However, considering that there are Japanese naval blockade ships at the Tumen River estuary, and that this route is too close to the Korean Peninsula, the possibility of interception by Japanese army and naval aviation in northern North Korea, mainly the naval aviation at Chongjin base, will have a great impact on the entire air raid operation. threats.
Yang Zhen suggested that the aviation force could deploy some P-40 fighter jets with a relatively long range to escort the bomber group. Although the maximum combat radius of the P-40 fighter jet could not escort the whole journey, the escort could be within the interception range of the Japanese Army and Navy aviation forces in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. There are no problems outside.
Or the entire bomber group can choose a route that flies slightly north after passing the Tumen River Estuary and entering the Sea of Japan to avoid the interception range of the Japanese naval aviation at the Chongjin base. Moreover, it is completely possible to choose when the bombers take off. Take off in the early morning or dusk, taking advantage of the darkness to avoid the surveillance of Japanese naval ships at the Tumen River Estuary.
Although there are only a few destroyers and gunboats there, and these warships are not equipped with radars, given the quality of the Japanese navy at this time, these warships can be used as air surveillance ships or anti-aircraft firepower ships. For good, the threat to the bomber group is great.
At the same time, when returning, the P-40 fighter jets can also take off to escort the returning bomber group. Although this is more troublesome, with half-way escort, the bomber group can effectively protect the bomber group against the interception of the Japanese Army and Navy aviation forces on the Korean Peninsula. Reduce battle losses as much as possible.
As for the selection of bombing targets, the three targets selected by the aviation force were directly rejected by Yang Zhen. He drew a circle on the location of Tokyo on the Japanese civilian map published by the headquarters, which was the first time to carry out the bombing of the Japanese mainland. When choosing bombing targets, Yang Zhen had only one requirement, and that was that the first batch of bombs launched by the Anti-Japanese Alliance air raids on the Japanese mainland must fall on the Japanese capital.
Moreover, Yang Zhen also specifically proposed for this bombing that ordinary high-explosive bombs would not be used in the bombing of Tokyo. All napalm bombs would be used. The core area of the bombing would be the area where Tokyo Imperial University is located in Japan. Yang Zhen's This decision made the aviation personnel very confused.
Tokyo is located in the Kanto Plain area on the east coast of Honshu Island, close to Tokyo Bay, and is surrounded by the Boso Peninsula and Miura Peninsula like two arms. If the anti-alliance bomber group enters the Tokyo defense circle from the direction of the Sea of Japan, it will need to Crossing the entire Kyushu Island, whether entering or returning, you have to pass through an area where intensive anti-aircraft firepower is deployed.
At present, the Anti-Japanese Alliance has basically no understanding of the strength of the Japanese army and navy aviation forces responsible for homeland defense, as well as the deployment of Japanese air defense forces in the areas they pass through. How many Japanese fighter jets are there on the direct route from Honshu Island to Tokyo? The number of anti-aircraft guns and air observation posts is unclear.
Even apart from a civilian map of Japan and the Tokyo area published by Japan before the war, the entire aviation force did not even have a military map of Japan. It did not have a detailed understanding of the terrain and landforms around Tokyo. Under such circumstances, choosing Tokyo as the bombing target is undoubtedly a very risky thing.
Tokyo is the capital of Japan, and it is also the brains of Japan's war. According to the current practices of the countries participating in the war, as the seat of the Japanese emperor, government and military headquarters, the surrounding air defense in Tokyo must be extremely dense, and a large number of them should be deployed. ground-to-air surveillance posts, anti-aircraft guns, and anti-aircraft fighters.
At present, the Anti-Japanese Alliance lacks fighter jets capable of providing full-range escort. With the meager self-defense firepower of the Il-4 bombers alone, and the need to face a large amount of ground artillery fire and air defense fighters, a hasty air attack on Tokyo will cause huge losses. .
Compared to Tokyo, Kitakyushu was chosen as the target for air strikes not only because it is one of Japan's major steel and arms production bases, but also because Kitakyushu is chosen as the target for air strikes. All routes are basically on the sea, entering and leaving Japan. Avoid interception by road-based aviation.
The most important thing is to avoid a large number of ground-to-air surveillance posts, cover up one's actions, and reduce losses as much as possible. Unlike wired telephones that can be used for communication on the ground, Japan's warships deployed at sea even detect bombers. The group can only use radio to report.
The Anti-Japanese Alliance has high-power radio jamming aircraft, which have repeatedly accomplished extraordinary feats in previous operations. If in this air strike, radio jamming aircraft are dispatched to accompany the team to conduct radio jamming against Japan's air defense warships deployed on the west coast, then it will be completely Partial confidentiality can be achieved. Even if the Japanese warships return to report, it will still be enough to buy enough time for the anti-alliance bomber group.
What the aviation force does not understand the most is that to weaken Japan's war resources, heavy industry and military industry should be the first choice for bombing. The political impact of bombing Tokyo is far greater than the military impact. In addition to announcing to the Japanese, they In addition to the fact that the mainland is no longer safe, the benefits obtained are almost negligible compared to the losses that may be caused by Japanese anti-aircraft firepower around Tokyo.
In fact, except for Yang Zhen's insistence on bombing the Japanese mainland, almost all senior generals of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, including Li Yanping and Guo Bingxun, were not very supportive. In their view, the Anti-Japanese Alliance still had extremely limited aviation, especially long-range aviation. , we should still retain enough troops to deal with the domestic war situation.
In particular, the next phase of the battle is imminent. The precious bombers currently available to the Anti-Japanese Alliance are deployed. When the technology and manpower are unable to meet the needs, it is undoubtedly not worth the gain to waste precious aviation fuel and bombs to risk bombing the Japanese mainland. .
Japan's domestic air defense force is far from comparable to that of China, which had no defense at the time. Even if the main force of its army and navy aviation forces is either on the battlefield in China or has gone south to prepare for combat, Japan's domestic air defense force will still be maintained. above a level.
Under the conditions of modern warfare, as an army that has been accustomed to carrying out large-scale air strikes against enemy countries to weaken the will of the enemy's soldiers and civilians to resist, the Japanese army will not do such a thing. In a war environment, leaving only a few on the mainland, Or it's a stupid thing to leave almost no air defense force, and all the aviation forces are dispatched to the battlefield.
At present, the aviation force of the Anti-Japanese Alliance is still quite limited. Both aircraft and pilots are very valuable. In the face of Japan's strong air defense force and unclear intelligence, the price paid is likely to be that the Anti-Japanese Alliance cannot bearable.
Moreover, for long-distance cross-sea flights, for the aviation forces of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, because the base area is not close to the sea, they have not been exposed to similar training. If they conduct long-distance flights over overseas seas, if any accident occurs, what the Anti-Union Alliance will get is A result in which both man and machine are lost.
For the Anti-Alliance, it is not only difficult to replenish qualified pilots, but also aircraft. The assistance from the United States and Britain is only lip service. Not only is it difficult for the Soviet Union to obtain any supplementary equipment, it even has to obtain it from the Anti-Alliance. Draw blood.
Under such circumstances, air strikes against Japan can be said to be quite risky. Once the losses are too large, they can be ignored by the United States and Britain, which have deep pockets. For the Soviets, who lost tens of thousands of aircraft within a few days of the war. , maybe they don’t care too much, but for the Anti-Lianhe, it means breaking their muscles and bones.
And this kind of injury may mean a devastating blow to the Anti-Alliance Air Force, which is still quite limited in strength. Even if the navigation problem is initially solved, the risk is too great, even if it is Bombing the Japanese mainland will achieve great political effects, but the gains will still outweigh the losses. For the aviation force, it will also be a bit of a waste.
Faced with the fact that his closest comrades-in-arms did not understand or even support him, and the aviation force also did not understand his tactical deployment, in order to unify his opinions, after returning to Harbin, Yang Zhen took time out of his busy schedule to hold a meeting. The military region standing committee includes the commander, political commissar, aviation commander and political commissar of the advancing army, as well as headquarters operations, communications, intelligence and other ministers.
For Yang Zhen, this air strike will be the beginning of the Anti-Japanese strategic air strike against Japan in the entire war. In the future, this kind of action will run through the entire long and cruel war stage. Now we must unify everyone's thoughts and Otherwise, this will still have some impact on future strategic adjustments. Faced with these comrades and brothers who silently support him behind the scenes, Yang Zhen does not want to rely solely on orders to force everyone to execute.
Looking at the group of comrades in front of him who had gone through life and death with him, experienced ups and downs together, and had always been silently supporting him, Yang Zhen hesitated for a moment before speaking: "I know what everyone is thinking, and I understand what everyone is thinking. The reason for the opposition is that, at least on the surface, the current air strikes against Japan will indeed do more harm than good to us."
"Actually, it's not surprising that everyone has this idea. To be honest, the extremely difficult living environment we have experienced has forced us, mainly because I have become an out-and-out realist. When doing anything, When making decisions, the first thing to consider will be the impact of gains and losses on our survival."
"There is no way. The situation we experienced back then forced us to base everything on reality. The environment we faced at that time, survival first became our only choice. We had no time or even energy to make any fantasies. , all political, economic, military and other considerations can only give way to survival first."
"For a long time, this most helpless choice for us has developed our consistent realist style when considering any issue. The first thing we consider is the decision we make, at least for us, the situation we are facing. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, or the disadvantages outweigh the advantages?"
"As for now, everyone thinks that at this time, our air raid on Tokyo, or even the Japanese mainland, will not only gain some political benefits and give an explanation to the United States and Britain, but will not bring any benefits to us militarily, and we may even have to bear the consequences. In addition to suffering huge battle losses, we also endured the retaliation of the Japanese army, which is currently stronger than us."
"But I ask everyone to consider that our choice of Tokyo as the main air strike target this time will not only gain us great points politically and show the United States and Britain our determination to fight Japan, but also militarily we will After paying a certain price, are there any advantages?"
"If there is something beneficial to us, what kind of benefit will we get from it? How big will this benefit be? Compared with the cost we need to pay, will we lose or make a profit? And what will be the impact on the economy and other aspects? , whether there are any benefits, I hope that comrades will use a strategic vision and thinking when considering these issues of mine."