binnovel Chapter 1081 Pyrrhic Victory
Chapter 1081 Pyrrhic Victory
The second squadron leader of the escort flight formation, Dongdong Liang, shouted into the radio: "Brothers, the Japanese are done for! Hold on, hold on! Holding on is victory! Kill!"
On the Japanese side, the squad leader was also hysterically shouting to the other three pilots on the communication channel: "Imperial warriors, the Chinese are about to run out of fuel. Keep engaging them! They won't last long. As long as we hold on, victory will belong to the Empire!"
The two sides continued their fierce battle in the sky. Two minutes later, a P47N fighter jet was riddled with bullet holes in its fuselage by a long string of bullets. Even one of the fuel tanks on the left wing was hit twice, causing fuel to leak out instantly. However, the P47N's fuel tanks had a self-sealing function. As soon as a fuel tank was hit, it could seal itself instantly, and the fuel would be transferred to other fuel tanks.
The P47N fighter jet was already riddled with bullet holes and leaking air everywhere. With this latest attack, it was now riddled with bullets, but it was still able to fly and fight.
Just then, the Japanese Zero fighter that had just hit a P47N was also targeted by another P47N. A burst of bullets hit the fuel tank, which instantly sprayed out a large amount of fuel, caught fire after a flash of sparks, and billowed thick smoke. The fighter began to veer and look like it could fall at any moment.
"Baka, baka yarou!" The Japanese Zero fighter pilot, who had been hit, turned his head and saw his plane on fire and smoking. Knowing that he was not going to return, he did not parachute. Instead, he pulled the control stick and turned around to rush towards the P47N fighter behind him, as if he was determined to perish together with the other side.
His opponent was not necessarily the same; he directly flew his fighter plane to meet him head-on, the machine gun under the nose firing continuously, firing a series of bullets. The two sides exchanged ammunition back and forth, but the Zero fighter suddenly ran out of ammunition, and both the cannon and the machine gun fell silent.
With a deafening roar, the Zero fighter, which had been emitting smoke, was suddenly blown up, exploding in mid-air and sending up a huge burst of fire. The debris from the explosion scattered all over the ground.
The Japanese fighter planes originally had only 4 left, but now one has been shot down, leaving only 3. Apart from the Japanese squad leader, the pilots on the other two planes were terrified, their morale was even lower, and their fighting spirit plummeted.
Seeing that things weren't going well, the Japanese squad leader immediately ordered over the communications channel: "Everyone, listen up! Cooperate with me and keep an eye on that Chinese fighter plane riddled with bullet holes. Ignore the other Chinese fighter planes. Plane number 4, flank it from the left. Plane number 8, flank it from the right. Don't let it get away easily!"
"Hayi"
Upon seeing that the remaining three Japanese fighters were chasing and attacking their own No. 7 aircraft, the escort squadron leader, Dong Dongliang, immediately shouted: "No. 7, climb and accelerate to break away! No. 5, attack the left! No. 9, attack the right! The rest of you, keep a close watch on the Japanese lead aircraft and blow it up!"
Thus, the aerial battlefield situation changed from encirclement and pursuit to counter-encirclement and counter-pursuit. A series of bullets wove a net in the air. Some fighter jets passed through the net of fire, while others crashed into it, their fuselages being pierced.
"Seven, climb quickly, reach the maximum ceiling!"
By this time, Unit 7 was riddled with bullet holes, with no intact fuselage, yet it was still desperately climbing.
"Da da, da da da—"
At that moment, the P47N fighter jet suddenly stopped, its ascending fuselage halted, and it plummeted downwards.
"Number 7, Number 7, what's going on? Answer me, what's going on?" Two anxious voices came through the communication channel.
"Pfft—" Pilot No. 7 coughed up a mouthful of blood on the other end of the communication channel, his weak voice reaching the other fighter jets: "Captain, brothers, I've been hit, I'm not going back, kill more Japanese devils for me!"
"Brothers, let's... be brothers again in the next life..."
"Whoosh—" The falling fighter jet emitted a muffled whistle and plunged headfirst into the sea. With a loud "boom," the fighter jet exploded in the sea.
"Holy shit—" Dongdong Liang roared, disregarding his own safety, and chased after the Japanese captain's fighter jet at top speed, firing continuously, bullets pouring out like they were free.
"Da da da, da da da"
With a deafening roar, the Japanese squad leader's fighter jet was hit repeatedly, its fuel tank emitting thick smoke. The squad leader himself was also torn apart by a burst of bullets, and the unmanned jet plunged into the sea, exploding violently.
The pilots of the two remaining Japanese fighter planes were already demoralized. When they saw that their company commander had been blown up, their morale plummeted. They only wanted to escape the battlefield as quickly as possible and get rid of the pursuit. So the two Zero fighter planes quickly separated to the left and right and sped away.
"Stop chasing! We're running out of fuel. If we keep chasing, we'll never get back. Listen to my order, return to base immediately!" Dongdong gave the order to the pilots of the other three fighter jets.
The pilot of aircraft number 8 asked in the communications channel, "Squad leader, what should we do with the pilot who parachuted into the water?"
Dongdong said, "I will send their current location back, hoping the base will send a ship to rescue them!"
"In addition, I will inform the next group of aircraft to search for their location in this area and report their coordinates to the base at any time."
The Air Force Command duty room quickly received a report from Dongdongliang and learned the details of the situation.
Just a few minutes later, the phone rang in Zhang Yunhe's office.
"Sir, this is the situation. The three parachuting pilots are currently submerged in the sea. Without a boat to rescue them, their chances of survival are extremely slim. Hypothermia will cause them to cramp and become unable to swim, and they are also vulnerable to sharks in the sea."
After listening to the report on the other end of the phone, Zhang Yunhe asked, "Where is the next escort fleet located now, and how long until they reach that sea area?"
The officer on duty at headquarters said over the phone, "They are currently about a 25-minute flight from that area of water!"
"Is this flight formation only composed of P-47N fighters?"
"Yes!"
Zhang Yunhe then asked, "Where is the ocean-going fleet now? How far is it from that area? Can we contact them and ask them to send a ship back to search for the three pilots?"
"Sir, that sea area is only about 300 kilometers away from Kaohsiung Port, while the fleet on its voyage is about 230 kilometers away. If we send a ship to turn back, it will probably take nearly 6 hours. Even if we do go, we are likely to encounter the Japanese fleet!"
After a moment's thought, Zhang Yunhe issued the order: "Immediately take off a B-29 with enough food, fresh water, and life-saving equipment to search for them. Once the location is confirmed and the people are found, immediately airdrop the supplies. At least make sure they can get on a lifeboat and have the ability to defend themselves. Give them plenty of warm clothing and a compass to help them find their way!"
"Yes, sir!"