Chapter 296: Change

He Yuzhu sprinted all the way into the Warehouse and stored the items inside into his space. As soon as he stepped out of the Warehouse gate, he heard the roar of bombers drawing closer.

In an instant, an overwhelming barrage of bombs fell from the sky, and deafening explosions erupted suddenly.

He felt as if his eardrums had been shattered, and the ground was trembling as well.

Seeing there was nowhere to hide, He Yuzhu had no choice but to flash into his space.

When he emerged from the space, the entire small town had fallen into a sea of flames, with thick smoke blotting out the sky and sun.

He Yuzhu's heart tightened; he did not know if Company Commander Wu and the others had successfully evacuated.

As he walked out of the supply station, he suddenly heard the sound of a child crying amidst the broken walls and ruins.

Following the sound, he saw that the small wine shop had been bombed into ruins, and a little girl with a soot-covered face was standing before a pile of rubble, crying her heart out.

He Yuzhu stepped forward quickly, but because of the language barrier, he could only gently pat the little girl on the shoulder.

The girl pointed at the ruins, tears streaming down her face as she gestured to him.

He Yuzhu's heart sank—the old woman who sold wine must have been buried underneath.

Looking at this little girl, who was about the same age as He Yushui, with her face covered in tears, his heart softened, and he quickly searched through the ruins. With the help of his space, he soon dug out the old woman's remains.

"Your grandmother is already dead."

The little girl acted as if she hadn't heard He Yuzhu speak, throwing herself onto the old woman and sobbing uncontrollably. She seemed not to know what "dead" meant yet.

He Yuzhu sighed, walked to a secluded spot, and released a Jeep from his space.

He tried to carry the girl into the vehicle, but she gripped the corner of the old woman's clothes tightly and refused to let go.

He Yuzhu felt helpless and had no choice but to take both the old woman's remains and the little girl along.

As He Yuzhu drove through the streets of the town, he discovered eight bombed-out Tanks on a street leading out of town.

He got out to inspect them; there was no one inside the vehicles, nor were there any bloodstains, which left him somewhat puzzled.

He Yuzhu found a shell crater outside the town and buried the old woman. The little girl cried as if her heart would break and simply refused to leave.

He Yuzhu tried every method, but she would not leave, so he had no choice but to knock her unconscious and take her away.

He followed the Tank tread marks for a long time before catching up with the unit.

Ershuan looked at the little girl in He Yuzhu's vehicle with surprise and asked, "Zhuzi, why did you bring back a child?"

"Her grandmother was killed in the bombing; she wouldn't have survived if left in the town, so I brought her back. We can hand her over to the troops later. For now, though, you keep an eye on her."

Ershuan accepted gladly; he was actually quite good at coaxing children. He took a piece of candy out of his pocket and dangled it in front of the little girl, who finally reached out to take it, her state improving slightly.

"Company Commander Wu, what happened to those bombed-out Tanks on the road?" He Yuzhu asked after catching up to the lead vehicle.

Wu Qianli wore a look of relief: "We owe it to Lei Gong. He anticipated that it would be difficult for us to escape unscathed, so he had the eight Tanks drive down the main road with their lights on as decoys, while all other vehicles turned off their lights and hid in the woods. That's how we escaped disaster."

He Yuzhu couldn't help but praise: "Lei Gong's feint to the east while attacking in the west really saved everyone."

"You kid, your alertness is too high! If we had left any later, the whole unit probably would have been finished in that town," Wu Qianli remarked with emotion.

"I was just guessing blindly, but from now on, we cannot march during the day. The enemy must have their eyes on us," He Yuzhu said seriously.

Wu Qianli nodded.

After two days of forced marches, hiding by day and moving by night, He Yuzhu and his group finally arrived at their destination.

The scout Lao Ma had already established contact with the Ninth Army Corps General Commander's headquarters.

As soon as their unit arrived, a Regiment Commander Mei came to meet them.

Seeing the equipment of this unit, Regiment Commander Mei was astonished: "Company Commander Wu, this is hardly the configuration of a single company; it's even more opulent than an entire army!"

Wu Qianli then introduced He Yuzhu to him and recounted in detail how they had severely damaged two regiments of the US Military.

Regiment Commander Mei was greatly shocked: "So, that Anti-Aircraft Artillery Company that shot down over twenty planes was you!" He reached out his hand toward He Yuzhu.

"We just did our best," He Yuzhu nodded modestly.

The next day, He Yuzhu was received by Army Commander Song.

"You are little He?" A middle-aged man with a dark complexion and vigorous spirit shook his hand firmly.

"Reporting to the Army Commander, I am He Yuzhu."

"How many more planes have you shot down along the way?" Clearly, he was well-informed about He Yuzhu's affairs.

He Yuzhu smiled sheepishly: "The recent record hasn't been great. The US Military has been scared off by us; they are now dropping bombs from above seven thousand meters, and our anti-aircraft guns can't quite reach them."

Army Commander Song laughed heartily: "You're praising yourself there! You mean to say the American pilots are all afraid of you?"

"That is exactly what I mean!" He Yuzhu laughed as well.

"Good lad, arrogant enough!"

"I rely on hard strength," He Yuzhu said confidently.

"Little He, you need to stay a few more days this time and train a batch of anti-aircraft personnel for us!"

"No problem!" He Yuzhu agreed readily.

"I heard you even incorporated a few black American soldiers?"

"Indeed. If the Army Corps feels it is inappropriate, I will have them leave immediately."

"We aren't that petty. Since they know how to drive Tanks, let them help me train some tank operators. Otherwise, when our soldiers capture Tanks, they can only blow them up; it's too much of a waste!"

"You can organize a short-term training class; I guarantee that within a week, the soldiers will master the skills to drive Tanks and operate artillery."

"Good! Good! Good! I will make arrangements immediately." The Army Commander paused and said, "Little He, get yourself ready; the Commander-in-Chief might want to see you."

Hearing that he was to meet the Commander-in-Chief, He Yuzhu felt very excited inside.

At noon, He Yuzhu specially used captured ingredients to cook a dish of Boiled Beef and a dish of Twice Cooked Pork, keeping the Army Commander for a meal.

Army Commander Song ate and praised it endlessly: "Little He, your cooking skills are no worse than your ability to shoot down planes!"

He Yuzhu laughed: "My ancestors were cooks; in fact, I am a professional cook, and shooting down planes is just a hobby."

"Interesting! I've truly been blessed with a good meal today. This dish you made is spicy enough and suits my taste perfectly! I usually don't get to eat such good things!"

"We captured quite a lot of supplies on the road; we can turn them all over to the troops to improve everyone's meals." Since he couldn't take these dozen or so trucks of supplies with him anyway, he might as well do a favor.

"Little He is a good comrade!" the Army Commander nodded in approval.

The next day, He Yuzhu was taken to the Dayudong headquarters.

Since the Commander-in-Chief was in a meeting, he carefully studied the battle map on the wall in the conference room, understanding the situation of both the enemy and our own forces. Now that both sides' troops had gathered at Changjin Lake, a great battle was inevitable.

A refined young man had already walked in, and seeing He Yuzhu looking so engrossed, he did not disturb him.

He Yuzhu turned his head to look, and his heart skipped a beat—it was Secretary Liu.

This meant that the bombing had not yet occurred.

"Comrade, what is the date today?" He Yuzhu asked urgently.

"November 24th. What is it, Comrade Little He, have you been fighting so hard that you've forgotten the date?"

He Yuzhu broke out in a cold sweat.

He remembered that the bombing of Dayudong was supposed to happen tomorrow. To save, or not to save? How should he save him? He fell into deep thought.

Seeing his expression suddenly change, Secretary Liu asked with concern, "Comrade Little He, did you remember something?"

He Yuzhu shook his head.

"Comrade Little He, you are truly impressive!" Secretary Liu said. "I heard you can even build a Computer?"

"It's nothing! Actually, I didn't like studying when I was a child; I just liked listening to storytelling at Qianmen, where I met quite a few experts, and later I read some books myself..." He Yuzhu casually made up a resume for himself.

Secretary Liu listened with a smile the entire time.

He Yuzhu had a very good impression of him and decided that no matter what, he had to save him.

After the meeting ended, the Commander-in-Chief met with He Yuzhu and praised him highly.

Just as the Commander-in-Chief was about to leave, He Yuzhu suddenly made a request: "Commander-in-Chief, tomorrow morning, I would like to demonstrate the working principles of that Radar and Computer system for you. Having tested it this time, I feel this thing has epoch-making significance. If the leaders approve, the Military Factory can mass-produce it."

Although the Commander-in-Chief felt this request was a bit abrupt, he still agreed: "Good, bring all the equipment over first thing tomorrow morning. There happens to be a meeting here tomorrow, so let a few leaders take a look as well."

He Yuzhu was so happy he almost jumped—he finally had a chance to change history.

The next day, He Yuzhu arrived on time with the equipment and his men.

Secretary Liu was exceptionally attentive to this demonstration, busy running around helping out quite a bit.

When the clock pointed to 10:40, He Yuzhu had just finished the system calibration.

"Brothers, everyone perk up! In a moment, we are going to conduct live-fire shooting!" He Yuzhu said sternly.

Ershuan asked in confusion, "Zhuzi, there are no planes; wouldn't that be a waste of ammunition?"

Secretary Liu, standing behind him, heard this and reminded him, "Little He, this is a top-secret area; you cannot open fire at will."

He Yuzhu nodded and whispered, "I just want the soldiers to have the tension of real combat during their drills."

Secretary Liu smiled, finding He Yuzhu quite interesting.

Suddenly, thirteen light spots appeared on the Radar screen simultaneously.

"Secretary Liu, hurry and notify headquarters to enter the air-raid shelter! Enemy planes are really coming!" He Yuzhu shouted.