EBE Chapter 155 Arrived Successfully
Chapter 155 Arrived Successfully
Deputy Minister Chen knew that now was not the time to sigh. He was very happy that Zhang Wenwu was able to get a fighter jet for the country. After all, Zhang Wenwu was a member of the 18th Army, and the entire army had made a contribution. So he asked Zhang Wenwu to wait a moment while he contacted the Air Force's front-line commander, who was also his Baoding classmate and former subordinate, Zhou Baifu.
Zhou Baifu was in extreme depression. Before the war, the Chinese Air Force had a total of 296 aircraft, of which 30 could be used to fight against the Japanese army, and were organized into nine groups and five independent squadrons. But after the tragic consumption in Shanghai, he now only has aircraft that can take off and fight. Seeing that the troops on the Shanghai defense line are about to start retreating, what can he use to guard the sky of Nanjing?
When the phone rang, Zhou Baifu really didn't want to answer it. This must be another call asking him for a plane for cover, but he had no choice but to force himself to answer the phone. He had made up his mind, no matter who asked him for a plane, he would just say two words: No.
"Commander Chen, it's you. I don't have any planes here...ah...what? You got me a brand new American plane? Oh, okay, okay. A British warship? Okay, okay, send three towns. Yes, yes, what's his name? Zhang Wenwu? Brother Wenjun's younger brother? Okay, okay, Commander Chen, thank you so much."
After Zhou Baifu hung up the phone with Deputy Chief Chen, he pinched his thigh hard. Hmm, it hurt. He was not dreaming. He did not expect that his Chief Chen would give him the only good news in these days. Although there was only one plane, he knew very well how difficult it was to get this plane now. This was the first replenishment that the Chinese Air Force had received since the war.
"dong dong dong"
There was a knock on the door, and Zhou Baifu's adjutant came in and told him that the Soviets had arrived at the meeting room. So Zhou Baifu calmed himself down, tidied his military uniform, and walked towards the meeting room with the documents on the table.
Since the Chinese Air Force was almost completely destroyed, and European and American countries were implementing appeasement diplomacy in the Far East and under pressure from Japan, they refused to sell the Chinese Air Force the fighter planes it urgently needed, which meant that the Chinese Air Force could not get any aircraft replenishment. So, the government contacted the Soviets, who had conflicts with the Japanese in the Far East. In order to enable China to delay the expansion of the Japanese army and consume the Japanese army, the Soviets agreed to sell their own aircraft to the Chinese government. This was a life-saving medicine for the Chinese Air Force.
The Chinese government plans to purchase 1235 aircraft of various types from the Soviet Union, including 777 fighters, 358 bombers, and 100 trainer aircraft. The fighters are Soviet-made I-15 and I-16, and the bombers are ISB-2 and TSB-3. The two sides have basically reached an agreement, and the Soviets said that they can also organize a group of pilots to help the Chinese Air Force fight against the Japanese Air Force.
After Zhang Wenwu hung up the phone with Deputy Minister Chen, he said to Smith, who was sitting on the sofa in the office drinking coffee, in a relaxed mood: "Smith, I have already contacted everyone. You can notify Taylor and your country's warships to prepare for the transaction and departure at 2 pm tomorrow."
Smith took a puff of his cigar and nodded, then walked to the phone and started contacting people one by one.
At 2 o'clock the next afternoon, at the dock of the concession, a team of American Marines cleared a corner of the dock and went on alert. Smith and Zhang Wenwu were smoking with Taylor on the blocked dock, while Cao Huaguo was standing quietly beside the boxes counting the number of boxes. After a while, a transport boat quickly drove towards the dock from the side of a warship anchored in the distance.
"Oh, dear Philip, I haven't seen you for a long time, haha." Smith gave a big hug to a British naval lieutenant colonel who had just got off the transport boat and arrived at the dock.
"Haha, Smith, why do I feel like you've gained some weight? It seems like you've been doing well recently." Lieutenant Colonel Philip also greeted Smith enthusiastically.
"Philip, let me introduce you. This is Major Zhang Wenwu from China. He was the one who organized this event. This is Captain Taylor, the American military attaché in Shanghai." Smith took Philip's hand and introduced the two people next to him.
"Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Philip, it's an honor to meet you." Zhang Wenwu and Taylor both saluted Philip and greeted him politely.
"Hello, Major Zhang, Captain Taylor, I'm also very happy to meet you all here." Lieutenant Colonel Philip returned a military salute very gentlemanly.
After a few people chatted for a while, Captain Taylor had his men move the boxes of aircraft parts onto the transport boat. As there were so many boxes, the transport boat needed three trips to transport all the goods to the warship.
After all the boxes were successfully transported onto the warship, Captain Taylor happily left with the seven large gold bars given to him by Zhang Wenwu, while Smith, Zhang Wenwu and Cao Huaguo boarded the destroyer "Duncan" on a transport boat.
Zhang Wenwu looked at the boxes piled on the deck and couldn't help feeling a little proud. At this time, Cao Huaguo very tactfully handed him a briefcase containing four large yellow croakers, which was a bribe for Lieutenant Colonel Philip.
"Major Zhang, we can set sail at any time. What time do you think we should leave?" Philip walked over with Smith and said enthusiastically.
Zhang Wenwu handed over the briefcase in his hand, and then said with a smile: "Lieutenant Colonel Philip, this is the briefcase you left at the consulate last time. Please keep it. If you have prepared it, then let's set off now. The sooner we deliver the things, the easier it will be for everyone."
After Philip took the briefcase, he seemed to be in a very good mood and immediately said that they would set sail immediately.
After Smith watched Philip leave, he came to Zhang Wenwu and said, "Major Zhang, you are going to create a Chinese history. You actually used a warship to transport an airplane. Haha, you are amazing. Your ideas are always so unique."
Zhang Wenwu smiled at Smith, then pointed to a warship not far away and said, "Major Smith, look, that's a Japanese warship. It would be fun to fire a few naval guns at it. Or, watching it sink would be a very soothing thing."
Smith was startled by Zhang Wenwu's words, but he also knew that Zhang Wenwu was joking, so he cooperated and said, "Well, I'll go ask Philip how much it costs to fire one shot. If the price is right, we might as well fire a few shots at the Japanese warships."
After hearing what Smith said, Zhang Wenwu also laughed and said, "No, Smith, our Chinese Navy will definitely fire our own guns to sink all the Japanese warships in the future. I want to use our own navy's cannons. For revenge, we need to do it ourselves to vent our anger."
Smith blinked and said, "Major Zhang, you are not going to buy a warship, are you? This is not something we can do. If you buy a warship, Philip and his sailors will have to swim back to England, haha." Smith felt that Zhang Wenwu's idea of the Chinese Navy sinking the Japanese Navy's warships was a bit unrealistic. Does China still have a navy now? The Chinese Navy's few small sampans can't even defend the coastal defense line in Shanghai, so how can they sink the Japanese Navy's warships?
Zhang Wenwu knew that even if he could buy a warship, it would not change the current situation of the Chinese Navy. Moreover, as the war progressed, China basically lost all its seaports. Later, it relied on the Sino-Vietnamese Railway and the Burma Road to barely survive. Later, it relied on the America's Hump Route. There was no use for the warship he bought. He couldn't rely on a warship to rush to Tokyo Bay to bombard the Japanese mainland. Besides, there was no fuel to replenish.
The destroyer "Duncan" soon began to sail up the Yangtze River, and the nearby Japanese warship used a signal light to ask "Duncan" what it was doing. Lieutenant Colonel Philip gave the Japanese a brief answer: cruise training. Then, "Duncan" arrogantly left under the gaze of the Japanese warship.
The "Duncan" flew the British flag high and slowed down when crossing the exchange zone between the two sides to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. When passing by China's Jiangyin Fortress, the warship slowed down even further. The waterways in this area of water had been blocked by the Chinese Navy using the "self-sinking" method some time ago. Currently, there is only one channel left for slow passage. Once the war ahead is unfavorable, the Chinese Navy will immediately use the "self-sinking" method to block this only channel.
At eight o'clock the next morning, Zhang Wenwu woke up from his sleep. After getting up, he looked through the window of the cabin and found that the warship had stopped at some point. He could see a large area of buildings across the river from the window. It seemed that he had arrived at his destination, Sanzhen.
As soon as he arrived on the deck, Zhang Wenwu heard Philip's enthusiastic voice: "Oh, Major Zhang, why don't you sleep a little longer? There is breakfast in the officers' mess, although it may not taste so delicious."
"Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel Philip, have we arrived at the three towns?" Zhang Wenwu now only wanted to quickly deliver the plane to the hands of the Chinese Air Force. It would only be a matter of skipping a meal, but he wouldn't starve to death.
"Yes, Major Zhang, you can arrange unloading at any time." Lieutenant Colonel Philip answered affirmatively.
Thirty minutes later, Zhang Wenwu and Cao Huaguo took the warship's transport boat to the Sanzhen Riverside Wharf. An officer wearing the uniform of an air force lieutenant colonel who had been waiting there for a long time came over after seeing the transport boat approach the shore and asked loudly, "Is it Major Zhang Wenwu of the 18th Army?"
After hearing the question, Zhang Wenwu quickly stated that he was Zhang Wenwu, then got off the boat and saluted the lieutenant colonel. The lieutenant colonel saluted back and said, "Major Zhang, I'm from the Air Force Front Command. My name is Lin Jiahan. Air Force Commander Zhou sent me here to receive the plane you brought back for the Air Force."
Zhang Wenwu looked at the corner of the dock where he was standing. This side was now guarded by soldiers with live ammunition. On the other side, many cargo ships were putting a steady stream of goods on the dock. Now the entire government was moving westward, and the three towns were important transportation hubs in the middle, and there were too many transit goods that needed to be arranged every day.