In war, the efficiency of the administrative apparatus is always higher than in peacetime. From the idea of a shuttle safari to the response from the Soviet side, it was only two days. If it weren't for the state of war, I am afraid that this process would not have been completed in a month. Of course, if there was no war, the United States and the Soviet Union would never be allies, and of course there would be no such need.

But there is a reason why the whole process can go so fast. A few months earlier, the United States and the Soviet Union had studied the possibility of having heavy bombers of the US Army Air Corps carry out shuttle bombing between Britain and the Soviet Union. However, the Soviets did not give a positive answer on that occasion.

It is normal for the Soviets to have doubts about the bomber shuttle bombing program, and the key to this is not that the Soviets do not trust the Yankees, but that there is too much pressure to support a large bomber force.

Heavy bombers from Britain flew directly to the Soviet Union after bombing their targets, then loaded fuel and bombs here in the Soviet Union, took off again to bomb German targets, and returned directly to Britain after bombing, and so on. The advantages of this shuttle bombing scheme were numerous, for example, it could bring the entire German-controlled area into the range of strategic bombers, and it could also force the Luftwaffe to deploy interceptor forces in both the east and west directions, thereby essentially weakening the Luftwaffe's interception capability.

But in doing so, there were many logistical requirements on the Soviet side, which not only had to occupy a lot of Yong; One; Root; Read, the novel yb + du prepare the airport, also need a lot of fuel, ammunition supplies. The Soviet Union was not rich in material terms, in fact, it also needed material assistance from the United States to a large extent. If these supplies were to be provided by the Soviets, the pressure on the Soviet logistics would be too great. The Soviets had to have so many supplies, it was better to put them into the front-line troops, and it was significantly more efficient for the Soviets to do so.

So what about the Americans bringing these supplies themselves? Just like in the United Kingdom, most of the supplies needed by the U.S. Army Air Corps were transported from the continental United States to the United Kingdom on the Liberty Wheel. It's always okay for the Americans to prepare the supplies themselves and then transport them over, right?

However, this still did not work, first of all, because the USSR, unlike the British, had a whole bunch of large ports at the disposal of the Americans. Most of the access to the sea owned by the USSR was closed. To the south, the Crimean Peninsula was still in German hands, and Leningrad on the Baltic Sea was a good port, but unfortunately the Baltic Sea was basically the inland sea of Germany and its allies. If the convoy dares to sail there, it will be tantamount to helping the Germans brush their heads and give medals to the Germans. There is only one viable shipping route - the Arctic route, and only one and a half available ports - Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, both of which have a rather limited throughput capacity during the six-month freeze period. These limited throughput capacity has basically been occupied by other supplies to aid the Soviet Union. In order to transport materials for strategic bombing to the Soviet Union through them, it is necessary to reduce the transportation of other vital supplies to the Soviet Union, and then, well, for the Soviet Union, it is better not to transport these things. Not to mention the fact that the transportation of these things from Murmansk and Arkhangelsk to airfields for US Army bombers will again take up valuable land capacity.

But this time it's different. This time, it is not the bombers that consume the big ones, but the fighters. Compared with bombers, fighter jets on safari missions require an order of magnitude smaller in terms of fuel and ammunition. For the Soviet side, the logistical pressure was much less. And the parade fighter units inevitably posed a threat to the nearby German tactical aircraft, which also reduced the pressure on the Soviet Air Force. So this time, the Soviets readily expressed their support for the Americans' plan. They even counter-suggested that it would be better to organize a joint safari force that would include pilots from both the United States and the Soviet Union.

In the end, the two sides agreed to establish a smaller joint shuttle safari force first, and then gradually expand it according to the situation. According to the agreement, the Soviets temporarily handed over control of an airfield to the Joint Safari Force as the first base for the unit.

……

After receiving a reply from the Soviet side, the US Army Air Corps immediately dispatched a team of experts, who took planes from Alaska and arrived at the Soviet Union on the same day after several takeoffs and landings. The next day they came to the airfield provided by the Soviets.

This airport is located in Tula, about 200 km from Moscow. From here, the P-81 fighter jets were able to launch attacks on some of the jet-ready airfields in Poland that the Germans could take off and land on.

It was an airfield with one cement main runway and two dirt runways, as well as some reinforced hangars, and was in fairly good condition for the P-81s, one of the first squadrons to be deployed, in the plan. The only problem is that the conditions at this airport for pilots to stay and rest are not very good. The pilot's quarters were small and dark, and the windows were as small as a dog's hole. In addition, the food provided by the Russians is simply not humanly affordable. This is not to say that Russian food is not enough, but that they are too concerned about nutrition and calories, and almost completely ignore taste.

Now that everything was ready, Ron decided to send his troops over immediately, and the next morning, a squadron of P-81s was ready to go.

As the main commander of the program, Ron himself would fly with them in a P-81 fighter jet to the Soviet Union. The P-81 had a range of 3,500 kilometers after attaching the drop fuel tanks, which was enough to ensure that they could complete the 2,500-kilometer flight from Britain to Tula.

This time, Ron's plane will fly over the whole of Europe, and although the air supremacy over Western Europe is already in the hands of the Americans, after flying to Poland and other regions, the air supremacy is still with the Germans. The Germans might have intercepted them there (which is unlikely, given the speed and altitude of the P-81), so Ron was flying a full version of the fighter with ammunition.

In order to ensure Ron's safety, Doolittle demanded that Ron's plane depart a little later, so that by the time they passed over German-controlled territory, the German air force should have suppressed the Allied air power that had departed earlier. So Ron: They took off even a little later than the bombers.

However, the P-81 is very fast, and at the current altitude of 8,000 meters, its cruising speed reaches 690 kilometers, which is even more than the maximum speed of the P-47. So Ron: They quickly overtook one bomber group after another.

"Instructor, it's Berlin ahead." Harry's voice came over the headphones. "We're going to go around a little now and avoid the anti-aircraft artillery group near Berlin."

"Okay, I'll follow you." Ron replied. Although anti-aircraft guns pose a limited threat to fighters flying at an altitude of 8000, it is better not to take unnecessary risks.

The fleet turned slightly to the south, intending to bypass Berlin. At this moment, a large group of B-24 bombers with a long trail appeared in their sight.

Ron flew over them, shook his wings, and prepared to leave. At this moment, in front of them, suddenly a group of spitting flames rushed up almost vertically at an extremely high speed!

"Rocket-powered interceptors of the Germans? Looking at the number, I'm afraid there is a squadron, right? Will they be able to relaunch the attack so quickly? Ron thought, "Looks like I misjudged them last time, but luckily I had a chance to make amends." ”

But now is not the time to think about these things. It was a matter of urgency to stop the Germans.

"Accelerate the climb and prepare to intercept enemy aircraft!" Over the radio, Ron gave the order. The pilots of the P-81 pushed the throttle valve all the way to the end, turned on the engine water spray assistance, and began to climb rapidly.

The P-81 is a fairly good climbing aircraft, even at high altitudes, it has good climbing performance, but their climbing ability is still too slow compared to those monsters that use rocket power, and those rocket planes have already climbed to 10,000 meters before Ron has time to climb to an altitude of 9,000 meters.

The BA349 rocket-powered interceptors that had completed their climb began to turn into a dive. At this time, they also discovered Ron's fighters, but the Germans knew that they were not equipped with cannons, and there was little they could do about these highly agile fighters. Fortunately, now they have achieved a high advantage, relying on the dive to increase the speed, but there is a chance to break through Ron's interception.

"Rush over! Don't fire at fighters! "The slightly older rookie pilot Fritz, as the squadron leader, gave the order to his subordinate BA349.

"Follow me!" Ron also gave the order, and he took the lead, taking the rest of the 24 P-81s and starting to do a climbing turn, turning to the side of the BA349 in the direction of the dive. That way, if the enemy forces go straight down, Ron has a chance to fire at them before they can start designing at the bombers.

The BA349s really chose the line that rushed straight down - they had no power, and they could only reduce their speed and increase the possibility of being intercepted by enemy planes.

Now, the flight path of the P-81 is at a right angle of 90 degrees to the enemy aircraft, and such a large-angle shot can no longer rely on sights, but can only rely on the feeling of old pilots.

"That's the angle!" Ron pressed the fire button, and the six 20mm rifled guns began to spit deadly flames.