The C-47 soared through the cloudless night sky, crossing the English Channel.
Parks looked out the window. He saw a sight he would never forget, neither in this life nor his previous one: an attack fleet of six thousand ships advancing towards Normandy. Even in the night, the dense, dark ships flickered with lights. This was a sight that perhaps could only be seen at this moment in his life, never again.
"We're about to begin!" Parks murmured.
"It's truly magnificent!" Joe Liebgott, sitting next to Parks, couldn't help but exclaim. He had also been looking down. "It's practically a wonder of the world."
Parks nodded in agreement. Compared to such a grand operation, he felt incredibly small, like a single drop of water in the ocean, utterly insignificant. At this, the men in the cabin heard their conversation and all looked down, then fell silent for a long time, equally awestruck.
After a good while, the brothers in the cabin finally came to their senses, then remained silent. Suddenly, Cobb, sitting opposite Parks, had a stomach spasm and vomited.
"It's okay, buddy, it's okay, don't be nervous!" Parks reached out and patted his head.
Toy also felt his stomach spasm, but he held it in. He fumbled in his pocket for a while, then pulled out a cigarette, but couldn't find a light, so he put the cigarette back in his pocket. Guarnere fiddled with his metal cricket signal, making a series of monotonous sounds.
Smith held a cross in his hand, ceaselessly murmuring, "Our Father in heaven, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever, Amen!" Then he made the sign of the cross over his chest. He looked very devout; he had always been a devout Christian.
Heffron continuously checked his parachute and his equipment. White, on the other hand, had gleaming eyes. He looked bright and excited, occasionally glancing outside, then staring at the jump signal light next to Parks. He kept pursing his lips and looking around.
"Nervous?" Parks smiled faintly at him. To be honest, in Easy Company, he and White had the best relationship.
White nodded, then quickly shook his head, "No, not at all. I can't wait!" Then he nodded again, "Actually, a little."
At 1:00 AM on June 6th, the formation flew over the small islands between Guernsey and Jersey.
The pilot of Parks's plane shouted to him, "20 minutes left." The flight attendant came over and opened the cabin door. Immediately, a fresh gust of wind blew in fiercely, instantly dispersing the stale air in the cabin. At the same time, it allowed him to see the coastline below.
After the formation flew over the coastline, they encountered thick clouds. The formation began to scatter. The leading V-formation flew straight ahead, while the two V-formations behind changed direction. The one on the right turned right, and the one on the left turned left. But the pilots lost their way. At this moment, blue, green, and red tracer bullets streaked across the night sky; the German anti-aircraft guns had begun firing.
"They're small caliber, 2mm anti-aircraft guns," Parks listened carefully, "and 40mm ones too."
"The red light is on, Parks!" White suddenly shouted, having kept his eyes on the signal light.
Parks adjusted his equipment, then stood up, walked to the front of the cabin, and raised his hand in a gesture: "Stand up!"
"Hook up!" Parks shouted loudly, his voice overcoming the sound of the anti-aircraft guns outside the cabin and the roar of the plane. All the brothers in the cabin stood up and hooked their parachutes.
"Check equipment!" Parks called out, "Report equipment check!"
"Number ten ready!"
"Number nine ready!"
…
"Number one ready!"
At that moment, a burst of 20mm anti-aircraft shells suddenly struck the fuselage, causing the plane to shake violently. The bullets had just passed through the places where several brothers had been sitting. Many of them were instantly speechless, terrified.
The plane flew through the clouds, but encountered even fiercer shelling. The pilots were terrified; most of them had no combat experience. All they wanted to do was accelerate desperately and escape this place to feel at ease. Watching the fireballs erupting from exploding aircraft bodies in the air, and the huge explosions as planes, spewing thick smoke, plunged to the ground, made everyone's heart pound.
As the plane dodged the shelling, it began to shake violently. Many of the brothers couldn't stand steady; they had to desperately grab onto anything they could to maintain some balance.
"Boom—" With a sound, the left wing of Parks's plane suddenly caught fire. Because he was close to the cabin door, a wave of heat immediately swept over, and people instantly started screaming.
"My eyes—" It was Smith who was screaming, clutching his face with one hand.
"Are you alright, Smith!" Parks shouted loudly.
"I'm fine, I was just startled!" Smith replied equally loudly. At that moment, the fuselage suddenly shifted severely. It seemed the damaged wing was causing the plane to lose control.
The brothers instantly stumbled, colliding into a heap.
"Tell them to jump!" The flight attendant shouted to the pilot, "If they don't jump now, they won't have to."
"Alright, turn on the signal light!" The pilot nodded. He couldn't control it; the plane was already out of control.
"Jump, Parks, if we don't jump now, we're done for!" White shouted from the side. No sooner had he spoken than he saw the signal light turn green.
"Jump!" Parks shouted loudly, then plunged headfirst into the night. The brothers in the cabin desperately crowded towards the cabin door, one after another, leaping into the night sky. The waiting and order practiced in training were completely useless; they just wanted to escape this place quickly and surrender themselves to God.
"Whoosh—" With a sound, the parachute opened in the night sky. Parks looked at the sky full of circular parachutes floating in the air. At that moment, he suddenly thought of dandelions floating in the air; they couldn't control their own destiny, falling with the wind. And now he and these 13,400 excellent American paratroopers, weren't they just like dandelions, drifting towards unknown directions and ground?
Tracer bullets created huge sparks in the air, much like fireworks from home. Anti-aircraft machine guns spewed bullets like long fiery dragons, winding and raging in the sky. On the ground, there were also crashed planes burning in large fires.
After two years of training, today they finally landed!
"Crash!" With a sound, the parachute got caught on a tree branch in the woods, then made a loud "crack" as it broke a branch, leaving Parks suspended in the air. At that moment, he heard someone else land not far away.
"Lightning!" Parks whispered towards the source of the sound.
"Thunder!" The password came back from the other side, followed by a very surprised voice, "Is that Parks?"
"Christenson?" Parks recognized the voice. At that moment, he also untied the parachute ropes caught in the tree, jumped down from the branch, and then reached for his leg pouch, only to find it empty. He had encountered the same bad luck as Lieutenant Winters; his leg pouch was lost. He couldn't help but let out a frustrated cry. But fortunately, he still had a paratrooper knife and a pistol. This was a blessing in disguise.
"Come here, Christenson!" Parks gestured to him in a low voice, "Do you still have your weapon?"
Christenson carefully walked over, then shook his head, "I lost my weapon!" He was a machine gunner, so he was clearly empty-handed now.
"Not even a dagger?" Parks gave a wry smile.
Christenson shrugged, "Everything!"
"Here, take this!" Parks handed over the pistol, "But there aren't many bullets left, so conserve them. It looks like we still have a way to go. We need to quickly find the rally point and link up with the other brothers!"
"Do you know where we are?"
"Yes, Normandy!" Parks joked, then stood up and looked around, "I'll look, there must be something for us to use as a reference." Then he pulled a compass from his pocket, hid in the bushes, shone a flashlight on it, vaguely determined the direction, and then said to Christenson, "Alright, let's go!"
"Which way?"
"To find our brothers, of course. I think we missed the drop zone. Do you still want to find a German command post for coffee at a time like this? Just follow me." Parks keenly determined his direction and led Christenson quietly through the darkness.
"Damn, this was a terrible jump!" Christenson cursed in a low voice.
"No, at least we know what we're still doing!" Parks's voice was somewhat low, "Many other brothers didn't even land. This is our luck, Christenson, at least we're still alive."
Yes, alive. Christenson stopped talking, only occasionally looking up at the sky, where the sky was flashing with artillery fire.