Chapter 306: Beacon Fire in the Vast Sky

Before the sound of the explosion had faded, two other soldiers had already leaped out of the cave entrance, firing fiercely at the enemy hiding behind the stone roller, killing that spy on the spot.

By the time He Yuzhu arrived, Li Xiaobiao's body was already cold.

Looking at this person who had spent every day and night with him for a month now turned into a cold corpse, He Yuzhu could not help but shed tears and said, "Company Commander Li, I cannot bring you back to life, but I will take good care of your family. Go in peace!"

This arrest operation was extremely tragic; the enemy special agents resisted desperately, causing the Volunteer Army to suffer heavy losses, with over thirty comrades sacrificing their lives—more than those who had died fighting with real blades and guns on the battlefield.

He Yuzhu deployed the Infantry Company directly in this small town to guard it, preventing any more spies from infiltrating.

He took the others back to the station to conduct an emergency interrogation of the radio operator. He discovered that this person was actually an intelligence agent for the Bald Party.

"Are you fucking bored out of your mind, not staying properly on the island, but running here to work for your American daddies!" He Yuzhu cursed.

The man let out a "humph" and said, "Today, I won't say a word. Give me a quick death and stop wasting time!"

He Yuzhu immediately plunged a knife into his thigh, and the man let out a pig-like howl.

After He Yuzhu used some necessary measures, he finally confessed.

It turned out the Americans had already guessed that there was an important command post in this mountain range. These spies had already sent a telegram requesting that people be sent to wipe this place out in two days, along with large-scale bombing.

He Yuzhu reported the specific situation to Army Commander Song; he did not expect that after receiving the news, the Army Commander would arrive at He Yuzhu's camp very quickly.

Seeing He Yuzhu's well-camouflaged and comfortable camp, Army Commander Song said, "You brat, you never mistreat yourself wherever you go!"

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "This is thanks to some enemy supplies we captured. Fighting is already bitter enough; if I don't let the soldiers eat and live well, I won't feel at ease."

This sentence touched Army Commander Song, and his eyes turned a bit red: "I, as a leader, should reflect on this! Our non-combat attrition in the Changjin Lake Campaign was very serious!"

"This war broke out too suddenly, and this place is too cold; there was nothing you could do!" He Yuzhu said.

The Army Commander sighed and said, "Let's not talk about that for now; tell me about the arrest operation this time!"

He Yuzhu sighed and said, "These were the SC Detachment of the South Korean Army. Their members were very complex, including overseas Chinese from South Korea and intelligence agents from the Bald Party... That is why they resisted so stubbornly; they knew that once caught, it would surely be death!"

Army Commander Song smashed his fist hard against the earthen wall, shaking down a lot of dust: "The country-harming and people-ruining Bald Party!"

"This time, my command was a failure; over thirty comrades sacrificed their lives, and Company Commander Li Xiaobiao also sacrificed... Please remove me from my post!"

"This cannot be blamed on you; these special agents are inherently much more cunning than ordinary soldiers, and the Bald Party's intelligence agents also know us very well... They also had the geographical advantage," Army Commander Song comforted him.

"Army Commander, there is another piece of bad news: they are going to conduct an air raid on us in two days, and there may be some ground troops coming as well. Relying on the few of us might not be enough. Do you think the headquarters should relocate?"

Army Commander Song waved his hand and said, "As the saying goes, 'As the devil rises one foot, the Dao rises ten.' Wherever we go, the enemy follows; this is the norm, and being afraid is useless. Let me tell you some good news: we won at Changjin Lake, and the enemies in this area are all retreating. We can win this defensive battle just the same."

"Then I am relieved," He Yuzhu said.

Army Commander Song said, "You don't need to worry about the ground defense; tomorrow, many units retreating from Changjin Lake will gather here. However, your mission is not easy; you must keep your eyes on the air defense! Do not let bombs fall on the Yuquan Cave side."

"I guarantee that even if this unit of ours is smashed to pieces, we will protect the headquarters!"

"I have a premonition that the enemy will retaliate against us this time; they were defeated at Changjin Lake and surely won't be reconciled to it!" the Army Commander said.

"Understood!" He Yuzhu stood at attention, his eyes sharp, "As long as our Anti-aircraft Guns can reach them, I will not let them off!"

On the morning of December 19, He Yuzhu had just gotten up when he saw Wang Ping run in: "Battalion Commander, the radar shows two planes are coming."

He Yuzhu came to the Anti-aircraft Gun position and, looking at the screen, said, "These two should be reconnaissance planes."

Before long, two RF-80A "Shooting Star" High-altitude Reconnaissance Planes were circling in the sky.

Wang Ping watched the planes refusing to leave and being unable to shoot them down, cursing, "Son of a bitch, I really want to shoot them down!"

He Yuzhu smiled: "Don't be anxious. Once we have guns with longer range, they won't be so arrogant!"

Half an hour later, fifteen light spots lit up on the radar screen.

"Battalion Commander, fifteen bombers actually came this time?" Wang Ping said, staring intently at the screen.

He Yuzhu shook his head: "Maybe more. This radar can only display fifteen targets at most; there might be more behind them."

Wang Ping's face turned pale: "Then we... aren't we in grave danger?"

"You immediately report to headquarters that the number of bombers far exceeds expectations. We cannot guarantee we can intercept them all."

Wang Ping said no more and turned to rush toward the communications office.

First to fly over were two PBM-5A reconnaissance planes, which swept over at low altitude.

He Yuzhu operated the Anti-aircraft Gun himself, aiming and firing in one smooth motion, shooting them down directly.

A burst of cheers erupted on the position.

He Yuzhu's face showed no joy, however; he shouted sternly, "Except for combat personnel, everyone immediately enter the bunker to take cover!"

In an instant, six B-29 bombers dove at low altitude toward this mountain stream.

He Yuzhu roughly understood; these pilots must have mistaken this mountain stream for the Volunteer Army's command post.

The pilot of the lead B-29 bomber was Squadron Leader Frank; he pressed the talk button and said, "Attention all, this is lead plane. Maintain formation, follow my signal. Turn right to break away after dropping bombs. We're going back to eat turkey!"

He Yuzhu did not hesitate for a second; he operated an Anti-aircraft Gun himself and roared, "Bearing zero-one-two! Elevation one-seven-five! Fuse zero-eight—rapid fire, fire!"

Just as the gunners were frantically turning the wheels, He Yuzhu had already aimed the muzzle at the lead B-29 bomber and yanked the firing lanyard.

"Boom—"

A series of shells shot toward the sky.

Squadron Leader Frank had already seen the shells flying toward his plane; he pulled the control stick back desperately, but it was already too late.

The shells hit his plane's fuel tank directly.

The plane exploded violently in the air, forming a large fireball that swallowed the planes around and behind it.

"Boom, boom, boom—!"

Watching He Yuzhu's god-like operation of taking out six bombers with one volley of shells, Wang Ping could not help but be filled with admiration.

He Yuzhu shouted, "Don't just watch the show! The planes behind are coming, hurry and adjust the parameters, prepare to fire, bearing zero-one-five! Elevation three-one! Fuse two-five! —All guns volley, fire!"

He Yuzhu and the other three Anti-aircraft Guns opened fire one after another.

Four more planes were hit, trailing long black smoke as they crashed into the distant mountain peaks, sending up huge fireballs.

He Yuzhu felt his throat loosen; this wave of attacks had finally been held off.

But just at this moment, the twelve bombers following behind had all increased their altitude.

He Yuzhu's heart tightened; he feared he truly could not escape this time, so he shouted, "Everyone, take cover in the air-raid shelter!"