Jiang Shikuan's blood had been carried out of the bomber and had stained his shirt red.

"On the way back, we encountered high-altitude turbulence, the plane shook very badly, the regiment commander hit the control stick overhead, and he passed out at that time, we ......"

The co-pilot was explaining the situation to an officer who came to investigate.bsp; Tan Renhao rushed over after receiving the news, and Luo Yunchong arrived one step ahead of him. "How's it going?"

"The doctor said that the wound was not completely healed and was not life-threatening, but it had to rest for a while."

Luo Yunchong sighed, "It's all my fault, I shouldn't have sent him on a bombing mission, it was my ...... at the time"

"Forget it, it's none of your business."

Tan Renhao patted Luo Yunchong on the shoulder: "Let the second regiment commander, Colonel Mao Tingdun, guide the second round of bombing, and you will arrange relevant matters immediately." ”

Luo Yunchong nodded, didn't say much, and immediately ran towards the aviation operations center, where the pilot had already eaten "dinner" five minutes ago and was now concentrating on the aviation operations center to listen to a briefing on the second round of bombing.

Tan Renhao glanced in the direction of the ward, and then called Du Xing over. "Go and call the doctor in charge of Jiang Shikuan."

By the time the doctor arrived, Tan Renhao had already finished smoking a cigarette.

"The Colonel's situation has stabilized, we were going to give him numb* drunken drugs, but the Colonel refused, and he is now sober. Except for the fact that the body is weak and needs to rest for a while, there is no other major problem! ”

Tan Renhao nodded: "Doctor, thank you." You go get busy first, I'll go see Colonel Jiang Shikuan. ”

Jiang Shikuan lives in a single ward, which is a very special treatment. The conditions on the island were not good enough, and even high-ranking officers could only live in one dormitory for four people. And the conditions in the hospital are not good enough, many wounded can only be crammed into a ward, and they can enjoy a single ward, which is already a general-level treatment.

Jiang Shikuan was not in the ward, but sat on a chair by the door. Looking at the pilots who were rushing towards the bombers, their expressions were very dazed, and their eyes were still a little moist.

"The Colonel is in a bad mood?"

Tan Renhao pulled a chair and sat next to Jiang Shikuan, leaving the adjutant a few meters away. "Actually, I would have liked to have the opportunity to fly over Japan and drop a few bombs, but I'm not a pilot."

Jiang Shikuan glanced at Tan Renhao, and then smiled reluctantly. He already had a new bandage on his face. "General, you're not a pilot?"

"I'm not a pilot, I'm an authentic naval warship commander from the Naval Academy."

Tan Renhao laughed: "Why don't you believe it?" ”

"No, it's just that I think it's weird."

Jiang Shikuan hesitated for a moment, "It seems." The previous rumors were true. The most proficient general in aviation operations in the Imperial Navy is not a pilot, and I am afraid no one dares to believe it. ”

"yes, sometimes I don't believe it myself!"

Tan Renhao took out his cigarette and put it away again: "I've always wanted to be a pilot, but I don't have the talent." Maybe you won't believe I'm afraid of heights at all! ”

Jiang Shikuan was even more surprised at this time.

"Actually, I envy you, you can fly over the enemy's head and drop bombs, while I can only watch you from behind."

Tan Renhao stood up. "Recuperate with peace of mind, I guarantee that you will have the opportunity to participate in the bombing operation later, I don't want General Luo Yunchong to lose one of the best regiment commanders."

"Thank you, General Tan!"

Tan Renhao patted Jiang Shikuan twice on the shoulder and then left the hospital.

The first bombers are already moving. Once again, the aviation crew performed a miracle, getting more than 600 bombers ready for takeoff in two hours. Of course, there are still many officers and soldiers of the 6th Squad assisting these service personnel.

This time, the first to take off was the "Owl" bomber piloted by Colonel Mao Tington, commander of the 2nd Regiment. When Jiang Shikuan was unable to lead the team, Colonel Mao Tingdun became the new leader. The bomber took off in 6 consecutive days. All the pilots were already familiar with the conditions of a long-distance flight over the sea, and they knew how to deliver bombs. Everything is going on in an orderly manner.

Tan Renhao walked to the lawn next to the runway and watched the bombers leave the runway and fly towards the night sky to the north. It's 10 o'clock, and it's not much different from the scheduled time. The fleet will fly again for more than three hours before heading straight from the Shima Peninsula into the skies over Honshu Island.

Nara is an ancient city and the only city in mainland Japan that has been preserved with a Tang style. During World War I, the Tang Empire did not attack the city, but this time was an exception, because Nara had the largest aircraft engine manufacturing plant in Japan, and in all war-oriented periods, such a military factory could not be spared, and Nara was in danger.

"How's Jiang Shikuan's condition?"

Tan Renhao turned around, and Luo Yunchong had already walked behind him. "Fortunately, the injury is not serious, and it should be able to recover soon."

"Yesterday I talked to him about being promoted to division commander, and his reaction was very abnormal."

Luo Yunchong sat down, "Maybe he still wants to fly a few more times, so he doesn't want to be promoted so early." ”

"Everyone has their own ideas, if Jiang Shikuan decides to stay, then he must have his own reasons, right?"

Tan Renhao handed over a cigarette and said, "There is no need to force him to be promoted, this is not the rule of the Imperial Navy. You'll talk to him again when you have time. If he doesn't accept the promotion, then he will still be the regiment commander, and Mao Tingdun will be the division commander. ”

"This arrangement ......"

"Let's discuss it with General Liao Hanxiang."

Tan Renhao is now too lenient in his own management: "This is the personnel arrangement of your strategic strike force, and I have no right to put forward opinions." ”

Luo Yunchong smiled and nodded, he was also having a headache about this. Jiang Shikuan is recognized as the most promising regiment commander for promotion, and if he refuses to be promoted and promotes Mao Tingdun, it will definitely attract a lot of criticism, and even make people think that this is a special arrangement from the upper echelons, which will affect the morale of the army, at least have a great impact on the officers and men of the first regiment. This personnel arrangement is really not easy to make, and after thinking about it, Luo Yunchong also felt that Liao Hanxiang should be given a headache.

Mao Tingdun, who was driving the plane towards Nara, didn't expect so much, it was very rare for him to be able to serve as a long plane, at least when Jiang Shikuan could still fly. He could only lead the second regiment instead of a few regiments. The course of the bombing was in a straight line, and it would eventually fly over the Japanese mainland for about 35 minutes. It was also the most dangerous thirty-five minutes. After these battles, all the pilots are now flying at sea with little danger, and as long as they enter the sky above the 6 ground, they are easily attacked by anti-aircraft guns. Therefore, this time the flight will always be taken at high altitude, but the altitude will be reduced to 18oo meters when the bomb is dropped. After dropping the bomb, it quickly climbed to an altitude of 65oo meters and returned home. In this way, the aircraft group was able to avoid being hit by anti-aircraft fire from the ground as much as possible.

The group entered the skies over the Japanese mainland at 5:15 p.m., about an hour and 15 minutes before dawn, and when it reached the skies over Nara, it was about 5:50 a.m., and the bombing took at least 15 or even 25 minutes, and by the time the bombers returned, the sky would be bright before they had left the Japanese mainland. Japanese air defense fighters will certainly take off before dawn, and the bomber group will be intercepted on their way back.

"Commander. There were Japanese anti-aircraft artillery positions in front. See those flashes? ”

Mao Tingdun nodded and said, "Don't worry if you see it." Those anti-aircraft guns could not threaten us. ”

The group entered at an altitude of 55oo meters, and the Japanese small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery could not threaten the bombers at all, only those anti-aircraft guns with a caliber of more than 1oo mm could pose a threat to the bombers, and the firing of large-caliber anti-aircraft guns was very slow, and Japan did not have many such large-caliber anti-aircraft guns.

The artillery fire was not very intense, although there were more than a dozen searchlights, but the anti-aircraft guns could hardly threaten the high-flying bombers. The group broke through three air defense positions in a row, only three bombers were damaged, had to drop incendiary bombs, and then withdrew from the formation and returned alone.

Five forty-two a.m. Mao Tingtun saw the city of Nara in front of him. The sky was already faintly bright, and the morning star hung in the sky. The bomber group began to disperse. Then the "Owl" lowered its altitude and prepared to drop the bomb at an altitude of 18oo meters. Other bombers immediately followed. This time, it was still used to bomb all the bombers in a large area indiscriminately, and then disperse and retreat.

At 5:48 a.m., the bombardiers on the "Owl" first saw the bombing target on the ground, located in the northwest corner of Nara City, and the factory building of the Underground Motor Factory (in fact, this was only a motive assembly plant, and at that time the Japanese industry was not as large as that of the Tang Empire and the United States, and most of the motive parts were actually scattered to small factories and even handicraft workshops, and then sent to the factory for assembly), and at 5:50 a.m., the "Owl" dropped bombs first, and then more than 600 other bombers also dropped incendiary bombs. The entire bombing campaign lasted fifteen minutes. The "Owl" withdrew from the bombing at 5:53 a.m. and had already left the city of Nara at 5:58 a.m. At 6:05 a.m., it had risen to an altitude of 65oo meters and had begun to return south. The last bombers to leave Nara climbed and returned at 6:12.

That's seven minutes longer than scheduled, which actually means that the bomber group will stay in the skies over the Japanese mainland and within the range of Japanese air defense fighters, a deadly seven minutes!

"Commander on the left side of the fighter!"

Mao Tingdun was shocked, and the one who should have come still came. He quickly glanced at his watch, at six o'clock, eighteen minutes, the sky was already bright, and then he looked to the left, two small black dots were approaching quickly, they were two "Zero Battles", "Don't panic *** 'Zero Battles' high-altitude performance is not good, let's continue to rise!" ”

The "Owl" began to climb, and when the bomb was dropped and only more than half of the fuel was left, the bomber could rise to an altitude of more than 8ooo meters. The crew members are already wearing oxygen masks. The Wolf Dove does not have an airtight pressurized chamber design (weight limitations), so it is necessary to use an oxygen mask when flying at high altitudes. In addition, the high-altitude performance of the supercharged motor used by the "Wolf Dove" is not very good. This is the main reason why it is not used to fly at altitudes above 55oo meters. However, compared to the "Zero Battle", the "Wolf Dove" can fly higher, and the "Zero Battle" is almost incapable of maneuvering when flying to an altitude of 75oo meters. This is also the main reason for the lack of effective interceptors in Japan.

The climb of the aircraft is slow, and the motivation is beyond the limit load, and it is possible to stop at any time. There was such a problem during the test flight, and if the air-cooled engine was running under load for a long time, it was very easy to stop, and the result was that the plane was lost or fell and became the prey of the fighter.

"Hold on, hold on!"

Mao Tingtun prayed in a low voice, and cursed, "Damn, hold on for five more minutes, five minutes at the end!" ”

The two Zeros had already caught up, and the Japanese pilots were desperate, or they simply did not understand the performance of the fighters they were flying. As a result, one of the "Zeros" that climbed with them lost their spins and fell down first, and the other "Zeros" immediately began to dive after firing a few strings of shells, no longer pursuing the bomber.

"The head of the regiment *** ran away!"

Mao Tingdun also saw the dive bomber, and he let out a sigh and wiped the sweat from his forehead. It is precisely because they may be intercepted by Japanese fighters when they return home, and these bombers have no self-defense weapons on them (some even have their tail guns removed), and if they are gathered together and return home, they will become an ideal target for fighter hunting, and it is more likely to break through when they return to a small group.

When Mao Tingdun and the others calmed down, they were the only bombers in the sky, and the other bombers were gone. They were separated from the group. By this time, the eastern sky had already lit up, and because of the height, they saw the sunrise several minutes earlier than the sea.

"Contact the other bombers and get ready to go home*** won't come to harass us again!"

The group of planes was concentrated over the sea more than 400 nautical miles south of the Japanese mainland, and some bombers, which were already not well fueled, had already returned first. 45o nautical miles is the ultimate combat radius of the "zero battle", and it is impossible for Japanese fighters to fly to this side. Therefore, the invisible line 45o nautical miles from the Japanese mainland is the safety line of the bombers.