Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 282 Blowing Up the Runway

However, in addition to older transport aircraft like the C47, there is also the US's latest transport aircraft, the C119, which is known as a flying car.

The C-119 Flying Carrier is a twin-engine transport aircraft designed by Fairchild Aircraft Corporation in the late 1940s. Its primary missions include cargo transport, paratrooper deployment, and casualty evacuation. Developed from the World War II-era C-82 "Lavi," this aircraft underwent performance improvements and functional enhancements, becoming one of the key transport aircraft for the United States and its allies during the Cold War.

The C-119 features a high-wing monoplane design and a spacious cargo hold, capable of transporting various types of cargo or personnel. The twin-bore tail section provides a larger cargo opening, facilitating the loading and unloading of large cargo. Its wide and boxy fuselage has earned it the nickname "flying box" due to its spacious, box-like cargo hold.

The power system is equipped with two Pratt & Whitney R-4360 "Wasp Hornet" four-row piston engines, with a maximum power output of 3,200 horsepower. The engines are mounted under the wings to provide sufficient power to the aircraft while reducing the space occupied in the cargo hold.

This is precisely why the maximum takeoff weight of this transport aircraft reaches about 30 tons, while its weight in the air is only 18 tons, and its maximum range reaches 3,600 kilometers, more than double the transport capacity of the C47 transport aircraft.

Of course, the most crucial factor was that this type of aircraft was the key tool that enabled the US military to successfully withdraw. It was the range and spacious carriages of this transport aircraft that enabled the US military to successfully deploy the prefabricated steel beam bridge to the Watergate Bridge, thus allowing the destroyed Watergate Bridge to be reopened to traffic.

The film *The Battle at Lake Changjin: The Water Gate Bridge* artistically recreates the process of the Chaozhou reinforcements fighting the enemy and bravely blowing up the bridge. The small detachment tasked with blowing up the bridge, led by Company Commander Jiang Qingyun, arrived at the "Water Gate Bridge" on December 1st after a long march and began their mission. However, to the detachment's surprise, the US military was able to quickly repair the bridge, despite its repeated destruction, thanks to their engineering units. To prevent the Chaozhou reinforcements from blowing up the bridge, the US military strengthened the defenses of the Water Gate Bridge. Commander Smith personally dispatched a tank battalion to construct fortifications on and around the bridge, providing tight protection.

On the night of December 6th, Company Commander Jiang Qingyun once again led an infantry platoon and a heavy machine gun squad as a suicide squad to carry out a final mission to blow up the bridge. Failure to destroy the bridge would make it impossible to complete the subsequent blocking mission for the troops. The suicide squad's operation was suppressed by heavy enemy fire; four were killed and three were seriously wounded, including Jiang Qingyun himself, who was also wounded and unconscious. In this critical moment, the remaining soldiers broke through layers of enemy fire and destroyed the bridge once more. This time, they not only destroyed the bridge deck but also the previously undamaged bridge foundation.

On the evening of December 8th, Zhang Yixiang received a report that the Shuimen Bridge and several other bridges and arches "had been breached, and tanks could not pass through," a result that greatly pleased him. He judged that the Shuimen Bridge's deck and foundation had been destroyed, with a gap exceeding 8 meters, which the US engineers would be unable to repair in a short time.

Of course, in the movie, it was Company Commander Wu Qianli who blew up the Water Gate Bridge. However, for the sake of the plot, the historical figure Jiang Qingyun was changed to Wu Qianli.

However, in an effort to save the fate of the Army's Lion Bridge, the "United Forces," at the Lion's commander Smith's urgent request, hastily ordered eight sets of M2-type steel bridge components from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of the Japanese. These components were then airdropped to the US military positions at Koturi by eight C-119 transport planes from the US 314th Airlift Wing. The components were airdropped onto the battlefield on December 7th, and six were successfully recovered by the US military. At noon on December 9th, the steel components were transported from the drop site to the Water Gate Bridge, where engineers assembled and erected them. The bridge was completed and opened to traffic around 6 PM that evening, allowing the US military to escape with their lives.

That's right, it is precisely because of these large transport aircraft that such heavy steel bridges can be transported. Ordinary transport aircraft, such as the C47, simply cannot transport such large, heavy, and long steel bridge components.

The C119 is called a flying car mainly because its belly has a large space, making it very suitable for transporting large engineering components, such as bridges, and even ordinary light tanks and cars.

Fortunately, although Wang Gensheng's carrier-based pilots had never flown this C119 flying car transport aircraft, it was still largely the same. After all, they were all produced in the United States, and in order to take into account the pilots' habits, the flight control was naturally homogenized.

After watching the eight C119 flying vehicles successfully take off, Wang Gensheng finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, just as he was busy unloading the captured aircraft from the airport and taking them home, Chief Smith realized what had happened. Smith had initially thought this was a decapitation strike by the reinforcements, but it turned out to be an aircraft theft operation.

So, things got complicated. Chief Smith, who was originally preparing to retreat under the cover of the Guards Company, stopped and began ordering the combat troops around him to take back the airport.

The main reason Smith dared to launch a counterattack was that he learned that the reinforcements attacking their airport numbered less than a thousand, so even though Smith himself did not have many men capable of fighting.

However, Smith believed that they could still retake the airport. After all, the most crucial factor was that troops withdrawing from the front would continue to arrive, which would greatly increase the number of people available for combat on their side.

Of course, Smith knew that his side had fewer people, so as the number of planes at the airport decreased, he actually started bombarding the area, ignoring the remaining planes.

After all, in Smith's view, these transport planes were not important; what was important was getting more airports back.

Although Wang Gensheng's Marine Corps assault team wore bulletproof vests, they still suffered casualties from artillery bombardment, especially as more and more US troops withdrew to Hagaru-ri. That would be the time when Wang Gensheng's eight hundred or so men would be surrounded by a massive army.

Therefore, Wang Gensheng decisively gave the order to Baili Xiu:
"Plant bombs on the airport runway immediately, and remember to plant plenty. Don't be stingy with the explosives! Destroying the airport runway is our top priority!"

Following Wang Gensheng's orders, the fire support team began digging pits and planting explosives on the airport runway. Their aim was to destroy the artillery shells, preventing US transport planes from landing at Hagaru-ri Airport and thus preventing the US from transporting wounded soldiers.

After all, Wang Gensheng didn't believe that stealing the thirty transport planes from the airport would stop the US military from transporting wounded soldiers.

Keep in mind that this is a temporary airport. At real US military airports, such as those of the Japanese, Wang Gensheng wouldn't find it strange at all that they could accommodate 30 or even 300 transport planes.

Therefore, as soon as Chief Smith speaks, he can immediately mobilize dozens or even hundreds of transport planes.

Therefore, only by blowing up the airport runway can the problem be eliminated permanently, preventing US transport planes from landing and thus preventing them from transporting wounded soldiers.

(End of this chapter)