"The situation is extremely dire now, our battle loss rate has skyrocketed in the past week, a large number of bombers have been shot down for no apparent reason, and all kinds of inexplicable rumors are spreading among the pilots, some say that the Soviet Union has deployed the most advanced fighter jets in North Vietnam, others that the Soviet Union has tested the latest secret anti-aircraft weapons in North Vietnam, and there are even nonsense such as ghosts. The morale of the pilots www.biquge.info, especially the bomber pilots, is low, and if it goes on like this, the pilots will refuse to carry out the mission! ”

It is not to blame the Americans for worrying, because they have never encountered such a situation, and the plane that is not clear will fall off without any clues, and it is normal for the pilot to have ideas.

"It is necessary to ascertain the situation as soon as possible and send more reconnaissance planes. Well, until the specifics are figured out, pause the bombing campaign! ”

However, what makes the Americans very entangled is what plane to send to reconnoitre, this year there is no U2, let alone SR-71, and there is a reconnaissance type by B-29, but before B-29 suffered heavy losses, B-29's reconnaissance flight performance is not much stronger than B-29, and it is also a food delivery to go.

After some struggle, the Americans chose the B-45 bomber, which had just been produced, and compared with the B-29, the jet B-45 flew faster, had a higher ceiling, and was theoretically safer. Soon two B-45As underwent an emergency modification, adding photographic equipment to the magazine, and then urgently flew to the air base in Thailand to prepare.

After a short adaptive flight in Thailand, the B-45A soon began reconnaissance flights, at first the Americans were very cautious, only let the B-45A conduct reconnaissance operations on the dividing line between North and South Vietnam, this operation went relatively smoothly, although the B-45A was detected by radar during the period, but neither the Viet Cong's La-7 nor anti-aircraft guns could reach the B-45A, so they could only stare dryly.

After a short exploratory flight, the Americans emboldened and quickly aimed at Hanoi, eager to find out what weapons the Viet Cong had acquired to keep the B-29 from returning.

The two reconnaissance-type B-45A turned to Hanoi by sea, and the first half of the flight was very comfortable, not only escorted by the air force throughout the whole process, but also the navy's carrier-based fighters came over from time to time to join in the fun.

However, after entering the territory of the Viet Cong, it was not so comfortable, and soon a wave of La-7 fighters tried to intercept it, indicating that the Vietnamese had discovered the whereabouts of the B-45A. Even if the La-7 did not cause any trouble for the B-45A, the pilots were still slightly nervous. Especially after entering the Hanoi air defense network, the pressure on the B-45A pilots was doubled, and they were first ambushed by 100-mm anti-aircraft guns, although these anti-aircraft guns did not cause much trouble, but the rumbling explosions were still terrifying.

"Shoot clearly, and we'll get rid of these puppies in two days!" The pilot of the B-45A looked at the anti-aircraft guns that were constantly flashing below and said fiercely.

"Did you find anything out of the ordinary?"

"Nothing unusual except for these useless anti-aircraft guns!"

The pilot was also puzzled, the previous B-29 pilot said that Hanoi was the same as the Longtan Tiger's Den, but they didn't encounter any big trouble when they flew down this way? Could it be that the pilots of the group of B-29s were frightened!

Unbeknownst to the B-45A pilots, the Soviets were eyeing them in a hidden position forty kilometers below them.

"The altitude is 10,000, the speed is 800, and it is a suspected bomber target."

For the S25 missile system, it was designed to target high-altitude targets, and the speed of the B-45A was really not fast, so in the eyes of Soviet operators, this was a conspicuous and cumbersome target, and the only thing that restricted them was the range of the missile. In their experience, only the target has a higher hit rate when it enters a distance of about 25 kilometers, and now, the distance is a little farther away, so they have to be patient.

The Soviet operator stared at the radar screen almost directly, for fear that the bomber, who was not afraid of death, would turn around and fly away in other directions. Anyway, it was very nervous.

Compared with the nervousness of the Soviets, the Americans were more relaxed, and after a few circles, they found that Hanoi was not a tiger's den at all, but as comfortable as their own backyard. So they relaxed in an instant, and several pilots actually began to tell jokes with colors.

At this moment, the B-45A had been firmly grasped by the Soviet operator, and with one launch item at a time, with a sharp whistle, the first Sam-1 on the launcher flew out, followed by the second, and the two missiles went straight to the target at close to the speed of three sounds, and in the air, the B-45A was still taking pictures.

"What's that?"

The co-pilot in charge of the search mission suddenly screamed, just now his eyes seemed to see a flash on the ground, but he didn't particularly care, thinking that it was just a sporadic anti-aircraft artillery attack by the Viet Cong, he had seen it too many times along the way, and he didn't take it to heart at all.

But these two flashes of light did not disappear, but continued to approach, at which point the co-pilot aroused vigilance, and then let out an exclamation.

It's just that the other pilots thought he was joking: "Sammy, your expression is too fake, you want to deceive us, you better go home and practice hard!" ”

Sammy screamed, "I mean really, look! ”

He kept pointing at the approaching missiles, and his face turned pale. And this caught the attention of the other companions, who looked in the direction of Sammy's finger and could see two flames with smoke getting closer and closer!

"My God, what is this?"

The Americans were stunned, but they were not slow to react, and the pilot immediately began to push the rudder and push to try to dodge, but the bulky B-45A was no match for the nimble Sam-1. No matter how the B-45A flipped and circled, both missiles stuck up like maggots on the tarsal bones.

"Skydive! Fast! ”

As soon as the words fell, after two loud bangs, the B-45A fell down with a puff of black smoke, falling about a thousand meters, and as the flames on the fuselage became more and more obvious, a new explosion occurred. In the air, the B-45A turned into a large fireball, and none of the people on board survived.

"Our reconnaissance plane was shot down, and the pilots were all killed. And the escort fighter pilots couldn't figure out how they were shot down...... Damn, what the hell are the Russians playing? ”

The Americans are crazy, even the B-45A with such a speed was shot down, and now those piston fighters deployed in Vietnam are not just delivering food? Sensing the seriousness of the situation, they suspended their bombing campaign on the one hand, and on the other hand, urgently asked for help from home, requesting the deployment of the most advanced fighters in Vietnam.

Of course, the Americans were more interested in what kind of weapon shot down the B-45A, and for this reason the CIA sharply intensified its intelligence work, vowing to find out what the secrets of the Soviet Union were.

Easier said than done, it took the CIA three months to find some clues from traitors within the Viet Cong. For the first time, the S25 missile system was exposed to the eyes of the Americans, who, to be honest, were a little stunned. Why? At this time, the anti-aircraft missile program of the US Army, Navy, and Air Force was still steadily advancing, which means that the United States did not have any air defense missiles in active service.

Let's put it this way, the Air Force's Hawker and Naikki anti-aircraft missiles are still under development, and they will not be deployed until the mid-to-late fifties at the earliest. Brass knights and beagles of the Navy also take a year or two to enter service. As for the Army, for the time being, the Army does not have any relevant plans.

And at this time, the USSR had already deployed an anti-aircraft missile in real combat, how do you say this does not surprise the Americans. What is even more surprising is that this anti-aircraft missile is still very useful, and it has shot down several bombers of the Air Force in a row, which is equivalent to throwing off the United States by a large margin.

The Americans are very interested in the S25 system, and they are eager to figure out the specific parameters of the system and how it works. On the one hand, the secrecy measures of the Soviet Union and the Viet Cong are still very strict, and the position where the S25 missile system is located is on high alert and all other personnel are strictly forbidden to approach, and the Soviet advisers operating the S25 system are not allowed to leave the position for a single step, and there is almost no loophole to exploit.

In the end, the CIA paid a lot of money to get a little specious technical parameters, believing that the missile has a range of about 10 kilometers, an altitude of less than 15 kilometers, and a maximum flight speed of no more than Mach 2.5. According to the judgment of US experts, it is believed that the system should be a field anti-aircraft missile, and the main target is a tactical aircraft, and the shooting down of a US strategic bomber is nothing more than an accident.

Well, almost none of these judgments are correct, the S25 has never been a field air defense system, but a local air defense system, and the difference between the two is too great. And the Americans also made a big mistake about the range of the S25, the effective range of the S25 is almost twice as far, and it is not aimed at tactical aircraft, but at strategic bombers at medium and high altitudes.

In any case, the Americans estimate the function and value of the S25 system according to the conclusion they imagined, which can be said to be the opposite of each other.

It wasn't until the outbreak of the Second Middle East War, when a position of the S25 air defense missile system purchased by Israel was destroyed, that the Americans studied something from this pile of wreckage, and they were stunned to find out how wrong they had been before.

Because of the deployment of the S25 missile system in Vietnam, the Americans also had to hurry up and invest in more advanced weapons, first of all, the Air Force began to deploy more advanced B-47 bombers and F-86 fighters to Thailand. Second, it has also strengthened its electronic warfare capabilities, constantly sending electronic reconnaissance planes to try to figure out the operating frequencies of the S25 system's search radar and fire control radar, and then exerting strong electronic interference.

It should be said that this has achieved certain results, the hit rate of the S25 system has begun to be greatly reduced, and the US Air Force has begun to act boldly and confidently again. However, this round of fighting did not end, after the Soviet side learned about the relevant situation, it immediately took corresponding measures, began to strengthen the anti-jamming ability of the S25, equipped with a better radar, and not long after the Americans were proud, they gave them a blow in the face. This rivalry will continue until one of the two hooligans falls.

Of course, these are still far away, but let's go back to the topic of Vietnam. According to the Republican Party's demands, the United States should strengthen its military presence in Vietnam, and it is better to directly send troops to push the Viet Cong in one go. But Truman did not accept this for the simple reason that his term of office was coming to an end, and he did not want to start a war in the last year or so.

It was not that Truman loved peace, but that he thought that doing so would not benefit him personally, and that starting a war would inevitably be attacked by the anti-war people at home, and would reduce his approval rating and reputation. Anyway, he can't be re-elected, but at least he has to leave a good name among the people, and if he makes the whole country spit on like Hoover, how meaningful. So at this time, Truman was reluctant to start a war and ruin his reputation.

Not only is Truman's reluctance to start a war based on fame, but more importantly, who can guarantee that the outcome of this war will be good? It may be in the eyes of the Republicans that the Viet Cong is vulnerable, and the United States can crush her to death with a single finger, but Truman is not a rookie, he knows how deep the water is, and starting a war is good for the arms groups behind the Republican Party, how can he sell arms without a war?

But for a politician like him, it must be beneficial, as mentioned earlier, he will be scolded by the anti-war people, and the second point is that behind the Viet Cong stands the Soviet Union and Huaxia, who dares to ignore the attitude of the Soviet Union, yes, now the Russians seem to be very honest, but who dares to guarantee that he will not suddenly attack like a poisonous snake?

Truman did not think that the current United States would be able to eat the Soviet Union steadily, in his opinion, as long as there was the support of the Soviet Union, the Viet Cong could be consumed with the United States, and the result would be a protracted war, which would cost a lot of money and kill many people.

This is the second reason why Truman is reluctant to expand the scale of the war against Vietnam, and he has a third reason, that is, even if the United States can really achieve the goals set before the war, how much does that have to do with him Truman?

Truman only has more than a year in office, and he can cleanly solve the Viet Cong in more than a year? Truman was not sure of this, not even of the military giants of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And once this war lasts more than a year, it means that even if the United States can win, it has nothing to do with him Truman, and it is not he who will win the victory, but the next president of the United States.

In other words, Truman had to bear all kinds of risks in starting a war, and he couldn't enjoy a little of the dividends of war, so he Truman ate and screwed up to expand the scale of the war against Vietnam?

I'm afraid that as long as it is a normal person, he will choose to be conservative, and he will choose to maintain the status quo, and Truman is a normal person who can no longer be normal, and it is his most basic common sense and instinct to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, so he resolutely refuses to do anything about this! (To be continued.) )