At 8:50 p.m., all the cars on both sides of the airport runway turned on their headlights at the same time, illuminating the airport runway in white. There were several high-power searchlights around the airport, except for the two necessary for air warning.
, and the rest also gather all the lights on the tarmac and runway.
The entire Dongning Airport was illuminated in a blanket of snowy white, which could be seen clearly from several kilometers away. The sound of all participating aircraft starting their engines at the same time resounded through the entire airport. One after another, IL-4 aircraft were loaded with fuel and aerial bombs.
The planes are lined up neatly on the runway and are ready for takeoff.
At this moment, almost all the ground staff who were not on duty, and even the cooks in the canteen, rushed to both sides of the runway to see off the bombers. Although all of them had almost no idea where the target of the bombing was.
But the arrival of No. 1 in person undoubtedly confirmed their suspicions in some aspects.
They are no longer on the ground. When the bomber groups were dispatched before, No. 1 never came to see them off in person. No matter how important the mission was, No. 1 never showed up in person. This time, No. 1 can come to see them off in person.
This can only illustrate the importance of this bombing target.
For those whose heads are spinning fast, this further confirms the speculation that the target of their bombing can only be the Japanese mainland, and maybe even Tokyo. Of course, many people are not just seeing off the troops participating in the war.
There are also some people who want to see Yang Zhen as the number one.
After all, the opportunities for close contact with the No. 1 of the entire army are now very, very few for these front-line personnel. As the army grows stronger, Yang Zhen has few opportunities to fight with the front line like before.
Although he will choose to join the army once he has the opportunity and free time, after all, for him, there is too little time to join the army now.
Given this opportunity to see their god-like No. 1, these ground crews would not give up this opportunity. Everyone came to see off the bomber group that went into battle. But basically most of the people, intentionally or unintentionally, gathered around Yang
Zhen's side. Such a thing that kills two birds with one stone, who would be so stupid to give up such a rare opportunity.
Yang Zhen smiled and ignored the cadres and soldiers who gathered around him. He liked to stay with his troops, but now was not an opportunity. After these bomber groups took off, he would spend time with these cadres and soldiers.
For a while. Although over at the headquarters, he really shouldn't leave for too long now.
When the pointer on Yang Zhen's watch was about to point to nine o'clock, Yang Zhen nodded to Fang Ziyi. The three combat staff beside Fang Ziyi opened the signal gun without any hesitation and fired three rounds into the sky as the order to start the operation.
Red flare.
As these three red flares took off, the first plane driven by Li Ming quickly took off. The rest of the bomber group following him also took off one after another. At this moment, standing next to the airport runway
Yang Zhen, regardless of the strong airflow brought by the plane's propeller, stood on the edge of the runway with Fang Ziyi, saluting the standard military salute to the bombers that continued to take off. Yang Zhen's raised right hand did not slow down until the last bomber took off the ground.
Put it down slowly.
At the same time that the participating bomber groups from Dongning Airport took off one after another, all the bomber groups that took off from Ning'an Airport also took off on time. Fang Ziyi personally led the training before, and the hard work he put in was not in vain. On the ground radar
With the assistance, the two groups of aircraft accurately converged over Hunchun, then turned southeast and flew over the Tumen River Estuary.
After reuniting with the navigation aircraft at the mouth of the Tumen River, under the guidance of the navigation aircraft, everyone climbed to an altitude of 6,000 meters to avoid the Japanese warships on the sea. They formed a dense formation and headed eastward.
The Japanese mainland, a thousand kilometers away, rushed directly.
The two high-power radio stations responsible for navigation tasks were also turned on at the same time under the personal supervision of the Minister of Communications and the Political Commissar respectively. Powerful radio waves converged in the sea east of Honshu Island, Japan, for the bomber group participating in the Anti-Japanese War,
Pointed out the direction into mainland Japan.
Although the vast darkness of night brought some inconvenience to the bomber group's rendezvous and flight, it also provided cover to a certain extent. The bomber group passed through the Sea of Japan, which was firmly controlled by Japan. When the anti-alliance bomber group passed through the Sea of Japan,
When it was clear, the Japanese Navy's warning ships deployed at the Tumen River Estuary and the Sea of Japan did not detect these bombers at their highest ceiling, crossing the Tumen River Estuary and West Korea Bay and entering the Sea of Japan, which has always been regarded as Japan's internal sea.
group.
Entering the Sea of Japan safely without encountering the fire interception of the Japanese naval ships blocking the Tumen River Estuary, heralded a successful first step. But Liming did not dare to take it lightly, because he knew the real danger, and still
Far behind. Entering the Japanese mainland from the Noto Peninsula is the real danger.
In order to save fuel as much as possible and ensure that the participating aircraft groups have enough fuel to return home. Even if they are flying over the Sea of Japan, his bomber group must fly at an altitude of less than one thousand meters above the sea level, so that they can do their best.
Save fuel.
On the Sea of Japan, which is more than a thousand kilometers wide, there are still large and small Japanese guard ships. Flying at this altitude, even at night, it is difficult not to be discovered. As long as one Japanese guard ship discovers its bomber group
, then what awaits you after entering Japan will be a fire net.
What surprised Li Ming was that after leading a group of bombers to fly for five hours at an altitude of one thousand meters, they successfully entered Honshu Island from between the Noto Peninsula and Sado Island in the early morning of the 9th before climbing quickly.
While crossing the entire Sea of Japan, he and his men did not encounter any interception along the way.
In fact, Lai Ming was quite lucky. She never thought that she would be attacked from the east. Instead, the Japanese focused all their attention on the west coast. Their carelessness created opportunities for them. Although certain warnings were deployed in the Sea of Japan
Ships, but not to mention small ships converted from fishing boats, are not numerous in number. Moreover, they are deployed too close to the Japanese mainland.
However, even if the number is small, as the bomber group led by Liming gets closer and closer to the Japanese mainland, the Japanese guard ships deployed on the east coast of Honshu Island have discovered these bomber groups more than once. But all the guard ships
Almost no one took these bombers seriously and did not send any radio signals.
Compared with the Type 97 bomber of the Japanese Army, the size and volume of the IL-4 bomber are almost the same. It is difficult even for professionals to see the difference between the two just from the bottom of the fuselage without looking at the logos painted on the nose and the aircraft.
Identification. At night, it is difficult to quickly distinguish the subtle differences between the Il-4 bomber and the Type 97 bomber in a short period of time with the naked eye alone.
And these large numbers of aircraft were flying from the east towards North Korea. Apart from the Army Air Forces stationed in North Korea, there was no enemy in that direction who had the ability to use long-range aircraft to sneak attack on the Empire of Japan. The Soviets were currently too overwhelmed to take care of themselves.
, simply have no ability to compete with the empire
It was obvious that the Japanese navy guard ship that discovered the anti-alliance bomber group mistook these aircraft for the Type 97 bomber group of the Army Air Force flying from North Korea for night flight training. The traditional estrangement between the Japanese army and navy made the two
The two military services had a very unhappy relationship with each other, and they hardly informed each other of any situation.
After the ship in charge of the alert discovered these aircraft approaching the mainland, the person in charge who was awakened from his sleep only cursed these Army lunatics and did nothing. He even asked the Army to find out who these aircraft were.
It's not that they didn't do anything.
Not only did the guard ships on the coast not take these bombers seriously, even after entering Honshu Island, the most heavily protected island in Japan, there was no response from Honshu Island, which was sleeping at this time. There was no anti-aircraft attack as expected.
Searchlights and no anti-aircraft fire filled the sky. What awaited them was only the silent sky, the ground and the ocean they had passed through.
Lacking modern observation equipment such as radar, Japan's domestic air defense forces can only rely on naked-eye observation from ground observation posts. There is no ideological or action preparation for these uninvited guests flying from the west. The thick night sky above Honshu Island in winter also
This makes it impossible for the air defense observation posts on the ground to accurately judge whether these aircraft are friendly or enemy.
Even if they heard the sound of engines in the air, the air defense observation posts on the ground, like the warning ships on the sea, may have regarded these aircraft as Army Aviation Type 97 bombers flying from the Korean Peninsula, and did not regard them as one.
After all, none of the warning ships on the sea sounded the alarm, so they had nothing to worry about. If it were an enemy plane, the warning ships on the sea would have already sounded the alarm.
The victory of the Japanese army in Southeast Asia has caused the entire Japanese mainland to be on the loosest defense at this moment. Perhaps no one in the entire Japanese mainland will even think that the enemy, which is even a thousand kilometers away, will dispatch bombers to attack it.
Carry out bombing on your own homeland.
Due to the lack of effective sighting equipment, the fighter groups remaining on the mainland had almost no night fighting capabilities. And they did not believe that the Anti-Japanese Alliance would dispatch bomber groups to break into Japan from the Sea of Japan in the west. All attention was focused on the Pacific coast in the east.
The anti-aircraft artillery group was also almost unprepared.
When it comes to defense, their focus is on the west coast, which is more likely to be attacked by aircraft carriers. In the Japanese thinking, the only thing that can threaten their homeland is aircraft carriers. As for road-based bombers, the Soviets have too much to take care of themselves, and the Chinese do not
That ability. Therefore, the defense of its homeland focuses on the west, while the east can be described as so-so.
After all, the Japanese army, which has now begun to fight south, has used its troops and equipment to the extreme in the face of multiple fronts. The limited defense forces left behind should be placed in a direction that is more vulnerable to attacks. Of course, in a few years
Places relatively close to China like Kitakyushu, which was bombarded with paper bombs before, still need to be more vigilant.
Since the Japanese did not take it seriously, in order to maintain strict confidentiality, the radio jammer accompanying the air raid group of the Anti-Japanese Alliance would naturally not take the initiative to expose the target. According to the plan, when the radio jammer did not detect a radio signal,
Always remain silent.
When they finally came into play, after the bomber group was discovered by the Japanese army, they cut off the radio contact between the Japanese mainland and the maritime warning ships to ensure that the bomber group could successfully complete the mission and exit safely. If the Japanese army did not issue an alarm, they
The target will not be actively exposed.
The Japanese are not fools. Once the radio interference is fully launched, the Japanese can easily judge that there is an abnormal situation. The originally sparse defense will immediately become alert. Since the Japanese do not take it seriously, the Anti-League themselves will not take the initiative to expose it.
Target.
Because even if radio interference can cut off the Japanese military's radio communications, there are still methods such as wired telephones and wired telegraphs in the country that cannot interfere. If the Japanese are alerted, then it will have the most fatal impact on the bomber group led by Liming.