It wasn't until dawn that I flew out of Japan and my mood quickly changed from the excitement of a successful raid to a calmer dawn that I started to count the participating aircraft to see if there were any that had not returned from the voyage or were damaged in battle. I didn't encounter any. There will naturally be no resistance or battle losses, but whether any of the participating aircraft groups have been separated due to wandering is a very critical issue.
The superior's strict requirements that he must maintain strict radio silence after entering the Sea of Japan and before entering the bombing operation made it basically impossible for him to communicate with him except turning on all navigation lights or shaking the wings before the end of the operation. Contact other aircraft.
But shaking the wings at night is difficult to guarantee that the pilots of other planes will see it. But in Yang Zhen's words, even if only one plane reaches the sky over Tokyo and drops the bomb, it will be considered a victory, but in the action , must ensure maximum suddenness, and radio silence is absolutely not allowed to be broken except under non-stipulated circumstances.
As for whether there will be a large number of battle losses due to straying, the headquarters is also very worried. On the one hand, it is to concentrate the limited self-defense firepower of the Il-4 bombers. On the other hand, it is to take this issue into consideration, so it requires the densest formation. Attack, but for Commander-in-Chief Li Ming, it is almost impossible to say that he is not worried.
Although the pilots who participated in the bombing this time were all top picks from the aviation bomber force, almost all of them had a common flaw, that is, they had no experience in long-distance sea crossings, even though they were in the base area. We have conducted many drills, but flying on the ground and flying on the sea are two different things.
Without any ground reference, relying solely on instruments for long-distance sea crossings, and flying at night, the possibility of getting lost is quite high. This is not just the case of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, even if the British and Germans have more experience The veteran air force cannot completely avoid this situation.
Although all the navigation lights of his plane were always turned on during the entire operation, when flying at night, the faint light emitted by the navigation lights could easily be ignored. Even if he was flying in the densest formation, he would still be left behind. The situation of getting lost cannot be completely avoided.
So after flying out of Japan and the radio silence had been broken, Li Ming immediately began to count the aircraft participating in the war. However, none of the aircraft participating in the war strayed, let alone suffered any battle damage. All of them followed behind him intact. , but it made him quite excited.
Looking at the undamaged fleet of aircraft around him, Liming shouted boldly into the microphone: "Brothers, let's go home. We have returned safely. Keep your eyes open. No one is left behind. No. 1 and Commander They are all waiting for us at the base. Whoever falls behind will have half a year's allowance deducted and asked to treat everyone to drinks."
After Liming's words fell, a burst of cheers came from his earphones. It seemed that this raid with almost no damage made all the air crew members who participated in the battle very excited. Listening to the laughter of these brothers in the earphones, Liming He smiled but was not involved.
As the commander of this air strike, he clearly knew that the successful air strike without damage was just an unexpected example. The next time he attacks Japan, he may not be so lucky. What awaits these soldiers will be a fire attack. A Japanese native like a hedgehog.
When the time comes, these are the backbone of the anti-alliance bomber force that will attack with him this time. How many people will be able to welcome the day of victory in the war. There are some things that ordinary pilots don't know, but Liming, as the deputy chief of staff of the aviation force, still has a certain understanding.
of.
He knew that after returning from the raid, the headquarters was preparing to formally establish a strategic bombing command based on all the officers and soldiers who participated in the air raid against Japan. All Il-4 bombers participating in the war would be assigned to this strategic bombing command.
The organization of the ministry.
As the deputy chief of staff, he will serve as the deputy commander of the aviation force and the military chief of the Strategic Bombing Command. He will also serve as deputy commander, which is what No. 1 has repeatedly requested. No. 1 believes that strategic bombing is a coordinated operation of multiple arms, not a single one.
Using bombers to fight, and serving as the deputy commander myself, can coordinate the coordinated operations of various aviation arms more effectively and conveniently.
Although he knew that he would serve as the deputy commander of the aviation force when he returned, and that the success of the bombing of Japan would also lay a good foundation for him, at this moment Liming felt no joy at being promoted, and felt more heavy pressure in his heart.
, he clearly knew that the establishment of the Strategic Bombing Command meant that bombing Japan would become a normal military operation for the Anti-Japanese Alliance in the future.
The success of this raid is just an individual case, and it does not mean that future operations will be as smooth as ever. My responsibility is not only to complete all the tasks assigned by the headquarters, but also to ensure that these brothers can
Live more to see victory.
Although the entire fleet was cheering as they got closer and closer to home, their commander Li Ming did not say another word, and even handed over the driving to his co-pilot.
Then he compared the map and carefully considered the flaws in the bombing operation. As the future supreme bomber commander of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, he had already entered the role in advance.
At this moment, behind them, raging fires were burning around their bombing target. The flames soaring into the sky spread quickly with the help of Japan's northwest monsoon in winter. Although the wind was not strong, it was enough to
This fire has really intensified.
Coupled with the characteristics of napalm's unique large-area splashing properties, and the fact that once it adheres to any location, the material inside is difficult to extinguish without burning out. In a short period of time, the fire took advantage of the wind and the entire Bunkyo Ward, the largest area in Tokyo, was destroyed.
Almost the entire central area was engulfed in flames.
Even though the bomber group led by Li Ming had flown far away from the urban area of Tokyo, when he looked back, he could still clearly see the lights of Tokyo. It turned out that in addition to the street lights on the ground, some of the brightly lit buildings,
Apart from the neon lights on high-rise buildings, most areas of Tokyo are still dark, and at this moment, the sky is illuminated by the fire.
At this time, the anti-aircraft artillery groups around Tokyo, Japan, were just waking up from a dream. Under the guidance of the searchlights that also blindly shined into the air, they blindly fired desperately into the sky. In just this short period of time, they were all over the place.
The anti-aircraft fire in the night sky over Tokyo was like a farewell salute to a group of anti-Japanese bombers.
Compared with the anti-aircraft artillery group that responded quickly, the fighter jets of the Japanese Army and Navy Air Force deployed at all bases including the mainland responded half a beat slower. Despite the fact that the Japanese Air Force's night combat capability was relatively low, after receiving the phone message
They all immediately took off like crazy dogs, searching desperately in the air.
It's just that all radio contacts failed, and we could only rely on wired telephone command. However, this action was always half a beat slow. Except for the Miura Peninsula and Boso Peninsula around Tokyo, combat aircraft took off in time, but they chose the wrong direction. A collective attack was carried out to search the waters north of the Izu Islands on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean.
But when the airmen from other Japanese navy and air force bases received the news and took off one after another to join the search, Li Ming had already flown out of Japan with his undamaged bomber group, and was with the P-40 that took off from Hunchun. The response group composed of fighter jets converged over the West Korea Bay and was returning to the base.
The bombs had already fallen on their heads, but they still didn't know where the enemy planes were coming from. The Japanese army's response was obviously too slow, and its wishful thinking made its search direction deviate. All its naval and air forces were concentrated. When we arrive on the east coast, we will temporarily launch a blanket search.
The Army and Navy Air Force stationed in North Korea, which is in the best interception position among the entire Japanese Army and Navy, did not receive any orders when the Japanese mainland was already like mad dogs everywhere, and stayed on the ground without any warning. Participate in any searches and interceptions.
Japan's domestic air defense operation plan never considered being attacked from the west. After Tokyo was bombed by unknown aircraft, the Japanese army searched in the opposite direction. The first reaction of the Japanese army to this bombing was a sneak attack by an American aircraft carrier. , because in the battle report of the attack on Pearl Harbor, there was no report that the US aircraft carrier was sunk.
In addition to the fleets heading south and westward, they were stationed at Yokosuka near Tokyo, Kure Port in Hiroshima, and Sasebo Naval Base in Nagasaki, as well as the army and navy aviation forces. Although it was already five o'clock in the morning when they received the report that Tokyo had been bombed, All these warships left the port immediately and began searching for the U.S. Navy fleet that might attack Tokyo in the direction of the Western Pacific.
The amount of force it invested was not small, and the scale of the troops invested was not small, especially the naval fleet stationed at Yokosuka Military Port. Because the base was close to Tokyo, although the wireless communication was interrupted, the wired communication was not affected. After receiving After the order was given, they immediately weighed anchor and left the port to search the north of the Izu Islands at maximum speed. However, the search was in the wrong direction, so their operation was destined to come up empty-handed.
It was not until all radio communications were restored and air defense reports from various places were received. After careful analysis and judgment, the Japanese discovered a result that quite surprised them. Not only did they discover that their search directions were all wrong, but even the incoming enemy troops They all made wrong judgments, and the key defense areas they chose were wrong, which also cost Japan a heavy price.
Although the total number of 72 tons of napalm bombs dropped by the Anti-Japanese Alliance was not large, it was enough to ignite a huge fire in the urban area of Tokyo, which was still dominated by wooden structures. Except for some reinforced concrete buildings, The traditional wooden architecture of the Japanese also made the fire quite difficult to extinguish.
And this fire was driven by the strong northwest wind, and the fire became more and more fierce. Even if the Japanese gathered all the fire trucks in Tokyo, they could not put out the fire. They could only open the fire escape and watch helplessly. Looking at the burned area, the fire extinguished itself after it was completely burned.
Just kidding, a fire ignited by a large napalm bomb can be extinguished by ordinary water. Unless it is covered with sand to cut off the oxygen that supports combustion, you can only wait for the combustible substances inside to burn out. But in such a big Tokyo, It's not a construction site, but where can I find so much sand?
Coupled with the characteristics of Japanese wooden buildings, once it burns down, the few old Japanese fire trucks in Tokyo have such great ability to put out the fire as soon as possible. Faced with the ruthless fire, , the Japanese were almost helpless and could only watch the fire engulfing all the buildings within reach.
Universities, residences, libraries, all buildings in the bombing area were mercilessly devoured by fire. "Burning on fire" has become the best adjective for this fire, and this fire will only spread all over Japan after this year. The first of many local fires.