In April 1944, air battles began over the United States.

This is a tug-of-war between bombing and counter-bombing, and whoever can control the sky will gain the initiative in the war, and this is all too well known to the commanders of China and the United States.

And for the control of air supremacy, it is undoubtedly more urgent for the Chinese.

They need the sky, they need to drop bombs one bomb after another, they need to end the war once and for all with their ultimate secret weapon.

The same is true for the US Air Force.

They need to defend the country at all costs

Since human beings have been separated from animals and walked upright and developed their minds, fantasies and pursuits have also been born. It is this fantasy and pursuit of a better life that has promoted the progress and development of human civilization. The accumulation of knowledge of our ancestors was not always so good that they consciously produced miraculous inventions, but they were always good at finding inspiration in the imitation of the natural world. The birth of balloons, airships, and airplanes is a striking example of this.

September 19, 1783, Place de Versailles, Paris, France.

King Louis XVI of France, accompanied by many civil and military officials, braved the scorching heat of early autumn to sit on the viewing platform in the square. The square was crowded with more than 100,000 high-spirited Parisians. Today, they will be here to watch the first hot air balloon flight with a "passenger" in human history. From the reverie of flight to the initial realization of this ideal, how many ups and downs and twists and turns have mankind experienced! What a long and arduous journey!

Thousands of years ago, when our poor human ancestors saw the free-flying magpies, they had many beautiful reveries: how good it would be if they could break free from the shackles and fly into the blue sky and soar freely like birds! Whether in China, India, ancient Babylon or Rome, the myths of human flight are rich and spectacular, such as Chang'e flying to the moon, Dunhuang flying to the sky, and winged angels. These widespread myths epitomize the human desire for flight.

Although the level of technological development at that time was still difficult to meet the expectations of human beings for flight, people have never given up the pursuit and exploration of beautiful ideals. In particular, the Chinese people, who have a long history of civilization, have made outstanding contributions to the development of the world aviation industry with their hard work. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2,000 years ago, Lu Ban, the ancestor of the construction industry, created a wooden kite that could fly. Mozi? Lu Wen Chapter" recorded: "Ban cut bamboo is intended to be a magpie, and it will fly into it, and it will not be down for three days." "By the time of the Western Han Dynasty, kites that used the principle of aerodynamics appeared in China. It is widely believed that kites are the most primitive flying machines and the ancestors of modern aircraft. During the reign of Wang Mang, some people imitated the shape of a bird, put on wings made of feathers, jumped down from a high place, tried to fly, and successfully flew hundreds of steps.

With the progress of civilization, foreigners also came up with the idea of flying and began to try this aspect. Around the 5th century AD, a blacksmith named Veran in Europe made a set of "feather jackets", conducted a series of flight tests and achieved some success. Later, Wei Lan also put on a "feather coat" to carry out a revenge operation, he lifted the enemy into the air, threw him to the ground and fell to his death. In the 13th century, the Russian Chado Chinik wrote a similar account in a manuscript of a man wearing wings made of silk and flying safely from the top of a very high church.

In 1903, the French Le Bodie brothers built the world's first truly functional airship. The airship flew 61 kilometers at a time on November 12 of the same year.

Since then, the development of balloons and airships has entered a heyday, and has been widely used in the military and transportation fields. On the military front, Germany, France, Russia, Britain, and other countries have successively formed airship units and introduced airships into the battlefield. For example, in the 1911 U.S.-Turkey War, the United States used three airships for reconnaissance and bombing of Turkey for the first time; On August 5, 1914, Germany used the Pinberlin airship to bomb the French fortress city of Lieyue; A year later, Germany sent five LZ-38 Zeppelins across the English Channel to bomb London; Seven people were killed and more than 30 were injured, causing a great panic among the Chinese. In terms of transport, on 28 June 1910 Germany established a regular airship air route between Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. Flying on this route is the LZ-7 Zeppelin, which can carry 24 passengers and 12 flight crew, and can fly at speeds of more than 70 kilometers per hour. In 1912, a zeppelin made its first round-the-world flight in 20 days.

At the time of the vigorous development of airships, a more important and meaningful invention in the history of the development of flying enlightenment - the airplane was introduced, and the inspiration of the Ming people was the Wright brothers of the United States!

After the advent of airplanes, human civilization took a big step forward, but the catastrophe brought by war also escalated

April 6, 1944.

A sea and air war broke out between China and the United States.

Twenty-seven "Saker-21" torpedo attack planes and 60 "Tempest" dive bombers, under the cover of 18 "Falcon 19" fighters, swooped down on the USS Lexington aircraft carrier in a lightning flash.

At 8:55 a.m., the Chinese aircraft group landed in the sky above the US fleet. The 12 torpedo planes of the 1st Chinese Torpedo Squadron braved the heavy antiaircraft fire of the US fleet and concentrated on attacking the "Lexington." When they were about to carry out a torpedo attack from the flanks of the "Lexington" and were blocked, they immediately detoured back to the rear of the American fleet and broke through the interception of the American fleet's anti-aircraft artillery fire and launched a torpedo attack from the starboard side.

When the Lexington saw that its plane could not take off, it began to circle like a duck that had fallen into a barrel and had been shot at at gunpoint

Of the 12 torpedoes that fell one after another, three of them directly hit the "Lexington," and a raging fire broke out on the ship.

In the face of a sudden attack, the US aircraft carriers, which were already ill-prepared, were in a mess, and the two carrier-based planes that took off in a hurry were immediately swallowed by the US "Falcon 19".

A few minutes later, the 7th Chinese torpedo attack aircraft of the 12th torpedo squadron also rushed to the "Lexington". I saw that the captain led the group to start dropping torpedoes only 500 meters from the "Lexington", and hit four torpedoes at once. At that time, the "Lexington" had already been forced to hit 13 500-kilogram bombs.

At the same time, 36 "Tempest" dive bombers also attacked the "Lexington" without stopping. In this way, in less than 10 minutes, the "Lexington" hit 13 bombshells and 7 torpedoes. The large aircraft carrier was almost blown to pieces. The desperate radio transmitter simply said, "We have been attacked by enemy planes," and sank to the bottom of the sea. It was the fastest time to sink an aircraft carrier during the entire war. Of the ship's 2,122 officers and men, 1,836 sank with the USS Lexington, while the Chinese lost three bombers.

Almost at the same time that the "Lexington" was sunk, the Americans also received an urgent telegram from a reconnaissance plane: "The Chinese aircraft carrier task force has been discovered, 160 nautical miles to the south. ”

At this time, Chester, who had already been hit hard by the [***] team. Admiral Nimitz, impatient with his waiting, immediately ordered the plane to take off.

In an instant, with a roar on the deck of the aircraft carrier, 78 planes roared into the air from the "Saratoga" and "Readpower". Under the leadership of Rear Admiral Thatch, they swooped straight for the Chinese aircraft carrier task force.

The fighting has taken on a terrible intensity

At this time, the sea was full of strong winds, dark clouds covered the sky, and the visibility on the sea surface was so low that it was almost impossible to see anything, which brought great difficulties to the US plane's search. As a result, the US plane not only failed to find the US aircraft carrier, but instead encountered the "Falcon" combat patrol plane on the Chinese "Grand President." As a result, after a tragic battle in the air, we saw the fighters of both sides rising in the air, flopping over, pursuing, and firing; in an instant, eight "Ravager" torpedo attack planes and two "Dreadnought" dive bombers were smashed into the air, and the remaining US planes did not dare to fall in love with the battle and hurriedly fled.

By this time, it was completely dark, and the vast sea seemed to be clasped by the bottom of a huge black cauldron

Sheboygan.

The Chinese bomber group quickly set its sights on here.

At this time, Sheboygan was full of sky-high fires and violent explosions. The military port, which used to be quiet and neat, was in a mess at this time, with some ships staggering and some leaving only their masts exposed on the water, as if sending out a distress signal.

A large number of planes flew through the rain of bullets and over the breakwater. They had planned to attack the heavy cruiser "Astoria", but they were too far away, and when they saw that the "Minneapolis" shot down the Chinese plane, they took revenge on the "Minneapolis". A large hole was blown by a torpedo in the place behind the bow turret of the USS Minneapolis, and the sea water rushed in. A huge behemoth, and soon it slowly sank.

Three aircraft of the 2nd Flight Group approached the port from the northwest direction, and the three aircraft made a high-angle dive and flew horizontally around the northern end of the balloon obstacle. The Chinese plane fired a torpedo at the "Vincennes" under the bright light of the slowly landing flares, and his observer saw with his own eyes a silver-white track piercing straight through like a sharp sword, and with a "boom" sound, hit the target.

The other two planes also followed, and there were two loud "booms" and "booms". The heavy weight cruiser was so badly damaged.

At the same time, four bombers bombed the ships of the inner harbor according to the scheduled plan, and at 23:06, the bomber group flew to the inner harbor from an altitude of 2,500 meters, and the target was surrounded by thick smoke of enemy anti-aircraft fire. After Bomber 109 identified the target, it dived and bombed. Unfortunately, none of the six bombs dropped hit.

Bomber 109, unable to find a predetermined target in the inner harbor, attacked the seaplane hangar and slipway, and with the rumbling explosion, the hangar burst into flames. Bomber No. 120 dropped bombs on a row of warships anchored in the inner harbor, and one landed on the destroyer "Librio", and the explosion sounded again

Sheboygan was like an overturned hornet's nest, in a mess.

The U.S. commander here, Todds, was at a loss as a plane screamed low over his command building, apparently dismissive, and headed straight for the group of ships in the harbor. Last week's storm destroyed 60 of the 90 balloons. Audacious Chinese pilots dared to weave between the balloon's tightropes.

Although the 21 anti-aircraft artillery batteries on the ground all opened fire, most of the soldiers were not trained in night combat and could not even catch the target. What made Toddes even more angry was that after the first wave of Chinese planes withdrew, anti-aircraft fire was still firing hard.

Thinking the attack was over, Todds picked up his phone to report it to the Navy's High Command. At this moment, the alarm sounded for the fourth time, the second wave of attacks began, and Sheboygan became a sea of fire again.

Nine aircraft of the 2nd Strike Wave took off at 21:20. This time it didn't go well, the 2 planes collided with each other on the flight deck, but fortunately there was no damage. Twenty minutes after takeoff, one more plane was forced to return due to a malfunction. As a result, only eight planes flew to Sheboygan as scheduled to carry out the attack.

This time, the Americans got a little smarter, and the battleships, cruisers, and land artillery groups no longer fought on their own, but formed a dense network of crossfire. When 8 "Tempest" types made a breakthrough, 1 aircraft were shot down. "The enemy found us and opened fire on us," the observer reported. Everywhere there were flashes of artillery fire, and one after another, and all around us were flickering rays of light from all directions, and they opened fire on us with all the weapons at their disposal. ”

Five "Tempest" planes carrying torpedoes repeated their old tricks, and once again lowered their altitude and flew over the water to directly attack the enemy ship. The wheels of one of the planes hit the water and glided on the crest of the waves as if they were floating in the water. Captain Sutton stared at the wounded battleship "Vincennes", and when he was 700 yards away, he pressed the mine throwing button, and there was no movement! What's going on? One more time! Still no response! At this time, the Central African pilot could not help but become nervous, his eyes seemed to be filled with the huge shadow of the enemy ship, he pressed the mine button like a frenzy, and at the last moment, the torpedo was dropped, and he rushed to the towering side of the "Vincennes" with unerring accuracy. Immediately afterwards, the rest of the aircraft threw minees and hit the heavy cruisers "New Orleans" and "Pensacla", which were not yet injured. After dropping mines, the seven planes skillfully evaded maneuvers, passed through a dense barrage of barrages and billowing smoke, and flew away.

In the evening, the faint moon had just risen over the sea level in the east, and the aircraft carrier "Grand President," escorted by four cruisers and four destroyers, quietly appeared in waters 250 nautical miles southeast of the United States. The commander stood in front of the command platform covered with charts, and from time to time corrected the course. The arrow of the course pointed to the place that was already well known - Sheboygan.

The scheduled sortie was approaching, and the commander's heartstrings were tensed, and the upcoming assault made his expression look excited. Oh, yes! The day has finally come.

Moonlit nights are beneficial for pilots to discover targets and facilitate attacks and evacuations.

It was originally planned to dispatch 30 "Tempest" aircraft, which would be carried by the aircraft carriers "President" and "Assault".

21 aircraft were divided into two attack waves, 12 aircraft of the first wave, including 6 torpedo aircraft, 4 bombers, and 2 lighting aircraft; There were 9 aircraft of the 2nd Assault Wave, including 5 torpedo aircraft, 2 bombers, and 2 lighting aircraft.

The Chinese commander has studied ways to deal with the interception balloon. The balloons are spaced about 270 meters apart, and the aircraft can fly between the tethered steel cables. However, in the dark of night, when the plane flew in the dark at a speed of 130 knots, the situation was completely different, and the steel cable could not be seen at all by the moonlight alone. To this end, several Tempest flares and bombs were re-hung and flares were dropped on the east shore of the port to illuminate the target, allowing torpedo-carrying Torpedo flares to attack from the southwest and northwest. After dropping flares, the planes went on to bomb the port facilities.

At just 200 nautical miles from Sheboygan, the "President" began to slow down and adjust to a windward course. Headwinds favor the aircraft to gain lift. 4 cruisers and 4 destroyers scattered in 4 directions like loyal guards in case of contingencies.

After dinner, the pilots smoked cigarettes one after another in the standby room. The elevators were busy, lifting the first wave of aircraft from the hangar to the aft deck one by one.

The sea surface was undulating, and the moonlight was quietly falling, smearing the course of the stern of the ship with a layer of silvery-white light. The 12 "Tempest" planes lined up majestically on the flight deck like warriors in full gear.

The commander standing by the control tower did not say a word, and as usual, he patted the squadron leader on the shoulder forcefully. The squadron leader understood, turned around and ran to his landline.

Amplification inspires commands to prepare for takeoff. The pilot and navigator fastened their parachute harnesses, gave a final check of the instruments, and then started the engine. The wheelstopper lay on the deck and stuffed the plane. The propeller spun rapidly, shimmering with a halo of light. In the midst of a roar, the flight deck lights were turned on. At 20:35, a pale green beam of light was emitted from the signal platform above the bridge. The captain gave the order to remove the wheel block, the squadron leader increased the throttle, and the plane rumbled across the flight deck, picked up in the wind, and disappeared into the vast night.

Within minutes, 12 planes took off in turn. Nine of them climbed to an altitude of 2,300 meters and formed three "V" groups, while the remaining three were cut off by clouds and could not join the formation and had to fly alone.

A sound listening station in the far sea reported that the sound of the aircraft was heard. Todds ordered the alarm to be sounded, and the whole city of Sheboygan was suddenly dark, and the citizens hurried into the dugout under the command of the military police, and the ships in the harbor were immediately ready to anchor and evacuate. The anti-aircraft guns on the eastern hill of the harbor may have been overstretched and out of control, and a string of tracer catapults shot into the night sky. But soon everything calmed down, and after 10 minutes, the alarm was lifted.

After 59 minutes, the alarm sounded again, but calm returned again.

The inhabitants were numb, and the soldiers on guard were tired. Only Toddes remained at his command post, and he prayed to himself: I hope it will always be a misunderstanding.

At 11 p.m., sleeping residents and soldiers were woken up by the third alarm. While people were still cursing this prank after prank, the sound of the aircraft engines in the southeast direction had become louder and louder, and the anti-aircraft guns on duty were the first to spew out tongues of fire.

At this time, the squadron leader was still 50 nautical miles away, and he was encountering a powerful slipstream, and the plane was violently jolting irregularly. The three small groups also bumped around like a school of fish turning their heads. After finally breaking out of the slipstream, the squadron leader immediately adjusted the formation and accelerated towards the target.

The squadron leader's observer was a captain, who was the first to see the orange-red ballistics that appeared in the lead-gray night sky ahead, and immediately reminded the squadron leader:

"That's Sheboygan."

"Well, they seem to know we're coming, and they're setting off fireworks to welcome us." The squadron leader said lightly.

"It may be that 3 planes that did not climb high arrived in Sheboygan ahead of schedule!" The captain immediately explained.

At 23:02, the group flew over Sheboygan. At this time, the 21 companies of anti-aircraft guns of the US army were firing vigorously with their heads held high. Two Chinese planes dropped flares outside the barrier to stop the balloon.

The flares are suspended by small parachutes and burned at an altitude of 1,370 meters, illuminating the entire military port as bright as day. It was also the signal that commanded the "Tempest" aircraft to start diving.

At 7,000 feet and 5,000 feet, the surrounding shells exploded to form huge fireballs, and each fireball was connected into a three-dimensional fire network like a volcanic eruption. 2000 feet dive, dive!

The squadron leader pressed the nose of the plane and flew with his wingman from the west towards the center of the harbor, and the huge hull of the battleship "Minneapolis" 5,000 meters away was already faintly visible. He drove the plane to dive at high speed at a small angle, and strings of red and blue fireballs flashed under the fuselage, and instantly flew above the plane. Suddenly, two blocking balloons appeared in front of him, and he quickly swung the fuselage to pass through them, almost hitting the one on the right, scaring him into a cold sweat. As the plane dived 30 feet above the sea, he pulled it up and flew over the breakwater. The plane flew close to the surface of the water. The sea water is like a huge mirror, reflecting the fire that has exploded from the cannonballs in the sky, as if there is another world at the bottom of the sea.

The characteristic superstructure of the battleship "Minneapolis" gradually became clear. The naval guns joined the ranks of the shore guns and fired furious fire at the torpedo machines.

"Minneapolis" and two destroyers, apparently sensing his threat, turned their guns on his plane. I saw the muzzle sparks flashing, blazing and dazzling. He rushed straight at "Minneapolis" desperately, and the shadow of the ship in the aiming ring instantly swelled like a castle in front of him. When the plane was about to crash into the battleship, he immediately pressed the button and dropped the torpedo. Due to the sudden weight relief, the nose of the plane suddenly lifted.

The squadron leader pulled the longitudinal rod and pedaled the rudder board, trying to make the plane tilt to the right and turn, but at this time, the tail of the plane shook, and the squadron leader felt bad, the tail of the plane was hit, and the plane immediately lost control and rushed straight into the sea.

At this moment, he heard a loud explosion, it was a torpedo that hit the "Minneapolis"!

(To be continued)