Chapter 6: Reorganization of the Air Force

  June 13, 1941, overcast, "Yaolu" at No. 101, De'anli, Zhongshan 4th Road.

  The Chairman of the Aviation Committee, Chiang Kai-shek, convened a special air force expansion meeting. Attendees included Song Ziwen, Kong Xiangxi, He Yingqin, Bai Chongxi, Chen Cheng, He Yaoguang, Xu Yongchang, Soong Mei-ling, Zhou Zhiyou, Tang Shengzhi, Long Yun and other committee members, as well as Shen Depei, Huang Zhenqiu, Huang Guangrui, Hu Baixi, Mao Bangchu and other important members of the Aviation Committee. The room was filled with stars, but among them was a slightly discordant short and fat man in plain clothes, whose background nobody could guess.

  "Director Wang has arrived!" The voice of Wang Shihe rang out. Everyone stood up to welcome him.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, please take a seat. For the time being, let's keep things simple. Today, I have gathered everyone to introduce you to a guest from afar. He is Mr. He Juncai of the Nanyang Branch of the Motivational Society." Chairman Chiang pointed at He Juncai as he spoke. He Juncai stood up and greeted everyone.

  "Nanyang and overseas Chinese donated money and materials to support our war of resistance, among whom some secretly organized the China Aviation Special Task Force, with He Juncai as their contact person."

  "Intelligence provided by He Juncai shows that the Japanese army will be fully equipped with new Zero fighters within three months, at which time bombing operations against our cities will be escorted by Zero fighters. The performance of this fighter far exceeds the I-16 we are currently using, and the air defense situation is extremely severe. In order to make the Aviation Committee more effective, I have decided to reorganize it." Chiang Kai-shek waved his hand.

  "The Order of the Chairman!" Director Chen Bulei of the Second Section of the Secretariat stood up and read it out. Everyone else stood up.

  The Aviation Committee was reorganized into the Air Force Headquarters. Chiang Kai-shek served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, and Zhou Zhirou served as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief. Under it were set up four departments: the General Staff Department, the Operations Department, the Equipment Department, and the Training Department. In addition, there were directly affiliated institutions such as the General Affairs Office and the Personnel Office.

  "The Staff Department is responsible for the formulation of air force combat plans and intelligence gathering, with Hu Baixi as the Chief of Staff and He Junci as the Deputy Chief of Staff. It has a Planning Division and an Intelligence Division."

  "The Combat Command Headquarters was in charge of commanding the national air force to fight, with Mao Bangchu as the commander-in-chief and Huang Zhenqiu as the deputy. Under it were set up four routes of combat departments and ground air defense offices."

  The Equipment Department is responsible for the development and production of air force technical equipment, and is in charge of airport construction. Huang Guangrui serves as the minister. It has departments for technology, equipment and construction under it.

  The Training Department is in charge of training for air and ground personnel, with Shen Depei as the minister and Lin Wei as the deputy. It has a Training Office and an Education Office under it.

  "He was also appointed as the commander of the newly established 4th Route Combat Division and He Juncai was awarded the rank of Air Force Colonel."

  After the crowd received their orders, they looked at each other and it seemed that He Juncai was not just a simple leader of the Nanyang Chinese. Instead, he appeared to be Chiang Kai-shek's trusted aide. It is worth noting that after the Anti-Japanese War, the air force gradually revealed its role as a decisive force, exerting a significant deterrent effect on other warlords. The air force achieved true unification before the army did.

  "Mr. He, oh, now should be called Colonel He. Colonel He brought some scientific and technological achievements from Nanyang, I believe you all want to see them." Chairman Chiang knew that this appointment was hard for most people to understand, so he decided to take them to get a shock as well.

  Then newly appointed Air Force Colonel He Juncai boarded the DC-2 cockpit again, taking a full load of high-ranking officials from the Central Government to the floating air base.

  After landing, everyone felt the same rapid heartbeat and dizziness. Jiang Song had already boarded the floating base twice, but still felt excited.

  He Juncai welcomed everyone into the military area's air command room and introduced his own story to everyone like a tour guide.

  "Welcome everyone to the Floating Base, also known as the Fourth Route Battlefield of the Air Force. You can simply understand it as an aircraft carrier floating in the air, of course we are real aviation, not aviation on the sea surface." He Juncai's relaxed explanation made everyone gradually relax.

  "The floating base is a secret product of our overseas Chinese organization after 5 years of research on airships, aircraft carriers and various flying devices. It can vertically ascend and descend at an altitude of 20,000 meters at a speed of 300 meters per second, and after reaching the tropopause, it can move at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour."

  "The floating base is equipped with radar equipment and some defensive measures, but the main defense still relies on altitude." He Juncai's introduction was somewhat reserved. Although there were no traitors among this group of people in later generations, it was better to mention less about certain obvious pro-Japanese individuals.

  He Juncai gave the second batch of tourists permission to visit outside the core area, handed over a suggested tour guide to each of them, and let them go on their own. He himself invited his superiors and colleagues who would frequently interact with him in the future to stay in the air traffic control room to discuss the next plan.

  After closing the door, He Jun wiped his sweat and said to Zhou Zhi Rou, Hu Bai Xi, Mao Bang Chu and others: "How is it, everyone? This floating base is still passable, right?"

  "If all this is still acceptable, then the Japanese are simply not on the same level." Zhou Zhiyou said with a smile. Today was clearly the happiest day he had felt since his 42nd birthday. Since Zhou Zhiyou went to Europe and America to inspect the air force in 1933, he had left the army system and started his own aviation career. In these years, he had served as the principal of the Central Aviation School, a standing member of the National Aviation Construction Committee, and the director of the Aviation Committee. The procurement of aircraft for the Chinese Air Force, personnel training, and even the allocation of military funds were all under Zhou Zhiyou's responsibility. But now, seeing the capital city being bombed by the Japanese every day, he felt extremely painful. It was not that the Chinese Air Force did not work hard, but indeed because there was a huge gap in terms of personnel, technology, and equipment, the air force would soon become a mere shell if it continued to fight like this. In such a situation, someone suddenly told him that our technology was actually ahead of the world level, he felt too happy.

  "Yes, if we had more of these floating bases, defeating the Japanese invaders would be a matter of time. No, even attacking the Japanese mainland is within our reach." said Mao Bangchu, who has just been appointed as the commander-in-chief of the combat headquarters. Mao Bangchu was an old confidant of Chiang Kai-shek, from Fenghua, Zhejiang Province, and a graduate of the third term infantry department of Huangpu Military Academy. He had studied at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, Soviet Union, and was also the founder of the Central Aviation School in Hangzhou.

  "Uh, this... I didn't explain it clearly," He Juncai said. "This floating base was originally designed for training purposes, so in non-emergency situations, it's best not to undertake combat missions. Its defensive capabilities are very weak, and currently, it is basically unarmed. Moreover, the Southeast Asian Chinese secretly building a floating base spent a lot of money, with the outbreak of war in Europe, Japan currently has a trend of moving south, and war materials are no longer easy to obtain, so I can only bring back an unarmed floating base and corresponding technology. In the short term, we can only rely on ourselves."

  Here is the translation:

  "Looks like we were too optimistic." Huang Guangrui took over. As for Huang Guangrui, He Juncai had always admired him greatly. This veteran of the Chinese Air Force played a crucial role in the tactical, equipment, and research aspects of the Guangdong Air Force's surrender to the Nanjing government, leading Chen Jitang to step down. After the successful resistance against Japan, he resigned from all his positions and went to the United States. In 1922, Huang Guangrui returned to China with aircraft equipment and became the commander of the Aviation Bureau's flight team under the Generalissimo's Headquarters, assisting Yang Xianyi, the director of the Aviation Bureau, in designing an airplane. Sun Yat-sen named this plane "Leshiwen No." In 1924, Huang Guangrui was appointed as a flight instructor at the Guangdong Aviation School and later became its principal. In 1927, he served as the chief of staff of the Guangdong Air Force and later promoted to commander. During this period, he made great efforts in training aviation personnel. His students achieved brilliant results during the War of Resistance against Japan, shooting down 39 Japanese planes out of a total of 63. He successively founded the Aerial Gunnery Training Class, the Air Force Non-Commissioned Officer School, the Aerial Photography Equipment Maintenance Depot, and the Wireless Telegraphy Equipment Repair Factory, ensuring the supply of personnel and equipment during the war. In 1937, Huang Guangrui established the Central Aviation Institute, gathering a group of aviation research experts to conduct military scientific research under extremely difficult conditions. They designed and manufactured three types of trainer aircraft; developed bamboo-made aircraft components and auxiliary fuel tanks made of bamboo. These achievements played an important role at that time.

  However, some of the technologies I brought back are currently being researched in Europe and America and have not yet been put into use. We sacrificed a group of excellent intelligence personnel to obtain these technologies. With these technologies, our military industry can take it to the next level.

  He Juncai continued to introduce, "Next, please ask General Huang (Huang Guangrui was then a major general) to help organize personnel to install weapons on the 35 aircraft and short-range defense equipment of the floating airbase. Also, please build a ground base in a remote area with convenient transportation as soon as possible for the floating airbase to dock."

  "No problem." Huang Guangrui replied readily, "But I have a few suggestions. Firstly, I hope to move the Central Aviation Institute to the floating base, where the research conditions, confidentiality and security are all better than the current environment in Chengdu. In addition, we must do a good job of keeping technical secrets confidential."

  "When it comes to confidentiality, I think we must take it seriously. Colonel He, I see you taking charge of the Intelligence Division in the General Staff Department, and the current director will come to assist you. You are not only responsible for collecting external intelligence but also for internal security." Another superior, Chief of Staff Hu Baixi said.

  "When it comes to intelligence, the floating base has a great advantage in terms of battlefield intelligence. The radar it carries is more advanced than what the British are currently using and can detect flying targets within 300 kilometers. Additionally, due to its high altitude, it is not restricted by terrain. The floating base carries four reconnaissance planes (not unmanned), which are small in size, fly at high altitudes, and have fast speeds (jet-powered of course). They also carry communication, radar, and photographic equipment, with the radar capable of detecting targets within a 100-kilometer range."

  "In addition, the communication facilities are also a major advantage of the floating base. We use a 'digital' means of communication. This method has good encryption, and it is almost impossible for the enemy to eavesdrop. The communication range is large, and anti-interference ability is strong. The referee machine also takes care of the communication hub tasks within its control range." Later generations like He Junci don't know the harm of information warfare.

  "Gentlemen, the air command center you are in integrates the functions of command (and), control (trol), communication (unication) and intelligence (intelligence), making it convenient to conduct airborne command. It is a complete C3I system." He Juncai continued to explain that he was prepared to shamelessly plagiarize relevant theories about C3I.

  "It seems we were really frogs in a well before, the foreign technology level has developed to such an extent." Huang Zhenqiu sighed.

  "It's not entirely a copy, this system is based on the aircraft carrier control systems used in Western countries, with some undisclosed technologies, and the current air command systems of Western aircraft carriers have not reached this level."

  "Huang Guangrui, the General, just made a request, and I'd like to make an unreasonable request to you, He Laoxiong. I believe that future battles will rely more on this system, so I want to set up a training base at the floating airbase to train our pilots how to fight in new environments." said Shen Depei, the head of the Training Department. This 45-year-old veteran of the Air Force had previously served as the principal of the National Aviation School in Baoding, aviation commander of the Third Army, head of the Naval Aviation Bureau, and head of the Military Affairs Office of the Aviation Administration of the Ministry of War. He personally test-flew a domestically-made copy of the French Gourdou-Leseurre 59 trainer aircraft at the Shanghai Aircraft Factory. Later, he served as the director of the Technical Department of the Aviation Committee, the director of the Training Headquarters of the Aviation Committee, and the deputy director of the Aviation Committee.

  "Haha, General Shen. I also mentioned earlier that the floating base was originally designed for training purposes, so I had this intention too. In addition to what you said, there are dozens of simulated flight systems on the floating base that can effectively reduce the difficulty of first flights; 5 dual-seat trainer aircraft; and a tactical training room. I believe General Shen will be able to make good use of these equipment." He Juncai finally spoke about his own specialty, although it was a part-time flying instructor.

  "So it seems that everyone has understood our air force's new base. As for the personnel of the General Staff, Operations Command, Equipment Department and Training Department on the floating base, please have each department come up with a plan and report to the General Affairs Office and Personnel Department." Zhou Zhi Rou was extremely delighted to see the Chinese Air Force take it to a whole new level.

  .........

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