Book 12: Chapter 14
“Lin Chucheng!”
Lin Chucheng saw Oraina waiting for him at the base entrance as soon as their truck pulled over. He helped the girl off, but Oraina pulled her from his hand and shoved her over to Alice. Oraina directed, “Go join the combat team’s briefing right away. All the pilots are already there.”
“Yes, Ma’am!” Lin Chucheng knew Oraina wasn’t down to hear him explain the girl judging from her stern visage. Hence, he put the thought aside and followed her to the briefing room.
Lin Chucheng quietly found himself a seat to sit in the so-called briefing room was just a few tents put together. Usually, there’d be an official tent. Howbeit, the enemy doesn’t wait for you to prepare in war. The pilots sitting inside didn’t weren’t in the mood for jokes. Lin Chucheng could feel the atmosphere cranking his neck.
“Our mission is to provide reinforcements for a navy. We don’t have enough pilots in the navy. According to our intel, Troy and his allies have deployed, at least, aircraft carriers to destroy our hangar and command facilities. We only have two aircraft carriers. Hence, we have been assigned a shuttle bombing mission,” Oraina explained, pointing to the board.
Lin Chucheng earnestly studied the enemy aircraft carriers and calculated the amount of time he could potentially fly. The mission was on the frontlines. The enemy wasn’t a group of new recruits. Their aircrafts weren’t out-dated versions. He wasn’t so confident he’d succeed again.
The navy and air force lost contact during their mission; the navy couldn’t make it back. The enemy dispatched a team to capitalise on that as soon as they discovered it, targeting the newly established command base and air force base. Should they successfully capture the two, Troy’s side would have dominated the sky in the area.
The navy only had two aircraft carriers to deploy. The air force stationed here was still weak because they had only just arrived. The only edge they had was that the aircraft carrier was an island that wouldn’t sink, allowing their dive bombers to perform a shuttle bombing.
The bombers had to take off from the island, refuel and load up at the aircraft carrier, then take off again to carry out the shuttle bombing. After that, they had to fly back to the island. The strategy could compensate for their lack of numbers. That being said, the pressure on the pilots was enormous.
The pilots weren’t perfectionists who could complete any mission assigned to them. In regards to Lin Chucheng, his only achievement thus far was sinking two transportation ships. Transportation ships and aircraft carriers were in different leagues as combatants.
“I know you haven’t been trained to land on an aircraft carrier; however, we have no other choice in order to ensure enough take offs. The fighter jets on the aircraft carrier will provide you with support in the sky. Still, bear in mind that the navy’s pilots have a different commander, so expect lousy teamwork. This is not a patrol mission. We are not bombing a transport ship. We are up against Troy Empire’s aircraft carriers and elite veterans in the air. I want to see you all back here after the mission. If it really comes down to it, I ask that you honour Iris Kingdom’s honour and your honour as soldiers to the very end.” Oraina saluted her soldiers.
The soldiers rose to their feet to stoically reciprocate the salute.
Lin Chucheng’s fingers shook. He could seemingly hear his heart hammering away: Can I do this…?
“Prepare for take-off, pilots! Prepare your radios to communicate with the navy. Lin Chucheng…”
Lin Chucheng made out what Oraina’s mug implied and declared, “Captain Oraina, Lin Chucheng requests to join the mission!”
The startled pilots looked to Lin Chucheng and then Oraina. She gyrated her lips: It’s all your fault that I can’t say what I want to say.
The enemy wasn’t going to spare Lin Chucheng because he was Lin Dongqing’s son. She wanted to assign him to the reserve team. Nevertheless, she couldn’t deny him after he requested to join in everyone’s presence for, if she denied him, it’d imply they were all going to die carrying out their mission. As new pilots, the risk of them fleeing was higher compared to veterans, and she knew that it was a suicide mission. New pilots, who had only been assigned simple missions, were working together with fighter jet pilots they had never worked with before to penetrate through an elite enemy line to bomb the enemy aircraft carrier – catergorically, a suicide mission.
“Lin Chucheng requests to join the mission! I am part of the squad! I should join my comrades! Captain Oraina, please allow me to join the team! I will not be a hindrance!”