Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 93, Page 92: Tin Kettle Solid Incendiary Bomb, Night of Bombing: United Volunteer Army

"Want it now?"

"Correct."

"Can I know what it's for? I don't want the weapons I create to be used in places I don't want to see," Huo Duanyang asked with a serious expression.

Fang Wen hesitated whether to tell the truth or make up a story to cover it up.

But this chemical genius in front of me has an exceptional talent for bomb research.

Perhaps, the weapons I encounter in the future can be realized through him.

Thinking of this, Fang Wen said, "If you know this secret, you have to join us."

"Join?" Huo Duanyang asked blankly.

"We fought the Japanese together. But the methods were a little different; it was all composed of patriotic civilians."

"I agree."

"Alright, let's find a place to eat and talk."

The two went to a nearby pub, bought some food and drinks, found a grassy area outside the airport, sat down, and ate and chatted.

"We are now planning an operation to acquire the wealth of the Northeast Young Marshal's Mansion."

"Oh, you guys are really bold! If I join you, we can't let the Japanese take that wealth."

Fang Wen took out two small wine glasses, filled them both, handed one to Huo Duanyang, and they clinked glasses and drank it all.

"Our plan had been going smoothly until we were about to transport a batch of important props into the city. There were too many props to be discovered by the Japanese, so we had to create chaos in order to take advantage of the confusion."

Huo Duanyang's eyes lit up: "So, you're going to manufacture a batch of aerial incendiary bombs to bomb the Japanese army?"

"Yes, the military camps in Shenyang will be thrown into chaos once they are bombed, and that will be our opportunity."

After Fang Wen finished speaking, he filled Huo Duanyang's glass with wine, then poured one for himself, and the two clinked glasses.

"Now you're one of us, right?"

"Yes. I have another question: how long will it take to complete this batch of bombs?"

"Within five days."

"Okay, I'll start now."

"Don't rush, we still need to design how to drop the bomb. Come on, follow me."

Fang Wen stood up and reached out to pull Huo Duanyang up.

"Wait two hours, I need to show you something."

After saying that, Fang Wen told Huo Duanyang to go home and then quickly walked into the airport.

Now that Huo Duanyang has agreed, it's time to get down to business.

He took a return flight back to Shanghai, then applied for a special landing at Nanjing Airport from the Shanghai airport tower, and subsequently flew back to Nanjing in the Shrike.

Two hours later.

The two entered the airport, and Huo Duanyang also saw the Shrike.

He touched the fuselage and sighed.

"The Shrike, true to its name, is small and fierce. Is this the plane that went to bomb?"

"Yes, that's it. My idea is to put the bomb in the lower storage compartment of the aircraft's auxiliary fuel tank."

Fang Wen bent down and crawled into the belly of the aircraft, opened the auxiliary fuel tank, and revealed the double-layered structure inside.

Huo Duanyang also crawled inside and looked up.

"In that case, I have a suggestion: make it an open-top, fly-off design. The entire bottom tray is a movable door. Once opened, the tray will loosen, and the napalm bombs inside will fall to the ground. To ensure effectiveness, I can find a way to have the arsenal produce a batch of small-caliber, thin-shelled shells specifically for filling solid incendiary bombs."

"Is it too late?" Fang Wen asked.

“Well, we need molds to make shells, and five days probably won’t be enough.” Huo Duanyang looked troubled and explained, “The existing shells are not thick enough to make incendiary shells. They need to be very thin so that they can break through the shell and fly out when they explode.”

"Very thin?"

Fang Wen couldn't help but raise the small wine pot in his right hand.

It is cone-shaped with an opening at the top for pouring or holding wine; it is the simplest type of wine pot.

This stuff is cheap, and there are plenty in the taverns. You can take it with you if you pay a few extra copper coins when you pack it up.

But it is very light and thin, which seems to meet Huo Duanyang's requirements.

He waved the wine jug in front of Huo Duanyang.

"Look at this, can it be used to make a bomb?"

Huo Duanyang's eyes lit up, and he took the wine pot to examine it carefully.

"It's made of tin, lightweight and thin-walled. If the impact of a solid incendiary bomb can break it, it's better than a glass bottle, and even the thin-walled shells made by the arsenal are not as good as it."

Unexpectedly, there was a ready-made incendiary bomb carrier. Huo Duanyang quickly ran out of the airport and returned to his residence to continue the experiment.

He carefully filled the solid incendiary bomb, then added the detonator, and simply sealed it with a layer of cloth.

Then he climbed onto the roof and threw the tin pot down.

Fang Wen was also watching from the rooftop when the tin wine pot fell to the ground and exploded instantly.

The area within a two-meter radius was covered with sparks.

The two men went down to look for the tin wine jug, but only found a small part of it; the rest had been blown into pieces.

This works very well.

Fang Wen simply borrowed a car at the airport and drove Huo Duanyang around Nanjing.

Overnight, small hotels in Nanjing suddenly ran out of containers to hold wine.

Those cheap little tin wine jugs were all bought up by someone else.

Even the suppliers had no stock on hand.

This caused a great deal of complaints from the city's drunkards, who had the heart to buy up all those cheap wine jugs?

People don't understand who would buy that thing.

However, those tin wine jugs appeared inside the Jinling Arsenal.

The factory suddenly received a large order, requiring the workers in the explosives loading workshop to carefully fill some dangerous paste-like substance into tin wine jugs and then fill them with impact fuses containing detonators.

This big order is a side job; everyone benefits from it, from top to bottom, and everyone just tacitly agrees to do it.

With the help of this group of experienced explosives handlers, the tin pot solid incendiary bomb was successfully completed in five days.

Meanwhile, Fang Wen and Howard also modified the lower storage tray of the auxiliary fuel tank.

It is equipped with a linkage device, which opens the lower tray of the auxiliary fuel tank from one side by pulling the linkage in the cab.

To test the effectiveness, Fang Wen decided to use a batch of tin pot solid incendiary bombs.

He chose the Jiaxing area and asked Fang Shouxin to go back in advance to inform his family to fence off that area and not allow anyone to enter.

At 7 p.m., the men of the Fang family in Jiaxing mobilized and surrounded a remote wasteland.

Master Fang asked, "Is there anyone inside?"

"No more. We'd scare away even a rabbit, let alone a person," Young Master Fang replied.

"What if there are rabbits? I just saw something darting around, about the size of a rabbit." Young Master Fang didn't miss any opportunity to argue with his older brother.

The argument between the two men gave Mr. Fang a headache. He ignored them and started giving orders directly.

"ignition."

Immediately, the Fang family's servants lit the torches stuck in the wasteland.

"Step back a thousand feet."

Then everyone dispersed.

After a while, a roar came from the night sky, a dark shadow flashed by, and then a large number of flames burst up, turning the entire wasteland into a sea of ​​fire.

The Fang family members stared in disbelief at the sea of ​​fire before them; the scene was too shocking.

If it were to explode in the city, it would probably set half of Jiaxing ablaze.

And in heaven.

Fang Wen piloted his plane, circling in the air. He was satisfied with the effect of the sea of ​​fire below; it was enough to deal with the Japanese military camp.

Now we have airplanes and bombs.

Everything is ready; all that's left is to prepare in Shenyang.

The airdrop date still needs to be confirmed by them.

He flew back to the airport, immediately went home, and sent a telegram northward. (Shenyang city)

Anping Pawnshop and Consignment Shop.

The treasure-hunting team took their positions and continued their work.

The underground passage has been dug into the Young Marshal's Mansion, right beneath Warehouse No. 2, but the upper strata have not been broken through.

Everything is ready except for the fake gold.

Every evening around 8 p.m., everyone's attention would be focused on Manager Liu. The room was quiet, and you could even hear the static coming from the earphones in Manager Liu's hand.

After translating the coded message into plain text, Manager Liu immediately stood up and showed it to Chief Wang.

Looking at the contents of the telegram in plain text, Chief Wang announced under everyone's gaze: "The south is asking us when to bomb?"

A suppressed murmur of celebration emanated from inside the room.

Discussions then began.

“I went out yesterday and saw that the Japanese have set up another police dog training center in the military camp, and have sent another batch of soldiers there to train the police dogs.”

"There are fewer sentry posts on the city wall now than before. If a bombing occurs, they will definitely be diverted to other areas."

"When the bombing starts, we'll take action. Those of you who are trying to steal things, prepare your sleeping pills. If there are still Japanese soldiers on the city walls, use your methods to knock them out."

"And there's the option of using fire to mark the location, that's very dangerous, how do we do that?"

"Leave it to our action team. We'll make sure to set a fire at the military camp location as a stunt."

"As for the specific time, the south is waiting."

“After 10 p.m. every night, the military camp turns off the lights and rests, which is also when the people are most concentrated. I think it would be best to bomb after 10 p.m.

"Then let's set it for 12 o'clock, just when they're sound asleep."

At this point in the discussion, it was time for Manager Liu to send a telegram.

After hesitating for a moment, Sun Debiao asked, "I know there's another group of people outside Shenyang who are preparing to attack the Japanese. Should we notify them?"

Chief Wang asked with a serious expression, "Can these people be trusted?"

“They’re reliable; they’re from the Volunteer Army. They’ve been waiting for an opportunity to act. It would be a waste for us to just bomb them. Why don’t we get them to cooperate?” Sun Debiao replied.

The volunteer army is a major force against the Japanese at present, and they are irreconcilable enemies. Chief Wang nodded and asked Manager Liu to send this message along with the news.

Inside his residence outside Shanghai Airport, Fang Wen held his earphones, waiting for a call back.

When the radio waves came in, he skillfully recorded them and then translated them into plain text.

[Bombing at midnight the following day; also, is it possible to coordinate with the volunteer army for a joint operation?]

Volunteer Army?

Knowing about history, Fang Wen realized that this was a force that could be united, and immediately replied with his agreement.

Upon receiving the reply, Sun Debiao couldn't wait to set off for the city outskirts the next day.

After midnight, he quietly left Anping Pawnshop and successfully evaded the city's patrols and sentries, climbing over the dilapidated city wall.

After leaving Shenyang, Sun Debiao headed north and arrived at the Fenghai Railway Line.

The railway line was pitch black in the dead of night, with only the railway station buildings along the route still lit up.

These houses were where the railway maintenance workers lived, and they were also Sun Debiao's destination.

He knocked on the door from the outside.

The room fell silent. Someone behind the door asked in a deep voice, "Which road is that? It's a dark and windy night, and people are restless. They leave on their own without explanation."

Sun Debiao changed his tone: "I'm the third son of the Dongshan brothers. I'm Dewu, the fox-hatter."

The door was suddenly opened, and the person inside looked at Sun Debiao with surprise and joy, saying, "Third Brother, you're still alive! I heard you were killed by the Japanese. Come in and sit down, let's talk slowly."

Sun Debiao was ushered into the house, with two gun barrels pressed against his left and right kidneys.

He showed no fear.

Take off the fur hat and put it on your head, which is called a fox hat.

"Fox Hat, you don't even trust Third Brother anymore? No matter how despicable I, Sun Dewu, am, I will never associate with the Japanese."

The man in the fox-hat lowered his head and remained silent.

The person behind Sun Debiao spoke up: "Let's find out whether they are friend or foe before we talk about it."

Sun Debiao nodded and said directly, "We will launch an air raid at midnight the day after tomorrow, targeting the Japanese military camp in Shenyang. If you want to make a move, this will be the best opportunity."

"Air raid? Where did the planes come from? Do you think I'm stupid? Planes from outside the Great Wall can't fly in at all."

"Whether it's true or false, we'll find out the day after tomorrow. We'll use a fire and explosion as a signal. If you really don't dare to make a move, then just pretend I, Sun Dewu, never came."

The other side seemed somewhat tempted. Sun Debiao was right; they would know whether it was true or not by whether the Japanese military camp would be bombed.

It seems unlikely that the Japanese would deliberately bomb their own military camp to set a trap; that would be too foolish.

The two guns were tucked away from Sun Debiao's waist.

Everything is arranged, and we're just waiting to begin.

Fang Wen took a full day to rest and recharge.

On the day of departure, he landed his Shrike plane at Jinan Airport early in the morning.

Fill the auxiliary fuel tank with fuel, check the bottom hidden groove, and once everything is in order, just wait.

At exactly 9 p.m., he immediately boarded the plane and took to the skies.

The Shrike flew faster than the Boeing 247 and arrived over Shenyang in just over two hours.

The plane circled high in the sky, waiting for guidance to drop bombs.

Meanwhile, various actions have already begun below.

Most of the treasure-hunting group lay in ambush beneath the city walls, waiting.

Another unit was lying in ambush in a secluded spot outside the city.

Meanwhile, four members of the action team quietly approached the military camp on the other side of the city.

They had to light four torches in different locations before 12 o'clock. These four torches would then form a quadrilateral pattern to indicate the bombing spots to the planes in the sky.

These four men, as skilled assassins of the Axe Gang, are all ruthless and adept at stealth and ambush.

Dressed in black, they silently approached the sentry, covered his mouth, and slit his throat cleanly and swiftly.

After dealing with the sentry, they placed him against the wall inside the outpost, pretending he was asleep, and the four of them went their separate ways.

Soon after, four torches were lit, and they immediately retreated.

At the same time, Fang Wen, in a state of mechanical perception, noticed the torches that had lit up the city.

He quickly adjusted the aircraft and lowered the altitude by circling.

When the altitude reached 1500 meters and the bombing position was confirmed to be suitable, Fang Wen decisively pulled the switch on the auxiliary fuel tank tray.

More than four hundred palm-sized tin wine jugs of incendiary bombs were unleashed.

It fell on the military camp like raindrops.

A dozen seconds later, a series of explosions occurred, and the entire military camp was engulfed in flames.

Immediately, the military camp descended into chaos.

The ignition points stuck in different places and continued to burn. The wooden barracks were quickly ignited, filled with thick smoke and bright flames.

The man on fire was running around the house, and the burning wooden house was collapsing.

There were also screams and alarms.

The entire city of Shenyang was awakened.

People went outside and talked to each other. In their discussions, they basically confirmed that the fire was in the Japanese military camp. They smiled and treated it as a good show, but no one went to put out the fire.

Outside the city, the fire signaled to the volunteer army, who immediately launched an attack amidst the chaos.

Gunfire erupted as the volunteer army attempted to breach the city gates.

Wang, the gang leader, immediately had an idea: "Go help them. Only when they enter the city will we have a chance."

So, the five thieves climbed the city wall and used blowguns laced with sleeping pills to subdue the Japanese soldiers on the city tower.

The machine gun on the city wall went silent, giving the volunteer army an opportunity. A soldier placed a bomb at the city gate and lit the fuse.

After the explosion, a huge gap was blown in the city gate.

The volunteer army immediately rushed in.

Meanwhile, the treasure-hunting teams also began their operation, leaving the city to transport the boxes filled with fake gold back into it.

(End of this chapter)