On the evening of February 4, Liao Hanxiang hurried to the military headquarters of the First Army of Seogwipo's strategic attack. He rushed back after hearing the results of the first bombardment.

After listening to the report on the situation of Tan Renhao and Luo Yunchong, Liao Hanxiang pondered for a long time with a gloomy face, and then said: "The bombing continues, and you must improve the bombing tactics and find better ways to attack the enemy through the problems reflected in the bombing. I believe that the bombing will certainly yield satisfactory results, and I will write the report myself. ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly and extinguished the cigarette butt in the ashtray. This battle report is definitely not easy to write, and Liao Hanxiang took the initiative to take on this task, naturally to reduce the pressure on the two of them.

"In the past two days, I have a good talk with the pilots, and after getting acquainted with the situation in the battle, I will start the next round of bombing."

Luo Yunchong also extinguished the cigarette butt and took out a few at the same time. … bsp; "No, you have to start a new bombing immediately, and the date is set for the day after tomorrow."

Liao Hanxiang shook his hand: "The bombing can't be stopped at the beginning, and it can't give Japan any respite." At this stage, we are focusing on the island of Kyushu, and after the 6th Sentai has seized the Ogasawara Islands, we will begin to carry out large-scale strategic bombing on Japan's Honshu Island, especially Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and other areas. Therefore, before the real bombing began, we had to destroy the Japanese will to resist and let the Japanese concentrate their air defense forces on the Kyushu side. The bombing must not stop! ”

Luo Yunchong hesitated for a moment, Tan Renhao rushed to the front and said: "The loss rate is so large, if we continue to bomb, then our pilot losses will definitely be very large, and the replenishment of bombers is also a problem." ”

"I'll take care of that."

Liao Hanxiang clasped his hands in front of his chest: "Although I am nominally the commander-in-chief of this army, I will delegate all the power to you and be a nominal commander." The training of pilots was supplemented with new bombers. I'll take care of the ammunition supply and so on. Your only mission is to drop all the bombs we can find on the dog's head, and you can't stop bombing for any reason, you know? ”

Luo Yunchong nodded with a smile, and Tan Renhao also laughed. They can all be regarded as Liao Hanxiang's proud disciples, and they can also be regarded as Liao Hanxiang's old subordinates, and they know Liao Hanxiang's temper very well.

"So be it. I'll submit the report in a few days. ”

Liao Hanxiang stood up and picked up the general's hat on the table: "I will go to Hafei and urge them to send the second batch of bombers off the assembly line as soon as possible." The pilot will also arrive in time. Tomorrow, you will complete the preparations for the second bombardment, and the day after tomorrow, you will attack again to bomb Kyushu Island! ”

On 6 February, a bomber group of 165 "wolf doves" bombed and dropped more than 8oo tons of bombs on Nagasaki. A group of bombers and crew members urgently replenished by No. 7 were incorporated into the 1st Regiment. Nine 178 bombers bombed Kumamoto again. Thousands of tons of bombs were dropped. 164 bombers bombed Kagoshima on the 10th, dropping nearly 9oo tons of bombs. The twelfth bomber group "came" to Oita. More than 8oo tons of bombs were dropped, and the third batch of bombers and crew members were in place that day. The 13th bombed Fukuoka and dropped thousands of tons. The 14th bombed Kumamoto for the third time and dropped more than 9oo tons.

From the bombing on the 4th to the 7th bombing in 10 days on the 14th, the 1st Strategic Strike Regiment has dropped nearly 7ooo tons of bombs over five major cities on the Japanese island of Kyushu. At this time. The ammunition stockpiles on several airfields have largely been used up, and the problems exposed during the bombing are getting worse. Tan Renhao and Luo Yunchong both decided to temporarily stop the bombing at this time, comprehensively summarize the results of the bombing some time ago, and then adjust their tactics to correct the problems exposed in the bombing.

The first major problem is the rate of loss of bombers. Seven bombings in ten days, the first regiment lost 88 bombers, and hundreds of crew members died. This loss is very staggering. In seven bombing flights, a total of 1,211 bomber sorties were sorted, with a loss rate of 7.27%. And before that. The bombing loss rate of the 6th Air Force against Japan was only about 6.9%. In other words, the ground loss rate of HNA strategic bombers is actually higher than that of those medium bombers of the 6th Voyage! This is the proportion of losses that is certainly unacceptable, the price is too great, and the losses of the pilots are too heavy.

The second major issue is the effectiveness of the bombing. The seven bombings resulted in the destruction of a steel plant, two docks, a stockpiling base, and some inconsequential port facilities, urban infrastructure, and so on. Well, the power of a high-explosive bomb is really great, and a 25o kg aerial bomb is enough to sink a large Japanese warship, and one bomb can cause devastating damage within a radius of 15o meters. However, the actual bombing effect was very unsatisfactory and could even be said to be extremely bad. Seven bombings simply did not allow the Japanese to bleed!

The third problem is the problem of the bombers themselves. Some of the equipment on board the bomber proved to be inadequate for bombing. For example, machine guns used for self-defense could hardly pose an adequate threat to Japanese fighters. In addition, when entering the bombing channel, if the bombardier and the pilot do not cooperate well, then the bomber will easily deviate from the course, which is also a reason for the poor bombing accuracy. The lack of adequate protection in certain critical parts of the aircraft led to a high rate of crew loss, and the bomber was easily shot down. These technical problems have been quickly reported back to the aircraft factory, and it is required to find improvements as soon as possible and then use the new equipment on the new batch of bombers.

Of course, some advantages were also reflected in the bombing. For example, escort fighters proved to be extremely effective, and the navy's escort tactics were reasonable. Without the protection of escort fighters, the loss rate of bombers would certainly be more than one percent, and possibly even two percent. Escort fighters were also called "guardian angels" by bomber pilots, and dense formation navigation also proved to be effective, especially in the penetration stage, dense formation bombers were more able to resist enemy air defense fighters. The tactic of concentrated bombing is also effective, and concentrated bombing can at least ensure that the bomb hits the target.

In order to improve the efficiency of bombing as soon as possible and reduce losses. Luo Yunchong gathered all the pilots together and held several seminars to discuss more effective bombing methods.

"These are all improvements from pilots, bombardiers, navigators, escorts, fighter pilots, machine gunners, etc."

Luo Yunchong is like an alarm clock with a full strip. As soon as you start moving, you don't know how tired you are. He put several documents in his hand in front of Tan Renhao. "Before, we thought we were good enough. Now, after actual combat testing, there are so many problems in everyone's discussion. ”

Tan Renhao opened the first flight document, which was discussed by all the captains and thought that there were several areas that needed to be improved. Several other documents were also very informative. All the officers and men who participated in the bombing (escort) operation put forward their own ideas, and then everyone discussed them together and summed up their opinions. This is because the lives of the officers and men participating in the bombing (escort) operation are at stake. So these comments are very pertinent.

"The problems now are mainly focused on two aspects: technical and tactical."

Luo Yunchong lit a cigarette: "I read it carefully, and these opinions are indeed reasonable. ”

"Not enough firepower for self-defense?"

Tan Renhao first saw the technical problems.

"The firepower of the machine gun was so poor that the machine gunners recommended machine guns instead of machine guns. Those Japanese fighters were sure to be finished with a 2o-mm shell, this is the experience of fighter pilots, and machine gun bullets could hit several. If you replace the machine gun with a machine gun, the self-defense fire will definitely be much more ferocious. ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly: "We seem to have a batch of 2o-mm machine guns used on the fighters in stock." Can a 2o mm cannon also be mounted on a nearby naval warship (the core of both guns is the same, and the ammunition used is the same) to be mounted on a bomber? ”

"I've asked the orderlies, it's not a big deal. Only minor improvements need to be made. ”

"Then let them do it right away, and they can be armed as much as they can according to their priority."

Tan Renhao's decision is also very fast.

Luo Yunchong nodded. "Then I'll go and arrange for the orderly at night, and let them keep busy, it's much better than repairing those broken planes."

Tan Renhao flipped through a few more documents and shook his head. "I'm afraid that other technical problems are not something we can solve, so find a staff officer with better writing skills and ask him to summarize these technical problems and write a written report. Then immediately send someone to General Liao Hanxiang and ask General Liao to put pressure on the factory. ”

"I think so too, I let Xiao Zhang, who is in charge of intelligence, do this."

"Now it's a matter of tactics."

Tan Renhao's mood was a little heavy, after all, the bad bombing effect and the huge loss rate were facts that could not be changed.

"The main tactical problems are still in the formation of the fleet and the use of escort fighters."

Luo Yunchong smiled bitterly, the technical problems can be attributed to the factory, but the tactical problems are all the responsibility of the troops. "First of all, most of the captains in the fleet formation thought. Large group formations are effective, so it is recommended that after entering the air over the target, they should not be divided into battalion formations to drop bombs, but that all bombers of the regiment-based unit drop bombs at the same time to bomb one target. In this way, the formation can not only deal with Japanese air defense fighters, but also ensure bombing efficiency. ”

"I'm also thinking about whether this question is useful or not, we can only prove it through actual combat."

Tan Renhao glanced at Luo Yunchong, "Let the pilots all prepare, we will only choose one industrial target for the next bombing, and then all the bombers will concentrate on dropping bombs, and then see how the effect is." ”

"I think so too, and prove it with actual combat!"

Luo Yunchong laughed, "The second is the way of escorting. Most bomber pilots felt that escort fighters who went too far were not very protective, and that it was often the escort fighters that remained above the bomber group that played a key role. So next time I would like to add an escort fighter squadron and use two squadrons to cover the other squadron above the bombers, about 5 nautical miles. ”

"No problem, we don't lack escort fighters."

"And then there's the bomb dropping height."

Luo Yunchong hesitated for a moment: "In order to avoid the threat of the Japanese ground anti-aircraft artillery, now we are using high-altitude bombing, and the accuracy of bombing is definitely not ideal, so we have to bomb a target repeatedly, and the result is not only more ammunition consumed, but also greater losses." Therefore, many pilots have suggested whether it is possible to reduce the altitude a little bit so that the bomb delivery accuracy can be improved. ”

Tan Renhao was silent, in fact, he had long recognized this problem, high-altitude bombing can indeed allow bombers to avoid the threat of small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery, but this also reduces the efficiency of bombing. But if you really want to reduce the altitude, the bomber will have to brave the dense anti-aircraft artillery fire to penetrate and drop bombs, which is actually letting the bomber take risks.

"If there is a problem, we will not change this for the time being, and we will make adjustments when we have the opportunity in the future."

"Okay, that's not going to be adjusted for now."

Tan Renhao sighed: "The day after tomorrow, that is, the first batch of bombers produced by Shen Fei on the 17th, will arrive, and the second regiment will be formed immediately." The bombing time was set for the 19th, and this time the steel and chemical plants in Kumamoto were still chosen. Two regiments each against one target. When entering, the bombers of the two regiments were in a unified formation, and at a distance of 10 nautical miles from the target, they were separated to bomb the target. ”

"Then I will transfer a group of outstanding personnel from the first regiment to the second regiment."

"No problem, the pilots of the second regiment have already completed their training, let them all take active action!"

Tan Renhao gritted his teeth: "This time, we must blow up these two factories and let *** know that their end is coming!" ”

Luo Yunchong also gritted his teeth, and if they didn't get some effect for so long, they would be too faceless.

All the aviation crews were busy that night. In the warehouses of several cabins there was a reserve of 2o-mm machine guns, which were originally reserved for fighters. Another group of naval officers and sailors also went to dismantle the 2o-mm machine guns on the patrol boats in Seogwipo port. The operatives improvised the assembly of manual firing devices for these cannons and installed them on the bombers.

On the 17th, more than 16o bombers arrived on Jeju Island, and a new bombing operation was about to begin.