Chapter 1248 Tokyo's Disaster Day

"Prime Minister, the Noto and Sado Island radio stations reported that a large number of enemy planes were found, with a number exceeding 200!"

At 9:55 p.m. Tokyo time, Vice Admiral Onishi Takijiro, Deputy Commander of the Japanese Navy General Staff, who hurried into the basement meeting room of the Prime Minister's residence, loudly reported the discovery of two radar stations affiliated with the Navy.

By the way, Onishi Takijiro's report is also quite Japanese. Since Japan's homeland was threatened by the United States, it has established a defense army affiliated with the headquarters. In theory, all defense forces in Japan should be under the control of the Defense Army Headquarters.

But the Japanese Defense Army is led by the Army. When the General Army was established, it was still Tojo Hideki who was in charge in Japan. However, how could the sacred mission of defending the homeland and the emperor be monopolized by the Army? How could the Navy accept it? So the Navy led by Yamamoto was angry with Tojo at that time and refused to hand over the "Moonlight" night fighter unit controlled by the Navy to the Defense Army.

The Moonlight was the only reliable night fighter in the hands of the Japanese Army and Navy. Not only did it have a cannon that could fire upwards, but it also had a high-power searchlight and a prototype radio wave detector (which meant a very unreliable radar).

Without the Moonlight, the Japanese Army's twin-engine bombers, which installed a searchlight to make do as night fighters, could not do anything to the night bomber groups of the United States, China and the Soviet Union. Not only could they not deal with the B-17, but there was an even more embarrassing thing, that is, Tojo's "night fighter" actually let the B-17 shoot down a lot of them.

It turned out that the American B-17 also had an air combat type - this was a very unethical design. It looked no different from an ordinary B-17, but there were no bombs on the plane, but the fuselage was full of cannons, and it was specially reinforced. Of course, radars and searchlights for night combat were also installed. This type of B-17 would often hang around the bomber group and engage in "fishing-style" air combat. The stupid Japanese "night fighters" (actually also converted from bombers) would definitely be killed or injured if they approached!

As a result, after several months of night air combat, the Japanese Army's "night fighters" were shot down by B-17s by hundreds of them. Moreover, it did not play any role in protecting the city, and solidified in major cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, Kobe, and Kyoto. The fire burned down countless houses and small workshops and factories hidden in those low-rise residential areas composed of wooden buildings. Unlike the large factories in Europe and the United States, Japan's industrialization still relies heavily on small workshops and factories. Large factories often do final assembly work, and the factories that produce parts are small factories of small size. Of course, these small factories do not have decent factory areas, and they are often opened in densely populated residential areas. Ordinary bombings posed no threat to them, but the fire caused by solidification could burn down the entire block where these small factories and workshops depended on for survival.

Therefore, the Chinese Red Army and the Soviet Red Army, who were very familiar with the situation in Japan, did not "take a detour" in bombing Japan, and they started with fire attacks. Although the bombing was not strong, it burned for several months in a row, which also caused a great blow to Japan's industrial production.

In addition, God seemed to be against the Japanese. Just when the big cities in Japan suffered heavy losses from the enemy's fire attacks, there was a major earthquake in the southeast sea in December 1944, which destroyed Mitsubishi's aircraft engine factory and greatly delayed the production of many new models. Among them was the "Asahi" night heavy fighter that the Japanese Army had high hopes for.

Without a proper night fighter, the Japanese Army could only compromise with the shameless navy and let the navy set up a local aviation fleet (a fleet without ships) to be responsible for the night air defense of Japan.

However, the performance of the Japanese Navy's domestic air fleet, which had the "Moonlight" night fighter, was not much better, except that the "Moonlight" fighter was not so easy to be shot down by the B-17. It was also difficult to shoot down the B-17, because the Americans sent the F-13 early warning aircraft. With the command of the early warning aircraft, the B-17 bomber could easily avoid the "Moonlight" whose speed was not fast.

So after discovering that Japan had a more usable night fighter, the B-17s of the United States, China and the Soviet Union immediately changed their tactics, from fighting to hiding, avoiding the interception of the "Moonlight", and dropping the incendiary bombs.

The countermeasure of the Japanese Navy's domestic air fleet was to concentrate on using a large number of "Moonlight" night fighters to intercept them layer by layer. Although it was impossible to shoot down a large number of B-17s, it could force these planes to drop their bombs and escape.

However, this time, Isoroku Yamamoto, who had received intelligence in advance, planned to play a big game. He concentrated nearly 300 "Moonlight" night fighters at the airports of Noto Peninsula and Niigata Prefecture - this is almost three-quarters of the total number of "Moonlight" fighters owned by the Japanese Navy.

"Okay," Isoroku Yamamoto exhaled lightly, "It seems that the German intelligence is accurate. Tell Yamaguchi-kun that this time we must beat the invading enemy hard no matter what. And... we can't let an enemy plane fly over Tokyo!"

"Hai!" Lieutenant General Onishi Takijiro nodded heavily and turned to leave the meeting room.

Yamamoto then said to Ishihara Kanji, the chief of the Army General Staff, "Ishihara-kun, the anti-aircraft artillery units defending Tokyo must also be prepared to fire at any time."

Since a large number of "Moonlights" were concentrated in the northern coastal areas of Honshu Island, Japan, to block B-17s flying from North Korea and Vladivostok, there were not many "Moonlight" night fighters at the airports around Tokyo. The various night fighters modified from bombers to make up the numbers were also useless, so the defense over Tokyo tonight could only rely on anti-aircraft guns.

However, Japan's anti-aircraft guns did not have radio proximity fuses to use, and they also had no fire control radar. At night, they could only rely on searchlights and cat's eye magic to find targets. You can imagine how effective it is.

…

"Tick-tick-tick..."

A rapid "tick-tick" sounded in the cabin of the F-13C radar early warning aircraft that Lieutenant Colonel Paul Tibbets was riding.

"Received, received the navigation signal!"

The navigator in the cabin, Lieutenant Johnson, shouted excitedly. "Lieutenant Colonel, we found Tokyo!"

The "tick-tick" signal is the sound emitted after one of the two Lorenz beams is received by the F-13C radio. This shows that the bomber group commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Tibbets has flown near Tokyo. Now just fly along the "tick-tick" signal (if the aircraft deviates from the course, the signal will become weaker and weaker, otherwise it will become stronger and stronger), and then receive another Lorenz beam, the bomber group will be over Tokyo.

"Okay, keep the altitude." Lieutenant Colonel Paul Tibbets looked at the darkness outside the cabin, "Radar attention search... The Japanese also have radar stations, they should be able to find us."

Although Lieutenant Colonel Paul Tibbets has never bombed Tokyo, he is very familiar with the Japanese air defense capabilities. Knowing that the Japanese also have radars, they can detect targets about 100 kilometers away. Moreover, the Japanese high-altitude fighters are not very good, and above 10,000 meters is basically a safe area. If there is an F-13 command, the bomber group does not need escort and will not suffer any losses.

The reports from the Soviet Red Air Force and the US Air Force in aid of the Soviet Union told Paul Tibbets that the Japanese army in Tokyo had many twin-engine night fighters (moonlights), which would still pose some threats to the B-17s flying at night. Therefore, the F-13C early warning aircraft must maintain the maximum altitude of 12,000 meters and search carefully.

In addition, the Soviet report also said that Tokyo's blackout was very good. It was basically pitch black at night because the coal supply of Japanese power plants was very tight and it was impossible to guarantee the power supply of the city at night. Therefore, in the fleet commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Tibbets, there were several B-29C bombers piloted by old pilots and navigators who had been to Tokyo and carried solidification - these B-29Cs would first use solidification to ignite the houses in Tokyo and guide the remaining B-29Cs to bomb targets.

…

"Mr. Prime Minister, the No. 21 radar station in Chiba Prefecture detected an unknown group of aircraft flying from the Pacific Ocean!"

When Japanese Prime Minister Isoroku Yamamoto was waiting in the basement of the Prime Minister's residence for the victory report from the air battle in the Sea of ​​Japan, a major suddenly rushed into the conference room, bowed to the Chief of the Army Ishihara Kanji, and handed him a note. Ishihara glanced at the note, jumped up immediately, and loudly reported the unexpected news to Isoroku Yamamoto.

"This is a false alarm." Vice Admiral Onishi Takijiro, Deputy Commander of the Navy General Staff, said very confidently, "It is impossible for an aircraft to fly from the Pacific Ocean. The closest base to the Japanese mainland controlled by the Americans is Midway Island, which is nearly 5,000 kilometers away from Tokyo!"

Japan did not know the existence of the B-29C ultra-long-range bomber. According to the intelligence they had, the maximum combat range of the B-29B was less than 6,000 kilometers. It could not fly from Midway Island to Tokyo, and then go to Vladivostok after dropping the bombs. Besides, how big is Midway Island? Even if a runway that can take off and land B-29s can be built, it can't accommodate many B-29s.

As for taking off from Oahu, a distance of more than 6,000 kilometers, what kind of aircraft can carry bombs so far? Now even the Germans don't seem to have bombers that can carry bombs so far, right?

"Could it be taken off from an aircraft carrier?" Yamamoto Isoroku was still a little worried. Although it was impossible for a shore-based long-range bomber to come from the Pacific, it could not be ruled out that an American aircraft carrier formation had secretly approached the Japanese mainland.

"It's unlikely," Onishi Takijiro thought for a while, "The Navy's Type 1 Land Attack has been carefully searching the ocean south and east of the Japanese archipelago. And there are also picket ships of the Navy's 7th Fleet conducting uninterrupted patrols there. It is unlikely that the American aircraft carrier formation will approach the mainland within 1,000 nautical miles without being noticed."

Yamamoto Isoroku nodded. He knew that what Onishi said was true. Although Japan's air force is a bit weak now, it is unable to annihilate the American fleet approaching the mainland from the air. But it's definitely not to the point where it can't even be detected! So the possibility of a false alarm from the radar station is indeed high - false alarms are normal for Japan's own radars, and the Japanese military leaders have long been accustomed to it.

"It's indeed impossible to be an aircraft carrier," Yamamoto said, "but we still can't take it lightly, order the Defense General Army and the Navy Air Force near Tokyo to go out."

...

"Sir, the radar has found a target."

At 11:35 p.m. on May 28, 1945, Tokyo time, the radar observer on Paul Tibbets' plane suddenly reported loudly: "At 10 o'clock, the distance is 120, the altitude is 2000, the number is 10-20... Oh, they are climbing!"

"They should have just taken off from the airport," Paul Tibbets smiled coldly, "but it doesn't matter, we just bypass them."

As he spoke, he turned on the radio on the plane and began to issue orders: "Children, I am Paul (this is his name and code name), at 10 o'clock ahead, there are rats (referring to Japanese planes) 100 kilometers away, up to 20, climbing the mountain (referring to climbing), we go up 10 floors (climb to 10,000 meters), and then bypass them at full speed, everyone follow closely."

The B-29C has reduced weight to increase its range, and the engine horsepower is also greater than the previous model. Therefore, after most of the fuel was consumed, the speed of the aircraft could be raised to a very high level, and it could fly to more than 630 kilometers at an altitude of 10,000 meters. If there was a tailwind, it could even fly to a speed of 690-700 kilometers per hour. No Japanese aircraft could catch up.

Less than 30 minutes later, the fleet led by Paul Tibbets avoided two Japanese fleets and flew to the sky near Tokyo. The sound of "di di di" began to be heard, mixed with the previous "ta di" sound, and became a "di di di di" sound.

"Sir, we are already over Tokyo!"

After hearing the report from his men, Paul Tibbets immediately gave orders: "Fire-breathing snakes (referring to the B-29C carrying incendiary bombs), it's up to you, make some light for me!"

"Got it, sir."

"Haha, we can finally set fire to the Japanese!"

"And there are also bacterial bombs! Now it's time to let the Japanese know how powerful we are!"

"Yes, let the Japanese know how powerful we are!"

Paul Tibbets's men cheered, but no one felt guilty about dropping bacterial bombs on Tokyo. After all, the Japanese themselves have used bacterial bombs a lot, and now it's just tit for tat.

When Tibbets thought of this, the dark ground in front of him suddenly burst into dazzling flames as if a volcano erupted. Tibbets raised his telescope and looked in the direction of the fire, and indeed found large areas of houses.

Tokyo city, we have arrived!