Chapter Seventy-Three: Dumb Bullet

  "Just ahead is our village," Ramai said, recalling that half of his guerrilla band had come from this very village, but those men were all gone now, leaving only him, and the thought filled him with sorrow.

  Damn Soviets!

  Lamay gazed at the village covered in white snow, this time if it wasn't for transporting grain, he felt that he didn't have the face to return to his own village again.

  "Mr. Muhammad, we have to take a break in this village, my legs are all soft from walking." Lili said with a smile beside Muhammad.

  "I told you not to come," Muhammad said. "The mountain road in the heavy snow is very difficult to walk, why must you follow me."

  Muhammad came with complaints, this Lili, really isn't a thrifty lamp, entwining herself all the way, Muhammad finally knew how troublesome a woman could be, not going to bed with him, this time she wouldn't leave.

  Even in the base, Lilith has already taken the initiative to regard herself as Muhammad's woman. What's more, those damned guerrillas even called Lilith "sister-in-law", and Lilith responded with a sweetness that was simply unbearable.

  Lily wasn't originally planning to come, but when Muhammad said he was going, Lily insisted on following him. This Western woman pursued love with great boldness, passion and directness. The problem was that Muhammad didn't really reject Lily, he just felt something strange somewhere.

  "I am a volunteer of the Red Cross, and this batch of grain was collected by the Red Cross. I naturally want to see it delivered to the villages in need myself, it's my task." said Lilith.

  Listening to Lilith and Muhammad arguing, Ramil quietly slipped aside, even in his own heart, he automatically classified this woman as Muhammad's woman. Heroes should match beauties, this woman is quite coquettish.

  Just then, suddenly, Muhammad heard a rumbling sound coming from the distant sky.

  Is it thunder? Several Tajik young men pulling donkeys look up at the sky.

  "Quickly, hide!" Muhammad said: "The Soviet plane!"

  Afghanistan's winter is a season without thunder, this sound is too clear, it must be the Soviet plane! But, unlike the previous Su-25, what kind of plane is this?

  "Run quickly and hide in the village," Ramai said.

  "It's too late," Muhammad said: "Quickly, bring out the white cloth and cover the donkey."

  The plane arrived very quickly, and if they discovered this food transport team, it might dive down to drop bombs. This time, they didn't even bring poisonous arrow missiles. Muhammad felt a great deal of pressure in an instant.

  From the sky, the black donkey is most eye-catching. Covering a white cloth over the donkey, in an instant, the donkey blends into the white snow.

  The donkey also seemed to feel very comfortable and shook its tail.

  Everyone crouched down and looked up at the plane in the sky, which whizzed by above their heads. The red five-star on the wing was clearly visible.

  "MiG-23!" Muhammad exclaimed, recognizing the Soviet plane at a glance. But this was no air-to-air combat version - the wings of this aircraft were clearly loaded with bombs, making it a ground-attack variant, the MiG-23BN, later redesignated as the MiG-27.

  No wonder he's an instructor from the Eastern country! He recognized the plane model in an instant! Ramaila crouched not far from Muhammad, heard Muhammad's words, and was very impressed. For others, seeing those flying in the sky, there is only one name, airplane! At most, it's just a big plane or a small plane.

  "MiG-23?" Lilith said: "Mr. Muhammad, you know a lot, I like people like you."

  Lilith crouched beside Muhammad, her words and breath spraying onto his face.

  Muhammad didn't say a word, watching as the plane flew off into the distance, relaxed a bit, just about to call everyone to get up and hurry on their way, when suddenly, the plane drew a beautiful arc in the sky, turned around, and dived down, the roar growing sharper.

  "Watch out, the Soviets are going to drop bombs!" Muhammad said: "Keep crouching, don't run around! Take care of your own donkey!"

  The bombs dropped from the plane are all powerful explosives, and after exploding on the ground, they will cause tremors on the ground. If you lie on the ground, you will be shaken to internal bleeding by this tremor. And if you stand up, it's easy to be hit by shrapnel. So, squatting is the most appropriate posture.

  Muhammad was a bit strange, in the sky, the pilot drove the fighter plane very fast, how could he find himself in such a short time?

  Muhammad really couldn't think of anything else that could make the Soviets send planes to bomb except for himself, was it that there were traitors among these Tajiks who had leaked his whereabouts?

  The black bear in the sky finally identified the target from the complex landmark, he pressed the control stick, the fighter turned and dived down at the same time.

  No matter how accurate the bombing navigation equipment carried by the aircraft, dive bombing is the most precise way, especially now that the Afghan guerrillas have no air defense capabilities, and dive bombing does not pose a threat to ground fire, it's almost exactly like training.

  On the old-fashioned display screen in front, the target is clearly visible. This was shot by a TV camera installed inside the wing root fairing. At the same time, a crosshair appeared on it, representing the predetermined target for bombing.

  He adjusted the plane's heading, the crosshairs steadily pressed down on the center of the village, continuing to dive, the horizon getting closer and closer.

  At an altitude of less than 500 meters above the ground, his fingers moved to press the red button on the operating lever. As soon as he pressed it, a bomb hung under the wing rack would whizz down to the ground.

  A rustling sound came from the headphones, and Hei Xiong's fingers moved downwards.

  The wing made a loud whooshing sound as the rack released, and the bomb left the rack, sliding towards the ground.

  The black bear immediately pulled the control stick back, and the MiG-23BN, with a whistling sound, only pulled up at an altitude of over 200 meters above the ground. The lower the altitude, the higher the accuracy, and the greater the danger. In the situation just now, he didn't even have a second chance to pull up.

  He knew without looking that the bomb he had dropped could destroy the entire village.

  The tail-mounted Lyulka AL-21F-300 engine was opened to full afterburner, blasting out maximum thrust as it soared into the sky.

  "When breaking away from low altitude, the voice of the base came into Hei Xiong's earpiece: 'Hei Xiong, stop bombing mission, return immediately!'"

  Stop bombing? The black bear flattened its body and looked down at the village below, but there was no firelight coming from it, did the bomb not explode?

  When the bomb came down, Muhammad immediately judged the landing point of the bomb: not their own transport team, but the village in front!

  What's wrong with the Soviets? Always bombing villages?

  As he watched the plane take off, Muhammad immediately said: "Leave two people to take care of the camels, the rest of you, follow me to rescue people!"

  Muhammad quickly ran forward after finishing speaking.

  The bomb will explode as soon as it hits the ground, and with the explosion, innocent civilians will be injured or killed. At this time, saving people is the most important thing!

  Lamile followed behind Muhammad, where their village was located, to rescue their brothers and sisters, it's their own business, but let an outsider rush to the front!

  A few Tajik boys followed, rushing to the back, only two people who reacted the slowest stayed behind. These grains are also important and need someone to watch them. The plane just dived and apparently scared these donkeys too.

  The bomb hit a dilapidated house, blasting through the roof and grazing an elderly man, creating a large crater on the ground.

  The old man watched nervously for one second, two seconds,...one minute, two minutes but the bomb did not explode.

  It wasn't until then that he came out of his shock and ran out in long strides.

  It just so happened that they met the person head-on, who jumped directly from the earthen wall and ran over to the yard. Seeing the old man, he asked: "Is anyone injured in the house?"

  The old man shook his head.

  Muhammad ran a few steps into the collapsed house, this bomb fortunately did not explode, although Muhammad knew that this bomb was in danger of exploding at any time, but he also had to take such a risk, if he could dismantle the fuse of this bomb, he would be completely relieved.

  Bombs are also mechanical devices, and like all machines, they can malfunction. Normally, bombs used in regular combat have undergone strict testing, and even if dozens are dropped, at most one might be a dud. But this time, the first bomb was already a dud - it's just too lucky.

  But just as Muhhamad saw the bomb through the broken roof, he immediately held his breath and quickly retreated.

  He saw the black skull mark on the bomb and also saw that the shell of the bomb was cracked open, with yellow ** flowing out.

  It must have just flowed out and hadn't evaporated yet. Muhammad knew at a glance that this was the Soviet Union's chemical weapon!

  Muhammad didn't know if he had been poisoned in that instant, all he knew was the two ways chemical weapons could harm people: through breathing and skin contact.

  His entire body was wrapped in thick clothing, his skin would not come into contact with the toxic gas, as long as he did not inhale the toxic gas, there should be no major problem.

  Muhammad held his breath and retreated from the room, while Lamile had already rushed into the courtyard.

  "Hurry, let everyone in the village evacuate! It's a poison gas bomb!"