mesbooks Chapter 141 Japanese bombers attack
Chapter 141 Japanese bombers attack
At that moment, the roar of Japanese bombers filled the sky. Japanese airmen, flying their bombers, arrived menacingly above the village where the divisional headquarters stood. The planes circled for a moment, and the pilots peered through the windows. The village was completely silent. The houses were scattered about in an orderly fashion, but no one was seen moving about. The entire village was shrouded in a lifeless stillness, seemingly uninhabited. There was no sign of the large Eighth Route Army presence, as the intelligence reports had suggested.
Despite his misgivings, the pilots, unwilling to return empty-handed, randomly selected several targets within the village. He pressed the release button, and more than a dozen bombs roared down. The instant the bombs touched down, flames shot up into the sky. Houses collapsed under the impact, sending a cloud of dust billowing into the air. The blast's blast spread outward, uprooting nearby trees and sending livestock fleeing in terror, screaming in fear.
But soon after, the pilot spotted flashes of explosions on the ground, originating from where Lei Tao and the Japanese squadron were fighting. Out of curiosity and a sense of duty, he flew his bomber toward the fire. As he approached, he saw the fierce battle raging below. The Japanese bombers began to descend, preparing to attack the valley where Lei Tao and his men were. The bombardier in the cockpit quickly adjusted the bombing parameters, and with a shrill roar, bombs rained down from the bomber.
Lei Tao heard the roar of approaching bombers. He looked up and thought to himself, "Oh no!" He shouted to the soldiers to find cover to avoid the bombs: "Quick! Take cover! Hide behind caves and boulders!" At the same time, he quickly looked around, selected a large, sturdy tree, sprinted towards it, and then pressed tightly against the trunk, his eyes warily watching the bombers in the sky through the gaps between the branches.
Upon hearing the order, the soldiers immediately dispersed. Some hunched their backs, running low and quickly toward the cave, keeping an eye out for planes overhead. Some quickly lay down, crawling behind boulders and using them for cover. Still others took advantage of the natural ravines in the valley and jumped down, keeping their bodies close to the walls to hide themselves.
Bombs exploded in the valley, their powerful impact causing the ground to shake violently, sending dirt and rocks flying everywhere. Some soldiers were caught in the blast, thrown to the ground and injured. Smoke filled the valley, obscuring vision.
Lei Tao looked at the wounded soldier, a surge of rage rising within him. He knew he couldn't just sit there and wait for death. As the bomber finished dropping its bombs and pulled up for another dive, he quickly retrieved a portable anti-aircraft missile from the Bagua gyroscope. He steadily lifted the missile launcher with both hands, quickly crouched, and placed it on his shoulder, expertly flicking the safety with his thumb. He knelt on one knee, leaning back slightly to counteract the recoil, his eyes locked firmly on the ascending bomber through the sight. With a resolute command to fire, he decisively pulled the trigger, sending the missile soaring into the sky, trailing flames.
The Japanese bomber pilot suddenly sensed an incoming missile and, startled, frantically attempted to evade it. Gripping the control stick with both hands, he first veered sharply to the left, simultaneously pulling up the nose of the plane, causing it to roll and rise, attempting to shake off the missile. He then quickly turned right, causing the plane to trace a sharp arc through the air, its fuselage shaking violently.
But the missile launched by Lei Tao had excellent performance and tracked the bomber closely. Finally, the missile exploded near the bomber. The powerful impact of the explosion caused the bomber's fuselage to shake, one wing was damaged, and metal fragments flew everywhere.
The pilot struggled to control the damaged aircraft, sweat beading on his forehead, his eyes fixed on the instrument panel, attempting to adjust the aircraft's attitude for return. However, the aircraft's flight attitude became unstable, and its altitude continued to drop, with the fuselage pitching violently. With a loud bang, the bomber crashed not far away, igniting a huge fire and sending black smoke billowing into the sky. Seeing the situation was dire, the pilot quickly pulled the ejection seat switch and ejected with a whoosh, parachuting into place.
Lei Tao breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the bomber crash. But he knew the battle wasn't over yet. He quickly emerged from behind a tree, crouching low as he moved through the smoke. He reached the wounded soldiers, briefly inspected them, and applied emergency bandages to the more seriously injured. Then he stood up, grasped his modified Type 81 assault rifle, and with a determined look, he turned back to engage the Japanese squad. He sometimes used boulders as cover to shoot from above, and sometimes sprinted, changing firing positions, leading his men in a fierce attack on the remaining Japanese troops, striving to end the battle as quickly as possible and ensure the safety of division headquarters and the villagers.
While fighting, Lei Tao kept an eye on the landing position of the parachuting pilot. He knew that if the pilot was rescued by the follow-up Japanese troops, their whereabouts and combat situation would be revealed. So he secretly planned to capture the parachuting pilot after he dealt with this Japanese squad.