Chapter 202: What? You Shot Down the Enemy's Planes?

In the valley, the last rays of sunlight spilled onto the steel helmets of the Long Country army, shimmering with a metallic luster.

Li Yunlong stood on a small hill, watching a unit slowly advancing in the distance.

"Whose people are those?" Li Yunlong squinted his eyes and asked.

Zhao Gang raised his binoculars and watched for a moment: "Sun Country troops. It looks like they've retreated from the front line; their equipment is severely damaged, and the men are in disarray."

Li Yunlong smacked his lips: "This is the unit we're supposed to merge with? A bunch of defeated soldiers?"

"Lao Li," Zhao Gang reminded him, "they are regular troops after all, don't say that. Our superiors ordered us to rendezvous with the Sun Country unit here to jointly build a defensive line; you mustn't give them a hard time."

Li Yunlong gave a disdainful snort, but still took the binoculars and began to observe carefully.

The Sun Country unit moved slowly, the ranks were scattered, and from time to time, the groans of wounded soldiers could be heard.

The most obvious thing was that dispirited aura; one could almost smell the scent of defeat in the air.

"Tell the brothers to prepare to receive them," Li Yunlong put away the binoculars, "show them the bearing of our Long Country soldiers."

Half an hour later, the two units officially rendezvoused.

The commander of the Sun Country army was a Lieutenant Colonel named Jin Zhengzhe, about forty years old, with deep-set eyes and a face full of fatigue; he looked as if he hadn't slept properly for at least a week.

"Comrade Li Yunlong," Jin Zhengzhe said in somewhat stiff Chinese, saluting Li Yunlong, "thank you for the assistance of the Long Country army. My unit has held our position for three weeks and suffered heavy losses."

Li Yunlong returned the salute, looking the Sun Country officer up and down: "Lieutenant Colonel Jin, judging by your state, did you run into some tough opponents?"

A shadow flashed in Jin Zhengzhe's eyes: "The enemy's firepower... is too powerful. Their planes bomb us day and night, and we can barely catch our breath."

The two commanders then headed to a temporary command post to conduct a more detailed exchange.

The command post was set up in a mountain cave, crude but safe, and most importantly, capable of avoiding the enemy's aerial reconnaissance.

Inside the cave, a map was spread out on a simple wooden table; Jin Zhengzhe's finger traced across the map, his voice low:

"The enemy has deployed three mechanized divisions in this area, equipped with extremely sophisticated gear. They have M46 'Patton' tanks, each equipped with a 90mm high-velocity gun, which can easily pierce all our armored vehicles. Their infantry carries M1 Garand semi-automatic rifles and M3 Submachine Guns; their firepower far exceeds our old-fashioned weapons."

Li Yunlong nodded, signaling for him to continue.

"The most terrifying thing is their fire support," Jin Zhengzhe's tone became even heavier, "155mm M114 howitzers with a range exceeding 14 kilometers; we have no way to counterattack. There is also the M2 Heavy Machine Gun, which can fire 500 bullets per minute, providing an extremely wide range of fire coverage."

Jin Zhengzhe took a deep breath and continued: "But these are not the most lethal. The most terrifying thing is the enemy's air power. F-86 'Sabre' fighters, with speeds approaching the speed of sound, six 12.7mm machine guns, and the ability to carry Rocket Shells and bombs. The B-29 'Superfortress' Bomber can carry 9 tons of bombs; our positions are as good as non-existent before it."

Speaking of this, Jin Zhengzhe's voice trembled slightly:

"And those tanks and infantry equipped with flamethrowers—they burned down our villages and burned our soldiers to death... we simply cannot resist."

Li Yunlong listened, the expression on his face becoming increasingly strange.

The enemy force described by this Sun Country officer sounded like an invincible army.

"The enemy air force is indeed quite frightening," Li Yunlong said thoughtfully, "but it's not that scary. We shot down one of their flight squadrons yesterday—twenty-three 'Sabres'—and only let one escape back to report the news."

The conference room went quiet instantly.

Jin Zhengzhe and his several officers looked at each other, their faces filled with disbelief.

"You... what did you say?" Jin Zhengzhe asked stammeringly, "Shot down... twenty-three F-86s?"

Li Yunlong nodded nonchalantly: "That's right, and that's not counting the reconnaissance planes. The enemy has sent a few more reconnaissance planes over the last two days, and they were all shot down by us as well."

Jin Zhengzhe's mouth opened wide enough to fit an egg.

The officers behind him whispered to each other, clearly shocked and skeptical of this news.

"This... how is this possible?" Jin Zhengzhe finally found his voice,

"The F-86 is one of the most advanced fighters in the world; its flight altitude and speed far exceed our anti-aircraft capabilities. What did you use to shoot them down?"

Li Yunlong grinned, a proud light flashing in his eyes: "We have our own secret weapon. Come, let's show Lieutenant Colonel Jin our 'Flying Dragon-1'."

He signaled to the Communication Soldier beside him, who immediately went out and returned a moment later with a soldier carrying a cylindrical object.

"This is the 'Flying Dragon-1' man-portable anti-aircraft rocket," Li Yunlong patted the rocket launcher, "an ordinary soldier can operate it after simple training. It has an effective range of 4,000 meters and can easily shoot down various enemy aircraft, including the 'Sabre' fighter."

Jin Zhengzhe approached cautiously, as if nearing some mysterious holy relic.

He touched the rocket launcher lightly with his hand, his eyes filled with doubt and wonder.

"This... how is this done? How can it hit such a fast plane?"

Li Yunlong smiled mysteriously: "This is the latest technological achievement of our Long Country. I can't explain the detailed principles, I only know it can 'lock onto' the heat source of a plane, and no matter how the plane flies, it can chase it down. Yesterday, a new recruit used it for the first time, and with one shot, he blew a 'Sabre' to pieces."

Jin Zhengzhe's jaw dropped again.

He looked back at his officers; their faces were filled with shock and... a glimmer of hope.

A young Sun Country officer gathered the courage to ask: "Then... what about the enemy's B-29 bombers? They fly even higher; our anti-aircraft guns can't reach them at all."

"B-29? That thing flies slowly and is large in size; for the 'Flying Dragon-1', it's practically a sitting duck," Li Yunlong said dismissively,

"And there's our 'Tianluo System', that's the real deal. It can form a 'death zone' in the sky; any plane that enters it will be turned into fragments."

The Sun Country officers fell into silence, their eyes a mixture of disbelief, skepticism, and longing. These words sounded too good to be true, almost like a fairy tale.

But the confident expressions of Li Yunlong and his officers made one have to believe.

Jin Zhengzhe's chest heaved violently, as if he were struggling to control his emotions: "General... General Li, if what you say is true, then... then we have hope."

"Of course it's true," Li Yunlong patted Jin Zhengzhe on the shoulder, "come, let's discuss the upcoming deployment. With the weapon support of our Long Country, the enemy's air superiority will be wiped out; the scales of this war have already begun to tip."

……