Chapter 27: You're So Arrogant

  In China, there is a place that people call "the West in the eyes of the East, and the East in the eyes of the West." It is Shanghai, China, a city known as the "Paris of the Orient". And indeed, Shanghai itself is quite different from many other places in China. A dazzling metropolis with bright lights and bustling streets, its vibrant life is like a dream, where music and dance fill the air, and crowds of people come and go, all cherishing this great city for its dreamlike prosperity...

  In the early morning, the Bund is always at its most vibrant when the sun shines over the rooftops and illuminates the streets. The clanging of trams and the shouts of rickshaw drivers create a symphony that fills the air. Above the wide streets, many iron wires stretch out, with various signs and banners hanging from them, swaying gently in the breeze. The neon advertisements that lit up the night have now gone dark, but the bright red characters still tell the story of the bustling business of this shop. People are already rushing to and fro, starting their day anew, while the wealthy who indulged in a wild night's revelry just hours before are still fast asleep.

  "Extra! Extra! Sun Chuanfang agrees to negotiate. Extra! Extra! China's unification is in sight......" Every morning in Shanghai, there would be newsboys carrying a large bundle of newspapers on their backs and waving a big handful of papers as they made their way through the crowds, never stopping their loud cries of "Extra!" The ever-changing China always provided the newsboys with plenty of "Extra" headlines.

  "Give me one!"

  "I'll have one too!"

  The shouting of newspaper boys is the most direct and effective advertising, whether it's passersby, or busy office workers rushing to catch the bus, or those sitting in rickshaws on their way, they will all stop to buy a newspaper and see if what the newspaper boy is holding matches what he is shouting "Extra".

  "I said that the autonomous government would eventually turn against Sun Chuanfang, didn't I? Look, hasn't it come true?" The speaker, dressed in a suit and tie with a large scarf wrapped around his neck, was on his way to work. Many people around him had also bought newspapers and quickly finished reading the headlines. After emerging from the mountains of western China, the autonomous government immediately marched eastward after "recovering" Hong Kong, capturing Fujian Province, Chen Jiongming's last stronghold, and soon took Wenzhou, Zhejiang. If Mount Kuocang hadn't served as a barrier and Sun Chuanfang hadn't mobilized his troops in time, the autonomous government's army would have likely taken over Zhejiang as well.

  Just by looking at the map, it's clear that the provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Fujian in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and southeastern coastal China are all under the control of the autonomous government. Only Anhui, Jiangsu and most of Zhejiang remain in the hands of Sun Chuanfang. Anyone can see that the autonomous government must unify China at all costs. If Sun Chuanfang is eliminated, the doom of Zhang Zuolin, Wu Peifu, Yan Xishan and others will soon follow. However, the key is that Sun Chuanfang voluntarily retreated and asked for negotiations, making it seem like the autonomous government had already raised its butcher's knife but couldn't find a reason to strike. Of course, these are just common views among ordinary people.

  "If I'm being honest, the sooner this autonomous government comes in, the better it'll be for both you and me. Anyway, I think that Sun Chuanfang's forces can't compete with the People's Army in terms of strategy and bravery. Even among his own men, there aren't many who dare to show off in front of the British, whereas the People's Army can do so freely. Just look at how they're able to hold military exercises and demonstrations on a tiny island like that - does Sun Chuanfang dare to do such a thing?"

  The owner of a small shop, still holding a soy milk fried dough stick, was a bit fat but had a bright mind. The small shop relied on selling goods from the autonomous region to make money, and if Sun Chuanfang fell, the tax at the checkpoint would be exempted in the future. For such small merchants, after joining the autonomous region, they wouldn't have to pay a single penny of tax. It was nothing like being under Sun Chuanfang's control, with rent, utilities, and various taxes weighing heavily on the owner for many years.

  "It's also true, haven't you seen how house prices in the concession have been plummeting these days? Everyone knows that wherever this autonomous government goes, it demolishes. Wherever there are privileges of powerful countries and unfair treatment, they will demolish those places. This concession is being demolished one by one, and it's no longer a country within a country. It would be strange if house prices didn't plummet!"

  "Negotiation? I think Sun Chuanfang is just looking for a way out for himself!" A laborer who was working on the dock and had been listening to the conversation, caught everyone's attention and said under the gaze of approval and nods from the crowd: "The other day, I heard some fishermen at the dock say that they saw the People's Liberation Army's warships in the outer sea. You guess what fleet it was? It was that big warship with a cannon mouth bigger than our heads! It actually appeared near the Zhoushan Islands. If it weren't for Sun Chuanfang, would they have come to Zhoushan to turn around?"

  "No way, I heard they were going to negotiate with the Japanese to take back Taiwan. The Japanese actually wanted to get the same treatment as the British, maintaining their rule for a hundred years, which would mean starting from 1894 when Japan occupied Taiwan, so Taiwan wouldn't return to China until at least 1993. The Japanese hoped to get this treatment, but the autonomous government was firmly opposed. Who knows what kind of crazy idea the Japanese had to maintain their rule until 1993? How much suffering would the Taiwanese people have to endure! Hong Kong is just a small area, and the autonomous government sent over a supervisory body that could keep an eye on the British, but Taiwan is too big, and this anti-Japanese activity has never stopped. The autonomous government might have to go to war with Japan!"

  "Wasn't it about resolving Sun Zhongfang's case? Why bring Taiwan into this again!"

  "What do you know?! You're just a tea egg seller, do you even know where Taiwan is? It's right across from Fujian! When the autonomous government took over Guangdong, they could have taken back Hong Kong which belongs to Guangdong Province. How could they leave Taiwan behind? Never mind, it's useless telling you anyway. Hurry up and pack two eggs for me, I need to rush to open my store!"

  The warm sunshine gradually envelops the earth, and the city enters another bustling day. The intoxication of last night has turned into a long sleep in the clear morning. The daytime of the sleepless city is equally extraordinary. A populous city never has a peaceful moment, whether it's Shanghai or Nanjing.

  "I've long heard that there's paradise above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below. Today I can finally come to Hangzhou, it's really worth living."

  Not long after the New Year, Xiao Naitian was promoted to Secretary-General of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Autonomous Government. This was also his last position before becoming the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Many people believed that as long as he continued to work hard, the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs would eventually be his. However, before his next promotion, he encountered a historic moment - representing the Autonomous Government in negotiations with Sun Chuanfang in Hangzhou. Originally, both sides had intentionally kept a low profile, but unexpectedly, the matter was soon reported in the newspapers.

  "The negotiations are long, and after receiving a message from the rear, it is feared that someone will make trouble, so our security level needs to be upgraded to prevent this." The negotiation team's escort personnel, who were directly dispatched from the Inner Guard Corps, have unquestionable abilities. The Autonomous Government's Security Department also attaches great importance to this direct dialogue with Sun Chuanfang. Although there are only three people on the autonomous government side, including Xiao Naitian, they are accompanied by twelve bodyguards and receive timely intelligence support from the Security Department.

  "The Japanese are the most troublesome, but it seems that this time, not only the Japanese are causing trouble!" Xiao Naitian naturally knew that if Sun Chuanfang agreed to cooperate with the autonomous government, it would mean that nearly half of the provinces along China's eastern coast would belong to the autonomous region. At that time, no one would be able to stop the autonomous government's road to unification.

  The entire delegation arrived by sea, escorted by naval warships all the way. Originally planning to disembark at Shanghai Port, they made a last-minute decision to disembark in Ningbo instead. After unloading necessary supplies and vehicles, the naval warships returned to the Fujian sea area. Japanese warships "accompanied" them along the way, the implication of which is self-evident. Adding to this, before negotiations had even begun, the leader of the escort team quietly reminded him that this could not help but make Xiao Naitian attach greater importance to these talks. Before arriving, Xiao Naitian had already memorized Sun Chuanfang's information and was going over it again in his mind while waiting for the arrival of this great commander-in-chief.

  Sun Chuanfang, also known as Xinyuan, was a native of Licheng County, Shandong Province. Born in 1885 into a poor family, he had a difficult childhood and later joined the Baoding Military Academy as a student soldier. He worked hard and was intelligent, and was subsequently sent to the Tokyo Shinbu Gakko military academy in Japan. After graduating, he was assigned to the Japanese Army's 10th Infantry Regiment as a reserve officer. He then entered the Tokyo Army Officers' School as part of the sixth class, where his company commander was Lieutenant Ogawa Nenji, who was also the leader of the Chinese students at the school. Sun had a very good relationship with Ogawa.

  After returning to China, Sun Chuanfang started from a regimental commander and grew up step by step in the Xinhai Revolution, the National Protection War, and the Constitutional Protection Movement. Later, with the help of two Zhili-Fengtian wars, he became rich and controlled four provinces in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, namely Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Shandong. The four wealthy provinces provided him with a continuous source of wealth. His troops had more than ten divisions. What made the autonomous government unbearable was that Sun Chuanfang was determined to strengthen the country, but he was too eager for victory. Especially when he hired Ogawa Heikichi as his military advisor, this was undoubtedly the biggest worry in Xiong's view, because Sun Chuanfang had a very close relationship with the Japanese.

  "Autumn is high and horses are fat, it's time for war and leisure." Sun Chuanfang, a very bold and warlike person with the nickname "War Demon King", made everyone wait for nearly an hour before arriving late. In reality, Sun Chuanfang looked different from his photo in the materials he had obtained earlier. Today, he was dressed in military uniform, and as the self-proclaimed Grand Marshal of the Four Provinces, his large head and ears made him feel like the entire floor was shaking when he walked. Just as Xiao Naitian, who had been waiting impatiently, was about to fall asleep in his chair, Sun Chuanfang finally arrived. However, at first glance, Xiao Naitian got the impression that this negotiation would likely end in failure.

  "In the face of reality, people's imagination is often more developed, and the consequences are even more unthinkable!" Xiao Naitian finally understood the true meaning of this sentence. He thought he would showcase his diplomatic skills in this negotiation, but Sun Chuanfang's first sentence made all his prepared words useless. Sun Chuanfang said: "Are you here to declare war on behalf of the People's Army or to seek peace?" This one sentence rendered Xiao Naitian's carefully prepared speech invalid, and he could only adjust the topic temporarily. However, the so-called negotiation still ended after two hours, with Xiao Naitian refusing to sign a non-aggression treaty with Sun Chuanfang...

  "Damn it, this doesn't look like a negotiation at all! It's as if we're going to surrender!" Zhang Yu read the telegram forwarded by the General Affairs Office about the progress of negotiations with Sun Chuanfang and almost got so angry that his seven orifices were bleeding. No matter which time and space he was in, Sun Chuanfang was always a tough guy who wouldn't yield to either soft or hard tactics, and Zhang Yu had never seen anyone like him before.

  "Commander, are we still going to check the test results?" Deputy officer Zhang Yu asked in a timely manner. They were on their way to Mount Tai at this moment, but who knew they would receive such a telegram, and couldn't help but worry that their trip would be interrupted.

  "Go, why not go! This engine test run has reached 1200 hours, basically proving that it is qualified. I must go and see how excellent our young men are." Zhang Yu said, crumpling the telegram into a ball and throwing it directly into the wastebasket. "Directly send a telegram to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, saying that the army unconditionally supports their diplomatic strategy, letting them do whatever they want, even if Sun Chuanfang's father is Japanese, we are not afraid."

  The Taishan Plan was implemented from 1923, and by March 1929, it had been nearly six years since the plan started. In the main areas of computer science, materials science, medical technology, and aviation technology, many advances have been made, especially in aviation technology. By August 1928, the research team had completed the manufacture of the first turbojet engine prototype. The study of turbine shafts, turbine fans, and turbine propellers also made rapid progress based on the development foundation of turbojets. After nearly three months of repeated testing, the excellent performance of the first turbojet engine was confirmed. At this time, the test machines for the first turboprop engine, turboshaft engine, and turbopropeller engine had already been manufactured.

  When the turbojet engine entered the late trial stage, these three engines were already preparing for trial runs. The day when the turbojet engine was completely successful was the beginning of the uninterrupted trial run time of the new three engines, and the 1200-hour uninterrupted trial run experiment was a cruel test of fifty days. All four engines used CNC machine tools promoted by the mechanical industry equipment research project group in the Taishan plan to process main parts, and except for logical control circuits, AC/DC motor applications, etc., the core components, namely microprocessors, actually use products from the computer research project group.

  The turbine working blades of the jet engine have to withstand ultra-high temperatures and super-large centrifugal forces. If high-strength materials that can withstand high temperatures and corrosion cannot be developed, this engine obviously cannot be manufactured. It's not just that aviation theory needs to advance, without supporting materials, processing equipment, etc., it is impossible to achieve success in various fields. Therefore, the development of aviation technology is very stimulating to related scientific research. Even the test run of the new triple-engine has attracted people from other scientific research groups to come and take a look. The success achieved in the field of aircraft engines is also a great encouragement for them.

  "Our Spring Festival here can't be compared to the ones outside, of course except for not being able to set off fireworks and firecrackers, everything else is almost the same, and I think the food and fun are even a bit better."

  Wang Zhuo came all the way to welcome Zhang Yu, with a big smile on his face as if he had just hugged a fat son. Last September, during the Teachers' Day of the autonomous region, he married his girlfriend of three years. Zhang Yu naturally came to congratulate him, but after that, for more than four months, Zhang Yu didn't come to Mount Tai to take a walk and have a look around. However, as soon as he arrived, Zhang Yu didn't ask about any progress, but instead greeted the research staff first. After a flurry of activity, Wang Zhuo finally pulled him into his own office, where the two of them had to discuss other matters in earnest.

  "Just by looking at you, I know that spending the Spring Festival here is much better than outside. You don't know what a big tradition of ours Chinese people have? That is, after having money, we must make a lively scene during the Spring Festival. As a result, fireworks and firecrackers sell extremely well on New Year's Eve, from rural areas to cities, the crackling sounds never stop, and even cause several small fires. It's definitely not okay to just get through the festive season in a perfunctory way. I estimate that this year, various cities will set up special fireworks zones for people to let loose, and the practice of freely setting off fireworks anywhere is no longer feasible!"

  "It doesn't matter if it's not released, anyway there's nothing good except for polluting the air." At this point, Wang Zhu took out a report from a triple-protected password box behind him and handed it to Zhang Yu, saying: "The report I wrote for the Taishan Plan Expert Verification Group has been completed. The one I gave you is a simplified version, and this is the formal version that needs to be submitted. Since you're here, help me take a look at whether this report can pass. This concerns whether our project team's five years of achievements can be recognized, and the entire Taishan Plan only has our group left without submitting an achievement report..."

  "Come on, haven't you already achieved results? And with just one move, you've got four engines. Give yourselves another year or two and you'll definitely do even better. During this period, you can also start researching corresponding aircraft applications. By the way, I haven't heard what plans you have for these engines? When will jet planes come out? Not even a draft plan exists?" Zhang Yu said, starting to help look at Wang Zhuo's project team's results report. The report, apart from affirming the support given by other departments, focused on detailing the results of the four types of engines that had been developed, their application prospects and significance, as well as more content. However, Zhang Yu didn't want to look anymore; he wanted to see the report Wang Zhuo had just taken out.

  "From the moment we started making prototype turbojet engines, we realized that success was inevitable. So much research funding and effort had been invested, if it still couldn't succeed, then we might as well have given up on our nearly 3,000 people. Therefore, as soon as the test engine was made, we already had ideas for its application. The largest, most direct, and only application is to study corresponding aircraft equipped with various engines. The prospects for jet aircraft are far greater than those of piston aircraft, so our plan schedules were all centered around aircraft research..."

  Under Wang Zhuo's brief statement, Zhang Yu lightly bit his lower lip and slowly browsed the plan. The schedule arranged at the front was the in-depth research and finalization of the engine, followed by the design and experimentation of aircraft based on engine performance. Fighter planes, transport planes, bombers, helicopters, etc. would all be equipped with jet engines as a primary premise. Zhang Yu valued the research arrangements for fighter planes and helicopters the most. As he read, Zhang Yu recalled relevant knowledge in his mind.

  "The first generation of jet fighters were characterized by high subsonic or low supersonic speeds, swept wings, turbojet engines, and armament with cannons and air-to-air rockets. Examples include the MiG-15 and MiG-19. The second generation used thin, high-lift wing designs and added afterburning turbojets, increasing speed to twice that of sound, introduced second-generation air-to-air missiles and first-generation air-to-air guided missiles, and featured early radar fire control systems, examples include the MiG-21 and F-4."

  "The third generation adopted advanced aerodynamic configurations such as edge wings, fore-edge slats, and wing-body fusion, equipped with electric transmission control and active control technology, began to be equipped with turbofan engines, possessing high subsonic maneuverability. It was also equipped with multi-barrel cannons, medium-range air-to-air missiles, and short-range dogfighting missiles, as well as pulse Doppler radar and all-weather fire control systems, capable of tracking and attacking multiple targets. The cockpit instruments were mainly replaced by flat panel displays and multifunctional displays. In other words, the third-generation fighter emphasized mid-low altitude maneuverability, reliability, maintainability, and combat survivability, represented by the US F-16 and China's J-10."

  "The fourth-generation fighter is mainly characterized by the use of wing-body fusion and stealthy aerodynamic layout, with more than 30% of the aircraft structure made of composite materials. It is equipped with twin-engine thrust vectoring engines with a thrust-to-weight ratio over 10:1, and has a power-to-weight ratio exceeding 1.0. The aircraft uses an integrated avionics system, and its weapons include beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles that can be launched from a distance or fired-and-forgotten. Its onboard radar can track and attack multiple targets simultaneously. In other words, the fourth-generation fighter should have stealth capabilities, supersonic cruise capability, super maneuverability, short takeoff and landing distances, and beyond-visual-range multi-target tracking and attacking capabilities."

  But Zhang Yu obviously wouldn't tell Wang Zhu that there would be a series of appearances of these generations of fighter jets, and Zhang Yu hadn't even unsealed these materials for researchers to use, so Wang Zhu didn't know about them. However, in fact, this is indeed the trend of technological development, and for the autonomous region's aviation industry, it may be time to move on to the first generation. Thinking of this, Zhang Yu smiled at Wang Zhu, who was full of expectation across the desk, took out a report from his briefcase, handed it to Wang Zhu, and said: "This is a report approved by the government work conference last year, you can take a look!"

  "Strive to unify China in three to five years and establish a sound...". Wang Zhuangang browsed through some of the content, shook his head and said: "What's the point of showing me this political stuff?"

  "It's not for you to look at that content, start from page 13 of the report!" Zhang Yu said somewhat impatiently. He was thinking about when to declassify the technical data related to the first and second generation fighter jets, but seeing the rapid progress of the Tai Shan plan's scientific research, another space-time would have many generations due to mismatched technical links, which wouldn't be a problem for the Tai Shan plan. Just as Zhang Yu was puzzled about how much material to release, Wang Zhu interrupted his train of thought, making him somewhat annoyed.

  "Aerospace? Flying into space?" Wang Zhuo suddenly stood up, pointing to a sentence in the report, which was "In three to five years, the aerospace industry will make great progress in certain fields...", Wang Zhuo naturally became sensitive to the two words "aerospace", and pointed to this sentence to ask Zhang Yu, who was startled: "We are already doing aviation business, what is aerospace? High-altitude detection or something else?"

  "This space exploration is just an investigation of the high-altitude environment, in recent years many provinces in the northwest have suffered from drought, so someone suggested that research should be done on meteorology, and the meteorological department suggested that research should be done on the troposphere, stratosphere or even outer space. There will be a specialized aerospace research department responsible for this research. None of your business……” Zhang Yu couldn't help but admire his own reaction, in just a few words he had turned a huge scientific research project into a simple research topic, regardless of whether Wang Zuxin believed him or not, Zhang Yu said it was temporarily unrelated to the aviation department, so Wang Zu naturally didn't have the power to ask questions.

  "The government attaches great importance to the aviation industry and hopes to establish China's leading position in the world within three to five years, establishing a certain leading edge in military, civil aviation, general aviation and other aspects, expanding the scale of the aviation industry, and emphasizing the confidentiality of key technologies..." Zhang Yu directly recited the summary content that Wang Zhu needed to see, and Wang Zhu was overjoyed as he listened, finally bursting into laughter, just like a child who had unexpectedly received a large amount of candy.

  "I was worried that our slow progress would lead to a reduction in research funding, but according to this report, our grain ration will not only not be reduced, but will actually increase!" Wang Zhu said, directly kissing the report, his expression almost manic. Zhang Yu, who was standing beside him, looked stunned, he had seen many people go crazy for their beloved industry, and he himself was no exception, but it was rare to see someone as crazed as Wang Zhu. Just looking at Wang Zhu's state, Zhang Yu felt that the tens of millions of yuan in funding was nothing, and that another one or two hundred million would be needed to match the dedication of this group of people who had been working tirelessly in the mountains for five or six years.

  "This Sun Chuanfang is a war maniac, and there are even more crazy people in our autonomous region. One group of them are ruthless and greedy for their own interests, while another group are dedicated to scientific research and work tirelessly for the sake of their dreams. What a wonderful gathering of talents in this great China! As Zhang Yu left Wang Zhuo's office, his heart was filled with even more gloom, all because of these lunatics. But he naturally liked the tens of thousands of lunatics in the Tai Shan plan, and that Sun Chuanfang was a special case."