Soon the entry of the American Volunteer Air Corps into the war in Japan was confirmed. Nie Renfeng first reported the information to Xue Xi and Yue Xiang, and under the strong pressure of Xue Xi and Yue Xiang, the three main intelligence departments got the so-called inside information within five days, and in these five days, Luo Yunchong and they also confirmed this. A camera gun on a fighter jet also captured the pilot of a fighter plane at close range. This is direct evidence of the participation of the American Volunteer Air Corps in the war.

The intelligence department obtained inside information that the United States had provided Japan with a batch of P-4OC "Warhawk" fighters, with a total of about 24O to 32O fighters, forming 12 squadrons and deploying them at several field airfields between Tokyo and Osaka. The pilots of these fighters are all volunteers, and most of the Americans are retired pilots from the United States 6 Airlines, and there are also a few pilots from Britain and other countries. These fighters did not take the sea route, but first transferred from the continental United States to Alaska, and then went to the airport on Attu Island to refuel, modified large auxiliary fuel tanks (the maximum range of the P-4OC was only about 65o nautical miles, and it could not take off directly from Attu Island to the Kuril Islands, the northernmost part of Japan, and there was no place for landing and refueling on the way, so they had to be modified to carry one 5oo liter auxiliary fuel tank and two 25o liter auxiliary fuel tanks), and then took off to Japan, landed on the northernmost field airfield in Japan, and finally arrived on the Japanese island of Honshu。 The entire voyage reached 18ooo kilometers, which is almost twice the straight line distance from San Francisco in the United States to the mainland of Japan!

After figuring out the situation (especially the specific location of the field airfields where these planes were deployed), Nie Renfeng issued a very direct order: all bombers and fighters fighting against Japan should concentrate their efforts on knocking out these airfields first, and it is best to blow up the fighters on the ground, and if these fighters rise into the air, they must be shot down. The time Nie Renfeng gave Luo Yunchong was three days, and after three days, he wanted the figure of the American fighter plane to completely disappear from the Japanese sky.

Maybe Nie Renfeng's approach was impulsive. After all, using more than a thousand bombers and hundreds of fighters to deal with several field airfields and those backward fighters deployed on these field airfields is simply a waste of valuable war resources. But this is exactly the appetite of the front-line strategic strike forces and the officers and men of the Navy. Ever since the US fighter planes appeared on the battlefield, these officers and men have been holding their breath and getting excited. If Nie Renfeng didn't give the order, they would also do it secretly. It's better to let them do it.

As a result, Luo Yunchong really made a name for himself. Within three days, bombers flew more than 3,000 sorties and dropped more than 8,000 tons of high-explosive bombs and cluster bombs on these airfields (the effect of incendiary bombs against airfield targets was not very good), and the 10 fighter squadrons deployed on Hachijo Island made more than 21oo sorties, not only shooting down more than 100 American-made fighters, but also dropping thousands of small bombs and thousands of rockets at these airfields (surrounding military installations).

If the volunteer air force sent by the United States to Japan was 120 squadrons and had more than 2,000 "warhawks," perhaps the result would have been completely different. However, the United States only sent more than 200 "war eagles" from 12 squadrons, and they were deployed in those completely exposed field airfields in a narrow area, so it was naturally difficult to resist the overwhelming offensive of the bombers and fighters of the Tang Empire.

After the first day of bombing, less than half of the "War Eagles" were able to take to the air to meet the battle (at least 15o "War Eagles" were destroyed on the ground on the first day), and in the next two days, these "War Eagles" completely disappeared from the skies over Japan, and in the last two days of aerial strangulation battles, almost all the "War Eagles" that forcibly took off became the prey of the "Falcon". In the face of the Tang Empire's fighter pilots, who had already experienced a hundred battles, the volunteer air force became a "volunteer death squad", and Nie Renfeng immediately sent a telegram to Xue Xiyue after receiving the good news of returning from the front line, and at the same time did not forget to mention the responsibility of the 6th air force in the telegram. Now it's the turn of the 6th voyage to be unlucky.

Air 6 had three field airfields on Kuye Island, because of the harsh conditions (mainly the extremely difficult supply and severe cold, which often led to the failure of the 6 airline's water-cooled engine. This became the main reason why the 6th Air Force did not use Kuye Island as a bombing base against Japan, and the Navy did not deploy heavy bombers to this side) Therefore, there were not many fighters deployed there, and only a group of patrol planes were generally retained to assist the submarine force in searching for the merchant fleet from the United States to Japan. But the responsibility is very clear, the US fighter jets smoothly entered Japan, this is the 6th Air Dereliction of duty!

Yan Dingyu quickly transferred the pressure to Wei Boyu. As a result, before 20 November, the 6th Air Force sent three additional squadrons of fighters to the Kuye Island field airfield. At the same time, a batch of orders were placed with Shen Fei, ordering five squadrons of "Falcon" fighters. This is the first time that 6 Airlines has ordered a fighter jet from HNA, for the simple reason that a fighter with an air-cooled engine is more suitable for deployment in severe cold regions. But at that time, Shenfei no longer had the production capacity to meet the orders of 6 Airlines, and the orders of Hainan Airlines alone were scheduled until the end of 24. In desperation, 6 Airlines accepted a group of "vultures" retired from HNA at the end of the year, instead of the best "Falcon", and HNA can be regarded as having a bad breath in this matter.

In order to enable the fighters of these three squadrons to successfully complete the combat patrol and interception missions, the 6th Air Force also mobilized more than 3oo transport planes to fly several thousand sorties back and forth, and transported thousands of tons of aviation gasoline, more than 500 tons of ammunition (mainly shells and bullets for fighter planes), and a large number of daily necessities (the conditions on the island were extremely bad at that time, and the pilots could only live in tents, and the newly added personnel also needed a large number of living materials), and they were busy back and forth, and only by the end of November did they strengthen the combat patrol mission in the northeastern direction of Japan。

With the advent of these Imperial fighters, the United States could no longer send volunteer air forces to Japan. While the P-4OC may not be as good as the Reich 6 fighters, the problem is that the P-4O's would not dare to engage the Reich fighters when they have a fuel drop tank and little fuel left over (most of the time these fighters do not carry ammo when transitioning to save fuel).

Of course, Wei Boyu's responsibility for dereliction of duty cannot be shirked, if it were not for Yan Dingyu's guarantee. I'm afraid that Xue Xiyue will directly remove him from his post. Now that the war against Japan is at a critical level, Japan will collapse one day sooner if it receives less US aid. Even if it is a nail, if it goes from the United States to Japan, it will be a great boost to the morale of the Japanese military and civilians. If he had made a mistake in something else, he might not have been directly blamed by the prime minister, but on the issue of Japan, he would have gone from the imperial minister to the ordinary subjects. None of them will forgive a little wrong. Yan Dingyu is also very simple to defend Boyu, because he needs a commander of the 6th Aviation, and at the same time, he can also make Wei Boyu make concessions in the reform of the 6th Army.

The propaganda department of the empire did not miss this opportunity either. In order to strengthen the propaganda effect, the Imperial Intelligence Department also specially obtained several fragments of the P-4OC and returned another P-4OC that fell south of the Japanese mainland near Shikinejima, which was salvaged by the Navy and then sent back to the Empire for a nationwide tour. This kind of propaganda is far better than the newspaper broadcast, and it can not only arouse the hatred of the people of the Tang Empire against the United States. It is also able to preach the strength of the empire. Inspire the people to continue to fight for the empire to the end.

The imperial government also did not miss this opportunity to put pressure on the United States. Immediately after obtaining conclusive evidence (the wreckage of the P-4OC and the remains of the American pilot on it), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Don Empire immediately issued the strongest warning to the US government through Brazil (by this time all the diplomatic personnel of the Tang Empire had already evacuated the United States). Subsequently. The Tang Empire personally announced that it would resume unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Pacific, because it was the United States that first broke the agreement with the Tang Empire to export war materials to Japan.

Actually, it's not a big deal at all. At that time, the biggest impact of this incident was probably that the United States stood on the edge of the battlefield, and it has already stepped into the battlefield with half a foot.

Tan Renhao was not interested in these propaganda agitations and the fact that the Navy took the opportunity to put pressure on the 6th Air Force, and he knew one thing very well, and now the United States has no way out. Even if the United States does not take the initiative to participate in the war, the Tang Empire will soon declare war on the United States (the Tang Empire announced the resumption of unlimited submarine warfare at the end of November), in other words, the preparation time left for the Empire is getting less and less, and the preparations to be made by the Navy have not yet been completed, Tan Renhao, they must seize this last opportunity.

It was also when the "Volunteer Air Force" incident was in an uproar that Liao Hanxiang returned to the Navy Headquarters on 23 November. In addition to bringing new combat reports of the Strategic Strike Force, the production of factories in the rear, the formation of the Third Army of the Strategic Strike, and the training of new pilots. and the progress of the development of new bombers, in addition to the exciting news, but also brought back a more important piece of information.

"General Liao, when did you come back?"

After seeing Liao Hanxiang, who looked a little pale, Tan Renhao immediately walked up quickly.

"It's only so hard that the sand hasn't been hot."

Liao Hanxiang stood up with a smile: "How is this time going?" ”

Tan Renhao smiled and nodded, when he received Gan Yongxing's call, he thought it was something else, and he didn't expect Liao Hanxiang to come back at this time.

"Renhao, you kid is busy and dizzy. Do you know what General Liao said first? ”

Gan Yongxing walked over with a smile: "How long have you been honestly not in contact with your fiancée?" ”

Tan Renhao was stunned for a moment, then smiled and lowered his head, and after getting busy, he left everything that had nothing to do with the army and war behind, and even forgot that he had a fiancée.

"Why don't you make a fool of yourself?"

Gan Yongxing smiled and shook his head: "Today, you can have a good chat with this prospective father-in-law, I have already sent someone to pick up Miss Liao Yingyu, and I will be there tomorrow." It's time for you to get some rest, too. ”

"Chief of Staff, everybody is busy right now, I'm ...... at this time"

"The chief of staff didn't give you a day off."

Nie Renfeng walked over with a teacup, "You only have a day off tomorrow." You are also a fiancé as the emperor, if you can't even take care of your fiancée, how can you lead the army to fight? ”

"Headmaster......

"Okay, don't talk about that beforehand."

Nie Renfeng beckoned, and several people sat down, "General Liao came back with a very important piece of news. A group of Japanese had just arrived in the imperial ......"

"Japanese?"

Tan Renhao immediately glanced at Nie Renfeng in surprise, and then looked at Liao Hanxiang.

"For them, they are not representatives of the Japanese government, but a group of resistance activists who have been secretly opposing the Japanese government."

Liao Hanxiang took out a cigarette: "The three representatives they came to Jeju Island secretly by fishing boat, and at that time, the patrol of the 6th Brigade almost shot them as spies. These people represent a secret resistance group on the island of Kyushu. After the Tojo Cabinet came to power, it promoted militarism and banned other political parties in the country to suppress the opposition. At least tens of thousands of people were secretly executed. The rest of the people moved to Kyushu Island and went into hiding in secret. They were always looking for an opportunity to bring down Tojo and put Japan on the right path, but we all know that Japan's exhibition has far exceeded everyone's expectations. ”

"What were they doing before they came now? Is this a little too late? ”

Tan Renhao sneered.

"It's not important, it's these people who matter."

Nie Renfeng took Liao Hanxiang's words: "Now these three people have been secretly sent to the capital, and the news has also been sent to Xiang. Meet them individually. If the resistance in Japan is strong enough, we can use them. We don't yet know what the outcome will be, and it will be up to Ai-sama to make the decision himself. And now it's top secret, so the word in this room must not be passed out! ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, if he could really use Japan's separatist forces to solve Japan, it would be great.

"Okay, Ren Hao, let's accompany General Liao to the neighborhood in the afternoon."

Gan Yongxing stood up: "I will explain the work to Hao Dongjue on your behalf, you don't have to worry about the rest, your task in the past two days is to be a good receptionist of the Navy Headquarters!" ”

It's hard to excuse Tan Renhao, this is a kindness from the chief of staff, and he really needs to relax his nerves that have been tense for months.