New World War II Eagle Strikes the Sky

() The efficiency of administrative agencies is always higher in war than in peacetime.It took only two days from the idea of ​​shuttle safari to the response from the Soviet Union.If it is not in a state of war, this process may not be completed in a month.Of course, if there is no war, the United States and the Soviet Union will never become allies, and of course there will be no such demand.

But there are reasons why the whole process can go so fast.As early as a few months ago, the United States and the Soviet Union studied the possibility of allowing the heavy bombers of the US Army Air Force to carry out shuttle bombing between the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.But that time, the Soviets did not give a positive answer.

It is normal for the Soviets to have doubts about the bomber shuttle bombing plan. The key here is not that the Soviets don't trust the Yankees, but that they support a huge bomber force, which is too stressful.

The heavy bombers departing from the UK flew directly to the Soviet Union after bombing the target, then loaded fuel and bombs here in the Soviet Union, took off again to bomb the German target, and returned directly to the UK after the bombing, and so on.This kind of shuttle bombing scheme has many advantages. For example, with this method, the entire German-controlled area can be included in the strike range of strategic bombers, and it can also force the Luftwaffe to deploy interception forces in both east and west directions. On the one hand, it weakens the interception capability of the Luftwaffe.

But doing so puts a lot of logistical demands on the Soviet Union, which not only takes up a lot of permanent airports, but also requires a lot of fuel and ammunition.The Soviet Union was not rich in materials. In fact, it still needed material assistance from the United States to a large extent.If these supplies are to be provided by the Soviets, it will put too much pressure on the Soviet Union's logistics.If the Soviets want so many supplies, they might as well invest them in the frontline troops. For the Soviet Union, this is obviously more efficient.

So how about these materials being prepared by the Americans themselves?Just like in the United Kingdom, most of the supplies needed by the U.S. Army Air Force are transported from the continental United States to the United Kingdom on free ships.Is it okay for the Americans to prepare the materials themselves and then transport them there?

However, this is still not possible, first of all, because the Soviet Union, unlike Britain, has a lot of large ports that Americans can use.Most of the sea outlets owned by the Soviet Union are closed.In the south, the Crimean Peninsula is still in the hands of the German army, and Leningrad on the Baltic Sea is a good port, but unfortunately the Baltic Sea is basically the inland sea of ​​Germany and its allies.If the transport fleet dared to go there, it would be tantamount to helping the Germans and giving them medals.There is only one feasible route - the Arctic route, and there are only one and a half ports available - Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, (the latter has a six-month freezing period in a year, which can only be counted as half) the throughput capacity are fairly limited.These limited throughput capacities have basically been taken up by other supplies to aid the Soviet Union.To transport materials for strategic bombing to the Soviet Union through them, it is necessary to reduce the transportation of other vital aid materials to the Soviet Union, and then, um, for the Soviet Union, it would be better not to ship these things.Not to mention that transporting these items from Murmansk and Arkhangelsk to the airfields used by the US Army Aviation bombers will take up valuable land transportation capacity.

But this time the situation is different.This time, it is not the bombers that consume the big households, but the fighter jets.Compared with bombers, fighter jets performing safari missions require orders of magnitude less fuel and ammunition.For the Soviet Union, the logistical pressure was much less.Moreover, the safari fighter force will inevitably pose a threat to the nearby German tactical aircraft, which also reduces the pressure on the Soviet Air Force.So this time, the Soviets readily expressed their support for the American plan.They even counter-proposed that it would be best to form a joint safari force that would include American and Soviet pilots.

In the end, the two parties agreed to first establish a smaller joint shuttle hunting force, and then gradually expand it depending on the situation.According to the agreement, the Soviet Union temporarily handed over the control of an airport to the Joint Safari Force as the first base of this force.

……

After receiving the reply from the Soviet Union, the U.S. Army Air Force dispatched an expert team immediately. They set off from Alaska by plane, and after several takeoffs and landings, they arrived in the Soviet Union that day.The next day I came to the airport provided by the Soviets.

The airport is in Tula, about 200 kilometers away from Moscow.From here, the p-81 fighter jets can launch attacks on some German airfields in Poland where jets can take off and land.

This is an airport with a concrete main runway and two dirt runways, as well as some reinforced hangars. For the first batch of p-81 squadrons deployed in the plan, the conditions of this airport are quite good.The only problem is that the airport's accommodation and rest conditions for pilots are not very good.The pilot quarters were small and dark, with windows as small as dog holes.In addition, the food provided by the Russians is simply not something a person can eat.This is not to say that Russian food is not enough to eat, but that they are too concerned about nutrition and calories, and almost completely ignore the taste.

Now that everything was ready, Ron decided to send the troops there immediately, so the next morning, a squadron of p-81s was ready to go.

As the main commander of this plan, Ron himself will also fly a p-81 fighter jet to the Soviet Union with them.After adding the auxiliary fuel tank, the p-81 has a range of 3500 kilometers, which is enough to ensure that they can complete the 2500-kilometer flight from the United Kingdom to Tula.

This time Ron's plane will fly over the whole of Europe. Although the air supremacy over Western Europe is already in the hands of the Americans, after flying to Poland and other regions, the air supremacy is still with the Germans.The Germans might intercept them there (considering the speed and altitude of the P-81, this is unlikely), so the fighter that Ron flew this time was a full-fledged version of the ammunition.

In order to ensure Ron's safety, Doolittle asked Ron that their plane would depart a little later, so that when they passed over the German-controlled area, the German air force should have been suppressed by the Allied air forces that had departed earlier. Living.So Ron and the others took off even a little later than the bombers.

However, the p-81 is very fast. At the current altitude of 8000 meters, its cruising speed has reached 690 kilometers, which has even exceeded the maximum speed of the p-47.So Ron and the others quickly overtook the bombers one after another.

"Instructor, Berlin is ahead." Harry's voice came from the earphone. "We have to circle around a bit now to avoid the anti-aircraft guns near Berlin."

"Okay, I'll follow you," Ron replied.Although anti-aircraft guns pose a limited threat to fighter jets flying at an altitude of 8000, it is better not to take unnecessary risks.

The fleet turned slightly south, intending to bypass Berlin.At this moment, a large group of b-24 bombers with a long flight path appeared in their sight.

Ron flew over their heads, shook his wings, and was about to go away.At this moment, in front of them, suddenly a group of flame-breathing things rushed up almost vertically at a very high speed!

"Rocket-powered interceptors of the Germans? Looking at the number, there may be a squadron? Will they be able to launch an attack again so soon?" Ron thought, "It seems that I made a mistake in judging them last time, but fortunately Fortunately, there was a chance to make amends."

But now is not the time to think about these things.It is business to stop the Germans quickly.

"Accelerate the climb and prepare to intercept the enemy plane!" Ron gave an order through the radio. The pilots of the p-81 all pushed the throttle valve to the bottom, and turned on the engine water spray to assist, and began to climb rapidly.

The p-81 is a very good climbing aircraft, even at high altitudes, it also has good climbing performance, but their climbing ability is still too slow compared to those monsters that use rocket power, and Ron hasn't had time yet Climbing to a height of 9000 meters, those rocket planes have already climbed to 10000 meters.

Those ba349 rocket-powered interceptors that completed the climb began to turn into a dive.At this time, they also discovered Ron and his fighters, but the Germans knew that they were not equipped with machine guns, and there was almost nothing they could do about these highly flexible fighters.Fortunately, now that they have gained a high altitude advantage, they have a chance to break through Ron's interception by relying on the speed of the dive.

"Rush over! Don't fire at the fighter jet!" Fritz, a slightly older rookie pilot, issued an order to his subordinate ba349 as the squadron leader.

"Follow me!" Ron also gave the order. He took the lead and took the remaining 24 P-81s to make a turn while climbing, turning to the side of BA349's dive direction.That way, if the enemy was coming straight down, Ron would have a chance to shoot at them before they started to design on the bombers.

The ba349s really chose the straight down route—they had no power, and they could only slow down when turning or anything, increasing the possibility of being intercepted by enemy planes.

Now, the flight path of the P-81 is at a 90-degree right angle to the enemy plane. Such a large-angle shot can no longer rely on the sight, and can only rely on the feeling of the old pilot.

"That's the angle!" Ron pressed the SHE button, and the six 20mm revolver guns began to spit out deadly flames.