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Chapter 327: Skyfire Attack

When the island nation was preparing to deal with the United States, Roosevelt sent someone to send a large aircraft carrier with an empty shell. Pinshu.com Hu Zhiyong smiled, such a ship is better, as long as he refits, it is the best mail ship.

Among the Americans who came with him was an Air Force bomber commander. He said to Hu Zhiyong sincerely: "Borrow your Palau, we will build a large air base to bomb the island country!" ”

"Oh?" Hu Zhiyong smiled, sat everyone down, and said to Curtis Lemay, the youngest two-star general in the Army Air Corps, who was only 38 years old, "How many bombers do you have?" What are you going to do? ”

"This—" Does Li Mei dare to say? You must know that this is a military secret.

Hopkins smiled and replied for him: "General Li May was appointed commander of the 21st Bomber Command, and he wanted to surprise the economic structure of the enemy's country, strike at key links in the national economy, and lead to its total collapse. ”

"Bombing!" Hu Zhiyong looked at the US military and said meaningfully: "Bombing can only serve as a deterrent, but cannot destroy the economy of the island country." ”

"Do you have a better idea?" Hopkins was shrewd and heard the mystery in Hu Zhiyong's words.

"Bomb at low altitudes, with incendiary bombs!" Hu Zhiyong succinctly spat out eight words.

"Low-altitude bombing? Isn't this a joke about our pilots and planes? Li Mei was shocked and couldn't help shaking her head.

"yes, it's going to die!" Another Air Force commander also considered it inappropriate.

"Since 1942, you have carried out so many bombings, but you have not achieved much. Because two-thirds of Japanese industry was scattered in small factories, precision bombing would not work.

With a population of millions and an urban area of more than 200 square miles, Tokyo has just over 8,000 trained firefighters, 2,000 support staff, and 1,117 fire trucks.

The fire hose was pitifully short, and the fire truck was limited to 2 hours of petrol. The pressure on the city's main water pipeline is powered by electric pumps, which become unusable once the circuit is cut off. In this way, more than 300 B-29s can carry more than 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs, which is enough to cover the Odaira area of Tokyo! ”

Hu Zhiyong's analysis was interlocking, and Hopkins, Li Mei, and others listened very carefully. That's when they realized that it was much better to use incendiary bombs than bombs! However, I knew in my heart that the air defense forces near Tokyo were very strong, and because the US fighter planes had limited range and were difficult to escort the aircraft, the bomber group would inevitably be stubbornly attacked by the planes of the island countries in the skies over Tokyo.

"Huge B-29 bombers drop incendiary bombs from 30,000 feet, can the little devil's Zero plane hit you?" Hu Zhiyong laughed and said proudly: "This is a profitable deal!" ”

Everyone suddenly realized that the delivery of incendiary bombs did not require precision, and they were scattered in all directions. At an altitude of 10,000 meters, the little devil's fighter plane could not fly at all, and the B-29 bomber was different from the previous heavy bomber.

In order to make it a veritable "Super Flying Fortress", the designers installed a total of five automatic turrets in the tail, upper front, left and right sides, and upper rear compartment of the B-29, four of which were equipped with double-barreled 12.7 mm machine guns, and one in the upper front turret was equipped with two 20 mm cannons. These turrets are controlled by a crew of 3 and are able to accurately fire at incoming enemy aircraft from all directions with the help of radar. A few B-29s can weave a tight net of fire in the air.

In addition, the island countries are poorly prepared for low-altitude night air strikes, they lack radar, have poor early warning capabilities, and have few anti-aircraft guns. Secondly, most of the houses in the island countries are made of wooden planks, which are extremely flammable. Since the Edo period, Tokyo has been a fire-prone area, and after the Great Earthquake of 1923, fires swept through almost the entire city.

"Palau, I'm going to borrow your Palau!" Li Mei made up her mind.

The war in the North Pacific did not go well, and the islanders lost the support of the navy and made careful arrangements for the defense of the island. Every day, large numbers of American service members are killed or maimed. Each island was bought with countless blood and lives!

"Yes!" Hu Zhiyong smiled: "The airport on the island needs to be expanded, you can go to the field to investigate." Mr. Special Envoy, I am responsible for the supply of General Li Mei's air force, and it can be regarded as your reward for my warship. ”

"Hahahaha!" Hopkins laughed: "I heard that you knocked out dozens of naval ships of the island nation, this is too much of a help to us!" ”

Without the navies of island nations running rampant in the Pacific, the U.S. navy would be like a fish in water. The few warships huddled in the harbors of the islands could not withstand the breakdown of the US fleet.

Roosevelt was also puzzled as to how Hu Zhiyong was able to capture all the warships, aircraft carriers, and all the weapons of the little devils. He was very curious about Hu Zhiyong's ability and the combat effectiveness of his troops, and hoped that the two armies would communicate in the future.

On the morning of March 9, 1943, the pilots of the 21st Bomber Command gathered in the war room, waiting for the pre-departure mission instructions. It was then that the crew was informed that they were going to bomb Tokyo at low altitude that night.

The pilots were talking about why the daytime bombing had been changed to night.

The mission instructions were sent down, and its contents were even more surprising to the pilots: bombing at an altitude of 5,000 to 8,000 feet, bombing at low altitudes; All carry incendiary bombs; All weapons were dismantled, except for the tail cannon. There was silence in the war room, and the pilots knew in their hearts what it meant to dismantle weapons by low-altitude bombing.

At this moment, General Li Mei's heart was also full of contradictions. He has always been known for his upright personality and daring to innovate, but this time, he is taking risks with his personal future and reputation, and he is taking too many risks!

Before issuing the order, Li May did not consult Washington. Moreover, he also heard earlier that the B-29 pilots who attacked Kobe with incendiary bombs reported that the bombing was not effective.

In order to maximize the power of incendiary bombs, each B-29 had to unload its guns, so that the weight saved, coupled with the fact that it did not have to form a tight formation like high-altitude precision bombing, and the fuel weight saved by not having to fly to 30,000 feet, could make each aircraft carry 65% more bombs than usual, that is, more than 7 tons, so that more than 300 B-29s could carry more than 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs, enough to cover the Ohira area of Tokyo.

The first B-29 bomber flew into the sky from Guam airfield as a green flare streaked across the sky. Fifty seconds later, the second plane took off, and the following planes took off one after the other amid the deafening sound of engines.

333 bombers formed a formation and flew north. The night sky is clear, and a crescent moon rises at the junction of sea and sky. As they pass over Iwo Jima, pilots can't help but look down, a refuge in the event of an injury or malfunction of the plane.

From the dark night sky, you can clearly see that there are still bursts of exploding fire from time to time, flickering and dimming, it is the Marines fighting fiercely against the remaining Japanese troops.

Near midnight, the coastline of Honshu Island appeared on the radar phosphor screen of the B-29 bomber pilot.

"Attention crews, we have reached the skies over Honshu, we have arrived over Honshu, please wear protective gear. The voice of the air commander echoed in the cockpits of the various crews.

At 12:15, the navigation B-29 flew over Tokyo. Piercing sirens sounded in the night sky, and some searchlights began to shine into the air. Since the damage caused to Tokyo by US bombing in the past was not serious, many residents did not pay attention to the sirens. But this time they were wrong.

The two leading navigators crossed over the target at 300 miles per hour, and before the island's anti-aircraft gunners could turn their guns, the B-29s rumbled away, throwing two strings of incendiary bombs behind them.

A few seconds later, two dragons, each 10 miles long, burst into flames, like two intersecting bolts of lightning across the city of Tokyo, and stood out against the pitch-black ground. Another 10 navigators flew in and dropped incendiary bombs on these two crossfire lines, like a goddess scattering flowers, and the "heavenly fire" descended.

The searchlights on the ground frantically shone at the group, and the anti-aircraft gunners were red-eyed, but one after another, the B-29s flew by at high speed at low altitudes, and none of the shells hit. The pilot of the navigator easily radioed: "The target is obvious, a large area is on fire." The anti-aircraft guns were not fierce, and the fighters were powerless to resist. ”

The bombers of the brigade followed, and the incendiary bombs dropped all over the sky looked like bunches of bananas in the light of the fire. At 100 feet above the ground, the M47 rocket in the cluster exploded, shooting 2-foot-long incendiary rods that exploded on contact, scattering sticky flames in all directions. Only 15 minutes after the start of the raids, the fire had spread to wooden houses all over the city.

Just half an hour after the airstrikes began, the raging fires had spread uncontrollably and people had abandoned their plans to put out the fires. Gales of up to 30 knots fueled the fire, and huge fireballs leaped from one building to another with starry slag.

On the streets, Japanese firefighters and police could neither control the flames that were scurrying around, nor could they stop the frightened crowds of people running in all directions. People scattered and ran for their lives, scurrying like rats, thunderous explosions overhead, snakes scurrying through the streets, and screams of terror everywhere in the firelight.

The flames gradually turned orange to white, and the smoke rose into the air, and the ground was reflected orange by the firelight. The flames devoured everything that could be burned, the metal melted, the tiles turned into black powder in the fire, and many of the people hiding in the bomb shelters were roasted alive.

People went crazy and jumped into it desperately when they saw water, and the pools in parks and hospitals were densely packed with people who wanted to flee for their lives, but the heat turned these pools into cauldrons, and people died in hundreds, if not thousands.

Li Mei anxiously awaited the news of the air attack on the aircraft group. He stared at the dark sky, cigar smoke hanging from the corners of his mouth, his thick eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes narrowed into slits.

He raised his hands and scratched his hair, wiped the sweat from his forehead, turned to the staff officers gathered in the room and said: "This decision was made entirely by me, of course I bear all the responsibility, I will report to the Pentagon!" ”

"Report!" At this moment, the door of the headquarters slammed open, and the communications officer took an urgent telegram and read: "Ball calls: the bomb has been dropped, and the target area is on fire!" ”

"Victory!"

"It worked!" The Palau Air Force Command suddenly burst into cheers.

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