On 7 July 915, over Kolkata, India's largest city, 72 new four-engine "Thunder" heavy bombers of the Third Air Group of the Central Air Group were pressing toward the target in two formations, of which the 35th plane of the 55th Wing attacked the 37th plane of the 52nd Team and attacked the army airfield in the suburbs.

Captain Li Xiao, squadron leader of the 808th Squadron of the 52nd Wing, who was on one of the planes, had just returned to the co-pilot seat from the telecommunications cabin, his face was as sharp as an axe, his thick eyebrows were as free and easy as ink, and his resolute gaze could always give pressure or motivation to his subordinates -- ten years after being admitted to the Army's No. 1 Flight School, at the age of 28, he had accumulated enough flying experience and management experience. Now, when it is finally time to test it through blood and fire, loyal to the monarch to serve the country, make meritorious contributions, award knighthoods, and the glory of the family depends on itself to publicize, and must not let the family down

The huge ZH3 "Thunder" heavy bomber is equipped with 4 powerful Beiyang Heavy Industry HK11 300 power engines, which are symmetrically arranged in the middle of the upper and lower wings, which can drive the heavy fuselage to a top speed of 170 miles per hour, and the six large-capacity fuel tanks on the fuselage and wing roots give the aircraft an ultra-long range - the maximum cruising range of 1200 kg when the bomb is 1200 kg.

Behind the pilot's seat is a twin-mounted man-gun turret with a 360-degree man-made machine gun turret, operated by machine gunner and mechanic No. 1, followed by a special telecommunications cabin, all equipped with large radio stations with a communication distance of more than 500 miles. In the middle of the fuselage is a built-in magazine, and the usual bomb loading methods include: 1 800 kg heavy C-weight bomb, or 10 100 kg bombs. or a 2450-pound bomb. Behind the two engines on the left and right near the fuselage, a shuttle-shaped frame extends into the rear open-air machine gun emplacement, each equipped with a twin machine gun, and a thin layer of cylindrical steel around the machine gunner - it seems that the psychological effect is more than the actual significance.

It was 80 such bombers, carrying 560 crews, which took off from the Min Kyen base in Burma five and a half hours ago, crossed the Bay of Bengal, traveled more than 700 kilometers, and swaggered to Kolkata, the heart of India, at the cost of falling behind in the middle of the journey.

It has been designated as the capital of British India since 1772It was the political center of the British Empire's rule over the Indian subcontinent and was known as the "City of Palaces" with a large number of spectacular public buildings. It is the largest jute processing center in the world, the largest and best port on the east coast of India, and most of the jute, tea, and minerals from the Ganges River basin are exported from here, and the cargo throughput accounts for about one-third of the entire British India.

Three months earlier, the Navy's mobile fleet had raided several important seaports off the east coast of India and on the island of Ceylon, with the exception of the heavily fortified Calcutta. This time, the army aviation units, which received orders from the base camp, were eager to try. Prepare to bud well for this virgin land of air raids.

There were no enemy planes, no smoke from anti-aircraft artillery, and so far, except for a few planes that had fallen behind, the operation was quite smooth, Li Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, and picked up the task board hanging around his neck for the most final confirmation.

"Spotting the reference landmark, the speed remained the same, and after arriving over the target 10 minutes later, Sergeant Wang Shuo, a veteran navigator with more than 1,000 flight hours, deftly reported.

After a minute, Wang Shuo reported again: "The upper clouds are 10,000 meters high. The lower cloud is 2,000 meters high and the cloud cover is three. ”

Li Xiao nodded and ordered: "Reduce the altitude to 1,500 meters and turn on the bomb fuse." ”

For safety reasons, the ground bomb on board is not manually twisted by a mechanic until it is close to the target. After receiving Li Xiao's command, Sergeant Wu Rui, a mechanic, grabbed a wrench and touched the bomb bay, at this moment. The exclamation of Private Liang Weidong on the left machine gun position in the rear came from the earphones: "At ten o'clock, enemy planes."

"Jiang Tao, you come to operate the front machine gun tower, Wu Rui, you continue." Li Xiao simply ordered that Corporal Jiang Tao was the radioman on the plane, and he was also the reserve machine gunner.

"Pay attention to all aircraft, if you find a group of enemy fighters, do not panic, keep in formation, and repel enemy aircraft with self-defense firepower."

In the headset, there was a general order from the wing commander through the short-wave radio network of the group, Li Xiao tightened his brows, turned his head and instructed the pilot, Second Lieutenant Lin Rusong: "The altitude and speed remain the same, stabilize me." ”

After all, it was detected by the enemy, and the surprise attack failed, but it was impossible to give up, and it was bound to break through the interception of enemy fighters and forcibly assault the target! It is impossible for our own land-based fighters to escort the enemy planes from such a distance, and the lone bomber is an excellent bait for the enemy planes, and only by uniting together and concentrating the self-defense firepower of all planes can it be possible to break through the interception of enemy planes with minimal losses.

"One enemy plane is approaching from the rear, and the whole plane is ready to open fire!" After a while, Li Xiao heard Jiang Tao issue a password through the wired power grid in the machine

The three twin 7.92mm machine guns on board fired at the incoming enemy planes

Leave the matter of air combat to the machine gunners, the aircraft group has entered the bombing route, it is impossible to evade, do your best, obey the fate of heaven, between life and death, there is only a calm heart-

Since childhood, he has been surrounded by loyal monarchs, patriotic and self-cultivation education, and has forged Li Xiao into a qualified screw on the emperor's ** machine, not afraid of danger, proud of the horse leather shroud and serving the monarchy, and really martyred before the battle, entering the Lingyan Pavilion to receive the eternal incense, the martyrs' shrine to inherit the emperor's grace and sacrifice, the old and young in the family, all have honor, what else can not be put down?

"Hit! Hit a fight! ”

—

"*** has fallen!"

The machine gunners cheered excitedly in the communication network inside the plane, and Li Xiaozhi said that this was the first battle result since the machine entered the war.

"Okay, hold on, hold on for another five minutes!"

Li Xiao encouraged everyone, and also tried to calm down the various emotions that were intertwined in his heart - he was human after all, alive, and DN.|

"2 machines are on fire! Lao Mo's No. 2 machine! ”

Hearing Wang Shuo's exclamation, Li Xiao hurriedly turned his head to look at the left rear, and sure enough, a raging fire broke out on the side of the landline of Deputy Squadron Leader Lieutenant Mo Weiwei, and the fuel tank was hit!

"Someone has fallen...... The Heavy has fallen! ”

With the desperate commentary, Li Xiao helplessly watched the huge and fragile plane explode into a fireball in an instant, and the fragments with fire swirled and fell, without seeing a parachute open, and the seven lives were reduced to nothing, Li Xiao did not feel anything sacred or great as advertised in the textbook, and his heart was just overflowing with grief mixed with anger all of a sudden.

"The bomb fuse is opened." Mechanic Wu Rui came back to report, and then took advantage of the gap in the battle to replace the radio man Jiang Tao in the machine gun tower, and Li Xiao's headset soon came with the general order of the wing commander: "Each team checks the route, prepares to drop bombs, maintains formation, and does not be disturbed by anti-aircraft artillery." ”

"The enemy planes have retreated!" Machine gunner Liang Weidong reported the first good news, and the second good news came out of the mouth of the navigator Sergeant Wang Shuo: "Confirm the target of this squadron, the 1st apron area, it is estimated that there are more than 30 large planes and more than 20 small planes

"That group of fighters just now may have been patrolling around." Seeing the doubts on Li Xiao's face, Wang Shuo added and analyzed.

Li Xiao slapped his thigh excitedly: "By the way, the enemy's fighter jets should not be equipped with radios, so I didn't have time to notify the ground - God bless our army, how long will it take to drop bombs?" ”

"In a minute, the target is already in the scope."

"Very good, I haven't seen the smoke of the anti-aircraft artillery yet, and the surprise attack was successful!"

Thirty seconds later, the co-captain's thick voice came from the headphones: "Thirty-second countdown - start, thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight......"

When the wing commander shouted "all-army assault" in full anger, a large hail of bombs immediately unfolded under the group of heavenly maidens, and a string of 10 kg 50 kg explosive incendiary bombs and 250 kg ordinary bombs scrambled to the ground under the action of gravity -

Except for the plane of Lieutenant Mo Weiwei, which had just been shot down, the remaining 36 planes of the 52nd Wing all successfully dropped bombs, and 36 tons of steel and explosives poured down in an instant.

A few minutes later, 20 kilometers away in the port of Kolkata, the 55 th team of quasi-dock facilities and warehouses dropped more than 200 heavy bombs of more than 100 kilograms in one breath without any hindrance......

At about the same time, Chittagong, 360 miles east of Kolkata, and Imphal, 29 kilometers northeast of Chittagong, were attacked by a group of Chinese bombers.

On the Chittagong side, the 3rd Air Group of the Chinese Army concentrated the 7th, 8th, and + light bombers to carry out cross-sea operations, and could also receive relay cover from 54 fighters of the 5th Fighting Aircraft Wing on the way.

On the Imphal side, the Chinese Army's 5th Air Group concentrated the bombers of the 9th and 11th Reconnaissance Wings, flew over the miasma-filled Savage Mountains to launch an attack, and the 7th Fighter Wing provided cover.

On July 7, in eastern India, the curtain had just been lifted on the "Brahma Operation" of the Imperial Army Air Corps.