Chapter Twelve: Playing with Airplanes

  The Ghost Legion's charge is still ongoing, with artillery fire support. After a huge explosion, which had disappeared for a while, it has started again.

  Gao Quan returned to the valley mouth with a branch of troops that had been attacking with Luo Wenyu. The battle between the two sides was intense, and the devils were launching wave after wave of attacks without stopping, seemingly determined to capture Luo Wenyu. Liu Ruming, the commander of the Temporary Second Division, led his entire division in a desperate resistance, taking advantage of the favorable terrain of the valley mouth and several nearby mountain strongpoints to repeatedly repel the enemy's attacks. Each time the devils retreated, the officers and men of the Temporary Second Division would pursue and attack them for a while, and Gao Quan hid near the main battlefield, taking the opportunity to mix in with the pursuing troops and return to the valley mouth.

  Gao Quan had been gone for so long that Liu Ruming thought he had already sacrificed himself, and his heart was filled with a hint of melancholy, feeling sorry for this talented young man. After Gao Quan returned, as reported to Liu Ruming, he explained the intelligence he saw on the enemy's side. Overjoyed, Liu Ruming lavishly praised him, encouraging Gao Quan to continue making efforts and achieve new merits.

  Although the battlefield can be promoted, it cannot be too frequent. Gao Quan, this platoon leader, is already a breakthrough promotion. Can't he be promoted once per battle? If Gao Quan continues to make merits, won't he directly become a division commander or regiment commander after driving away the devils? Liu Ruming is still just a division commander, and it's better for him to slow down for now.

  At noon, the devil's plane came to bomb again. This time it wasn't just three or five planes in the morning, at noon the devils flew over thirty planes all at once, a dense black mass, like a flock of big crows, and it was extremely annoying to look at.

  The enemy planes lined up, dropping bombs one by one. Liu Ruming commanded decisively, and the soldiers flexibly transferred their positions. The Great Wall was still relatively solid and durable, and the enemy planes' repeated bombing did not cause any particularly serious damage to Luowenyu Pass.

  The only thing is that the devils have more planes, and naturally they also carry more bombs, so the bombing time is longer. Gaoquan looked at the devil's bombers in the sky, feeling suffocated and short of breath. Looking at the altitude at which the devil's plane was flying, it could be hit with a rifle, but since the shooting at the plane with a rifle that morning had no effect, Gaoquan didn't want to do such useless work again.

  Gao Quan was in a funk when Lian Zhang came to find him. It turned out that the machine gunner in their squad had been killed in the previous battle, and although others could make the machine gun work, they were not professional machine gunners after all.

  Gao Quan captured a heavy machine gun from the enemy in last night's battle, and at that time, this machine gun caused significant casualties to the enemy. However, now he is not just an ordinary soldier, but a platoon leader appointed by the division commander himself. The company commander wants him to change his role and temporarily act as a machine gunner, but he has to negotiate with him first. Fortunately, Platoon Leader Gao is very approachable and agreed to the company commander's unreasonable request, making the company commander overjoyed.

  He Guan held up the Type 96 light machine gun, immediately aiming at the enemy plane in the sky. At this time, there were no Chinese aircraft in the sky, and the enemy planes could fly freely, with bomber formations coming to carry out bombing missions, and escort fighters showing no signs of vigilance around them, also attacking ground targets together with bombers. The enemy bombers dropped bombs, while the fighter jets dived down to low altitude, using their machine guns to strafe the ground, treating our positions like meat on a chopping board.

  "Big pillar! Big pillar!" Gao Quan shouted loudly Wang Dazhu's name.

  "Here!" Wang Dazhu came running over.

  "Come over. Turn around. Hold onto the frame." Gao Quan put the machine gun behind Wang Dazhu's back, letting Wang Dazhu hold onto the two legs of the machine gun with both hands. Wang Dazhu was tall and strong, his arm strength beyond ordinary people, holding onto the machine gun frame could guarantee that it wouldn't shake too much. With this, the machine gun was now pointing straight at the sky, very similar to an anti-aircraft gun.

  "Paichang, are you going to shoot down an airplane?" Wang Dazhu was both shocked and delighted. He had never even heard of using a machine gun to shoot down an airplane before.

  "It wasn't me who hit, it was both of us who hit. Quick, come this way, stand still and don't move, grab tightly with both hands!" Another devil plane dived down, looking like a bomber. The devil plane wailed and roared, as if it was about to crash onto people's heads. You could even see the devil pilot's ferocious face in the cockpit.

  Gao Quan gripped the machine gun tightly, the muzzle moving with the plane as it moved. He looked to see if he was already within range. The enemy plane was still descending in altitude, its arrogant attitude on full display.

  If I don't give you a couple of heavy ones, you won't know that flying an airplane is a high-risk job! With a flick of his finger, the trigger was pulled!

  "Ta-da! Ta-da!"

  A string of bullets shot out of the gun, drawing an arc and floating towards the incoming enemy plane. The enemy pilot also discovered the danger at this moment, and hurriedly tried to pull up the plane, but it was too late. The wing of the enemy plane shook twice, and a string of machine gun bullets had an intimate contact with the plane.

  Gao Quan's eyes were wide with wonder, staring straight at the plane, watching as it was hit by a burst of gunfire. A cluster of black dots appeared on the plane's body, and several holes were blown out of the cockpit. A piece of the plane's fuselage broke off and flew away.

  The enemy plane neither dropped bombs nor pulled up, but maintained its original trajectory, getting closer and closer. Finally, the enemy bomber flew over with a gust of wind from above Gaoquan's head. A thousand meters away, there was a loud explosion, and a thick smoke rose. The enemy plane first crashed to the ground and then exploded violently! The enemy plane had been shot down by Gaoquan! The position erupted in cheers, and Wang Dazhu, usually taciturn and cool-headed, became excited with his face flushed red.

  This time it's considered to have passed through the beehive, and immediately several planes from the devils in the sky flew over to observe the situation. Gao Quan and Wang Dazhu held a machine gun, although the target was not big, but they couldn't withstand the pilots' good eyesight, and several angry eyes were all locked onto Gao Quan, the culprit.

  The bomber's body was too heavy, and the bombs it carried were not a good choice for dealing with individual soldiers. The devilish pilots on the fighter planes, relying on their lighter aircraft, decided to come out and teach these two ignorant little infantrymen a lesson. Two fighter planes formed a left-right pincer formation, roaring as they dived down.

  Gao Quan still held the machine gun, standing firmly on the spot without moving. Wang Dazhu's heart was tense, but Gao Quan didn't move, and he could also hold on without moving. In this northern Han man's heart, even if his life was gone, he couldn't let others say he was a coward!

  "Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

  Two enemy fighter planes, one on the left and one on the right, fired machine guns that shot bullets into two rows on the ground, kicking up two neat trails of smoke and dust, rapidly approaching Gao Quan and Wang Dazhu. Wang Dazhu's face turned pale, but he still stood upright, grasping the legs of the machine gun with both hands, trying to keep it stable, only, from the slight trembling of the machine gun, Gao Quan could still sense the fear in the big man's heart.

  "Take a step to the right!" Gao Quan said, quickly taking a step to the right while pulling the machine gun, indicating that Wang Dazhu should synchronize his actions. At this critical moment, Wang Dazhu naturally followed Gao Quan's orders and hastily took a step to the right, looking back and making some slight adjustments to ensure that his two feet were aligned with Gao Quan's in position.

  Wang Dazhu's small movement was seen by Gao Quan, who silently smiled and then froze his smile, his fingers lightly and firmly pulled the trigger.