Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 850 Secret Conditions, Heading to Yekaterinburg

As the night passed, Fang Wen sat up in bed.

By pressing the button on the belt, Fang Wen could observe the outside situation through mechanical sensing capabilities.

The number of guards outside has increased. Not only have the number of sentries at the gate doubled, but armed guards have also been added to the stairwells downstairs and at the corners of the factory area passageways.

Clearly, it was caused by his unusual behavior of going out quietly and then mysteriously returning last night.

Fang Wen was not worried about this, because he had met someone with more authority than the Ministry of Internal Affairs last night. As long as Stalin did not take action against him, no one in Moscow would mess with him.

He opened the door, had the guard bring him breakfast, and then stayed in the room, waiting patiently.

At 10 a.m., two vehicles drove into the military factory.

Ivan got out of the front car, but walked to the back car instead.

The rear door opened, and a tall man in military uniform got out.

He was one of the two plainclothes officers who had been closely guarding Stalin in the bar last night.

After shedding his civilian clothes and donning a standard military uniform, he appears cold, stern, and austere.

The two hurried upstairs. The guard at the door saw the identification badge on their chests and immediately stood at attention, raised his hand in salute, and did not dare to be negligent in the slightest.

Ivan knocked on the door.

Fang Wen opened the door and asked, "Ivan, do you have any good news?"

Ivan did not answer. The tall military officer spoke up: "Hello, Mr. Fang. I am Lieutenant Colonel Uzhne from the State Security Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

Fang Wen thought to himself, no wonder he was the one protecting Stalin yesterday.

The State Security Directorate (NKGB), the core intelligence agency of the Soviet Union during wartime, also had the important responsibility of protecting Stalin.

Although the other party was only a lieutenant colonel, his authority far exceeded that of a military officer and was incomparable to that of an ordinary officer.

Fang Wen replied, "Hello."

Lieutenant Colonel Uzhne said, "The following conversation is between the two of us."

He raised his hand in gesture, and Ivan understood, stepping back.

Fang Wen stepped aside: "Please come in."

After entering the room, Uzhneh got straight to the point: "Mr. Fang, last night you gained exceptional trust from the highest level thanks to your special abilities. However, you must pay an equal price."

Fang Wen said calmly, "Lieutenant Colonel, please state the price."

“That four-faced golden Buddha that can temporarily cure human ailments,” Urije said, emphasizing each word.

Fang Wen replied frankly, "The object is not in my possession; it has already been mortgaged to an American consortium."

“We understand. Intelligence indicates that its effectiveness has a time limit and will expire after a period of time, requiring you to reactivate it. We don’t need you to retrieve the physical object; you only need to make a promise that once the four-faced golden Buddha arrives in Moscow, you must come to Moscow to restore its effectiveness.”

Upon hearing this, Fang Wen breathed a sigh of relief.

This is a good condition.

He doesn't need to violate the mortgage agreement with the American consortium or offend American capital forces. No matter who ultimately gets the Golden Buddha, as long as he controls the charging method, this trump card will always be in his own hands.

Fang Wen couldn't help but feel fortunate for his decision to mortgage this treasure, which was so likely to attract covetousness, early on. If he had kept it, it would have become a source of trouble for various forces to fight over.

“Okay.” Fang Wen readily agreed.

Uzhne smiled, clearly indicating that he had come for this promise.

He extended his hand to shake hands with Fang Wen:

"Mr. Fang, thank you for your cooperation. All your requests have been approved."

Fang Wen was immediately overjoyed and asked, "When can we leave?"

"You can set off today on a special train to Yekaterinburg. The Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy has now been relocated here, and a field airfield has been built to accommodate Li-2 transport aircraft. The parts you ordered have already been packed and loaded onto trucks and will be transported to Yekaterinburg on the military train, where they will be loaded onto the aircraft."

Fang Wen felt relieved to be able to return home, and he could also bring back the parts for the cyclotron particle accelerator.

However, he was concerned about the situation in Southeast Asia. With the Japanese army occupying Sarawak and coveting Southeast Asian oil resources, the situation on the front lines was changing rapidly, and he simply did not have extra time to travel back and forth on the transport plane.

Fang Wen immediately added a request: "Lieutenant Colonel, I have an additional request. After I arrive in Lanzhou, I will not have time to fly the plane back. I hope the Soviet side can arrange a senior pilot to be responsible for flying the Li-2 transport plane back to the Soviet Union to take over the airlift mission of our factory construction technical team."

“Yes,” Uzhne agreed without hesitation. “I will arrange this.”

After the conversation ended, Uzhne left.

With his departure, all the guards near Fang Wen's residence were removed, and Fang Wen is now free to leave his residence.

Around noon, Uzhne returned, accompanied by Ivan once again.

He explained the follow-up arrangements to Fang Wen: "The pilot for the return trip has been selected. Colonel Ivan will accompany you to Yekaterinburg. After you take off to return home, he will be responsible for piloting the Li-2 transport plane back and picking up the technical team."

Fang Wen was slightly taken aback.

Ivan is the commander of a flight regiment of the Moscow Defense Aviation Division. He is in a front-line command position. During wartime, senior officers are already in short supply. It would be a waste to use a main force flight regiment commander to fly transport planes to pick up and drop off personnel.

He turned to look at Ivan, wanting to ask a question, but saw a pleading look in the other's eyes.

It seems there are other reasons behind this.

Fang Wen said no more, packed his bags, and set off immediately.

He and Ivan got into the car, which drove out of the factory area and arrived at the Moscow train station.

Fang Wen and Ivan entered the station under Uzhne's guidance, bypassing cumbersome security checks and proceeding directly to the platform.

There were many people waiting for the train on the platform, most of whom were military personnel.

While waiting for the train, Uzhne handed a letter to Ivan.

"This is a special pass stamped with the seal of the Ministry of the Interior, which will guarantee your passage through the checkpoints along the way. Once you arrive in Yekaterinburg, someone will be there to meet you."

Half an hour later, a passenger and freight train entered the station.

The train had a total of 8 carriages, but only the two carriages behind the locomotive were passenger carriages; the other six were all freight carriages, filled with materials from the relocation of Soviet industry to the east.

Passengers on the platform picked up their luggage and prepared to board the train.

Fang Wen and Ivan were also in line.

A few minutes later, Fang Wen and his group boarded the train and found two seats side by side in the empty carriage.

The whistle blared, and the wheels rolled on.

The train slowly pulled away from the Moscow station, and Fang Wen and Ivan watched as Uzhne on the platform grew further and further away.

After the train pulled out of the station, Fang Wen asked, "Ivan, what's wrong with you?"

Ivan finally relaxed a bit: "When I got back yesterday, I was relieved of my post and was prepared to be investigated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Fortunately, thanks to your connections, Uzhne found me and asked me to come to the factory with him. Later, when he went to the Air Defense Command to allocate pilots, I volunteered to be the returning pilot."

At this point, fearing that Fang Wen might not understand, he added, "Fang, I must leave Moscow so that I can continue to fly planes and fight the Germans."

Fang Wen nodded: "I understand. Let's not talk about these things here."

Ivan glanced around instinctively; that was a topic he couldn't discuss too much, lest someone overhear. The two remained silent, sitting quietly in the carriage.

As the train sped along, it left the city of Moscow, and the scenery outside the window changed completely.

In late July, the East European Plain was shrouded in continuous rain, and the sky and earth were shrouded in gray.

The once fertile and vast western fields are now devoid of the bustling activity of farming and harvesting, replaced by scenes of wartime desolation: abandoned farms, empty wheat fields, and deserted collective farms.

Along the way, we saw signs of human activity; trucks full of men were heading towards Moscow.

This is yet another batch of soldiers to defend Moscow.

Of course, most of them headed east.

The further east the train traveled, the more Fang Wen saw of the eastward relocation of Soviet industries.

This was the largest wartime industrial evacuation in human history.

Every train station and every railway hub along the way was packed with military trains and freight cars.

Countless heavy industrial equipment were tightly bound with thick hemp ropes. Giant machine tools, stamping equipment, and military production line parts were piled up layer by layer, filling the carriages and almost crushing the tracks.

The platform was packed with people.

Workers, technicians, and their families carrying bags, as well as heavily armed escorting soldiers.

Everyone was tense and hurried, with no extra conversation, only non-stop moving, loading, registering, and scheduling.

As the train traveled along the route, Fang Wen witnessed firsthand this nationwide migration.

Those who fight go west, and those who work go east.

The relocated factories are now deserted, the towering chimneys have stopped emitting smoke, and the empty factory areas are left with only the foundations and mottled traces left after the demolition.

The once-thriving western industrial belt was completely turned into a ghost town in order to avoid the advance of the German army.

When the train was halfway there, Fang Wen saw a makeshift field camp where tens of thousands of workers were sleeping outdoors, working day and night to transport the goods.

Along the way, Fang Wen's train continued to pick up batches of passengers.

They were all senior technicians, engineers, and cadres who had moved eastward.

Most of them, strangers to each other, remained silent. Some were wiping the parts of the precision instruments they carried, some were looking through technical drawings, and some were resting by the window with their eyes closed.

The trains run day and night, speeding along without stopping.

During the day, outside the window are plains shrouded in rain, busy railway hubs, and people rushing about; as night falls, all towns and stations along the route implement blackouts, and the world is pitch black, with only the train headlights piercing the darkness, carrying a full load of hope and burdens, and moving firmly eastward.

The journey of 1,400 kilometers traverses half of the East European Plain, passing through forests, crossing rivers, and passing countless abandoned villages and newly established temporary industrial bases.

Heading east, far from the flames of war, far from the anxieties of Moscow, and far from the crisis of defeat on the western front.

As the train approached the Ural Mountains, the passengers began to stir.

Yekaterinburg, a city founded in 1723 and named after Empress Catherine I.

It has a unique geographical feature, located on the border between Eurasia.

On the other hand, it was also the largest industrial base in central Soviet Union.

Relying on the Ural Mountains as a natural barrier, it has a high degree of security, which is why many factories have moved to this area.

There are no rumors, no panic, no officials fleeing, no chaos of hoarding supplies; only production and perseverance.

Countless new factories have sprung up in the wasteland outside the city, and temporary sheds stretch for miles.

Ten minutes later, the train passed through a series of construction sites and arrived at Yekaterinburg Railway Station.

The locomotive whistle sounded, the train began to slow down, and stopped at the station.

The passenger carriage doors opened, and passengers who had boarded along the way stood up and lined up to get off.

Fang Wen and Ivan were also in the group. The two, who didn't have much luggage, got off at the front of the group.

As soon as they got out of the car, they saw the people who came to pick them up.

They were two people in military uniforms. Their uniforms were quite distinctive; both the soldiers' boat-shaped caps and the officers' peaked caps were blue.

This is a unique symbol of the Air Force and its cadets.

The Soviet Army's hats were yellow.

Fang Wen and Ivan walked over.

Ivan asked, "The Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy?"

The officer in the white summer air force uniform leading the group said, "Lieutenant Sherenko of the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy has been ordered to receive Colonel Ivan and the expert from China. Please show your identification."

Ivan took out the envelope and retrieved the pass stamped with the Ministry of the Interior's seal.

After seeing the pass and confirming their identities, the other party led Fang Wen and the other person away from the station.

The group walked out of the station.

A military vehicle was already waiting by the roadside.

Lieutenant Xie Lianke said, "Gentlemen, please get in the car. I will take you to the airport."

Fang Wen and Ivan got into the car and took their seats. The military vehicle started its engine and drove away from the station, speeding along the suburban highway.

Outside the car window, newly built factories stretched out in rows, with densely packed temporary sheds extending to the foot of the mountain, and countless tower cranes and scaffolding dotting the landscape.

After about a 20-minute drive, a wide and flat airspace came into view in the distance.

The field airfield配套的野军場地 (supporting facilities) of the new campus of the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy is right in front of us.

The runway was newly compacted, flat and solid, and several U-2 trainer aircraft and a small number of new Yak-1 aircraft were neatly parked on the tarmac.

The most conspicuous thing is a Li-2 transport aircraft parked on the side of the runway.

That must be the transport plane prepared for Fang Wen.

The military vehicles drove directly into the airport and came to a smooth stop in front of the airport command building.

Lieutenant Xie Lianke led the two men into the office building and handed them over to the airport manager.

The airport manager, a retired military officer with the rank of colonel, smiled after reviewing the special pass issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"Welcome, Colonel Ivan, expert Fang. I am Gerasimov, the airport supervisor. I have received notification from Moscow that I will cooperate with you to complete the transport."

Fang Wen was most concerned about the batch of cyclotron components, and asked directly, "Have the batch of components I ordered arrived yet?"

Gerasimov shook his head upon hearing this, explaining with a hint of apology, "I'm very sorry, both of you. That batch of supplies was transported by a dedicated military train, but due to multiple transfers and distribution along the way, it's still en route. It will probably take another two days to arrive."

It will take two more days. Fang Wen's most pressing need right now is to return to China and make plans in Southeast Asia. Although staying for two days will cause some delays, it is still acceptable.

“Okay,” Fang Wen replied.

Seeing that Fang Wen was not angry, Gerasimov hesitated before speaking: "Expert Fang, Colonel Ivan, I have a request for you during your two-day stay here."

Ivan frowned: "What is it?"

"The last batch of flight cadets of this year from the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy are about to graduate and head to the front lines," Gerasimov said solemnly. "Most of these cadets are new recruits who have never experienced actual combat. They have only learned theoretical knowledge and basic flight training, and have no concept of real air combat, dogfights, or enemy aircraft tactics. Currently, the air battles on the Western Front have resulted in heavy losses and a huge shortage of pilots. After graduation, they will go directly to the air battles between Moscow and Smolensk to face the elite German Bf-109 formations."

He looked at the two men with earnest eyes: "I implore you both to take some time to give the students a practical lesson. There is no need for actual aircraft demonstrations or to teach complex operations. I only hope that you can share your personal experiences and talk about real air combat, the tactics of the German Air Force, and the techniques for responding to dogfights. These are things that can never be learned from textbooks and can save the lives of countless young pilots."

Ivan agreed almost without hesitation: "No problem. I have participated in the air defense operations on the Western Front and I am familiar with the coordinated tactics and weaknesses of the German aircraft. I can explain the practical experience of the Western Front to the trainees."

After saying that, he turned to look at Fang Wen, his eyes filled with expectation and pleading: "Fang, your air combat experience is far richer than mine. These young cadets are about to go to the battlefield, and they desperately need your experience. Please, give them a lesson."

Fang Wen thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. (End of Chapter)