In order to boost the morale of the American people and the morale of the U.S. military fighting hard in the Philippines, in the face of consecutive defeats in the Pacific battlefield, on April 18, the U.S. Army Air Forces dispatched thirty-two bombers to use the Hornet and Enterprise As a base, the aircraft carrier took off and launched the first air raid by the US military on the Japanese mainland during World War II.
After enduring repeated bombings of the Japanese mainland by the Anti-Japanese Alliance, the Japanese army finally shifted its main air defense attention from the east coast to the west coast. A large number of ground observation posts and surface guard ships were transferred to the west coast, and the local air defense fighters were transferred back. Mainly deployed on the side facing the Sea of Japan and southern Korea.
The Japanese, who were a little too extreme in everything they did, never thought that when they no longer had an advance base, the Americans would adopt a tactic that was impossible in their eyes and actually use an aircraft carrier as an advance base for medium-sized bombers to take off. , bombing its homeland.
After suffering heavy losses under the anti-alliance air raids, and with the heavy pressure on local defense mainly concentrated on the west coast, the Japanese army took the wrong approach and neutralized 90% of all air defense forces. Except for leaving some around Tokyo, the rest were mobilized. Arriving on the west coast, a large number of gaps appeared in the originally relatively tight air defense area in the east.
In the eyes of the Japanese, the Miying ghosts who were beaten in Southeast Asia are, at least for the moment, incapable of sneak attacks on the Japanese mainland. The main targets of Japan's air defense are still those despicable anti-leagues who only know how to sneak attacks and don't care about their heads. The stupid Japanese have implemented an empty city strategy on the east coast.
As a result, these Americans, who had advanced combat thinking and dared to do anything, succeeded in one blow. The entire air raid almost did not suffer any losses, and the air attack was completed easily. Thirty-two B-25 bombers were facing the enemy. Tokyo and Shizuoka lost all the ammunition they carried.
After the sneak attack was successful, the US pilots who participated in the air attack immediately flew their bombers without any delay and flew to the anti-alliance base in northern Manchuria as quickly as possible. The anti-alliance base in northern Manchuria was the largest anti-alliance base in Japan except the Soviet Union In addition, it is the closest available base to the Japanese mainland.
As early as when the Americans began to implement this plan, several airports in the Anti-Union base areas were the Americans' preferred retreat targets. However, some overly nervous Americans did not report to the Anti-Union until the first three days of the operation. This action undoubtedly made Yang Zhen very dissatisfied.
But the Americans also promised that after these bombers arrived in the Northeast, they would be handed over to the Anti-Japanese League on the spot. As military aid to the Anti-Japanese League, the American aviation personnel on the planes could temporarily stay in the Northeast as instructors until the Anti-Japanese League was completely familiar with and mastered these bombers. The so-called latest medium-sized bomber made by the United States only slightly alleviated some of Yang Zhen's dissatisfaction.
However, although he was dissatisfied with the fact that the Americans only told the matter so late, Yang Zhen, as another insider, was quite surprised by the amount of troops invested by the US military. This seemed to be similar to what he remembered. It seems different.
According to Yang Zhen's understanding, during this operation, the Americans seemed to have dispatched less than twenty B-25 bombers to bomb the Japanese mainland. There were not as many as thirty-two. He was a little confused. Where did these extra bombers come from?
As a medium bomber, the B-25 is not as big as the B-17 and B-24, but its size and weight, especially the weight after being loaded with bombs and fuel, are not strict. The carrier-based aircraft can be compared in terms of weight and volume.
At this time, an aircraft carrier was fully equipped, but it was unlikely that it could carry more than thirty aircraft. This was still a big American aircraft carrier. If it were replaced by the British and Japanese aircraft carriers, it would be very good to carry a few aircraft. And now the The largest U.S. aircraft carrier is only over 30,000 tons. It is not the big thing that will easily reach hundreds of thousands of tons in a few decades, and its carrying capacity is not that large.
But for Yang Zhen, no matter where these extra bombers came from, since these bombers are from friendly forces and not from the Japanese army, since they came to the North Manchu base area at this time, don't even think about being a bystander. These thirty Two American bombers, which had not damaged a single hair during air raids on the Japanese mainland, were requisitioned along with their pilots.
Originally, these foreign monks who had come all the way and received strict training were all left to fight in the Northeast battlefield to prevent these guys from inadvertently flying away because they were too close to the Guannei-controlled area. Whether it was Guisui or Jining, for For a bomber with a range of several thousand kilometers, the distance is too close.
From Guisui to Xi'an, it is very close to this kind of aircraft. Putting these American aircraft in Suiyuan, you have to worry about watching them. However, after the Japanese reinforcements arrived one after another, after the British provided those Since the light bombers were not really strong enough to bear heavy responsibilities and were simply a pile of rubbish, Yang Zhen transferred twelve of them to Guisui Airport to make up for the lack of bombing power on the northern Shanxi battlefield.
In fact, Yang Zhen was a little worried. Even though those American pilots were unwilling to stay here to participate in the war, their former U.S. Army Aviation Lieutenant Colonel, who formulated the entire plan and was responsible for implementing the team, heard that they could participate now. Fighting, but he was so excited that his eyes were full of little stars, and it was obvious that he agreed with one thousand and ten thousand.
Besides, although the U.S. military is less hierarchical than other Western armies, it does not mean that this army is loose and lacks enthusiasm for fighting. In fact, as long as the U.S. military completes training, its combat skills are superb and battlefield discipline is also quite strict. In terms of obeying orders, it is not as exaggerated as Yang Zhen imagined.
The enthusiasm for fighting is also quite high. It is not what some people say. It is not like marching without cars and roads. There is no way to fight without air support, without the cooperation of heavy artillery and tanks. The US military in the Philippine battlefield is not Without so much support, it lasted the longest in the entire Southeast Asian battlefield.
As a modern military, the emphasis on logistics is the development trend of modern warfare. It cannot be a reason to despise the US military. A layman looks at tactics and an expert looks at logistics. This is the perspective that a modernized army should have. Who should despise it? If the U.S. military treats them as young soldiers, they will suffer heavy losses on the battlefield.
Their commanders all expressed their willingness to cooperate with the Anti-Japanese War, and the people below would strictly implement the orders. Moreover, the Americans, who had been suppressed and beaten by the Japanese after the Pearl Harbor Incident, also felt suffocated in their hearts. At this time, they could fight with Japanese dwarf with real guns and live ammunition
The wealthy Americans, who originally did not have much hope for the survival of the more than 30 B-25 bombers, generously kept all these American bombers and crews after receiving Yang Zhen's request. Next, "cooperate" with the anti-alliance friendly forces in operations.
For the Americans, since they have transferred these bombers to the Anti-Japanese Alliance as part of military aid, they can simply be more generous and lend these air crews to the Anti-Japanese Alliance. Anyway, these personnel will return soon. No, even though these US military pilots are all veterans, a considerable number of them are at the instructor level.
In fact, Yang Zhen is not willing to use these Americans who are relatively skilled but difficult to manage and arrogant. But at this time, where can he find so much time to complete flight conversion training? There are so many pilots who are familiar with this kind of American bombers, so even if he doesn't like these Americans very much, he can only make do with them for the time being.
As for where these extra bombers came from, Yang Zhen later learned the details from Pearson. Because he was stimulated by the Anti-Japanese Anti-Japanese Bombing, he received a request from the local Anti-Union to provide a landing base for the American bombers to attack Japan. After requesting cover when passing through North Korean waters.
Pearson asked the country to send as many bombers as possible, that is to say, send as many bombers as possible. What Pearson meant was that the U.S. Army must not lag behind the Chinese in this regard. This was for Pearson, an army officer. It's a matter of concern to the honor of the Army of the United States of America.
The U.S. Army Air Corps, which was responsible for carrying out this combat mission, after receiving Pearson's telegram, also felt that the original plan of sixteen aircraft was a bit small. The Chinese could gather nearly a hundred aircraft to bomb Japan. As an aviation industry The United States, the most developed country, only dispatched sixteen bombers, which was somewhat embarrassing. Instead, it simply did nothing and mobilized fifty bombers.
But the U.S. Navy resolutely refused to comply with the Army's request. What a joke. The warships lost in the Pearl Harbor incident are either still under the sea or under repair. The Pacific Fleet only has these few aircraft carriers left, which are still large ships. Your Army Crazy, but the Navy doesn't have the capital to accompany you crazy.
Finally, under the coordination of the U.S. Secretary of the Army, the Navy made concessions on this issue related to the honor of the United States of America. It added one aircraft carrier to the two aircraft carriers originally planned to dispatch, the USS Lexington, to serve as air cover. The question is, use the USS Enterprise and the newly commissioned USS Hornet aircraft carrier as the starting base for these huge guys.
The U.S. Army Air Force crazily packed thirty-four B-25 bombers on these two aircraft carriers. However, when taking off, one plane failed to pull up and fell into the Pacific Ocean. Due to engine failure, they were unable to take off and in order to clear the runway, they pushed directly into the sea. The remaining thirty-two bombers completed a bombing of Tokyo and then arrived at the Anti-Alliance base area.
Yang Zhen naturally accepted these unexpected surprises that exceeded his expectations. Moreover, the performance of these American-made B-25 bombers is indeed quite excellent, with large range, large bomb load, and far superior self-defense firepower. More than the Soviet-made Il-4 bomber with only three machine guns.
Judging from its performance on the Northeast battlefield, the troops have a high evaluation of this American-made medium bomber. In ground support operations, although it is a medium bomber, it is quite flexible to use. Yang Zhen mobilized them to northern Shanxi On the battlefield, it can be regarded as taking care of the capital.
Chen Hanzhang, who was commanding on the front line, immediately adjusted his deployment after receiving the latest enemy situation report from his boss, and mobilized part of his troops and an artillery regiment to first strengthen the defense with the advancing army's junction, and then at Dukaishan Before the arrival of the entire army, ensure the safety of the joint area between the Anti-Japanese Alliance and the Advance Army.
At the same time, a tank regiment of the 1st Armored Division was concentrated, and in cooperation with a main division of Wang Minggui's command on the western front, they first used the mountain roads to quickly pass through. With the cooperation of the First Department of the Jinsui Military Region, which gradually rushed back to the base area in northwestern Shanxi, they first Previously, Wang Minggui and Wang Minggui ate the left detachment of Dingniu between Shuo County and Shenchi.
Then concentrate on dealing with the new Japanese reinforcements appearing east of Beitongpu Road, as well as the Japanese 32nd Division and the 1st Division of the 41st Division, which are likely to launch an attack from the center and are currently being reorganized in the Taiyuan area. Especially the line from Yangwankou to Yanmenguan, which the Japanese army must pass through when going north from Taiyuan, as well as Ruyuekou and Beiloukou to the east of Beitongpu Road, several key points in the Great Wall.