If the battle-damaged bombers really cannot hold on to the west coast, they should parachute over the Pacific as much as possible, and do not parachute in the inland areas of Japan. Because according to the agreement reached between the Anti-Japanese Alliance and the United States, the United States will send troops to Japan on a rotational basis.
Submarines were dispatched to the east coast to perform blockade missions against Japan and also participate in rescuing anti-Union pilots.
In exchange, the Anti-League will provide the Tumen River Estuary as a temporary parking point for U.S. Navy submarines to refuel and replenish supplies. When U.S. Navy submarines are operating in the Sea of Japan, the Anti-League will provide air cover and certain support as much as possible.
Moreover, this rescue tactic of the Anti-Japanese Alliance was also extended to US air crews after the US military participated in the bombing of Japan.
Although the Japanese adopted the extreme method of shooting the anti-Japanese air crews who were shot down over the mainland and captured them without any interrogation. Even Japanese ordinary people joined in the massacre of the parachuting air crews. The US military also participated in the rescue.
The submarines are always half-hearted and insufficient in number.
However, due to the efforts of the Anti-Japanese Alliance to continuously improve rescue methods, although the Anti-Japanese Alliance suffered heavy losses in the early stages of bombing Japan, the permanent losses of air crews involved in the bombing operations have always been kept within a controllable range. Although the number is not high,
It is relatively small, but compared with the European battlefields of the same period, it can almost be said to be at a negligible level.
Most of the bomber aircrew who were shot down over the Sea of Japan, or those who supported the crashed bomber over the Sea of Japan, were rescued as long as they parachuted. During the entire air raid on Japan, these seaplanes rescued more than a thousand aircrew, almost
They accounted for 60% of the aircrews who lost aircraft during the Anti-Japanese War.
Coupled with the 700 to 800 people rescued by US submarines, the loss of bomber aircrews of the Anti-Japanese Alliance was the smallest among all strategic bombing forces in the entire World War II. Although the bombing intensity became more and more intense, the battle losses were not light.
, but the bomber force has always retained its vitality.
Thanks to the sturdy airframes and extremely strong survivability of the American-made B-17 and B-24 bombers, as well as the British-made Stirling bombers. In addition, the width of the Japanese mainland from east to west is not large, and the main bombing target of the Anti-Japanese Alliance is Honshu Island.
The width is only 250 kilometers, and the narrowest is only 50 kilometers.
As long as these bombers are not directly hit and disintegrated over Japan, or all four engines are hit and fail, they can basically struggle to parachute or make an emergency landing on the west coast of Japan. Especially the B-17 bombers and Stirling bombers, even
Even with half of its wings knocked off, it could still struggle to fly out of the Japanese archipelago.
Even the Stirling bomber, which has the strongest body, is a bomber that was modified from a Sunderland seaplane. It can still maintain a certain degree of buoyancy when it makes an emergency landing on the sea. These ensure the air service of most battle-damaged bombers.
personnel, can avoid parachuting over the Japanese mainland.
In this extremely tight rescue network woven by the Anti-League, most of these personnel were rescued. Compared with the success rate of U.S. submarine rescues on the east coast of Japan, which was only 20%, the Anti-League
This rescue effect can be said to be quite outstanding.
You must know that even when the U.S. military participated in air strikes, U.S. submarine rescue operations were much more active, but they were far from reaching a rescue rate of 60%. It is precisely these rescue methods that have been adopted to avoid the death of air crews due to battle damage.
Heavy casualties and captures affected the availability of bomber units.
Use a large seaplane as a tanker within the combat radius of the P40 fighter jet taking off from Hunchun, and use a seaplane with a short range, but a light and flexible body as a first-line search method. This is still Yang Zhen's idea from later generations.
The idea that was pondered in the air tanker.
Although the current aerial refueling technology is not yet mature, and the Anti-Japanese Alliance does not have the ability to manufacture similar equipment. However, when the sea surface is less stormy and the waves are small, the characteristics of seaplanes that can take off and land on the water are used to convert large transport aircraft into tankers.
It refuels small aircraft, effectively extending the combat radius and search range of these small aircraft.
Along the Sea of Japan, which is more than 1,300 kilometers wide from east to west, a search and rescue network is formed as tight as possible to rescue as many aircrews of damaged aircraft as possible. Judging from post-war statistics, the Anti-Japanese Alliance
The search and rescue network combined by Zhang Yuan and Jin basically met the needs even in the absence of naval ships.
Although these search and rescue aircraft suffered considerable losses in the face of the fighter jets sent by the Japanese. But overall, the effect can even be described as excellent. After the Yak-9 long-range escort fighter jets of the 1944 Anti-Japanese War were put into use, search and rescue aircraft
Except for its own failures, basically zero losses have been achieved.
Although the intensity of the Anti-Japanese Alliance's bombing campaign against Japan was not comparable to that of the United States and Britain's bombing campaign against Germany during the same period, it also aroused great criticism at home, within the party, and within the military, but it did a considerable blow to the morale and will of the Japanese people.
Great. It also played a considerable role in reducing the Japanese's potential to maintain the war.
In order to eliminate the bases where the United States and Britain transferred bombers to the Anti-Japanese Alliance, the Japanese even ignored the already too long front and launched continuous attacks on India in an attempt to cut off the rear bases where the United States and Britain transferred bombers to the Anti-Japanese Alliance. Its Army Aviation also gave up almost all ground operations.
To support the mission, they launched air strikes on the Anti-Alliance base areas regardless of losses, trying to eliminate the Anti-Alliance bomber groups on the ground.
By 1943, the Soviets were itching to see the effectiveness of the Anti-Alliance bombing campaign against Japan. In order to test their strategic bombing capabilities, they dispatched the remaining dozens of Peba bombers and replaced them with American ones.
Wearing military uniforms and painting out all the markings on the fuselage were also involved several times. The Soviets obviously wanted to take this opportunity to accumulate some experience in long-range bombing.
However, the Soviets, who obviously did not want to openly quarrel with the Japanese at this time, only participated in a few raids on Toyama, the metal smelting center. After losing six bombers, due to the poor reliability of the Peiba bombers, they gained
After gaining some experience in long-range bombing, I stopped participating.
Later, these Peiba bombers were transferred to the Anti-Japanese Alliance and then withdrawn into the country. Unfortunately, the engines of these aircraft were too unreliable, and they lost all the aircraft after a few more flights. It didn't matter to the Soviets if they lost all the aircraft, but once
If the aircrew who parachuted were captured, it would have serious consequences. Therefore, the Soviet Union's participation was still quite limited.
Although Yang Zhen was quite satisfied with the performance of these Peiba bombers, Yang Zhen did not dare to use them easily because of the poor reliability of these bomber engines. In the end, he used a batch of spare engines from the American B-24 bombers to replace these four bombers.
The engines of more than ten Peiba bombers were replaced before they were put into actual combat.
However, this batch of Soviet-made four-engine heavy bombers were unlucky not because of anything else, but because they lacked effective engines. After being replaced with much more reliable American-made engines, the performance of this batch of Soviet-made bombers was not inferior to that of the British-made Stirling bombers.
, and the number of more than forty is not too small, it is better than nothing.
Of course, this batch of Soviet goods was not given for free. It was obtained in exchange for 50,000 tons of high-quality thermal coal. In terms of price, it is generally very cheap. Of course, these bombers need to be equipped with communication systems and additional machines.
The intercom and the engine need to be replaced. But overall, the price/performance ratio is much better than those of the Ye II bombers.
In fact, the Anti-Japanese Alliance did not actually spend money on the engines of the one hundred B-24 bombers, and they were not even included in the Lend-Lease project. Because after Yang Zhen took over these bombers, he immediately transferred them to the United States.
One for Americans to carefully study the Soviet heavy bomber technology.
The Americans used a hundred B-24 bomber engines in exchange for this Pei-8 bomber, and after studying the previous Ye-2 bomber, they came to a very important conclusion. The Soviets'
The aircraft are basically a bunch of rubbish. Although they have a relatively long range, they basically pose no threat to the United States and Britain.
Moreover, the performance is not only far inferior to the new bombers being designed by the United States, but also inferior to the bombers currently deployed on the battlefield by the United States and the United Kingdom. Both the bomb load and the equipment on the aircraft are quite backward. According to the standards of the United States and the United Kingdom,
This bomber does not even have real combat capabilities.
One hundred high-horsepower engines, despite such a conclusion that seems too big to anyone, is still very cost-effective in the eyes of the Americans. The Soviets' strict confidentiality measures have kept the outside world from knowing their true technical level.
.Although the Americans believed that the Soviet aviation technology was too far behind their own, they did not believe the German propaganda.
Although Americans looked down on the Soviet Navy and the Air Force, which was at best a tactical air force during World War II, Americans were still very interested in whether the Soviets could build bombers that could fly directly from Kamchatka to Alaska and threaten the U.S. mainland.
.
With this rare opportunity to master the latest Soviet bomber technology, the Americans are still willing to spend money. In fact, the Americans have always been very interested in the Soviet-made aircraft equipped by the Anti-Alliance. Whether they are bombers or fighter jets, they are quite good.
Not only did the Americans send pilots to test-fly the Soviet-made bombers equipped for the Anti-Japanese War, but all of them were veterans.
Although the United States and the Soviet Union are currently fighting fiercely because they are facing the same enemy, and the Americans are really trying their best to assist the Soviets. But being friends today does not mean that they will not be enemies tomorrow. Just like
The Americans always reserved a lot of aid to the Anti-Alliance and only provided second-rate equipment. Their aid to the Soviet Union was not that strong.
The equipment on the ground is provided with whatever is available, including trucks, tanks, and armored vehicles. Almost everything is provided. However, the control of aircraft is quite strict. Not to mention that not even a single strategic bomber is provided, but even the latest fighter jets are provided.
No Mustang fighters were given, only a few early B-types were given. At the same time, many methods were adopted to spy on the Soviet aviation intelligence and development.
The attitudes of the United States and Britain determine their cooperation with the Soviets, and intrigues will always remain hidden. The day this war is won is the day the two sides part ways. Cold War? Without this smoke-free war, where is Yang Zhen?
So many opportunities?
The Soviets have the same attitude towards the United States and Britain. Their latest aviation technology has always been strictly confidential. Many Soviet aircraft have often appeared on the battlefield, and the United States and Britain only know that the Soviets have such a new aircraft. The Soviet Foreign Minister is on board
When this Pe8 bomber went to the UK for a meeting, all maintenance was done by the Soviets themselves.
It was quite difficult for the British to get close to this bomber. It was not until after that meeting that the United States and Britain knew that the Soviets actually had such a long-legged ultra-long-range bomber. But this Soviet aircraft, although on the battlefield,
The loss was huge. However, strict confidentiality measures were adopted against the United States and Britain, and the Americans had no access to it. This time the Americans seized the opportunity, and a hundred engines would mean nothing.