In November 1918, the snow had just fallen, the sky had cleared, and the vast Great Lakes had turned into a world of snow and ice. It was frozen like in previous years, like a huge plain.

The 10-month war has devastated Americans, Florida lost, Michigan lost, Ohio lost, Washington lost.

Baltimore has become the front line, the most important port in the United States, and it is now not safe at all. Chinese planes can already pass directly through the US defense line and threaten Philadelphia and New York.

And what about the equally vital Great Lakes region? Ninety-nine percent of Michigan is lost, and the only one left in the United States, the city of Detroit, is still being sturdy and stubbornly defended.

Through the clouds, Li Nan looked down, and a touch of the horizon appeared on the edge of the vast ice sky. As the distance closes, the blurred horizon gradually changes into a undulating hill, and with a military telescope, Li Nan can already distinguish the Canadian flag fluttering over the lakeside town.

Li Nan is the commander-in-chief of the 6th Bomber Formation in North America, and his military rank has been promoted from lieutenant colonel to colonel. He only moved from Europe to North America this summer. Now he was tasked with leading a fleet to bomb a hydroelectric power station somewhere in New York State.

New York State is one of the main importers of electricity to the United States. The terrain here is complex, with plateaus and mountains dominating. To the northeast are the Adirondack Mountains, of which Mount Marsi is the highest point in the state at 1,629 meters above sea level. Most of the southern part is the Appalachian Plateau, which covers 50% of the state's area. The state is bordered by the Lakeside Plains and the St. Lawrence Valley in the west and north, the Hudson-Mohawk Lowlands in the east, and the Atlantic Coastal Plain in the southeast. It is the only agricultural economic zone in the entire state of New York.

There are numerous lakes. There are many moraine lakes with a shoreline of 600 kilometers. The Hudson-Mohawk Lowlands is the only low-level link between the Atlantic coast and the Great Lakes. Convenient water and land transportation. Naturally, it is also one of the places where the Chinese Air Force concentrated bombing, and now it is a mess. The eyes are full of desolation.

The Appalachian Plateau District is the largest geographic area in New York State, covering almost all of the southern part of the state. New York State's most important rivers are the Hudson, Mohawk, St. Lawrence, and Niagara rivers, which originate here. The dense rivers and the mountainous terrain of the plateau give you an idea of how rich the water resources are here. After losing most of the country's land and resources after the war, the Americans began to switch from coal to hydroelectric power generation in order to revitalize their industry, and vigorously developed the hydropower resources here. Before the war began, New York State alone could account for 35 percent of the nation's electricity generation.

Li Nan looked at the pilot's special watch on his wrist, after nearly two and a half hours of flight. It was already around 2 a.m. Turning around and looking at the bomber group numbered 'Nighthawk' following his plane, it could be seen from the small yellow lights on the nose of each plane that the formation of the aircraft was basically maintained. Li Nan showed a pleased smile on his face, and in the middle of the night, he used such a simple way to rely on the pilot's knowledge of the constellation--the talents seconded from the naval force to carry out a long-distance attack across the lake by a group of aircraft, which should be the first time in the history of human air warfare. It can maintain a relatively complete formation, without the phenomenon of trekking, and arrive near the destination as planned. That's half the battle. This also provides valuable experience for future large-scale aircraft group night battles.

At this time, darkness shrouded the entire Appalachian Plateau, and in view of the fact that there was no radar in the current world, the 'Nighthawk' bomber group led by Li Nan. Hidden in the clouds at an altitude of 4,000 meters, it quietly flew over one US air defense post after another, turned due east in Niagara Falls and flew slightly northward along the Niagara River. The Americans were not at all aware of the arrival of the Nighthawks. Li Nan's fleet is a bit like being in a no-man's land.

As Niagara Falls, which Li Nan has visited more than once, he is really familiar with this place. This status is in the western part of the state of New York, USA. On the right bank of the Niagara River, near Niagara Falls. Developed by visiting Niagara Falls. It is across the river from Niagara Falls in Canada, with a bridge and a population of more than 20 thousand.

Niagara Falls has been populated since the 17th century. But the city wasn't officially established until May 1887. Due to its location in a large waterfall, it is extremely suitable for hydroelectric power, and the whole city has developed a large number of heavy industries based on hydroelectric power. At the end of the 19th century, the United States suffered an unprecedented setback, and Niagara Falls became even more important because of its electricity.

On the eve of the Sino-US war, Niagara Falls has become a pillar city of industrial economy integrating mechanical processing, power generation, plastics, chemicals, papermaking, rubber and other industries. It was also the first place in New York State to be bombed intensively by Chinese air forces. One hydroelectric power station after another was turned into a blank field by the burst of shells.

Many factories in its chemical industry, rubber, plastics and other industries are inseparable from large quantities of industrial water, and after being blown up, countless industrial materials also caused water pollution in the Niagara River, causing a lot of trouble to the water supply of downstream cities.

Crossing the entire Lake Erie to Niagara Falls was a node in the airstrike, and the next trip down the Niagara River was far easier than before. However, Li Nan did not relax his nerves because of this, on the contrary, looking at the sparse town lights between the mountains below and the deep and dark mountains, Li Nan's spirit tightened even more.

Travel a hundred miles and half ninety, don't drop the chain at a critical moment!

The group flew inland for an hour, and according to the pre-planned plan, the bombing target was nearby. So one of the most headache problems is in front of Li Nan, how to find the right bombing target in the dark night?

This was the final problem of the night raid. In the days before radar, even if the pilot had a thorough understanding of the stars, he could only guide the group to the approximate position. Looking at the rolling hills, all Li Nan could rely on was the spies lurking near the target according to the plan, and the target identification marks provided to the attacking group.

It's just that the planned time is 40 o'clock. It's only 3:32 a.m.!

The group has reached its destination and is hovering at an altitude of 4,000 meters. There was no mark of a spy, although Li Nan's eyes widened. I can only see the sporadic fires below, and I don't know if it's a residential area or something.

He didn't dare to lower his height easily, otherwise he would alarm the people below and not find the real target, and he would be in big trouble. The main thing is that the deterrent power of night raids will be reduced by one level.

In 8 minutes, Li Nan truly realized what it means to live like a year. In just eight minutes, he looked at his watch no less than twenty times, and he was sweating profusely. It's winter. The plane was still at an altitude of 4,000 meters, and Li Nan's sweat soaked the **.

Li Nan can only wait for the spy's action now. He couldn't let the swarm dump bombs on the mountains below. There are several places in the mountains below that are illuminated, but it is difficult to determine which one is a town, which is a residential area, and which one is a hydroelectric power station. Just when Li Nan was anxious and undecided, suddenly a bright red fire light came into his eyes on a hill below. Someone lit a bonfire on the mountain. Almost at the same time, two more bonfires were lit in the mountains below.

That's the promise of the signal! A huge surprise popped up in Li Nan's mind. In the middle of the triangle formed by the three campfires, there are fewer lights than in other places. It can be said that Li Nan did not attack the most, and this is exactly where the goal is.

"Put the indicator light, and the first, second, and third squadrons will be in order, forming a column. The plane that followed me descended to an altitude of 500 meters to drop bombs. Li Nan, who was in a state of mind, immediately gave an order. This time the night air raid was quite tight, and the bomb load of the bombers was somewhat reduced in order to carry the fuel tanks. Flight time is precious.

Li Nan did not delay for a moment. When a target is found, the indicator lights up as soon as it is found. Piloting the bomber, take a direct dive and land. The cold wind could not hide the sound of the roaring of the group, but in this dive process, Li Nan gradually identified a trace of the hydropower station. Although it was dark at night, only a vague outline could be distinguished.

The first target of the attack is naturally the main part of the hydropower station, one bomb after another fell on the front and back of the embankment, "boom, boom, boom" shook the earth of the explosion sound in a series of sounds, what is even more terrifying is that the flames that soar into the sky, instantly engulfed all the people and things that can be burned.

It was a small portion of the incendiary bombs that were attached to the bombing. It is a simple tactical large-scale killing weapon, with very low-level technical content, using a large amount of gasoline to explode instantaneously to produce high explosive high temperature and vacuum, so that it is difficult for people and animals in the explosion range to escape, and the fire generated by the explosion can also spread to a wider range.

The figure of the power station finally appeared in the raging fire, which is worthy of being one of the few large power stations in New York State, this scale Li Nan has never seen before, and the fire in the red sky is like a devil in the entire power station area. One bomber after another swooped down easily and easily dropped bombs where they were going.

The American defenders, who had woken up in their sleep, hurriedly organized an air attack, but before they could effectively organize themselves, one dive bomber after another had already swooped down like a nighthawk, and the bombs were falling from the sky with a whistling whistle, and the defenders had to take refuge in all directions, and could no longer organize counterattack fire.

An entire group of bombers turned the hydropower station into a broken dam, and the torrent poured down from the breach of the dam, and the water level of the Niagara River east of the hydropower station rose sharply by a meter or two.

Just here in New York, the Niagara River is not enough to compare with the densely populated waters of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, which is more like the great southwest of China, crisscrossed by mountains, and the sudden destruction of dams only adds a little trouble to the Americans.

Looking at the raging fire purgatory below, the fire even ignited the nearby mountain forest, and the snow could not stop the fire in the mountain forest at this moment.

Li Nan raised his eyebrows, proudly admiring the fire below, this is the power of the bomber.

The entire bombing took 20 minutes, and Li Nan's plane had already climbed to an altitude of 4,000 meters, and sent a telegram to the headquarters to announce the good news. Then the signal was immediately sounded, and all the bombers climbed to an altitude of 4,000 meters and returned from the new formation in a dense formation.

At this moment, the time is only 4 o'clock, and there are at least two and a half hours before dawn, which is enough for Li Nan's entire Nighthawk group to fly over the Great Lakes, and at that point in time, the American fighters dare to take off, not to mention whether they can catch up with the Nighthawk group, even if they do, the fighters sent by the Chinese side to meet them must have arrived at that time.

Throughout the night raid operation, the North American Theater Headquarters of the Chinese Allied Forces conducted many careful deductions, not to mention other aspects, only from the perspective of safety, unless several pilots all failed for a while, or the bug that Liu Xian relied on suddenly made a mistake, the weather was no longer clear, and the sky turned from sunny to cloudy in the second half of the night, otherwise, it was absolutely foolproof.

For example, when the Germans attacked Britain in World War II, they ignored the 'short legs' of the BF-109 fighter and did not carefully arrange the combat time, so that at least more than 200 fighters crashed into the sea due to fuel exhaustion in the British air battle. China will never make such a shoddy mistake.

Finally, China still has the treasure of Emperor Liu. In this era when there is no radar and no satellites, the virtual map in Liu Xian's hand is really the biggest bug in military history. With it, in this era when the weapon factor overpowers the manpower factor and becomes the first element of war, China is invincible.

Liu Xian already knew the results of the night attack before Li Nan's telegram came. The letter was not until the next morning.

Because the old emperor did not participate in this night attack from beginning to end, Liu Xian fell ill and caught a cold in the cold. These days are all in retreat.

The whole of China was worried about his illness, and the best doctors in Beijing flew from the Bering Strait to Alaska, then took a fast boat to Vancouver, which had been occupied by the Wehrmacht, and then flew all the way to Washington, which was still in ruins, and the whole incident lasted no more than seven days.

This is the weight of Liu Xian at this time. When the war was not yet decided, the influence and excitement of the old emperor were something that every countryman could not leave. Not to mention, the old emperor really played the value of the Dinghai Divine Needle in military affairs. Whether it was the Battle of Michigan or the Battle of Washington, it was the genius of the old emperor, who used the air force to blow up the material reserve base of the US army, used paratroopers to occupy the operation nodes of the US army, and used the army's steel armor torrent to penetrate the weak loopholes of the US army. Although he is no longer in control of everything like in the last war, he is still the irreplaceable 'god of war' of the entire Wehrmacht! The officers and men of the Chinese coalition forces in the North American theater of operations, because of his presence, reduced the consumption of battle losses by at least 50%. (To be continued.) )