At 3:20 a.m. on August 13, 1942, the entire Blue Village Airport was brightly lit and the runway was busy.

At this time, on the runway of the airport, the engines of heavy bombers in a staggered arrangement had begun to warm up, making a huge roar. The airport was full of nervous and excited ground crews and air force pilots preparing for takeoff. Today is the Air Force Day, in 1931 "Northeast Incident", the young Chinese Air Force fought with the Japanese army for the first time in the Songhu Defense Battle, and achieved a big victory, this day was set as the festival of the Chinese Air Force.

"According to the booked route, we should have arrived in the sky over Tokyo at about 7:30 in the morning! That is, at 8:30 Tokyo time, it was the time for the change of shifts at the Japanese factory. Before leaving the combat command room, Gao Zhihang once again confirmed the flight distance and time with a compass on the navigation chart, in fact, it was just to ease the excitement.

"Daytime bombing, just right for aiming! If the weather is good, we will definitely deal a major blow to the Japanese! Pan Wenze, the captain of the No. 1201 bomber standing next to Gao Zhihang, shook his head and said, "I hope the escort fighters can be more powerful, after all, we need to drop bombs at an altitude of 3,000 meters." ”

The SMB41 heavy bomber is fast, sturdy, and extremely powerful for self-defense. In general, it was difficult to shoot it down with the "Type Ichi" fighters equipped with the Japanese army aviation, and the crews were more worried about anti-aircraft artillery on the ground than the fighters of the Japanese.

"According to the Tokyo air defense map collected by the intelligence department, the Japanese air defense arrangement is not very tight, we need to go around to the east and then turn around to drop the bomb, after completing the bomb dropping, each crew must immediately climb away and return on their own. At an altitude of more than 10,000 meters, little Japanese planes can only stare dryly! Gao Zhihang smiled, the ceiling of SMB41 is 11,600 meters, while the maximum ceiling of Japanese fighters is only 9,600 meters.

At this time. The bomber ready to take off had completed its preparations, Gao Zhihang boarded the No. 1201 bomber at the front of the line, and the gangway was withdrawn immediately, and the preparatory signal light on the airport control tower was lit up.

"Ready to take off!"

The crew was already in place, the engine throttle was increased, and the roar was louder.

In the early morning, at 5:10, as the green light came on, the first bomber led by Gao Zhihang slowly slid towards the runway. With a loud roar, the plane gradually accelerated, and flew into the sky against the dark night. Subsequently, on the four runways of the airport, 169 heavy bombers of the Sino-German-Austrian Joint Bomber Wing took off one after another, forming 12 large formations in squadrons and flying towards the southeastern sky.

At 5:48 a.m., when a red sun appeared in the eastern sky. Over the East China Sea, fighter groups deployed at various field airfields in the Ryukyus also began to take to the skies one after another. After completing the formation, they flew in the direction of the East China Sea, preparing to rendezvous with the various bomber units that had taken off from the country.

The sky was getting brighter, the red lights were flashing in the sky, and there was only the dull sound of the engine in the cabin, and no one in the cockpit spoke. As the guide and aviation commander of the 1st bomber formation. Gao Zhihang glanced down, and there was nothing to see below except for the blue sea, and behind him were some huge bombers on the left and right.

"Orient yourself." Gao Zhihang said to the navigator.

"Azimuth 124 East, 26 North. Heading east-southeast and everything is normal. The navigator glanced at the route map spread out in front of him and reported that everything was normal now. The Japanese air force in Taiwan was almost exhausted, and it seemed that there was no movement.

"Okay, I'm about to arrive at the predetermined location, pay attention to the search for the escort group!" Gao Zhihang said that for the sake of secrecy, all planes maintained radio silence during the flight, and could only rely on ground command to guide the flight.

The light in the cabin has become very bright, and the captain Pan Wenze is steadily maneuvering the plane, and the air outside is actually very cold at high altitude, but the cabin has a pressurization and air conditioning system, and the temperature has been maintained at about 15 degrees.

He turned his head to look out of the cabin, the sky had become blue, and under the reflection of the morning sun, the sea of clouds below him had become colorful and brilliant. Behind them, one after another silver-gray fighters stood out in the light of the morning glow, and the entire flight formation continued to fly in the direction of Okinawa at a cruising speed of 340 kilometers per hour according to the predetermined route. Due to the distance from the target, most of the crew members were not in position and stayed in the rest compartment at the back of the cockpit.

The SMB41 heavy bomber is armed with four 2,100 hp Steyr turbocharged engines capable of carrying 11 tons of ammunition. However, because it was a guide and command aircraft, the 1201 was only loaded with 5 tons of ammunition, so it was not difficult to fly.

The navigator took a pen and made marks on the route map from time to time, and some laughter could be faintly heard from the back of the cockpit, and most of the crew members were resting and chatting in the back. Gao Zhihang breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and he was able to laugh at this time, which showed that the emotions of the crew members were not very nervous, which was very beneficial to long-distance flights and operations.

Before he knew it, the plane had been flying for an hour and a half, and Pan Van Ze reported that he had spotted the group of escort fighters that was meeting them ahead. Gao Zhihang took a look with a telescope, and a dense group of fighters appeared in front of him, and the other party sent out an identification signal light, which could determine that those were the fighters on his side.

The two sides met in the air, and the fighter groups were clustered in front of and behind the bomber group. According to the plan, they will be escorted by 10 squadrons of 180 fighters of the Ninth Wing of the Army Air Force, while the Ninth Bomber Wing of the Zhejiang side will escort nine squadrons of the Sixth Flying Wing of the Allied Forces, and the bomber wing that will take off from northern Jiangsu will escort the Fifth Flying Wing of the Army Aviation and eight fighter squadrons of the Austro-Hungarian Flying Team for Aiding China.

For this bombing, the army air force dispatched more than 500 fighter planes, which will greatly ensure that the bomber unit can better complete the bombing mission. After joining up with the fighter formation, the entire bomber formation continued to fly eastward, and after passing the Miyako Strait, it turned northeast and headed straight for the Izu Islands outside Tokyo Bay.

After about an hour of flight, at 7:40 a.m., the entire group was approaching the Izu Peninsula.

There was still half an hour to arrive at the predetermined target area, Gao Zhihang pressed the red preparation light, the low alarm sound was remembered in the cabin, the red signal lights on the wings and tail also flashed, and the entire bomber group began to make final preparations for the attack. There was silence in the cabin, the plane rumbled over the blue sky, the blue sea beneath it, and through the clouds, the green earth in the distance could already be faintly seen.

The radio intercom was turned on, and Gao Zhihang said into the microphone, "There are still 100 kilometers to reach the target above the target, and all planes are ready to drop bombs!" ”

"Enemy aircraft spotted! About 12 of them! "The fighter squadron raised a combat alarm.

Red warning lights flashed on the fighters escorting the aircraft in front of the group, and the fighter groups of the two squadrons began to accelerate and went to the airspace where the enemy aircraft appeared to intercept them.

The battle is on! (To be continued.) )