“Yes sir!” The man stuttered and shouted orders to one of the five men in the tower. The man bowed and ran off.
“Does the front line of aircraft have mobile stairs so that the Supreme Commander can inspect the aircraft?” was Captain’s Wong’s next question.
“We only have three flights of mobile stairs, and I can get them out there from below the tower, General,“ the nervous man answered. Captain Wong nodded, noticing that the American squad of men was in now formation behind the first aircraft. The man in charge of the tower immediately picked up a microphone and spoke to who Captain Wong assumed was the ground crew.
“The Supreme Commander doesn’t want any troops out there. He has his own elite troops under my command. The pilots have three minutes to get dressed. He wants 11 aircraft to transport the troops. Is the transporter loaded and ready to go?”
“Yes, sir,” the man replied. “It is ready for its flight to America and fully loaded. It is being kept warm inside so that the parts do not freeze.”
“Good, because that is what the Supreme Commander is giving our Chinese government minions in Beijing for the men. We will need to get it reloaded once it returns in three days time,” added the Captain.
“But there are no more parts here at the airport,” replied the tower controller.
“We have a new load coming in from Nanjing,” replied Captain Wang in a sarcastic tone. He watched as three sets of stairs were being pushed hard and by hand out to the first three 747s, and he then noticed five Air Bus 380s connected to the terminal at specially built gates. “Are the European aircraft ready to go?” he asked.
“No sir, they are still having their seats removed and are not yet refueled.”
“The Supreme Commander wants that work completed by the time he gets back from Beijing, in case he must go back. Wake up your workforce and get all those aircraft ready. The aircraft we are taking tonight will be arriving back here and I’ll need a welcoming committee ready when the Commander returns from Beijing. I’m flying with him and so are my elite troops. I will go down and wait for the pilots. Understood?” the man nodded, and Captain Wong and his two heavily armed guards ran back down the stairs, making as much noise as possible. On the floor below was an Army colonel by the looks of him, and he saluted Captain Wong as the three men nodded at him and continued down the stairs. He looked rather confused.
Three of the first in line beautiful Air China Boeing 747-400ER’s forward doors were already open, and pilots could be seen through the cockpit windows going through pre-flight checks as the aircraft doors were already being closed.
The stairs were already on their way to the second group as the pilots—30 of them—ran out from the terminal, still dressing and trying to put their clothing together. Captain Wong issued orders as they arrived, getting a crew aboard each of the next three aircraft as the doors opened. He shouted at the pilots that the first three aircraft had pilots from the Supreme Commander’s own private group and they were to get into the fourth aircraft as spare teams.
The stairs were placed next to the next three aircraft, the forward doors opened, and three Chinese pilots entered each of the front doors with two of the Supreme Commander’s pilots and a Marine. The stairs were being pulled away as the first engines started up and the panting ground crew moved the stairs towards the next three in the row. Everybody was working as fast as they could, with Major Patterson, still in the middle of the apron, moving his arms around in gestures nobody could understand, but it sure looked good to Captain Wong, and hopefully the tower!
By the time the third set of large Boeing 747-400ER aircraft had their forward doors opened, the Chinese crews and American pilots with a Marine per aircraft were climbing the stairs.
Now there were six left—five normal 747s and the 747 transporter at the end of the line facing the other aircraft, the hangar doors were already open and a tractor was about to move the giant aircraft outside. The ground crew, now breathing hard, pushed the stairs to the next three aircraft. At this moment Major Patterson realized that he had run out of men to fly the machines.
The ‘Supreme Commander’ followed the ground crew that marched over to the transporter, looked up to the tower and waved at them, and entered the last aircraft which was outside and ready for boarding.
By this time, Chinese soldiers were appearing from areas behind the terminal and were forming up into squads. Captain Wong decided that it would take at least ten minutes to get the pre-flight checks done and the last aircraft’s engines started. The first three 747s were already on the move, the noise deafening and he shouted as hard as he could into the ‘Supreme Commander’s ear as they stood on top of the mobile stairs. He suggested the major waste some time by walking over to inspect the men before they had a war on their hands.
The two men returned down the stairs after watching a Marine knock four Chinese crew members out cold and allow the last American pilot to get into the co-pilot seat to begin start-up checks.
They moved directly towards the several hundred troops, now dangerous and ready for action at a moment’s notice. The Supreme Commander, his face still covered stopped several yards in front of the men and bowed to them.
“Our Supreme Commander is traveling to Beijing to pick up more great soldiers,” Captain Wong shouted at the top of his voice. “He will return in a few hours to give you a personnel speech on the success we are expecting in America. He has a surprise for all of you! For every man who does his job well in New York, he will receive a thousand acres of land and a large American house. He will explain the plan once we return from Beijing. He is proud of all of you and looks forward to giving you your own part of America when we have won the final battle.”
With that he bowed to the troops, then to his Supreme Commander, and then whispered to him to get back on the aircraft as the guard stood to attention and presented arms. They seemed excited at the news, many smiling and looking joyous.
As they got to the steps, the first three 747s were taxiing down to the southern end of the runway half a mile away, with the second group of three just leaving the apron in a line.
Wong and Patterson walked up the stairs. The ‘Supreme Commander’ reached the top step and as he had seen several presidents do, he waved to the whole airport in front of him. As the first engine of the transporter began its whine, the door was closed, and the ground crew quickly moved the stairs out of the way. They had now set the plan in motion and all they could do was hope that everybody believed them for a few minutes longer.
“You should get a bloody Oscar for your chit-chat out there, Wong,” praised Major Patterson, dialing the phone to call the general and give him an update. “What did you shout out to those guys?”
“I just gave away a thousand acres of farmland and a big house to each man when they get there,” Wong replied as he got into the left-hand cockpit seat and the co-pilot moved the four throttles forward slightly, the engines began to scream and the heavy transporter began to move.
Their aircraft was the last in the queue, as they trundled over the apron to follow the other 11 massive aircraft many yards apart.
“Comrade Chong, are you flying?” asked Wong in Chinese over the radio and taking control of the heavy transporter as it had been handled by the co-pilot in the right seat up to then.
“Affirmative, Comrade Wong. I’m in the aircraft two in front of you,” Captain Chong replied, making it sound like it was two Chinese pilots talking over the radio.
“Comrade Chong, cut out right and head over to the eastern side of the airport. Hopefully the guy in front of me will follow you. We can all get out of here quicker if we use the western runway as well. The Supreme Commander is in a hurry.”