afterglow

Chapter 477 Almost attended his own funeral; paratroopers capture prisoners

"Crack!"

The short knife pierced the coconut shell hard and then pulled it apart.

Fan Sizhi, who was unshaven and with loose hair, reached out and turned the albatross roasting on the fire, and then scooped up a piece of coconut meat with a short knife.

The blue sky and white clouds, the vast sea, what a beautiful scenery.

It's a pity that I'm tired of watching it after so many days.

He sat cross-legged on the beach and looked at the blue sky in the distance.

After sunset that day, most of the pilots successfully abandoned their planes and parachuted collectively at the Mayana Atoll. Unfortunately, the Type 37 bomber driven by Fan Sizhi ran out of fuel early due to the loss of some extra fuel, and had to be twenty years away from the destination. Skydive within a few minutes flight.

The rear seat gunner's parachute rope became entangled due to his incorrect posture when he entered the water. He drowned before he could draw his knife to cut the parachute rope.

Fan Sizhi had to climb into the life raft alone. He was pushed westward by the warm north equatorial current and drifted for two days and one night. Fortunately, he saw an island in the distance, and then paddled hard to get closer to it.

After more than ten hours of intermittent struggle, he was exhausted and finally succeeded in landing. Since then, he has been alone on this unknown island in the southwest Pacific for more than half a month.

Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty Navy equipped Jingui’s carrier-based aircraft pilots with a dazzling array of life-saving equipment.

After all, a huge amount of money has been spent on training these elites. How much money can it cost to buy all the life-saving equipment?

The Type 36 ocean self-rescue bag is a canvas messenger bag containing all kinds of belongings.

Tool items include a dual-purpose tent poncho, a rolled-up mosquito net, a pair of labor gloves, and a flashlight.

The signaling items include a reflective signal mirror and three disposable signal tubes.

The medical items include three packs of bandages, one pack of triangle towels, a bottle of Dakin's solution, a tube of burn ointment, a bottle of antidiarrheal medicine, and a bottle of sulfonamide medicine.

Prey items include a bottle of water purifier, two convex lenses, two rolls of fishing line and fish hooks, and five packs of high-sugar compressed dry food.

As the deputy of the Taiwei Youyuan carrier-based aircraft detachment, Fan Sizhi realized deeply after his own personal experience living in the wild that survival training was too lightly taken in the past.

Although these life-saving equipment are complete, pilots who lack corresponding training may not be able to make full use of them and can only slowly explore on the spot according to the instructions.

For example, Fan Sizhi himself was able to catch fish more efficiently after countless failures. This was also thanks to the fact that he was on land and could rely on coconuts and bird eggs to satisfy his hunger.

The sun began to go down, so he took the albatross on a skewer off the campfire, sprinkled some of the salt he had made by evaporating seawater, and ate it one bite after another.

In the past twenty days, he had seen a total of four planes and sent signals to them, but failed without exception.

Seems like there's too much salt? Eating the salty roasted bird meat, Fan Sizhi once again thought of the scene at that time.

At that time, before taking off for the mission, he said very coolly that he would not drink Zhuangxing wine. He would have dinner after the triumphant return and ordered an extra portion of fermented rice dumplings. As a result...

Thinking of this, he laughed to himself - it turns out that being too chic will lead to suffering.

Suddenly, amid the crackling sounds of the campfire, he seemed to hear a slight propeller noise.

Fan Sizhi was convinced that this was not an auditory hallucination, so he quickly raised his head and looked around.

Sure enough, a plane was passing through the clouds overhead.

He quickly took out the reflective signal mirror from his messenger bag, separated the index and middle fingers of his left hand to make a V shape, and then sandwiched the reflector between them and aimed at the aircraft in the sky.

Having failed to attract the pilot's attention four times before, Fan Sizhi didn't know if his operation was wrong. Over the past few days, he had pondered over the words in the instruction manual and was convinced that he had definitely done nothing wrong.

The plane in the sky was a Type 35 transport plane that took off from Nauru, carrying a batch of supplies destined for Tarawa.

The sunlight reflected on the side window of the cockpit and hit the co-pilot's eyes. He squinted and complained: "Tsk! What's going on? There's light on my face."

The main driver didn't take it seriously and said casually: "It's probably the debris that floated ashore."

In the days after the naval battle, things floating on the sea could occasionally be seen in the waters near Tarawa Atoll, but more than half a month had passed and they had long since disappeared.

The suspicious co-pilot pressed his face against the side window and looked there with squinted eyes.

"Da Tao, I feel something is wrong. Fly low and have a look." The first officer, who became suspicious, said.

The main driver just wants to complete the mission as soon as possible and then have a nice meal and wine.

He was a little reluctant, but he still reached out and turned off the autopilot switch, then turned the rudder right, lowering the altitude while turning right.

Seeing this scene, Fan Sizhi's heart suddenly rose to his throat.

He picked up a disposable signal tube with trembling hands, unscrewed the protective cover and pointed it at the sky. His index finger clasped the ring and pulled hard.

"boom!"

The flare shot up into the sky, trailing a conspicuous red plume of smoke.

The transport plane circled several times over the small island and reef. It shook its wings to indicate that it was aware of the situation here.

Then he turned back to the original course and disappeared at the end of the eastern sky...

The next day.

A single-engine seaplane landed slowly and picked up Fan Sizhi, who was in tattered clothes and messy hair and beard.

Only then did he learn that the Taiwei Youyuan no longer existed, and the carrier-based aircraft detachment had now withdrawn to the mainland of the Ming Dynasty.

He rejected the suggestion of resting for a few days in Rabaul and rushed to Guangzhou overnight.

Upon learning that Fan Sizhi had returned safely, dozens of pilots in the detachment were so surprised that they could not even speak. They all looked at each other with big eyes and small eyes.

He was found after missing for more than half a month?

You must know that everyone is already planning Fan Sizhi's funeral and tomb, because according to the custom of the Ming Dynasty Navy, missing persons who are not found after a month will be deemed to have been killed in action.

When Fan Sizhi arrived at the Heshan Naval Aviation Base, a large group of people swarmed up and looked at him with excitement.

At this time, everyone's cheers suddenly stopped.

The pilots moved their seats to both sides, leaving a path in the middle, and the detachment was slowly walking through it.

The two looked at each other, and for a moment, Fan Sizhi clasped his fists and said calmly: "Fan Sizhi, the deputy of the Taiyou detachment, parachuted out because his plane ran out of fuel. Please return to the team."

"allow."

"Yes!"

After so long, Fan Sizhi finally fulfilled his little wish when he went out that afternoon - he was now enjoying the rice dumplings, but he was more than half a month late.

The rice wine is fragrant and the soft and glutinous dumplings are so delicious.

While the blessed major was enjoying a delicious meal on his homeland, thousands of miles away on Guadalcanal, the prelude to the battle had quietly begun.

From a bird's eye view from above, the scenery of Guadalcanal can be said to be beautiful, like a tropical paradise. The coastline is covered with corals, and behind the beach is a lush virgin forest.

This island is equivalent to the area under the jurisdiction of the entire Shanghai Prefecture. It is not small at all and is shaped like a pea. The southern half is surrounded by continuous mountains, the northern coast has a plain with crisscrossed rivers, and the rest of the country is covered by dense forests.

It's extremely hot and humid here, and ants, spiders, locusts, and scorpions can be seen everywhere. There are also ferocious crocodiles lurking in lakes and rivers.

In history, it was here that a series of fierce land, sea and air battles broke out, completely changing the course of the Pacific War. This also made the name of Guadalcanal eternally engraved in the world's military history. 【Picture】

"How is the progress in area H? What are they doing?"

Outside a large tent, Colonel Wadsworth was questioning loudly with his hands on his hips.

According to the original plan, the US troops deployed to Guadalcanal should be prepared to retreat to the southern jungles for long-term resistance.

Previously, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Barrett, commander of the 5th Marine Regiment, marked a total of more than twenty locations on the map, naming them from A to Y for the purpose of dispersing and storing various military supplies.

But now the top commander is Colonel Wadsworth of the Army's 39th Regimental Combat Team. He may want to show that the Army has a higher status than the Marine Corps, or he may just have a different view, so he command, the locations of five of the locations were modified.

The top moves his mouth, the bottom runs and breaks his legs.

The U.S. soldiers had to carve out clearings in the dense forests, cut through the jungle, jump into swamps, cross streams, and march hard through bushes that were taller than people...

On an unknown slope in the middle of Guadalcanal, a dozen figures were lying quietly here, with black muzzles pointing into the distance.

There were branches and leaves tied to the rope net of the helmets, they were covered with fragments of camouflage cloaks, and they were holding Type 39 short automatic rifles. It was impossible to tell who they were. Only the paratrooper dagger in each person's hand could indicate the identity of this group of people.

Zhou Changfeng did not fully believe the aerial reconnaissance report. He asked the paratroopers to dispatch several capable teams to infiltrate Guadalcanal in advance to investigate the actual situation.

So the Air Force Paratrooper Regiment organized three reinforced class-level search teams, and airborne to Guadalcanal without anyone noticing.

"The cavalry team has seen a figure. They are walking slowly this way for half a quarter of an hour."

"Pass the message, get ready, move quickly, hit and leave quickly."

"Okay!"

Warrant Officer Ma Jieren is the commander of this detachment. He has served in the army for more than ten years and is an experienced non-commissioned officer. He was transferred from the army to the air force the year before last and was selected to participate in the officer training class.

They had been lurking in this area for two days. They originally planned to quietly capture lone enemy soldiers, capture them for interrogation, and avoid making a big fuss.

It's a pity that no opportunity was found. These American troops always acted in a collective manner, with the minimum number of people at one time being four.

So there is no other way but to be tough.

Seven minutes later, the incomprehensible voices got closer and closer, and the figures of the American soldiers appeared in the corner of my eye.

The paratroopers held their breath, moved their thumbs slightly, and turned the safety of the automatic rifle to the semi-automatic position.

I saw six people carrying shovels and saws, lined up in a column, strolling along this forest path.

"beat!"

Following Ma Jieren's order, a short "da da" sound immediately sounded.

Each round of 7.36×40mm medium-power bullets flew out of the muzzle, easily penetrated the khaki military uniform and flesh, and penetrated deeply into the soil on the opposite side.

Except for the two people in front, the four people behind were shot dead in an instant.

The first two soldiers were stunned by this sudden situation. This unexpected thing caused their brains to shut down for a few seconds - in their perception, the Ming army had not yet landed on Guadalcanal.

"on!"

In this flash of lightning, the paratroopers swarmed up, threw the two men to the ground, and snatched away their unloaded rifles.

"Successful!"

"Leave."

While the two unlucky American soldiers were being led away with their hands tied behind their backs, several paratroopers quickly placed a directional mine next to them, pulled the trip wire to a nearby tree, and then quickly left without looking back.

Everything was as smooth as flowing water, without any sloppiness.

In less than a minute and a half, a dozen figures disappeared without a trace.

Soon after, dozens of officers and soldiers from the 39th Regimental Combat Team came after hearing the news.

Looking at the four corpses lying on the ground, their faces were full of disbelief.

"what happened?"

"where are they?"

"I can't believe those Chinese are here already!"

The lieutenant leading the team shouted: "Stay alert, the enemy may still be nearby."

A group of rookies who had never experienced combat were holding M1 Garand semi-automatic rifles warily, looking around, their hearts beating fast.

"Pay attention to the ten o'clock and three o'clock directions, check the current situation, and let's go!"

The two soldiers walked forward cautiously with their bodies hunched over. No one noticed that there was a thin thread among the lush green grass under their feet.

The former was extremely lucky and took a step that just crossed the trip wire.

But the latter did not receive God's favor, and when he raised his left foot, he caught the tripwire.

The trip fuse of the Type 38 anti-infantry directional mine was triggered. As the latch was pulled out, the firing pin was pushed down by the spring, detonating the detonator...

"Boom-"

After the search team was at least two miles away from the ambush site, a low explosion suddenly reached their ears from behind.

Before the war begins, a few names will be added to the American casualty list!

Everyone will smile.

Of course, the two unlucky guys in the team couldn't laugh.

The search team organized by the 1st Parachute Regiment was based on a paratrooper squad, with the temporary addition of two transmitters and an officer who could speak English.

The two captured privates were both rookies who had recently joined the army. After sixteen weeks of training, they joined the Army's 9th Infantry Division.

The intelligence they knew was not much, but objectively it was very useful and allowed the Ming army commander to make correct judgments.

The results of the interrogation were quickly compiled and a telegram was sent out. The electromagnetic waves carrying important information rushed up to the ionosphere and were finally captured by the receiver in Moresby.

"...After interrogation by the Ministry of Staff, he confessed that those who have arrived on the island include the Second Infantry Regiment, with a total of more than 8,000 people, 40 to 50 tanks, and an unknown number of dozens of aircraft. Sincerely."

"There are actually more than 8,000 people in two infantry regiments?" Yao Liangchuan was a little surprised.

"Have you forgotten the supervisor?" Zhou Changfeng said leisurely: "The Americans will not send a separate regiment, they will add some support troops to strengthen it, and call it a regiment-level combat team, which is the same as our mixed regiment. "

"Brother Zhou, when are we... going to leave?" Zhu Lizhuo waved his hands and his eyes were bright. He couldn't wait to compete with the so-called "regular US military forces".

"It's not much different from the previous prediction." Zhou Changfeng muttered: "Well... stick to the original plan! Let the squadron prepare to set off."

(End of this chapter)