Chapter 261: 260, Hancheng In A Day, Airdrop On Songhua River Ice, Border Fortress Trap
“General Manager Fang, I am Sang Yuzeng, Hancheng seaplane airport manager. I will arrange this Hancheng trip for you.”
Hancheng seaplane airport’s Sang manager spoke nervously.
Local seaplane airport managers are generally recruited from the ground, because the expansion speed is too fast, and everyone has not yet seen Fang Wen.
But they all recognize Fang Wen, after all, there is a photo of Fang Wen on the introduction propaganda board at every airport.
Plus the Xuan Ming Seaplane and the notification from above, it is absolutely unmistakable.
So, Sang manager was very nervous, afraid of offending the group president and losing this good job.
Fang Wen smiled slightly: “Don’t be anxious. I came to play, unrelated to work. Relax and take us to play in Hancheng for a day.”
Sang manager relaxed slightly and introduced: “Our Hancheng area was earliest called Longmen. The Sui Dynasty re-established the county and renamed it Hancheng from ancient Korea, continuing to this day. North of the city is the official district, with county offices, supervision offices, community schools, Guandi Temple, and City God Temple passed down from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Does the general manager want to see them?”
Fang Wen shook his head. Although it was acting, it had to be realistic. Those places were indeed boring. Many county towns in the Central Plains have them, and they don’t look much different.
Sang manager continued: “South of the city does have some food shops, but they are not fun places. Outside the city, there are two places worth seeing: one is the Taishi Temple 20 li south of the city, and the other is the Yellow River Longmen landscape 60 li north of the city. Legend has it that Great Yu became famous worldwide for ‘channeling the river and piling stones’ and ‘carving Longmen’.”
Fang Wen thought about it. He had seen Longmen when the airplane landed. Although there were many legends and stories, there was no need to travel 60 li to see it. After all, there was something tonight, and he couldn’t spend too much energy on it.
He made a choice: “Then let’s go to the Taishi Temple.”
Sang manager hurriedly arranged and got a black sedan for Fang Wen as transportation.
Fang Wen drove, Sang manager sat in the co-pilot explaining, and Pan Jiafeng’s four people squeezed in the back row.
The car drove toward Zhichuan Town south of Hancheng under Sang manager’s guidance.
The car traveled on the loess road surface, with rolling dust. In twenty-odd minutes, they arrived at Zhichuan Town.
Sang manager flattered: “The general manager’s driving skills are impressive. This road is very bumpy for others, but the general manager drives it as smooth as flat ground.”
Fang Wen neither confirmed nor denied, but asked: “Where is the Taishi Temple?”
“On the Hanyi Slope ahead, an ancient temple dating back to the Western Jin Dynasty, worshiping the Grand Historian who wrote the Records of the Grand Historian.” Sang manager explained.
Fang Wen drove over and arrived at the foot of Hanyi Slope.
Cars couldn’t go up there. Fang Wen and the others got out. Sang manager stayed to watch the car, and Fang Wen’s five people followed the path upward.
（Republic of China Taishi Temple）
Long stone steps, earthen slope, and the highest place was the Taishi Temple.
Upon reaching the top, a temple official greeted them.
“Here to worship the Grand Historian? Incense is over there, get it yourself. If you have the means, leave some incense money; if not, it’s up to fate.”
Having been poor for years, the temple official spoke casually. Fang Wen smiled indifferently, went to get incense and distributed it to everyone, and they each offered incense to the Grand Historian.
After offering incense and leaving some money as incense donation, Fang Wen walked around the temple. Besides inscriptions and statues, there was nothing much to see, so he chatted with the temple official.
“In Hancheng, what good food is there?”
“Asking me?” The temple official laughed: “You’ve asked the right person. These ears of mine have heard travelers from a hundred families, knowing what’s best. When coming to Hancheng, eat mutton. The best mutton dishes are mutton hupu noodles and mutton hupu.”
Fang Wen checked the time; it was already 2 p.m. Eating a meal would kill time until dark.
He bid farewell to the temple official, went down the mountain, and had Sang manager take them to eat the best mutton hupu and mutton hupu noodles in the city.
These two foods are available at every food shop in the city, but there is no definitive best.
Sang manager simply set a table at an old-brand shop next to the Zhuangyuan Mansion in the city.
This meal.
The meat was very fresh, the mutton soup even fresher, but not the freshness of the sea. The local mountain black sheep’s meat is lean with little fat, mild mutton flavor, and has a unique taste paired with spices like pepper.
Mutton freshness enters the noodle flavor, paired most suitably.
After eating and drinking their fill, Fang Wen had some cooked mutton packed to take away and returned to the airplane.
At 6 p.m., the fully fueled Xuanming took off.
On the surface, it flew south, but actually turned northeast at high altitude.
Two hours later, the northern sky was completely dark, and the Xuanming had entered Hebei territory.
There was no danger here. The entire Hebei area had no garrison, so no worry of discovery.
Next, the airplane passed through Hebei Beiping and arrived at the border between Liaoning and Chahar.
One-third of the area there had been occupied by puppet army controlled by the Japanese Army.
Flying further ahead was Jilin, where temperature dropped sharply to zero degrees.
“Change into cold-weather clothes, pay attention to keeping warm.” Fang Wen reminded Pan Jiafeng and them via the cabin radio.
Flying further north, the temperature would get lower and lower.
He maintained mechanical perception ability, constantly monitoring the airplane’s condition.
Currently, the airplane was normal, equipment operating without issues, cabin temperature not dropping, and the airplane modifications were effective.
Shifting attention from the airplane itself, Fang Wen discovered something off below.
He saw a long convoy on the ground heading northwest.
Such a massive convoy traveling at night—could it be conducting some secret action?
Fang Wen noted this situation and continued flying, safely arriving in Heilongjiang territory without incident.
There, the temperature was several degrees below zero.
The further forward, the lower the temperature.
After passing Harbin, the temperature had reached over ten degrees below zero.
At such low temperatures, the temperature inside the airplane began dropping rapidly.
The cooling water circulation system around the entire airplane had a problem.
Cooling water pipes in some areas froze, unable to circulate water flow.
Without water flow, the water cooling system couldn’t function.
Heat accumulated in the engine, causing temperature to rise.
Fortunately, air-cooling equipment had been modified in advance.
Fang Wen opened the mechanical switch and pulled hard.
The iced structure shook and was finally pulled open by him.
Two air-cooling air intakes opened, fierce cold wind poured in, but heated into warm air after passing the engine.
The two high-power engines cooled rapidly under air-cooling.
At the same time, warm air poured into the cabin, warming up the cabin that had reached zero degrees.
“Why did it suddenly get hot? Aren’t we in the Northeast?” Du Jiahua said in surprise.
Pan Jiafeng explained: “This is external air heated by the engine. Before heating, it was very cold.”
The tech-filled airplane once again made the three Red Army pilots feel amazed.
At this time, Fang Wen’s radio broadcast came.
“Airplane about to airdrop. Crew members prepare.”
Pan Jiafeng and the three Red Army pilots immediately went to the rear compartment and stood by in front of piles of cargo.
The Xuanming had arrived at Tangyuan.
Under the severe cold, the Songhua River surface had frozen.
The thick ice surface could even support vehicles and people.
But not suitable for the Xuanming airplane to land.
High-altitude landing’s potential energy might crack the ice surface. Even if landing succeeded, the smooth ice could cause undercarriage slippage, leading to takeoff failure.
So, this air transport changed to low-altitude airdrop.
Fang Wen issued the order: “Pan Jiafeng, open the mooring compartment anchor cover and launch the signal flare.”
Receiving the order, Pan Jiafeng quickly moved forward, opened the mooring compartment anchor cover, cold wind blew in, he endured the cold and launched downward.
With the trigger pulled, the signal flare emitting firelight shot out.
This was a signal flare modified from napalm, which would continuously burn in the air after launch, spraying light spots to attract attention.
The constantly brightening light spots in the sky successfully attracted the Anti-Japanese Allied Army lurking by the riverside.
The troops’ commander immediately ordered.
“Aid supplies have arrived. Quickly send guidance.”
Immediately, two rows of firelight burned on both shores of the Songhua River as guidance.
At the same time, Anti-Japanese Allied Army soldiers by the shore brought out tools that could move on the iced river surface and placed them on the ice.
Those were wooden sleds, which could be dragged, most suitable for placing supplies.
They looked up at the sky, waiting.
Ice surface airdrop was Fang Wen’s first time.
The main issue was whether the internal implementation personnel could adapt to the strong cold air pouring in from opening the hatch for airdrop.
He controlled the airplane to turn and align with the Songhua River channel, then descended altitude.
When the fuselage dropped to 1000 meters altitude, engine load suddenly increased.
Under strong power, the propeller sped up rotation to increase buoyancy with kinetic energy.
Then he issued the order: “Open the rear compartment airdrop door for slide rail airdrop.”
This was another modification design.
The rear compartment added a slide rail. Supply boxes placed on the slide rail slid out the airdrop door one by one. Upon falling, they pulled the parachute switch and automatically opened in the air.
Pan Jiafeng, back in the rear compartment, led the three Red Army pilots to turn winches at left and right positions in the cabin, opening the airdrop door.
Wind at over ten degrees below zero blew into the cabin. Even wearing thickened cold-weather gear, the four felt cold.
But now was not the time to worry about cold; the airdrop had begun.
Box after box of supplies slid down the rail, and the four bustled behind.
The three Red Army flight cadets placed supply boxes on the slide rail, while Pan Jiafeng hooked the fine thread connecting the parachute switch on the upper steel pipe.
Under everyone’s joint effort, this not-complicated operation continued.
The airplane in the sky flew along the Songhua River channel. White parachutes bloomed in the air one after another, finally landing on the river surface.
These were all aid supplies. Anti-Japanese Allied Army soldiers happily dragged sleds running on the river surface, collecting box after box of supplies onto the sleds.
So many supplies! Box after box, covering the river surface.
This night, the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Army was formally established. These supplies were the biggest celebration.
Half an hour later, the airdrop ended, all supplies dropped.
Pan Jiafeng and the three Red Army flight cadets hurriedly closed the drop port together.
Under winch rotation, the drop port closed, and the cabin finally regained warmth.
Pan Jiafeng picked up the cabin wired telephone and reported: “General manager, airdrop completed. Can we return to base?”
Fang Wen remembered the strange Japanese army convoy seen earlier and replied: “Don’t rush. One more place.”
He controlled the Xuanming to turn toward the convoy’s direction.
The convoy was heading northwest.
Fang Wen flew in the same direction and soon crossed it.
He followed the convoy further, arriving at its destination.
Even at midnight there, it was lit up with firelight.
In mechanical perception state, Fang Wen saw the scene below from the airplane’s special perspective.
Judging from the map, it should be the border.
Now, the Kwantung Army was actually building a massive fortress.
These fortresses were obviously for defense against the Soviet Union.
But before full-scale war, why were the Japanese advancing construction of these fortresses so early?
Could it be because of his disguise as a Soviet strategic bomber?!
Fang Wen was surprised inwardly and prepared to return to base.
At this moment, chaos erupted below. Amid alarm sounds, searchlights targeted the sky.
Under a dozen searchlights, a beam swept over the Xuanming, revealing its track.
Fang Wen’s heart tightened instantly. He controlled the airplane into a turning climb.
At the same time, several lines of anti-aircraft machine gun tracers shot from the ground.
Anti-aircraft machine guns specialized against airplanes, high-altitude range over 2000 meters, forming an interwoven fire net closing in on the Xuanming.
Clearly, the Japanese had taken the two night bombings seriously enough to arrange sufficient anti-air forces at this important military facility.
Perhaps they had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
But for Fang Wen, after predictive flight adjustments, those bullets could no longer hit him.
Anti-aircraft machine gun is a bottom-up shooting attack, intercepting forward-flying airplanes but helpless against climbs. Fang Wen’s turning climb took the Xuanming above 3000 meters, successfully evading this ambush.
After dodging the Japanese side’s trap, Fang Wen prepared to return to base.
But considering his disguise, he deliberately flew toward Soviet territory, circled around, and returned from Chahar border.
In the giant border fortress, two military officers were extremely dissatisfied with this action.
“We failed. To deal with this mysterious Russian bomber, we prepared so much, yet it still escaped.”
“Yes, at such low altitude, completely within our firepower range, yet we didn’t hit it. Clearly, the Russian bomber has excellent performance.”
“Don’t be discouraged. Next time it won’t escape. After all, we already have radar.”
“Yes, radar is a good thing. Without it, we wouldn’t have detected it. Future wars will surely have more such advanced equipment. We must prepare more.”
“Yes, but failure is failure. We two must take responsibility for it.”
“Right, report this to the military department immediately.”
Northeast airdrop ended. Fang Wen piloted the airplane back to Yangon.
But next, he couldn’t stay in Yangon. Elite Aviation Team personnel selection must begin recruitment.
For this, Fang Wen took Pan Jiafeng and the three Red Army flight cadets to Taishan Airlines Wuhan Headquarters.
The group arrived in Wuhan. Fang Wen’s first thing upon exiting the airplane was to find Shao Sishen at the training center.
Seeing Shao Sishen, Fang Wen spoke with him privately.
“The three flight cadets I brought, please focus on training them. They are members of the elite aviation team I’m preparing to establish.”
Shao Sishen was surprised: “Elite Aviation Team? For combat?”
“Yes, specialized in fighting the Japanese Air Force. These three have good qualities in all aspects but no foundation. I hope you and Pan Jiafeng can help them more.” Fang Wen replied.
“No problem. Pity my hand and leg are crippled, or I’d want to join too.” Shao Sishen sighed involuntarily.
“Among your comrades in the Guangzhou Aviation Team, are there suitable ones?” Fang Wen asked.
“Disbanded and merged into the National Air Force. Can’t recruit from that path.” Shao Sishen replied.
Yes, how could army pilots join a civil aviation company’s fighter formation.
Fang Wen’s thoughts diverged, considering where to find pilots he could use.
Alma mater Nanyuan Aviation: besides clerical jobs, many senior students fly civil aviation, but their skills are a bit lacking.
The Central Aviation Officer School established three years ago in Hangzhou Jianqiao was even less likely.
Hard to find. Most available pilots lack skill, and skilled ones are snatched by all sides.
This is the current situation: China lacks pilot resources.
So Fang Wen mass produced low-speed seaplanes, lowering pilot requirements.
But low-speed pilots alone give no air superiority. Still need high-speed pilots who can dogfight the Japanese Air Force in the air.
Without leads, he handed the three Red Army flight cadets to Shao Sishen and prepared to go home.
Away abroad for months, long time without seeing his wife. This return, he had to stay longer.
