Chapter 632: Bomber
"Are these Soviets crazy? They want to bomb their own oil fields?"
The Soviet Union lost Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and even the Black Sea was occupied; while the Americans were "extorted" with thousands of tons of gold, and millions of tons of ships were sunk by German submarines; this The bad situation had to make the Soviet Union and the United States share the same hatred and form an alliance.
Stalin also agreed that the U.S. military would send troops to the Soviet Union to fight alongside the Soviet army. The command of the coalition forces would be vested in the Soviet Union, while the U.S. military would retain the right to disobey orders.
The first to arrive were the U.S. Army Air Forces. These aircraft passed through Canada, Alaska, flew over the Bering Strait, and transited several times within the Soviet Union before arriving at the frontline military area.
Among them, the 3o3 and 3o5 bomber groups were assigned to the North Caucasus Military District. The crew members had just rested for two days when the Kremlin issued an order for US bombers to go to Baku to bomb the oil fields.
The adjutant looked at the various topography, maps, and photos taken by reconnaissance planes of the Baku oil fields sent by the Soviets; he couldn't help but be speechless. "They never thought about taking it back?" Just because the Great Caucasus Mountains are in the middle, the Soviets can't attack it?
Li Mei, the commander of the 3o3 and 3o5 Bomber Groups, shook his head. "Who knows, just blow it up. Just use the Baku oil field to practice your skills. After blowing up Baku, we will blow up the Middle East, then blow up North Africa, and blow up all the German oil fields. When the oil is gone, the German tanks will The plane couldn't move. "The Americans believed that as long as they could blow up the oil fields in Libya and the Middle East and paralyze the German war machine, the United States and the Soviet Union would be very sure to win the war.
After another day of rest, the US bombers were ready to dispatch after thoroughly studying the topography of the Baku oil field.
"Are you sure about blowing it up?" Commander Fyodor Isidorovitch Kuznetsov, the commander of the North Caucasus Military District who came to see him off, asked with some uncertainty. The last time their bombers bombed the Baku oil fields at night, they were intercepted by German night fighters and ended up being annihilated.
However, the Kremlin issued a hush-hush order on the matter. The Americans did not know about this, and they were planning to bomb during the day. Even if night bombing doesn’t work, how about day bombing? I am afraid that all the eighty or so bombers dispatched in the first batch will be wiped out.
"Of course it's impossible once." Li Mei shook her head and said. "Given the size of the Baku oil field, we have to fly at least ten times to completely paralyze the oil field. The loss during the mission may reach 40%."
Losing 40% of the bombers? Are all Americans so optimistic? Or is it natural arrogance? Commander Kuznetsov was speechless. It seemed that these Americans really didn't know how powerful the German fighter jets were! But so far, the Americans have not fought against German fighter jets.
"Are these bombers dispatched? Where are your fighter jets?" Although the higher-ups issued a hush-hush order, after all, the two sides are now in an alliance, and Commander Kuznetsov does not want to see these Americans die in vain. "The German fighter jets are not easy to deal with. You may not be able to go smoothly without fighter escort."
Li Mei said confidently. "Although our B-17 can't fly as high as the German bombers." It's incredible that those monster bombers of the German army can climb to an altitude of 14,000 meters. "But it can also drop bombs at an altitude of 11,000 meters. As far as we know, the German BF109 and FW190 fighter jets cannot fly to this height. Even if they fly up, they are no different from bricks, and our self-defense machine guns can deal with them."
The B-17 is equipped with 13 Browning machine guns (taking the most important B-17F model as an example). There are a total of six positions where the machine guns can be used. Among them, there are two belly gunners, each operating a machine gun. The machine gunner and the ball turret gunner under the fuselage each operate a twin machine gun. These four positions are dedicated machine gunners. In addition, the mechanical engineer, radio operator and bombardier position can all operate machine guns. The bombardier position There are four in the position (a twin turret and two machine guns on both sides, operated by the bombardier and navigator respectively), the mechanical engineer has a twin turret, and the radio operator has a small shooting angle The machine guns are all above the fuselage and mainly shoot upward.
It's a pity that they don't know that the BF109 fighter has a high-altitude model. It is a special high-altitude fighter with a large wingspan based on the F-type and G-type. The engine is Daimler-Benz DB601E, and the DB1 power booster Junkers JUMO231E. The top speed can reach 745 kilometers per hour and the ceiling is 14,000 meters.
However, except for the maximum altitude and climb rate, this model has mediocre performance, so it has not been mass-produced. Today, the high-altitude fighter of the German Air Force is the FW-190D model, with a ceiling exceeding 13,000 meters.
"Let's set off." As a commander, Li Mei could have stayed behind and commanded. However, in the original time and space, he often served as the leader of aircraft deep into enemy airspace. Even after being promoted to brigadier general and major general, he would lead his aviation fleet to attack when he had the opportunity. Of course, it was not uncommon for British and American air force generals to lead fleets into the air during World War II, but it also reflected that Le Mei was indeed a brave soldier.
"I wish you a triumphant return." Commander Kuznetsov saluted, murmuring in his heart that this was not a farewell.
B-17 bombers took off one after another, forming a huge fleet and flying to the Baku oil fields.
"There is the Greater Caucasus Mountains ahead. We may encounter German enemy planes at any time after crossing the mountains. Everyone, climb to an altitude of 10,000 meters." Compared with the Soviets, the American planes have all been equipped with radios for easy command.
The fleet slowly climbed to an altitude of 10,000 meters.
Li Mei looked at the clear sky around her and said thankfully. "The weather is very good, it is a good day for bombing. We can reach the Baku oil field in another 30 minutes."
As soon as the voice fell, the bomber at the front of the fleet issued a warning. "Enemy planes are found, enemy planes are found! At three o'clock! There are so many! At least fifty! The altitude is about nine kilometers!"
"Everyone, pay attention, climb to an altitude of 11,000 meters."
The B-17 bomber fleet slowly climbed to an altitude of 11,000, but Li Mei was surprised to see that the other fighter fleet also climbed, and the altitude soon exceeded 11,000 meters, which was higher than them!
"Oh my God! The German planes are flying so high?!" Li Mei felt a chill on her back. Originally, their bombing plan relied on altitude to avoid interception by German fighters, but now the German fighters are flying higher than their own bomber fleet. How can they play this game?
Li Mei immediately ordered. "Everyone retreat!"
But the huge bomber is not a bicycle. It can turn around by lifting the handlebars and turning in a circle, let alone a bomber formation. Before they could turn around, the German fighters in the sky pounced down like hungry wolves.
"Fire! Fire!" Li Mei shouted loudly. The bombers naturally couldn't outrun the fighters. Now they could only rely on the bombers' own firepower to repel the German fighters.