89: Chapter 89 Airplane Flying the National Flag?
On the other side, the reporter from the News Daily heard Regimental Adjutant Xie Jin's words.
He remained silent for a long while.
He was also Chinese.
As a journalist, he was more aware of China's current situation than most of its citizens.
It was far from optimistic.
Not only militarily, but economically as well, it couldn't compare to the neighboring island nation.
Great China, powerful for thousands of years, was now being beaten helpless by a small nation that used to be its vassal.
How tragic, how disappointing.
He wasn't the only one thinking this; many people felt the same way.
China desperately needed a victory to boost morale.
Being timid before a battle or suffering defeat after defeat was a major taboo.
However, it wasn't that China lacked the ability to fight; no matter how weak, it should still be able to resist.
China's authorities were too corrupt; even though they had only been established for a decade or two, they were rotten to the core.
"Understood, Lieutenant Colonel Xie. I've noted your words and will pass them on."
Afterward, Regimental Adjutant Xie Jin chatted with the reporter about other matters.
Such as his views on the current state of the war.
Whether they could hold out.
Although Regimental Adjutant Xie Jin answered with confidence, any discerning person knew it was just a way to boost their own spirits.
As soldiers, they certainly couldn't undermine their own prestige.
The call lasted for over half an hour before ending.
During the call, the Japs continued their assault, attempting to knock down the national flag on the rooftop.
After the call ended, Wang Ye returned to the rooftop.
The situation on the rooftop was currently quite tense.
The Japs' light machine guns occasionally swept toward the flagpole on the roof.
They were trying to break the flagpole or the halyard.
As long as they could prevent the Chinese flag from standing tall, they would achieve their goal.
"How is it? Is the flag okay?" Wang Ye asked one of the soldiers.
"It's fine, Company Commander. It was just severed by a stray bullet earlier, but we reconnected it immediately."
"That's good. We must protect our flag; we can't let it fall," Wang Ye reminded the soldier beside him.
"I know, Company Commander. We definitely won't let the flag fall." The nearby soldier immediately patted his chest with a serious expression, giving Wang Ye his word.
Just then, a plane flew toward them in the sky.
The loud roar of the aircraft soon reached their position.
Wang Ye instinctively looked up.
He saw the plane, which clearly bore the Japs' Meatball Flag.
Needless to say, it was definitely a Jap plane.
As for their own planes, there was no need to even think about it; there were none.
They were an isolated force sent to hold The Warehouse.
Without any support, to put it bluntly, they were prepared for everyone to be sacrificed.
"Watch out for the Jap plane! Take cover!" Wang Ye shouted.
If the Jap plane dropped bombs or strafed them with machine guns...
They would surely suffer heavy casualties.
The Chinese Soldiers on the rooftop immediately found cover and lay flat.
Near the base of the flag, a soldier held onto the flagpole with his hands.
Seeing the plane, he felt some fear in his heart.
But he didn't choose to take cover; instead, he stayed at the base to guard the flag.
His mission was to ensure the flag didn't fall.
Even if it meant death, he had to protect the flag.
Just as Wang Ye and the others took cover, the plane swept over the rooftop of The Warehouse.
The Jap plane's wing grazed the flag as it flew by, and the strong wind it created made the flag snap and flutter loudly.
The flagpole shook violently. Seeing this, the soldier below stood up and hugged the pole tightly to prevent it from falling.
The Jap plane flew off into the distance without firing a shot or dropping any bombs.
Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
If the Japs had strafed them or dropped bombs...
Some of them would have inevitably been wounded or killed.
They didn't want to see more sacrifices.
Fortunately, the Jap plane seemed to have just simply flown past.
At this moment, Wang Ye stepped out from his cover.
Then he saw that the Jap plane seemed to have turned back and was flying toward them again.
Looking at the flag still fluttering in the wind, Wang Ye suddenly realized that the Jap plane's target was their national flag.
The Japs wanted to use the plane's wing to tear their flag away.
"Watch out! The Jap plane's target is our flag! Don't let them succeed!" Wang Ye shouted a warning.
Since the Japs hadn't fired or dropped bombs and were flying very low, they must be afraid to shoot or bomb here.
This was a good thing for them.
But similarly, it was also difficult for them; the plane was charging in, trying to snatch their flag with its wing.
Unless they lowered the flag, there was a high risk of it being snatched away.
Hearing Wang Ye's words, a nearby soldier immediately picked up a light machine gun and strafed in the direction of the Jap plane.
Although this wouldn't bring the plane down...
It could pose a significant threat to it.
After all, nothing is certain; if a bullet hit the fuel tank, the plane would definitely be finished.
The other soldiers realized this as well and one after another picked up their guns to fire at the Jap plane.
A few others ran to reinforce the base of the flagpole to prevent the flag and the pole from being dragged away together.
The Jap plane swept over the flag once more.
It grazed the flagpole precariously; the massive force nearly knocked down the soldiers who were stabilizing the base.
Wang Ye and the other soldiers frantically strafed the plane above with machine guns.
Inside the Jap plane, the pilot saw the tracers of bullets passing nearby.
Some bullets even struck their aircraft.
The clanging sounds transmitted through the fuselage into the cockpit, giving the pilot a fright.
They had originally intended to continue passing at low altitude, but in this situation, continuing to fly low was very risky.
If the fuel tank were hit, they could forget about returning.
Having analyzed the stakes, the Jap pilot immediately pulled the plane up and away from the Sihang Warehouse.
Better the fellow daoist dies than I.
Whether the Army died or not had nothing to do with him in the Navy.
His mission was now complete anyway.
If he ended up crashing here, he'd be done for.
Below, Wang Ye saw the Jap plane suddenly climb and then fly away.
He immediately felt a sense of relief.
It was a good thing the Jap pilot changed course; otherwise, there was really nothing they could have done.
They couldn't really expect to shoot down a Jap plane with machine guns.
The probability of that was too low.
Betting on such odds was like gambling with their lives.
Afterward, another Jap plane flew in.
Seeing this, Wang Ye cursed inwardly, 'Is this ever going to end?'
In the livestream room, the viewers saw the Japs sending a plane not to fire or drop bombs, but just to scrape the flag off with its wing.
They felt it was a bit absurd; was this battle really this dramatic?
They even flew a plane over just to target the flag.
If the plane crashed, that would be something to see.
Many viewers couldn't understand the logic of trading a plane for a flag.