’s flight anew.
After the airplane reached altitude, Fang Wen picked up the wired telephone microphone for a broadcast.
“Passengers, last night an independence movement uprising occurred in the Marshall Islands; the native army defeated the Japanese army and gained freedom. Now they are preparing an independent government.”
The passengers discussed in surprise; so that’s what happened last night.
Fang Wen continued broadcasting.
“The remaining flight is half; we will fly to Honolulu, rest two hours and continue, finally arriving in San Francisco, completing the trans-Pacific flight. Does anyone have objections?”
Everyone happily agreed; better to endure and reach land directly than spend another night on the island.
Since no one objected, Fang Wen piloted with peace of mind.
The airplane flew at 3000 meters altitude at a steady 200 kilometers per hour.
Along the way, the sea surface was vast blue, with no landmarks visible.
Such a scene, no matter how beautiful, would cause visual fatigue.
Ten hours later, all passengers were wearily asleep.
Only then did a rare island appear on the flight path.
Johnston Atoll.
This small island would also belong to the United States in the future, sharing the same fate as the Marshall Islands, becoming a nuclear test site.
Fang Wen just glanced at the small island below and continued piloting forward.
After Johnston Atoll, the remaining flight was estimated at only 8 hours.
That meant arriving in Honolulu at 3 a.m. on the third day.
This was a very dull flight path; inside the airplane, besides Fang Wen, Wu Yingzong, and Zhao Wanping, everyone else was asleep. To keep Captain Fang Wen alert, the two flight attendants kept talking via wired telephone to stay active.
Thus, the 18-hour flight finally ended, and the airplane arrived in Honolulu.
Wu Yingzong woke the passengers via broadcast.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the transit point has arrived. The island below is called Honolulu; we Chinese people call it Fire Slave Lulu. The island has a natural deep-water port, Honolulu Harbor, also known as Pearl Harbor. Because of the US Navy base, we can only land in a farther area, so everyone can only stay on the sea surface.”
While Wu Yingzong was broadcasting, Fang Wen also found their own cargo ship, then lowered the fuselage to land on the sea surface.
This action surprisingly drew a US Navy ship.
After the airplane steadied, the naval ship lowered a small boat and came over.
The officer on the boat asked: “Which company produced this airplane?”
Fang Wen came down from the cockpit and stood on the floatboard beside the fuselage, replying: “Produced by Taishan Aircraft Manufacturing Plant.”
The officer examined it carefully and praised: “Very nice airplane, no wonder it can cross the Pacific, but it’s a bit inferior to the new seaplane we’re about to equip.”
Fang Wen smiled inwardly; their own Xuanming was a copy of the US Navy’s soon-to-be fully equipped PBY seaplane. Though the exterior had some changes, the overall design shared many similarities.
He wouldn’t say it, but invited the US Navy officer aboard.
From nose to tail, except the active machine gun compartment, he inspected everywhere.
He couldn’t help sighing: “The East can actually produce such a good airplane now.”
Fang Wen wasn’t proud of it; he was currently just assembling, mainly because time waits for no one. If the war ended, Taishan’s mechanical industry would develop a full industry chain.
After seeing off the naval officer, after resting 2 hours, the airplane took off again, heading toward the final destination San Francisco.
