Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Fang Wen piloted an old-fashioned biplane towards the desert area south of Benghazi.

The wings of the Fiat CR.42 "Eagle" trembled slightly in the airflow, like the body of an old man, yet exuding an indomitable tenacity.

The desert beneath the wings stretched out like rolling golden waves, endlessly reaching the horizon, while the distant sand dunes blurred in the hot air currents.

Unlike modern monoplanes, this old-fashioned biplane was relatively easy to control, but it still required constant adjustments from the pilot.

For example, when flying at low speeds, the wings are pulled by turbulence, and the fuselage may occasionally tilt, requiring constant fine-tuning of the control stick to maintain balance.

Without a canopy, flying in the desert can be quite uncomfortable.

The wind carried the unique heat and dust of the desert, stinging my face slightly. My goggles quickly became covered with a thin layer of sand, requiring me to wipe them with my hands from time to time.

After flying a distance, Fang Wen's supernatural power quietly spread out, like an invisible net, covering the airspace several kilometers around the aircraft.

Then Hunter in the cockpit.

He gripped the handrail tightly, his face pale, fearing he might be thrown out by the turbulent airflow.

"Mr. Fang, could you drive a little more steadily? I'm feeling dizzy."

Hunter's words alerted Fang Wen.

The desert climate in Africa may vary.

He then used his mechanical perception ability to sense the surrounding airspace.

Through his keen observation with his supernatural abilities, he discovered that the air currents at low altitudes were gradually becoming more violent.

On the distant sand dune peak, a wisp of yellow sand was swirled up, quickly spreading into a blurry yellow line, approaching the direction of the plane.

Oh no, it's a sandstorm!

Fang Wen immediately pulled up the control stick to increase the aircraft's altitude.

At that moment, Hunter also noticed something was wrong. His eyes were fixed on the rapidly approaching yellow wall, and his voice was filled with panic, "It's the Yellow Reaper, God!"

As he prayed, the plane raced against the sandstorm, and just before it was about to be swallowed up, it broke free of the storm's range.

In a short while, the plane climbed to an altitude of 4000 meters. Fang Wen operated the plane to level off while observing the situation below.

The desert below was now a chaotic mess, with yellow sand swirling in the air and forming a sand wall tens of meters high, engulfing everything. The once clear outlines of the dunes were completely swallowed up, and the howling wind could be faintly heard even from high above.

That violent aura seemed to overturn the entire desert.

Feeling that the plane was no longer shaking much, Hunter stopped praying and leaned out to look at the raging sandstorm below.

He patted his chest, still shaken: "Mr. Fang, the sandstorm is too wide; we can't get through it at all. Let's hurry back to the airport, or it'll be too late!"

Fang Wen's gaze fell on the sandstorm below, and his supernatural ability clearly detected that the airflow at the center of the sandstorm was gradually weakening: "No need, the sandstorm will disappear soon."

Hunter looked on incredulously: "This is impossible! Once a desert sandstorm forms, it lasts for at least several hours. How could it disappear so quickly?"

He thought Fang Wen was deliberately putting on a brave face to complete the reconnaissance mission, and he became increasingly anxious. He wanted to persuade him again, but then he saw that the sandstorm below was really starting to change. The yellow sand flying all over the sky gradually settled down, and the towering sand wall slowly became shorter and thinner. What was originally a chaotic mess gradually revealed the ground below.

He was stunned.

Within minutes, the sandstorm below completely dissipated, and the desert returned to its original appearance, except that the outlines of the dunes had changed in the areas swept by the sandstorm.

Hunter stared in disbelief at the scene before looking at Fang Wen in front of him, his eyes filled with shock and confusion. His lips moved, but he couldn't utter a word. He felt a growing sense of awe for this young man from the East.

Ignoring Hunter's gaze, Fang Wen piloted the biplane slowly downwards, resumed low-altitude flight, and continued heading south of Benghazi.

The desert beneath the wings remained vast and desolate, devoid of any signs of life or human activity, as if the German troops escorting the prisoners had never existed in this desert.

Time passed slowly, and the biplane had been flying over the desert for nearly an hour without spotting any targets.

Fang Wen frowned, secretly calculating in his mind: the German army, carrying prisoners and heavy boxes of documents, could not have marched too fast. Based on the time and route of their withdrawal, they could not have gone any further. Most likely, their tracks were covered by the sandstorm earlier, or they chose a hidden route.

"We need to change our search location." Fang Wen muttered to himself, then made a decision, maneuvering the biplane to turn around and return to the direction it came from. However, instead of following the original route, it deviated by about ten kilometers and continued low-altitude reconnaissance.

Half an hour later, Fang Wen's mind became focused.

The superpower detected an anomaly in the sand sea below. Behind a low sand dune in the distance, there was a faint metallic reflection, and several tiny black dots, like ants, were moving.

He adjusted his course to fly over there, while simultaneously increasing his supernatural power output to make his mechanical perception see more clearly.

As his superpowers improved, he could clearly see that behind the sand dunes, dozens of German soldiers in khaki uniforms were resting on the spot. Several soldiers were guarding a group of ragged British technicians and crew members. Not far away, a communications soldier was sitting on the sand, fiddling with a device that looked like a Taishan walkie-talkie. The metal box containing technical data was placed next to the communications soldier.

Just as Fang Wen clearly saw the target, the German troops below also spotted the biplane in the air.

One German soldier screamed and pointed to the sky. Immediately, dozens of German soldiers stood up, raised their rifles, and fired wildly into the air.

The bullets whizzed through the air and hurtled towards the plane.

Fang Wen remained calm and maneuvered his biplane upwards, easily avoiding German fire.

The bullets flew futilely below, unable to reach the planes high above. Fang Wen piloted the plane, circling twice in the air, carefully scanning the German positions below, memorizing the German situation.

After confirming all the details, Fang Wen didn't linger. He turned the biplane around and flew towards Benghazi Airport.

Half an hour later, the biplane landed smoothly on the runway at Benghazi Airport. After taxiing for a distance, it came to a slow stop.

Fang Wen turned off the engine, opened the cockpit door, and jumped out. Hunter followed closely behind, jumping off the plane. His face was still a little pale, but his eyes showed more excitement.

"Mr. Fang, you're amazing!" Hunter strode over to Fang Wen, his voice full of admiration. "Not only did you avoid the sandstorm, but you also pinpointed the German positions. Now we finally have a direction for the rescue!"

After he finished speaking, he quickly ran to the airport communications room, immediately took out his communication equipment, and reported in detail to the British command all the information he had gathered from aerial reconnaissance. Fang Wenzai added to this for him.

"There were about a hundred German soldiers, divided into two squads. There were about ten prisoners. The data box was under tight guard. I also saw the communication equipment. Judging from its size, it should not be our Taishan walkie-talkie."

Not long after the telegram was sent, Hunter received a reply from headquarters. A look of delight appeared on his face, and he turned to Fang Wen and said, "Mr. Fang, headquarters has approved the troop deployment plan! We are ordered to immediately wipe out this German force, rescue the captured technicians, and recover the data!"

Fang Wen nodded: "When will the British ground troops arrive?"

Hunter replied, "There are no ground troops in this operation. Command has decided to adopt an airborne operation, just like you."

Seeing Fang Wen's surprised expression, he continued to explain, "The British army is also trying airborne tactics, and for this purpose, the 11th Special Air Service Battalion was established, with a total of 350 people. However, this unit has just been formed and has no combat experience at all. This time, 50 elite soldiers were specially selected and have arrived at Benghazi Airport on another 'Whitley' night bomber, ready to carry out this rescue mission together with your special operations team."

"I see," Fang Wen agreed. "Alright, have their commander come over. We'll communicate our tactics as soon as possible and try to launch the operation before nightfall, taking advantage of the Germans' unpreparedness to achieve a decisive victory."

Hunt immediately arranged for someone to contact the British paratrooper unit. Soon, an officer in a British paratrooper uniform with the rank of major on his shoulder insignia walked over quickly, followed by several fully armed paratroopers. "Mr. Fang, hello, I am Major Clark of the 11th Special Air Service Battalion of the British Army. I have been ordered to lead the paratrooper unit to assist you in carrying out the rescue mission."

The officer's words carried a mixture of anticipation and nervousness; this was the first time their unit had carried out a real combat mission since its establishment.

Fang Wen extended his hand and shook hands with Clark: "Time is of the essence, so let's get straight to the tactics. After you reach the airspace where the German forces are located, you will need to follow my command and carry out the airborne operation as I require. You are not allowed to act on your own."

Clark asked, "Wasn't it arranged beforehand?"

"No. Because the Germans also spotted the planes during reconnaissance, and they would definitely have set off by then. By the time we found them again, they would no longer be there, and the pre-arranged airdrop plan would be useless."

Clark nodded seriously, then looked troubled: "Mr. Fang, our soldiers have no combat experience and lack effective air communication equipment. I am worried that they will not be able to cooperate with you after being airdropped."

Fang Wen was prepared and summoned a special forces member, giving him instructions.

After a while, two special forces soldiers brought over three Taishan walkie-talkies.

He held up a walkie-talkie and said, "This is the Taishan walkie-talkie. It's lightweight, has a stable signal, and isn't affected by the desert environment."

As he spoke, Fang Wen handed the walkie-talkie to Clark, “Equip your bomber pilots with one for air communication to confirm the drop zone; also equip your paratroopers with two, one for you to carry and one as a backup. After the parachute jump, we will communicate via walkie-talkie and launch the attack simultaneously.”

Clark took the walkie-talkie and was overjoyed. He immediately called his soldiers over to learn how to use it from Fang Wen's special forces team.

The special forces soldiers patiently explained and demonstrated the steps for turning on the device, adjusting the frequency, and making a call. The British paratroopers learned very attentively and soon mastered the basic usage skills.

With everything ready, Fang Wen led the Taishan Special Forces Brigade to board Taishan No. 1 again; while Clark led the British paratroopers to board the "Whitley" night bomber.

The two long-range bombers started their engines one after the other, slowly drove out of the parking area, and entered the runway.

The two planes accelerated one after the other, taxied for a distance, and then took off, heading towards the desert area where the German positions were located.

Fang Wen piloted the Taishan No. 1 in the lead, while the British Whitley bombers followed at a safe distance.

Half an hour later, the two planes arrived at the airspace where the German forces had been detected earlier.

Fang Wen slowly lowered the nose of the aircraft, keeping Taishan-1 at an altitude of 1000 meters as it flew over the desert below.

The superpower was like an invisible radar, scanning the sand dunes and valleys below inch by inch.

But the scene before him made him frown. The vast sea of ​​sand was still empty. Not to mention any figures or equipment, even the slightest trace of marching had been wiped away by the wind and sand. It was as if the German army had vanished into thin air.

Zhao Youming, who was in the rear cockpit, leaned over the bomber's bombing observation camera and shouted, "General Manager, we can't find them. Could they have already gone far away?"

Fang Wen did not answer immediately, but quickly calculated the time and speed in his mind.

It had only been a few tens of minutes since they left the airport. With ten prisoners, a heavy box of technical data, and that seemingly cumbersome communication equipment, the German troops could not possibly have marched at a speed of more than ten kilometers per hour through the soft desert.

The area was wide open and unobstructed, so they had no time to escape the range of their supernatural abilities.

They didn't go far, they just hid.

Fang Wen drew a conclusion.

Suddenly, images of the Pacific Ocean flashed through his mind. Back then, the Japanese submarines were submerged underwater, their mechanical senses blocked by the high density of seawater. If it weren't for the penetrating vision of the Vertical Eye Gem, they wouldn't have been able to lock onto their targets at all.

Although deserts and seas have different forms, they share the same underlying principles.

Since the German forces had been spotted by aircraft, they must have guessed that there would be an aerial pursuit.

If they weren't stupid, they would know that people can't escape being pursued by planes, so their safest way to hide wasn't to run away, but to hide in the sand.

Using sand dunes and slopes as cover, soldiers lower their bodies and cover themselves with a thin layer of sand. From high above, they blend into the desert, making it difficult to distinguish their human figures with ordinary vision or conventional mechanical perception.

In this way, they can continue their march under the cover of darkness when night falls.

Having figured this out, Fang Wen no longer hesitated and reached for the necklace around his neck.

With the injection of energy, the next second, he activated the X-ray vision ability of the Eye Gem.

The desert below was penetrated by X-ray vision.

The bones, withered branches, and stones buried under the sand were revealed one by one, as if they had been exposed to X-rays.

He soon made a discovery.

More than a hundred human silhouettes were huddled under the sand, some with guns on guard, others watching over prisoners.

Sure enough, the Germans were right there, using desert stealth as a tactic.

Fang Wen immediately grabbed the onboard communicator and issued orders to the British fighter jets behind him: "Major Clark, the target is three kilometers below and slightly west of my aircraft. You fly your aircraft westward and parachute from the western airspace; I will lead the team to parachute from the eastern side, attacking from both sides and surrounding them in the sand valley."

Clark's voice came from the other end of the communicator: "Understood! Execute immediately!" (End of Chapter)