Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 680: A Hypothesis of a Single-Soldier Flying Combat Device, Company Reporting Meeting

"Tell me your thoughts," Fang Wen gestured, raising his hand.

Shu Zhitao stood up: "Regimental Commander, I come from an aircraft manufacturing plant and have always been concerned about the weapons and equipment manufactured by our Taishan Military Industry. After this battle, I have a suggestion, though I don't know if it will be useful. Why don't we manufacture a very small aircraft that is easy to take off and land, so that our soldiers can fly? What can the Japanese devils do to us then?"

These words caused a burst of laughter in the conference room.

If it weren't for the discipline of the Independent Regiment, someone would definitely have laughed at Shu Zhitao.

After all, such an absurd idea is completely impossible for people in this era to realize.

Even in the future, there will be no such military unit.

"I have a great idea, but it can't be implemented right now. Okay, meeting adjourned."

Fang Wen announced the end of the meeting, and the officers stood up together.

Then, some officers surrounded Shu Zhitao and joked:

"Company Commander Xiao Shu, you really have a good idea. No country in the world has an army that can fly and fight at will. If our Independent Regiment can do that, we can definitely drive the Japanese devils away."

Wu Yingzong patted Shu Zhitao on the shoulder, his tone both amused and serious: "Company Commander Shu, it's good to have dreams. Our Independent Regiment has tanks and planes because the Regiment Commander came up with those 'wild ideas' back then. But for you to have 'soldiers flying freely,' you have to overcome two hurdles first: one is that the plane is too small to carry people, and the other is that even if it can carry people, is it practical?"

William leaned closer, his blue eyes sparkling with curiosity: "I've seen a small glider in Germany. It doesn't have an engine, and it can carry two people, but it needs to be towed by an airplane to take off, so it can't really be called 'flying freely.' The small plane you're talking about, do you mean it flaps its wings like a bird?"

This made the people around him laugh again. Shu Zhitao blushed and hurriedly waved his hand: "It's not flapping wings! It's just like a normal airplane, but it doesn't need a long runway, so it can take off and land easily."

Liu Yubao clapped his hands: "I've got it! Why not just attach a rocket? A rocket can fly three kilometers, much faster than your little plane—but when it lands, you'll probably have to use your foot to brake, and it might even leave a crater in the mud."

"You're just arguing for the sake of arguing!" Shu Zhitao was so agitated he almost jumped up. "Rockets are static, but planes can be steered! Think about it, if we were to attack, a few small planes carrying bombs could fly to the top of the Japanese bunkers. They'd be more mobile than tanks and could coordinate with ground mechanized units at any time." He became more and more serious as he spoke. "The fuselage is only this long, just enough for one person to sit in. Bombs are strapped to the bottom, and the wings don't need to be too big, just enough to take flight..."

Fang Wen, who was about to leave the meeting room, had a sudden thought.

Small planes, drones!
He did not participate in the discussion, but instead walked out of the meeting room and headed to his residence.

That night, he had some insomnia in bed, his mind filled with images of the future.

Small military drones require advanced electronic technology, which would have been impossible in an era without the large-scale integration of the semiconductor technology industry chain.

Unless one combines their own superpowers with various secret treasures, it might be possible to create a superpowered technological equipment that only they can use.

Just like Iron Man in a futuristic science fiction movie.

But that's useless. How could it be more powerful than a high-speed fighter jet?
It's just something to attract attention.

As a result, his thoughts continued to diverge.

The future individual soldier's flying combat equipment will be a jetpack, which will enable flight movement via jet propulsion.

That would require better fuel and motors to achieve.

Isn't there a single-soldier flying device that can be realized in this era?
If it doesn't exist in history or the future, why not imagine and create one yourself?

It's not impossible.

Fang Wen sat up abruptly from the bed, lit the oil lamp on his desk, and wrote on the paper by the flickering light.

[A Hypothesis of a Single-Soldier Flying Combat Device]

[Core Principle: Short-range lift + low-speed controllable maneuverability]

[Assuming the focus is on "small power unit + lift structure," while also considering individual soldier carrying capacity, ease of operation, and combat effectiveness, the tactical requirements of "rapid assault and air harassment" will be met.]

I can't write anymore after this point.

Fang Wen knew that he couldn't come up with a solution on his own, so he thought it would be better to return to the base in northern Myanmar and hold a scientific discussion at the Taishan Research Institute to see if it was feasible.

As the night passed, Fang Wen brought Gong Xiuneng to the temporary water airfield next to the garrison, where officers from the Independent Regiment came to see them off.

Fang Wen entered the gunboat, sat down in the cockpit, and waved to the officers who were seeing him off outside.

Gong Xiuneng then untied the ropes and closed the hatch.

The plane accelerated across the water and took off into the sky.

Several hours later, the gunboat flew to the base in northern Myanmar and landed, then transferred to a seaplane and flew to Yangon.

Upon arriving in Yangon, Fang Wen disembarked and drove directly back to headquarters, ready to start working immediately.

In early November 1940.

Inside a high-rise conference room at the headquarters of Taisan Airlines in Yangon.

Fang Wen changed out of his military uniform and sat at the head of the conference table.

All the company's senior executives were present.

Fang Shouxin, head of the administration department, presided over the meeting, saying, "The theme of this meeting is the summary report meeting on the company's business performance in March. There are two items on the agenda: first, reports on the situation of each department; second, reports on the progress of special projects."

Subsequently, the responsible departments reported in turn.

Fang Wen listened attentively.

The company is now on the right track, operating smoothly like a machine, and there haven't been any problems.

Even Eurasian routes are still operating smoothly, and passenger traffic has even increased.

Fang Wen knew in his heart that this was just a facade, and that France would probably be in trouble soon.

At that time, Asia-Europe flights will be severely affected, but they will not necessarily be completely suspended, because Taishan Airlines has a new transit airport in Switzerland, through which it can still continue to operate civil flights connecting Asia and Europe.

The meeting then moved to its second segment, where the progress of the special projects was reported.

This step is considered a company secret; those not involved in the secret should get up and leave.

Only Fang Shouxin, Manager Liu, and Zhang Yunfei remained.

Zhang Yunfei was one of the members of the special operations team that Fang Wen formed back then.

After the special operations team was disbanded, the members all went their separate ways. Zhang Yunfei first took charge of security at the No. 1 Aircraft Manufacturing Plant, and later took charge of the company's transportation team, managing two secret transportation routes from northern Myanmar to Yan'an and from northern Myanmar to Junshan Lake. He continuously transported military supplies to the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army for the company, and also transported parts and complete units of Zhongxing Semiconductor Radio.

And now, he is also in charge of Soviet special projects.

After everyone else left, the meeting room door was closed.

Fang Shouxin, who was in charge of the special project for the collection and transportation of supplies to the United States, spoke first to report.

"The project to procure and transport tens of millions of supplies has begun. In addition to the three cargo ships of Taishan International, we have also chartered two cargo ships from an American company. The first batch of supplies has arrived at Yangon Port and will be transported to the base in northern Myanmar by water and road." The successful arrival of the American supplies relieved Fang Wen's mind. These supplies can effectively alleviate the current resource pressure on Taishan Military Industry.

After all, waging war with full force consumes too many resources. The three battles in Guinan, Yuenan, and Yangjiang had huge effects, but also huge costs.

He looked at Manager Liu.

Manager Liu, who is in charge of the Africa project, held up the documents: "This month, we used Taishan International's cargo ship to transport two export aircraft. One is an older model gunboat, which was transported to Ethiopia, and the other is a Shuiyun-10 seaplane, which was transported to Monrovia in West Africa. Ten company technical and management personnel also accompanied the shipment. The goods have now arrived in Ethiopia."

In response, Fang Wen stated, "Our personnel must register with the local government as company representatives, specifying that our local office is solely for conducting international business and providing follow-up services. It is crucial that the personnel at the office do not participate in armed activities; this must not be violated."

Manager Liu smiled and said, "I gave them specific instructions before they left, and they are doing exactly as you said. What we are selling is just a military-to-civilian aircraft without any weapons or equipment. As for installing weapons on the aircraft later, that is not our responsibility, since our design is compatible with many types of machine guns."

Next was the progress report on the Soviet special project.

Zhang Yunfei reported: "The Taishan walkie-talkies produced this month, in accordance with the supply agreement with the Soviet Union, have all been shipped to Lanzhou and transported back to the Soviet Union by their own aircraft. In addition, I learned from Lanzhou that, according to Soviet officers, they are already making evacuation preparations, but they have not yet received instructions from above regarding the specific departure date."

The Soviet air force is withdrawing!
Fang Wen leaned back in his chair, his hands clasped together.

Manager Liu and Fang Shouxin were also hearing about this for the first time and were greatly shocked.

"Why did the Soviets leave?" Fang Shouxin asked.

“They didn’t say,” Zhang Yunfei replied.

Fang Wen was aware of this, and he explained: "Because of the situation in Europe. Right now, the Soviet Union is only on guard. Once the situation in Europe deteriorates further, they will reduce their troops in Asia and instead focus more on the western front to defend against Germany. This situation has actually been evident for a while. I noticed it when I went to Nomonhan. The Soviet Union did not have much desire to fight Japan, so both sides showed considerable restraint in that conflict."

Manager Liu couldn't help but worry: "Without Soviet support, the National Army probably won't be able to hold out."

“Don’t worry, there’s another country watching the show. It certainly won’t stay out of it. I feel that it won’t be long before the Nationalist government finds new support,” Fang Wen replied.

"Which country?" Fang Shouxin asked eagerly, while Manager Liu and Zhang Yunfei also looked at Fang Wen.

"Don't worry, this will be revealed soon. It's more important for us to focus on our own tasks. Okay, meeting adjourned."

Fang Wen announced the end of the meeting, got up and left the meeting room, returning to his office.

He only planned to stay in Yangon for one day, and spent the rest of the time reviewing the intelligence he had gathered.

Sitting at his desk, Fang Wen opened a folder.

All of these were intelligence categories organized and categorized by Zhao Junping.

I understood the domestic version of the text, so I skipped it and went to the foreign version.

Large-scale military operations against Italy erupted in the mountainous regions of Ethiopia's Abyssinian highlands. During the fighting, a military aircraft appeared; due to its unusual combat tactics, it is highly likely to be a newly acquired British gunboat.

Fang Wen was surprised. How did they start suspecting him of being British?

He continued to read.

Since the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, Emperor Hell fled to London and formed a government-in-exile. Previously, due to the appeasement policy of Britain and France, they offered him no substantial support. However, now that Britain and France have declared war on Germany, which will also affect Germany's ally Italy, we have reason to suspect, and even be certain, that Britain is supporting this resistance movement behind the scenes.

Fang Wen couldn't help but laugh. Taishan Military Industry had indeed sold a few gunboats to Britain, but he never expected that the British would have to take the blame for it.

Should the office established in Ethiopia be closed down?

No, he decided; that office might have other uses.

Pushing aside his thoughts, Fang Wen continued reviewing the intelligence.

In Europe

[With political instability in Britain, Prime Minister Chamberlain has faced widespread criticism for his sit-in war. Conversely, the First Lord of the Admiralty, with his tough stance and calls for increased preparedness, has garnered support from Parliament and public opinion.]

Fang Wen turned to the next page and saw the name of the First Lord of the Admiralty: Churchill.

It seems that his ability to become prime minister during World War II had a broad base of support.

The next piece of European intelligence has a very appealing title.

Germany's industrial capacity has surged.

Fang Wen couldn't help but continue reading.

Analysis based on intelligence.

By occupying Poland and annexing Austria and Czechoslovakia, Germany acquired a wealth of industrial resources.

Based on these resources, coupled with Germany's domestic industrial base, intelligence analysis suggests that Germany can currently produce approximately 300 tanks and 1000 aircraft per month.

This number is indeed astonishing. Even if it's an exaggeration, it shows that European intelligence brokers have realized that Germany has suddenly become very powerful.

Fang Wen continued reading.

Among a series of international intelligence reports, he suddenly came across a very interesting piece of information.

[Possible next military move by Germany]

Currently, Germany's military industry requires a large amount of steel resources, and Swedish iron ore is very important to it. We anticipate that in order to ensure the smooth delivery of Swedish iron ore to Germany, Germany may invade Norway and Denmark.

According to current intelligence, the German army has secretly amassed transport ships, destroyers, and troops this month and has contacted the pro-German Norwegian National Unity Party. War is likely to break out soon.

Interesting. Fang Wen remembers that Germany attacked France in April. Did he attack two fronts and also invade Norway and Denmark?
The three Nordic countries were really unlucky. Finland was attacked by the Soviet Union, and Norway and Denmark were about to be attacked by Germany.

Fang Wen kept this in mind, waiting to see if Germany would actually develop the situation as the intelligence indicated.

3pm.

I've reviewed all the intelligence.

Fang Wen returned to his top-floor residence after a busy day.

After eating the dinner that Gong Xiuneng had packed from the cafeteria, he sat on the wooden sofa in the living room.

The empty room was very desolate. Unable to sleep, he couldn't help but think of his wife and twin children.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt he couldn't stay in this house.

Oh right, didn't I come up with an interesting research plan last night?

Why don't we go back to northern Myanmar today and hold a science and technology seminar to see what the results will be if we brainstorm together?

Thinking of this, Fang Wen couldn't stay still any longer. He got up, went downstairs, called Gong Xiuneng from the dormitory, and boarded a plane to fly back to northern Myanmar.

(End of this chapter)