The Mysterious Soldier of the Anti-Japanese War

Chapter 472: Umezu's Nightmare: Two Airports Reduced to Ashes in One Night

Inside the Zhengtai Railway Administration Office Building in Shijiazhuang, the crystal chandelier trembled violently from the explosion at the airport. Umezu Yoshijiro, commander of the First Army of the Japanese North China Front, angrily threw a ceramic teacup against the wall, sending shards flying, covering the coordinates of the destroyed air base on the battle map.

"Damn it! The Empire's air force base has suffered a second serious blow. This is such a shame!" Umezu Mijiro's roar made everyone's eardrums hurt.

Chief of Staff Kobayashi Asazaburo picked up the charred fragments of the deciphered telegram, adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, and said, "Sir, the enemy aircraft's flight path is heading directly towards Tangshan. The anti-aircraft artillery cluster at Xiaoguanzhuang Airport has been deployed. Of the twenty-four Zero fighters, eighteen are deployed in three groups for air patrol, while six are on the ground refueling and loading ammunition."

Umezu Mijiro's boots rolled over the documents and he shouted sharply, "All searchlights on! Fighter jets take off, engage the enemy aircraft, and ground formations immediately heat up and standby! Send power to Xinjing, and the Snowy Owl Project must be accelerated!"

At that moment, in the night sky over North China, F-35B radar alarms flashed. Lei Tao stared intently at the searchlights surging across the skyline, searching for him like a pale python. A radar scan revealed the Japanese defensive deployment: in addition to the fighter planes and anti-aircraft gun clusters, mobile anti-aircraft positions, disguised under residential buildings, loomed. On the tarmac, six Zero fighters, flanked by ground crews, were urgently preparing.

Lei Tao's knuckles turned white from the exertion as he slammed the launch button. The Mk.84 electromagnetic bomb launched with a shrieking, air-tearing sound. The energy coils wrapped around its surface arced with a faint blue arc, and its tail flame, like burning liquid mercury, trailed an eerie silver-purple trail across the night sky. As the bomb passed a thousand meters above the searchlight position, the shell of the bomb exploded, releasing a high-energy electron beam. These electrons, accelerated by an electron accelerator, reached energies ranging from hundreds of keV to several MeV, generating a powerful electromagnetic pulse. Instantly, the compression generator unleashed a pulse of energy powerful enough to warp space, creating a visible silver ripple spreading out in an umbrella-like pattern centered on the bomb. Searchlights within a three-kilometer radius suddenly erupted in blinding white light, their glass covers shattered by the electromagnetic force. Tungsten filaments twisted into a knot, and the transformer core instantly heated to melting point, sending scalding molten iron snaking along the concrete base of the anti-aircraft position. The radar antenna spun madly and self-destructed, sparks erupted from the communication base station's display screen, and the entire air defense network was completely paralyzed in 0.3 seconds. Lei Tao saw through his thermal imager that the once bright position was like a candle flame snuffed out by an invisible giant hand, leaving only the cooling metal wreckage emitting a dark red warmth in the darkness.

"The interference was successful! The anti-aircraft guns lost their lighting assistance!" The holographic projection of the shadowy girl flickered in the shaking cockpit.

Lei Tao flew his fighter plane low to the ground, his engine's exhaust flattening the wheat field. He keenly detected the movement of the anti-aircraft defenses disguised as barns and, with a sneer, activated his electronic jammer. A specially designed jamming wave seeped into the anti-aircraft gun's mechanical transmission, jamming the gears and causing the barrel to vibrate in vain. The anti-aircraft shells lost their accuracy and shot randomly into the night sky.

Suddenly, the armored train's massive artillery roared. The gunners frantically tinkered with the dials of this manually calculated artillery piece. The first shell grazed the belly of the aircraft, the blast whipping the vertical tail off, and the alarms on the instrument panel blared.

"We must destroy the train first!" Lei Tao yanked the joystick, sending the fighter plane into a half-roll and dive, AGM-158 missiles roaring out. Just as the missiles were about to hit, eight rotating anti-aircraft bomb launchers popped up from the top of the armored train, spraying out special anti-aircraft shells like a honeycomb, forming a dense steel barrage in the air.

Lei Tao, relying on his superb flying skills and the superior performance of his fighter, deftly navigated the barrage of bullets. Despite dodging most of the explosions, a piece of shrapnel grazed his wing with a sharp sound. With a sharp gaze, he pressed the fire button again. The new air-to-ground missile emerged like a silver snake, its millimeter-wave radar precisely locking onto the gun base. It exploded five meters from the target. Tungsten alloy fragments shredded the thick armor, bending the massive gun barrel, and burning hydraulic fluid flowed along the rails.

"The electromagnetic tower has lost its fire support!" Lei Tao flipped his fighter, its wings tracing a dark blue energy trail. Meanwhile, three patrol formations of Zero fighters had detected the unusual movement. The roar of their engines ripped through the night sky as they formed a triangular formation to encircle the F-35B. The Zero's 7.7mm machine guns opened fire first, their tracer bullets swooping down on the F-35B like red poisonous dragons.

Lei Tao immediately activated his electronic warfare system. The F-35B's directed electromagnetic pulse instantly disabled the Zero's fire control system, disrupting its trajectory calculations. Simultaneously, the fighter jet, using its exceptional maneuverability, rapidly ascended, using the clouds for cover. The Zero's pilot, desperate to close in on his target, rashly unleashed his Type 97 aircraft machine gun. Seizing the opportunity, Lei Tao suddenly dived, unleashing an AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missile from under its wing. Using its active radar guidance, the missile accurately struck a Zero fighter. A fiery explosion sent a fireball through the air, and the flaming wreckage plummeted down, trailing a trail of black smoke.

The remaining Zero fighters, leveraging their agile maneuvers, attempted to close in and engage in a dogfight. The F-35B activated its vectoring engine, performing a super-maneuverable flip at an incredible angle, instantly taking a favorable position behind the Zero fighters. Lei Tao pressed the cannon fire button, and the 25mm cannon unleashed a barrage of fire, a torrential downpour that directly shattered the wing of a Zero fighter, sending it plummeting out of control.

Seeing this, the last group of Zero fighters attempted to disrupt the attack by firing Type 97 aircraft machine gun rounds and distance themselves. Lei Tao then launched two more AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles. Using infrared guidance, the missiles, seizing the intense heat radiated by the Zero fighters' engines, struck both fighters in quick succession. Amidst the violent explosions, fragments of the Zero fighters streaked across the North China sky like meteors.

Supplementary process of shooting down Zero fighters:

Under Lei Tao's precise control, the F-35B's electronic warfare system continuously suppressed the Zero fighter's fire control system, preventing it from effectively locking onto its target. Utilizing his fighter's stealth and superior maneuverability, Lei Tao shot down the remaining Zero fighters one by one. He first used the active radar guidance of his AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missile to shoot down three Zero fighters attempting to attack from a distance. Then, utilizing the F-35B's vectoring engine, he performed difficult maneuvers to evade the Zero fighters' close-range attacks and downed five more with AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles. In the final dogfight, Lei Tao, leveraging the high rate of fire and accuracy of his 25mm cannon, shot down the remaining five Zero fighters. Ultimately, all eighteen Zero fighters were shot down by Lei Tao, completely annihilating the patrolling Zero fighters.

After dealing with the aerial threat, Lei Tao looked down at the chaotic airfield. The patrolling Zero fighters had been completely destroyed, leaving the six Zero fighters on the ground refueling and loading bombs completely defenseless.

"Bomb!" The bomb bay opened, and four thermobaric bombs plummeted to the ground. The first struck the oil depot, sending a mushroom cloud soaring into the sky and the overpressure shockwave reducing the surrounding Japanese troops to pulp. The second ripped through the command tower, its steel frames flaming and collapsing. The third exploded on the tarmac, instantly engulfing six Zeros in flames. The final one penetrated the underground ammunition depot, its muffled explosion cracking the airfield ground. The sound of ripping metal and the clatter of detonating ammunition echoed through the night sky.

In a confidential meeting room in the basement of Huangshan's official residence in Chongqing, cigar smoke condensed into a gray-blue haze under the tungsten lamplight. Military Intelligence Bureau station chief Dai Li placed the deciphered telegram pages on a sandalwood table. The charred edges of the rice paper still carried the scent of gunpowder from North China. "Commissioner, the Japanese airfield in Shijiazhuang was bombed and rebuilt just two days ago, only to be attacked by mysterious fighter planes!" His gold-rimmed glasses flashed a cold light. "According to the intercepted Japanese secret message, Umezu Yoshijiro was so angry that he overturned the battle map."

Chiang Kai-shek's pen dotted ink across the military report, the brass buttons on his Mao suit rising and falling slightly with his breathing. "Have you found out where this fighter plane came from? American? Soviet?" He spun in his American-style swivel chair. Behind him, on the massive "China Theater Situation Map," the red and blue markings for North China interlaced.

"We can't find the exact source yet." Dai Li pulled out a photo from a leather file bag. On the blurry film, a silver fighter plane, trailing flames, flew over the burning Japanese airfield. "But we can confirm that this plane's speed and maneuverability far exceed the Zero, and it's equipped with unprecedented attack methods." He lowered his voice. "The Japanese army called it a 'ghost fighter', and the North China Front even began to spread panic rumors of 'divine punishment'..."

His words were interrupted by the sudden ringing of the phone.

Dai Li picked up the receiver, and a hurried whisper echoed through it. His expression grew grim, and as he put the phone down, his Adam's apple rolled. "I've just received a secret message about a potential special situation. The Japanese airfield at Xiaoguanzhuang, Tangshan, has just been attacked and bombed by mysterious fighter planes that broke through the anti-aircraft artillery fire! The fuel depot is ablaze, half of the twenty-four Zero fighters are destroyed, and even the train cannon has been blown up."

Chiang Kai-shek drummed his fingers heavily on the table. "Draft a telegram! Instruct the commanders of the First and Second War Zones to immediately prepare their anti-aircraft firepower and make sure to find out the identity of the mysterious fighter plane!" He suddenly turned and stared at the operations staff. "Oh, and send a letter to the Aviation Commission. Anyone who can confirm the downing of three or more Japanese fighter planes will be promoted to Air Force Major. If they can confirm the destruction of two enemy airfields..." His Adam's apple moved slightly, and his pen made a sharp fold on the commendation order. "Promote them directly to Major General. Say this is the 'Flying Tiger Special Promotion Order' approved by the Commission personally!"