"More than 10,000 meters?" Yamamoto fifty-six frowned, remembering the British bombing of Rome. At that time www.biquge.info the British also dispatched B-17s to penetrate from an altitude of 10,000 meters, but they were still shot down several by the Germans' Fokker Zero, and after that, the B-17 never played daytime bombing.

"How many enemy planes did we shoot?" Yamamoto thought about it and asked.

"What is certain is 1 B-17, 3 B-25 and 3 P51." Ugaki replied, "The Americans' B-25 and P51 penetrated from a height of 5,000 meters, and the Zero and Type 1 intercepted and achieved relatively good results. But their B-17 broke through from an altitude of 10000 meters, and when our Zero and 1 flew to such altitudes, the performance of the engines dropped significantly. And according to the reports of the returning pilots, the American B-17 has very strong self-defense firepower, the slow approach of the Zero and Type 1 is very dangerous, and the B-17 is very strong and difficult to shoot down......"

It turned out that Lieutenant General Tsukahara 243 immediately questioned the returning pilots immediately after the "Kaohsiung Air Battle", and now the situation has been clarified. The Americans' B-17 is a very difficult target, not only can it penetrate at high altitudes, but also has strong firepower for self-defense.

However, because the Zero and Type 1 are not equipped with a suitable supercharger, their performance above 10,000 meters is very poor, they have no speed and are not flexible, and they can easily become live targets for large-caliber machine guns on the B-17.

"It seems that the Americans have improved the B-17!" Yamamoto's brow furrowed tightly.

Because the British bombed Rome with B-17s were very unsuccessful, Yamamoto Isoroku did not pay much attention to such "failed aircraft". I didn't expect that now the B-17s deployed by the Americans in the Philippines have become so difficult to deal with...... It must have been improved!

"Commander, this B-17 has a very large range, and it can fly from Gibraltar to Rome to drop bombs......"

As soon as Ugaki's words came out, Yamamoto Fifty-six's face suddenly changed greatly. The distance from Gibraltar to Rome is only 16,700 kilometers, and the distance from the Philippines to Kyushu is just over 2,000 kilometers. If the B-17 could fly from Gibraltar to Rome, then it was not impossible to take off from the Philippines to bomb southern Kyushu.

If Kyushu is bombed, it will be the Japanese mainland, which will be a huge blow to the morale of the people and will also add unnecessary trouble to the Navy's operations in Hawaii.

"The US military airfield in the Philippines must be destroyed as soon as possible!" Yamamoto Isoroku immediately gave the order, "Tell Tsukahara that the airfield of the American army in Clark must be destroyed at any cost, and quickly!" ”

……

When Yamamoto Isoroku gave the order to Tsukahara 243, there was a fierce battle going on over Clark Airport.

MacArthur still has 61 P51s, 64 P40s and 32 F4Fs in his hands that can fight, especially 61 P51s that can completely compete with the Japanese Zeros. Therefore, in the air battle on December 8 (the Philippines), the US Air Force in the Far East, commanded by Colonel Doolittle, was actually on par with the Japanese.

Although 12 P51s (including those lost in the air battle of Kaohsiung), 17 P40s, 6 F4Fs, 1 B-17 (lost in the air battle of Kaohsiung) and 4 B-25s (lost in the air battle of Kaohsiung) were lost in the air battle. Another 20 planes were damaged in Japanese bombing.

However, it also shot down 13 Type Zeros (including the results of the Kaohsiung Air Battle), 9 Type 1 (all shot down in the Kaohsiung Air Battle), 13 Type 97 heavy bombers, 10 Type 96 land attack aircraft, and 6 Type 1 land attack aircraft. In addition, 22 Japanese planes at Kaohsiung Airport were damaged and damaged.

"Lost 60 planes...... MacArthur looked at Colonel Doolittle, who had come to report to him, and asked, "James, how long can the Air Corps hold out?" ”

"Up to 5 days." Colonel Doolittle shook his head and said, "Maybe it won't last for five days...... The problem now is that there is no way to replenish fighters and pilots. The Philippines is too far from home to receive reinforcements. ”

Although the United States has placed more than 400 planes (including reserve planes) in the Philippines, there are actually quite a few, but it still cannot fight a war of attrition. The Japanese only needed to spare 300 aircraft to lose the damaged air force of the US Far East Army.

"If the air force runs out, then the Philippines will not be able to hold it!" MacArthur said with a solemn face as he smoked his pipe.

Although the US Far East Army claims to have 130,000 people, the authentic Americans are only in their early 30,000s, and the real main force is the indigenous Filipinos, who will not fight to the death for the United States at all. Moreover, most of these Filipino servicemen have been enlisted for a short time and have not received the necessary military training.

Colonel Doolittle wrinkled his eyebrows, "If it can't be replenished in time, the Far Eastern Army Air Force will not exist in 5 days...... Lieutenant General, instead of this, it is better to do something vigorous and big before the air force is gone. ”

"Boom?" MacArthur looked at Doolittle with wide eyes, and he thought of ramming the aircraft carrier with a B-17 full of bombs...... It's a pity that this is not Doolittle's idea.

"Bomb Tokyo!" Doolittle gritted his teeth and said what he was going to do, "We can drop the bomb on the head of the Emperor of Japan!" ”

Last time in Rome, didn't the British B-17 kill a pope? Why don't you try to blow up the emperor this time, in case you get killed? This is a big increase in the prestige of the United States!

"Is the range enough?" MacArthur asked, "It's almost 3,000 kilometers from the Philippines to Tokyo, right?" ”

"Less than a little," Durant said, "the B-17 will definitely not be able to fly back and forth." ”

"Have you gone or not?" MacArthur was stunned, "Or a suicide attack?" ”

"No, of course it's not suicide." Doolittle quickly shook his head and explained, "We can start with the B-17 transfer to Guam, the distance from Guam to Tokyo is relatively close, about 2,500 kilometers. ”

"Where do you go after the bombing?" MacArthur asked. "The range of the B-17 is not 5,000 kilometers.

"To the USSR." "It's about 1,000 kilometers from Tokyo to Vladivostok in the USSR, where we can land," Doolittle said. If you are lucky, there will be no losses on the sortie B-17. ”

The slight losses of the B-17 in the air battle in Kaohsiung are already very revealing - the intelligence that Japan did not have high-altitude fighters is accurate. Moreover, the high-altitude performance of their Zero fighters is not comparable to that of the Fokker Zero, and they are simply not able to fight at an altitude of 10,000 meters. If the B-17 breaks through Tokyo at an altitude of 10,000 meters, it is likely that there will be no losses.

"But it's 3,500 kilometers?" MacArthur thought for a moment, "There's still not enough fuel, right?" ”

"If you load fewer bombs, lose as much weight as possible, and carry aviation gasoline in the cabin, you should be able to fly hundreds to a thousand kilometers more," Doolittle said. That way we can fly from Guam to Tokyo to bomb the Emperor! ”

Of course, the probability of killing an emperor is not large, but the bombing of the Japanese capital will certainly do much to boost the morale of the American people.

……

"Bombing Tokyo?" Franklin. Before Roosevelt was about to leave for Congress to give a speech, he learned from Army Chief of Staff Marshall about MacArthur and Doolittle plans to bomb Tokyo.

"I think that's a good idea," Roosevelt looked furious, as if thoroughly enraged by the Japanese adventures. "The American people will be thrilled to hear this news! I hope that the Army Air Corps will implement this plan as soon as possible...... As for the question of the landing of the plane in the USSR. ”

The President of the United States looked at Secretary of State Hull. Hull said: "Mr. President, this is not a problem, Stalin will definitely treat our people as VIPs and send them back to the United States." ”

Japan is now at war with the United States, and of course it will not challenge the Soviet Union again, if that is not a dizziness, but a search for death. Therefore, Stalin could have brazenly returned to the United States the American pilots who had landed in Vladivostok, and although such an act clearly violated the principle of neutrality, Japan did not dare to do anything with the Soviet Union.

"That's all right," Roosevelt nodded, "and now it's time for Stalin to make the Soviet Union clear." ”

If the Soviet Union adhered to the principle of neutrality and detained American pilots who entered the country, then Roosevelt would have to seriously consider whether to continue to win over the Soviet Union.

If the USSR disregarded the principle of neutrality and returned the American pilots. Then the Soviet Union obviously told Japan that they were on the side of the United States, and this would certainly constitute a considerable check on Japan's military strength.

"In addition, we should develop a long-range heavy bomber with a range of more than 6000 kilometers as soon as possible." Roosevelt said, "The bombing of Tokyo from Guam could not be carried out once, but repeatedly." ”

"President," Marshall replied, "this project has been a long time underway, and we call it the Super Bomber program, and the winning bid is Boeing's B-29 program. This is a heavy bomber with a combat radius of up to 2,800 kilometers, the army has ordered 250 of them, and the first B-29 is expected to be delivered in September 1943. ”

"Increase to 1,000!" Roosevelt said, "Order 1,000 first, and we'll need a lot of B-29s, because there are so many enemies to bomb!" ”

He glanced at Hopkins, a thinker sitting in the corner. "Harry, what do you say?"

"President, it would be better not to mention Germany in your speech this afternoon......," Hopkins said It was not yet time, and Congress would not agree to declare war on Germany over Pearl Harbor. ”

Roosevelt nodded, "Well, now it's up to Hitler and Hersmann to help me solve this problem." ”

Hopkins smiled and said, "That's the same problem for the Germans!" (To be continued.) )