Chapter 972 Doolittle's Mission

"When something goes wrong, they will come to the turtle son." In the Naval Military Affairs Conference Department, an old general held the appointment letter just sent and couldn't help but say.

The flesh on his face was also trembling. Originally, he thought that he would spend his life here, but who knows, he was still pushed to the front desk.

Ernest Joseph King, the Almighty God in the Navy. He was a veteran of naval aviation with a staggering number of accomplishments, including raising a submarine that sank on the high seas to the surface.

However, because of his cold and aggressive nature, he was unpopular. Those whose self-esteem was damaged by him and whose future was ruined by him are many. Therefore, he had to retire bravely, and was placed in the military affairs conference for the rest of his life, which was an advisory group that specially accommodated a veteran Navy officer who had nowhere to arrange.

But now, he was activated again, and President Roosevelt personally pulled him out of this place and made him Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The turtle son in his mouth was himself.

Of course, he knows about the recent situation. In his eyes, the interests of the Pacific are the most important, and now, the US Navy's Pacific Fleet has been buried in the icy waters, and there is only a lonely Sarato The plus carrier survived.

Now, what does America need? Pearl Harbor was attacked, and the self-esteem of the United States was hit. Now, what is most needed is to restore people's hearts.

Therefore, General Kim is very interested in the plan proposed by President Roosevelt to bomb the mainland of the island country, but it is quite difficult to realize this plan.

Let the bombers take off from the aircraft carrier?

With such a plan, General Kim started his first action since taking office.

"In our air force, the most mature is the B-25 bomber. In theory, this kind of aircraft can take off on an aircraft carrier." General Jin found the newly recruited pilot of the bomber unit of the Army Aviation Corps. James Harold Doolittle, nicknamed Jimmy.

The little man in his 40s was once the first pilot to traverse the continental United States in one day. He won the Schneider Championship, the Bendix Air Race and the Thompson Cup and other aviation events.

Because of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the entire United States was transformed into a wartime system, and a large number of people responded to the draft, including Doolittle. After he was drafted into the Army Air Corps, he was first received by the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.

After hearing General Jin's narration, Doolittle gave the answer: "Remove various armors of the aircraft, self-defense machine guns, etc., and greatly reduce the weight of the aircraft, it is possible to fly from the aircraft carrier, but, It certainly couldn't land on a carrier."

The U.S. Navy and Air Force took out all the things in the bottom of the box, only to find that they had nothing. The range of the U.S. carrier-based aircraft was too short and the bomb load was too small. If they wanted to bomb the island country, they could only use land-based bombers.

You can take off, but you can't land!

"That is to say, after we complete the mission of bombing Tokyo, we need to continue to fly westward and land in China." General Jin said: "It will be a long one-way voyage."

The northern part of China is also occupied by the islanders. It is conceivable how risky this operation will be!

General Jin understands, and Doolittle also understands: "I suggest that for this operation, select volunteers from our flying team to join. General Jin, I request the first to join this bombing mission."

Doolittle is full of fighting spirit. Although there are various rumors in the society that the bombing of Pearl Harbor was a conspiracy of Roosevelt, but after all, it was the islanders who did it. Regardless of whether there is a conspiracy, the islanders are the enemies of the United States. The fleet has lost more than 50,000 people. This blood feud needs to be repaid with blood!

"Okay, Doolittle, I have appointed you as the commander-in-chief of this operation. You have full control over this matter. We are all waiting for the good news of your triumph!" General Jin said.

Given Doolittle's full power, General Kim can finally let go of this matter temporarily, and let the US military industry start completely and build a large number of ships. This is also what he needs to deal with urgently. The United States needs warships and needs to rearm the Pacific Fleet!

For Doolittle, his era has just begun, and this action has made him a household hero throughout the United States.

The B-25 is an indicator proposed by the U.S. military in 1938, and a prototype made by North American Airlines in 1939. Up to now, this is just a bomber that has just entered service.

Yes, the U.S. military's latest medium-range bomber can carry 1,200-pound bombs and fly 1,200 miles. Compared with Germany, this indicator is still relatively backward, but after all, this is the most advanced medium-range bomber in active service in the U.S. military.

Doolittle quickly assembled his team. The experienced flight veterans from the Army Air Forces enthusiastically signed up to participate in the operation. Doolittle chose his team. Now, they are facing the first The question is how to get the bomber to fly.

"Originally, we were asked to take off 24 bombers, but the Saratoga aircraft carrier couldn't take it, so we could only reduce it to 16 bombers." Doolittle said: "Even so, when our aircraft was placed on the aircraft carrier deck When we got on, the first bomber to take off had a take-off distance of only 60 meters."

The historical aircraft carrier Hornet was launched in November 1940 and was only commissioned in 1941. Now, in April 1940, this aircraft carrier is still being built on the slipway.

The only thing that the bombing formation can use is the Saratoga aircraft carrier, which was transformed from a cruiser built during World War I and belongs to an old ship.

The deck of the aircraft carrier is more than 200 meters long. However, the B-25 bomber cannot enter the hangar below, and can only be placed on the deck. In this way, the aircraft that takes off first has a very short deck that can be used. , the further back, the easier it is to take off.

Even if 16 bombers are loaded, the take-off distance left for Doolittle is only 60 meters. Doolittle will undoubtedly operate the first bomber. (There are also sayings that it is 142 meters. Which one is correct?)

"However, because it is on the aircraft carrier, we can also use the speed of the aircraft carrier. The aircraft carrier will start at full speed, and there will be a speed of about 30 knots. With the headwind, it can provide us with a speed of about 40 knots. We need to release it from the aircraft carrier. Pick up our kites."

"Even so, that's too heavy," said one pilot.

"Yes, so our first step is to rebuild our aircraft." Doolittle said: "The machine gun in the belly is removed. The machine gun in the tail is removed.

The protective plate can also be removed. Two of the flares were kept for landing at night, and the others were dismantled. The radio system was dismantled. "