Six Hundred and Eighty-One Bold Plans

When the plan was finally sent to the command of the US Army Aviation in the Middle East, everyone was stunned by this genius plan. Yes, totally stunned. The bombing plan for the entire air raid on Romanian oil fields can be said to be seamless, and it is not an exaggeration to call it a perfect attack plan.

In this time and space, Doolittle, the air force commander who single-handedly planned the bombing of Tokyo, did not shine in his original position, but appeared in a big war that did not exist when the United States was eager to change the situation in the Middle East. Air strikes are planned. He used his unrestrained imagination that day to formulate a bombing plan for the United States with a high success rate.

The whole program is divided into two parts, which are carried out simultaneously and complement each other. First of all, the first part is that the United States divides the bomber force in its hands into two parts. One part is to form a huge bomber formation with 160 bombers. Under the cover of fighter jets, it suddenly makes a gesture of crossing the Turkish airspace. Doolittle thinks that A gesture is enough for the Turks to immediately send an early warning to the Luftwaffe.

The scale of 160 aircraft is enough to attract the attention of the German army. At least the German army will respond to the invasion of American aircraft this time. Even the US Army Aviation Corps' own assessment is convinced that the German anti-aircraft artillery positions will be aimed at the main direction of the attack , and launched a large number of fighter jets to intercept this US Army Air Force bomber unit.

At the same time, on the other side, the remaining 150 American bombers will take off in formation from the territory of the Soviet Union, enter Romania's airspace directly from the Crimea region via the Black Sea, and bomb the oil fields there with the shortest distance, completely destroying German oil. The main source of resources. And the American b-17 bomber that took off from behind the Crimean Peninsula of the Soviet Union was the real "killer move" that the Americans stabbed this time.

At the same time, there is another advantage of taking off from the territory of the Soviet Union, that is, the distance is not long, and an aircraft such as P-40 can be used for full escort. Even if intercepted and interfered by German aircraft, the loss will not be like relying solely on bombers As huge as conducting unescorted bombing. In this way, as long as half of the bombers are sacrificed, the mission can be successfully completed. Compared with any previous plan, Doolittle's plan is more detailed and comprehensive, and its feasibility is also higher.

"Now there is only one problem left, and that is how to get the Soviets to cooperate with us and provide us with the airport." A general of the U.S. Army Air Corps glanced at Major Doolittle who deliberately rushed from the United States to the Middle East. The latter is now taking a nap in a chair to relieve jet lag from the long journey.

Major Doolittle who was questioned opened his eyes, smiled a little shyly, and then said: "It's a very simple thing, I flew from Washington, USA to Las Vegas, then refueled and flew to the Soviet Union, and then Moscow, after negotiating this matter with Stalin, flew here again. The Soviet side had no problems, they promised us to use the airport and facilities, and even prepared aviation fuel."

Stalin agreed to this matter very happily. After all, the Soviet Union is now preparing for the crucial winter battle from top to bottom.

If the Americans can cause some trouble for the Germans in fuel supply before the start of the winter battle, then the process of the Soviet Union seizing the initiative on the battlefield will be smoother. Even if it only saves the German army tens of thousands of barrels of fuel, it is a huge support for the Soviet troops on the Eastern Front, isn't it?

Therefore, both Stalin and Zhukov welcomed the bombing of Romania by American troops, and even expressed their willingness to dispatch 100 Soviet twin-engine bombers to accompany the American planes to increase the destruction of Romania's oil fields in Chengdu. However, because of the gap in flight speed between the bomber formations of the two sides, this coordinated combat plan became futile. It became that the Soviet bombers followed the American bombers and carried out the second bombing of the oil field when the US military returned.

Although the joint bombing of the United States and the Soviet Union ended up being different, in any case, Doolittle's action plan to bomb Romania has indeed completely paved the way, and the preliminary preparations have been made. There is only one thing to do. So the Americans started to act. On November 19th, 155 American B-17 bombers were loaded with bombs, filled with fuel, and prepared to be foolproof. They set off from the Middle East and flew to the pro-Soviet Kazakhstan. , and then passed there, and then flew to several field airports of the Soviet Union near the Black Sea.

The atmosphere among the remaining army aviation pilots is very heavy, because the 160 b-17 bombers left in the Middle East are actually doomed. They are responsible for flying the planes to send the bait to death, and sacrificed for the future of the United States of America those people. But they are still calm, because they, like those fanatical German SS soldiers, are willing to die generously for their motherland.

On a sunny morning on November 24, sirens sounded over the airport where the Army Aviation Corps was stationed. The American bomber pilots who had prepared everything for a long time began to board their planes with the help of the ground crew. He was asked to parachute to escape when he was hit, and he could also reveal his troop number and military rank afterwards. The chaplain accompanying the army kept waving crosses on the side of the plane, and the atmosphere suddenly became extremely strange.

"God bless you!" In the voice of blessing, these American pilots climbed up the narrow hanging ladder, turned into the hatch, and came to the inside of the bomber they had been flying for a long time. The machine gunners on both sides were checking the ammunition. The machine gun turret shooter below did not dare to get into his post because of design problems, so he could only sit in the small fuselage and talk to the machine gun turret shooter on the back of the machine. The topics were all about how to intercept German planes from attacking him The problem is that they must pay attention to the German fighters rushing in every direction, and try to keep these fighters out of the effective range of the opponent's weapons as much as possible.

The remaining aircraft have reduced the amount of ammunition carried, because additional armor protection plates have to be installed for the pilot, engine and shooter of the aircraft, although the thin 5 mm iron plate does not enhance the survivability of the aircraft much , but these pilots are still determined to install such a layer of iron skin that seems to comfort their fragile nerves.

"You said this bombing, can we succeed? I heard that in the previous bombings, none of the planes were able to return to the base." A young American machine gunner asked the neighbor next to him while wearing his parachute. The veteran partner, the two of them are responsible for operating the 12.7 mm caliber machine guns on both sides of the fuselage of the B-17 aircraft. The recruit looks a little nervous, and his voice trembles when he speaks.

"Young man, no war can be won without the dead. The failure of the planes to come back the previous few times does not mean that we will not be able to come back this time...Of course, the fact that we have returned safely the previous few times does not mean that this Once we can come back safely." The veteran beside him said with a smile while adjusting the ammunition belt on the machine gun: "On your own, just work hard and fly back."

"Heart No. 1, the runway has been cleared, you can take off now!" "Heart No. 1 understands! It is preparing to take off!" In the cockpit of the plane, the pilot is confirming his takeoff order with the control tower. It was a busy scene all over the world. The U.S. Army Air Forces in the Middle East almost came out in full force. 152 bombers were matched with 40 fighter jets. The formation flight scene was absolutely spectacular.

Some details were changed in the original plan. For example, in order to ensure that the number of planes taking off from the Soviet Union can be guaranteed to be 150, the number of b-17 bombers flying is not 150, but 155. Even if there are problems such as failures, it can still be guaranteed that the number of aircraft taking off will not be less than 150.

As a result, there are only 155 remaining troops in the Middle East. In addition to the aircraft that have had mechanical failures these days, the number of aircraft that can take off is 152, not the number of 160 originally planned. But even so, when more than 150 planes cooperated with 40 escort fighter jets and began to approach the border of Turkey, this unprecedentedly huge formation of planes in the Middle East still frightened many local residents who looked up at the sky. Since the era when the Caliph was born, after a long time, people here have never seen such a scene, and they can't imagine that the war has bid farewell to the scimitar and war horse long ago, and has become the terrible appearance it is today.

"This... this is really crazy! How can human beings resist such a terrible weapon of war? Are you sure that the power of the Germans is more terrifying than this?" Pushing open your window, you can see those who are not passing by in the distance The American bomber formation in the city, a Turkish general asked in horror his adjutant who came to report.

"The Germans also have so many terrible planes!" The deputy looked at the sky and replied with lingering fear.

"Then what are you waiting for! Hurry up and tell the German liaison officer what we found! Hurry up! Remind them to be ready to attack these planes!" The general ordered loudly.

"Do you want to contact the Air Force? General! There are 30 me-fighters aided by the Germans at the nearby airport. We..." the adjutant asked.

The general saw from the window that the American planes did not intend to bomb his garrison or the city, he let out a long breath, then turned around, waved his hands and said, "Forget it! It's true to preserve strength, such a terrible thing The opponent, let the Germans deal with it themselves!"