Chapter 593: Knot

"Mr. Donald, thank you for accepting my presumptuous request to allow me to visit you."
Santa Monica Beach, Los Angeles, California.
On the first weekend of December 1982, Tan Zhenhua came here, knocked on the door of a small beach house, and then politely said to the old man with white hair who came to open the door.
"Eric?" the old man asked.
"Yes, sir, this is a little caution for you, I hope you like it." Tan Zhenhua respectfully offered a pair of antique blue and white porcelain vases he bought from Chinatown.
The old man took the pair of vases and looked at it, and said with a smile: "Thank you, my Chinese friend, your gift is very beautiful, I like it very much, please come in."
Tan Zhenhua followed the old man into the house and sat down casually in the living room. The old man asked, "Coffee or brandy? Oh, I'm sorry, I don't have the tea that you Asians like."
"Coffee, thank you." Tan Zhenhua replied politely.
"OK, just a second."
The old man walked to a small bar in the house and began to brew coffee quickly. To Tan Zhenhua’s surprise, the old man used to brew coffee on this small bar was actually his invention. One-automatic coffee machine.
He smiled slightly, did not make a sound, but waited quietly. He waited until the old man walked over with two cups of hot coffee before he politely said, "Thank you."
The old man sat down and stirred the coffee in the cup in front of him with a small silver spoon. He watched the steam rising from the cup and slowly said: "Children from China, I have not had any guests here for a long time, so I I’m very curious, how did you get my phone number and then find me?"
Tan Zhenhua replied respectfully: "Mr. Donald, I must apologize to you again. In order to get your contact information, I had to use some extraordinary powers, and I also promised to help people not to expose these powers. Come out, so I’m afraid I can’t answer your question."
The old man nodded and was silent for a while before he spoke again: "Then, please tell me what you came for. I am old and retired. I can't think of anything else that can help you, or as you said on the phone. That way, help myself."
"Yes, of course, you will understand my purpose soon, and before that, please allow me to express my respect to you on my own behalf, to your father, Mr. Donald Douglas, thank you and you His father has made outstanding contributions to mankind’s dream of flying and the cause of anti-fascism for all mankind."
Tan Zhenhua stood up and bowed deeply to the old man opposite.
The old man's expression was solemn, stood up, and leaned back at Tan Zhenhua in a polite manner: "Thank you, boy, I really didn't expect that in the far east, there are people who can remember a little bit of what my father and I did. Little things."
Tan Zhenhua said sternly: "No, Mr. Donald Douglas, that's not a trivial matter. Without the excellent performance of your Douglas C-47 transport aircraft and the brave pilots who participated in the "Hump Route", I think that China will fight the Japanese invasion. The war will undoubtedly become more difficult, and for us in China, it is our tradition to remember every friend who has helped us in a difficult situation."
Donald Douglas exclaimed: "I didn't expect it. I thought I had been forgotten by the world. After all, it has been almost 40 years. You are still so young. You can remember these things... well, I miss me. If the father who is already in heaven hears you, he will be happy."
Tan Zhenhua nodded again and said seriously: "Mr. Donald, obviously you don’t know much about China Huaxia. In fact, not only I remember this history, but I can say responsibly that almost every Huaxia person remembers it because, This great feat is recorded in our history textbooks in China. Every one of our children must understand it, learn from it, remember it, and remember that we have extended a helping hand to us when our entire nation lives and dies. People, you, your father, and of course General Chennault of the Flying Tigers and Doctor Bethune of Canada. It is with your help that we have survived the most difficult time."
Donald Douglas sighed again: "C-47, the hump route, is as far away as the dust of history." But his eyes grew far away, as if he remembered the ambition and lush years of his youth.
At the end of 1941, with the outbreak of the Pacific War in World War II, the Japanese pirates used various means to block the Allies’ material assistance to China in order to force the Chinese government to surrender, and these aids flowed into China’s main channel cities, Xiangjiang and Yangon. After the continuous bombing, the Myanmar-Burma highway was cut off, making it impossible to transport a large amount of aid materials to China.
Faced with such a severe situation, in order to ensure the armaments and supplies for the war against Japanese pirates on the Asian battlefield of World War II, the two countries decided to jointly open up a new international transportation route in early 1942, and the world-famous "Hump" route was born.
The "Hump Route" starts from Indy Assam in the west and crosses the Himalayas, Gaoligong Mountains, Hengduan Mountains, Salween River, Nujiang River, Lancang River, Jinsha River, Lijiang Baisha Airport to the east, and enters China’s Southern Yunnan Plateau and Xichuan Province. . This route is about 800 kilometers long, and the altitude of the area it passes through is an average of 4500-5500 meters, and the highest altitude is 7000 meters. The peaks are undulating like the back of a camel, hence the name "Hump Route".
Since the transport aircraft at the time were all piston engines, the altitude basically reached the limit of the aircraft. The route passed through high mountains and snow peaks, canyons and glaciers, tropical jungles, cold virgin forests, and the climate was very harsh, with strong air currents, low air pressure and hail. Frost and frost attacks are commonplace. Aircraft face the danger of crashing and hitting mountains at any time during flight. In addition, they must pass over several Japanese occupation areas on the way, which increases the risk of being harassed and attacked by enemy aircraft.
The "Hump Route" is a tragic airlift with the longest duration, the most difficult conditions, and the most costly airlift in the history of world war airlift. Every pilot on mission will write a suicide note before departure, because no one knows whether he can still come back. According to post-war statistics, the Allied forces lost more than 1,500 aircraft and 3,000 heroic crew members on this route, including 168 Chinese pilots, with a loss rate of more than 80%!
The three-year flight with more than 80,000 sorties has resulted in 850,000 tons of strategic aid materials and more than 30,000 international fighters entering China. The heroes in the air have fought fearlessly to support China’s great cause of resisting Japanese invasion.
After the war ended in 1945, the famous American media "Time" described the hump route as follows: These aircraft fragments were scattered along the way in the 800 kilometers of deep mountain canyons, snow peaks and glaciers. In fine weather, These aluminum flakes will shimmer and shine under the sunlight, this is the famous "aluminum valley"-the hump route!
Among the more than 1,500 transport planes lost, the C-47 manufactured by Douglas accounted for at least half!
Therefore, Tan Zhenhua’s words to the founder of Douglas Aircraft Company, Donald Douglas Sr. and his successor, his son Donald Douglas Jr., although they have a show element, must also contain real Of gratitude.
Because he knew that even in the later stages of the hump route, with the addition of the Curtis C-46 transport aircraft, which was larger, more loaded, and able to fly higher, the C47 gradually withdrew from the main transport aircraft of the "Hump Route". But at the beginning of this tragic route, the aircraft produced by Douglas was the only aircraft capable of performing missions at such a high altitude!
It can also be said that without the excellent performance of this aircraft, it is absolutely impossible for the United States to make up its mind to open up this life course for China!
Donald Douglas Jr. finally ended his memories. He shook his head and said softly with a little self-deprecating: "Eric, please forgive me. As people get older, they will live more in the past, and you just The words evoked my memories again, so I was a little lost... Well, boy, let's talk about business, I guess, you ran so far, not just to talk to me about these old adult things Right?"
"Yes, Mr. Douglas, of course I came to you not only to express my respect for Douglas, but also to close your knot." Tan Zhenhua replied with a smile.
"My knot? What is my knot?" Donald Douglas Jr. asked in amazement, "Why don't I know?"
"No, you know, and I also know that this knot has made you worry about it for 15 years!"
"What?! Are you talking about..."
"Yes, of course it's that thing, take back Douglas, take back the pride and achievements that you and your father have devoted a lifetime to!"