frightfiction Chapter 570 Medal of Honor: Vanguard
Chapter 570 Medal of Honor: Vanguard
In the sky, hundreds of C-47 transport planes, escorted by dozens of P-51 "Mustang" fighter jets, flew over the airport.
The shrill sirens echoed over the airport.
"Paratroopers, they are Nanyang paratroopers!"
"Shoot! Shoot!"
"The radio still can't get through to the battalion? What about the phone? Has the line been blown down?"
In the sky, Major Chen Dingbang held tightly to the cold metal frame of the C-47 cabin. Through the open cabin door, the "Palm Garden" airport below, illuminated by the flames of the explosion, looked like a miniature sand table model.
The roar of the engine and the whistling wind were deafening, but he could clearly hear his heart pounding heavily against his ribs in his chest.
As the battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st Parachute Brigade of the Nanyang Defense Force, he was responsible for capturing this key airport and opening a channel for subsequent airborne troops.
"Three minutes! Get ready!" The jumpmaster's roar cut through the noise.
Inside the cabin, the red parachute indicator light came on.
"Stand up, hook up, and check the equipment." Chen Dingbang was the first to stand up, his movements clean and neat.
Behind him, more than a dozen soldiers in the airport stood up in unison as if a switch was pressed, and hung the parachute hooks on the steel cables above their heads, making a dense "click" sound.
They patted each other's gliders and weapon straps, then gave each other a thumbs-up to indicate that everything was in order.
Chen Dingbang's eyes swept over his soldiers.
Some of these faces are young, some are seasoned, but at this moment they are all full of determination.
"Don't be afraid, I'll be the first to jump!"
"Green light! Green light!" The jumpmaster's roar rang out again.
Chen Dingbang took a deep breath of cold air and fixed his eyes on the dark night sky outside the cabin door, which was pierced by tracer bullets.
On the ground, sporadic muzzle flashes were like will-o'-the-wisp, beams of light from several searchlights operated by the devils streaked across the night sky, and shrill alarms rang out through the sky.
“Jump! Jump! Jump!”
Chen Dingbang did not hesitate and was the first to jump into the cold sky.
A strong feeling of weightlessness came over him instantly, and then the main parachute opened violently above his head with a "bang", and the huge pulling force pulled him upwards.
Looking around, the world in front of me suddenly opened up.
Countless white umbrella-shaped flowers suddenly bloomed around him, above and below, left and right, like a grand white flower rain before dawn.
Many years later, when Chen Dingbang was promoted to Major General and Deputy Commander of the Special Operations Command, he would still tell the many officers present about the amazing jump that night at every important celebration banquet in the military.
How magnificent the scene before his eyes was!
Countless elite paratroopers from the 1st Regiment of the 1st Parachute Brigade of the Nanyang National Defense Force, like divine soldiers descending from the sky, bravely leaped into the night sky filled with smoke and danger.
On the ground, the remaining Japanese machine guns and rifles began to fire sporadically, and countless tracer bullets drew deadly trajectories in the darkness before dawn.
The escorting P-51 Mustangs immediately began to descend and dive, the screams of their engines like the roar of death.
The .50 machine guns in the wings spewed out long tongues of fire, and rockets whizzed down, trailing white smoke, accurately hitting the exposed Japanese firepower points, causing balls of exploding fire to rise.
"Suppress the firepower and cover the airborne." On the ground, the soldiers of a battalion of the 277th Special Operations Regiment, who had already infiltrated here and been lurking for a long time, appeared from the grass and woods outside the airport like ghosts.
They were equipped with Garand rifles, M1919 machine guns, M1 carbines, Thompson submachine guns and recoilless rifles, and their firepower was fierce.
"Da da da da--!" The steady and continuous strafing sound of the M1919 machine gun rang out, forming a suppressive fire network.
"Bang! Bang! - Ding!" The crisp bursts of fire from the Garand rifle were like the knock on the door of death.
The special forces' precise bursts of fire and fierce automatic firepower instantly suppressed the hastily organized counterattack of the Japanese defenders.
Even more deadly were the several mounted recoilless guns.
"Boom!" "Boom!" With a few dull bangs, the 88mm shells, trailing flames, streaked through the low altitude and accurately hit several exposed Japanese machine gun positions and an anti-aircraft gun that was trying in vain to fire into the sky.
The flames and fragments of the explosion instantly engulfed the Japanese and their weapons.
The paratroopers in the air braved the sparse but still deadly rain of bullets, trying hard to control their parachutes and head towards the designated assembly area.
Chen Dingbang skillfully pulled the parachute rope, adjusted the direction, and stared at the position indicated by the signal light of the special forces on the ground.
He saw a figure tremble violently in the air, and the white umbrella flower was instantly dyed with a glaring bright red, floating weakly to one side.
Chen Dingbang's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
"Land, roll, release the parachute, retract the parachute ropes, and stand guard with the gun." Chen Dingbang silently recited the key points of the movements that he had practiced countless times in his mind.
The Nanyang Defense Force Paratroopers were a brand new team. As a major battalion commander, he had actually not received much more training time than the soldiers under his command.
Major Chen's boots slammed heavily on the soft grass, and the huge impact made him roll forward to relieve the force.
Almost at the moment he stopped rolling, the parachute knife he subconsciously pulled out had cut the parachute rope connecting buckle, and the heavy parachute bag was quickly untied and thrown aside.
He rolled over and half-knelt on the ground, pulled out the Garand rifle from the gun bag and instantly pointed it in the direction of possible threats, while quickly observing his surroundings.
The whole set of movements was smooth and flowing. Around him, the paratroopers who landed completed the landing procedure smoothly, just like in training, without any delay.
They quickly assembled in groups, moving quickly but not chaotically.
Chen Dingbang looked up and saw a squad in front of him. Two soldiers immediately occupied the flank, and the muzzles of their large-drum Thompson submachine guns were vigilantly scanning the bushes in front.
The other eight soldiers quickly spread out in a semi-arc, with their M1 Garand rifles pointed in different directions, to keep watch.
A sturdy soldier quickly lay down and set up the NTB44C battle rifle (G3 light machine gun) with an extended barrel, bipod and 50-round drum magazine, pointing the black muzzle at the possible threat in the direction of the distant tower.
Several other soldiers found the airborne 88mm recoilless gun barrel and gun mount and began to set them up quickly.
Before the airborne troops brought heavy weapons, these 88mm recoilless guns were the most reliable hammers in the hands of the paratroopers.
"Battalion Commander!" Third Company Commander Zhao Yuan came running over, his face covered in dirt. "The personnel are basically assembled. The Third Company suffered few losses and has 90% combat power. We are ready to go into battle at any time."
"Okay." Chen Dingbang nodded and looked towards the core of the airport - the tower and command post, where sporadic resistance gunfire could still be heard.
"Brothers of the Special Operations Regiment, follow me and take over the tower and the command post." Not far away, a captain was shouting loudly, and immediately received a response from the nearby paratroopers and members of the 277th Team.
"Zhao Yuan! You lead the third company and cooperate with the special operations regiment. Target the tower. Move quickly and fire hard.
Second Company, Machine Gun Company, follow me, cover the flanks, suppress the remaining enemies on the periphery, and clear the enemy trenches."
Chen Dingbang gave the order decisively.
"Yes! Third Company, follow me!" Zhao Yuan yelled and rushed out with the Thompson.