Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 256-255 Air Suppression, Remote-Controlled Bomb Drop, Guangzhou Gold Bank's Attack on Japan Begins

Fang Wen agreed to help the four wealthy men and then asked John Harvey to draft the contracts.

While it's good to offer help, it's essential to have a contract or written agreement to protect your rights.

These contracts include: a joint development agreement for the Marshall Islands and a supply agreement.

After signing the contract, Fang Wen pondered how to eliminate the kidnappers.

The two sides are now facing off on opposite sides of this isolated island. The other side has 10 men left, all of whom are experienced firearms shooters and skilled in coordinated combat.

This place is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, 3000 kilometers away from Majuro. Even if they notify them, it would take Zhao Jiu and his men 100 hours to arrive.

Similarly, they were unable to obtain timely support from Honolulu.

Therefore, I can only rely on myself.

The Xuanming seaplane currently has three M2 machine guns, but because they are mobile air-to-air machine guns, they can only fire horizontally and from an upward angle, and cannot fire downwards.

However, the remote-controlled bombs they brought could cause overwhelming air strikes by dropping them from the air.

Therefore, Fang Wen took off directly to begin this monetary revenge.

Fang Wen piloted the plane into the air and hovered at an altitude of over 2000 meters.

He picked up the in-flight phone: "The number of remote-controlled bombs is limited. You must strictly follow my instructions when dropping the bombs. No reckless actions are allowed."

These words were spoken to Wu Yingzong and Zhao Wanping.

The two men waited at the anchor drop-off point in the mooring bay, with a dozen or so remote-controlled bombs beside them.

Meanwhile, the other passengers on the plane were filled with anticipation.

Everything is ready.

By integrating mechanical sensing with the aircraft, Fang Wen lowered the altitude by several hundred meters.

This altitude is only 1500 meters.

The hijackers below also saw the planes in the sky. They realized that their men were likely to die, and they all raised their guns and fired into the air.

Unfortunately, the weapons they had were ultimately limited in range. Due to factors such as air resistance and gravity, the bullets lost kinetic energy at a height of 1000 meters and began to fall freely.

The bullets fired vertically returned along their original path and landed around the sailors' ship, some of the hijackers were unfortunately hit, and the scene became chaotic.

Now, Fang Wen seized the opportunity, descending the aircraft to an altitude of 1000 meters, and just as he was about to pass the enemy ship, he shouted: "Drop the bombs."

Wu Yingzong and Zhao Wanping released the remote-controlled bomb in perfect unison.

Ten seconds later, Wu Yingzong pressed the radio wave detonator.

Suddenly, a series of explosions occurred on the ships below, some on the deck and some in the sea.

But the explosion did not eliminate the kidnappers on the ship.

Fang Wen controlled the plane to turn around and began the second round of bombing.

The second explosion was like adding fuel to the fire, directly setting the ship ablaze.

This is suppression. In the years before precision-guided missiles, having air superiority posed a great threat to both land and sea.

Even if these kidnappers are highly skilled in teamwork and have excellent marksmanship, they still can't handle this situation.

Then, the third round of bombing directly led to the collapse.

The entire ship tilted to one side and gradually sank into the water.

The survivors on board jumped into the sea before the ship sank.

At this moment, weapons have become a burden. In order to survive, the survivors discarded their weapons and swam towards the atoll, only to be caught by the bodyguards of the wealthy.

A long-planned kidnapping in the high seas of the Pacific Ocean ended in failure. The two surviving kidnappers were captured, and the bodyguards then boarded the oil tanker and freshwater ship for inspection.

The two ships had a total of 12 crew members. Because they remained neutral during the attempted kidnapping, they were temporarily detained by bodyguards to prevent any accomplices of the kidnappers from being found on board.

Now we just need to wait for the rescue team from Honolulu to arrive.

With their lives no longer in danger, the wealthy turned their attention to Fang Wen's ghost ship exploration.

Elizabeth Katherine Rockefeller's film revealed the mysteries inside the ghost ship to them.

Once the truth was revealed, the fear of mysticism vanished instantly, replaced by anxieties about the plague.

Regardless of whether those rats, which have reproduced for generations, still carry the plague virus, they must be eliminated just in case.

Therefore, the third exploration of the ghost ship was much simpler and more direct.

The bodyguards and Fang Wen's men cut a hole in the hull of the ship, went in directly from there, and retrieved all the treasure.

Then a huge fire burned the entire ghost ship, along with the rats inside, to ashes.

In the days that followed, the origin of the treasure that had been retrieved was also clarified.

According to Professor Suarez's analysis, this treasure trove contains Mayan wealth plundered by Spanish colonists, which was stolen by Caribbean pirates when it was being prepared to be transported to Europe.

The Caribbean pirate gang that committed the robbery was led by Edward Teach, nicknamed Blackbeard.

This was the last major pirate in the Caribbean.

At that time, because of Britain's victory in the Anglo-French War, the King of England announced the cancellation of privateering licenses, requiring all pirates to either accept the King's pardon and return to land, or to go to war with the Royal Navy.

Most of the pirates had gone ashore, with only a few, such as Blackbeard, still holding out.

Initially, Blackbeard's pirate crew controlled the sea route from Europe to America, nearly bankrupting Britain.

Blackbeard was eventually surrounded and killed in a naval battle by the British fleet.

However, his treasure was never found after his death, and thus the legend of Blackbeard's treasure has been passed down ever since.

Now we can at least be clear about one thing: this ghost ship was the treasure ship that Blackbeard sent out back then. Unfortunately, it was hit by the plague en route, and in the end, the people were gone but the ship remained, and it unexpectedly became a mysterious ghost ship.

One day after the treasure was retrieved, a warship from the Pearl Harbor base in Honolulu finally arrived.

The four wealthy men couldn't wait to board the ship and leave, and before leaving, they waved goodbye to Fang Wen.

After watching the warships and four other ships depart, Fang Wen looked around.

Now, only family members are left.

Wu Yingzong, Zhao Wanping, John Harvey.

Lin Shuiwang boarded a warship and returned to Honolulu, then took a ship back to the United States with four other wealthy men. This was all to cultivate good relationships and facilitate future contact and cooperation.

"Let's go, let's set off too."

Fang Wen turned and boarded the plane, followed by the others.

The Xuanming took off, heading towards Majuro, 3000 kilometers away. After a 15-hour long-haul flight, the plane landed on the shore of Majuro.

A small boat came along, and Zhao Jiu was standing at the bow.

Fang Wen got out of the cockpit and asked about the situation: "Zhao Jiu, how is Majuro doing?"

"General Manager, this is going too smoothly. You all get on the ship first, we'll talk on the way."

Immediately, everyone boarded the small boat, which was then turned and headed towards the shore.

Once everyone was ashore, Zhao Jiu began to recount his experiences in Majuro.

"Following the general manager's advice, I found the most prestigious family on the island to serve as president. At first, they didn't understand what I meant and had to explain it to me. Once they understood, it was much easier. Everyone wants a position of power. With someone taking the lead, things became much easier. We all became employees of the new kingdom's government, and we publicly declared that we were abolishing the trusteeship system and restoring sovereignty. The problem now is that the people I brought are strong enough in terms of military force, but not in other areas. They're in complete disarray."

Fang Wen smiled and said, "Don't worry about that. I've found two partners, and their families will send various suitable management talents. What you need to do now is stabilize the situation, control the other islands, and cooperate with John Harvey's legislation."

Zhao Jiu nodded: "We've sent people to the other islands. Many are uninhabited islands, and we've worked with the inhabited ones to get them to accept the new independent kingdom. But, General Manager, what if the Japanese send warships to attack?"

Fang Wen immediately fell into thought.

The Japanese Navy currently lacks the capability for long-range operations, making the Marshall Islands less important to them than Southeast Asia.

But the situation is different for the United States. In its Pacific strategy, the United States needs transit islands as bases to connect with Asia and better manage the U.S. colony of the Philippines.

Honolulu is one island, and Guam is another, but there is a distance of more than 6000 kilometers between Honolulu and Guam. These two islands alone cannot achieve the Pacific strategy.

If, at this point, the independent Kingdom of the Marshall Islands were willing to accept American protection and allow it to build a base, then America's Pacific strategic layout would be much more complete.

Therefore, Fang Wen was betting that the United States would antagonize Japan for the benefits brought by the Marshall Islands.

Shaking off his thoughts, Fang Wen comforted Zhao Jiu, "Don't worry, the Japanese navy has no base in the Pacific. Besides, it will take a long time for news of what happened here to reach Japan. By then, it will be a done deal, and they can't change anything."

His words gave Zhao Jiu confidence, and the conversation ended there.

After spending the night in the Marshall Islands, Fang Wen took off again for Guangzhou.

On this return voyage, it also had to pass through waters controlled by the Japanese Navy, but it was a close call. The Japanese Navy, which could not predict the movements of the Xuanming in advance, did not send carrier-based aircraft to intercept it.

As they were about to land at Guangzhou Airport, Fang Wen borrowed a phone and called the Kuang family.

Kuang Shanming's cheerful voice came through the phone: "You're finally back, kid. Come to the Gold Exchange, I'll show you a good show."

Fang Wen also wanted to know how this joint attack on Japanese silver by Guangzhou gold banks would go.

"Okay, I'll come right away."

He hung up the phone and took Wu Yingzong and Zhao Wanping to the Gold Exchange.

Inside the gold exchange, there was a commotion as many people held up their bidding paddles and made bids.

I couldn't understand the local dialect, so I turned to looking for my father-in-law.

"Fang Wen, I'm here, come here." His father-in-law waved from the second floor.

Fang Wen and his two companions went up to the second floor. Led by his father-in-law, they entered a large hall on the second floor that was covered with thick cloth to block out outside noise.

It was much quieter there, heavily guarded, with bodyguards in different uniforms standing outside the door.

Fang Wen told Wu Yingzong and Zhao Wanping to stay outside, while he and his father-in-law went inside.

Fang Wen recognized the people present; they were all managers of those twenty-odd gold shops.

They were discussing something with great excitement.

Kuang Shanming said loudly, "My family's God of Wealth has returned. Before we take action, let's soak up his good fortune."

Immediately, more than twenty managers from the gold shops stood up and came over, shaking hands with Fang Wen with smiles on their faces.

The handshakes were very firm, as if they wanted to steal Fang Wen's good fortune in this way.

After shaking hands, Kwong Shan-ming explained the situation.

"On the day the silver dollar was changed to legal tender, the Japanese ambassador, Ariyoshi Akira, angrily questioned Mr. Kong about why he had not consulted with Japan before the currency reform decree was issued. It is said that he suspected that the currency reform was planned and supported by Britain. Subsequently, Japanese merchants in China refused to hand over silver and used various methods, such as continuing to engage in silver smuggling and export, or preventing the transport of silver from North China to the south, creating various difficulties for the currency reform."

"The British supported the currency reform and issued the Royal Decree of 1935, which prohibited the payment of debts in silver, requiring British merchants and expatriates in China to comply with the currency reform order and not to pay debts in silver; all British banks in China also expressed their willingness to hand over silver. HSBC also lent £200 million to the Nationalist government at a low interest rate (3% per annum)."

"Now the Japanese suspect that the British and the Nationalist government are colluding to do something wrong."

"The Americans were angered by the fact that the Nationalist government no longer needed to link its currency to the US dollar. They announced that they would reduce the Treasury Department's official purchases of silver to 5000 million ounces."

After listening to Kuang Shanming's words, Fang Wen roughly understood the game of strategy involved.

In short, this sudden currency reform by the Nationalist government not only harmed the interests of the people at home, but also damaged the interests of other countries.

Why can't it be pegged to the US dollar?
Because its reserves are insufficient, the currency valuation itself is fictitious, and problems will arise once it is linked to the currency.

Fang Wen laughed. This makeshift team was doing completely reckless things.

Unaware of his own thoughts, Fang Wen continued to listen to Kuang Shanming's boastful talk.

“Since the issuance of legal tender, our twenty-odd gold shops have started selling off silver, and the price of silver has begun to decline slightly. Because we are selling a lot, in large quantities, we are basically the ones selling off our silver in the Southern Gold Exchange.”

The gold shop owner next to Kuang Shanming added, "We were selling at a lower price, but the Shanghai Gold Exchange was buying at a higher price, which created a 5% price difference between the north and south. At first, we thought the Nationalist government was buying silver as reserves, but we found out that it wasn't. The silver buyers at the Shanghai Gold Exchange were all related to the Japanese Chamber of Commerce."

Fang Wen was surprised: "The Japanese are still buying silver?"

“Yes, these guys, you think they’re smart, but they’re just stubborn mules, they won’t turn back until they hit a wall. If they’re willing to buy, we’ll just sell to them. In the next two weeks, we’ll sell off 3% of all our silver.” Kuang Shanming replied.

Fang Wen was even more surprised. The U.S. Treasury had already reduced the amount of silver it could buy from China, and China's silver dollar system had been transformed into legal tender, yet the Japanese were still buying silver.

That's a huge gamble!
Fang Wen understood the ruthlessness of Americans in economic matters; they never gave up until they achieved their goals.

Therefore, he felt there must be more killer moves to come.

Once that killer move is unleashed, the price of silver will likely collapse.

Therefore, Fang Wen stood up and said seriously, "Gentlemen, I have a suggestion. I wonder if you would like to hear it?"

“Son-in-law, just say what you have to say. We’re all family here,” Kuang Shanming said.

"Alright, my suggestion is to sell all the silver in a short period of time, sell as much as you have, and then convert it all into gold, which is a safe-haven asset."

Everyone in the room was immediately surprised. Kuang Shanming, on behalf of everyone, asked, "Son-in-law, is there something you haven't finished saying? Tell us so that everyone can understand."

"This is just a prediction, but selling off silver in the short term won't do you any harm. The faster you sell, the more you'll earn later," Fang Wen replied.

"How can we lower the price if we don't have any silver?" a gold shop manager asked, puzzled.

“We don’t need to pressure them, someone will take care of it.” Fang Wen said, then stood up. “Gentlemen, I still have many things to deal with in South Asia. I suggest you listen if you want, or not if you don’t, it won’t go against the original plan. I’ll take my leave now.”

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to everyone!

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(End of this chapter)