Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 222 First Battle
Two dark blue F4U Corsair fighter jets, like two agile gyrfalcons, took off from Jinshaling Airport and quickly climbed to their designated altitude.

Cheng Rufeng piloted the lead aircraft, numbered "Pirate One," while Zhao Tiezhu followed closely behind in "Pirate Two," maintaining a standard two-aircraft patrol formation.

Their mission area was a mountainous region of two to three hundred square kilometers east of Wutai County. This area had complex terrain and was one of the areas where the Eighth Route Army, the Jin-Sui Army, and various local armed forces were frequently active.

Today marks the first official patrol flight since the "Pirate Squadron" was established. For Cheng Rufeng and Zhao Tiezhu, it is both an opportunity to test their training results and a true "debut," so they must be careful.

"Tiezhu, how does it feel? This 'pirate-style' is way more exciting than those old-fashioned machines we used to fly, isn't it?"

Cheng Rufeng chatted casually with his wingman over the radio in a relaxed tone.

Although it's about carrying out a task, proper communication can alleviate tension and better maintain collaboration.

"Captain! That was so exhilarating! It was like riding a magnificent steed!"

No, faster than a thoroughbred horse! With just a slight push of the accelerator, that thing surged forward like a madman! It was exhilarating! Absolutely exhilarating!

Zhao Tiezhu's excited voice came through the headset, carrying a hint of youthful exaggeration and gesticulation. Even through the radio, Cheng Rufeng could imagine his beaming appearance in the cockpit.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Rufeng couldn't help but smile. He understood Zhao Tiezhu's feelings; the F4U's powerful engine and superior performance were an irresistible temptation for any pilot yearning for the skies.

Isn't he the same way? Every time he pilots this steel raptor, he feels a surge of adrenaline.

"Hehe, it's fun, but don't get carried away."

Cheng Rufeng cautioned, "The better the horse, the fiercer its temper. We need to understand its nature before we can truly control it. Pay attention to your surroundings, especially the ground, and don't miss any suspicious movements."

"Understood! Captain! Just you wait and see!" Zhao Tiezhu immediately stopped joking and his tone became serious.

The two chatted casually while remaining highly vigilant, their eyes constantly scanning the rolling mountains and winding ravines below.

The sunlight outlined the mountain ridges in gold, while the valleys were filled with the lingering morning mist, making them look exceptionally beautiful.

Their flight altitude is approximately three thousand meters, which ensures both good visibility and sufficient reaction time and maneuverability in the event of an emergency.

The F4U's cockpit offers excellent visibility, allowing Cheng Rufeng and Zhao Tiezhu to see almost everything within hundreds of square kilometers below.

And so they flew eastward for about half an hour. Jinshaling Airport had long since disappeared from sight, and the surrounding mountains became increasingly steep.

Suddenly, Cheng Rufeng's gaze sharpened slightly!
He keenly noticed that, about ten o'clock ahead and to the right, some unusual wisps of smoke seemed to be rising from the ground in the distance! The color and shape of the smoke didn't resemble the dust from burning stubble by mountain people; it looked more like... dust from an explosion!

"Tiezhu! Watch the 10 o'clock position, on the ground! Do you see those plumes of smoke?" Cheng Rufeng immediately called Zhao Tiezhu over the radio.

"I saw it! Battalion Commander! It looks like... it looks like it was hit by a shell?" Zhao Tiezhu's voice also became tense.

"That's possible! Let's descend and go check it out! Stay alert and watch for enemy aircraft in the air!"

Cheng Rufeng made a decisive decision. He gently pushed the control stick, and the nose of the aircraft dipped slightly. "Pirate One" began to descend at a gentle angle. Zhao Tiezhu immediately made the same move, closely following the lead aircraft.

Like two birds of prey that have spotted their prey, the two "Corsair" aircraft quickly descended to an altitude of about 1,500 meters.

As the distance closed, the view on the ground became clearer and clearer.

As expected!
A fierce battle is taking place in a valley surrounded by mountains below!

Thick smoke billowed from a place built against the mountain that looked like a Japanese military outpost.

Outside the stronghold, a group of soldiers in khaki uniforms were launching wave after wave of attacks from makeshift cover.

"Da da da... Boom! Boom!"

The roar of machine guns, the explosions of grenades, and the desperate shouts of soldiers could be faintly heard even at an altitude of over a thousand meters, demonstrating the intensity of the battle!
Cheng Rufeng's brows furrowed tightly.

He could see clearly that the Japanese stronghold was exceptionally well-built and occupied a favorable terrain. Several towering bunkers and pillboxes, like the fangs of venomous snakes, spewed deadly flames, sweeping down swathes of attacking soldiers!
The attacking side clearly lacked effective weapons for breaching the defenses.

They could only use primitive methods, such as cluster grenades and explosive charges, to try and break through those solid fortifications.

Every charge resulted in heavy casualties under the intense firepower of the Japanese army. The front line was littered with fallen soldiers, their blood staining the yellowish-brown earth.

"Damn it! Those sons of bitches of Japanese devils! Their firepower is too intense!"

Zhao Tiezhu cursed angrily into the radio, his voice filled with anxiety and pity, "Captain! Can...can we help them?"

Cheng Rufeng did not answer immediately. His gaze swept across the battlefield, quickly assessing the situation.

He observed that the attacks, seemingly launched by the Eighth Route Army, were fierce but were proving somewhat ineffective against the Japanese army's strong fortifications and crossfire. Several assaults were repelled, and the casualty figures were steadily rising.

Without effective support, this attack is unlikely to succeed, and the entire army may even be wiped out!
The two F4Us they were piloting at that moment were like "divine soldiers" hovering over the battlefield!
The F4U carries not only 12.7mm heavy machine guns for air combat, but also bombs and rockets for ground attack!
Although this patrol mission did not carry heavy bombs, each aircraft was equipped with several small 100-pound aerial bombs and a number of rockets, which was more than enough to deal with this kind of ground stronghold!
More importantly, they possessed absolute air superiority! The Japanese military never expected that such advanced Chinese fighter jets would suddenly appear in this place at this time!

In an instant, Cheng Rufeng made a decision!

"Tiezhu! Heed my command!" Cheng Rufeng's voice became unusually calm and decisive.

"We will launch a dive attack on the Japanese stronghold from west to east! Our primary objective is to destroy their pillboxes and heavy machine gun emplacements!"
Pay attention to the angle and altitude of your attack to avoid friendly fire! After the first attack, circle to the east, observe the results, and prepare for a second attack!

"Yes, Captain!" Zhao Tiezhu's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement! He had been waiting for these words for a long time!
"Okay! Come with me!"

Cheng Rufeng slammed the control lever, and "Pirate One" shot down like an arrow, whistling sharply, towards the Japanese stronghold shrouded in smoke below!

Zhao Tiezhu's "Pirate No. 2" followed closely behind. The two dark blue "Pirate" fighter jets revealed their sharp fangs to the world for the first time!

The Eighth Route Army soldiers fighting fiercely on the ground, as well as the Japanese troops in the stronghold, heard at almost the same time the shrill sound that grew louder and louder as it approached from afar, like the scythe of death cutting through the air!
They instinctively raised their heads and looked up at the sky.

Two dark blue fighter jets, unlike any they had ever seen before, with imposing and menacing designs, were swooping down from the clouds at an astonishing speed!

The sunlight shone brightly on their gleaming wings and propellers, making them appear particularly dazzling!
At that moment, the sounds of intense gunfire on the battlefield seemed to pause!
All eyes were drawn to the two "uninvited guests" that had suddenly appeared from the sky!

At this moment, the one fighting bloody battle on the ground is the 770th Regiment of the 385th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army.

Their target was a Japanese strategic stronghold located between Ying County, Shanyin County, and Xuejiazhuang.

This outpost is geographically extremely important. It not only controls a branch railway line from Wuning to Datong, but also poses a serious military threat to the main line of the Tongpu Railway to the south, Shanyin County to the west, and the Xuejiazhuang coal-producing area to the east.

The Eighth Route Army was well aware of the strategic value of this location. Capturing it would be like inserting a sharp knife into the enemy's heart, significantly hindering Japanese troop deployments and creating favorable conditions for subsequent raids and base expansion. Of course, just as the Eighth Route Army understood this, the Japanese were equally aware of its importance.

In view of this, they took advantage of the strategic terrain and carefully constructed a fortified group consisting of a large main bunker and three small auxiliary bunkers, with overlapping firepower and easy to defend and difficult to attack.

These bunkers were all constructed of blue bricks, stones, and concrete, with thick walls, numerous firing ports, and deep trenches and barbed wire around them.

For the Eighth Route Army, which was severely lacking in heavy weapons for offensive operations, the difficulty of taking down this tough nut to crack was self-evident.

What unfolded before Cheng Rufeng and Zhao Tiezhu was this extremely horrific scene:

The Eighth Route Army soldiers, dressed in thin, gray-brown uniforms and wearing matching caps, and armed with simple Hanyang rifles and a few captured Type 38 rifles, launched charge after charge amidst dense machine gun fire and mortar shells.

Their figures appeared and disappeared amidst the smoke of battle; every step forward came at a bloody price.

Soldiers fell one after another, their blood instantly staining the ground beneath them.

The soldiers who followed fearlessly stepped over the bodies of their fallen comrades and continued forward!
"Comrades! For victory... Charge!" A burly Eighth Route Army commander with blood-stained bandages wrapped around his arm brandished his pistol and roared hoarsely as he was the first to rush out of the cover.

"kill……"

The deafening battle cries rang out once more, and the remaining Eighth Route Army soldiers surged like a tide towards the Japanese stronghold, which resembled a demonic fortress.

However, they were met with even fiercer firepower!

"Da da da da da..."

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Inside the stronghold, Japanese Type 92 heavy machine guns and Type 91 light machine guns spewed fire wildly from the firing ports of various pillboxes, weaving a dense barrage of death.

The Japanese soldiers, relying on their strong fortifications, grinned as they threw grenades at the charging Eighth Route Army.

"Boom! Boom!"

Grenades exploded in the crowd, sending up sprays of blood and severed limbs. The Eighth Route Army commander at the forefront was tragically struck by a grenade, losing both legs. With a roar, he pulled the pin on his last grenade, sacrificing himself to take down several Japanese soldiers who charged at him!
The scene was so horrific that Cheng Rufeng and Zhao Tiezhu, high in the sky, were both horrified and their blood boiled!

"You sons of bitches! I'll fight you to the death!" Zhao Tiezhu roared into the radio, his eyes bloodshot with rage, his fingers instinctively reaching for the machine gun's fire button.

"Tiezhu... hold on... proceed according to plan! Take down their pillbox first!"

Cheng Rufeng's voice was as calm as ice, but the murderous intent contained within it was enough to make anyone shudder!

At this moment, the two F4U "Blackjack" fighters had already swooped down to an altitude of less than 500 meters above the ground!
The towering pillboxes inside the Japanese stronghold, and the menacing machine gun firing ports on them, became increasingly clear in their scopes!

"Target! The biggest pillbox right in front of us! I'll crack your skull open first!"

Cheng Rufeng roared and pressed the launch button for the rocket under the wing with his thumb!
"Whoosh...whoosh...whoosh...whoosh..."

Four dazzling streaks of fire, like four angry fire serpents, suddenly burst forth from under the wings of the "Pirate One"! Trailing long flames, they hurtled towards the largest Japanese main gun tower below at astonishing speed!
Almost at the same moment, Zhao Tiezhu also locked onto a secondary gun tower next to him that was firing wildly, and pressed the launch button for the rocket as well!
"Whoosh...whoosh...whoosh...whoosh..."

Four more fire dragons roared out!

Eight 5-inch high-speed air-to-ground rockets, like invitations from the Grim Reaper, carrying the aura of destruction, accurately hit their targets under the horrified gazes of the Eighth Route Army soldiers fighting bloody battles on the ground and the Japanese soldiers stubbornly resisting in their strongholds!

"Boom...boom..."

"Boom...boom..."

The deafening explosion, like a thunderclap from the heavens, reverberated through the valley! Its power far surpassed any weapon the Eighth Route Army had ever used before!
The Japanese main gun tower that Cheng Rufeng was aiming at was instantly shattered into pieces by the successive bombardment of four armor-piercing rockets. The reinforced concrete structure, which was more than half a meter thick, was like an eggshell that had been smashed by a heavy hammer!
Countless rubble, steel bars, and mangled Japanese corpses, mixed with thick smoke and flames, were hurled dozens of meters into the air by the massive shockwave! The entire upper half of the pillbox was razed to the ground! The several Type 92 heavy machine guns that were firing wildly inside, along with the Japanese soldiers operating them, were instantly reduced to nothing!
The secondary pillbox that Zhao Tiezhu attacked also met a tragic end! Although it was not completely destroyed, most of it was blown up, thick smoke billowed, flames soared into the sky, and the machine gun fire inside came to an abrupt halt!

This sudden, divinely punishing thunderbolt instantly plunged the entire battlefield into an eerie silence!

Both the Eighth Route Army soldiers charging into battle and the remaining Japanese soldiers inside the stronghold were stunned by this terrifying sight!
They stared dumbfounded at the two pillboxes that had been blown beyond recognition, and at the two dark blue fighter jets that roared across the sky like demons, their minds blank!
"My God... what... what kind of plane is that?"

A surviving Eighth Route Army soldier looked at the destroyed pillbox and muttered to himself, his voice filled with disbelief.

"It's...it's our plane! Our plane has come to support us!" Another veteran pointed to the clear blue sky and white sun emblem on the wing of the plane that had just passed overhead, his eyes filled with tears of excitement. For the Eighth Route Army soldiers who were short of guns and ammunition, receiving support from the air was something they had never dreamed of.

The remaining Japanese troops inside the stronghold were plunged into utter panic and despair! Their proudly fortified positions proved utterly vulnerable to this attack from the sky! Those two Chinese planes, which appeared like ghosts, were their nightmare!

"Enemy attack! Air raid! It's Chinese planes!"

A Japanese sergeant screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to organize a resistance, but his voice was quickly drowned out by overwhelming fear.

After completing the first round of rocket attacks, Cheng Rufeng and Zhao Tiezhu, piloting the "Pirate Flag," quickly pulled up the nose of their aircraft and made a beautiful combat turn, circling once over the eastern side of the stronghold.

"Tiezhu! Well done! See that? The Japanese devils' turtle shell is nothing but a shell!" Cheng Rufeng laughed loudly over the radio, his tone full of joy and pride!

"Hahaha! That's great! That's so great! Captain Cheng! Give them a few more hard blows!" Zhao Tiezhu shouted excitedly.

"Alright! Second wave of attack! Target: the remaining two pillboxes and their heavy machine gun positions! Use machine guns and bombs to pick them off! Be careful to conserve ammunition!" Cheng Rufeng issued the new order.

"understand!"

The two Corsair fighters adjusted their attitude again, like two eagles eyeing their prey, and swooped down towards the Japanese stronghold below!

This time, the Japanese army will be met with an even denser and more deadly barrage of bullets!

Because of the huge air intake on the belly of the Corsair fighter plane, it would produce a sharp roar when it dived, giving the enemy a huge shock.

Amidst a series of sharp, piercing roars, the two Corsair fighters swooped down toward the remaining two auxiliary bunkers. At an altitude of 300 meters, almost simultaneously, four 250-kilogram bombs detached from the wings and fell toward the bunkers.

"Boom... Boom boom boom..."

Amidst the massive explosion, the two remaining bunkers were also sent flying into the sky.

The two Corsair fighters didn't stop there. They turned around and continued their dive, unleashing a barrage of 12.7mm bullets over hundreds of meters, turning the Japanese heavy machine gun position upside down until the Japanese were no longer able to resist. Only then did they fly away...

(End of this chapter)