Over the Indian Ocean south of Sumatra, the weather is not very good, with large areas of stratus clouds floating at low to medium altitudes, and it may still be raining on the sea. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoBut for the B-29 Super Fortress flying at an altitude of 9,500 meters, the sky is always cloudless.

The height of 9500 meters is too high for Yunyu, and 9500 meters is probably too high for the Japanese fighters.

Paul. Captain Tibbetts, holding the control wheel in both hands, turned his head to look to the right side of the cabin, and saw a spectacular sight that most people would never forget.

This is a large fleet of 142 aircraft, not 142 ordinary fighters or bombers, but 142 B-29 Super Fortresses. It was the most powerful heavy bomber known, much more powerful than the German-made Me264 bomber that the Japanese used to bomb the West Coast!

Thinking of the crime of the Japanese dropping bacteriological weapons on the West Coast of the United States to kill countless civilians, Captain Tibbetts had an urge to fly the B-29 to Tokyo to drop napalm...... If the Japanese emperor can be burned to death, even a one-way operation will be worth it.

In fact, the US Army Air Corps did not fail to consider the possibility of a "one-way bombing" of Japan -- after seizing Oahu, B-29 bombers took off from Oahu and flew more than 6,000 kilometers straight to Tokyo to drop bombs, and then went to Vladivostok in the Soviet Union to land.

However, in the end, because the cost was too great, the idea of "one-way bombing" of Tokyo had to be dispelled, and the Japanese oil fields in the South China Sea were bombed from Australia instead.

And the Palembang oil field, located on the island of Sumatra and producing millions of tons of crude oil per year, is the top priority of the B-29 bombing!

According to the estimates of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, as long as several large oil fields in Southeast Asia, including the Palembang oil field, can be destroyed, Japan's wartime oil supply will be greatly reduced, and Japan's war potential will also be greatly reduced.

At that time, unless Germany is willing to supply Japan with several million tons of oil supplies from its own scarce oil supply, Japan will have to sue for peace with the United States.

Once Japan sues for peace, the United States can concentrate its forces on dealing with the Germans who rule the European continent, and it will not seek to win, as long as it can fight a draw, it will not be afraid that it will not win in the future currency war.

And after the collapse of the European Community with a currency war, are you afraid that you will not have a chance to trouble Japan again?

"Captain, we will enter the skies over Sumatra in 10 minutes, and it is estimated that we will be intercepted by Japanese planes."

Captain Tibbetts' navigator Theodore. Van Kirk reported loudly to his boss at 9:38 a.m. East Indies Time on June 5.

"Okay, we're going to fight the Japanese devils soon!" Captain Tibbetts pressed the throat communicator: "Major General Chennault, I'm Captain Tibbetts of the pilot plane, and we'll be over Sumatra in 10 minutes." ”

The 20th Bomber Wing of the U.S. Army Air Corps, which was commanded by Major General Chennault, was responsible for the bombing of the Palembang oil field, led by Major General Chennault himself, and a total of 142 B-29s were dispatched.

Half of them were loaded with bombs, and the other half were loaded with napalm. The fleet took off from the Port Hedland base in Western Australia and flew 2,000 kilometres northwest before turning due north and flying 550 kilometres over Palembang.

Since most of the flight routes were over the Indian Ocean west of Australia, which was a blind spot that could not be detected by Japanese radars, it was possible that the Japanese radar stations deployed on Sumatra could only be detected by the Japanese radar stations deployed on Sumatra when the aircraft group approached 150 kilometers of the coastline off the south coast of Sumatra.

At this time, 142 B-29s were already less than 500 kilometers away from Palembang, and the B-29s were approaching a high speed of more than 500 kilometers / h (at 9,500 meters, this speed is very fast). In less than 1 hour, these planes will be flying over the oil fields and cities of Palembang. Hundreds of tons of bombs and napalm will turn Palembang into a sea of fire.

However, before these B-29s of the Americans could complete their bombing mission, they had to pass the level of Japanese fighters.

"Guys, I'm Chennault, and I'm here with you to bomb the Japanese today!" Chennault's voice reached the headphones of the crew members of every B-29 fighter in the sky.

"But the Japanese won't let us drop the bombs easily," Chennault said in a deep tone, "They have a lot of fighters, and we'll be intercepted by Japanese planes soon." So we had to stay in formation, let the planes cover each other, and all the gunners were in their positions and ready to fight! God bless you guys, God bless America! ”

As soon as his words fell, the voice of Captain Tibbetts, who was in charge of piloting, rang out again: "Major General, the enemy plane has been discovered!" There are more than 50 of them, and they are the 'Tony' fighters of the Japanese. ”

"Tony" is the code name given by the Americans to Japan's Type III "Feiyan" fighter. This kind of aircraft is a little famous in the South Pacific theater, and it is a fighter with superior performance among the Japanese army aircraft (the Japanese army does not use the zero type, so in the early days of the Pacific War, the "Feiyan" is a very good fighter in the hands of the Japanese army aviation, but unfortunately there are not many of them), and it is mostly used by experienced old pilots, so it has achieved good results.

"Got it!" Chennault's tone was still steady, as if he didn't care about these Japanese "Feiyan", "Guys, just keep in formation and just break through, the Japanese can't stop us!" ”

Chennault's self-confidence was not without reason, because the B-29 bomber was indeed a powerful and very strong heavy bomber.

The B-29 heavy bomber was really heavy, with an empty weight of 33793 kg, which is almost 264 tons heavier than the German Me10! Naturally, all of this weight was used for self-defense firepower and armor, with four remote-controlled turrets and one tail turret on the fuselage, with a total of 12 12.7mm machine guns and one 20mm cannon.

It's actually a flying fortress!

Although the Japanese "Feiyan" II has significantly improved its high-altitude performance compared with the earlier "Feiyan", its firepower is still somewhat weak, with only two 20mm cannons and two 12.7mm machine guns.

With such firepower, it is very difficult to shoot down a solid B-29!

At 9:45, the first collision of a B-29 bomber and a Japanese fighter officially began.

142 American B-29s lined up in the air in layered formations, mighty and courageous.

At least 70 of Japan's Type 3 "Feiyan" fighters were at full speed, first rushing to an altitude of 10,500 meters, and then, like a vicious tiger descending from a mountain, with the help of the acceleration paid, pounced on the B-29 1,000 meters below.

A fierce exchange of fire immediately unfolded in the air, and tongues of fire erupted from the six 12.7mm machine guns on the back and waist of the B-29, forming a dense network of fire in the air.

Not to be outdone, the Japanese "Feiyan" fighters braved the rain of bullets fired by American planes to charge hard, and after paying the price of 11 "Feiyan" fighters being beaten into a sieve by 12.7mm aviation machine guns (the American 12.7mm machine gun bullets are longer than those of the same caliber in Germany and Japan, and the power has increased accordingly). The ammunition fired by the 20mm cannon and 12.7mm aviation machine gun on the Japanese fighter also swept over the huge B-29.

However, to the complete surprise of the Japanese pilots, except for three B-29s that were hit by the vital point and rolled to the ground, the remaining 139 B-29s still flew northward in obscurity.

The stunned Japanese "Hibik" fighter pilots still wanted to fly their fighters in pursuit, but suddenly found that their planes were flying at an altitude of 9,500 meters faster than the Americans' B-29s loaded with ammunition!

That is, they had only one chance to attack, and then they could not catch up with the B-29.

It is clear that the Type 3 "Feiyan" fighter, which the Japanese Army has high hopes for, cannot effectively intercept the B-29.

But the Japanese now have another trump card in their hands - 36 "Silver Reaper" jets!

Somewhat contrary to Hersman's expectations, the "human-operated missiles" he sold to the Japanese were used as jet planes by the Japanese army, which was accustomed to saving days, because of its good performance.

However, due to the Japanese bombing of the west coast of the United States, many Me264 bombers were lost, and some of the Me264s were used as long-range bombers in the Pacific Ocean - in order to destroy the American airfield on Niihau, the Japanese launched a shuttle bombing between Sawao Island, Niihau, and Oahu. More than a dozen Me264s belonging to the Army were dispatched to take off from the airport on Sawatori Island in northeastern Japan, fly more than 5,000 kilometers to Niihau Island to drop bombs (night bombs), and then land on Oahu.

In addition, the Japanese Navy used several Me264s for long-range reconnaissance to search for the main U.S. fleet near the Hawaiian Islands.

So now there are only 40 Me264s that can be used to mount the "Silver Reaper" that belong to the Navy, so only 40 "Silver Reaper" that can be used as jet planes can be launched at a time. However, in the eyes of the Japanese Navy, it is absolutely no problem for 40 jet "Silver Reapers" to shoot down about 20 B-29s at a time.

Now these Me264s are deployed in Singapore, and after the radar station on the island of Sumatra discovered the approach of the American B-29 plane, they immediately hung up the "Silver Reaper" and took off urgently, hoping to dismount the American planes that dared to invade Sumatra.