Chapter 367 The only good news for the Japanese army
When these Japanese aircraft, which did not dare to use maximum speed to retreat even if they were escaping, had just completed their turn, a P40 fighter squadron specially designed to deal with them had already pounced on them. After dispersing the Japanese flight formation, they used double
Attacked these aircraft in aircraft formation mode.
What surprised all the pilots involved in the attack was that when these Japanese aircraft faced their own attacks, they acted extremely cautiously. It was as if these aircraft were made of gold, and they would have to pay compensation even if a hole was broken.
.
In fact, these pilots did not know that the Japanese pilots flying these planes were also suffering. They wanted to escape, but because of their extremely unreliable engines, they simply did not dare to escape at the maximum speed. They wanted to fight, but they also had the same problem.
Because of that damn, extremely unreliable engine, it couldn't even make larger maneuvers.
These Japanese aircraft that had been watching the battle found themselves in an extremely embarrassing situation of being unable to fight and unable to run. Even when making movements in the air, they had to be cautious for fear that their vehicles would not be shot down by their opponents.
, but because the engine was on strike, he went to report to Amaterasu himself.
Looking at the enemy planes rushing over from all sides, the commander of the Japanese re-2,000 fighter formation cursed the top Japanese aviation officer in charge of procurement to death: "Damn broken planes, damned engines, damned Italians. The most damned thing.
It’s those guys in the military who got so drunk after playing with women that they got such a bunch of junk and distributed it to themselves.”
"With this damn Italian junk, it is better to continue flying the oldest Type 95 fighter. Although it is an old-fashioned biplane, compared with this kind of fighter, it is as slow as a snail. But at least there is no need to worry because
The engine stalled and he fell from the sky."
"At least in terms of safety, compared with this piece of junk, it is quite guaranteed. It allows you to keep your eyes on the dashboard during combat, and you don't have to worry about the aircraft engine stalling, let alone whether it will be caused by the general
It was an oil leak, and there was not enough to return to the airport, so we concentrated on fighting."
"When flying this damn aircraft, let alone on the battlefield, I have to worry about it when flying. I worry about whether its engine will stall due to extreme unreliability, and whether the fuel control valve will malfunction. As for the battle,
We also have to worry about whether the damn machine gun on this plane will jam. Flying this kind of plane requires not only the blessing of Amaterasu, but also great courage."
Just cursing can vent the anger in his heart, but it can't solve any problems. Facing the enemy planes surrounding him from all sides, the major has to bite the bullet and fight. There is no way, for the so-called honor of the imperial warrior, he can't do it
To flee without a fight. The most important thing is that if you don't dare to fly to the maximum speed, you can't escape even if you run.
In fact, the senior Army Aviation officer who was yelling at the purchase of such aircraft was a pig-brained lieutenant colonel who did not know. For the Japanese Army, the purchase of these aircraft is also in urgent need of new aircraft.
There is no other way.
Although the Battle of Britain has passed, the main force of the German aviation force has been gradually transferred to other directions. However, the war in North Africa and the Mediterranean is intensifying. The German Air Force's air raids and air blockade operations on Malta, a strategic city in the Mediterranean, are at a fever pitch.
In addition, the German army is now making full and secret preparations to fight against the Soviet Union, and its demand for new fighter jets is also huge. Even to Japan, an ally, the Germans are not willing to sell their new fighter jets in large quantities. Although there are hundreds of fighter jets
They are still capable of exporting, but the Germans are still unwilling to sell their new fighter jets at this time.
And asking the Army, which has always been at odds with the Navy, to purchase Navy aircraft is unacceptable to the Army's top brass. Using a large number of Navy aircraft is even considered a shame and a disgrace by the Army. The proud Army top brass even refused to allow the Navy to produce aircraft specifically for the Army.
Nakajima Corporation, the aircraft manufacturer, also made a kind suggestion to switch to producing Zero fighter aircraft as a new generation aircraft for the Army.
The Army just wants to use the Navy's new fighter jets to respond to emergencies before its own new fighter jets are put into production, rather than fully equip the Navy's aircraft. The Army's new fighter jets are currently only on paper and have not even had time to test fly. And the Navy's new fighter jets have not even had time to fly.
Planes have already begun operations.
From the perspective of senior army officials, although it is unacceptable to equip naval aircraft, it is still acceptable to use naval aircraft to respond to emergencies. Japan, which has poor resources and a relatively weak industrial and financial foundation, wants to equip itself with modern weapons and equipment.
With productivity unable to meet demand and financial resources unable to support both the navy and the army at the same time, the army and navy almost went to war in order to compete for limited resources.
The gap between the army and the navy is quite deep. Even though it knows that the so-called friendly forces need to jointly equip the weapons with very advanced performance, the other side would rather equip them with backward old-fashioned weapons or start from scratch rather than use the other side's weapons and equipment.
This is true for anti-aircraft weapons and the same is true for aircraft. Even the weapons on aircraft are not universal.
Army and Navy aircraft are also equipped with seven- and seven-millimeter machine guns, but even the bullets are not universal. The bullet caliber is the same, but the bullet length is different. That is to say, once the Army Aviation aircraft runs out of bullets, it cannot be used for stationing.
Naval fighter bullets at the same airport or adjacent airports.
As for the Navy, after its well-intentioned suggestion was rejected by the Army, the Navy, which was in the process of changing its equipment, also refused to send any aviation units to make up for the losses of the Army. Finally, with the coordination of the Emperor, the Navy reluctantly agreed to send half of the aviation team for twenty
Six Zero fighter jets were transferred to the Northeast to cooperate with the Kwantung Army in operations.
In fact, even if the Army agrees to equip the Zero fighter, the Japanese aircraft factory, which has not yet completed domestic mobilization, will not be able to make up for all the losses of the Kwantung Army within a few months. Under this situation, Italy is the only country that agrees to sell
Countries with a large number of the latest aircraft and stocks on hand have become the only choice for the Japanese.
Moreover, when the test pilots sent by the Japanese army conducted test flights of this kind of aircraft, they performed quite well. Although the engine often had some minor problems, and the fuel tank always leaked oil, it was not as trouble-free and leaky as when it arrived on the Northeast battlefield.
The oil leakage was a mess. Its aerial performance was still very good, and its combat performance in certain airspaces was no worse than that of the Type 97 fighter, which has always been flexible.
What the test pilot dispatched by the Attaché Office of the Japanese Embassy in Italy did not expect was that Italy is located on the Mediterranean coast, which is much warmer than Northeast China where the winter temperature is 20 to 30 degrees below zero. The engine of this aircraft,
It is obviously more adapted to the warm and humid climate there than the dry and cold climate of Northeast China.
You know, even the coldest weather in Italy is much warmer than that in Northeast China in March. In addition, the Italians, who are eager to make a profit from their allies, keep bragging about the performance of this aircraft. For Japan
The aircraft prepared for the test flight was also the best one carefully selected from the production line.
However, the engine reliability of this kind of aircraft is indeed extremely poor, and the layout of the fuel tank also has huge problems. Even the Italian Air Force, which is also at war, is not willing to have it. It would rather have something that at least looks good on paper.
Up, the performance is not as good as the G-50 and MC-200 fighters of this kind of fighter.
Otherwise, operations in the Mediterranean and North Africa are ongoing, facing a large number of British Spitfire and Hurricane fighter jets, as well as various aircraft purchased from the United States. The demand for combat aircraft is also quite large, but its own production capacity is not as good as Japan's
Where in Italy will fighter jets be sold?
It is not surprising that the engine of this kind of aircraft has extremely poor reliability in the warm and silky Italian mainland. It has repeatedly experienced problems in Northeast China, which is much colder than thousands of miles away. After all, when it was originally designed, it was based on the Chinese
It was designed for the climatic conditions of Southern Europe and did not take into account the weather conditions of minus 20 to 30 degrees Celsius.
Although he barely responded to the challenge, the engine failed frequently. Even the damn airborne machine gun was troubled and jammed at every turn, and usually two machine guns jammed at the same time. After a few rounds of bullets, there would be problems with the ammunition feeder and the machine gun.
Even the bullets could not be fired. This was even worse for the Japanese fighter jets in the air battle.
Although it took a lot of effort to deal with these dying RE 2,000 fighter jets, it was far easier than dealing with the Zero fighter jets, which required a lot of effort. Facing these junk fighter jets, Liming hesitated for a moment, and still sent those with some
The guys with actual combat experience were withdrawn and replaced with some novices for training.
His subordinates who had just completed their training and participated in the war for the first time were obviously a little over-excited. When the P-39 fighter jets were withdrawn according to the order, those P-40 fighter jets that appeared in the Xing'an area for the first time swarmed forward.
They didn't care whether the opponents in front of them had enough points or not, so they went up to fight in a group. Even the pilots who had experienced air combat with ME 109 fighter jets also joined in.
Except for the four that crashed, the remaining seventeen RE 2,000 fighter jets were engaged in an aerial encirclement and annihilation battle by the P-40 fighter jets that swarmed up. The flexible two-plane formation, the advantages in aircraft performance, and the high morale.
Although they are all novices who have not really participated in actual combat, these novices are playing very smoothly.
The resistance of the seventeen RE-2,000 fighter jets did not last too long. In the air battle for more than ten minutes, all but one of these fighters risked accelerating and crashed and left the battlefield with all their strength. Two of them suffered engine problems.
Only those who were forced to land on the ground survived. The rest were either shot down or crashed due to engine failure.
Even if this kind of aircraft is useless, one of the biggest advantages is that when diving at high speed, you don't have to worry about the aircraft disintegrating like the Zero fighter. As long as the fuel tank that runs through the entire aircraft is not hit, a forced dive landing is very useful to the pilot.
That said, there is still a glimmer of hope.
And here is located in the Inner Mongolia grassland, the terrain is flat. In addition, it is at the turn of winter and spring, and the ground is far from civilized. After a severe cold winter, the ground here is as frozen as the airport. After the emergency landing, although the plane was lost
But luckily the pilots were saved. This may be the only good news for the Japanese army.