With the sun already setting in the west, the bombers lined up in a neat order and headed for the western end of the runway. By this time, the north runway had been completed, so bombers could take off from both runways at the same time without having to scramble for one. The first to set off was still Lieutenant Colonel Jiang Shikuan's landline. … ap．１６

At 5:20 a.m., the "head goose" took off smoothly, and by 5:20 a.m., all 70 bombers had taken to the air. The group will assemble over the eastern waters of Jeju Island and fly slowly to allow the bombers to catch up with the bombers that take off later. Because it was a night bombing, and the "vultures" did not have the ability to fight at night, this time no escort fighters would be dispatched, and the bomber group would fly to Japan alone.

Tan Renhao and Luo Yunchong both had no bottom in their hearts, the losses of the first bombing were extremely heavy, and the losses of several bombings before that were not small. It was the first night bombing, and the first without escort fighters. What the result will be, whether it will be as good as expected, neither of them is very sure in their hearts, let alone how many bombers will never come back.

Jiang Shikuan didn't think about it so much, all he thought about now was to avenge those sacrificed comrades-in-arms, drop more bombs on Japanese cities, and let more Japanese people finish. This was also the idea of almost all pilots, who fought hard for twenty days and lost so many bombers, but with little effect, and the pilots held their breath.

At 5:35 a.m., the bomber group completed its buildup over the eastern part of Jeju Island 35 nautical miles and began to fly eastward. Before arriving at Shimonoseki, it took about an hour and a half to fly, and by the time we entered the Korean Strait, night had already fallen. Perhaps, a little earlier, because when the plan was made, the staff officer did not take into account that the group was flying eastward, which would allow the group to go into the cover of the night faster.

Actually, after an hour and twenty minutes of flight. It was completely dark. Ten minutes later, the group began to lower altitude and enter ultra-low-altitude flight. Previously, in order to save fuel, the fleet was flown at the optimal cruising altitude. After entering the Korean Strait, the fleet had to reduce its altitude, because the Korean Strait is the main sea area for Japanese aircraft activities. Probably, Japanese fighters do not act at night. But those anti-submarine aircraft will operate at night, because the Korean Strait is a frequent place for the imperial submarine forces.

Jiang Shikuan and the co-pilot took turns piloting the plane, and now he was partnered with a novice, and the previous co-pilot had not left the hospital. The crew members of the "Head Goose" were almost completely changed, except for the navigator and bombardier, who were the least injured, remained.

"Commander, just keep this height!"

During the flight, the navigator is the hardest.

"No problem, pay attention to the other planes, don't lose them!"

Because of secrecy, bomber groups would never turn on their radios when they entered the skies over the Japanese mainland. Maybe. The risk of exposure by radio contact is not great. But now the bomber group is not escorted by fighters, and if it is discovered by the Japanese, the consequences will be unimaginable.

6:45 a.m. The group entered the Tsushima Strait (referring to the strait between Tsushima Island and Ikishima Island), and Ikishima Island was just south of the group. The navigator almost climbed on the small window on the right, there was a lighthouse on Ikiki Island, but there was no light coming out of the lighthouse. The navigator only saw the vague outline of the island, and then began to determine the course, and reported the parameters of the corrected course to Jiang Shikuan.

At 6:50 a.m., the group passed through the Tsushima Strait and entered the sky over the Xuanjie Beach. The group also turned at this time and flew in the direction of Maguan.

As they approached land, the bomber shook violently. At 10 p.m., the airflow activity at the junction of land and sea is very unstable, especially in the air near the sea surface. The bomber was like a small leaf in a gale, constantly jolting and shaking. Some of the new crew members were even worried about whether the plane would fall apart.

At seven o'clock and eight o'clock, Jiang Shikuan saw the land in front of him. He was nervous at the same time. Before, every time at this time, Japanese fighters appeared. Before you go. Luo Yunchong had already assured him that the Japanese fighters were all blind at night and could not be dispatched at night, so he could rest assured. But Jiang Shikuan is not completely at ease, who can guarantee that there will be any madmen who will drive the "Zero War" to the sky at night? If it did, the fighter would have been able to cause a lot of trouble, because the gunners (machine gunners) on the bombers could not see their surroundings clearly at night.

Other pilots also had the same idea, and some even suffered from "fighter phobia" at 7:14 a.m., and the group entered the skies over land. Until this time, there were still no Japanese fighters, and Jiang Shikuan was also relieved, at least Luo Yunchong did not lie to him, Japanese fighters were indeed blind at night. But he did not feel relaxed, because the greatest threat to the bombers was not the fighters, but the artillery fire on the ground. And this time they entered at a super low altitude, and ordinary machine guns and even rifles could threaten them, not to mention those machine guns with fierce firepower!

"Commander, it seems that all the Japanese are asleep!"

The navigator's voice trembled slightly.

"yes, I hope they're all asleep. Keep an eye on the planes behind you and don't let them get too close! ”

Jiang Shikuan's hands were already sweaty, he was not afraid, but nervous.

The bombing route was carefully chosen, and after entering the airspace over land, if it flew in a straight line, it could reach the sky over Shimonoseki in five minutes. However, in order to avoid the Japanese air defense positions along the way, the bomber group made a large circle over the western tip of Honshu Island, so it actually took about 15 minutes to fly. Jiang Shikuan had opposed this before, but the plan was formulated by Luo Yunchong, and he had no way to modify it, so he could only obey orders.

"Commander, look, there is Ma Guan in front!"

The bombardier cried.

Jiang Shikuan also saw the city with lights up and down in front of him. "Five minutes to prepare, disarm the bomb insurance, navigator, send a signal to another bomber!"

The fleet was suddenly busy, they were about to drop bombs, and the enemy did not notice it. Only by this time did the pilots react, they were not intercepted by Japanese fighters, nor attacked by ground anti-aircraft artillery, they reached the target almost unimpeded!

"Three minutes to prepare!"

The bombardier went to disarm the bomb and quickly crawled back.

Jiang Shikuan immediately relaxed his right hand holding the lever and signaled the co-pilot to relax as well. Next, they will fly at the command of the navigator.

"Thirty seconds ready, open the bomb bay!"

The navigator, who was just behind the bombardier, immediately sent the signal that he was ready to drop the bomb.

"Ten seconds...... Five, four, three, two, one, bomb! ”

24 high-explosive bombs of 250 kg left the bomber's bomb bay in just over ten seconds. Almost at the same time. More than 300 bombers in the fleet also dropped bombs.

"Follow me and steer, don't fall behind, don't climb, we withdraw from the skies over the strait!"

Under the leadership of Chiang Shikuan, the group began to turn to the right, and then it would leave the strait southwest of Shimonoseki over the Japanese mainland and enter the sea overhead.

At this time, the anti-aircraft guns on the ground rang out, the searchlights also turned on, and more than a dozen beams swept through the night sky. Looking for bombers. And the bomber, which was shrouded by the beam of searchlights, was immediately attacked. But. Most of the bombers had already left the city and were heading towards the southwest strait.

This time, Jiang Shikuan did not encounter danger. He was the first to retreat and the first to reach the skies over the strait. No matter how powerful the Japanese anti-aircraft guns are, they can't stand on the sea. The group first flew in a northwesterly direction, and when it returned to the Xuanjie Beach, it was changed to level flight.

"Regiment leader, 'Yan 17' and 'Yan 68' can't be contacted."

"They were shot down!"

The bombardier sighed, "I saw them hit by anti-aircraft fire, and they all fell." ”

"Are there any other losses?"

Jiang Shikuan gritted his teeth.

"No, everything else is connected. Right behind us. ”

"Let's go back, maybe we'll bomb again!"

Jiang Shikuan felt that he was already a little numb.

At Seogwipo Airport, Tan Renhao and Luo Yunchong were still waiting for the returning bomber. Both of them were a little impatient, especially after 8:50, and both of them seemed a little anxious. The estimated return time is 9:05, which means that it will not be long before the results of this bombing will come out.

"General. Look, the fleet is back! ”

In the night sky, the navigation lights of dozens of bombers flashed like stars in the night sky, and soon, the huge roar also came. When the first gray fuselage bomber descended towards the runway, Tan Renhao and Luo Yunchong both saw it, it must be Jiang Shikuan's landline, because his bomber has a regiment-level radio station, and the antenna of the radio is very unique, and other bombers do not have it.

"Immediately contact other airfields, give me a loss report within fifteen minutes, and then let the service personnel check the status of the bomber as soon as possible, replenish ammunition and fuel!"

Tan Renhao patted Luo Yunchong on the shoulder, "If you can, take advantage of the little devil's busy night to bombard the second target immediately!" ”

Luo Yunchong nodded, and immediately called a group of staff officers to get busy.

Ten minutes later, the battle damage report came out, only six bombers were lost, the loss rate was reduced to 1.87%, except for the five "Wolf Doves" that were damaged and could not continue the bombing mission, the other 310 bombers were all safe and sound, and could immediately carry out the next round of bombing.

Tan Renhao did not hesitate, and immediately ordered to prepare for the next round of bombing before one o'clock, and the bombers must depart at half past one! Originally, Tan Renhao wanted to advance the time to 12 o'clock, but the service personnel had to check the status of the bomber (especially the status of the engine) before they could ensure the safe take-off of the bomber. In addition, pilots also need time to rest.

At 12:45, Luo Yunchong and Hao Dongjue gave a second briefing to the pilot. The second target chosen by Luo Yunchong was Nagasaki. Nagasaki is also the most populous city on the island of Kyushu, and the bombing is still targeting the urban area, so choosing Nagasaki will cause more damage.

At 1:25 a.m., the "head goose" piloted by Jiang Shikuan took off again. At 3:15 p.m. that night, the bomber group "came" over Nagasaki and dropped more than 1,800 tons of bombs, and the group returned to the airfield on Jeju Island at about 5:10 p.m., while only four bombers were lost in the second round of bombing, with a battle loss rate of 1.29%.

Tan Renhao went to sleep at 5:25 when he got the damage report. In two waves of bombing, only ten bombers were lost, and before that, so many bombers were lost in almost one bombing. Obviously, this result was very satisfactory, and as for the effect of the bombing, it will not be determined until the reconnaissance aircraft takes pictures during the day. Tan Renhao didn't have the energy to wait any longer, and for the first time in twenty days, he slept peacefully.

"Renhao, hurry up, there's news!"

Tan Renhao dreamed that he was on a battleship and was suffering from the test of wind and waves. When he was awakened, he found that it was Hao Dongjue shaking him, and he didn't even hear the sound of Hao Dongjue entering the door.

"There is news, and the photos taken by the reconnaissance plane have just been washed out......"

"What time is it?"

Tan Renhao touched his forehead and felt a little dizzy.

"It's past twelve o'clock, get up quickly!"

Hao Dongjue threw Tan Renhao's clothes over.

"Did the reconnaissance plane report?"

Tan Renhao shook his head, and could only quickly put on his clothes.

"Yes, the photo has been washed out, Luo Yunchong is taking a group of staff officers to analyze the bombing results, and he asked me to come over and call you!"

"Alright, we'll get over right away!"

Walking outside the door, Tan Renhao called Du Xing over, "Go get some food, send it to the staff headquarters, and buy me a few packs of cigarettes!" ”

As soon as he walked into the staff headquarters, Tan Renhao found that the staff officers looked very good, and Luo Yunchong was even more excited, he was dispersing cigarettes for those staff officers who had been busy for several hours.

"Renhao, come and see!"

After seeing Tan Renhao, Luo Yunchong immediately beckoned to him, "As a result, 15 square kilometers of urban areas in Maguan were blown up, and in addition, 1 square kilometers of urban areas in Nagasaki were blown up. The effect of this bombing was better than the previous ones, and the rate of loss was so low that it was completely unexpected by us! ”

Tan Renhao took the photo, and laughed when he saw the dense craters on it, at least, this bombing was much better than before, and they finally found a feasible tactic to hit the enemy and be able to protect themselves!