Eight elite strategic bomber wings, more than 1,500 Superfortress bombers, took off from various airfields in the central region of the United States in the night, formed a group of flying formations in the air, and flew towards the Oak Ridge area of Tennessee. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

It's a massive air force, with so many super-bombers each capable of carrying more than ten tons of bombs. A massive bombardment of this magnitude was enough to destroy even a city, and Oak Ridge was nothing more than an ordinary valley.

In fact, at this moment, the US military has already had a sufficient understanding of the possible bombing by the Ming army. To protect the results of the super-bomb program. In addition to moving important supplies to underground fortifications, the U.S. military also deployed a large number of air defense fighters and ground air defense units near Oak Ridge.

The US military has deployed more than 1,000 air defense fighters at many airfields near Oak Ridge, of which at least 400 are cutting-edge twin-engine night fighters, which are the main force of their air defense.

As for the ground air defense units, not only are they numerous, but they are also equipped with more than 1,000 anti-aircraft guns of various models ranging from 20 mm to 150 mm caliber. Among them, there are more than 500 doors with a diameter of 76 mm or more. You must know that the production of anti-aircraft artillery is much more difficult than ordinary artillery of the same caliber.

These anti-aircraft guns were distributed in the shape of a ring over a large area with Oak Ridge as the core. Because the U.S. military did not know whether the bomber units of the Ming Army would come, and in which direction they would fly from. Unlike the ground forces, aviation units are capable of turning in the sky.

As the ground forces of the Ming army continued to approach, more and more high-altitude and high-speed reconnaissance planes of the Ming army flew to the Oak Ridge area for reconnaissance during this period. This also made the U.S. military more and more convinced that the Ming army's aerial bombardment was coming.

Since before the start of the war, the Daming Army and Hainan Airlines have been equipped with a large number of albatross twin-engine reconnaissance planes with extremely outstanding performance. This extremely ingenious design, with its incredible high speed and high ceiling, has been a nightmare for the Allies from the beginning of the war to the present. All the models of fighters owned by the Allies could not catch up with this albatross reconnaissance aircraft.

During the reconnaissance, the albatross reconnaissance plane, which was almost like entering a no-man's land, brought all kinds of extremely valuable intelligence support to the victory of the Ming Dynasty. When this albatross reconnaissance plane appeared in the sky of Oak Ridge many times in recent times, the Americans had already begun to greatly strengthen their air defense.

More than 1,000 strategic bombers took off from all over the place and began to form formations in the sky. They formed one huge ring after another in large groups, relying on a large number of cannons loaded on strategic bombers for self-defense. Because of their large numbers, their dense firepower was enough to shoot down any Allied air defense fighter.

Moreover, this time the massive bombing campaign was not carried out by the strategic bomber forces alone. Because of the relatively close distance, this time the Daming Army Aviation also sent several night fighter wings to provide direct escort for the strategic bomber force. About 400 night fighters of the Ming army joined the escort operation.

These night fighters will not come close to strategic bomber units. It's not just the height difference, it's also the distance between the two sides. Because when fighting at night, it is impossible for strategic bombers to completely distinguish which side the fighters close to them belong to.

Therefore, Zhang Cheng had already made it clear when formulating the operational regulations that strategic bombers could attack any aircraft that approached them when they were fighting at night.

Similarly, the combat manual issued by Zhang Cheng to the fighter unit also clearly stated that the fighter unit should not approach the strategic bomber unit when it was in direct cover, because it would be attacked.

The large fleet of aircraft did not go around in circles, because a bombing of this scale could not have been concealed from the radars of the Americans. Therefore, the Ming army simply rushed straight over.

Colonel Wang Lan, commander of the 114th Wing, held a walkie-talkie and loudly ordered the members of his landline to strengthen their vigilance and be ready to carry out defensive operations at any time. After flying into the skies over Tennessee, the Ming army had already adjusted its course, and there was no need to make drastic adjustments.

And the US radar station on the ground has already discovered this super-large formation that is so large that it directly swipes the screen. All towns in the direction of the Ming army's aircraft group have already sounded the air defense alarm.

There is no need to think too much, just analyze the course of the bomber formation to understand that their target is Oak Ridge. Many US air defense fighters have begun to take to the air, and the air defense units on the ground have also removed their camouflage nets and are intensively preparing for air defense. The Oak Ridge area has the strictest light control.

The U.S. military believed that it would be difficult for the Ming army to achieve much success in this bombing. After all, Oak Ridge is hidden, and it is difficult to spot ground targets when it is dark. Coupled with the fact that they have a large number of air defense forces, the US military is optimistic about this resistance.

It's a pity that the US officers and soldiers don't know that their so-called position is hiding in front of the Ming army is a joke. The moles in the top echelons of the United States have already revealed all the secrets here. Moreover, when the Ming strategic bomber formation was about to arrive, a group of Ming spies took a huge risk to light a bonfire and fire flares, pointing out the direction for the Ming strategic bomber formation.

The first to collide were the night fighter formations of both sides. Hundreds of fighter planes chased after each other in the sky, relying on their rudimentary primitive radars, and the dense chain of bullets pulled out dazzling death whips in the sky. From time to time, a fighter plane that was hit and caught fire dragged a long flame in the sky and rushed to the ground with dazzling death fireworks, and finally turned into a huge ball of fire.

In fact, the main opponent of a night fighter equipped with radar is a large strategic bomber, because the strategic bomber is huge in size and is relatively easy to detect and attack. But it is difficult to capture targets when fighting night fighters, after all, the radar technology of this era is still very primitive and backward.

The battle between the night fighters of both sides was fierce, but the results were not large in comparison to the scale. Because it is difficult for both sides to detect each other, and the opponent's speed is fast, the hit rate is greatly reduced.

On the whole, it shows that the military has the advantage, not that they have shot down more enemy planes, but that they have successfully completed their mission and entangled the US night fighter unit to the death. This ensured that the strategic bomber formations would be able to successfully carry out the operational plan.

While the night fighters of both sides were entangled with each other, the strategic bomber formation of the Ming army group had already reached the sky over the target.

"Attention everyone." The pilot plane flying at the front was Major General Wu Mingyi, the senior commander of the Army Aviation Force, who immediately fixed his course after seeing the fireworks on the ground, and at the same time began to give the bombing order: "Follow me, and when I start dropping bombs, I will drop bombs according to the established plan." ”

At this time, the ground had boiled into a pot of porridge, and countless anti-aircraft artillery pieces were pouring bullets into the sky. Long chains of bullets flew from the ground into the night, and the scene was spectacular.

It's just that, compared to a strategic bomber flying at high altitude, with four powerful engines and an extremely strong fuselage structure. All the anti-aircraft artillery pieces of the US ground air defense forces below 76 mm are basically unable to play any substantive role. Hundreds of anti-aircraft guns only strengthened the momentum.

What really useful are the large-caliber anti-aircraft guns, especially the one hundred and fifty mm heavy guns, which can be called the king of anti-aircraft artillery. This kind of artillery only needs to use the proximity fuse to explode in the vicinity of the Ming army's strategic bombers, and it has a great possibility of destroying one Ming army's strategic bomber at a time.

However, this powerful gun is not only slow to reload and aim, but also very small in number. There are only a few dozen in total.

In this air raid, the Ming army had already made up its mind not to be afraid of sacrifice. Even one strategic bomber after another was shot down could not stop the determination of the Ming army.

The two engines on the left side of Wu Mingyi's plane were hit by shrapnel and caught fire. Although the flames had been extinguished by automatic fire extinguishers, the strategic bomber had lost half of its own activation. However, Wu Mingyi was not affected at all, and still rigidly controlled the plane to fly along the route.

"Start dropping bombs!" When the instrument pointed to the red line, the bombardier in the bomb magazine shouted and pulled the bombardier. Suddenly, dozens of bombshells roared down from the open belly to the ground, sending off a large field of huge sparks.

The pilot aircraft dropped incendiary bombs in order to provide guidance for the subsequent fleet.

More than a thousand strategic bombers of the Ming army began to drop bombs in turn. The dense rain of bullets almost completely covered the small valley, and it was bright at night, and huge fires and light spots could be seen even from dozens of kilometers away.

During this bombing, the Ming army used incendiary bombs and airburst bombs on a large scale. In order to completely destroy this place, whether it is all kinds of buildings or flowers and trees. More than ten hours after the bombardment ended, the valley was already in flames.

The bombing was carried out very successfully. At the cost of 41 night fighters and 59 strategic bombers, the Ming army razed this valley, which the Americans considered extremely secretive, to the ground. All ground facilities were destroyed, which directly led to the fact that the Americans' super-bomb program had to be delayed backwards.

And this is Zhang Cheng's real purpose. (To be continued.) )