Without being in the environment at the time, it's hard to imagine the shock of seeing such a huge plane submerged in the rapids. The massive wingspan casting a black shadow under the water made it difficult to breathe. The flashlight revealed a rusty hull resembling a giant monster, lifting its head to take a breath underwater.
"This spectacular scene, was something I had never witnessed before because at that time it was impossible to see such a huge airplane on mainland China except for the mysterious Tu-4 squadron. You must know that when an airplane flew overhead back then, children would all stick their heads out to see it. It's not like now, when military jets fly overhead in formation and nobody pays any attention."
"We crawled over the iron fence and immediately discovered a surprising situation - the area around the underwater bomber wreckage was piled up with burlap bags that we had seen before carrying corpses. The number here was even more shocking, and it was a black mass under the water that extended from the iron fence to all around, with no end in sight. These burlap bags were piled up under the water, some quite neat, some already rotten and sunken, like the stone pillars that buffer the tide on the beach. The bomber was stuck in these burlap bags."
"After we climbed over the iron fence, our feet were able to stand on these burlap sacks. Although our heels sank down when we stepped on them, we finally had a place to stay. The assistant squad leader muttered to himself while we supported each other, 'What are the Japanese doing here?'"
"I was speechless. The underground river seemed endless and the flashlight revealed nothing but darkness. I even began to wonder if I was in the middle of a massive underground lake, surrounded by countless air bags. We even came across the wreckage of a huge bomber, which was truly unbelievable."
"We stepped on the uneven corpses under the water and arrived at a huge piece of airplane wing protruding from the surface. The wing was already bent, severely corroded, and as we climbed up, our hands were covered in rust water."
Fortunately, the upper part was dry, and as we went up, the wings were pressed down. At that moment, I thought to myself: if Wang Sichuan were here, the wings might have broken.
At this moment, I suddenly thought of him. I couldn't help but look around at the raging torrents, but there was no way to see that black figure. I don't know if he's alive or dead.
"We were completely exhausted, that was true physical and mental exhaustion. I had only felt the same way during the seven days of mourning for my father's death. After climbing onto the wing, I felt dizzy and almost fell straight down."
However, at this time, we absolutely cannot rest. If we take a break, we're done for. We take off our clothes and can hardly bear to look at the leeches all over us. Some of them have sucked so much blood they look like amber, and you can see the blood inside them.
"I held back the urge to vomit. It would have been nice to have a cigarette, but the ones in my pocket had turned to mush. I had to use a lighter to light them. At that time, matches were still commonly used, but for outdoor exploration, matches were too easily dampened and could cause forest fires. So those who knew how bought lighters with tickets. Old-fashioned lighters burned kerosene, and the wick was also wet. We waited for a while before it finally ignited and used the flames to heat up the needle before piercing each boil. Afterward, we immediately dropped it into the water, and blood gushed out of the wound."
After finally dealing with it, we were bloody and extremely horrified. We checked our entire bodies and confirmed that there was nothing left before we sat down. I wrung out my wet clothes, picked up the deputy squad leader's flashlight, and carefully shone it on the plane underwater.
"I held back vomit. It would have been best to have a cigarette at that time, but the cigarettes in my pocket had turned into mush and I could only use a lighter to light them. At that time, matches were still commonly used, but for wilderness exploration, matches were too easy to get damp and also too easy to cause forest fires, so those who had connections would buy lighters. At that time, you needed a ticket to buy a lighter. The old-fashioned lighter burned kerosene, and the wick was also extremely wet. We had to dry it for a long time before finally lighting it with a flame and then burning it one by one with the flame. After burning each leech, we would immediately drop it into the water, and then the wound would instantly start to bleed."
After finally dealing with it, we were covered in blood, which was extremely horrifying. The two of us checked our entire bodies and confirmed that there was nothing left before sitting down. I wrung out my wet clothes and picked up the deputy leader's flashlight to carefully shine it on the plane underwater.
The flashlight is not very bright anymore, but looking down on the plane from the wing, it's much clearer than before.
The entire plane had tilted and plunged into the water. I couldn't imagine what happened at that time, but all I could see was a huge cylindrical fuselage underwater, with the nose sticking up on the surface and the far end of the tail unclear. The wing section where I stood was between two huge engines, and I could see the twisted three-bladed propeller half submerged in the water, rusted and unable to turn.
"The nose of the plane was split into two parts, and there was a gun compartment on the top of the head. The steel-framed glass was all shattered, leaving only a twisted frame, half of which was submerged in water. The remaining glass fragments could still be seen on the top of the cockpit. There was also a rotating turret on the top of the plane, which appeared to be intact."
The part of the airplane that went into the water is so rusted that the original green paint cannot be seen. Some of the compartments are rusted and have holes in them. It seems the airplane has been submerged in water for over 20 years. The parts above water are still visible, and I can make out a fuzzy "07" on one side of the nose of the plane, but all other markings are unclear.
"Three days ago, when I saw this plane, it was just a thumbnail-sized shadow on a video. Now that I am seeing it for real underground, I almost can't believe it."
"There really was a big airplane! That's what I told myself at the time. Wow, deep underground, there really is a bomber!"
However, wasn't it said at the time that this plane was disassembled and transported down from above? Why does the plane I'm seeing now look like it crashed here? Did the Japanese even try to fly this plane out of the dark river, and failed?
"I looked up and shone my torch towards the ceiling, trying to gauge the height of the room. The beam could barely reach the limits of the ceiling, but it was clear that it would not be sufficient for a plane to take off at such a height."
"It is really incredible and beyond imagination why the Japanese want to fly their planes from here."