By daybreak, the survivors on the ground were stunned by what they saw: most of the buildings were gone, the streets were unrecognizable, and all that was left was the staggering concrete pillars and the ruins of reinforced concrete. All the houses in the neighborhood became like melted sugar cubes. The river had almost evaporated, and countless charred corpses littered the dry riverbed. The corpse was curled up in various positions. The stench of burning was in the air. The whole of Tokyo became a living hell.

It was at that moment that many began to doubt the prospects of war.

This single incendiary bombing destroyed 63 percent of Tokyo's commercial districts and 20 percent of its industrial districts, far more than all previous bombings combined. The 22 Tokyo Arsenals that the squadron had been trying to destroy were completely burned. According to the statistics of the political axe at that time, about 100,000 soldiers and civilians were burned to death in the bombing that night, another 140,000 were burned to varying degrees, and more than 1 million people were homeless.

At about the same time, in the European theater, the scale of the bombing was escalating.

Paris, France.

The piercing air raid sirens sounded again.

Johannes, the commander of the 7th Day Fighter Wing of the Luftwaffe who was on vacation in Paris? Steinhof walked to the balcony of the hotel and looked up at the sky, where a large group of planes could be seen flying forward in a neat formation between the blue sky and white clouds.

Steinhofer knew that it was a group of American heavy bombers that had taken off from England to bomb Germany.

The air raid sirens were heard, and the pedestrians on the street were not alarmed, and many stopped and looked up at the group of bombers in the sky, and on the balcony of the room next to Steinhof, a young Frenchwoman appeared there, looking curiously at the American bombers flying overhead, without the slightest fear, as if they knew that they would not drop the deadly bomb on Paris.

The girl noticed the attentive Steinhoff and turned to him with a smile, and Steinhof smiled at her and nodded in a friendly way, and returned to the room.

Steinhoff came to the table, opened a beautifully bound notebook, took a gold pen, and began to continue his war record.

“…… I hope that through my description, some aspects of the extremely important and decisive struggle of this world war can be reflected. I chose 'The Battle of German Fighter Forces with American Bomber Groups' as the title of this narrative, mainly because the appearance of these bombers was a turning point in the history of world air warfare. My good friend, Fighter Squadron Commander Adolf? The scene of Garland speaking to his pilots came back to me, and he told them that the knightly duel in the sky was over. ”

"That's what he said at the time: 'The acrobatic reading battle is over. No more searching and hiding in the sky, chasing each other, grabbing each other's tails to enter, choosing the right time to shoot at your chosen target, and so on. All this is in the past, and we are no longer facing the opposing pilots, but a huge fleet of air, a whole bunch of machine gunners who tie themselves to their turrets with belts, infantry in the sky. We can only fight in large formations as well. ’”

What he described was entirely true. We put an end to the era of air athletes, and the knightly struggle no longer exists. The skies of Europe have become battlefields of fortresses and trenches - and it is our task to attack and breach these fortifications. ”

"The air battles of the past have become children's play. The Battle of Britain was tough for every pilot who had ever participated, and it was a duel with opposing fighter pilots who tested their skills. But even then we did not suffer such a defeat: on February 17, 1943, during the attack on Lyon by an American bomber group, our fighters did not shoot down even a single 'Flying Fortress', but on the contrary suffered heavy losses ourselves. ”

"My friend Joseph? Prieer – Wing Commander of the Luftwaffe's 26th Day Fighter Wing 'Slugett', is a veteran of the enemy's air force. He holds a record of shooting down 77 enemy aircraft and is the chief air combat specialist of this ace wing. However, the huge size of the Americans' 'B-17' bomber caused him to misjudge the engagement distance twice in a row, and finally succeeded in intercepting and shooting down a bomber on the third time. This shows the difficulty of intercepting the four-engine bomber, which was the first of 11 four-engine bombers shot down by Plier. He immediately realized that the crisis was coming. Commander of the Fighter Unit, Adolf? Garland also felt that the situation was not good, and he reported to the Air Ministry: 'Unless we immediately reinforce our fighter units, unless we immediately provide them with better and more effective weapons and develop new attack tactics, one day those birds will fly directly over Berlin!' ’”

"The fighter unit received some reinforcements, the weapons were improved, and the tactics of the new 'assault' of these air fortresses were developed. But that didn't stop them from appearing over Berlin......"

"In April 1943, I performed the 'four-engine work' for the first time (as we usually call the battle against the 'B-17'). By that time the Axis fighting in North Africa was already very fierce, and we were on a number of defensive missions on the Bony Peninsula, doing our best to provide air cover for the Afrika Korps and Italian forces with total air superiority of the enemy. ”

"Remember it was after a scuffle with the British Spitfire fighter jets and we were preparing for landing. Suddenly a glittering 'fleet' of bombers appeared in the sky, the kind of model I had never seen before. They flew mightily over us in the midday sun. At that time, our fighters were already running out of fuel and ammunition, so they did not intercept them. But I soon had the opportunity to see these huge 'birds' up close. ”

"We have regrouped the troops that have been withdrawn from Africa in Sicily and integrated them into operational formations. At that time, the Fighter Command handed out a batch of pamphlets, all describing one thing: 'How to attack a dense formation of four-engine bombers. ’”

"At that time we had not yet discovered the best way to attack against enemy bomber groups, but some basic principles had been established. Include:

Try your best to break up the opposing formation, and the lone bomber will be easier to deal with;

If you can accurately lead your fighter unit to a frontal assault on the opponent so that it can break through the interior of the bomber formation, then you will definitely be able to break up its formation;

Try to keep the fighters in dense formation and not open fire until they reach a very close range. But once the firing distance is reached, it is necessary to 'spray the fire snake from each hole' as we often say, and maximize the density of firepower. ”

"The U.S. 12th Air Force, which was deployed in North Africa at the time, was weakening Sicily's defenses with non-stop bombing. On June 25, 1943, our radar station detected an enemy bomber formation approaching us from the Mediterranean, approximately between Sardinia and Sicily, and their target was most likely Naples. Here I would also like to explain that after the Battle of Britain, we were aware of the inadequacy of electronic equipment, especially radar, and in the coming period of great effort to study and improve it in this area. So the situation in 1943 was very different from that in 1940. ”

"According to the new tactics we have been practicing, I divided my fighters into two formations, a total of 120 fighters, but none of them have participated in a battle against a group of four-engine bombers. When we received the order to take off, a further correction arrived: instead of attacking the port of Naples as expected, the enemy bombed the shipping line between Messina and mainland Italy. So they have already begun to return to their bases in North Africa, and they fly at a very low altitude and quickly disappear from the radar screen. I led about 100 planes between Sardinia and Sicily, but just as I was approaching the enemy group, I learned that the enemy had disappeared from the radar. I understand that this means that the enemy is flying at an altitude close to sea level, but visual search becomes very difficult due to the mist on the sea surface. Just as I was thinking that I was running out of fuel and gave the order to turn back, a formation of enemy planes suddenly appeared below us. These 'flying fortresses' spread out very far and flew just a few yards above the sea. The formation is so large that it is difficult for you to look from one end of it to the other. Because we have not been trained to attack groups of aircraft flying close to the sea, there is zero chance of a well-coordinated battle. The result was extremely bad, the entire German fighter formation was in disarray, and not even a single one was achieved. Many pilots lost their orientation and had to rely on radar guidance to return to base, and the lack of fuel exacerbated their difficulties. In total, we lost 6 fighters. ”

"That evening we received from the Air Ministry a typical order from the German top combat command to the front-line fighters: they demanded that every pilot who took part in the battle, regardless of his unit, be brought to court-martialed for cowardice in the face of the enemy. This ridiculous farce will only come to an end when all the force commanders have asked to take them to court first. ”

"But in any case, this fight has taught us a profound lesson. We began to further rigorously train, practicing everything we had learned in the past. At the same time, other units in the German mainland were constantly exploring ways to deal with bomber groups. The commander of one unit managed to blow up a formation of enemy aircraft with 1000-pound bombs in one battle. The other units then began the same training, but none of them were able to repeat the victory. This tactic required some aircraft to climb above the bomber formations with a 1,000-pound bomb each with a timed fuse, but accurately estimating the altitude difference to ensure that the bomb was just working became a major problem. In my memory, there was only one instance of such an attack being successfully executed. ”

"Our other new weapon is relatively much more successful. It was a bazooka-like weapon used by the Army, which could be hung on a 'Messerschmitt' ME109 fighter or a 'Fokk? Wolff's F190 fighter jet under the wing or fuselage. The accuracy of this 210-mm rocket is not high, and the trajectory is simply elusive. In order to hit the opponent at a distance of 1000 meters, you must fire at a height of about 150 meters above the target formation. However, if we succeed in getting the rocket carrier to climb to the correct altitude and approach a distance of 1,000 meters from the enemy formation, the rocket explosion can usually break up the formation of the 'Flying Fortress' or 'Liberator' bomber. As mentioned above, a lone bomber is usually an easier target. But in addition to accuracy, there is also a problem with this weapon, which is that its weight and aerodynamic shape seriously affect the climb rate of single-engine fighters, and the result is that it is necessary to wait for the rocket carrier aircraft to reach the correct altitude, which requires great patience. ”

"Just as we were practicing various methods of attacking heavy bomber groups, their escort fighters appeared. These guys are usually quick to identify weaknesses in our methods of attack and counter them, so much so that we have to develop new methods of attack. One of the most interesting, but also the most dangerous, is the use of our fighters for mid-air ramming. In 1943, we started working on the 'Fokk? Wolf's fighters were equipped with armor plates and placed them in a number of units for close attack. They had to get as close as possible to the bombers, and if the enemy planes were still flying after all the ammunition had been fired, then ramming would have to be used to destroy the enemy. In fact, there have been many crash fights, but the amazing thing is that in most cases, the pilots who carried out the crash were able to parachute out safely! But the problem with this approach is also how to get these aircraft to the right altitude - their additional armor protection seriously reduces the rate of climb. ”

"In the end, the most successful method came to planes equipped with specially made air-to-air rockets. From 1943 onwards, I was engaged in almost exclusively combat missions against enemy heavy bomber groups. After that, I went to the 7th Day Fighter Group, the first unit fully equipped with jet 'Messerschmitt' ME262 fighters, as Wing Commander. At that time, our ME262 fighters began to be armed with 50M air-to-air rockets of 4 mm caliber, suspended under the wings of 24 on each side, with a salvo of 1000 rounds at a distance of 48 meters from the enemy group. The result was fantastic: when dealing with dense enemy formations, it was quite common to shoot down one enemy aircraft in one salvo. But this rocket was not equipped with ordinary fighters, only on jet fighters. ”

"In this battle with the enemy's four-engine bomber group, the attrition of German fighter pilots was very serious. There were more and more inexperienced young people, and as the battle progressed, morale gradually declined. Of course, this is also affected by the unfavorable military situation of the country as a whole. Every pilot faces serious difficulties, especially when returning to base after completing a mission. Battles often take place far above the clouds, and pilots who have been in a scuffle, completely disoriented, and short of fuel, often have to descend under the clouds in search of any place where they can land. Navigation facilities were severely inadequate, resulting in the loss of many aircraft. The remaining planes were also dropped everywhere, so much so that we had to adopt a combat protocol where, in order to attack the second formation of the incoming enemy planes, or to prepare for the second major attack of the day, all fighters at any base were to be led by a temporarily designated officer of higher rank, and after replenishing fuel and ammunition, they formed a formation to attack the enemy group, regardless of the unit to which the pilots originally belonged. I don't think it needs to be pointed out, and everyone can understand that the combat effectiveness of such a formation will inevitably be greatly reduced. ”

"Although there are many of the world's best pilots in the German fighter force, the vast majority of them are young and inexperienced novices. Current data show that young pilots are injured on average after two combat missions. They need more training. On the other hand, the situation with our aircraft was very good, in fact we were overwhelmed by the planes sent from the rear: in a month of October 1943, a total of 4300 fighters were built at the military-industrial complex! Fuel is also plentiful, and the duration and intensity of training flights have increased dramatically – and there is reason to believe that as time permits, new pilots will be suitable for this new kind of combat. ”

"By now, a large part of the jet fighters have been handed over to the units tasked with intercepting the enemy's bomber groups, and the fighter units have received a total of 1,294 ME262s produced, most of which will be used in air defense operations. His Majesty the Emperor and Prime Minister Strassel fully recognized their value, and could even say that he had gone from having no idea of the battle in the sky to becoming more aware of it. I have always believed that if all jet fighters had been thrown into the fight against enemy bomber groups at the very beginning, the fighter units would not have suffered so many undue losses. ”

"Among the German pilots who took part in this magnificent battle with the enemy bomber group, the survivors agreed with me: it was not a pleasant thing to attack these 'flying fortresses'. None of the pilots who crossed the mighty bomber 'stream' in the sky like me will never forget this image, and I am sure that everyone was relieved to be able to return to base intact. ”

"Yesterday I received news that the Chinese heavy bomber group bombed Tokyo, causing huge losses and unimaginable casualties to myself, and I think I am now facing the same problems we faced before, and they are technically limited and have not been able to find an effective solution to the problem."

(To be continued)