Article 45

  As the Ki-21 "97" heavy bomber thundered into the night sky, Hama-saki Hiro-matsu knew it was all over!

  But his iron-like professional military demeanor told him that he still had to make one final effort!

  "Send a telegram to the commander of the 11th Army stationed in Wuhan, Okamura Yasuji. The target has taken off from Jingzhou on our hijacked Mitsubishi G4M heavy bomber. Please instruct Commander Okamura to immediately mobilize nearby air forces for aerial interception, and if possible, dispatch a squadron of heavy bombers to conduct large-scale bombing raids on all airports in Chongqing! If there is a group of people who successfully broke through and escaped, then the target must be among them! If our opponent is fighting with their last breath to protect the last child, then this lucky child must also be the target. Then, on that damned plane flying outside the nine heavens, it must be carrying the target I've been searching for in vain for 13 days, no mistake!"

  With almost all hope lost, Hidematsu Nakano looked on with his last shred of hope as the messenger took off at full speed with his orders, having placed all of the Empire of Japan's last hopes in its excellent air force.

  No matter what type of fighter, the cruising speed will not be lower than this hijacked Ki-21 "97" heavy bomber. If you're lucky enough to catch up or intercept the target in the air, then it's easy to take it down with a single blow!

  Another thing is that the opponent took off in such a hasty environment, and it was impossible to make a detailed inspection of each performance index of the aircraft. If they could bomb Chongqing Airport smoothly, it would also be possible to disrupt the opponent's overall plan, causing them to exhaust their fuel and die in mid-air!

  But all of this is just a maybe, the only thing that can be confirmed now is that the target has already been set high in the night sky! The opponent's task is obviously half done! And yet, I am about to kneel down and apologize to the Emperor, it's just around the corner!

  Hamasaki Hiro understands that saying anything now is futile, although his opponent and target have both escaped (or so he thinks), but for himself, he must immediately take care of the remaining enemy soldiers in the airport as a funeral offering for this battle!

  "Order, immediately concentrate all firepower to destroy the enemy's strongholds and firepower points, and then strengthen the attack on the remaining enemies in the airport. At the same time, order the surrounding troops to be vigilant and prevent the enemy from breaking through! We must annihilate the enemy as soon as possible and end the battle quickly!" Hamazaki Hiroto was convinced that he would not return empty-handed tonight! Annihilating this ghostly unit had become his sole mission now.

  With a fierce barrage of artillery fire, one of the two machine gun towers that were still relatively solid was blasted off its foundation and shattered into two pieces with the help of another shell!

  Another one was even more miserable. A shell with extremely good luck and precision directly hit the machine gun turret! Under the illumination of a piece of firelight, the entire machine gun turret was shattered to pieces!

  Yan Wei's heart was like a knife twisting as he stared at the flames at the entrance, his sorrow and anger unbearable!

  At the moment when the watchtower of the second machine gun tower was blown into the sky, a burst of intense explosion and flames followed, and Yan Wei still clearly saw his own soldier being blasted into the air by the massive explosion shockwave - it must have been Jiang Chen! That familiar figure had called him "Team Leader" for two years! Every time he needed to send someone on an errand, the first person he thought of was these two most capable scouts under his command!

  Since this is Jiang Chen, Yan Wei understood that the other person who could analyze the situation on the spot under extremely unfavorable conditions for his own troops, with quick eyes and hands, and possessing excellent qualities similar to those of Jiang Chen, must be Yu Tian!

  Tonight, the two best scouts in his hands are all gone! In the midst of unbearable grief, Yan Wei even subconsciously wanted to close his eyes! But he knew that the battle was not over yet, and the living brothers must be hoping that he could still lead them back to their unit.

  Yan Wei quickly surveyed the scene and determined that the airport entrance was now a tiger's mouth, the Gate of Hell! Facing the most concentrated firepower of the Japanese army at the airport gate, it was undoubtedly the expressway to hell at this moment!

  At this moment, the only option is to order the entire army to immediately withdraw and retreat to defend, trying to open a bloody road in the north with all one's might! First temporarily retreated to the northern mountain forest area! I hope that heaven will see mercy, and can take advantage of the night cover, finally still be able to bring most people alive into the northern mountain forest area. Once entering the northern mountain forest area, today is considered to have escaped from death again!

  "Zhang Liao!" Yan Wei originally wanted Zhang Liao to immediately organize a team to go to the north side of the airport and use M24 hand grenades to blast open a section of the iron wire mesh surrounding the airport, then launch a strong assault to break through! But as soon as he shouted, he suddenly remembered that Zhang Liao was currently following his orders to protect Fang Lan. He couldn't help but shake his head secretly, thinking: "I'm really used to relying on him too much!" Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look up again at the place where Jiang Chen and Yu Tian had sacrificed themselves, his heart aching like a knife cut!

  Yan Weizheng was about to call out to others to go work in the north when he suddenly felt something was off! Even if Zhang Liao was currently carrying out his orders to protect Fang Lan, there shouldn't be no response to his own summons. Suddenly a bad premonition surged up into his heart! He couldn't lose Zhang Liao, this trusted subordinate, again, especially since he had his woman with him!

  As he thought of this, Yan Wei was about to get up and retreat amidst the hail of bullets to look for them, when a strong and powerful palm grasped his right arm, holding it tightly!

  Obviously, Wu Han was holding onto something, but what did it mean for him to be doing so?

  Although the sound of gunfire is deafening and shells are exploding all around, in Yan Wei's senses and consciousness, time, space, and the entire world seem to have come to a standstill! Yan Wei can neither hear nor see! Even his brain cells have stopped functioning! For him, it's as if everything has ended. Now even if Chairman Mao and Emperor Hirohito were dueling in front of him, it would be none of his concern.

  "Brother Yongxi, have you seen?" After a moment, Yan Wei used up his own luxurious sentimentalism, with the mission of the party and the principle of a soldier, speaking very slowly and heavily, looking at the layered sandbags surrounding the machine gun fort in front of him.

  Yan Wei asked himself, Wu Hanhuai really didn't know how to respond to his words, but still used the unyielding quality of an Iron Blood soldier: "I saw it! A shell landed right on top of the two of them! The two were blown up together into the sky! But in the last moment, your subordinate was loyal and threw himself onto Miss Fang's body, pinning her down tightly!"

  He sighed and said, "Luckily, brother's luck is not good, just in time to turn his head and see everything clearly!" Wu Hanhuai said, then loosened his tight grip on Yan Wei's right arm. Earlier, he had grabbed him for fear that he would suddenly be "killed" by pain! Now, as an excellent commander, Wu Hanhuai believed that Yan Wei could make the most appropriate decision!

  "Brother Wang, no matter what, our mission is accomplished! Immediately gather your men and retreat northward, I'll lead the team to blow up the barbed wire fence surrounding us. The northern side is close to the mountain forest area, this is our only hope now! But I reckon the entire airport's outer perimeter has already been set up with an iron barrel array! Tonight, it's either life or death for both of us, let's each take care of ourselves!" With that, he pushed off the ground with his right leg and made a forward dive out of the machine gun bunker, doing a flip roll as he ran towards the airport's central open area to gather his soldiers.

  But at this moment, Hamasaki Hiro didn't rush to give orders for his soldiers to launch a large-scale attack on the airport. An officer who doesn't value the lives of his own soldiers is not a good officer! He's not even considered human!

  Hamasaki Hiro is waiting for his opponent to make a final desperate attack! Because he now has absolute confidence, tonight no matter who the final loser is! But this one trick is already set in motion and can't be stopped! And whether it's big or small, it's already my word! Tonight there won't be any Chinese people walking out of this airport alive!

  When Hamazaki Hiroto saw Yan Wei's intention, a victorious smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He knew that the moment to close the net had arrived.

  Wu Han Hua was always afraid that Yan Wei would suddenly become emotionally agitated and do something irrational, so he secretly followed Yan Wei to take care of him. Seeing Yan Wei retreating while searching for a target on the ground, Wu Han Hua understood that his brother would never fail to take another look at his red beauty who had been by his side since they confirmed their relationship!

  Yan Wei even regretted seeing Fang Lan, or rather, seeing Fang Lan's corpse!

  Obviously, his good brother's desperate attempt to cover him with his life was ultimately unable to outdo the swift and sudden arrival of the bomb, he was one step too late!

  Fang Lan's left arm was gone! The elegant and enchanting neck had been pierced by a large triangular bullet, which had burst in at an angle! At this moment, fresh blood had already dyed the ground beneath her body red!

  Fortunately, the beautiful face that had accompanied Yan Wei day and night for thirteen days was still largely intact, leaving him with a lasting memory of his final moments.

  Yan Wei grabbed the sling of his M1 Garand rifle with his right hand and slung it over his right shoulder, carrying the rifle behind him. He knelt down on both legs, wrapped his right arm around Fang Lan's waist, and placed his left hand under her neck, wanting to hold her in his arms. He didn't dare use too much force, perhaps thinking that at this moment, a slight carelessness would cause Fang Lan in his arms to disappear into thin air!

  Yan Wei lowered his head and pressed his face tightly against Fang Lan's still pure and beautiful cheek! But in his ears, he could no longer hear Fang Lan's usual gentle voice.

  Yan Wei simply used his left hand to gently lift her up, which inadvertently touched the wound on Fang Lan's neck that was almost half its circumference! The blood that had already coagulated began to flow out again!

  Yan Wei, for a moment, completely lost all the dignity and rationality of a party and national officer! Big drops of tears fell like pearls on Fang Lan's neck, which was bleeding profusely!

  The blood that had been diluted by tears seemed to be flowing faster! Yan Wei's soul also seemed to be disappearing along with the flow of this blood!

  What kind of chemical properties will be produced by the mixture of tears and blood, no one has ever analyzed. But the incompatible elements of unrequited love and flowing blood are now enough to destroy Yan Wei's entire soul!

  My heart is breaking!

  Yan Wei held Fang Lan in his arms, pulled out his right arm and stroked Fang Lan's face with his palm, which had been charred by the explosion and turned yellowish black. He suddenly looked up at the sky with a loud "Ah!" but no sound came out!

  These two cries, like a dying beast's last howl in desperation! Like a husband with a broken heart and mind, accusing Heaven of taking away his beloved's life!

  Everything is fine, Fang Lan is dead! Yan Wei is also half dead!

  Yan Wei's head bowed down and pressed his lips tightly onto Fang Lan's cherry lips, a deep kiss!

  This was not the man's first kiss with a woman, nor his first kiss with Fang Lan. But we have every reason to believe that this kiss deserves to be ranked as one of the most emotionally stirring kisses of the 20th century!

  This kiss represents the cost of all nations in that war-torn era! This kiss interprets the entire galaxy's interpretation of love! This kiss also deeply took away this man's entire soul!

  This kiss will be etched in this man's memory until he is one hundred and seventy-three years old, if his life lasts that long.