Chapter 524

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

A question from the crowd made Song Zhiwen very displeased.

He spent his own money on disaster relief, and the refugees still complained it wasn't enough?

"Who? Who's speaking!" a cadre beside Song Zhiwen shouted, trying to find the refugee who questioned Song Zhiwen.

But among the five hundred-plus refugees before him, every one of them was eating with their heads down, and no one paid attention to that cadre.

"Chief, can I have another bowl..." a dirty refugee held his empty rice bowl a few meters from Song Zhiwen and asked.

The cadre whispered, "Minister Song, the refugees eat too much. If this continues, I'm afraid they'll eat up all the grain stored in the official residence."

Song Zhiwen looked at the group of reporters in front of him, holding cameras and snapping away at him!

He immediately came up with a plan and slapped the cadre across the face: "So what if they eat up all the grain stored in the official residence?!"

"It's precisely because there are too many cadres like you who do nothing and are selfish that the famine in Henan is so severe!"

"Have the kitchen take all the grain out of the warehouse, cook meals, and distribute them to the refugees!"

The cadre covered his face, feeling very wronged.

Song Zhiwen then faced the reporters and said righteously, "The central government received some news about the disaster in Henan before, but I never expected it to have developed to such a serious extent. Presumably, some important news was intercepted by local officials..."

A bold reporter asked, "Minister Song says the news of the famine was intercepted by local officials. For such earth-shattering news, who do you think deliberately concealed it?"

As soon as the reporter asked, Song Zhiwen regretted his words.

The military and political power in Henan was in the hands of the Youth Army.

Song Zhiwen couldn't very well answer: Was it the Youth Army that concealed the news of the severe famine?

If Lv Muzhi heard about this, he would again curry favor with the central government by spreading rumors.

If they didn't say the Youth Army concealed the news of the severe famine, wouldn't the problem lie with the central government?

Song Zhiwen absolutely could not admit there was a problem with the central government, otherwise it would greatly reduce the central government's prestige and lose the people's hearts.

He could only hedge: "We must admit that individual officials have problems, which is unavoidable in any system. Regarding this point, we will conduct a strict investigation..."

Another reporter asked: "The legal tender continues to depreciate. The central government allocated one billion legal tender for disaster relief. Is this just the beginning of the central government's relief efforts, or is it the central government's entire effort in this appropriation?"

Song Zhiwen regretted coming out to show his face. He originally wanted to stage an emergency PR move, but instead was roasted by the reporters and refugees.

"Regarding the depreciation of legal tender, this is difficult to avoid during wartime..."

"The central government's appropriation for the Henan famine will be adjusted according to the severity of the famine..."

A female reporter asked: "I heard Commander Lu is doing his utmost for disaster relief in Henan, but there is no sign of action from the central government."

"Some newspapers published articles satirizing that Henan is Commander Lu's Henan, and that the central government has abandoned governance of the Central Plains?"

This question made Song Zhiwen look very serious: "This is completely irresponsible rhetoric!"

"The Central Plains provinces maintained by the Youth Army have always paid grain taxes according to regulations, and Commander Lv Wei Yue is extremely loyal to the central government and the Chairman!"

"In this famine, the central government will absolutely take the responsibility it should!"

Song Zhiwen made a series of promises and guarantees to the public in front of the reporters.

Meanwhile, the refugees at the wharf heard there was free lunch at the President's official residence and rushed over to mooch a meal.

More than two thousand people surrounded the old man's official residence so tightly that not even water could leak through, directly blocking his gate demanding food.

After dealing with the reporters, Song Zhiwen came before the old man to report: "We're surrounded by the refugees. They won't leave unless we give them food!"

The old man's official residence was very large, over eight hundred meters from the gate of the official residence.

At this distance, the old man could hear the clamor of the refugees outside the gate, as well as the whistles of the police and guards.

"It's a mess, it's a mess... Has Lv Wei Yue not stopped yet?"

Song Zhiwen shook his head: "Just received a report: another train car full of refugees has been transported to Hankou!"

"Lv Wei Yue has no intention of stopping. In my opinion, he wants the central government to step in and handle these disaster victims."

"If all else fails, why not send the army to intercept the Youth Army's southbound trains?"

Song Zhiwen's suggestion was directly rejected by the old man.

"Don't have a direct military conflict with him. Negotiate first. Isn't Liu Zhi in Henan? Tell him our bottom line and have him negotiate well with Lv Wei Yue!"

But unexpectedly, just as Song Zhiwen sent the telegram, he received a reply from Liu Zhi: Lv Wei Yue had already flown to Kunming!

"Kunming? Lv Wei Yue only did half the disaster relief and ran off to Kunming again?" Song Zhiwen muttered.

The old man realized: "Not good! He's targeting the Americans' airlifted supplies!"

The airlifted supplies the old man spoke of were the Hump Route opened up by the Americans.

With land and sea transportation cut off, the Hump Route was the only air corridor able to receive the Americans' Lend-Lease Materials.

The central government was thinking of getting a share of the American supplies from the Hump Route, but Lv Muzhi had gotten the news in advance and wanted to seize the right to distribute the supplies!

——————

The Hump Route, Myitkyina, Burma, five thousand meters altitude.

At five thousand meters altitude, air currents fluctuated violently, and the huge transport aircraft's wings trembled constantly in the clouds.

American Air Force Major Robert gripped the control stick tightly, his eyes fixed on the sea of clouds ahead.

As the commander of this transport formation consisting of twelve C-47 Transport Aircraft, he was under great pressure at this moment.

The cabin was fully loaded with fuel transported from Assam, India to Xia Guo. If the transport aircraft were hit by Japanese Army planes, any spark could turn these C47 Transport Aircraft into aerial fireworks.

What made him even more uneasy was that, due to a shortage of Air Force Aircraft stationed in India, they had no fighter plane escort for this leg of the journey from India.

"This is Major Miller, all crews take note, we are passing over Myitkyina."

Miller's voice came over the radio: "Although Myitkyina is under the control of Xia Guo's Allied Forces, Japanese fighters can still reach here to engage in combat, please be careful!"

The copilot complained somewhat pessimistically: "Lieutenant Colonel, do you know how an eagle catches a chick? If we are discovered by Japanese fighters, we are the chicks! The Japanese are the eagles!"

Lieutenant Colonel Miller comforted him: "Don't worry, George, we are the mother hen..."

"Why aren't you laughing? Please, laugh a little..."

The copilot shook his head at Lieutenant Colonel Miller's cold joke; he could only pray for God's blessing.

Just then, an exclamation came over the radio: "Lieutenant Colonel! Two o'clock direction, high-mobility target discovered!"

"Quantity six, extremely fast!"

Miller thought it was over, and sweat instantly broke out on his palms.

"Damn! They really came!"

"All crew, prepare for impact, spread out a bit..."

Miller was organizing a breakout, but a somewhat unfluent English came over the radio channel.

"This is... Youth Army Aviation Corps, I am... Lieutenant Colonel Ye Cheng."

"My formation will be responsible for the air safety of the Allied transport aircraft formation..."

After hearing this, Lieutenant Colonel Miller let out a long breath.

"God, it's so good to see you! I am Lieutenant Colonel Miller, commander of the transport aircraft formation."

"Lieutenant Colonel Ye, thank you for coming to Myitkyina to meet us!"

Lieutenant Colonel Ye Cheng's voice came from the other end of the radio: "No need to thank us; we built an airfield in Baoshan, and from now on we will specialize in regular escort missions."

Lieutenant Colonel Miller was both shocked and moved in his heart; he had heard of the Youth Army before.

The formation regrouped, six BF109 fighters surrounding both sides of the C-47 transport aircraft formation.

The peaceful time did not last long; the Japanese still came.

"Attention! Enemy aircraft group discovered in the southwest direction!" Ye Cheng warned over the radio channel: "Quantity ten, should be Japanese Type 1 fighters!"

Lieutenant Colonel Miller looked back through the side window; only to see at the edge of the clouds in the southwest direction, ten black spots were rushing over with killing intent.

That was a group of Japanese Type 1 fighters taking off from Mandalay Airport, specially coming to ambush the American air transport fleet.

"Lieutenant Colonel Miller, maintain your heading and speed, continue flying east!"

"Leave the rest to us." Ye Cheng said, then directly switched to the internal frequency command.

"Gain altitude, occupy the sunlight position!"

The Japanese pilots obviously also discovered this different escort force, and air combat erupted instantly.

The BF109 engine roared, like an arrow off the string rushing straight into the clouds, seizing altitude advantage.

Lieutenant Colonel Ye Cheng piloted the fighter, using the BF109's powerful climb performance to reach high altitude.

Then he pushed down the nose to dive; after some searching, he locked onto a Japanese plane chasing his own wingman.

Bang bang bang!

The 20mm cannon on the BF109's nose spat out tongues of fire, dense bullet rain striking that Type 1 fighter.

Japanese fighter armor was generally weak; whether the Zero fighter used by the Navy or the Type 1 fighter used by the Army, weak armor was their common weakness.

With a boom, that Japanese Type 1 fighter was hit and caught fire, turning into a fireball.

"First one!" Ye Cheng said coldly, then immediately performed a high-G roll, shaking off the enemy plane biting his tail from behind.

On the other side, the Youth Army pilots coordinated extremely well; they did not dogfight with the Japanese planes, but repeatedly used high-altitude dives.

This hit-and-run energy tactic made the Japanese planes, which emphasized maneuverability, feel extremely uncomfortable.

In just a few minutes, another Japanese fighter was hit in the tail by a Youth Army wingman, trailing long smoke as it crashed deep into the dense forest.

Seeing they could not gain any advantage, and that the firepower of these BF-109s was truly ferocious, the Japanese formation commander already had thoughts of retreat.

Most importantly, they had flown long-distance from Mandalay; if they continued fighting, there would not be enough fuel for the return trip.

If they continued to entangle, even if they could shoot down one or two enemy planes, they themselves could not return safely to base.

The Japanese plane group circled in the air for a while, then reluctantly broke contact and withdrew toward the southwest direction.

About twenty minutes later, Ye Cheng led his fleet to find the C47 transport aircraft formation again, continuing to execute the escort mission.

"They withdrew! This bunch of cowards!" Lieutenant Colonel Miller shouted cheerfully inside the transport aircraft.

"Lieutenant Colonel Miller, there is still the last stretch to the border; we will continue forward."

After experiencing this encounter battle, the transport aircraft formation finally flew over the Gaoligong Mountains and officially entered Xia Guo territory.

The BF109 formation prepared to return to Baoshan due to fuel consumption; black shadows appeared again in the clouds ahead.

This time Lieutenant Colonel Miller was much calmer; he knew it was most likely his own people again.

As expected, ten P40 fighters painted with the Youth Army emblem appeared in the field of view.

These P40s had flying tiger patterns painted on their noses to increase recognizability, looking mighty and imposing, and there were more of them.

"Lieutenant Colonel Ye, you've worked hard; from now on we will take over, guiding the Allied formation to land in Kunming."

A new voice came over the radio; Ye Cheng greeted the other party, then led the BF109 group in a slick side turn.

"Lieutenant Colonel Miller, wish you a pleasant landing; we will meet again on the route!"

Lieutenant Colonel Miller watched this orderly aerial relay, unable to help but sigh to the copilot: "The Youth Army's work is really in place; I'm happy to cooperate with such an army!"

Ten P40 fighters spread out in a goose-wing formation, escorting twelve C-47s fully loaded with supplies, flying steadily toward Kunming.

——————

Song Zhiwen had already arrived in Kunming by this time; according to the agreement with the United States, the transport aircraft should land at Price Levels'ba Airport controlled by the Central Government.

Song Zhiwen brought a group of attendants, waiting expectantly at the airport.

"They're here! They're here! They're here!" someone shouted loudly.

The sound of aircraft roaring came from the sky.

Song Zhiwen looked up; there were at least twenty-odd aircraft flying in the sky.

"Binoculars!"

An attendant handed the binoculars to Song Zhiwen.

Song Zhiwen observed carefully, a smile hanging at the corner of his mouth.

In his field of view, twelve huge C47 transport aircraft were flying, the transport aircraft packed full with the supplies Song Zhiwen had been longing for day and night.

As for the other ten or so smaller P40 fighters, Song Zhiwen did not recognize them, and even thought they were Flying Tigers planes!

"Lv Wei Yue thinks that because he came to Kunming first, he can get his hands on the Lend-Lease materials a step ahead of me?"

"Does he not know that the Central Government is the sole representative of Xia Guo, and there is an agreement between the United States and Xia Guo; according to the agreement, the supplies should land at Price Levels'ba Airport, which is controlled by the Central Government!"

But as the United States transport aircraft kept flying, they surprisingly showed not the slightest intention of landing at Price Levels'ba Airport.

The faint smile at the corner of Song Zhiwen's mouth gradually disappeared.

The United States transport aircraft merely passed by Price Levels'ba Airport; they fundamentally had no intention of landing.

"Minister Song! Not good! The United States planes are heading for Changshui Airport, which is controlled by the Youth Army!"

Aboard the C47 transport aircraft, Major Miller asked over the radio channel: "We are supposed to land at Price Levels'ba Airport; have we taken a wrong route?"

Inside an escorting P40 fighter, a Youth Army officer spoke up: "No wrong route; just follow us down and it will be correct!"

Major Miller had no choice; his transport aircraft formation was sandwiched in the middle by the Youth Army fighters, so he could only follow them.

At Changshui Airport, the Youth Army's reception formation was quite grand.

Beside Lv Muzhi stood Xie Jinyuan, a Youth Expeditionary Army general who had rushed over from Zhongnan State.

The current Youth Expeditionary Army had its troop scale further expanded.

Lv Muzhi drew fifty thousand men from the Youth Army expanded in the various provinces of the Central Plains to expand the Youth Expeditionary Force, placed under the unified command of Sun Liren.

The Youth Expeditionary Force now has two armies, six divisions, one hundred thousand men.

One army was deployed in the Zhongnan State direction, and one army was also deployed in the Burma direction.

As Expeditionary Force commander-in-chief, Sun Liren is responsible for sitting in Zhongnan State to oversee overall coordination, directly commanding one army, waiting for the opportunity to launch a total attack on the Japanese Army inside Thailand.

Xie Jinyuan serves as frontline supreme commander of the Youth Expeditionary Force in the Burma direction, holding the post of one army commander, launching attacks together with various friendly forces inside Burma.

"Lu Commander, how is the disaster situation in Henan?" Xie Jinyuan asked.

Lv Muzhi watched the United States transport aircraft landing on the runway and said: "Disaster relief is still advancing slowly."

"We must grasp with both hands; we must grasp disaster relief, and also grasp the allocation of Hump Route supplies in our own hands!"

Xie Jinyuan said with concern: "The United States people should land at Price Levels'ba Airport; we dispatched fighters to 'escort' the United States transport aircraft to Changshui Airport — is there really no problem?"

Lv Muzhi did not care in the least: "What problem could there be?"

"I previously rescued Du Yuming and the Expeditionary Force; that is the old man's debt to me."

"The Central Government wouldn't really think my rescue was free, would it?"