Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 189-188, Wenchuan Earthquake in the Republic of China, Bombing of the Landslide Dam, Earthquake Rescue
Fang Wen continued to peruse the intelligence.

Through this intelligence, he gained a clearer understanding of the changes in the world.

[The military budget for North China will be restored to the level of Zhang Xueliang's era, at 450 million yuan per month; from now on, North China's finances will be entirely managed by the Ministry of Finance; the initial budget for war zone relief funds was 2000 million yuan, but due to the central government's lack of funds, it was reduced to 500 million yuan, with 400 million yuan to be allocated through the issuance of government bonds.]

They can't even pay out 2000 million in relief funds?

Fang Wen expressed disbelief, but thought it was just another way to issue government bonds.

He saw two words: make money.

The Chancellor of the Weimar Republic delivered a highly persuasive speech, in which he declared his intention to withdraw from the League of Nations and dissolve the German National Parliament.

With Weimar withdrawing from the League of Nations, the dissolution of Parliament, and other parties becoming illegal organizations, next month's Weimar referendum will only have one option: the Nazis led by Hitler.

Fang Wen remarked with emotion that the wheels of history are turning faster.

Japan withdrew from the League of Nations in March of this year, and Weimar has now also withdrawn. With no constraints left, the two countries have begun to expand the production of military equipment, and war is drawing ever closer.

The anti-Japanese alliance in North China was in dire straits. The anti-Japanese alliance forces led by Generals Fang and Ji were tied down by the Kuomintang army and besieged and bombed by the Japanese army, suffering heavy casualties.

There were no more anti-Japanese troops in North China.

Fang Wen sighed.

From the September 31 Incident in Northeast China in 33 to October 10, Fang Wen witnessed how the entire situation was deteriorating. It was clearly a fight that could have been fought, but it wasn't a big one, and others weren't allowed to make a move.

The thought of not being able to pilot a fighter jet to fight in the north further dampened Fang Wen's enthusiasm.

He lost interest in the intelligence that followed.

I decided to get up and go for a walk to vent my frustration.

As I stepped outside and reached the stairwell, I heard Chuncao's voice: "General Manager, the company's business telegraph office has a telegram specifically requesting that you look at it."

The company's business communications room is a commercial unit located at several airports, used to transmit inventory and price information to airline distribution companies in a timely manner to respond to various changes.

It's rare for a general manager like Fang Wen to read telegrams, so he couldn't help but be curious and checked the telegram.

The telegram contained only one sentence.

[A professor from the Geology Department of Tsinghua University is seeking help in Jinan; Sichuan is in danger.]

How could Sichuan be in danger? The Japanese didn't even defeat Sichuan by the end of the War of Resistance.

But what does the professor from the Department of Geology at Tsinghua University mean?
Fang Wen instructed the company's business telegraph office to send a message to inquire about more details.

The other party replied with another telegram.

The earthquake in Sichuan in August caused siltation in the mountainous lakes, which could endanger multiple areas in Maoxian and Wenchuan if an accident were to occur.

The words "Wenchuan" stirred Fang Wen's heart.

In the future, he experienced the Wenchuan earthquake, and the whole country was praying for those who died in the earthquake.

During that earthquake, the most frequently heard term was "landslide dam."

How come a similar situation occurred in Wenchuan during the Republic of China era?

Thinking of his past life, Fang Wen did not hesitate to go out and fly his Shrike fighter jet towards Jinan.

At Jinan Airport, two gentlemen from Tsinghua University looked anxious.

The two anxiously communicated with the telegraph operator.

When will General Manager Fang arrive?

"Time is of the essence. The landslide dam could collapse at any moment, and more than 100,000 people will be affected. Have you made that clear?"

The telegraph operator said helplessly, "I already said, even an airplane can't travel 108,000 miles in one somersault. Please wait patiently."

They waited for two hours before Fang Wen's Shrike finally landed at Jinan Airport.

After parking the plane, Fang Wen went directly to the business telegraph room and met with two professors from the Department of Geology at Tsinghua University.

"This is Fang Wen. How can I help you?"

“Let me speak,” the older one said urgently. “We are professors from the Geology Department of Tsinghua University. This morning I received a telegram from a senior alumnus of Maoxian County, Sichuan Province. He said that a major earthquake occurred in Maoxian County on August 25. The earthquake caused landslides and mudslides that blocked the riverbed, forming a lake. The landslide dam is getting bigger and bigger. Once it collapses, hundreds of thousands of people downstream will be submerged.”

Fang Wen asked seriously, "What kind of help do you need from me? Just tell me."

“We know you are an air combat hero, skilled in high-altitude bomb dropping. Could you use bombs to blast a breach in the landslide dam according to our plan, allowing the dammed lake to release floodwaters ahead of time and avoid a more dangerous situation?” the professor explained.

Fang Wen nodded and continued to press, "How big is the landslide dam? How many bombs are needed? Where is Maoxian County located in Sichuan? Can planes land in Maoxian County?"

Fang Wen needs to know these things, otherwise the other party's proposal cannot be implemented at all.

Although the two professors were geology majors, they did not know the exact situation on the other side. Fortunately, the commercial telegraph office could send telegrams directly to the telegraph office in Maoxian.

After sending the telegram, the situation was finally understood.

Some answers were found, while others were not.

Maoxian County is located north of Chengdu. There is a smooth stone-paved road outside the county government.

The landslide dammed lake is formed by blocking a huge valley. It's hard to describe exactly how big it is; you'd have to go there to see it for yourself.

Given the urgency of the situation, Fang Wen felt that Taishan Airlines should shoulder its corresponding social responsibility, so he immediately contacted his wife.

At the headquarters of Taishan Airlines, Kuang Mingzhu looked at the telegram solemnly.

In her husband's name, she convened a meeting with Manager Liu, Sun Debiao, Pan Jiafeng, and Shao Sishen.

Once everyone had arrived, Kuang Mingzhu explained the reason.

Everyone was shocked to hear that the earthquake had created a huge lake that could collapse at any moment and flood downstream cities.

Kuang Mingzhu added, “The gentleman said he was going to Maoxian to rescue people, where more than 100,000 people are in danger. We, Taishan Airlines, must shoulder our moral responsibility and cannot stand idly by. Therefore, we need to establish a Taishan Airlines disaster relief team to be ready to respond at any time.”

Manager Liu sighed and raised his hand: "The reason I ventured to Northeast China was because my family suffered a disaster. At that time, there was no kind person like the general manager to help me. In the end, I was the only one left in my family, and I went to the Northeast with others to make a living. I would definitely participate in this kind of rescue."

Sun Debiao also raised his hand, as did Pan Jiafeng and Shao Sishen.

A disaster relief team was established, ready to be dispatched at any time. However, Fang Wen drove a Boeing 247 carrying two geology professors to Maoxian County.

I flew from Jinan to Wuhan, and then refueled and transferred in Wuhan.

The distance from Wuhan to Maoxian is about 1000 kilometers, which is a sufficient distance to fly, but there is no established flight route.

Without satellites, no-flyway flights can only be accomplished by the best pilots; things are not as simple as laymen might think.

Even with Fang Wen, it is necessary to use various methods to determine the identity.

The best method is to use a sextant, compass, and map for positioning.

While piloting the plane, Fang Wen asked the two geology professors sitting in the cabin, "Who knows how to use a sextant?"

The young professor replied, "I know how to use it."

Fang Wen handed him the sextant bag and instructed him: "Test the sextant every 15 minutes and mark the results on the map."

The young professor did as instructed, taking out a sextant and aiming it at the sun.

The results he measured gave Fang Wen a clear sense of direction, and when combined with a compass, he could immediately correct any deviations.

It was thanks to the sextant that the plane flew towards Chengdu in a near-straight line.

After arriving in Chengdu, the plane continued flying north and soon arrived in the Maoxian area.

Inside Maoxian County, a road was laid out with red cloth to guide landings. Fang Wen did not land immediately, but continued flying north to investigate the situation of the landslide dammed lake.

According to locals, the Minjiang River flows through Maoxian and Wenchuan, and the landslide dammed lake is located in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River.

After flying for a while, the plane arrived at the section of the landslide-dammed lake.

The two of you will carefully observe the situation below and then discuss it.

The elderly professor summarized:

"The earthquake in this section of the Minjiang River caused landslides and blocked the river, which is a rare occurrence. Although some gaps have been cleared, a large amount of river water has still accumulated, which will increase the pressure on the mountains and cause further collapse. Once completely blocked, a huge barrier lake could form within two days. Once it collapses, the amount of water released in a short period of time will be very large, posing a huge threat to downstream areas. The surging river water will rush ashore and flood towns."

(Schematic diagram of the landslide dammed lake)
Fang Wen nodded, and the plane turned around: "Let's land first and get more information from the local government."

After flying back for a while, the plane landed on the smooth stone road outside the county government building.

Although it's a bit bumpy, let's land anyway.

As soon as the plane landed, the three immediately disembarked and spoke with the county government officials who were there to greet them.

One of them was a senior alumnus of two professors from Tsinghua University.

After a brief description, the county government officials finally realized the enormous threat posed by the landslide dam.

The county magistrate recounted what happened on August 25th.

"The landslide dammed lake you see used to be called Diexi Town. Because of the drought, a ceremony to worship the City God was held there on August 25th. Everything was fine at first, but when the temple keeper started chanting incantations, there were three loud noises. Then the earth dragon turned upside down."

"Earth dragon turns back" is actually a colloquial term for an earthquake. People don't pay much attention to things like the City God Temple; they're more interested in what happened afterward.

What followed was devastating. Diexi Town, located on the banks of the Minjiang River, was suddenly struck by a massive earthquake, and the collapsing rocks buried the entire town.

Twenty-one nearby Qiang villages were also affected by the disaster.

The mountains that collapsed due to the earthquake not only buried villages and towns, but also blocked the Minjiang River.

The blockage of the Minjiang River has caused downstream rivers to dry up, while this section of the river continues to rise in water levels.

The county seat was also affected by the earthquake, with large areas of houses collapsing.

Fortunately, the town area mainly consists of single-story houses and small buildings, so there was not much damage.

After listening to the county magistrate's words and taking into account the geology professor's advice, Fang Wen pondered how to proceed.

The blocked river channel has many piles of rocks. This inverted triangular pile is very solid and may not be able to be blown open even with ordinary bombs.

But once the pressure builds up to the point that it breaks down, the downstream will suffer.

Therefore, the geology professors' advice was correct; the breakthrough must be made as soon as possible.

The key question is how to solve this?
He voiced his idea.

Two geology professors also agreed.

One of them said, "We don't know much about structural mechanics; perhaps those who study architecture know more. They should be able to find the structural weaknesses in the entire landslide dam. If they blast from those weaknesses, they might succeed."

Listening to the professor's analysis, Fang Wen suddenly had a flash of inspiration: weren't Mr. Liang and Mr. Lin from Shanghai architects?

There's also the issue of bombs.

Taishan Airlines did not have bombs of this magnitude, and the Nationalist government probably did not either, or even if it did, it would not use them in this situation.

We need to get the bomb lab at Xiangxi Airport to come up with a solution.

He immediately sent a telegram to Shanghai from the county's telegraph office.

The headquarters of Taishan Airlines outside Shanghai Airport.

A temporary disaster relief team is on standby.

The telegram finally arrived.

Kuang Mingzhu read the telegram aloud.

Go and invite Mr. Liang and Mr. Lin, explain the situation, and inform them that we need their help to find the structural weaknesses and breach the landslide dam.

[Notify Xiangxi to have Huo Duanyang build a giant bomb.]

Kuang Mingzhu immediately went into the city to find the two gentlemen.

This time they were lucky; the two of them didn't go out and stayed at their home in Shanghai.

After visiting him, Kuang Mingzhu explained the situation.

The two gentlemen were not sure either.

Mr. Liang replied, "The building structure is more regular, and it is not complicated when we consider the mechanical structure."

Mr. Lin added, "The landslide dam you mentioned is made up of many huge rocks pieced together, and this mechanical structure is complex."

But the two gentlemen did not refuse; instead, they agreed to go.

They were then taken to Wuhan by Pan Jiafeng and left to wait.

Pan Jiafeng returned to Shanghai and organized the temporary grounding of all Boeing 247s operated by Taishan Airlines, the temporary refund of sold tickets, and then loaded the disaster relief supplies purchased by Manager Liu, Sun Debiao, and Shao Sishen onto the plane.

One by one, relief supplies were loaded onto the plane, including rice, flour, cooking oil, clothing, and quilts.

Because of the urgency of the situation, Taishan Airlines did not publicize the joint disaster relief efforts to the outside world, but instead acted on its own.

All the Boeing 247s flew to Wuhan, and Fang Wen also flew back.

But it still hasn't taken off; it still needs a bomb to break through the landslide dam.

Therefore, Fang Wen transited through Wuhan to fly to Xiangxi Airport.

Xiangxi Airport Aviation Bomb Factory.

After learning about the situation, Pan Jiafeng immediately discussed it with his colleagues in the chemistry lab.

When he explained that he was making the large bomb to save lives, everyone readily agreed to participate.

This kind of spontaneous participation is more motivating than proactive requesting.

They discussed together how to make it.

The external carrier of the bomb can be a 50-kilogram napalm incendiary bomb.

However, this cartridge case uses tin, which is easy to break. Therefore, it requires gunpowder with the fastest detonation speed to increase the instantaneous explosive force.

The propellant in the bullet is sufficient.

The detonating charge can be the same as that used in napalm incendiary bombs, and it can achieve the same detonation.

But how much power can a 50-kilogram bullet propellant actually deliver?

When Fang Wen arrived at Xiangxi Airport, the effects of the explosion had already been calculated.

Fang Wen looked at their calculation results.

According to the usual calculations of propellants in chemical laboratories, the explosion of fifty kilograms of propellant can generate 15.5 million joules of energy. Assuming that one joule can roughly push a 0.102-kilogram object one meter, the energy released by fifty kilograms of propellant can move a ten-kilogram object 151 kilometers.

Looking at the calculated explosive power, Fang Wen estimated that it should be enough to blast open a breach.

The key is to find the best angle and position to detonate it.

(End of this chapter)