CHAPTER 80: CHAPTER 89: FROM NANJING TO TOKYO

As long as you invest enough manpower and resources, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish.

No one would doubt this—just like how America launches three Liberty Ships every day; in essence, it’s all about piling up manpower and material.

Under Pierre’s insistence, all the technical resources of Carl Metals Company were devoted to building the aerial refueling system. Hundreds of skilled workers joined the effort, and thousands of components were rapidly manufactured.

In just a few days, the first fuel transfer machine was built and installed in the cabin of a DC-2 aircraft. Soon, Cohanum and his team began ground tests. These so-called ground tests were mainly about docking and locking the probe and drogue. In just five days, they conducted over a hundred tests and identified several issues.

Finally, on April 3, two modified DC-2 aircraft stood on the runway, their unpainted fuselages gleaming under the sun like the brightest of stars.

"Boss, our planes don’t have official names yet. It’s considered unlucky if they’re not named," Cohanum reminded him.

Pierre thought for a moment and said, "Let’s call the first one ’Nanjing’ and the second ’Tokyo’."

From Nanjing to Tokyo... This was the most heartfelt wish of the Chinese people—nothing else, just revenge!

And Pierre just wanted to "add some fuel to Tokyo"—to start a barbecue, so to speak.

The dozen or so Chinese technicians present fell silent upon hearing this, but their eyes shone with a special light.

Their expressions were filled with excitement, but even more with anticipation.

From Nanjing to Tokyo—it’s not far. But it had already taken them seven years to get this far!

Soon, the call signs "Nanjing" and "Tokyo" were painted on the tails of both planes, in both English and Chinese.

At 11 a.m., after the final checks, the two planes took off one after the other to the roar of engines. Instead of flying far, they circled above the airfield.

Soon, the lead plane released a soft hose more than twenty meters long, with a funnel-shaped drogue at the end. The trailing plane began to slowly approach, its nose equipped with a refueling probe extending over a meter.

"It’s starting..."

Watching the planes attempt aerial docking and refueling through his binoculars, Pierre frowned and muttered to himself, "Why is it like this?"

The drogue in the air looked stable, but in reality, it was swinging constantly, so the trailing plane had to try several times before successfully aligning the probe with the drogue and achieving the aerial connection. A minute later, after completing the refueling, the plane radioed the ground to report success, and cheers erupted below.

"We did it! We did it!"

Amid the cheers, Ren Zhiyuan shouted to his boss, "Boss, we’re going to Tokyo! We’re going to bomb Tokyo!"

You see, the wishes of the Chinese people are just that simple...

Here is the English translation:

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However, compared to their excitement, Pierre’s brow was tightly furrowed. He picked up the radio microphone and called out to the refueling aircraft in the sky, which had already retracted its refueling hose:

"Nanjing, Nanjing, release the refueling hose again."

Release it again?

Hadn’t the refueling already been completed?

Amid everyone’s confusion, the aircraft once again released the hose. At first, the drogue appeared quite stable, but soon it began to sway slightly, clearly affected by the airflow.

A few hours later, Pierre was standing beside the plane, inspecting the aircraft’s drogue cone. The cone at the end of the hose was a funnel-shaped, fully enclosed steel structure.

"Nearly eighty centimeters in diameter..."

Lifting the steel cone, which weighed dozens of kilograms, Pierre’s mind replayed the scene of it swaying in the air.

"Boss, the size and weight of the cone are carefully designed. If it’s too light, it’s heavily affected by airflow disturbances; too heavy isn’t good either. And with this size, we also have to ensure the probe can accurately insert..."

Listening to Coham’s explanation, Pierre closed his eyes, recalling the aerial refueling scenes he’d seen in movies or military magazines. The drogues on those tankers seemed different from this one.

"Affected by airflow disturbances, which means..."

Turning to Coham, Pierre asked,

"Then what if we change its shape?"

"Change its shape?"

Before Coham could react, Pierre ran to the edge of the airfield, grabbed a shuttlecock from a table, and hit it far into the air. As the shuttlecock traced an arc through the sky, Pierre shouted,

"A shuttlecock! Use a shuttlecock-shaped design—it’s more stable than a funnel!"

Why did he think of a shuttlecock? Because in another world, the refueling cones were indeed shaped like shuttlecocks, even foldable. They were lighter and provided a more stable docking trajectory.

Sometimes, what seems like a simple inspiration from a picture is actually the result of years of research by predecessors. With Pierre’s suggestion, a shuttlecock-shaped refueling cone was produced in just two days and quickly tested. Just as he said, it was lighter and provided a more stable docking path.

After more than a dozen aerial docking and refueling tests, as soon as they landed, Coham shouted to Pierre,

"Boss, we can notify the Army to come and watch!"

Not to watch, but to pitch!

They were going to pitch their product to the Army. Although the patent had already been bought by the company, as the inventor, Coham still hoped this aerial refueling technology could be used in war.

"No rush..."

Unlike before, Pierre was no longer in a hurry.

"Let’s manufacture a few sets of refueling aircraft and receiver probe components first, get ready for large-scale testing and production. As for the Army..."

Glancing in the direction of Washington, Pierre smiled faintly. Now, the time was ripe!

It was time to act!

With this thought flashing through his mind, Pierre went straight back to his office. Once inside, he opened the safe under his desk and took out a thick file folder.

Gently patting the folder, Pierre sneered,

"All right, now it’s time to stab the knife in!"

With a cold laugh, Pierre took out a cigarette, lit it, and looked at the file folder. He had been preparing for this day for several months!

He opened the folder and took out a document bearing the Pentagon’s insignia. The sneer on Pierre’s face grew even colder...

Taking a deep drag on his cigarette, as if making some major decision, he picked up the phone on his desk...