Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 311: Bishan Air Combat (2)

Captain Saburo Kondo claims to be the elite of the Japanese Empire Sea Eagles. The 29-year-old naval captain is a graduate of the 60th Edajima Naval Academy. Before becoming a pilot, he worked on light cruisers, battleships and even Having served on a submarine, this kind of qualifications can be said to be quite solid and stable in the Japanese Navy. If you continue to serve on surface ships, you will not dare to say that it will be a matter of time. ●⌒,

As for why he chose to become a pilot, there is an interesting rumor among his companions, because in the Japanese Navy only pilots can grow long hair, because long hair can help offset part of the impact on the head. And Saburo Kondo joined the aviation force just to leave a beautiful split. Some good people actually asked Kondo about this, but the other party did not hesitate to admit it, and even proudly showed off when he was questioned by the military police on the streets of Tokyo, as long as he showed his identity as a pilot, the other party would immediately nod and bow. It's like changing someone.

Now the flying elite of the Imperial Japanese Navy is leading twelve subordinates, escorting 28 Navy Type 96 land bombers, and carrying out an attack towards Chongqing, the accompanying capital of the Chinese government. This is the second large-scale operation of the 12th Joint Air Force of the Imperial Japanese Navy in Hankou this month. The last time such a group was dispatched was on September 13, when the lead plane leading the team was still Kondo. As a result, the Japanese Navy won an overwhelming victory that time. According to the final statistics of the pilot’s report, at least two were shot down. Of the 17 Chinese aircraft, only two of the Japanese aircraft were slightly damaged, and the other one had its landing gear broken and overturned during landing. While Twelve Air has established brilliant results, it also created the first battle damage record for this new type of fighter.

"Fujiwara guy, I hope I don't mess up again this time." Thinking of this, Kondo turned his head and looked at the back of the landline. As the leader of the wingman, Fujiwara Kihei, the second-class wingman, was tight. Following the lead plane, the distance between the two parties was so close that Kondo could even see the oxygen mask and goggles on Fujiwara's face.

"Pay attention to the distance! The fourth plane!" Kondo was taken aback by the recklessness of the wingman, and hurriedly made a stern gesture to the opponent in the cockpit, warning the opponent to keep the distance.

In this group of fighters, only the team leader (squadron leader) Kondo and three squadrons (squad leader)’s planes still retain the 96-type airless No. 1 radio telephone equipped with the original aircraft. Theoretically, it is possible to realize instant radio calls between devices within a range of 90 kilometers, but in fact, because there was no concept of electromagnetic compatibility at that time, this kind of radio performed poorly in actual combat. Because of the interference of other electromagnetic signals on the plane and the engine noise in the cockpit, most of the time, the pilots can’t hear what the other person is talking about. Many pilots claim to use this kind of stuff instead of opening the cockpit cover. Yelled across.

Because during this period of time, the troops performed mostly long-distance operations. Out of the idea that a little weight reduction is good, the pilot asked the ground crew to dismantle the radio station, because that thing was really useless except for adding weight in vain. In the end, only the leader plane and the team commander kept the radio, because they needed to keep in touch with the base. Although there was a problem with the instant communication of this thing, the remote Morse code communication could still make do.

The radio equipment of the Japanese naval air force has always been a tragedy. Pilots can only communicate with the clipboard by hand gestures, and the commander has to carry signal flags and flare, which makes people feel like they are back in World War I. The Japanese navy's reputation is for radio silence. Actually, it's not because the radio equipment is too bad. If you say that naval and air warfare raids can be passed, your radio silence is a scum on land bombing.

Seeing the team leader's gesture, Fujiwara finally reacted, and the fourth plane slowed down a bit and slowly opened the distance from the lead plane.

"It's really unnerving." Kondo watched the wingman return to his original position, and then turned his gaze back from the window.

Usually people would think that all the latest fighters should be elites in the military, but this is not the case. In the Zero Fighter Unit led by Kondo, apart from a few commanding officers and middle-level backbones. The rest are basically rookies and young eggs with no combat experience.

Because the naval aviation teams do not belong to each other, the pilots are all a carrot and a pit, and every veteran bird is carefully trained by the aviation team over the years. How can you be willing to let you mobilize backbone veterans to form new troops . So these experimental forces deployed at the beginning. Most of the pilots are newcomers who are stationed in the country and have no actual combat experience.

The navy may have other calculations, because old pilots have taken the habits developed in previous models, and they may have some limitations in exploring the tactics and tactics of new models. On the contrary, they are like a blank sheet of paper. The rookie is better able to give play to the performance of this new type of machine, and it is easier to sum up valuable practical experience from it. In this regard, most air forces of various countries are the same, and units equipped with new models often select some newly formed units. After the various technologies have matured, they began to change into those old elites.

The Type Zero Fighter 11 type piloted by Captain Kondo has just been finalized in July. This year is the 2600 year of the Imperial Chronicle used by Japan. Only the last two digits are taken. The Japanese Navy named it Type Zero on-board fighter. From this number, it can be seen that the Navy has placed great expectations on it.

Before the aircraft was finalized, even if the prototypes were added, the whole Japan produced a total of less than seventy zero wars. The Navy transferred 15 of them to the Chinese battlefield early. It can also be seen how eager the Japanese Navy is to promote this aircraft into service.

The number of Type Zero Eleven is A6M2a, which is quite different from the famous Type Zero 21 in history. Compared with the improved A6M2b based on it, although the two engines use the same engine, the model 11 has a thinner body structure, so both the top speed and the dive speed are greatly restricted. And because the wingtips cannot be folded yet and exceed the width of the aircraft carrier's lift, this so-called shipboard fighter cannot be equipped with an aircraft carrier at this time and can only perform land missions.

Kondo is not the only commander of this zero battle force, because there is also a captain of the same level as his captain Yokoyama Yasu, now in the twelve zero battles he leads, half of the troops are Yokoyama Subordinates of the unit. Kondo and Yokoyama are the same students of the 26th Flying Student Soldiers, and they have a deep friendship. Therefore, since they were transferred to the 12th Air Force, the two sides have cooperated in a tacit understanding, because Yokoyama was one term earlier than Kondo at the Naval Academy , So in most of the transaction processing, they often follow the advice of Yokoyama. The two flight detachment captains used to lead the troops alternately, until after the air battle on September 13, Kondo began to faintly suppressed the Yokoyama side. After all, the Navy also paid attention to combat merits in addition to the qualifications.

This action was regarded by the aviation team as a continuation of the previous battle. Japanese insiders lurking in the Chongqing government reported that although some of the vitality of the Chinese air force was injured, they still retained considerable strength. So Hasegawa Osa, the commander of the 12th Joint Air Force, after consulting the Chief of Staff of the 1st Joint Air Force, Major General Onishi Takijiro, obtained permission to implement an operation aimed at annihilating the remnants of the China Air Force. In this operation As the main combat force, the Zero Fighter was approved to be deployed in all.

But when the plan came into effect, the Japanese had only 13 fighter jets on hand, because one had been scrapped after the last operation, and the other was being damaged due to damage to the wing during training. The parts waiting to be replaced are out of reach for a while.

Out of a superstition, the list of personnel dispatched this time is still those of September 13. The Japanese navy is actually more particular about the so-called martial arts than the army. These pilots who have won the record are considered to be The asylum of this time will surely be as smooth as the last time.

For the purpose of this battle, the Zero War Force deliberately re-entered the Japanese Army’s forward airport in Yichang, which is less than 500 kilometers away from Chongqing~ IndoMTL.com~ Zero War can get more time in the air. In order to have enough time to hunt down and pursue possible enemy forces, naval aviation still carried auxiliary fuel tanks under the fuselage, so that the longest range of the aircraft was increased to 3,000 kilometers, enough for them to travel between Chongqing and Yichang. Run three back and forth in between.

In order to attract the fighters of the Chinese Air Force, the Japanese army also specially formulated a decoy plan. The 13th Air Force under the Erlian Air Force will send 28 Navy Type 96 bombers to cooperate with this operation. These bombers will The indiscriminate bombing of Chongqing was carried out to induce the Chinese Air Force to dispatch, and then the battle was solved by ambushing at high altitude with zero combat, and the remaining elite of the Chinese Air Force was wiped out over Chongqing.

This plan seemed perfect, and even Captain Saburo Kondo, who implemented it in detail, felt confident of success.

At noon on September 21st, the Japanese Navy Air Force fleet led by Kondo flew to Chongqing, the accompanying capital. The weather over Chongqing was good that day, only part of the cloud was broken at high altitude, and the huge mountain city below was seen from the cockpit. At a glance, the bomber group is lowering its altitude and starting to enter the bombing route. Everything is ready now, just waiting for the Chinese Air Force to appear. (To be continued.)

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