When the island country was preparing to deal with the United States, Roosevelt sent someone to send over a large empty aircraft carrier. Hu Zhiyong smiled, this kind of ship is better, as long as it is modified, it will be the best mail ship.
Among the Americans who came with them was an Air Force bomber commander. He said sincerely to Hu Zhiyong: "Let us borrow your Palau and we will build a large air base to bomb the island country!"
"Oh?" Hu Zhiyong smiled, asked everyone to sit down, and said to Curtis LeMay, who was only 38 years old and the youngest two-star general in the Army Air Force: "How many bombers do you have? What plan are you planning to implement?
"
"This -" Li Mei dared to say it? You must know that this is a military secret.
Hopkins smiled and answered for him: "General LeMay was appointed as the commander of the 21st Bomber Command. He wanted to assault the enemy's national economic structure and attack key links of the national economy, causing its total collapse."
"Bombing!" Hu Zhiyong looked at the US troops and said meaningfully: "Bombing can only serve as a deterrent, but cannot destroy the economy of the island country."
"Do you have a better idea?" Hopkins was extremely shrewd and discerned the mystery in Hu Zhiyong's words.
"Low-altitude bombing, use incendiary bombs!" Hu Zhiyong spat out eight words concisely.
"Low-altitude bombing? Are you making fun of our pilots and planes?" Li Mei was shocked and shook her head.
"Yeah, this is simply going to die!" Another air force commander also thought it was inappropriate.
"Since 1942, you have carried out so many bombings, but with little success. Because two-thirds of Japan's industry is scattered in small factories, precision bombing cannot be effective.
Tokyo has a population of millions and an urban area of more than 200 square miles, but it has only more than 8,000 trained firefighters, 2,000 auxiliary personnel, and 1,117 fire trucks.
The fire-fighting water pipes were pitifully short, and the firetrucks were limited to only using gasoline for 2 hours. The pressure of the city's water main pipeline relied on electric water pumps. Once the circuit was cut off, the water pumps could not be used. In this way, more than 300 B-
29 can carry more than 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs, enough to cover the Ippei area of Tokyo!"
Hopkins, Li Mei and others listened carefully to Hu Zhiyong's detailed analysis. Only then did they realize that using incendiary bombs was much better than bombs! But they knew in their hearts that the air defense force near Tokyo was very powerful.
Yes, due to the limited range of U.S. fighter jets and difficulty in escorting them, the bomber group over Tokyo will be doggedly attacked by the island nation’s aircraft.
"The huge B-29 bomber dropped incendiary bombs from an altitude of 30,000 feet. Can the Japanese Zero plane hit you?" Hu Zhiyong laughed loudly and said proudly: "This is a profitable business!"
Everyone suddenly realized that dropping incendiary bombs does not require precision. If they are spread out in all directions and facing downwards, the Japs' fighter jets cannot fly up to an altitude of 10,000 meters. If Japan's fighter planes can do it, the B-29 bomber is different from the previous heavy bombers.
In order to make it a veritable "super flying fortress", designers installed a total of 5 automatic turrets on the tail, upper front, left and right sides and upper part of the rear cabin of the B-29 aircraft, 4 of which were automatic turrets.
A double-barreled 12.7mm machine gun is installed, and a turret located in the upper front is equipped with two 20mm machine guns. These turrets are controlled by three crew members and can accurately shoot enemy aircraft incoming from all directions with the help of radar.
.A few B-29s can weave a tight fire net in the sky.
In addition, the island countries are poorly prepared for low-altitude night air raids. They lack radar, have poor early warning capabilities, and have few anti-aircraft guns. Secondly, the houses in the island countries are mostly wooden structures, which are extremely easy to burn. Since the Edo period, Tokyo has been a fire-prone area. In 1923
After a major earthquake in 2006, fires almost swept through the city.
"Palau, I want to borrow your Palau!" Li Mei made up her mind.
The North Pacific War was not going well. The islanders lost their navy and made careful arrangements to defend the islands. A large number of American soldiers died or were disabled every day. Every small island was replaced with countless blood and lives.
Coming!
"Okay!" Hu Zhiyong smiled: "The airport on the island needs to be expanded. You can go and inspect it on the spot. Mr. Special Envoy, I will be responsible for General Li Mei's air force supplies in return for your warships."
"Hahahaha!" Hopkins laughed: "I heard that you destroyed dozens of naval ships of the island country. This is a great help to us!"
Without the navies of island nations running rampant in the Pacific, the U.S. Navy is simply at home. The few warships huddled in the ports of various islands cannot withstand the attacks of the U.S. fleet.
Roosevelt was also puzzled as to how Hu Zhiyong was able to capture all the warships, aircraft carriers and all weapons of the Japs. He was very curious about Hu Zhiyong's abilities and the combat effectiveness of his troops, and hoped that the two armies could communicate with each other in the future.
On the morning of March 9, 1943, the pilots of the 21st Bomber Command gathered in the war room, waiting for mission instructions before departure. At this moment, the crew learned that they would bomb Tokyo at low altitude that night.
The pilots were talking a lot and couldn't figure out why the day bombing was changed to night.
The mission order was issued, and its content surprised the pilots even more: the bombing altitude was 5,000 to 8,000 feet, low-altitude bombing; all carried incendiary bombs; all weapons except the tail cannon were removed. There was silence in the war room, and the pilots understood
What does it mean to dismantle weapons by low-altitude bombing.
At this moment, General Li Mei's heart was also full of contradictions. He has always been known for his upright character and daring to innovate, but this time, he took a risk with his personal future and reputation. The risk he took was too great!
Before issuing the order, LeMay did not consult Washington. Moreover, he had also heard that the B-29 pilots who had earlier used incendiary bombs to attack Kobe reported that the bombing was not effective.
In order to maximize the power of the incendiary bombs, each B-29 had to remove its guns. The weight saved in this way was combined with the savings of not having to form a tight formation like a high-altitude precision bombing, and not having to fly to 30,000 feet.
The fuel weight allows each aircraft to carry 65% more bombs than usual, that is, more than 7 tons. In this way, more than 300 B-29s can carry more than 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs, enough to cover the Ippei area of Tokyo.
.
As a green flare flashed across the sky, the first B-29 bomber flew into the sky from Guam Airport. 50 seconds later, the second plane took off, and the following planes flew one after another amidst the deafening sound of engines.
The ground took off.
333 bombers formed a formation and flew north. The night sky was clear, and a crescent moon rose at the junction of the sea and the sky. When passing over Iwo Jima, the pilots couldn't help but look down, which would be the most likely danger if the aircraft was injured or malfunctioned.
refuge.
It could be clearly seen from the dark night sky that explosive fires still burst out from time to time, flickering on and off. It was the Marines fighting fiercely with the remaining Japanese troops.
Near midnight, the coastline of Honshu Island appeared on the radar screen of the B-29 bomber pilot.
"Attention all crews, we have arrived above Honshu. We have arrived above Honshu. Please wear protective equipment." The voice of the air commander echoed in the cockpit of each crew.
At 12:15, the navigation B-29 flew over Tokyo. A shrill siren sounded in the night sky, and some searchlights began to shine into the sky. Since the damage caused by US bombings to Tokyo in the past was not serious, many residents did not pay attention to the sirens.
Don't care. But this time they were wrong.
The two leading navigation aircraft crossed over the target at a speed of 300 miles per hour. Before the anti-aircraft gunners of the island nation could turn their guns, the B-29s rumbled away, leaving behind two strings of incendiary bombs.
A few seconds later, two fire dragons suddenly rose up, like two crossed lightning flashes across the city of Tokyo. Each fire dragon was 10 miles long and looked particularly dazzling on the dark ground. 10 more navigation aircraft flew in,
Dropping incendiary bombs on these two crossing lines of fire, like a goddess scattering flowers, "fire from the sky" descended.
The searchlights on the ground were shining crazily on the aircraft group, and the anti-aircraft gunners were also red-eyed, but the B-29s passed by at low altitude one after another at high speed, and none of the shells hit. The pilot of the navigation aircraft easily sent out a radio message:
"The target is obvious, and a large area is on fire. The anti-aircraft guns are not powerful, and the fighter jets are unable to resist."
The bombers of the group followed up, and the incendiary bombs dropped overwhelmingly looked like bunches of bananas under the firelight. When they were 100 feet above the ground, the M47 rockets in the cluster incendiary bombs exploded, shooting out 2-foot-long burning rods that touched the ground.
The thing exploded, spreading gooey fire in all directions. Only 15 minutes had passed since the air raid began, and the fire had spread to wooden houses throughout the city.
Only half an hour after the air raid began, the raging fire spread out of control and people gave up trying to put out the fire. Strong winds reaching speeds of 30 knots per hour fueled the fire. A huge fireball carried fire slag like stars, and erupted from a building.
The object jumped to another building.
On the streets, Japanese firefighters and police officers could neither control the flames raging around nor stop the frightened crowds of people running in all directions. People ran for their lives in all directions, stumbling wildly like rats, with thunderous claps overhead.
There were explosions, fiery snakes scurrying around the streets, and terrifying screams everywhere in the firelight.
The raging flames gradually changed from orange to white, and thick smoke rose into the sky, while the ground was reflected in orange by the fire. The flames swallowed up everything that could burn, the metal melted, and the tiles turned into black powder in the fire.
Many people hiding in air raid shelters were roasted alive.
People went crazy and jumped in desperately when they saw water. Park pools and hospital reservoirs were densely packed with people trying to escape, but the high temperature turned these pools into cauldrons, with hundreds of people
The ground died.
Li Mei anxiously waited for news of the air raid on the fleet. He stared at the dark sky, cigar smoke hanging from the corners of his mouth, his thick eyebrows knitted together, and his eyes narrowed to a slit.
He raised his hands to scratch his hair, wiped the sweat from his forehead, turned around and said to the staff officers gathered in the room: "This decision was entirely made by me, and of course I bear all responsibility. I will report it to the Pentagon!"
"Report!" At this moment, the door of the headquarters burst open, and the communications officer read out with an emergency telegram: "Calling from Bauer: The bomb has been dropped, and the target area is in flames!"
"Victory!"
"Successful!" cheers suddenly erupted from the Palau Air Force headquarters.
ps: When I see flowers, I must send you an extra update. Even though there are only five flowers, I still want to thank you. I will continue to give you support and add two more chapters to express my gratitude!