Chapter Forty-ninth Talking Is Better Than Nothing
Of course, Yang Zhen's request for the Soviet Pacific Fleet to assist in training a group of long-range pilots did not receive much assistance from the Soviet Union, which was worried about angering the Japanese. In this regard, the Soviets only provided a group of sextants for maritime positioning, and in Within two months, 20 aircrews and 40 navigators were trained for the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
All the learning experiences of these twenty crews and forty navigators in the Soviet Union, except for learning to use instrument flying and sextant positioning at sea, all the other courses were to fly the Il-4 bomber, according to its maximum activity radius, and flew back and forth several times over the already snow-white Sea of Okhotsk.
All actual combat training, that is, a deserted island off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula was used as a target, and each plane dropped a few bombs. As for the rest, nothing was learned. In less than three months, These aviation personnel returned home at a speed beyond imagination.
Regarding the Soviet Union's perfunctory measures in this regard, Yang Zhen was not too surprised, nor did he pursue it too closely. The Soviet army itself lacked experience in long-range bombing and long-distance flight at sea, and the pilots it trained could only be used in emergencies.
Its actual combat capability is far different from that of the Japanese naval aviation, which took off from Jeju Island many times for cross-sea bombings after the July 7th Incident. The Japanese naval aviation, which has received special training, has quite a lot of experience in this area. In comparison, the Soviet Union was far behind.
Yang Zhen did not expect how many talents they could train for the Anti-Japanese Alliance when they themselves were not strong enough. In fact, the twenty flight instructors selected were all cadres at the level of squadron leader, and in After the Songhua River air battle, he received training on the ground from captured Japanese naval aviation long-range bomber pilots and navigators.
For Yang Zhen, it is best if the Soviets are willing to provide local training. There is nothing to blame if they are not willing, because before the arrival of a large amount of American assistance, the number of bombers of the Anti-Japanese Alliance that can reach the Japanese mainland is not many, even if It has trained a large number of pilots, but it is in vain without bombers.
Moreover, the Soviets' long-range navigation capabilities and long-distance bombing capabilities are far behind the British. This can be fully seen from the Soviets' few failed bombings against Germany since the outbreak of the Soviet-German War. The first air raid only dispatched fourteen Il-4 bombers, but more than half of them got lost in the middle, and only six reached the sky above Berlin.
This is the naval bomber flight group that specializes in flying at sea. After replacing the air force that was supposed to carry out strategic bombing missions, its performance has not improved, but has become worse. It often dispatches more than ten bombers, and only a few The aircraft found the target, and the rest flew to who knows where, and the battle damage rate suffered was far higher than the results achieved by their bombing.
The engine failure and the aircraft's own reasons, as well as being intercepted by our own anti-aircraft artillery and fighter aircraft units, caused much more battle damage than the losses caused by the enemy's anti-aircraft firepower, even reaching the level of dispatching twelve Peba long-range heavy-duty aircraft at one time. Bombers bombed Berlin, and only four of them reached their targets.
The rest were either because they lost their way and flew to unknown destinations, or were shot down by their own people. More likely, they were due to engine failure and crashed midway. The Soviet army's long-range bombing tactics and actual training level were very different from Yang Zhen's. In his eyes, it can be said that he is imbecile.
The consequences of the Great Purge were not only the shattered brains of the Soviet army, but also the terrible impact on military concepts and training. All of this needed to be made up for with blood on the battlefield. The Soviet bombing of Germany, Their pilots and aviation forces had done their best, but apart from showing the Germans their determination to resist, their bombing results had almost no results.
From the first launch of several operations to the more than ten air strikes that were completely stopped due to the impact of the war situation, none of them could even be considered a success. All aviation units participating in the battle, regardless of the navy and air force, had a chance of getting lost during the operation. , almost one hundred percent.
The example of the Soviet army's bombing campaign against Germany has shown that with the current capabilities of the Soviet army, it will take a long time to complete long-distance flight bombing at sea. The reason why Yang Zhen made this request is that it is better than nothing. In fact, he does not have high expectations. hope.
This request is just to carry out certain practical operations in order to gain some relevant experience for future command of the bombing of Japan. After all, there is a big difference between long-distance flight at sea and long-distance flight on land. Without reference, the Soviet system With the bomber's instrumentation lagging behind, experience is still very important.
Only after ground training and experimental flights on land, it is difficult to meet the needs of sea flight, and this is precisely the most prerequisite for bombing Japan as an island country, and the Anti-Japanese Alliance is not surrounded by the sea, so it wants to gain this experience We can only count on the Soviets for the time being.
It's best if the Soviets are willing to help. If they don't want to help, there's no need to force them. If the Soviets can really do it, Yang Zhen hopes they can provide another batch of Il-4 bombers to supplement the number of long-range bombers in the Anti-Japanese Alliance. There are some shortcomings in the current situation, but as for other things, he doesn't have too much hope.
As early as when the agreement was signed, Yang Zhen didn't care too much whether the Soviets could fully abide by the agreement in this regard. Even Lieutenant General Ryabyshev agreed to list this article without much hesitation. However, in Yang Zhen's view, the possibility of the Soviets, who always regarded breach of contract as a meal, to fully comply with this agreement is extremely slim.
Whether to sign or not is one thing, and whether to implement or not is another matter for the Soviets. Although under the pressure of the war situation, the Soviets will not turn over the same page as before, but there are some aspects , especially when the interests of the Soviet Union were involved, they would not take it seriously at all.
However, Yang Zhen did not expect that although the Soviets only trained 20 crews and 40 navigators, they would still have more than 60 surviving medium-sized bombers, the Ye Er-2 bombers, which were discontinued due to the war, by the end of the year. The frame, along with all the drawings, were all handed over to the Anti-League.
One hundred and twenty Su-2 light bombers, all of which still had combat effectiveness, were forcibly exchanged from the Anti-Japanese Alliance. Yang Zhen was actually very dissatisfied with this deal. The Ye-er-2 bombers had a range of more than 4,000 kilometers, and the range of the two thousand Su-2 light bombers was The bomb load of one ton with a range of more than 1 km is indeed far enough to meet the needs of the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
However, the reliability of this kind of aircraft is really bad, especially the reliability of the engine. It is just like a pile of garbage. When the first batch of six bombers shipped from the Soviet Union arrived for the Anti-Alliance test flight, Four of them were downed due to engine failure.
Of the remaining two, one had both engines failed five minutes after takeoff, and it fell directly to the ground. Fortunately, it was not flying at a high altitude at the time. The engines of these aircraft were not very good, but the bodies were quite strong. Several air crew members suffered only minor injuries.
How dare Yang Zhen want such a bomber? This is not to send his pilots to heaven to join the war, but to send them directly to hell. However, the Soviets threatened to drive back all the Anti-Japanese League students studying in the Soviet Union and forced the Anti-Japanese League to agree to the exchange. Because this incident caused too much controversy, and the Americans promised to provide certain compensation, Yang Zhen finally agreed to the exchange.
After the Soviets lost all their forward bases for bombing Germany, these long-range bombers also lost all their role. Moreover, these Ye Er II bombers had relatively high requirements on the airport runway and could not be used as front-line bombers, so the Soviets took them out. In exchange with the Anti-Japanese Alliance, it is more in line with the current situation of the Soviet army. The Su-2 light bomber can be used as a frontline bomber.
Of course, Yang Zhen finally nodded because the Americans agreed to coordinate with the British to give them another seventy Battelle light bombers with a performance of not less than 70 to the Anti-Japanese Alliance as compensation. Yang Zhen didn’t want to do this deal at all. The performance of British light bombers was at On top of the Su-2 light bombers, it would be a good thing if we could get a batch of them, which could effectively alleviate the pressure on the Anti-Alliance A-20 attack aircraft.
In fact, although Yang Zhen doesn't like the Su-2 light bomber very much, because the armor of this aircraft is too thin and the self-defense firepower is very poor, but its good maneuverability and extremely low requirements for the airport are comparable to the Soviet SB series bombers. Not only the range is much longer than that, but the bomb load is not much less.
The most critical thing is the maneuverability and maintainability, as well as the adaptability to frontline airports. It is far superior to the SB series bombers. Currently used as a frontline support tactical bomber, its performance is still not backward. For the Anti-Japanese Alliance, it is the IL IV. Bombers and bombers with a range of more than 2,000 kilometers like the DB 3 are really a waste to be used as frontline bombers.
The number of A-20 attack aircraft is still insufficient at present. Although the Su-2 light bombers are increasingly unable to meet the needs, they are still better than nothing. The transfer of these more than 120 aircraft will weaken the anti-alliance aviation force. It doesn't have strong ground support capabilities.
The bombing of Japan was necessary for Yang Zhen, but now Yang Zhen knew very well that before the return of the British personnel, it could only be symbolic, and the strategic bombing of Japan could be carried out. The Anti-Japanese Alliance now had a shortage of aircraft, pilots and navigation The number of staff is also insufficient.
Moreover, although the Il-4 and DB-3 bombers have sufficient range, their flight instruments are too crude and their self-defense capabilities are too poor. If they take off from Mudanjiang and Jiamusi, the bomb load for the long range to the Japanese mainland is only 750 kilograms. I think To wait until the bombing of Japan is really fully launched and truly reaches a large scale, we still have to wait for the bombers promised by the United States and Britain to be in place. Soviet-made bombers, at least for now, cannot bear this task.
Not to mention these Ye Er II bombers, which are extremely unreliable in performance, they are the best long-range bombers of the Soviet army at present. Even the Il IV bombers cannot meet the scale of bombing against Japan required by them. But before the US and British assistance arrives, after all, these Soviet-made bombers The bombers will have to hold on for a while, at least until assistance from the United States and Britain arrives.
In order for the United States and Britain to prove their determination to cooperate with them in the war in exchange for more equipment, Yang Zhen did not want to divert aircraft that could carry out tactical bombing of the Japanese mainland at this time, although these Soviet-made bombers could not really assume the strategic responsibility against Japan. The main force of bombing, but the intention is different from time to time, but the meaning is still okay.
Moreover, he also needs these long-range bombers to launch a certain strategic scale of air strikes against the Japanese Army in North China and even the Japanese Army in Central China, mainly on the communication lines, in the next phase of the operation, in order to curb the mobilization of Japanese troops in the pass and achieve the objectives of the next phase of the operation. Create conditions.
With the limited number of these two types of aircraft, they cannot be converted into front-line support. Under this premise, Yang Zhen is naturally unwilling to replace those front-line tactical bombers with performance that can roughly meet the needs of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. The so-called long-range bomber with extremely poor reliability,