Chapter 242: I Can No Longer Return to Base

Five chapters offered every day; please give me some encouragement, click to urge for updates, and if a big boss gives a big tip, I will crawl out of bed to write more.

This chapter is a tribute; the names use homophones.

……

Whenever they tried to break through in a certain direction, three or four enemy planes would intercept them, while the rest took the opportunity to attack their flanks and tail.

This tactical coordination indicated that the enemy pilots had undergone specialized training specifically to deal with the higher-performance J-6.

"Captain, I only have enough fuel to fly for another ten minutes; we must break out immediately!" Xiao Zhang shouted anxiously.

Wang Wei gritted his teeth and made a difficult decision: "Listen, I will draw their fire; you two seize the chance to break out to the southeast and go back to report the situation!"

"No! Captain, we cannot leave you behind!" Lao Li firmly objected.

"Execute the order!" Wang Wei barked sternly, "The front line needs you, Long Country needs you! I can handle this myself!"

Without waiting for them to say anything more, Wang Wei slammed the throttle forward, and the J-6, like an arrow released from a bow, charged straight into the densest part of the enemy formation.

"Come on, you sons of bitches, come at me!" he roared, his 30mm cannon spitting tongues of fire, carving a bloody path through the enemy formation.

Two F-86s were riddled with holes, trailing black smoke as they plummeted toward the ground.

The group of enemy planes, like provoked hornets, turned in succession to pursue this daring Long Country pilot.

Wang Wei's movements were fluid and natural; under his control, the J-6 seemed to have a life of its own, darting left and right, turning sharply and diving, tracing a series of dazzling trajectories.

"Go! Now!" he shouted to his two teammates.

Xiao Zhang and Lao Li fought back tears, seized the gap that appeared in the enemy formation, and broke out toward the southeast at full speed.

A few F-86s tried to pursue, but were frantically intercepted by Wang Wei; his 30mm cannon shells poured down like a rainstorm, forcing them to abandon the chase.

"Thank you, Captain! We will definitely come back to save you!" Xiao Zhang said, choking up, his voice trembling over the radio.

"Stop the chatter, go!" Wang Wei gritted his teeth; the J-6, like a swimming dragon amidst the enemy encirclement, narrowly avoided attack after attack.

The two J-6s finally broke through the encirclement and disappeared into the distant clouds.

Wang Wei, however, was left alone to face the siege of at least ten enemy planes.

"Come on, let's see who falls first!" Wang Wei sneered, pulling the nose up sharply; the J-6 climbed almost vertically, instantly breaking through an altitude of 14,000 meters.

This altitude was already approaching the limit for the F-86; a few enemy planes tried to follow but lacked the power due to the thin high-altitude air, and had to give up the pursuit.

Wang Wei seized the opportunity, diving from high altitude like a Falcon, precisely locking onto an enemy plane; he fired a burst from his cannon, and the enemy plane's right wing was instantly shredded, causing it to lose balance and spiral toward the ground.

"Damn it, watch me blow you all to hell!" Wang Wei shouted, feeling an unprecedented fighting spirit filling his entire body.

But there were simply too many enemy planes, and they were well-commanded.

That F-86 with the shark-mouth pattern was clearly the commander, constantly adjusting tactics to force Wang Wei to consume ammunition and fuel.

"How many Bullet left..." Wang Wei asked himself through gritted teeth, glancing at the ammunition counter, his heart sinking.

There were less than fifty rounds left for the cannon, while there were at least eight enemy planes remaining.

"Damn it, time to go all out!" He slammed the nose down, and the J-6 dove like a Meteor straight at the F-86 with the shark mouth.

The enemy commander clearly did not expect him to be so bold and hurriedly pulled up to evade, but it was too late.

Wang Wei's 30mm cannon accurately hit the enemy cockpit; the enemy plane immediately began to smoke, lost control, and fell straight toward the ground.

"Haha, go to hell!" Wang Wei laughed wildly, but before the laughter could fade, an alarm sounded urgently inside the cockpit.

"Damn it!" He turned his head to look; two F-86s were closing in from the rear flank, their cannon fire flashing.

Wang Wei banked hard, the J-6 flying almost sideways, barely avoiding the enemy fire.

But just as he prepared to counterattack, the ammunition counter clicked to zero.

"Out of ammo..." Wang Wei's heart sank; he knew the situation was critical.

But he did not give up, instead continuing to pilot the J-6 through various high-difficulty maneuvers to force the enemy planes to waste ammunition.

Whenever the enemy attacked, he could always avoid it at the last possible second, then seize the chance to close in, forcing the enemy to turn urgently to evade, thereby disrupting their formation.

This was a contest of endurance and skill; relying on his superior piloting technique and the performance advantages of the J-6, Wang Wei managed to hold his own against multiple enemy planes even after running out of ammunition.

"What a tough nut to crack..." the enemy squadron leader, Lieutenant Colonel Thompson, gritted his teeth; this Long Country pilot's skill left him shocked.

"Attention all, shoot him down at all costs! Repeat, at all costs!" Thompson issued the final order.

Several F-86s opened fire simultaneously, the Bullet forming a dense web of fire in the air, forcing Wang Wei to constantly change his flight path.

No matter how superb his technique was, it was difficult to escape unscathed in the face of such dense firepower.

A string of Bullet grazed the left wing of the J-6, punching several holes, but the airframe structure remained intact, and it could still maintain flight.

"Heh heh, can't hit me, can you?" Wang Wei sneered, slamming the J-6 into a dazzling barrel roll, passing through the enemy's web of fire.

But just then, an F-86 suddenly made an incredible move.

The pilot of this enemy plane seemed inspired by the order to fight to the death, recklessly accelerating toward the J-6 and slamming its fuselage directly into the tail of the J-6!

"Boom!"

Amidst the sound of the massive impact, Wang Wei felt the entire cockpit vibrate violently; the alarm sounded sharp and shrill, and the various gauges jumped wildly.

"Damn it!" he cursed, struggling desperately to control the plane.

Through the rearview mirror, he saw the F-86 had disintegrated, turning into a fireball as it fell to the ground.

But the J-6's tail wing had also been severely damaged in the collision; the left vertical stabilizer was almost completely severed, held together only by a few metal struts.

"Can it still fly..." Wang Wei gripped the control stick tightly, feeling the plane's response.

The J-6 jolted violently, the fuselage constantly veering to the left, making it almost impossible to maintain level flight.

The oil pressure gauge needle dropped rapidly, indicating that the hydraulic system might have been severely damaged.

The onboard alarm system warned of danger with a harsh sound.

Wang Wei gritted his teeth, beads of sweat seeping from his forehead. He knew that this J-6 could no longer return to base.

Ahead, the remaining F-86s were still in pursuit; although they hesitated slightly due to the sacrifice of their comrade, they soon organized an attack formation again.

"Fuel at 17%... barely enough to fly near the front-line position." Wang Wei calculated quickly, "But in this current state of control, there is no way to land safely..."

He took a deep breath and made his decision.

"Command, this is Eagle One. My aircraft has sustained heavy damage and cannot return to base." His voice was unusually calm.

"What? Wang Wei, abandon the aircraft and eject immediately! Repeat, eject immediately!" An anxious order came from Command.

Wang Wei smiled: "It's too late, the enemy planes are right behind me. If I eject, I'll be shot like a sitting duck."

He looked around and saw his teammates in the distance had already safely cleared the combat zone and were flying back.

Yet behind him, at least six F-86s were still in hot pursuit.

"At least the mission was accomplished..." He muttered to himself, a look of relief curling the corners of his mouth.

Over the radio, he said in a trembling yet firm voice: "Please tell my parents I did not fail their expectations. Tell my wife, I'm sorry I can't be there to see our child born... If it's a boy, name him Wang Bayi; make him remember that his father fought for the Long Country!"

There was Silence in Command, followed by an outburst of sobbing.

"Wang Wei, you listen to me!" Li Yunlong's voice was filled with rage and grief, "I order you to come back alive! That is a military order!"

Wang Wei gave a bitter smile: "Chief, I cannot comply... I really can't go back this time."

He glanced at the fuel gauge; the needle was already nearing the red line: "The remaining fuel is enough for me to take out a few more enemies."

Inside the Frontline Command, everyone fell silent.

Li Yunlong smashed the telephone on the desk and pounded his fist against the wall, leaving bloodstains. Zhao Gang's eyes grew moist as he silently turned away.

Li Mingyuan stood in the corner, his fists clenched tight, his nails digging deep into his flesh. His voice was hoarse beyond recognition: "Wang Wei, come back... I beg you, come back..."

On the other end of the radio, there was only the sound of Wang Wei's calm breathing and the roar of the aircraft engine.

"Do me one more favor," Wang Wei's voice suddenly grew light, "tell my wife, if it's a girl... name her Wang Xia. Xia... as beautiful as the sunset glow I see right now..."

He looked through the cockpit at the distant sky, which had been dyed a brilliant orange-red by the setting sun.

"So beautiful..." he whispered, then slammed the throttle forward, turned the nose of the plane, and faced the pursuing enemy aircraft head-on.

"Wang Wei! No!" Everyone in Command shouted, but all they got in return was a resolute sneer over the radio.

"The Dragon Country Air Force never retreats!"

The J-6 let out a painful roar as, under Wang Wei's control, it forcibly accelerated and charged straight into the enemy formation.

The enemy pilot clearly had not expected this Dragon Country pilot to be so resolute; he panicked for a moment and scrambled to evade.

Wang Wei locked onto the F-86 that appeared to be the new commander, a resolute light flashing in his eyes.

"Son of a bitch, go to hell!" He roared, piloting the battered J-6 like an arrow released from a bow, piercing straight toward the enemy plane.

The enemy commander tried his best to evade, but it was already too late.

The moment the J-6 collided with the F-86, Wang Wei closed his eyes, his wife's smiling face appearing in his mind.

"Boom!"

A massive explosion bloomed in the high altitude, a dazzling fireball illuminating half the sky.

The two aircraft disintegrated in the violent impact, turning into a mass of fire and smoke that slowly plummeted toward the earth.

Inside the Frontline Command, everyone stood frozen, staring at the radio. Amidst the faint crackle of static, Wang Wei's final cry could be heard:

"The Dragon Country Air Force never yields!"

Then, everything returned to Silence.