Of course, no one knows the role and benefits of low-altitude penetration, but this tactic is not for everyone to play. The reason is simple, it is quite demanding for pilots, aircraft and navigation. Don't look at the height of 100 meters is beyond the reach of ordinary people, I think it is already very high, but for the aircraft, the height of 100 meters is really nothing, and it will fall in the blink of an eye.

If you don't listen to it, the pilot sneezes or suddenly shakes his hands, then this altitude is not said to be nothing, let alone parachuting, and I am afraid that I will not even be psychologically prepared. And low-altitude penetration is not about flying for a few seconds or minutes. With a range of 600 km, it will take more than two hours to cruise at the speed of the Ro-2. Long-term ultra-low-altitude flight puts forward high requirements for the physical and psychological quality of pilots, and they must be trained for a long time and hard to have this ability.

After talking about the pilot's problem, let's talk about the problem of the aircraft, and the test of the aircraft in ultra-low-altitude flight is also quite large. First of all, this kind of fighter needs to have relatively ideal low-altitude flight performance, and it must not be as stupid as a brute bull, and the pilot must be tired to death.

Secondly, the pressure on the engine is also quite high in ultra-low-altitude flight, the drag brought by dense air is very high, and humidity and heat will also lead to a decrease in the available power of the engine and a decrease in reliability. This also leads to increased fuel consumption.

That is to say, in an ultra-low-altitude environment, the range of the fighter will be reduced, and the aircraft that could fly 1,000 kilometers may have 600 kilometers left in the whole ultra-low altitude. Of course, this problem did not affect the Ro-2 much, which was too rich in range to attack targets at a distance of 600 kilometers with full fuel and ammunition. Even low-altitude flights are adequate.

The key problem that really constrains the Ro-2's low-altitude raids is the altimeter. At that time, there was only a barometric altimeter. To put it bluntly, this thing is a barometer. Altitude is measured by sensing air pressure. And the accuracy of this barometric altimeter at ultra-low altitudes is very problematic. Let's just say it's insensitive, at an altitude of up to 100 meters. In other words, the actual height is 50 meters, and this thing may also show that it is 100 meters, or even 100 meters, or 100 meters.

It's going to be a dead man! As mentioned earlier, the altitude of 100 meters leaves very little reaction time for the pilot, especially for the mechanically controlled twin-engine piston engine-powered attack aircraft of the World War II era, which are not so agile in the first place. The reaction time is also less. This also means that once something happens, there is almost no possibility of recovery. And at this time, the altimeter Nima is still a decoration, which is simply a fate!

Please note that the dangers are not said and done. In fact, the altitude of 100 meters is not so exaggerated for land flight, after all, the pilot has a reference, there are rolling hills, rivers and trees, and it is really impossible to estimate the real flight altitude by looking at the premises.

But the problem is that now it is a vast sea, and the sky is blue, and the sea is also blue, almost a flat river (forgive me for using this word to describe the sea). There are no references at all. Coupled with the mental fatigue caused by long flights, a pilot who can't figure it out can't tell which side is the sky and which side is the sea. It's all too easy for this situation to go wrong.

And the monotonous environment brings up an even more fatal problem: navigation. Unlike the fact that there are so many references on land, even if radio navigation is not so reliable, it is possible to find targets with the help of experienced navigators. But how many references are there on the vast sea? In the case of limited accuracy of navigation equipment, relying entirely on human experience, to be honest, this is really unreliable!

Now comrades know how difficult it was to play ultra-low-altitude raids in WWII, right? This completely depends on the quality of the pilot, and if the quality is not good, there is only one result - the plane is destroyed and people die!

So at this time did the pilots of carrier-based aircraft of the Red Navy have such qualities? Forgive me for telling the truth, only God knows. Why? Because everything must be tested by actual combat, being able to do it in training does not mean that it can be done in actual combat, because no matter what kind of training you have, you can never simulate the effect of actual combat. Many pilots who perform well in training are blind when they reach actual combat, and it is really difficult to say how human beings react under extreme pressure.

"I hope the lads will succeed!" Sukhoi also prayed silently in his heart.

To tell the truth, the mustache really wants to go to the battlefield with these young men he has trained at this time, not only does he miss the feeling of fighting, but more importantly, he is indeed a little uneasy, who knows if these young men with an average age of no more than 21 years old can do it?

A loud roar resounded through the flight deck of the Kiev, and the aircrew were busy guiding the Ro-2 into the ejection position, busy hanging steel cables to the wheels. With the gesture that everything was in place, as the steam catapult jerked its work, the Ro-2, with two 500-kilogram aviation armor-piercing shells hung, was violently thrown out.

White steam spewed out of the slotted cylinders, and for a time the deck was filled with mist, which used to be the most headache and fear for air crews, and aircraft carriers operating at high latitudes were most afraid of these water vapor condensation, which would cause a vicious accident once it froze. Fortunately, it was a hot tropical area, and the high temperature prevented the steam from condensing, which made the cabin crew on deck much more comfortable.

One Ro-2 after another was sent into the sky by catapults, then began in formation, and then flew westward under the escort of the Yak-3K, which took off later. At Sukhoi's request, the air strike formation chose a farther route, flying west and then turning north, thus avoiding the fighter patrol formations of the Japanese aircraft carriers. This brings the entire voyage to almost 380 nautical miles, or nearly 700 kilometers. Among them, the Yak-3K with auxiliary fuel tanks can also be responsible only for the first 400 kilometers of escort, which has reached their limit.

There was not much to say about the long range, and for the Ro-2 pilots it was undoubtedly a painful one, except for the first 100 kilometers or so they could fly at medium altitude, after which they had to drop altitude sharply. And flying at an altitude of about 100 meters is really too torturous!

Lamin. Ramonov's expression was still bitter when he recalled the flight many years later: "Objectively speaking, the low-altitude flight qualities of the Ro-2 were not bad, because it was supposed to take on the task of torpedo attack. But the designers did not design it with the need for long-term low-altitude flights, so for us pilots. How can a monster weighing nearly fifteen tons be stably controlled at a height of one hundred meters. It takes experience and perseverance...... Especially the latter. You can't imagine what it's like to hold the joystick tightly for a long time, and I didn't even dare to blink my eyelids at that time, for fear that if I was not careful, I would plunge into the sea with all the comrades on the plane...... No, we are not afraid of sacrifice, we are more worried about not being able to complete the mission, this is not only related to the success or failure of the battle, but also related to the honor of our Red Navy, no one wants to be embarrassed in front of American friends! ”

In fact, the Americans did not have the idea of laughing at these brave lads. In fact, when Sukhoi and Kuznetsov said to Nimitz: "We will carry out an ultra-low-altitude raid!" The admiral was stunned.

Nimitz later said: "I really didn't expect the Russians to be so crazy, and in order to avoid interception by Japanese planes, they chose a crazy tactic." God forbid, these Ivan are really crazy! ”

It wasn't just Nimitz who was surprised, Fletcher was stunned when he heard the news, and it took him a long time before he asked, "Are you sure the news is true?" Did the Russians really do that? ”

When answered in the affirmative, the rear admiral was speechless for a long time.

However, surprise is surprise, the Americans are still very satisfied with the choice of the Russian partner. As mentioned earlier, the Americans thought that the Russians would trust their own intelligence more and would attack Kondo Shintake to the west. But what surprised them was this. The Russians decisively sent all the attack planes out to coordinate with them to attack Nagumo Tadaichi, and to be honest, they were happy about it, because the stronger the attack wave, the higher the probability of success.

Of course, the Allies were not without problems at that time. The first to attack was a problem with the coordination of the attack, and the first to attack was the TBD torpedo planes at Midway, which were supposed to attack under the cover of fighters. But what people didn't expect was that the torpedo planes and fighters lost contact halfway through, which directly led to the ten TBDs that were put into attack in the first wave and were effortlessly beaten by the Japanese Zero War (seven were shot down).

What's worse is that this batch of TBDs did not achieve any results, and the torpedoes dropped did not hit any Japanese ships, so to speak, they were sacrificed in vain. It is worth mentioning that a significant number of TBDs that launched an attack lost their attack power before the attack was launched. Of course, it was not that they were injured by the Japanese planes, but that there was a problem with the new electric mine-throwing system on the TBD, which threw the precious torpedo into the sea in vain.

Not only was there a problem with the coordination of this wave of attacks on Midway, but also with the coordination of the two American task forces, Spruance launched an attack at about 7 o'clock, while Fletcher launched the first attack at 8:40 more than an hour late.

We now know that the best way to tear through the air defense network of aircraft carriers is to put a large number of fighters at different altitudes at the same time to carry out a surprise attack, so that the enemy can take care of one at the expense of the other. However, the waves of attacks organized by the Americans took off at too far apart, and almost all of them were launched in separate ways, which undoubtedly weakened the assault force.

What is even more terrifying is that the Americans also have problems in the organization of the attack, for example, the fifteen TBDs that took off from the Hornet and the TBDs that took off from Midway before were all launched into the attack without the protection of fighters, and the result was naturally self-evident, and it was also completely annihilated. The only effect was to draw the Zero of the Japanese fleet escort to low altitudes, creating an opportunity for an attack by the SBDs flying from the Enterprise and Yorktown.

However, this can only be said to be the luck of the Americans, just imagine, if SBD and TBD can enter the attack together, then the losses will be smaller anyway. If it goes further, and the F4F can also follow up and cover, then this wave of air strikes should not be so tragic at all (the 12 TBDs that followed up were shot down even if they had F4F cover, and all the torpedoes fired at the Wyvern were lost).

Looking at the entire air raid, the organization of the Americans really cannot be said to be very good, and they have always used similar tactics to add fuel to the air little by little, and although they have destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers, their organization can by no means be said to be very successful, and basically they are fighting on their own.

However, this is also understandable, after all, for the Americans, they have only just come into contact with this new type of naval warfare for a long time, and they have not yet accumulated enough experience, and after the Battle of Midway, with more experience and a new batch of equipment in service, their performance will be much better.

Let's put it this way. The Battle of Midway was essentially a battle between two navies. Whoever makes the most mistakes is doomed. It's more interesting. The organization of the operations of the Japanese naval aviation is not very orderly, but it is definitely still stronger than the Americans. It's just that their top brass made even worse decision-making mistakes, causing them to run for their lives.

Having said all this nonsense, before this sea and air war breaks out in full force, let's look at the situation on the battlefield again. At around eight in the morning, news came one after another that made Nanyun Zhong feel a pain. First, the reconnaissance plane that took off half an hour late at half past seven discovered the existence of the US Navy, although it was not clear whether there was an aircraft carrier, but this was enough to make Nagumo Zhongyi shout in his heart: "Damn! "That's it.

At this time, there may be 100 million grass and mud horses running wild in Nanyun's heart. However, this batch of grass and mud horses had just rushed over, and just when he still had one ten-thousandth luck in his heart, he got the most fatal news at 8:15: "Discovered the American aircraft carrier!" ”

At this time, Nagumo had only one choice, that is, to immediately stop all operations against Midway and instead go all out against the US aircraft carriers. Of course, this is a historical process, and in this time and space, the situation faced by Nagumo is more complex and tangled.

Just after receiving the news of the discovery of the US aircraft carrier at 8:15, Nagumo was entangled. But in fact, he was still a little mentally prepared, he knew it. If the American aircraft carrier exists, then it may be in that direction. But at 8:20, Yamamoto suddenly sent him a telegram: "Discover the American task force and attack immediately!" ”

It seems that Yamamoto was a prophet, but what made Nagumo Tadashi feel pain was that the location of the American aircraft carrier reported by Yamamoto was really different from the location discovered by his reconnaissance plane, his reconnaissance plane found Yorktown, while Yamamoto found the Red Navy's task force.

Yes, not long after Kondo Nobutake's second fleet was discovered by the Strawberry Nine, Kondo naturally could not remain indifferent, and he immediately also ordered his fleet catapult reconnaissance aircraft to reconnoiter to the east. And this result is very interesting, Kondo Nobutake's reconnaissance plane quickly discovered the Red Navy task force, and the pilot accurately judged that there were two aircraft carriers!

Why special emphasis on two aircraft carriers? Because the Japanese always believed that the United States had only two aircraft carriers in the Pacific theater at this time, they believed that Yorktown had suffered heavy damage and had to undergo long-term repairs. So as soon as they found out that there were two aircraft carriers in the fleet on the sea, they immediately took it for granted that they made up the Enterprise and the Hornet!

And this piece of information has also aroused Yamamoto's great attention, since the existence of the "main force of the American fleet" has been discovered, what are you waiting for, let Nagumo get it done to the other party in waves!

This brought considerable trouble to Nagumo Tadaichi, the American aircraft carrier was found in the east, and the American aircraft carrier was also found in the south, Nima, how can the Americans have so many aircraft carriers? So at this moment, Nagumo had to consider a question: "Which side of the intelligence is accurate?" ”

Because it's about which target he's going to attack next, and if he gets it wrong, it's really fun. Of course, at this time, neither Nagumo Tadaichi nor Yamamoto Fifty-six knew that the reconnaissance reports in both directions were accurate, and Nagumo Tadaichi's fleet was facing a two-sided attack!

There is not much time left for Nagumo Zhongyi to make a decision, and to speak from his heart, he is really entangled, and at this time, Yamamoto exerts a lot of pressure on him. Yamamoto also obtained the reconnaissance report of the Nagumo fleet at this time, but for the commander-in-chief of the Yamato, who was thousands of miles away, he thought the situation was obvious: "The water reconnaissance of the Tone must have made a mistake, Kondo-kun is very sure that he has discovered two American aircraft carriers, and the American fleet must be west of Midway, not north of Midway!" ”

Therefore, this commander naturally thought that Nagumo Tadaichi should attack the targets in the south with all his might, and there was no need to care about the false targets in the east. The problem is that we know that Nagumo Tadaichi is a tangled person, and his views are actually different from Yamamoto's, and the relationship between the two is also very good. And as a commander on the battlefield, he trusts his subordinates more, so he prefers to attack targets in the east, but Yamamoto repeatedly urges him to hurry up and attack targets in the south, and then his brain processor crashes due to poor multitasking ability.

During this time, he repeatedly struggled, repeatedly made up his mind and gave up, until the first wave of TBD hit Midway, and it was not until Yamaguchi Tamon repeatedly emphasized that he must attack immediately, and the commander came back to his senses a little.

The problem was that the current situation was too tangled for the Japanese, the formation that bombed Midway was about to land, and there were two targets to choose one of the two, and in addition to Yamaguchi Tawen, he had to attack immediately. Let's put it this way, Nagumo Tadaichi's mind was running grass and mud horses over and over again, and the rumbling noise made him almost crazy.

"Let Yongyou's formation land first, without fighter escort, we can't attack!"

This is Nagumo Tadaichi's final decision, in fact, this decision is to continue to drag out time, he wants to take advantage of the efforts to gather the fighters, and then sort out the various threads.

It was 8:37 a.m., and three minutes later, Fletcher had released the first wave of fighters, and the Ro-2 that had taken off from the Red Navy task force was still an hour's flight away from Nagumo's fleet...... (To be continued.) )

PS: Bow and thank you for the glorious charter, gi, idle reading of the world's books, Xuanyuan Extreme Holy Emperor, giants of giants, Hanhai Dust and Sand, Heba Zixin, Southern Wanderers, and Comrade Juventus!