The Mysterious Soldier of the Anti-Japanese War

Chapter 469: Mysterious Fighter Planes Cut Through the Bloody Sky

The air within the cave seemed frozen. Shen Xinghe and Lin Qiubai were both absorbed in the shocking scene. The shockwaves from the violent explosion caused the entire cave to tremble slightly. Lin Qiubai clutched the Zeiss binoculars tightly, the lens still clearly reflecting the pillar of fire rising five kilometers away. The Japanese air force base, so proud of itself, was now reduced to a sea of ​​fire, and the mysterious fighter plane finally disappeared into the clouds, as if it had never appeared.

After a long time, Shen Xinghe broke the silence, his voice trembling with excitement: "That is not our plane at all! It broke into the enemy's hinterland alone and shot down seven Zero fighters with just incredible flying maneuvers. What's more terrifying is the way it set fire to the airport, and the power of the bombs that can split into hundreds of small bombs to destroy anti-aircraft guns..." Before he finished speaking, a muffled thunder-like explosion suddenly came from outside the cave, as if to footnote his words.

Lin Qiubai lowered his telescope and gazed deeply at the valley outside the cave, illuminated by the firelight as bright as day. His eyes were filled with a complex expression, a mixture of wonder at the miraculous power of the mysterious fighter and deep worry and contemplation.

"This sudden force presents both an opportunity and a risk." Lin Qiubai lowered his voice, his eyes scanning the surroundings. "We must not let the enemy detect its presence—otherwise, the Japanese army will surely come out in full force to encircle and suppress it. The most urgent task is to send reliable personnel to infiltrate the scene, collect samples of the bomb debris, and at the same time spread false intelligence to confuse the public."

Shen Lin came to his senses, quickly picked up a pen, and wrote the urgent report on the telegram: "Urgent report: A mysterious fighter plane, never seen before, has been spotted over a Japanese air base five kilometers away. In a fierce battle, this fighter plane, outnumbered alone, shot down several Japanese Zero fighters and caused a fuel explosion at the base, destroying dozens of fighter planes within. This battle is a great victory! Furthermore, the fighter plane's maneuverability is beyond imagination, and the weapons and technology it employs far exceed current understanding, unmatched by our military or existing Western equipment. This urgent report is hereby issued, and we ask that you quickly investigate the origin and subsequent movements of this fighter plane. Shen Lin. Date: November 1938..."

After drafting the message, Lin Qiubai carefully handed it to the operator beside him. The operator took the note and quickly typed the message into the transmitter. The sound of Morse code echoed in the cave, and the rapid radio waves quickly traveled toward the distant Military Control Station. Shen Lin stood there, looking in the direction where the mysterious fighter plane disappeared, his heart filled with anticipation and curiosity.

At that moment, inside the Military Control Station, the station chief sat at his desk, brow furrowed. The recent stalemate in the war had left him feeling unprecedented pressure. But just then, the rapid and distinctive sound of Morse code shattered the tranquility of the station.

The operator quickly received the code and translated it into text, then handed the message to the stationmaster with trembling hands. The stationmaster looked at the message, his eyes gradually widening, and the expression on his face changed from initial surprise to shock, and finally to an uncontrollable excitement.

"This...how is this possible? If it's true, then this power will be the key to our turning the tide of the battle." The stationmaster muttered to himself.

The stationmaster grabbed the phone on his desk. A shrill murmur filled the receiver. "Connect immediately to Chongqing Headquarters, using the highest-security line!" He paced before the battle map, his nails practically digging into his palms. Half an hour earlier, the Japanese had been frantically bombing our defenses, yet now their elite air base had been destroyed by an unidentified fighter jet. This completely overturned our understanding of the current situation.

The radio suddenly began to tick rapidly again. A new message indicated that the Japanese had dispatched three regiments to converge on the base, frantically sweeping suspicious areas along the way. Lin Qiubai's subsequent report confirmed that scouts had discovered unusual metal fragments within the wreckage of the crashed Zero—a surface with a mother-of-pearl sheen, yet several times harder than alloy steel.

Late at night in the Chongqing official residence, the chandelier cast a dim glow across the conference table. The chief of staff snatched up the telegram and slammed it down, leaving long creases on the mahogany tabletop. "The Americans say they didn't send any new fighter jets. The Soviets simply severed the communication lines!" A vein bulged in his forehead. "If it wasn't friendly forces, could it be..." Before he could finish his words, Chiang Kai-shek suddenly raised his hand to stop him, his bony fingers unconsciously tapping the tabletop with a rhythmic clacking sound.

Outside, a torrential downpour streamed down the glazed tiles. Chiang Kai-shek's gaze was fixed on the world map on the wall, his gaze pausing slightly as it passed the coordinates of Shanghai. The image of Lei Tao, the "ghost assassin," destroying the Japanese headquarters in Shanghai with mysterious artillery fire a few months earlier suddenly flashed through his mind. The metal fragments left at the scene brought back by the Military Intelligence Bureau agents had a similar mother-of-pearl luster to the wreckage samples brought back by the reconnaissance troops.

"No matter who they are, they must be used by me," Chiang Kai-shek suddenly said, his tone as cold as ice. He grabbed a red pencil and fiercely circled the southwest of Shanxi. "Tell Wei Tianhuang's Tianhu Ben Army to launch a feint attack on Wenxi County at six o'clock tomorrow morning." Chiang Kai-shek's red pencil poked holes in the map. "Have Dai Li spread the word that the Soviet Union provided the incendiary bombs and the United States provided the aircraft." He paused, then added, "Check Lei Tao's recent whereabouts. I want to see him alive or dead."

At the same time, at the Japanese North China Command, the Lieutenant General Commander threw the burning telegram into the brazier, and the flames reflected his distorted face: "Baga! Another mysterious fighter! Immediately launch the "Goshawk Plan", even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, we must find the wreckage of that fighter!" Outside the window, searchlights cut through the night sky, and hundreds of military vehicles roared their engines, carrying the new "Freya" air defense detection radar secretly imported from Germany, rushing towards the direction where the mysterious fighter disappeared.