US bombers actually appeared in Chinese mainland. Chen Zikun was shocked for a while, and soon he reacted and shouted: "The guard company gathers and saves people!" ”

The plane flew along the treetops, and while the engine had stopped, it was clear that it was going to make a forced landing, and there was a large area of sorghum fields in the countryside of Jiangbei, which could be used as a buffer for forced landing, but if a fire was caused, the people on board would definitely be dangerous.

The guard company rushed out and ran in the direction of the plane's flight, and a moment later there was a loud bang, and the plane landed, and the huge inertia pushed the plane to glide on the sorghum field, instantly destroying countless green gauze tents.

The soldiers rushed over to take a look, the nose of the plane arched a piece of dirt, the propeller idled a few times and stopped, checked the cabin, it was empty, searched around, suddenly the gunshots rang out in the green gauze tent, the soldiers all lay down, pulled the bolt and aimed at the direction of the gunshot, shouting and scolding.

After a while, four foreign pilots came out with their hands raised, the first of them holding a white handkerchief in his hand, muttering something in English, and the soldiers did not understand English, so they pressed them to the ground, searched their guns, searched the green gauze tent again, and carried out a wounded fellow.

The five pilots were escorted into Chen Zikun's headquarters, which was a small courtyard of a humble farmhouse, Chen Zikun wore a coarse cotton robe, leggings, a box cannon pinned to his waist, a big bald head, a long beard on his chin, and sat on the Taishi chair with a big horse golden knife, and met with his friends who came up these days.

The first pilot, with the rank of captain on his leather jacket, tried to tell the bandits with gestures and broken Chinese that he was an American, that he was here to help you fight Japan, that he would give us food and help, and that he would take us to the defense area of the Chinese army.

"William, they don't understand you, so it's better to save your energy." The wounded second lieutenant said weakly.

"Your name is William? What unit do you belong to? Who is the commander? What tasks are performed? The bald bandit leader sitting in the Taishi's chair asked in a fluent Eastern accent while smoking a small cigarette pouch.

The pilots looked at each other, suspecting that they had misheard, and the English proficiency and wording of this old Chinese man who was so dirty was simply incredible.

"Sir, we are soldiers of the 17th Bomber Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps, the commander is Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle, and we have just finished bombing Tokyo." Captain William stammered, "By the way, where did you learn your English?" ”

"America, kid, I've been to America." Chen Zikun said, beckoning his subordinates: "Little ones, get them something to eat, it's better to have some wine, and then find the military doctor and show this second lieutenant his legs." ”

With someone who knew English, the pilots' nervous mood finally relaxed, and the orderlies brought eggs and pickles, as well as a jar of liquor, to entertain these foreigners, the young man was obviously hungry, gobbling up, saying that this kind of pie was really delicious, but the taste of Chinese liquor was too strong to be suppressed.

Chen Zikun said: "Where did you take off from, I have never seen this kind of bomber before." ”

Captain William said: "In fact we took off on an aircraft carrier, our planes are new B25 bombers, sir, you also know about airplanes?" ”

"Understand, can I go and see the plane?" Chan said.

"Of course, Mr. Commander."

When the group came to the forced landing place of the plane, the guard company had already set up a sentry nearby, the dawn was breaking in the east, the blades of grass were covered with morning dew, a gray-green medium-sized twin-engine bomber was quietly parked in the sorghum field, and a magpie stood on the nose glass cover and chirped happily.

Chen Zikun checked the appearance of the engine, climbed into the cockpit to fiddle with it, and said: "The radio is broken, and the gasoline is also running out, I'm afraid I won't be able to fly back." ”

William shrugged and said: "Commander, we didn't plan to fly back, this was a one-way bombing, in order to retaliate for the Japanese devil's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, we all volunteered to participate in this mission." ”

Chen Zikun said: "Don't you want such a good plane?" You Americans are so rich that you are sure you want to give it up? ”

"Yes, Your Excellency, we have no power to save it, wait, what do you mean?"

"If you don't want it, I'll do it." Chan said.

"You mean, you can let it take off?" A flame of hope lit up in William's eyes.

"I didn't say it, there are no mechanics, no cranes, no aviation fuel and runways, and they can't fly, I just want to dismantle the engine as a generator, dismantle the machine gun and put it on a mule cart as a tank, these aluminum skins, I think the farmers also like it."

As he was talking, a Japanese reconnaissance plane flew through the sky, and the guerrillas hurriedly lay down, but the foreign pilots did not think so, because such a large bomber stopped on the ground and could not hide from the eyes of the reconnaissance plane.

"Your Excellency, Commander, I'm afraid you have to send us to a safe place quickly, and you can dispose of this plane as you like." The appearance of the Japanese reconnaissance plane made Captain William a little uneasy.

"There's no safer place than here." Chen Zikun said, he looked at the Japanese plane in the sky thoughtfully.

Knowing that one of the culprits of the bombing of Japan was forced to land in Jiangbei, the Japanese army base camp issued a strict order to capture the American pilots, and if the complete bombers could be captured, it would be a great achievement.

The enemy was menacing, the guerrillas did not dare to resist hard, and hurriedly retreated, the Japanese army aimed at the plane, and after succeeding, they requisitioned hundreds of local people, shoveled all the green yarn tents, transferred the steamroller from Beitai, and leveled a 500-meter runway.

This is a new American bomber, and the fact that it can successfully capture a complete plane will be of great help to Japan's aviation industry, and these people are aviation experts who flew from the mainland on a special trip, and after seeing the plane, they were full of praise and sent a telegram to the Chinese military headquarters, asking that the B25 be brought back to the mainland for study.

The North Thai garrison fully cooperated, transported hundreds of barrels of aviation fuel, and several seconded heavy explosive pilots climbed up and down to tinker, and finally started the B25, the engine spewed out a puff of blue smoke, and turned briskly, and the pilots and experts were happy to raise their arms and shout: "Half load!" ”

Suddenly, gunfire erupted, the guerrillas launched an attack, around the field airfield, the artillery of the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army used mortars and grenadiers to violently bombard the perimeter guarding the Japanese troops, a large group of imperial troops were not afraid of danger, rose up to counterattack, tanks and armored vehicles also spewed fire snakes, the battle was very fierce.

William and his crew lay in the bunker, nervously watching the guerrillas fight, and asked Chan: "Commander, can you defeat the Japanese?" ”

Chen Zikun said: "No. ”

The pilots looked at each other.

"But someone can." Chan pointed to the heavens.

A group of P40 fighters swooped over from the sky, the nose was painted with shark mouths, the blood-red mouths and Bai Sensen's fangs were vividly visible, the machine guns under the wings spewed fire dragons, and the Japanese soldiers were put down in pieces like cutting wheat.

William and the others jumped up excitedly and gave their counterparts a thumbs up.

"Little ones, it's your turn!" Under Chen Zikun's order, thousands of guerrillas launched a general attack, the mountains and fields were full of people, the sound was earth-shattering, and the imperial troops of the Fourth Division resisted desperately.

Aviation experts and pilots hurriedly climbed into the B25, hurriedly starting the engine, and no one saw a guy dressed as a civilian man climb in, raise the box cannon is a sweep, and kill the expert in the cockpit on the spot.

After a fierce battle, the Japanese army withdrew in a hurry, the guerrillas opened the net and let them go, and the B25 was still quietly parked on the runway. ”

William was overjoyed, climbed into the cockpit to check it, and said with a sad face: "There seems to be a battle here, the gyroscope is broken, there is no chart, my co-pilot is injured again, I am afraid it will be difficult to fly to Chongqing." ”

Chen Zikun thought for a moment and said, "I'll come!" "Pin the small cigarette pouch to your waist, climb into the cockpit and sit in the co-pilot's seat, and skillfully turn on various switches.

"Your Excellency, Commander, you can even fly planes?" William's jaw was on the verge of falling to the ground.

"Kid, when I flew the B17 to bomb the Japanese mainland, I'm afraid you didn't even know which continent Japan was on." Chan smiled.

"You, who the hell are you?" William stammered.

"My name is Chen Zikun, a retired general of the Chinese Army."

"Oh God, I said it a long time ago, he must be a general!" The second lieutenant's co-pilot, who was lying on a stretcher, shouted excitedly.

"Okay, kids, the Japanese have fixed the runway for us for free, filled up with gas, and we can take off now." Chen Zikun said, stretched out his head to the double happiness outside the window and said: "I'll go to Chongqing, and I'll be back tomorrow." ”

Shuangxi waved his hand and said: "Fly slowly, have a smooth journey." ”

The plane slowly taxied, took off against the morning glow, circled in the air three times, and then flew westward, heading straight for Chongqing.

Four Flying Tigers fighters roared up and took up escort duties.

……

Chongqing's Baishiyi Air Base was crowded with people and a sea of flowers, all of whom had come to greet the legendary William's crew, including senior military and political officials, American friends, and a large number of young men and women, students, and media reporters.

The bombers landed on the runway under the escort of the Flying Tigers, the reporters picked up their cameras, the female students prepared bouquets of flowers, and rushed to the plane, the gangway was lowered, and the first to come down was not a handsome and dashing American pilot, but a bald-headed middle-aged peasant wearing a coarse cotton robe and a dry tobacco pouch pinned to his waist.