Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 312: Bishan Air Combat (3)
Speaking of which may be unbelievable, the National Government has moved its capital to Chongqing for nearly three years, but it has never established an effective air defense early warning mechanism to defend the capital. "≤. At that time, China’s initial early warning basically relied on the Japanese military’s usual routes to set up air defense observation posts and relied on human visual search to attack enemy aircraft. Once the Japanese adopted new routes and tactics, they could only rely on the mountains surrounding Chongqing. The early warning posts were used as the last warning, but when these posts found traces of Japanese aircraft, the early warning time for Chinese soldiers and civilians was basically running out.
Chongqing had just experienced such a catastrophe three months ago. On the night of June 5th, the Japanese army launched a large-scale bombing operation lasting five hours. It was because the early warning was unfavorable, so when the alarm sounded, JJ has approached the downtown area of Chongqing. Urban residents did not have time to evacuate to the surrounding area, so the Jiaochangkou air-raid tunnel with a maximum capacity of 6,000 people squeezed into more than 10,000 people that night. Because of the serious excess of personnel and the negligence of the organization and management department, a large number of citizens were finally in air defense. The tunnel was killed by suffocation due to lack of oxygen. This is the famous tunnel tragedy in history.
Even if such a tragic incident occurred, the Republic of China government still did not make any adjustments to the original air defense early warning mechanism. After that, instead of investigating and reviewing the matter, it rushed to bury and destroy the corpses and alter the number of casualties. In order to cover up the corruption and malfeasance of the government management, the tunnel was installed with an electric exhaust fan for ventilation in April. It was only because the relevant person in charge was not bribed, so that there was no acceptance and no electricity connection.
This time, because they wanted to attract the main force of the Chinese Air Force, the Japanese army did not make any surprise attacks. On the contrary, the bomber group deliberately flew over the area around the China National Defense Air Post that had been identified, so that the Chinese side could give early warning. . So when these Type 96 land attack aircraft flew over Chongqing, the city’s alarm had been sounding for a long time. In the past, the bustling streets and riverside piers were completely evacuated, and the streets and lanes were empty, and no one could be seen.
The Type 96 bomber lowered its altitude, and the pilot leader’s bomber chewed the allotted toffee in his mouth, and lay on the sight on the rear cabin floor carefully looking for the target. This group of bombers was used by the senior aviation team as a bait to lure Chinese fighters out. However, these Japanese bombing crew members had no idea about this. They only knew that this was a regular bombing mission, and the superiors had to fly strictly according to the plan afterwards. The Japanese army's habit is to do a full set of plays, since it is a bombing mission. It would really be carried out as a regular bombing. They deliberately selected an area near the Yangtze River in the city center, where the population and shops were densely populated, and heavy losses would more easily arouse the determination of the Chinese Air Force to dispatch.
The bombers have participated in dozens of similar operations, and the map of the entire Chongqing city has already been memorized. He directed the pilot to adjust the course through the intercom, watching the crosshairs in the scope and slowly approaching the bombing target.
"Blast bomb drop!" The bomber yelled and pressed the bomb switch.
The Mitsubishi Type 96 land attack aircraft is the most advanced twin-engine bomber currently equipped by the Imperial Japanese Navy. At the beginning of the design, she was required to be able to mount torpedoes and heavy bombs. In consideration of **** and internal space utilization, the designer did not choose a conventional belly magazine, but hung all the loads on the pylons in the lower part of the fuselage.
When the bomb switch was turned on, twelve 60 kg aerial bombs hung under the belly of the plane simultaneously detached from the pylon, and the gray-green projectile swayed and rolled towards the city below and fell rapidly, ten seconds later. The entire fireball filled the sight of the scope with shock waves and various debris.
"Xixi, the target hits." The bomber gave a thumbs up to the pilot and co-pilot in the front cabin.
Dense bombs ignited a large number of wooden buildings along the river, and black smoke gushed out of the sky. At the time of the bombing, the two remaining inland artillery boats of the Chinese Navy on the Yangtze River were slowly fleeing upstream in that section of the river. When the Japanese plane was approaching, the captain personally took the helm to evade sailing. Looking down from the air, I saw these two old inland river gunboats, which were less than 100 tons, starting to frantically draw circles of white wakes on the narrow river surface.
At this time, the air defense forces in Chongqing finally started to fight back. Several small-caliber antiaircraft guns deployed near the dock fired rows of tracer rounds, but due to limited shooting height. Only a few hundred meters away from the belly of the Japanese plane could explode beautiful strings of white and black smoke.
Chongqing’s ground air defense firepower is inconsistent with the city’s status in terms of quality and quantity. According to military statistics in 1949, only 17 Bofors 75mm anti-aircraft guns and eight 37mm anti-aircraft guns remained in the Chongqing defense area. With five 25mm and three 20mm cannons, the Chinese government relied on these poor anti-aircraft weapons as the last line of defense in urban air defense, against the Japanese bombers swarming like locusts.
What is even more surprising is that these weapons are not used in a centralized manner, but are distributed around Chongqing, defending several key government points. The Japanese army once carried out bombing operations specifically against these air defense firepower. As a result, in September, Chongqing had few large-caliber anti-aircraft artillery that had the courage to fire. Unless the Japanese aircraft approached the official residence of the leader of the country, they would remain silent to prevent the indiscriminate use of the party's heavy weapons.
The air defense firepower on the ground was weak, and the Niu-Liu Land Attack over Chongqing seemed to be in an uninhabited state. The ammunition was quickly thrown out, leaving a mess on the ground. At this time, the bomber group turned its course and prepared to return to the base, but the Chinese fighters waiting for the Japanese army still did not show up. This made the Zero fighter group ambushing at high altitude a little anxious. What should I do if the Chinese Air Force does not show up? No one seemed to mention it when making the plan.
"Be patient, they will definitely show up." Jindo comforted himself in a low voice.
"They like to attack from the rear when our army returns, just like they used to do." Jindo shook the wing and motioned for the squadron to follow him.
The tactics used by the Chinese Air Force at the time may seem to be a bit negative now, mainly because the Air Force has received too much pressure from high-level government. Both operations and training are strictly restricted. Any pilot who violates these operational regulations Will be engaged by military law.
When the all-out war between China and Japan broke out, the Chinese Air Force was not bad in strength, and it could be regarded as a good force in the world. Many pilots have been trained abroad, and the government has hired many foreign instructors. Although there may be some lack of combat will, the technical level is not far from the world average.
Because of the influence of the social atmosphere at the time, and still considered themselves superior technical troops, there were many arrogant soldiers in the Air Force who ignored military discipline. Corruption, smuggling, and the theft of military supplies became the norm, and there were even bombers. In order to avoid training ~IndoMTL.com~, the pilots deliberately created an accident and destroyed the plane, causing the foreign consultant who witnessed the incident to shake his head and sigh. This kind of military morale is impossible to fight. However, when the war was really approaching, the Chinese Air Force’s splendid men of the day performed exceptionally well on the battlefield. Not only did they inspire the courage of countless Chinese soldiers and civilians to resist Japan, but also offset many of the Air Force’s previous courage. Negative image.
At the beginning of the war, the aircraft equipped by the Chinese Air Force and the Japanese aircraft were still in the same era. There was not much difference between the two sides in terms of technical performance, and the performance of some advanced models exceeded that of some Japanese counterparts. At that time, the Japanese air force, whether it belonged to the Navy or the Army, was actually the same as the Chinese Air Force in terms of actual combat experience.
The Japanese army had not really experienced any formal air combat before, and the formulation of air combat tactics mostly copied the experience of European battlefields. Judging from the standards at the time, the tactics used by the Japanese army were outdated and dull, commanders lacked air combat experience, pilots only knew mechanical execution orders, and the staff who made plans simply ignored the actual situation and relied on blindness. An optimistic attitude rushes to the pilot’s life. For example, when a stable forward base was not obtained, the bomber troops were often ordered to rush across the strait for long distances, and because the range of the **** fighters was not enough, these fragile bombers were allowed to act alone. It is conceivable that when the target area is reached, Japan is exhausted. Naval pilots and old bombers with poor self-defense firepower will have a miserable end once they are intercepted by fighters of the Chinese Air Force. (To be continued.)