When the sun began to set, the three airfields were bustling with activity (the airfield, which was originally planned to be provided for patrol planes and fighters, after the efforts of the engineering units of the 6th Combat Unit, the runway was extended by 5oo meters and could also be used by bombers), and the aviation crew transported truckloads of incendiary bombs out of the ammunition depot and loaded them on top of the bombers.

It can be said that these aviation service personnel are the most obscure group in the imperial team. They are not destined to be the heroes of the limelight, nor to be able to fly the warhawk to rain bombs on the heads of the enemy. But they are the strongest backing of all pilots, without whom there would not be so many brilliant results. These aviation crews were by no means lonely people, and they expressed their loyalty to the empire and their hatred of the enemy in various ways. For example, write words and phrases on bombs.

"***This is a gift from Uncle Zhang." bsp; "The little devil embraces death."

"Give you back the bombs."

"Prepare to die." ……

These kinds of phrases can't change anything, but they can express the attitude of these flight crews. Of course, this is also a good way to increase motivation. This time they did not forget to leave their mark on the incendiary bombs, and some orderlies even drew some drawings on the bombs. Anyway, it's all the things that curse the enemy and curse the enemy.

At 7:15 a.m., the wake-up horn sounded, the horn to wake up the pilots and the battle to begin. It was Hao Dongjue who was in charge of the pre-war assignments, while Luo Yunchong was to give specific assignments to several major officers. Tan Renhao did not meddle in these matters, after all, he was only the chief of staff of the Western Pacific Theater, not the commander of the Strategic Strike Force. Of course, there is no need for him to meddle in other people's affairs.

At 7:30 the pilot began to eat. At 7:40 the pilot began to change his clothes. At 7:55 a.m., the pilots were concentrated in the operations center according to the composition of the troops. Pilots at all levels began to listen to pre-war briefings, which was a must before going out.

The airport attendants are busier. After loading the bomb fuel into the bomber, the aviation crew began to debug and inspect the bomber for the last time. It is mainly for the debugging of key components, such as motor, direction and elevator, navigation equipment, bombing and aiming equipment, etc. After you have completed the inspection. The flight attendant will assist the pilots to board the plane and see them off.

At 8:15 a.m., the pilots began boarding. Tan Renhao stood on the tower, he looked at his watch, and the time was the same as planned. The bomber group will begin to take off at half past eight and then form in formation mid-flight. If there is no accident on the way, we will arrive at Tokyo Bay at about half past twelve, and start dropping bombs at about one o'clock. And this is when a person is most tired and when his defense is the most lax. The fleet will return to the airport before dawn and the pilots will rest during the day. This was followed by a second night bombardment. Of course. Now all that needs to be guaranteed is only the first bombing.

"How's it a little nervous?"

Tan Renhao turned around, and Luo Yunchong was walking towards him. "yes. A little nervous. Remember what happened at the time of the first strategic bombing? ”

"I'll never forget it."

Luo Yunchong let out a sigh, "At least this is not the first time. ”

Tan Renhao laughed. "yes, maybe that's the place we have the most to celebrate. If this is the first bombing, I'm not sure. Now that there are so many good pilots, we don't really have anything to worry about! ”

Luo Yunchong leaned against the railing. "To worry is to worry, but as you said, we should believe in ourselves, and we should believe in all the imperial officers and soldiers, they will never let *** have a good life."

Both laughed. The first bomber piloted by Colonel Chiang Shikuan had already taxied to the end of the runway. The head of the plane was slightly raised, and the four propellers turned rapidly. Tan Renhao and Luo Yunchong both looked at the bomber with a wild goose painted on it.

The four engines quickly reached their maximum output, and when Jiang Shi opened the brakes loosely, the bomber immediately sprang out, and after taxiing on the runway for more than 1,000 meters, the plane left the ground like a heavy swan and staggered into the sky.

"It seems that there is still a problem with the take-off, and I hope there will be no plane accidents."

Heard Luo Yunchong's words. Tan Renhao was also a little nervous. There is a reason for the aircraft factory to set the maximum take-off weight of the bomber, and this maximum take-off weight is definitely not the same as the maximum take-off weight, which is generally a few hundred kilograms less, and this is for safety reasons. And now every bomber is a heavy take-off, and there will definitely be hidden dangers in terms of safety.

Both watched nervously as the bomber took off. They breathe a sigh of relief when each "wolf dove" rises out of the ground and into the sky. For more than 20 minutes, both of them were very nervous, for fear that one of the bombers would fail and not be able to fly, or that they would fly and then fall headlong after flying.

When the last bomber left the runway, Tan Renhao and Luo Yunchong let out a sigh, both of them were already sweating profusely, they looked at each other, and then they both laughed. It's a good start, and hopefully the rest will be as smooth as it gets. But then it wasn't their turn to worry.

When the bomber rose to an altitude of 55oo meters, Jiang Shikuan asked the co-pilot to take over from him to pilot the bomber. ”

Xiao Li helped me call the other groups to prepare for formation! ”

"No problem, I'm contacting the rest of the fleet!"

The navigator is the busiest of the crew members.

In order to save fuel as much as possible, the fleet will be formed on the route. The bomber that takes off first will fly slowly, and the bomber will catch up with the bomber on the ground that takes off later. The 16o bombers of the 1st Regiment led by Jiang Shikuan were the first to take off, and within fifteen minutes of takeoff, these bombers were concentrated in the vicinity of the "head goose". And at this time, there was still a group of bombers who did not leave the airfield. The entire formation took at least an hour and a half, and by this time the "head goose" had already flown more than 3oo nautical miles north of Iwo Jima. The formation was already deployed on the ground, and the coordination work was the responsibility of the navigator on the "head goose", so Jiang Shikuan did not need to worry about it.

The night sky was clear, and the group was flying above the clouds. Previously, in order to take advantage of the island's shadow, the navigation fleet would fly under the clouds, barely seeing the stars in the sky. Jiang Shikuan was not so poetic, he was also familiar with the starry sky, and could almost immediately recognize the constellations in the sky. Of course. At this time, he was thinking about how to drop the bomb on Tokyo.

"Commander, you can rest for a while, I'll call you when the time comes!"

"It's okay, I'm not sleepy!"

Jiang Shikuan smiled at the co-pilot and nodded, "You drive first, I'll replace you at ten o'clock." ”

At ten o'clock sharp, the navigator came with a message, and the bombers of the five regiments followed. More than 800 bombers formed a dense formation and flew towards the night sky to the north. Jiang Shikuan also adjusted the degree of the bomber to the most economical (that is, the farthest distance to fly with the least fuel) at this time. The fleet was divided into two tiers, with a distance of about two hundred meters between them, and the distance between each bomber was only about one hundred and fifty meters. The huge fleet of planes almost obscured the entire night sky, and if it were daylight, I am afraid that those who saw these bombers on the surface of the sea would be so surprised that they could not believe their eyes.

At twelve o'clock, Jiang Shikuan woke up the resting co-pilot, and the long-distance flight was extremely tiring, and the purpose of allocating the two pilots was to let them take turns piloting the plane during the flight, so as not to come down for several hours. I don't even have the strength to open my eyes.

"Commander. Arrive at Tokyo Bay in half an hour! ”

There is no one to replace the navigator, but he can find time to rest and recharge along the way.

"You know the route, right?"

"No problem. Want to contact other bombers? ”

"Prepare to lower the flight altitude for other long planes."

Jiang Shikuan glanced at his watch and sighed. The clouds in the night sky are so thick that you can barely see the sea. In fact, there are no clouds, and the pitch-black sea is impossible to make out at an altitude of more than 5ooo meters.

At twelve :23, Jiang Shikuan saw a hole in the clouds in front of him, and then he lowered his altitude first and passed through the clouds. The surface of the sea, reflecting the light of the stars and the moon, appeared before his eyes. The dense clouds dissipated close to the Japanese mainland, and the night sky was so clear that not even a thin cloud could be found. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. This allowed the bombers to drop bombs more accurately, but it also allowed the Japanese on the ground to appear in the sky.

"Commander, I see the lighthouse, keep course, reduce altitude!"

Jiang Shikuan also saw the lighthouse on the Miura Peninsula at the entrance to Tokyo Bay. This is the only navigation landmark that the fleet navigates before entering Tokyo Bay. The "head goose" is almost swooping down in altitude. At the same time, you must adjust the course according to the navigator's prompts. The two pilots were scrambling.

At 12:33 p.m., the "head goose" entered Tokyo Bay first, and the other "wolf doves" quickly followed. The group flew at an altitude of 3oo meters above the sea surface at a distance of 18o knots. This is the best cruising degree of the "wolf dove" at low altitude, in order to save fuel, Jiang Shikuan has to control the degree, otherwise they will not be able to fly back.

The half-hour flight over Tokyo Bay was the most intense. Tokyo Bay has always been the most important naval base in Japan, and it is also the place where Japanese warships and fighters are most concentrated, and it is the gate of the Japanese capital. During World War I, the Imperial Navy forced Japan to surrender after entering the Gulf of Tonkin. Now, although the Imperial Navy fleet has not yet been able to enter the bay, the Imperial bombers have arrived.

The pilots on the "head goose" were nervously watching the situation on the nearby sea. There are at least hundreds of ships in the narrow Tokyo Bay. The crew of any ship could have spotted the bomber overhead and sent the air defense alarm back. At that time, the aircraft group will have to be bombed by heavy anti-aircraft artillery. There is even a possibility of the appearance of Japanese fighters. In the past, bomber pilots were not afraid to encounter fighters at night, and Japanese fighters were "night blind", but now there is only one tail gun on the bomber, and if they are attacked by Japanese fighters, they do not even have the strength to fight back.

"Did the regimental commander see it? It's Tokyo, and we're almost there! ”

The bombardier, located under the cockpit, screamed.

Jiang Shikuan had already seen the huge city with a little light in front of him. Tokyo was not only the largest city in Japan, but also one of the few largest cities in the world with a population of more than 50,000 at the time. After World War I, the Japanese government encouraged the people to increase their fertility, and the Japanese population increased to more than 7ooo in just 20 years (Japan claims to be 100 million), and the emergence of so many people also created Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Nagoya and other large cities. There are eight million people living here, eight million enemies who want to kill the Tang Empire!

"Xiao Li will pick me up the group channel!"

Jiang Shikuan took a long breath and glanced at the co-pilot, asking the co-pilot to fly the bomber instead of him. "Brothers, there's Tokyo in front of you. When I came out, I said that this time I wanted to give *** a taste of hell, and now let's turn Tokyo into *hell on earth! ”

"Fuck ......"

"Blow up *** Japanese dog ......" ......

The group communication channel immediately became lively, and those who could connect to the group communication channel were at least officers at the battalion commander level.

"Alright, geese, follow me, tonight Tokyo will turn into daylight and into hell of fire!"

Jiang Shikuan laughed: "Let's celebrate after we go back, but now we have to throw away all the 'gifts' given to ***!" ”

"Commander, do it, I can't help it!"

The navigator shouted from behind.

As the "head geese" began to reduce altitude, the bomber group again began to reduce altitude. The bombers of the five regiments had their own goals. In order to be able to destroy the city to the greatest extent, Luo Yunchong chose a bombing area for each regiment. And when the bombs are dropped, the commander of each regiment drops the bomb first, and the other bombers follow closely behind. In this way, as soon as the fire burns out, five urban districts are on fire at the same time, and the hundreds of firefighters in Tokyo will not play any role at all.

The first regiment led by Chiang Shikuan aimed at Shibuya Ward to the south. It is one of Tokyo's busiest urban districts and is home to hundreds of thousands of residents. The navigator quickly determined the course and began to guide the bombers into the sky above the bombing area. When the navigator made sure that he had reached the bomb drop area, the bombardier would be responsible for dropping the bomb, and at this time, Jiang Shikuan was just an assistant to the two companions.