Chapter 486 Yamamoto Isoroku
July 10, 1941, 2 p.m.
Sea of Japan, 50 nautical miles offshore, "Chicheng" aircraft carrier.
Combined Fleet Aviation Staff Minoru Genda raised his head and glanced at the "eight-spoke sun flag" flying on the top of the ship island. This is an admiral's flag and belongs to Combined Fleet Commander-in-Chief Yamamoto Isoroku. The raising of the general's flag on the "Akagi" aircraft carrier means that Commander Yamamoto himself is now on the "Amako".
Commander Yamamoto's boarding of the ship this time was not an ordinary inspection, but for an important matter related to the course of the future war. He came for the Japanese Navy's latest sharp edge, the "Comet" carrier-based dive bomber.
At this time, the flight deck of the "Chicheng" was already busy. After the two "Comet" aircraft with overlapping wings were slowly lifted onto the deck by the elevator, the deck maintenance staff immediately pushed them to the take-off assembly point at the stern of the ship. Then the 500 kilogram training bombs that had been prepared were slowly stuffed into the bomb bay in the belly of the aircraft on a cart.
Genda Minoru rushed over and arrived at one of the "Comet" aircraft. He loudly asked the "Chicheng" aircraft carrier flight captain Mizuo Fuchida, Lieutenant Commander Mitsuo Fuchida, who had just climbed into the cabin: "Fuchida-kun, are you sure?"
Since Germany provided a batch of DB601E liquid-cooled engines to Japan through Sweden, the production speed of the "Comet" carrier-based dive bomber was significantly accelerated. Now it has reached 15-20 aircraft per month, which is basically mass production.
According to the earlier ideas of Yamamoto Isoroku and Kuroshima Kameto, before December 1941, which is the eve of the war between the United States and Japan, all Type 99s on all six fleet aircraft carriers of the Combined Fleet will be replaced with larger bomb loads. The "Comet" type is also faster.
But when the aircraft carriers of the Combined Fleet began to receive the "Comet" dive bombers, a very troublesome problem arose - the "Comet" carrier-based dive bombers were equipped with liquid-cooled ones with less resistance due to their excessive pursuit of high speed. The engine, which caused the "Comet" aircraft to fly too fast when landing on the ship, could easily fall onto the deck. After officially starting to equip the aircraft carrier, four aircraft crashed within a month, killing three crew members.
Considering that there are not many "Comets" on board the four fleet aircraft carriers (two more will not be completed until September), losing four aircraft in one month is really not a small number. That's why Yamamoto Isoroku personally boarded the "Chicheng" aircraft carrier to inspect the situation.
"Genda-kun, don't worry, I won't fall to death on the deck of the Akasei!" Lieutenant Colonel Mitsuo Fuchida replied with a laugh. He graduated from the 52nd class of the Marine Corps, and he and Minoru Genda are classmates. They are both "veterans" who have been flying for 16 or 17 years. Although the "Comet" aircraft is difficult to control, it can still be handled by the experienced Fuchida.
The pilot who piloted the other "Comet" was Major Takashige Egusa, who graduated from the 56th class of the Navy. He is also a "veteran" with more than 10 years of flying experience. In terms of flight time and driving skills, Hirschmann's son Rudolf is a "rookie" compared with them.
But how many such elite pilots are there who came from the Naval War School (the Japanese Navy only recruits more than a hundred cadets a year, and even fewer of them become pilots)? Just because they can fly the "Comet" does not mean that ordinary French carrier-based aircraft pilots can fly such a difficult aircraft. However, pilots like Fuchida and Egusa can fly, which at least proves that it is possible for the "Comet" aircraft to fly on the aircraft carrier.
After explaining to his old classmates, Genda Minoru quickly left the take-off assembly point. At the same time, the flight commander on the deck waved the command flag in his hand vigorously.
The engines of the two "Comet" aircraft began to roar wildly, and then the huge dive bomber flew across the deck. About ten meters away from the bow of the ship, the wheels left the deck, and the aircraft turned to the left and then circled. Fly high into the sky.
General Yamamoto Fifty-sixth stood on the tall bridge of the "Akagi" and witnessed the takeoff of the "Comet" aircraft, but his frown still did not open.
"Commander, the bomb load and speed of this 'Comet' aircraft are very ideal, far exceeding that of the Type 99. The problem of landing performance can always be overcome." Commander of the First Air Fleet Chuichi Nagumo Will whispered, standing behind the mountain itself.
"But we don't have much time left. The Imperial Council has just passed a new national policy and is determined to go to war with the United States." Yamamoto Isoroku shook his head slightly, looking worried.
Yamamoto Isoroku is such a person with very contradictory behaviors and ideas. On the one hand, he is opposed to war with the United States. He has served as a naval attache in the United States and knows how strong the national power of the United States is. If the United States' industrial strength and resources can be rated 100 points, Japan can only be rated 1 point. But knowing that he could not defeat the United States, Yamamoto Isoroku formulated a very risky sneak attack plan, hoping to use a bold sneak attack to give Japan a huge advantage in the early stages of the war.
In order to ensure the success of the sneak attack, Yamamoto Isoroku spared no effort to enhance the attack power of the Japanese Navy's carrier-based aircraft units, hoping to obtain carrier-based aircraft with more powerful performance. And it has put forward extremely high design requirements for new aircraft models to Japanese aircraft manufacturers. The "Comet" carrier-based dive bomber is the first "new model" developed to replace the existing Type 99 carrier-based dive bomber.
"Commander, I heard that the Germans are planning to change the Comet's liquid-cooled engine to an air-cooled engine to improve the Comet's landing performance." Major General Onishi Takijiro spoke.
Major General Onishi Takishiro, the chief of staff of the 11th Air Force of the Navy, is Yamamoto's confidant. He is currently involved in the formulation of the plan to attack Pearl Harbor. Today, he and Yamamoto watched the Comet take off and land on the aircraft carrier and dive bombing.
"It's too late." Yamamoto Isoroku shook his head. "Replacing the air-cooled engine will change the aerodynamic shape of the aircraft. It will take at least 6 months to blow the wind tunnel and re-arrange the test flight. Then we have to arrange mass production. The Combined Fleet will not receive the goods without 10-12 months. How can we have so much time?"
Because the aircraft equipped with air-cooled engines and the aircraft equipped with liquid-cooled engines have different heads, if they need to be modified, they will have to be modified greatly. They must go to the wind tunnel and test flight. If they can be completed in 6 months, it will be considered relatively fast.
In addition, the model after the modification is almost a new aircraft. To arrange mass production, there must be a process of capacity ramp-up. If we start the modification now, it is already a relatively optimistic estimate that the new model will reach full production in 10-12 months.
Yamamoto Isoroku paused and said, "If the Comet can be used, we will use it as much as possible. Let the Germans handle the replacement of the air-cooled engine. If we can open up the Indian Ocean traffic line, we can get the ready-made model from the Germans in 10 months. As for our research and development strength, we should focus on the aircraft such as the '14 Test Ship Attack', '15 Test Water Battle', '16 Test Ship Attack' and '17 Test Ship Battle'."
The 14 Test Ship Attack is the later "Tianshan" carrier-based attack aircraft. The 15 Test Water Battle is the later "Strong Wind" waterplane fighter. The 16 Test Ship Attack is the Meteor carrier-based torpedo bomber - a high-performance carrier-based aircraft that can simultaneously complete dive bombing, horizontal bombing and torpedo bombing missions. The 17 Test Ship Battle is the successor model of the Zero carrier-based fighter, and was later named "Gale".
As the German model of the Zero fighter, the Fokker Zero, performed well on the European battlefield, the Japanese military had greater confidence in its own aviation industry, hoping to develop several advanced models that were far ahead of its opponents to make up for the lack of national strength.
"Comet, the Comet is about to drop bombs!"
At this time, the immortal staff officer Kuroshima Kameto, who had been paying attention to the Comet, suddenly shouted, and the senior generals in the command tower stopped talking and raised their telescopes to watch.
The Comet not only landed quickly, but also soared very fast in the sky, with a maximum speed of 580 kilometers per hour, which could almost be used as a fighter. The speed of level flight could reach 580 kilometers per hour, and of course it would be faster when diving, as if it fell from the sky like lightning, and rushed directly to two huge inflatable targets on the sea. One of the Comets that dropped bombs first dropped the training bomb on the sea less than 10 meters away from the target, while the other one dropped more accurately and hit the target directly.
Yamamoto Isoroku and Nagumo Chuichi both nodded with satisfaction. The Comet is very fast, has very accurate bombing, a large bomb load, and a longer range than the Type 99. These four points are very important for a carrier-based dive bomber.
Fast speed means that it is not easy to be shot down and it can fly from its own aircraft carrier to the enemy's aircraft carrier faster. Accurate bombing and large bomb load mean that the Comet is very lethal. The long range allows the Comet to take off from a farther distance from the enemy, thus putting its own aircraft carrier in a relatively safe position.
The two planes that completed the bombing did not rise again, but circled in the air for several circles and landed carefully on the deck of the Akasei. The landing speed is indeed a bit fast, but as long as the training is strengthened, the difficulties should be overcome.
"Very good," Yamamoto Isoroku put down the binoculars and said to Nagumo Chuichi beside him with a smile, "Since Fuchida Mitsuo can do it, then other carrier-based aircraft pilots can definitely do it after training. What we need now is to strengthen training... If it really doesn't work, we can also gather together the pilots who can fly the Comet. At least we must ensure that there are 27 Comet aircraft on the Akasei and Kaga respectively. In this way, even if we face the US Pacific Fleet head-on, we will be sure to win."