Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 313 Repeating the same trick
Just as Li Xiuming was swirling his wine glass, lost in his own thoughts, an officer in the uniform of an army captain sat down on the sofa opposite him, holding a wine glass in his hand.

"Major Li, I've long admired your name."

The captain spoke with a smile, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching Li Xiuming's ears.

"My name is Liu Dahai, from the Logistics Department. I happened to be escorting a batch of supplies to the airport today. I heard that the club was lively, so I came over to have a few drinks and also to admire the style of our proud sons."

Li Xiuming was somewhat surprised, but still nodded politely.

He expected to hear another round of polite small talk about air combat and achievements, but Liu Dahai did not.

During the conversation, Li Xiuming was surprised to discover that this captain named Liu Dahai actually had overseas experience.

He was eloquent and spoke fluently about foreign customs, traditions, and strange tales. His views were novel, his speech was witty, and he knew how to control the pace of the conversation, always finding topics that would interest Li Xiuming.

Liu Dahai has dabbled in everything from European urban architecture to American industrial development and novel philosophical ideas.

This was quite a novel experience for Li Xiuming, who usually spent his days flying and spending time with his wife. The two got along very well and before they knew it, midnight had passed.

Li Xiuming glanced at the wall clock and realized it was already quite late, so he stood up.

"Brother Liu, it's getting late, I have to head back now."

"Alright, Brother Li, please make yourself at home."

Liu Dahai also stood up and warmly extended his hand, "It's my honor to have such a pleasant chat with you today. Here's my contact information. Let's get together again sometime in the future."

After exchanging contact information, Li Xiuming said goodbye to him.

He pushed open the club's heavy wooden door, leaving the hustle and bustle behind, and walked home alone.

The cool night breeze dispelled the smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke clinging to him.

He lives not far away; the pilots' family compound is just a few hundred meters away.

This is a private courtyard specially allocated by Su Yaoyang for each pilot who has started a family. The rows of neat houses appear quiet and peaceful under the moonlight.

Li Xiuming gently turned the key to open the door, pushing it open a crack. Warm light shone through the gap. His heart warmed; he knew his wife was waiting for him.

Stepping inside, I saw the light was still on. His wife, A-Guo, heavily pregnant, was sitting quietly in a chair, meticulously sewing a tiny, adorable baby dress by the light. Her head was bowed, her expression focused and gentle, and her pregnant belly outlined soft curves under the light, creating a serene and beautiful scene.

Seeing this scene, Li Xiuming felt as if his heart had been gently struck by something soft. He quickly went over and tenderly supported her shoulders from behind.

"Why aren't you resting yet? Didn't I tell you to go to sleep first?" Looking at his wife, who was forcing herself to stay awake, Li Xiuming felt a pang of tenderness in his heart.

Hearing the familiar voice, Aguo looked up and saw that it was her husband who had returned. A sweet smile immediately bloomed on her face, as pure as a mountain spring.

"It's okay, I couldn't sleep either since you weren't back."

She put down her needlework, looked up at him, her eyes full of dependence, and said, "Let's just make another outfit for our child."

This seemingly ordinary, even slightly coquettish remark sent a shiver down Li Xiuming's spine, and a complex mix of emotions welled up within him.

People outside say the army is in danger, with constant artillery fire and its future hanging by a thread.

But as a pilot, he knew better than anyone that the Air Force was no less dangerous than the Army, and perhaps even more so.

That seemingly free blue sky is actually the cruelest hunting ground, where every takeoff is a gamble between life and death.

Statistics show that during the even more brutal World War II, the average survival time of pilots from various countries was only a few months. For pilots who carried out dive bombing missions, their lives were measured in weeks.

Admittedly, the situation of the "pirate brigade" of the Shanxi militia was much better.

Because Su Yaoyang provided P-40 Tomahawk fighters that were far superior to those of the Japanese army, regardless of cost, and was willing to spend a lot of fuel and ammunition to provide pilots with ample, even luxurious, training time, the combat loss rate has remained at a relatively low level.

But that doesn't mean people won't die.

In the two years since the flight squadron was established, dozens of comrades who had spent every day with each other have sacrificed their lives in the sky, leaving their young lives forever in that blue sky. Among them are many American volunteer pilots who came from across the ocean with ideals in their hearts.

Thinking of all this, and looking at his wife in front of him with a gentle expression, who was clearly worried but pretended to be nonchalant, Li Xiuming's heart clenched tightly.

Two years ago, his fighter plane was shot down by the Japanese. He was forced to parachute and broke his leg. If it weren't for A-Guo, who was a hunter at the time, saving him, he probably would have become some wild animal's excrement.

A-Guo saved him and was deeply in love with him, but he couldn't even give her the most basic peaceful life. Thinking of this, he felt a deep sense of guilt.

He gently helped Aguo to sit down on the edge of the bed, and was about to advise her to rest early when Aguo seemed to suddenly remember something and looked up to say something.

"By the way, Xiu Ming."

She pointed to a bag on the table containing milk powder, candy, and other nutritional supplements. "At noon today, an officer from the logistics department brought us some things, including this."

After saying that, A-Guo turned around, took a thick cloth bag from the bedside table, and handed it to him.

The cloth bag felt heavy in his hand, and the crisp sound of silver coins clinking together rang out from inside. Li Xiuming opened it and saw three hundred silver dollars neatly stacked inside, gleaming under the light. His brows immediately furrowed.

"Why would the higher-ups suddenly send us something when it's neither a holiday nor a festival?"

He asked curiously, a hint of doubt rising in his mind.

The militia's treatment was certainly good, but this kind of extra distribution without a clear purpose was unprecedented.

"By the way, do you know who the person who delivered these things to us is?"

"do not know."

A-Guo shook her head, trying hard to recall the scene. "That person was quite young, looked very polite, and was a captain... When he introduced himself, he said... his name was... Liu something..." She tilted her head, her fair fingers gently tapping her temples, looking like she was deep in thought.

"Liu Dahai," Li Xiuming blurted out almost instinctively.

"Yes, yes, it's Liu Dahai." Upon hearing this, Aguo slapped her thigh excitedly as if she had solved a difficult problem. "I remember now, his name is Liu Dahai. Xiuming, do you know him?"

"Um……"

Li Xiuming didn't answer his wife's question directly, but only responded softly, his eyes becoming deep. He weighed the rather heavy bag of silver dollars in his hand, and the image of the eloquent and debonair captain he had just seen at the club instantly overlapped with this sudden and overly enthusiastic "concern" before him.

This is by no means a simple "release from above". This is Liu Dahai deliberately trying to curry favor with me.

But why would a logistics captain be so attentive to a pilot like him?

A big question mark appeared in Li Xiuming's mind.

To avoid worrying his wife, Li Xiuming temporarily suppressed his doubts, pretending to be nonchalant. He casually placed the heavy bag of silver dollars on the bedside table, then gently embraced Aguo and went to bed to rest.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Li Xiuming got up very early. He tiptoed to the kitchen and skillfully cooked Aguo's favorite millet porridge and fried two eggs.

After doing all this, he leaned down and gently kissed his wife on the forehead, then put on his flight jacket and went to the pilots' lounge.

The lounge was already filled with people in twos and threes. Some were reading newspapers, some were cleaning their pistols, and most were gathered together drinking coffee, chatting and boasting about their experiences of hunting for women or their aerial combat skills.

Li Xiuming picked up a cup of hot water, said good morning, and then naturally joined one of the chat groups. After chatting and laughing with his comrades for a while, he asked casually, "Hey guys, did the logistics department give out any benefits yesterday? I heard from my family that someone sent some nutritional supplements and money over."

"Benefits? No!" A pilot wiping his goggles looked up, bewildered. "What benefits would we be getting on a holiday?"

"Yeah, Xiu Ming, have you struck it rich and been keeping it from us?" another person chimed in.

After asking around, it turned out he was the only one who received the so-called "distributed" silver dollars and nutritional supplements yesterday.

This discovery sank Li Xiuming's heart. It undoubtedly proved that Liu Dahai was deliberately getting close to him.

But why would that be? What could a logistics captain possibly want for himself?
That's it! A thought suddenly flashed through Li Xiuming's mind. He suddenly remembered that about half a month ago, when he and some of his closest comrades were drinking at a club, he had casually mentioned that he wanted to buy a decent house for Aguo and their unborn child in Wutai County. Unfortunately, with the growth of the militia, land and housing prices in Wutai County had also skyrocketed. He didn't know when he would be able to buy a house with his military pay alone.

He just made a few casual complaints and forgot about them as soon as he finished speaking.

Could it be that... Liu Dahai heard about this and that's why he specially sent me these three hundred silver dollars? This amount of money is just right, enough to buy an ordinary courtyard house.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but frown deeply.

By now, he was 100% certain that Liu Dahai had approached him with some ulterior motive.

His first thought was to report to the airport's intelligence department. But then he hesitated.

I have no evidence. What if the other party just wants to do something personal through me, like a job transfer? If I report this, wouldn't I be ruining them?
If this ruins the future of an officer with an overseas education, then I would be committing a grave sin.

Just as he was lost in thought and struggling with his dilemma, a sharp and urgent ringtone suddenly sounded over the airport!
"W-W-W-W-!"

That's a battle alarm signaling an incoming enemy aircraft attack!
The relaxed atmosphere in the lounge instantly froze, and all the pilots' expressions turned serious within a second.

The cup was slammed onto the table, the chair was pushed aside, and everyone stood up almost reflexively, grabbed their equipment, and sprinted toward the helipad.

The alarm sound is an order.

All of Li Xiuming's doubts and anxieties about Liu Dahai were instantly forgotten.

He grabbed his flight helmet and goggles and rushed to the tarmac with his comrades as fast as he could.

Ground crew were already at their posts, ready for action. As the pilots jumped into the cockpit one after another, the engine of a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter jet roared deafeningly. The propellers whipped up huge gusts of air, scattering grass clippings and dust all over the ground.

Soon, under the command of the control tower, sixteen P-47 "Thunderbolt" fighter jets, led by Li Xiuming's squadron, began to taxi and accelerate in turn. The heavy fuselages roared over the runway and finally soared into the morning sky.

They quickly assembled into a combat formation in the air, their silver fuselages reflecting a dazzling light in the rising sun, like a flock of falcons poised to take flight, and sped off in the southwest direction guided by the control tower.

However, when Li Xiuming and his team arrived at the target airspace at breakneck speed, they were greeted only by an endless blue sky and floating clouds.

"Pirate One calling the tower, we have reached the designated airspace, no enemy aircraft detected, repeat, no enemy aircraft detected!" Li Xiuming reported to the ground via radio while vigilantly scanning the surrounding airspace.

"Tower received."

Doolittle's calm voice came through the radio, "Attention, the radar signal disappeared five minutes ago. Preliminary assessment: the Japanese aircraft has descended and entered low-altitude flight; the radar has lost the target. Maintain vigilance and patrol in the vicinity, and conduct visual searches!"

"Damn it!"

Upon hearing this news, Li Xiuming cursed angrily in the cockpit.

Since Su Yaoyang deployed a radar station near Wutai County, which was considered a marvel at the time, almost every Japanese aircraft attacking the area was detected in advance over the past two years. The flight squadrons were always able to receive early warnings, take off calmly, and intercept the enemy under the precise guidance of the control tower. By waiting in ambush, they achieved brilliant results, almost striking fear into the hearts of Japanese pilots.

But as the saying goes, spear and shield always go hand in hand; no weapon is invincible forever.

The existence of the radar was not kept secret for long. After paying a heavy price, the Japanese army soon learned that the Shanxi militia was equipped with such a powerful weapon that could detect enemies from afar, and quickly began to study countermeasures.

Through repeated combat, they discovered that the early radars equipped by the militia were excellent at detecting targets in the high sky, but the detection range was drastically reduced for low-altitude targets flying close to the ground, and large blind spots would even appear due to the obstruction of mountains.

So since the beginning of this year, Japanese pilots have learned their lesson and no longer foolishly fly over at high altitudes like before. Instead, they have begun to use the complex mountainous terrain of Shanxi as cover to carry out ultra-low-altitude infiltration and breakthroughs in order to achieve the purpose of surprise attacks.

This time, it's clearly the same old trick again.

(End of this chapter)