bookrebus Chapter 722 The Raid Begins
Chapter 722 The Raid Begins
B24 Liberator bomber 722 raid begins
And Leng Tiancheng was not wrong.
Just as they were boarding the plane and taking off at Chaozhou Airport.
At the Lashio airport, 1,800 kilometers away, Meng Jifei had also just gathered more than a hundred pilots.
Except for the sixty or so pilots under Meng Jifei, the remaining half were all pilots from Britain and the United States.
This joint long-range air strike by the three countries was a brand new attempt for them.
The senior officials of the British and American Air Forces also attach great importance to this.
The selected pilots are all elite.
After all, if this long-range air strike can be successful.
In the future, the British and American air forces will be able to conduct the same operations in both the European and Pacific battlefields.
In fact, this time Ye Qingshan asked Meng Jifei and his men to fly from Lashio Airport across 1,800 kilometers to Echeng to attack the Japanese.
It was also copied from the original historical bombing of Kyoto by the Americans.
In the original time and space, next year, the Americans will use the bombers in their hands to take off from an aircraft carrier 1,200 kilometers away from the Japanese homeland.
Completed the first air raid on the Japanese homeland.
Then, it made an emergency landing near the coast of China. The total flight distance was more than 4,000 kilometers.
But the distance between them is much farther than that between Ye Qingshan and the others this time.
This was also the inspiration for Ye Qingshan to ask Meng Jifei and others to take off from Lashio Airport and rush to the sky above Echeng to participate in the battle.
Moreover, this time, Meng Jifei and his group of fighter jets also have one-way tickets.
There is no need to save extra fuel for the return trip, as you can land directly at Chaozhou New Airport.
In this way, the range of fighter jets and bombers fully loaded with bombs can meet the requirements.
“The bombers took off first, followed by the fighters.
Just do it as we practiced a few days ago."
Meng Jifei shouted loudly.
It is quite difficult for more than 130 fighter planes to take off.
If you are not careful, any small accident that occurs on the runway due to the rush may delay the take-off time of other fighter planes.
Therefore, one must be extra careful.
Especially, because of the time difference.
It was already bright over in Echeng, but the sky over at Lashio Airport was just beginning to brighten, so the brightness was much lower.
Fortunately, Meng Jifei and his team conducted several exercises in advance.
Soon, one fighter plane after another began to take off on the runway in an orderly manner without any accidents.
This time, all the pilots participating in the war from the three kingdoms were elite, and those who were not elite had no chance to fight.
Therefore, the probability of accidents is greatly reduced.
In fact, the number of pilots on Meng Jifei's side is close to one hundred.
But Meng Jifei did not allow other pilots who had trained for no more than half a year to take to the field this time.
After all, he was not confident in letting these novice pilots take to the field on such a long-distance flight.
Especially since this battle is so important, no accidents can happen.
Only elite pilots can be sent into battle.
Soon, the first batch of B17 and B24 bombers took off, quickly formed a formation after takeoff, and then flew east.
According to Meng Jifei and their plan.
Because the bombers fully loaded with bombs fly much slower than their P38 and P40e fighters.
Therefore, these bombers need to take off first.
Let them fly towards Guangdong Province first.
Fighter planes took off after them.
In this way, the fighters that take off later can use their speed advantage to catch up with the bomber group that flew earlier during the long flight.
Finally, try to ensure that the fighter groups and bomber groups arrive in Guangdong Province at the same time.
Don't make it too different.
Otherwise, the fighter group that arrives first will definitely be discovered by the Japanese.
This will give the Japanese ground air defense forces in Yangcheng more time to prepare for air defense.
The bomber groups that arrived from behind would bomb the Japanese airport, causing more trouble.
It took nearly an hour just for all the fighter planes to take off.
The last to take off was a fighter squadron commanded by Meng Jifei.
"Fly at full speed and keep up with Johnson and the others ahead."
Meng Jifei gave the order.
Then, the P38 fighter jets they were driving began to race at a speed of 666 kilometers per hour.
Soon, they met up with a P40e fighter squadron commanded by Johnson, which had taken off earlier.
The speed of the P40e fighter is slightly slower than that of the P38 fighter.
But it is also 600 kilometers per hour.
At their flying speed, a distance of 1,800 kilometers would only take three hours to reach at full speed.
Of course, this is to ensure that their flight does not deviate midway.
“Haha, Meng.
You guys are catching up."
Johnson's voice sounded in the communication channel.
“Ralph and the others are still ahead, you should catch up with them first.
Don’t let that guy fly in the wrong direction.”
Johnson said to Meng Jifei.
"Won't.
Ralph, Duke and the others are all professionals.
We are flying over land, and they can use dead reckoning to determine their position.
There are also obvious landmarks to guide you, so it is unlikely that you will fly wrong.
Once they arrive in our country, the local militia will provide ground guidance.
If it still flies in the wrong direction, they will be humiliated."
Meng Jifei said with a chuckle in the communication channel.
"Haha, Meng, you make sense."
Johnson laughed.
This time, the pilots and other crew members sent by Britain and the United States were basically on bombers.
Mainly British and American pilots, they flew B17 and B24 bombers.
After arriving in Guangdong Province, they were responsible for flying bombers to carry out bombing missions on the Japanese airport in Yangcheng.
Meng Jifei only placed some of his own crew members on these bombers to provide them with some guidance.
After all, these foreign pilots are not familiar with the situation in China.
At this time, Meng Jifei said to Johnson that he was not afraid that the bomber group in front would fly in the wrong direction.
But in my heart, I am still thinking about you.
It's just that he had made sufficient preparations in advance and was confident that he could dispel his worries.
The pilots flying the P38 and P40e fighters were basically the pilots under Meng Jifei, as well as the pilots from the mercenary flying squadron brought by Johnson and Ralph.
The reason for this distribution.
The main reason was that the top air force leaders of Britain and the United States were unwilling to let their active British and American pilots take the risk of flying fighter planes to fight against the Japanese Zero fighters.
With the sudden appearance of the Japanese Zero fighter, British and American pilots had already tasted the power of the Japanese on the battlefield.
Now, they all knew that the Japanese Zero fighters were difficult to deal with.
If we fight desperately with the Japanese Zero fighters, there is a great risk of being shot down.
They didn't want to lose their pilots to help the national army fight.
Therefore, it is more appropriate for these active British and American pilots to carry out safer bombing missions.